Macros from Shortkey stopped workig (Macro Express 5, 30 day trial)

[Bruno]

Hi - I downloaded the 30 day trial to share it with and suggest it for an office. I set up three shortkey macros, all worked immediately, and when I returned 30 minutes later, none worked.

 

I have read through hours of this forum, Googled, and poked around - I'm sure it's an obvious, dumb mistake, but I can't figure out what I might've changed.

 

Can anyone suggest something to check, or let me know what information you need to help identify the error?

[Cory]

I am not having any good ideas pre-coffee-effect.
Look in the Macro Explorer and see if the Last Run Time is changing.

Make sure MEP is still running. You shoudl see it in the Windows System Notification Area. 
What happens if you run it from the Macro Explorer window or Macro Editor?

I'll try to think of something else. 
 

[Bruno]

Grr, thanks. This may be too small potatoes to revisit. It's only working when I hit the play button to "force run" the Macro. Then, data appears in the "Macro Logs" file that starts this way:

 

Tuesday, November 21, 2023 11:18:18:668 AM: TMainWin.tmrFixFirstLineTimer: An error in the first line of the script has been fixed.
  From:    Text?
  To:    Text Type (Simulate Keystrokes): 

[Cory]

So there's an error in the macro. So it's running, just aborting before any visible activity. 

Also I was wonder how you have the scope set. For instance sometimes people set it to the window title but if it's an exact match and something like the document tittle is in the title bar, it will not work. 

Is it working now?

[Bruno]

Scope is global

[Bruno]

If I open the Macro, select "Test Run" and select the window I want (Notepad), it'll play. But "Test Macro Now" doesn't seem to do anything. Since it worked before, I don't think it has to do with permissions on my work laptop, although I did need to call the company's IT to get the trial installed. Thanks for your review and thoughts, and please, please let me know if anything else comes to you! I'm bummed, but'll see if anything occurs to me later, too.

[Samrae]

When you click the Run Macro Now it doesn't ask you which window to type in. Since the first line is a Text Type command Macro Express is typing into it's own window. The text is typed into the window that has focus.

 

The log entry "Tuesday, November 21, 2023 11:18:18:668 AM: TMainWin.tmrFixFirstLineTimer: An error in the first line of the script has been fixed" happens when there was a problem displaying the first line of a macro in the Script Editor. It has no effect on the macro running.

 

Log entries that include MacScript are events that occur in the Script Editor. Entries that include MacEdit are events that occur in the Macro Express Explorer. For events that occur in the Player look for log entries that include MacExp.

 

Here are some things to try:

 

1. Press and release the Ctrl key and then type the shortkey activation again.

 

2. Make sure you are typing the correct characters to activate the shortkey. Highlight the shortkey macro in the Macro Express Explorer window. In the yellow box under the list of macros the keys needed to activate the shortkey are displayed. For example, it may show something like  Shortkey   //ps

 

To activate the shortkey macro type all the keystrokes shown.

 

3. You can adjust what is needed to activate shortkeys in the Activations, Shortkeys preferences. Depending on those settings you may need to press space before or after the shortkey characters.

 

4. To see if the macro is activating put something at the top of your macro like a Text Box Display. You could also have Macro Express play a sound when a macro is activated. This is found in the Playback, Miscellaneous preferences. But it is annoying to have a sound played every time a macro is activated so you will probably want to turn this off after your test.

 

 

[Cory]

To be clear, are you running the problem macro in Notepad also?

[acantor]

If a macro was working but then stopped, the first thing I would do is exit Macro Express, exit every application, restart the computer, and restart Macro Express.

[Bruno]

Wow. Nothing makes me both more relieved and feel worse than having "restart the computer" do the trick.

 

I'm mortified and grateful for everyone's quick and generous help. Thank you!

 

I'll keep the rest of this advice on hand for the next time I run into any issue...

[Karlbu]

I was having problems getting my Surface Pro 9 to execute some macros.  Pressing and releasing the control key before typing the macro fixed the problem.

 

Out of curiosity, why does that solve the problem?

[acantor]

I'm not sure what the problem is, but my guess is that it's a coincidence that holding and releasing the Ctrl key made a difference. Unless, perhaps, your scripts do something with the Ctrl key, like this, which might interfere with the state of the Ctrl key.

 

Text Type (Simulate Keystrokes): <CTRLD>

 

It might be helpful to post your Macro Express scripts here.

[Karlbu]

Attached is a simple macro that pastes my email address into an email with the shortkey "##kb"

 

Recently, it it stopped executing after the shortkey is entered.  If I press and release the Ctrl key prior to executing the shortkey, the macro runs.

 

I have other macros that now behave similarly.

 

Cheers

Karlbu

paste email address.mex

[acantor]

I would start troubleshooting by confirming two things:

 

1. That "Use prefix keys" is set, not "Use suffix keys".

2. That "##" is the prefix key.

 

If everything is OK, I would change the scope to "Global" and retest. Right now, your script only works in one application: thunderbird.exe.

 

If the settings are OK, and the macro still doesn't work, delete the macro and recreate it from scratch.

 

Question: Is there a reason you're using "##" as a prefix? It's not that easy to type, with four keystrokes: Shift 3 Shift 3. Consider substituting a simpler prefix, e.g., "q" or "qq" or the comma or the semicolon.

[Karlbu]

Thank you for these suggestions.  Re-writing the macro and using the 'q' key as a prefix solved the problem. 

 

I just need to re-train myself not to use "##," which has been ingrained from over a decade of use.

 

Cheers,

Karlbu

[acantor]

Glad the macro is now working. Trial-and-error experimentation is the only way I know to make Macro Express scripts run reliably. I don't think it's possible for a macro to do exactly what it's supposed to do 100% of the time. For example, a macro might fail if a window inexplicibly gains or loses focus the moment after a macro is triggered. But 99% is achievable.