Operating system | License Freeware closed source | |
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Developer(s) Jonathan Bennett & AutoIt Team Initial release January 1999; 18 years ago (1999-01) Stable release 3.3.14.2 / September 18, 2015; 17 months ago (2015-09-18) Type GUI Scripting language Automation | ||
AutoIt /ɔːtoʊ ɪt/ is a freeware automation language for Microsoft Windows. In its earliest release, the software was primarily intended to create automation scripts (sometimes called macros) for Microsoft Windows programs but has since grown to include enhancements in both programming language design and overall functionality.
Contents
While the scripting language in AutoIt 1 and 2 was statement-driven, designed primarily for simulating user interaction, from version 3 onwards the AutoIt syntax is similar to that found in the BASIC family of languages. In this form, AutoIt is a general-purpose, third-generation programming language with a classical data model and a variant data type that can store several types of data, including arrays. While version 1 and 2 were compatible with Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, Windows 7, support for operating systems older than Windows 2000 was discontinued with the release of v3.3.0 in December 2008. Currently AutoIt is compatibile also with Windows 2008, Windows 8, Windows 2012, Windows 10, and minimal requirement is XP+SP3.
An AutoIt automation script can be converted into a compressed, stand-alone executable which can be run on computers that do not have the AutoIt interpreter installed. A wide range of function libraries (known as UDFs, or "User Defined Functions") are also included as standard or are available from the website to add specialized functionality. AutoIt is also distributed with an IDE based on the free SciTE editor. The compiler and help text are fully integrated and provide a de facto standard environment for developers using AutoIt.
Features
Usage
AutoIt is typically used to produce utility software for Microsoft Windows and to automate routine tasks, such as systems management, monitoring, maintenance, or software installation. It is also used to simulate user interaction, whereby an application is "driven" (via automated form entry, keypresses, mouse clicks, and so on) to do things by an AutoIt script.
History
The developers of AutoIt originally released the source code under the GNU General Public License (GPL), but the practice was discontinued beginning with version 3.2.0 in August 2006. Following the terms of the GPL, some of the code from version 3.1 was used to create a fork by the AutoHotkey project, where the community is continuing to develop and release the code under the GPL.