terrypin

Yes. 'Click in the box on the right...' is probably an unnecessary instruction. But, as always, if it doesn't say right-click or middle-click it means a plain left click, so it can never do any harm. Perhaps sometimes the cursor might not be in that box by default. You still haven't spelt out exactly what you are doing and what you are seeing. But I think you have misunderstood how to use this dialog. Simply do as I said in my earlier post, at step 1. As it says at the top of that window, 'Select an initial activation on the left.' So just left click None at bottom left if that's what you want. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Thanks all, appreciate those helpful replies. It's becoming clearer now but the main thing I'm still hung up on (and which really prompted my post) is #3. Within aText Begin Process loop on a plain text file, I'm testing my empty line for CR, LF, CRLF and null, but don't get a hit with any of them. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

From your screenshot, the window you get is not my second window. Look more carefully at their respective titles. My first screenshot shows the situation when None is selected, not the default Hotkey. You are getting the correct Create New Macro window. So that's not the issue. Are you saying that when you left click the None checkbox the Hotkey checkbox stays selected and is assigned to Left mouse? And similarly if you click the None checkbox with the right mouse you get Right mouse activation? If so, then that does indeed sound bizarre. I'm assuming you've re-booted your PC and are not getting any odd behaviour from your mouse in ME Pro or any other application? Have you tried Tools > Restore Keyboard & Mouse Hooks ? If the problem persists I'd try re-installing ME Pro. Steve: Left mouse is apparently valid, although it has to be selected from the list. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

No harm in posting the details here so that we can take a look. You'll need to provide at least 4 things: 1. Copy all the command lines from the Script Editor and paste them into your post in the normal way. (I like to format mine with bold and dark blue, so they stand out.) 2. Click Insert: CODEBOX on the left. Then copy all the code from the Direct Editor (toggled with the button below the green arrows) and paste them into the codebox 3. Explain fully what your macro is supposed to be doing. Include details or examples of any input or output files (edited if they're confidential), web pages, etc. Hopefully this should all be in the job definition you gave to your elusive author in India. 4. Explain fully what your macro is actually doing at present. Include full details of any error messages, output files, etc. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Can someone please clarify various points about the clipboard with null contents please? 1. Does 'null' mean 'nothing' and is that always the same as 'empty'? 2. If not, what are familiar examples of each, to drive the distinction home? 3. Is an empty line of text null? IOW, suppose I have a text file with groups of lines, with each group separated by an empty line. When I copy that to the clipboard why does it still contain the previous value, instead of nothing? 4. How could I therefore test for such an empty line? For example, while using Text File Begin Process? 5. How do you get null as the contents of the clipboard, apart from using Clipboard Empty? Of course, if all of this is documented somewhere I haven't yet found, I'd appreciate a pointer please. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

I'm not following you either. I don't see why you "have no chance to click somewhere" with your mouse. For a hotkey type of activation, just enter your macro name and choose the hotkey (in any order) and click OK. If this still doesn't answer your question, please provide more details, including a screenshot or at least a step-by-step description of what you are doing and seeing. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

This was the first time I'd used it too! -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Yes - Kevin will be along in a minute to tell you off! But who knows, they might be related? I eventually managed to reproduce your problem after progressively reducing the value in Options > Preferences > Playback > Delays > Delay after keystrokes in the Text Type command from my 2000 microsecs to the default of zero. Here's what the final part of my result looked like: Here is test number 12. And a small Quantity of Text. And a small Quantity of Text. And a small Quantity of Text. And a small Quantity of Text. And a small Quantity of Text. And a small Quantity of Text. And a small Quantity of Text. And a small Quantity of Text. And a small Quantity of Text. And a small Quantity of Text. And a small Quantity of Text. And a small Quantity of Text Done 12 Here is test number 13. And a small Quantity of Text. And a small Quantity o YTXUT ENAO TEMLU D UERLAA TF>IUYLSDL TEI OSTA ERE OE LAADL> D MALLN A >OT > XD D% Hmm, strange. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

This works fine normally, but when I try to step through it with F8 why doesn't it get past the Wait please? Control Panel Open Wait for Window Title: Control Panel Macro Return <CONTROL PANEL OPEN/> <WAIT FOR WINDOW TITLE Title="Control Panel" Partial="TRUE" Wildcards="FALSE" Indefinite="TRUE" Hours="0" Minutes="0" Seconds="0"/> <MACRO RETURN/> -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

That fails because macro reports error message. But prompted by your general idea I wrote the following which seems to work OK. Get Mouse Position into (%N[1]%, %N[2]%) Relative to Screen // Capture existing position so that it can be restored later if required Move Mouse to Tray Icon to AWC // Move mouse cursor to tray icon with a name including the string 'AWC' On Error Catch Error: The system tray icon does not exist Text Box Display: Result // Message if tray icon is not present End Catch Error End Error Mouse Move: %N[1]%, %N[2]% Relative to Screen // If mouse did move, return it to its original position. (May instead want to leave it there, ready to click the icon.) Macro Return <GET MOUSE POSITION Option="\x00" X="%N[1]%" Y="%N[2]%" _COMMENT="Capture existing position so that it can be restored later if required"/> <MOVE MOUSE TO TRAY ICON Icon="AWC" Exact="FALSE" Center="TRUE" Left="0" Top="0" _HANDLE="0x002F" _COMMENT="Move mouse cursor to tray icon with a name including the string 'AWC'"/> <ON ERROR/> <CATCH ERROR Code="47"/> <TEXT BOX DISPLAY Title="Result" Content="{\\rtf1\\ansi\\ansicpg1252\\deff0\\deflang2057{\\fonttbl{\\f0\\fnil\\fcharset0 Tahoma;}{\\f1\\fnil Tahoma;}}\r\n\\viewkind4\\uc1\\pard\\f0\\fs16 That tray icon does not exist\\f1 \r\n\\par }\r\n" Left="Center" Top="Center" Width="278" Height="200" Monitor="0" OnTop="TRUE" Keep_Focus="TRUE" Mode="\x00" Delay="0" _COMMENT="Message if tray icon is not present"/> <END CATCH ERROR/> <END ERROR/> <MOUSE MOVE Option="\x01" X="%N[1]%" Y="%N[2]%" _PROMPT="0x000A" _COMMENT="If mouse did move, return it to its original position.\r\n(May instead want to leave it there, ready to click the icon.)"/> <MACRO RETURN/> -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

I used to follow any Text Type with a Delay (typically 100 ms) and seemed to get fair results. But recently, reasoning that it should be even better (possibly infallible), I've switched to using Wait for Text Playback. However, I seem to be getting erratic results. With a simple test macro such as Text Type (Simulate Keystrokes): <ARROW DOWN> // Move down to next line Wait for Text Playback frequently it will continue running indefinitely. But on the next run it might work OK. Anyone else having similar behaviour please? Or able to confirm my tests? Or perhaps I've misunderstood the capabilty or purpose of this command? Come to think, why wouldn't such a command be built-in to every Text Type anyway? -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

OK Cory, understood. I wish you could put your hands on your macro! I've been trying for an hour or so but have given up for now. I was placing command script lines into a text variable where I then intended to test it with If Variable %Command% Contains "<MACRO RUN" But that's getting screwed up sometimes when the command script line contains strings like '%T[1]%' etc. They get converted to their current values, instead of just being left as plain text. Is there some way to avoid that sort of thing? -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Bob, Interesting approach, must try it. I've got into the (possibly bad?) habit of using plain Text Type: Keystroke Speed: 10 milliseconds // Etc Text Type (Simulate Keystrokes): <CONTROL>c Wait for Text Playback // Recently changed. Previously I've been using a 100 ms Delay // Etc And at present I have Options > Preferences > Playback > Delays set to 2000 microsecs, 250 ms, 250 ms respectively. Presumably your subroutine empties the clipboard before each copy? -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Cory, Not sure I'm following you there? The above just exports all scripts, using the same Export facility you mentioned. No text editor involved. I vaguely assumed that the search macro would just prompt for a 'target' macro and then simply ASCII process/search the file, displaying the results as a list of macros in a Text Display, or a file if preferred. Again, no text editor. Both macros would then be combined. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Not really. As Cory said, the file creation macro is pretty simple. My hasty attempt below is probably a bit crude but it works OK here and produces a 12,000 line file from the 562 macros in my FULL.mex file in under a second. // This will export all scripts to an existing text file called CurrentMacroScripts, replacing its current contents. Window Activate: Macro Express Pro - Explorer Keystroke Speed: 10 milliseconds Text Type (Simulate Keystrokes): <ALT>feo // File > Export > Export Macros... Wait for Text Playback Text Type (Simulate Keystrokes): <SPACE><TAB><TAB><SPACE><TAB><SPACE><ENTER> // Configure the export appropriately Wait for Text Playback Delay: 1 seconds Text Type (Simulate Keystrokes): C:\Docs\SUNDRY\Macro Express\CurrentMacroScripts.txt Wait for Text Playback Text Type (Simulate Keystrokes): y Wait for Text Playback Macro Return (BTW, I've left that paste unedited apart from the formating. Why do I often get apparently blank lines in my script, usually (but not always) after a Text Type command? Such as between commands #9 and #10 above?) <COMMENT Value="This will export all scripts to an existing text file called CurrentMacroScripts, replacing its current contents."/> <WINDOW ACTIVATE Title="Macro Express Pro - Explorer" Exact_Match="FALSE" Wildcards="FALSE"/> <KEYSTROKE SPEED Delay="10"/> <TEXT TYPE Action="0" Text="<ALT>feo" _COMMENT="File > Export > Export Macros..."/> <WAIT FOR TEXT PLAYBACK Indefinite="TRUE" Hours="0" Minutes="0" Seconds="0"/> <TEXT TYPE Action="0" Text="<SPACE><TAB><TAB><SPACE><TAB><SPACE><ENTER>" _COMMENT="Configure the export appropriately"/> <WAIT FOR TEXT PLAYBACK Indefinite="TRUE" Hours="0" Minutes="0" Seconds="0"/> <DELAY Flags="\x01" Time="1"/> <TEXT TYPE Action="0" Text="C:\\Docs\\SUNDRY\\Macro Express\\CurrentMacroScripts.txt\r\n"/> <WAIT FOR TEXT PLAYBACK Indefinite="TRUE" Hours="0" Minutes="0" Seconds="0"/> <TEXT TYPE Action="0" Text="y\r\n"/> <WAIT FOR TEXT PLAYBACK Indefinite="TRUE" Hours="0" Minutes="0" Seconds="0"/> <MACRO RETURN/> Hopefully you or Cory can now write the complementary search macro! -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

David, I (correctly) get what sounds similar behaviour with applications in which there are files open that I've not yet saved at the time of closing Windows. Could it be that one or more unsaved macros in Script Editor are the cause? -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Thanks Cory, duly reported as a bug. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Steve, Maybe I've misunderstood, but it looks to me as if that was just a temporary glitch (maybe a delay updating the site) and is now fixed. Your second screenshot shows that you are up to date with the latest version, 4.0.1.1, yes? -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Thanks Steve, duly reported as a bug. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

My normal method of copying a couple of commands (typically a Text Type followed by a Delay or a Wait for Text) is to hit Ctl+d to duplicate them and then use Ctl+ArrowDown to move them to the new position. But unlike ME3, ME Pro does not keep the selection of both. After the Ctl+d only the first command is selected. Anyone able to confirm that behaviour please? -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

I'm trying to add a Repeat Prompt Start command. I don't want to use variables. I just want to get a simple prompt as I do in ME 3. But on clicking OK I get: "Invalid variable entered. Please make sure that there are % signs on either side of the variable. Please correct." -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Steve, Yes, I too have often wanted a search facility like that, along the lines that Joe describes. On occasions I've even resorted to opening my main MEX file (FULL.mex) in Hex Workshop Editor and using its search to find relevant text strings. So one line of attack would be to generalise that. Another sledge-hammer approach might be to periodically run a macro that successively copies all your scripts to a file, allowing you to then search it. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Thanks both. Unless someone comes up with something clever, I'm beginning to think perhaps I'd be better off ignoring the possibility that it's already open in an existing tab. After opening the page (easy enough) I could then possibly find a way to remove the duplicate if there is one. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

I'm probably making heavy weather of this, but if there are any Firefox users around I'd appreciate some help please. What's the simplest, most flexible way to write a macro that will activate a specific URL in Firefox? By 'flexible' I mean it must allow for various situations, some easily handled, others giving me more trouble than I'd expected: 1. FF is not yet running. 2. FF is running (not necesarily on top) but that page is not yet opened. 3. FF is running (not necesarily on top), that page is opened in a tab (I keep everything in a single FF window), but it's not the active tab. 4. FF is running (not necesarily on top), that page is already the active tab. This must be a common requirement for FF users, so I'm wondering if anyone has some finished macro(s) they might share please, so that I don't set about re-inventing the wheel? -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Hey, great stuff, thanks! I don't really need the tool itself, but I'm going to study your macro to learn more about handling variables. One minor quirk: my Taskbar (always visible) is being reported as 4 pixels wider than my screen. Obviously connected with that negative X-position value. But it looks OK. Return String Visible,Bottom,-2,1172,1924,30,0,0,1920,1172 Taskbar [1] Visible [2] Bottom location [3] -2 X-position [4] 1172 Y-position [5] 1924 width [6] 30 height Client Desktop [7] 0 X-position [8] 0 Y-position [9] 1920 width [10] 1172 height -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK