Overview
I've often thought that chat programs need a simply way to send images of the screen to one another. There may be something that I don't know about, but I found my solution in macro express.
One of the most frustrating things is trying to get someone else able to see EXACTLY what you are looking at. Say you want to show someone an article, but they needed to register and go through steps to see it. Or what if what you wanted to show required them to download software, install plugins, etc. I find this problem annoying when trying to communicate to less computer savvy people. But the thing most everyone CAN do is click on links.
What my simple script does is save a screen grab to a file, upload the file to an ftp server, and copy the url of the image to the clipboard. Then you can simply paste away, and the person on the other end of the communication line will be able to see exactly what it is you are talking about. The script may be extremely simple, mundane, and obvious for many of you, but I think it's a good example of how macro-express can be used fill software gaps.
What you need:
Screen-grabbing software - Everyone knows about print screen, but it seems overkill if you only want to show something specific. I use the built in screen grabber in Microsoft onenote, which allows me to grab a crop of whatever size and dimensions I wish.
An ftp server - Hopefully self-explanatory.
Macro Express - Self-exp as well.
Now, create a new macro, and paste the following into editor (doesn't matter which, scripting or direct):
<TVAR2:01:02:FPlease name the image:FFCenter:Center>
<TBOX4:T:3:CenterCenter000278000160:000:StatusConnecting...>
<CLIPSG2:0:!!Location on your hard drive!!\%T1%.jpg>
<TVAR2:02:01:!!full path of online directory!!/%T1%.jpg>
<TMVAR2:16:02:00:000:000:>
<FTPCONNECT:97:FF:yourftp.ftp:00021:username:‰HŒŒˆ‹K>
<TBCLOSE:Status>
<TBOX4:T:3:CenterCenter000278000160:000:Status%T97%
Changing Directory...>
<FTPCHDIR:98:/online/directory/here/>
<TBCLOSE:Status>
<TBOX4:T:3:CenterCenter000278000160:000:Status%T97%
%T98% Uploading image...>
<FTPSEND:99:B:!!full online path again!!\%T1%.jpg><TBCLOSE:Status>
<TBOX4:T:3:CenterCenter000278000160:000:Status%T97%
%T98% Success! %T1%.jpg uploaded.>
<FTPDISCONNECT>
<TBCLOSE:Status>
<TBOX4:T:2:CenterCenter000278000160:001:Status%T97%
%T98% Success! %T1%.jpg uploaded. Clipboard set to: %T2% Paste away!>
You'll see a bunch of annoying boxes that say, [text type]. I added them just so the code could be viewed in the box, so just delete those. Once you do that, it should look like below. The highlighted boxes are what you'll need to put your own information into (local folder, ftp server, username, password).
Quirks.
The status box thing flickers because there doesn't seem to be a way to have it remain constant in macro express. If there's any way to make this look nicer, please let me know. And of course, if there are ways to make this script more streamlined or clean, I'd appreciate feedback.