IceBox

I have a macro that runs every evening on a scheduled activation. It opens 4 different Excel files, copies info from them, and enters them into a database. Using a "Repeat Until" command, the macro runs down every line in each spreadsheet, until it recognizes it has reached the end. That file is then saved and closed, the next file is opened and the process is repeated. After the last file is completed, the file needs to be saved and closed, and the PC rebooted. Here is where my problem comes in... I have a different macro for each of the 4 files. When macro 1 recognizes that file 1 is done, it calls Macro 2, etc. After the "Reboot" command in Macro 4, I have entered a "Macro Stop" command so it does not return to Macro 3, 2, and 1, and continue playing back the rest of the script. However, this causes a pop-up that says "Macro 'xxxxxxxxx' has been aborted", therefore not allowing the PC to reboot on its own until somebody clicks the OK button. Any suggestions on how to get around this?

Thanks randall! I knew I was probably making it too difficult. I think I like your 2 command approach better than my 50 - 60 command approach

Use the "Delete File or Files" command. Set 3 integer variables for the date: e.g. N1 - Set from current month N2 - Set from current day N3 - Set from current year You would then have to go back 1 day: N2 = N2 - 1 And then you would need to write some extra code to make sure it corrects itself on the first of the month. Something like... If N2 = 0 (This is what N2 would now be after you have subtracted 1 from it) N1 = N1 - 1 End If Then you need to change the day to 28, 30, or 31, depending on the month. Use variables for this too: (The following commands would have to be included inside the "If N2 = 0" command above) If N1 = 1 Or If N1 = 3 Or If N1 = 5 Or If N1 = 7 Or If N1 = 8 Or If N1 = 10 Or If N1 = 12 N2 = 31 End If Then do the same for the 30 day months and the same for February. Once you have the dates squared away... you would delete the files named: Firefox 1.0 (en-US) - %N1%.%N2%.%N3%.pcv Thunderbird 1.0 (en-US) - %N1%.%N2%.%N3%.pcv Now after typing all that, I hope I didn't confuse the issue. Maybe there is a much easier way to do this, and if so, somebody please correct me. Otherwise, I hope this helps!

Hey HeyJim! Welcome to the board. To wait for a pixel color change, use the following commands: Repeat Until %N1% = 255 Get Pixel: Screen Coords: 326,372 into %N1% Repeat End 255 would be the color you are waiting to appear.

I haven't worked all that much with floating menus, but maybe you can add a "Back to a2" macro at the bottom of your "a25" list (And at the bottom of all the "a2x" lists of course). And then do the same for the "a1x" and the "a3x" lists. Then you can also put a "Back to a" macro on each of your a1, a2, and a3 lists. I've never tried it, but it sounds like it should work.

The error message you are getting is probably because Macro Express is attempting to re-open the last macro file (.mex) that it had open. If that file is under one account in the "My Documents" folder or another non-shared folder, you will not have access to that same file when logged on under a different user account. The .mex file you are using would have to be moved to a folder that is accessible by all accounts and you should no longer get error messages when logging on.

There are 2 users in my office having a problem. They have a key programmed in Keyboard Express 2000 (Version 2.7b) and all it does is tab 5 times. The activation is CTRL+Z. It works perfectly. I imported this macro into Macro Express and it does not work. I know it is activating, because I can see the "M" in the system tray flicker to a "Runner" and then back to an "M". But it does nothing. If I change the activation in Macro Express from CTRL+Z to F2, it works fine. But it will not work as CTRL+Z. I know some applications do weird things when you press CTRL and release it. Like they go into a different mode or something. Is it possible that Keyboard Express is trapping the CTRL and the Z like it is supposed to, and maybe Macro Express is letting the CTRL command "slip out"? I don't know what other explanation there could be. This just doesn't make sense. Any help or insight would be much appreciated...

OK, I'm pulling my hair out, so I turn to the forum for help... I have created a macro to run daily. It opens an Excel file each day and does some work in it. If somebody has that file open at the time the macro runs, it would be a problem, because the "File in Use" box would appear. I would like to program the macro to adapt to this. I would like it to open the file, wait 10 seconds (10 seconds is overkill, but this macro runs on days when I am not in the office, so there is no rush, and it's better to be safe than sorry), and then check to see if the "File In Use" pop-up is present. If it is, I would like it to press "N" for "Notify", and then wait indefinitely for the "File Now Available" box to appear and press "W" for Read-Write, and then continue on with what it has to do. This appears to be very simple, but I have tried 3 ways to do this, and none of them work: 1. I captured both pop-ups as Controls (The File in Use and the File Now Available Pop-up), and used If Control %C5% Visible Text Type: n etc etc 2&3. I used two different Window Title Commands: If Window Title "File in Use" is on top Text Type: n etc etc AND If Window Title "File in Use" is running Text Type: n etc etc None of these methods worked. It almost seems like the "File in Use" box freezes Macro Express completely, and will not recognize ANY MacExp commands until that box goes away. You can't even abort the macro while that box is displaying, either with SCRL LK+Pause or by right clicking the "Runner" in the system tray. If you try to abort, once you get rid of the pop-up box, it actually does abort, but it will not do it while the box is there. It is very rare that this file will be open when the macro runs, but if it is, my PC will remain stuck in that spot for the rest of the day, and all my other daily scheduled macros will not run. Anybody ever run into this problem? Have any ideas? Is this a bug that can be fixed?

Thanks Kevin... Very helpful!

Hi all. I am creating a macro and the first step I need is for the Macro Express editor to open. I used the code below which looks right to me, but it does not work. If the editor is already running, the macro activates it with no problem. But if it is not running, the macro will not run it. Any ideas? If Window Title "Macro Express" is running Activate Window: "Macro Express" Else Macro Run: Run Macro Express Editor End If

As you may have already noticed, when you have two windows open with identical names, an "Activate" command from ME, will activate the window that was last active. Maybe this info would be helpful in figuring out which window is opening. Also, if it is practical for the task you are trying to perform, and you always have your windows layered in the same order, you can use <ALT><TAB> or <ALTD><TAB><TAB><ALTU> to switch to the correct window. What program are you using? Maybe somebody in the forum knows a way to change the title for that specific program? I also found a program called "TweakWindow" that has the capability to change window titles. You can get a free trial at: http://www.filesland.com/software/change-window-title.html

In my offices, when a macro is going to be distributed that contains passwords, I use the Encrypted Text Command and select "Place In Variable". Then, further into the Macro, when you need to enter the password into the web site, enter the variable. I always put the encrypted text command at the top of the script, preceded by a remark telling the user to change the password on the next line. That way, with short and simple instructions, the macro can be distributed, and each person can change the password to match his/her own. See example below: // Change Your Password On Next Line Encrypted Text Text Type: username<TAB>%T1%<ENTER>

When an error page loads in IE, the window title changes to "Cannot Find Server" or something similar to that. I don't remember the exact title off the top of my head. You can use the "If Window Running" or the "If Window not Running" commands. Another option would be to use the "Variable Set String - Set Value to Topmost Window Title" command and then run logic tests on that variable. (i.e. If %T1% contains "cannot find", then send Email and Macro Stop, Else [continue with desired steps].)

Well I must say, I could provide a very extensive list of cool things I have done with Macro Express! But here are just a couple: First off... Macro Express has changed my job! I started with my company processing insurance claims, but after using Macro Express so often, I became somewhat of an "expert" in my office. People were relying on me for macro help so often, that I barely had time for my regular work. So now it is my full time job! For 40 hours a week, all I do is work with this incredible program, and I LOVE doing it! I am even traveling across the country now to other sites, training them on how to use and create macros, and making sure everything runs smoothly. And the best part is, even after all the time I have spent using this program, I know I have only scraped the surface of what I can do with Macro Express. Every week, sometimes every day, I happen upon a new idea, or a better way to do something that I have already been doing for months. And still to this day, I still get excited every time a new macro comes together and works like a charm. Thanks Insight for this awesome software! Most recently, I developed something that I find very cool. We have found that processors that are not reaching their production standard often aren't using their macros to their fullest potential. If you ask them if they use them, of course they are going to tell you they use them all the time. So I have started tracking macro usage. Every time a user activates a macro, the macro pulls their name from a text file that is placed in their personal folder on a shared drive. It then updates an ini file to count how many times they use each macro. Using the same text files, when the users activate a macro that they all have to piece together letters that they often send, their name is automatically entered in the signature of the letter. This eliminates every person from having to change the name in the Macro script. And for those people that get too excited with their "delete" key, I have a macro that runs every 5 minutes on my own PC that will tell me if any of the "name" files have gotten accidentally deleted. So after months and months of work, when this all came together, it was AWESOME. All the info feeds to ini files, and the ini files feed to Excel spreadsheets. So every week, each supervisor gets a nice spreadsheet showing every processor, and how many times they have used each macro. OK, one more... If you want to have some fun... (Don't get in trouble!) I use Macro Express all the time to play pranks in the office. I used to do this by creating macros at my desk, and then sneaking over to a co-workers PC when they step away form their desk and importing it. But now I have access to everbody's macro files and I can update them from my desk to make it much easier! Just a few examples... I have "planted" macros that will: Make somebody's CD drawer open, wait 5 seconds, close, and repeat 5 times. For those that I know use their PC to listen to CDs all day, you can make their volume increase by one notch every 3 minutes. They think they are losing their mind! Install one of the many many practical joke programs on a shared drive and have a macro activate the program. Practical jokes have never been this easy! There is a girl in our office who refers to herself as "Princess". So I planted a macro so that every time she types "Michelle" (name changed to protect the innocent), it changed it to "Princess Michelle". OK, that's enought for me. I can go on and on for days. Thanks Keith for starting such a FUN thread! I love hearing the cool things people have done with this program.

Floyd, are you saying that if a macro is set to activate with a mouse click, and you click on a button on the screen, that button should not respond to the click, because macro express will "trap" it? In other words, if I set a macro to be activated when I click on the Printer Icon in Microsoft Word, and the only line in the script was to play a wave file for example, then the file should not actually print, because the macro will trap the click? That is what I am getting from reading this thread. If I am reading it correctly, I am a little confused, because I created a macro back in the days when I was using dial-up. I set a macro to be activated when I clicked on my dial-up icon in the quick launch bar, and the dial-up connection box displayed each time. In other words, the macro would activate, AND the button would activate simultaneously. Am I understanding this correctly?

First of all, line 7 of your script says "Variable Modify Interger: %N2%=%N1%-60" I think it should say "%N2%=%N2%-60". That could be your problem. Otherwise... just a suggestion... I have been working with different offices within my company from around the country, and the title bar is ALWAYS an issue. I have implemented a simple rule at every office. All users MUST set their desktops to the "Windows Standard" scheme. If they want to play with their desktops, and use pretty colors, they can do that at home, not at work. I know that's not the answer you are looking for, and there probably is a good workaround that will take into account for the window title height, but it certainly is the easiest solution we have found. But, hopefully switching the variables, as I said above, will help with your problem.

Set your macro to run every day, at startup, instead of specifying a particular time. Combining this with the commands that Nicholas explained should give you the result you are looking for.

That makes lots of sense. Thank you so much!

Hello everyone. I am stuck… I need to copy a full name from one screen and enter it into 2 different fields on another screen. On the first screen, the name is always in the same spot on the screen in the form: FIRST M LAST If there is no middle initial, the form is: FIRST LAST Here is how far I have gotten: I can copy the entire name and then “Right Trim” to account for different name lengths. I then need to split the full name into 2 separate variables, first name and last name. I never need the middle initial. Using the command “Set Integer – Get position of Text in a Text Variable”, I can locate the space between the 2 names, and using that number, the rest is fairly simple to work out. However, when the name includes a middle initial (90% of the time), there are 2 spaces. I am assuming that Macro Express will set the integer variable based on the first space it finds. If that is the case, the first name will be very easy to isolate. But how do I know if the last name starts in the next character spot, or 3 spots over? I sure hope I explained that well. Any help would be greatly appreciated.