It’s been a while since I’ve started using Anki for learning mathematical equations and various other formulae. I didn’t have much trouble typing in the equations as I already knew LaTeX. But this is not the case for most people using Anki. I’ve seen a lot of people requesting devs to add buttons to Anki that will make it easier to type in equations. But, LaTeX seems almost irreplaceable when it comes to formatting things the way you want it.

Hence, the script I’ve written only eases the process of adding many equations at once. This is written in the famous scripting language called AutoHotkey.

If you’re new to AHK: Documentation

People have already made comprehensive hotkeys covering almost all of the LaTeX syntax, but I find it too overwhelming to learn all of the shortcuts. A GUI solution was more preferable.

This is a script I wrote in 2 hours with just basic knowledge of AHK. Hence, it’s a very crude implementation that involves quickly changing window focus and sending in keystrokes when buttons are pressed in a GUI. **Update: **directly sending keystrokes to the Anki Add window. Nevertheless, it works as intended.

Note: This is not an Anki addon. It’s a script that runs separately in the background. Let’s call it Anki Latex Helper (ALH). I’ve only added the most commonly used LaTeX symbols.

Screenshots

[caption id=”” align=”alignnone” width=”1366”] The ALH window within Anki[/caption]

[caption id=”” align=”alignnone” width=”1366”] The script automatically moves the cursor to the right position.[/caption]

[caption id=”” align=”alignnone” width=”1042”] List of all the included symbols, as seen in the Anki preview screen[/caption]

How does it work?

I’ve simply created a window and added many buttons to it. These buttons when clicked, sends out keystrokes to the text field that types in the required syntax and also moves the cursor to the right place. But to do this simple thing the application where text needs to be entered should be in focus, hence this app momentarily loses focus sends the keystrokes and comes back up. This is why it keeps flashing with every click. ( Experts out there, am I missing something? )

Update: This script directly sends the required keystrokes to the specific window, in this case the Anki ‘Add’ window.

I’ve also made this window to stay on top of all other applications for it to be always visible. I removed the title bar and made the GUI transparent just to make it look better. The window automatically positions itself at the right place every time. (i.e with Anki window maximized)

Note: ALH stays on top until you use the shortcuts below to minimize or close it.

Shortcuts:

Alt-J to restore the window

Alt-K to minimize the window Alt-L to stop the script and close ALH.

(You can easily change these in the code)

Installation

1. Download AutoHotkey and install it.

2. Download the Anki LaTeX Helper.ahk script attached below and simply double click to run it. Voila!

Just run the script whenever you need to add in equations.

**Things to work on: **

1. Find out better workflows to implement this.

2. Prevent ALH from flashing with every button press.  (Thanks to reddit user Khonkhortisan’s suggestions.)

3. Replace the text in the buttons with the actual symbols

4. Add more buttons?

Code

The code is well commented and pretty straight forward so it’s quite easy to modify it as per your needs.

[code language=”cpp”] ;——————————————- ; Author: Glen Zachariah ; License: MIT License ; Copyright (C) 2019 ; ——————————————

; ——————— GUI ———————

Gui, +AlwaysOnTop ; Forces window to stay on top Gui, -Caption ; Removes the titlebar Gui +ToolWindow ;comment this if you want the program window in the taskbar Gui, Color, EEAA99 ; Color set and will be made transparent below Gui +LastFound WinSet, TransColor, EEAA99 Gui, Font, S10 CDefault Bold, Verdana ; Set Font and size

Gui, Add, Button, x22 y19 w100 h70 , LaTeX Gui, Add, Button, x22 y109 w100 h70 , Fraction Gui, Add, Button, x142 y19 w100 h70 , Integral Gui, Add, Button, x262 y19 w100 h70 , Partial Gui, Add, Button, x502 y19 w100 h70 , Omega Gui, Add, Button, x622 y19 w100 h70 , pi Gui, Add, Button, x742 y19 w100 h70 , Nabla Gui, Add, Button, x382 y19 w100 h70 , Del Gui, Add, Button, x862 y19 w100 h70 , phi Gui, Add, Button, x22 y199 w100 h70 , Bar Gui, Add, Button, x142 y109 w100 h70 , Differential Gui, Add, Button, x262 y109 w100 h70 , Sum Gui, Add, Button, x382 y109 w100 h70 , delta Gui, Add, Button, x502 y109 w100 h70 , sigma Gui, Add, Button, x622 y109 w100 h70 , rho Gui, Add, Button, x742 y109 w100 h70 , lambda Gui, Add, Button, x862 y109 w100 h70 , Infinity Gui, Add, Button, x142 y199 w100 h70 , DDifferential Gui, Add, Button, x262 y199 w100 h70 , SqRoot Gui, Add, Button, x382 y199 w100 h70 , = Gui, Add, Button, x742 y199 w100 h70 , . Gui, Add, Button, x862 y199 w100 h70 , x ; Generated using SmartGUI Creator for SciTE

Gui, Show, Center Y300 w990 h295, Anki LaTeX Helper ; Modify the xx value in Yxx to change vertical position

return

;———-Button Functions——————-

ButtonLaTeX: WinActivate, Add SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, ^+{t} , Add ControlSend,, m, Add WinActivate, Add return

ButtonFraction: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,,{Raw} \frac{}{} , Add ControlSend,, {Left 3} , Add WinActivate, Add return

ButtonIntegral: SetTitleMatchMode, 2

ControlSend,, {Raw} int_{}^{}, Add ControlSend,, {Left 4} , Add WinActivate, Add return

ButtonDifferential: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \frac{d}{dx} , Add WinActivate, Add return

ButtonDDifferential: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \frac{d^2}{dx^2} , Add WinActivate, Add return

ButtonSum: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \sum_{n=-\infty}^{\infty} , Add ControlSend,, {Left 19} , Add WinActivate, Add return

ButtonInfinity: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \infty , Add WinActivate, Add return

ButtonSqRoot: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \sqrt{} , Add ControlSend,, {Left 1} , Add WinActivate, Add return

ButtonPartial: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \frac{\partial}{\partial x} , Add WinActivate, Add return

ButtonOmega: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \omega , Add WinActivate, Add return

ButtonNabla: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \nabla , Add WinActivate, Add return

ButtonDel: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \Delta , Add WinActivate, Add return

Buttondelta: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \delta , Add WinActivate, Add return

Buttonsigma: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \sigma , Add WinActivate, Add return

Buttonrho: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \rho , Add WinActivate, Add return

Buttonlambda: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \lambda , Add WinActivate, Add return

ButtonPhi: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \phi , Add WinActivate, Add return

ButtonBar: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \bar{} , Add ControlSend,, {Left 1} , Add WinActivate, Add return

Button=: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \geq , Add WinActivate, Add return

ButtonImplies: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \Rightarrow , Add WinActivate, Add return

Buttonpi: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \pi , Add WinActivate, Add return

Button.: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \cdot , Add WinActivate, Add return

Buttonx: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ControlSend,, {Raw} \times , Add WinActivate, Add return

;——————————————–

;Shortcut to restore window !j:: Gui, Restore return ;Shortcut to minimize window !k:: Gui, Minimize return ;Shortcut to close window and stop script !l:: ExitApp

; Uncomment the following if you enable the titlebar/caption ; GuiClose: ; ExitApp [/code]

I’ll be working on this in my free time. Comment below if you have any suggestions or questions. Feel free to modify the script and add your own required symbols and customizations. Also don’t forget to share your work here.

Download ALH

Updated: 13/8/19 :

Download ALH_1.1