Problem With Hooks Or Focus?

[Spasian]

Hi. I'm having a lot of trouble retaining the Hooks (I think) on a macro. The macro is supposed to click the mouse, and type text in a windowed program, but there are two problems.

 

First off, I can't use the hotkeys to active the macro while the program has focus. They just won't active the macro. So, I worked around and set a 5 second timer to the macro, so that I could activate it globally, and have enough time to click on the program window myself.

(Is this an indication of a problem?)

 

Second, once the window is focused, nothing happens. No mouse movement, no macroed keyboard activity. If I click back on the MacroExpress window, the macro clicks and types like it should, but it just won't work on the program window. I have used MacroExpress for a few years now, but have never run into this problem. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thank you for your time.

[kevin]

What program are you trying to automate? What version of Windows are you using?

 

Some programs intentionally disable the Windows hooks. One reason to intentionally disable the hooks is for security reasons. If you prevent the hooks, you prevent key loggers and automation. Some games intentionally prevent automation.

 

Other programs unintentionally disable the Windows hooks. When someone is writing a program using hooks they can get their program to work fine but, if they don't do everything correctly, other programs that also use the hooks no longer work.

 

Finally, the Protected Mode in Windows Vista prevents the Macro Express hooks loading in Internet Explorer and other programs. We have a solution for this and are working on a new version of Macro Express that will correct this.

[Spasian]

I am using Windows XP Pro SP2. A legit one, btw, so I have the most recent Windows Updates.

 

I know it may sound silly, but I am trying to automate a game called MapleStory.

 

Is there a way to work around this problem, or is it stuck the way it is due to programming?

 

Thanks for the response.

Chris

[kevin]

If MapleStory is blocking the hooks then there is nothing Macro Express can do to send mouse events and keystrokes via the hooks.

 

You might try using Window Controls. Window Controls do not use the hooks to operate. But, whether or not they are available in MapleStory depends on how that program was written. If it does not provide Window Controls then there is nothing Macro Express can do about it.

[Spasian]

Thank you for the help. This thread can now be closed, or deleted.

 

Thanks again.

 

Chris