Activate window issue

[jehughes0112]

I have 2 versions of a program running. One of them is for production, and the other is a "read-only" version. I am trying to pull up data in my read only, and work with it in my production. The only problem is that they both have the same name. So when I try to use the "activate window" command it will only activate the last one I touched.

 

Is there a way for ME to tell the difference between 2 windows that have the same name?

[Cory]

No, this is a fundamental limitation. The subject has been brought up here in the forum several times but there is no elegant means. You can try to somehow make a different window title. For instance write a macro to make the read only copy someplace on your temp folder and give it a different name. Or actually close the one window momentarily. But these are clunky at best. You can't even use controls effectively because they look for the window title first. In my experience I've always been able to find a way around it but it usually depends on some eccentricity of the program.

 

Oh, here's one for you I used in Acrobat: Say you have two files c:\dir1\temp.pdf and c:\dir2\temp.pdf which both generate the same window title. The Activate Window will always take you to the first one in the process list. But if instead you Launch Program Only and put c:\dir2\temp.pdf in the Program Name box Acrobat will fire, realize you already have it open, and activate the second window. Many applications will do this sort of check when launching so this might be a workaround for you.