Any other AutoHotkey Users here?

I'm running the latest version of Windows 11 pro.

AutoHotkey stopped running. Nothing I tried helped so I decided to
uninstall AutoHotkey, reinstall it and rebuild the script.

I did. It still doesn't work. When I try to run it, I still get the
error message below. Can anyone help?

launcher.ahk

Error: PCRE execution error.

Specifically: -8

---- C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\inc\identify.ahk
003: {
005: p := 1, count_1 := count_2 := 0, version := marks := ''
? 006: While (p := RegExMatch(code, identify_regex, &m, p))
006: {
007: p += m.Len()

Call stack:
C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\inc\identify.ahk (6) : [RegExMatch]
While (p := RegExMatch(code, identify_regex, &m, p))
C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\inc\identify.ahk (6) :
[IdentifyBySyntax] While (p := RegExMatch(code, identify_regex, &m,
p))
C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (72) :
[GetLaunchParameters] i := IdentifyBySyntax(code)
C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (139) :
[IdentifyAndLaunch] lp := GetLaunchParameters(ScriptPath, !(whichMode
:= args.HasProp('which')))
C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (59) : [Main]
IdentifyAndLaunch(ScriptPath, A_Args, switches)
C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (16) : [] Main()
> Auto-execute

Hello.

Ken Blake <Ken@invalid.news.com> schrieb

>Any other AutoHotkey Users here?

Yes, on my work notebook.

>I'm running the latest version of Windows 11 pro.

the work laptop has w11pro, but the updates are always some weeks
later (they have to test them first).

>AutoHotkey stopped running.

I experienced several month ago: that AHK does not work with the win11
new notepad/editor.
So I switched back to the win10 notepad/editor and there it works up
until today.
But on the work-notebook I am only allowed to use the software my chef
allows and so I am still on AHK 1.33 (or was ist 1.37?).

>I did. It still doesn't work. When I try to run it, I still get the
>error message below. Can anyone help?

No. I don't have that message.

Are you on AHK 1.x or on AHK 2.x?

On Sun, 25 Feb 2024 03:02:59 +0100, Shinji Ikari <shinji@gmx.net>
wrote:

>Hello.
>
>Ken Blake <Ken@invalid.news.com> schrieb
>
>>Any other AutoHotkey Users here?
>
>Yes, on my work notebook.
>
>>I'm running the latest version of Windows 11 pro.
>
>the work laptop has w11pro, but the updates are always some weeks
>later (they have to test them first).
>
>>AutoHotkey stopped running.
>
>I experienced several month ago: that AHK does not work with the win11
>new notepad/editor.
>So I switched back to the win10 notepad/editor and there it works up
>until today.
>But on the work-notebook I am only allowed to use the software my chef
>allows and so I am still on AHK 1.33 (or was ist 1.37?).
>
>>I did. It still doesn't work. When I try to run it, I still get the
>>error message below. Can anyone help?
>
>No. I don't have that message.
>
>Are you on AHK 1.x or on AHK 2.x?

2.x, Should I uninstall it and install 1.x?

On Sat, 24 Feb 2024 16:27:26 -0700, Ken Blake wrote:
>
> Any other AutoHotkey Users here?
>
> I'm running the latest version of Windows 11 pro.
>
> AutoHotkey stopped running. Nothing I tried helped so I decided to
> uninstall AutoHotkey, reinstall it and rebuild the script.
>
> I did. It still doesn't work. When I try to run it, I still get the
> error message below. Can anyone help?

I've been using Autohotkey v1.1.22.06 on my Windows 10 desktop and
Windows 11 laptop, and before that on my Windows 8.1 and Windows 7
laptops, without any problems.

PCRE is a third-party open-source library to handle regular
expressions. My own freeware GREP uses it, and it would appear that
Autohotkey does too. It looks like you have an error in a regular
expression in your script file. I don't know if the numbers in
parentheses in the error message are line numbers in your script, but
that's where I'd start looking.

> launcher.ahk
>
> Error: PCRE execution error.
>
> Specifically: -8
>
> ---- C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\inc\identify.ahk
> 003: {
> 005: p := 1, count_1 := count_2 := 0, version := marks := ''
> ? 006: While (p := RegExMatch(code, identify_regex, &m, p))
> 006: {
> 007: p += m.Len()
>
> Call stack:
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\inc\identify.ahk (6) : [RegExMatch]
> While (p := RegExMatch(code, identify_regex, &m, p))
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\inc\identify.ahk (6) :
> [IdentifyBySyntax] While (p := RegExMatch(code, identify_regex, &m,
> p))
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (72) :
> [GetLaunchParameters] i := IdentifyBySyntax(code)
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (139) :
> [IdentifyAndLaunch] lp := GetLaunchParameters(ScriptPath, !(whichMode
> := args.HasProp('which')))
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (59) : [Main]
> IdentifyAndLaunch(ScriptPath, A_Args, switches)
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (16) : [] Main()
> > Auto-execute

--
Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA https://BrownMath.com/
Shikata ga nai...

Hello.

Ken Blake <Ken@invalid.news.com> schrieb

>>Are you on AHK 1.x or on AHK 2.x?
>2.x, Should I uninstall it and install 1.x?

I have no experience with 2.x, bust with 1.x it works for me on the
work notebook

On 2/24/2024 6:27 PM, Ken Blake wrote:
> Any other AutoHotkey Users here?
>
> I'm running the latest version of Windows 11 pro.
>
> AutoHotkey stopped running. Nothing I tried helped so I decided to
> uninstall AutoHotkey, reinstall it and rebuild the script.
>
> I did. It still doesn't work. When I try to run it, I still get the
> error message below. Can anyone help?
>
>
> launcher.ahk
>
> Error: PCRE execution error.
>
> Specifically: -8
>
> ---- C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\inc\identify.ahk
> 003: {
> 005: p := 1, count_1 := count_2 := 0, version := marks := ''
> ? 006: While (p := RegExMatch(code, identify_regex, &m, p))
> 006: {
> 007: p += m.Len()
>
> Call stack:
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\inc\identify.ahk (6) : [RegExMatch]
> While (p := RegExMatch(code, identify_regex, &m, p))
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\inc\identify.ahk (6) :
> [IdentifyBySyntax] While (p := RegExMatch(code, identify_regex, &m,
> p))
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (72) :
> [GetLaunchParameters] i := IdentifyBySyntax(code)
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (139) :
> [IdentifyAndLaunch] lp := GetLaunchParameters(ScriptPath, !(whichMode
> := args.HasProp('which')))
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (59) : [Main]
> IdentifyAndLaunch(ScriptPath, A_Args, switches)
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (16) : [] Main()
>> Auto-execute
>
>

The errors, -8 and -21, might be coming from a newer
version of PCRE.

https://www.pcre.org/original/doc/html/pcreapi.html

This error is used by the pcre_copy_substring(), pcre_get_substring(),
and pcre_get_substring_list() functions (see below). It is never returned by pcre_exec().

PCRE_ERROR_MATCHLIMIT (-8)

This error is given if the value of the ovecsize argument is negative.

PCRE_ERROR_RECURSIONLIMIT (-21)

The internal recursion limit, as specified by the match_limit_recursion field
in a pcre_extra structure (or defaulted) was reached. See the description above.

PCRE_ERROR_BADNEWLINE (-23)

The problem is, identify.ahk is a thing that "sniffs" scripts, to detect
which version of AutoHotKey the script was designed for.

You can see the sheer size of the regular expression AutoHotKey is using,
in this commit, where the problem was patched by someone. The "red" code
at the top, might match the regex used by your identify.ahk . This would be
the proper way to patch it, assuming the current problem doesn't have
a different root cause.

https://github.com/AutoHotkey/AutoHotkeyUX/commit/3c2046823ce133f2bc84953f35802f6140170f3f

This patch, on the other hand, wraps the

p := RegExMatch(code, identify_regex, &m, p)

in a Try/Catch, so that if it errors out, your script will still run.
It catches the error and "handles it".

p := RegExMatch(code, identify_regex, &m, p)

In other words, this wrapper does not care whether the error is -8 or -21,
it just prevents the script from dying. It was written one year ago.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AutoHotkey/comments/12i52r4/my_patch_for_the_error_pcre_execution_error/

If a script has a lot of comments, then this might make it hard for the
identify.ahk to run without abending (abnormal end).

Paul

Ken Blake <Ken@invalid.news.com> wrote:

> Any other AutoHotkey Users here?
>
> I'm running the latest version of Windows 11 pro.
>
> AutoHotkey stopped running. Nothing I tried helped so I decided to
> uninstall AutoHotkey, reinstall it and rebuild the script.
>
> I did. It still doesn't work. When I try to run it, I still get the
> error message below. Can anyone help?
>
>
> launcher.ahk
>
> Error: PCRE execution error.
>
> Specifically: -8
>
> ---- C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\inc\identify.ahk
> 003: {
> 005: p := 1, count_1 := count_2 := 0, version := marks := ''
> ? 006: While (p := RegExMatch(code, identify_regex, &m, p))
> 006: {
> 007: p += m.Len()
>
> Call stack:
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\inc\identify.ahk (6) : [RegExMatch]
> While (p := RegExMatch(code, identify_regex, &m, p))
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\inc\identify.ahk (6) :
> [IdentifyBySyntax] While (p := RegExMatch(code, identify_regex, &m,
> p))
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (72) :
> [GetLaunchParameters] i := IdentifyBySyntax(code)
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (139) :
> [IdentifyAndLaunch] lp := GetLaunchParameters(ScriptPath, !(whichMode
>:= args.HasProp('which')))
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (59) : [Main]
> IdentifyAndLaunch(ScriptPath, A_Args, switches)
> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (16) : [] Main()
>> Auto-execute

You'll find a more focused community at their forums:

https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/

I've not visited there, so no idea how technically savvy are its
community.

My guess is AutoHotkey is using PCRE (Perl Core Regular Expressions).
My NNTP client also has it, but I usually just refer to it as regex. I
just use regex to match on strings, but gives me a lot better means of
narrowing down the matches to eliminate false positives. I've not use
AutoHotkey for many years, and that was just to experiment.

From the while-loop, p was first initialized to 1 beforehand, because it
is a parameter to the RegExMatch() function, but possibly p gets a new
value. The while condition is looking for when p equals whatever
RegExMatch() returns. You sure p should be used as both a parameter to
RegExMatch() and then to have its value changed by what RegExMatch()
returns? Perhaps if the intent is to walk character-by-character
through the haystack string looking for a match.

https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/v2/lib/RegExMatch.htm

That describes the RegExMatch() function. p was initialized to 1, and
gets used as the starting position for RegExMatch() which returns "the
position of the leftmost occurrence of NeedleRegEx in the string
Haystack" (Haystack is the first argument, NeedleRegEx is the 2nd
argument. In your code, the 1st and 2nd args are vars named code and
identify_regex, but were these ever defined in your script? If not,
they are undefined, and won't point at the strings used for the haystack
(where to search) and needle (what to search for). Does this script run
inside the scope of another script that defines those vars?

The while-loop keeps repeating as long as p, as the integer status from
RegExMatch()'s status is non-zero. Inside the while-loop, the only code
you gave there is p gets incremented, so apparently RegExMatch() returns
0 once the end of the string is reached, but there's probably more code
inside the while-loop. The call-stack trace indicates other scripts are
executed that load the vars used in your script.

You might want to post your script's code in the AHK forums to find
someone there that is more expert on how to decipher your code, and give
more complete code examples. Searches might find some help, too. Since
your script seems to rely on its vars being in scope of other scripts, I
found 1 article talking about identify_regex.ahk that you might be
using. That user had to change some code in the .ahk file.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AutoHotkey/comments/12i52r4/my_patch_for_the_error_pcre_execution_error/

While you reinstalled AutoHotkey, perhaps its install includes a PCRE
library or ancilliary files. For example, many PDF "printers" (you can
"print" to a PDF file in any program that has a Print function) install
their code, but also GhostScript. I've used PDFCreator in the past, and
it relies on the common GhostScript functions that many other PDF
printers also use. The installer might install a suite of programs.
PCRE is provided as a library that a program can call; see
https://www.pcre.org/. Sometimes installers place the ancilliary libs
in a global folder that any program can use, or in a private folder
somewhere underneath the install folder that is meant for use only by a
particular program. I don't have AHK installed, so I can't look if the
PCRE libs are under the AHK install folder, or in a outer folder that
any program might use.

Did your script work before? While you say it stopped working under
Windows 11, you only say "stopped working". Did you perhaps upgrade
from version 1 to version 2 of AHK? Something mentioned at:

https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/v2/v2-changes.htm

Search for "regexmatch" (there are several places where changes are
mentioned) to see how the function has changed.

might indicate the cause of your error. If you were using AHK v1 where
the script worked, but the same script (well, looks like a suite of
scripts) fails under AHK v2 then it's likely your code has to change to
accomodate changes in AHK v2, or you need to go back to AHK v1. Also,
did you create this script by using AHK recording your events, or did
you write in manually, or copy it from somewhere?

Shinji Ikari wrote:

>But on the work-notebook I am only allowed to use the software my chef
>allows

So why is it you need a notebook in a kitchen anyway?

-jw-

--

And now for something completely different...

On Sun, 25 Feb 2024 02:15:55 -0600, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote:

>Ken Blake <Ken@invalid.news.com> wrote:
>
>> Any other AutoHotkey Users here?
>>
>> I'm running the latest version of Windows 11 pro.
>>
>> AutoHotkey stopped running. Nothing I tried helped so I decided to
>> uninstall AutoHotkey, reinstall it and rebuild the script.
>>
>> I did. It still doesn't work. When I try to run it, I still get the
>> error message below. Can anyone help?
>>
>>
>> launcher.ahk
>>
>> Error: PCRE execution error.
>>
>> Specifically: -8
>>
>> ---- C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\inc\identify.ahk
>> 003: {
>> 005: p := 1, count_1 := count_2 := 0, version := marks := ''
>> ? 006: While (p := RegExMatch(code, identify_regex, &m, p))
>> 006: {
>> 007: p += m.Len()
>>
>> Call stack:
>> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\inc\identify.ahk (6) : [RegExMatch]
>> While (p := RegExMatch(code, identify_regex, &m, p))
>> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\inc\identify.ahk (6) :
>> [IdentifyBySyntax] While (p := RegExMatch(code, identify_regex, &m,
>> p))
>> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (72) :
>> [GetLaunchParameters] i := IdentifyBySyntax(code)
>> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (139) :
>> [IdentifyAndLaunch] lp := GetLaunchParameters(ScriptPath, !(whichMode
>>:= args.HasProp('which')))
>> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (59) : [Main]
>> IdentifyAndLaunch(ScriptPath, A_Args, switches)
>> C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\UX\launcher.ahk (16) : [] Main()
>>> Auto-execute
>
>You'll find a more focused community at their forums:
>
>https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/
>
>I've not visited there, so no idea how technically savvy are its
>community.
>
>My guess is AutoHotkey is using PCRE (Perl Core Regular Expressions).
>My NNTP client also has it, but I usually just refer to it as regex. I
>just use regex to match on strings, but gives me a lot better means of
>narrowing down the matches to eliminate false positives. I've not use
>AutoHotkey for many years, and that was just to experiment.
>
>From the while-loop, p was first initialized to 1 beforehand, because it
>is a parameter to the RegExMatch() function, but possibly p gets a new
>value. The while condition is looking for when p equals whatever
>RegExMatch() returns. You sure p should be used as both a parameter to
>RegExMatch() and then to have its value changed by what RegExMatch()
>returns? Perhaps if the intent is to walk character-by-character
>through the haystack string looking for a match.
>
>https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/v2/lib/RegExMatch.htm
>
>That describes the RegExMatch() function. p was initialized to 1, and
>gets used as the starting position for RegExMatch() which returns "the
>position of the leftmost occurrence of NeedleRegEx in the string
>Haystack" (Haystack is the first argument, NeedleRegEx is the 2nd
>argument. In your code, the 1st and 2nd args are vars named code and
>identify_regex, but were these ever defined in your script? If not,
>they are undefined, and won't point at the strings used for the haystack
>(where to search) and needle (what to search for). Does this script run
>inside the scope of another script that defines those vars?
>
>The while-loop keeps repeating as long as p, as the integer status from
>RegExMatch()'s status is non-zero. Inside the while-loop, the only code
>you gave there is p gets incremented, so apparently RegExMatch() returns
>0 once the end of the string is reached, but there's probably more code
>inside the while-loop. The call-stack trace indicates other scripts are
>executed that load the vars used in your script.
>
>You might want to post your script's code in the AHK forums to find
>someone there that is more expert on how to decipher your code, and give
>more complete code examples. Searches might find some help, too. Since
>your script seems to rely on its vars being in scope of other scripts, I
>found 1 article talking about identify_regex.ahk that you might be
>using. That user had to change some code in the .ahk file.
>
>https://www.reddit.com/r/AutoHotkey/comments/12i52r4/my_patch_for_the_error_pcre_execution_error/
>
>While you reinstalled AutoHotkey, perhaps its install includes a PCRE
>library or ancilliary files. For example, many PDF "printers" (you can
>"print" to a PDF file in any program that has a Print function) install
>their code, but also GhostScript. I've used PDFCreator in the past, and
>it relies on the common GhostScript functions that many other PDF
>printers also use. The installer might install a suite of programs.
>PCRE is provided as a library that a program can call; see
>https://www.pcre.org/. Sometimes installers place the ancilliary libs
>in a global folder that any program can use, or in a private folder
>somewhere underneath the install folder that is meant for use only by a
>particular program. I don't have AHK installed, so I can't look if the
>PCRE libs are under the AHK install folder, or in a outer folder that
>any program might use.
>
>Did your script work before? While you say it stopped working under
>Windows 11, you only say "stopped working". Did you perhaps upgrade
>from version 1 to version 2 of AHK? Something mentioned at:
>
>https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/v2/v2-changes.htm

Thanks very much. I asked my question there and got the answer. See
below. It's working now,

It's a bug of the current version. See eg
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=126116#p559365

Until it's get fixed with the next version, I would add #Requires
AutoHotkey v2.0 to the top of your v2 scripts (v1 accordingly, if
needed).
If you only use v2 anyway, you could disable the automatic version
detection of the AHK launcher (in the Dash) to always choose v2 in
order to avoid this error..