terrypin Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 The colon ':' features regularly in my macros, as in C:\ etc. But TextType commands often type this as a semi-colon ';'. Despite slowing down the typing with Keystroke Speed (=50ms, even 100ms) I've still not solved this. Anyone else get similar problems please? -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevecasper Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 The colon ':' features regularly in my macros, as in C:\ etc. But TextType commands often type this as a semi-colon ';'. Despite slowing down the typing with Keystroke Speed (=50ms, even 100ms) I've still not solved this. Anyone else get similar problems please? -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK Activate or Launch: Window "notepad", Program "notepad.exe", Parameters "" Wait for Window Title: notepad Repeat Start (Repeat 500 times) Text Type (Simulate Keystrokes): : End Repeat <ACTIVATE OR LAUNCH Title="notepad" Exact_Match="FALSE" Wildcards="FALSE" Path="notepad.exe" Mode="\x00" Default_Path="TRUE" Wait="1" Wait_For_Program="12"/> <WAIT FOR WINDOW TITLE Title="notepad" Partial="TRUE" Wildcards="FALSE" Indefinite="TRUE" Hours="0" Minutes="0" Seconds="0"/> <REPEAT START Start="1" Step="1" Count="500" Save="FALSE"/> <TEXT TYPE Action="0" Text=":"/> <END REPEAT/> Results: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::: 5 out of 5 times, no semi-colon appearances. Note: the carriage retuns within the quote box are 100% generated by the forum, not the macro. Also: Speed settings are default, I haven't touched them since downloading the ME4 software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cory Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 The only time I've seen this is with misapplied shifts. I think you are one of the guys who likes to use SHIFTU/SHIFTD where I only use SHIFT and back in the ME3 says I would occasionally make mistakes with that. This was one reason I went to using SHIFT and ShiftU only when appropriate. Anyway that would be the first place I would look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrypin Posted March 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 The only time I've seen this is with misapplied shifts. I think you are one of the guys who likes to use SHIFTU/SHIFTD where I only use SHIFT and back in the ME3 says I would occasionally make mistakes with that. This was one reason I went to using SHIFT and ShiftU only when appropriate. Anyway that would be the first place I would look. Thanks both. I ran your macro Steve a dozen times with perfect results. With the main command changed to something more like mine, C:\Docs\abc\defghjk\123.txt I again got repeated perfect results. And again with that string in the clipboard and using Text Type (Simulate Keystrokes): <CONTROL>v<ENTER> The command causing the intermittent text corruption looks like this: Text Type (Simulate Keystrokes): C:\Docs\Maps\GPS+GPX files\TEMP-GPX\%T[1]%.gpx I use SHIFT, rarely SHIFTU/SHIFTD, same as you Cory. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cory Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 I use SHIFT, rarely SHIFTU/SHIFTD, same as you Cory.Oh, good. Apologies for the mis-attribution. So you're saying that simple macro command will give you a occasional semi-colon? What are you typing it into? What if you don't use the simulate keystrokes and opt for the clipboard. Not CTRL+V as you described but the drop down item? I would still look for something else causing the problem. Do you have any other macros or programs that could have upped the shift? Although I think this is unlikely because if the shift register was stuck it would have changed the backslash into a pipe. Perhaps you are typing into Word and an auto-correct is kicking in? I mean it's just got to be something else. When ME types a colon it types a colon, not a shift semicolon like a human needs to needs to so it's kind of hard to get it wrong. Are there any other problems with the target app? Can you try changing your target to Notepad and see if it does it there? Like I say, the only time I've seen this is when the shift got stuck but that would affect other things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrypin Posted March 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 Oh, good. Apologies for the mis-attribution. So you're saying that simple macro command will give you a occasional semi-colon? What are you typing it into? What if you don't use the simulate keystrokes and opt for the clipboard. Not CTRL+V as you described but the drop down item? I would still look for something else causing the problem. Do you have any other macros or programs that could have upped the shift? Although I think this is unlikely because if the shift register was stuck it would have changed the backslash into a pipe. Perhaps you are typing into Word and an auto-correct is kicking in? I mean it's just got to be something else. When ME types a colon it types a colon, not a shift semicolon like a human needs to needs to so it's kind of hard to get it wrong. Are there any other problems with the target app? Can you try changing your target to Notepad and see if it does it there? Like I say, the only time I've seen this is when the shift got stuck but that would affect other things. Thanks for sticking with me on this. More tests show that the problem arises when the variable T[1] is set, which is done with a sub-macro: Macro Run: Copy Name to T1 // Copy name to T1 Copy Name to T1 activates another application, places the cursor at the RH end of a text box (at co-ords relative to the window), types Shift+Home and then Clipboard Copy, to get T[1]. Using a minimalised test version of the main macro with a 5-loop Repeat, here's a typical result in Notepad, which occurs for about 8-10% of the copies. C:\Docs\Maps\GPS+GPX files\TEMP-GPX\20020515-Danehill-Walk(Drawn).gpx C:\Docs\Maps\GPS+GPX files\TEMP-GPX\20020515-Danehill-Walk(Drawn).gpx C:\Docs\Maps\GPS+GPX files\TEMP-GPX\20020515-Danehill-Walk(Drawn).gpx C\;Docs\Maps\GPSGPX f=iles\TEMP-GPX\20020515-Danehill-Walk(Drawn).gpx <-- Note the two errors C:\Docs\Maps\GPS+GPX files\TEMP-GPX\20020515-Danehill-Walk(Drawn).gpx I can't be sure without indefinite testing of course, but I think that if an error does occur it always includes that semi-colon. So, as I'm getting pessimistic about finding the root cause, I'm considering building in a repeat loop which tests for that, and copies again if it finds a semi-colon. Desperate measures, but ... -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kunkel321 Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 I wonder if it would be helpful to throw in a superfluous <SHIFTUP>?? Just speculating, but I image the Shift in "Shift-Home" is not always releasing... I find a similar thing when typing into the notes field in MindManager... My macros work perfectly in Note Pad, Word, and other apps, but in MM I get irregular "mis-types" about 20% of the time. Usually it'll be skipped letters, but occasionally I'll get ALL CAPS. I speculate that there are background processes from MM that are competing for computer resources while MacExpPro is trying to run... DOn't know for sure though. If you (Terry) get a working "self-checking" loop (as you suggested in your last post), please share... I'd like to see how you do it--might implement one too. -steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrypin Posted March 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 I wonder if it would be helpful to throw in a superfluous <SHIFTUP>?? Just speculating, but I image the Shift in "Shift-Home" is not always releasing... I find a similar thing when typing into the notes field in MindManager... My macros work perfectly in Note Pad, Word, and other apps, but in MM I get irregular "mis-types" about 20% of the time. Usually it'll be skipped letters, but occasionally I'll get ALL CAPS. I speculate that there are background processes from MM that are competing for computer resources while MacExpPro is trying to run... DOn't know for sure though. If you (Terry) get a working "self-checking" loop (as you suggested in your last post), please share... I'd like to see how you do it--might implement one too. -steve Thanks Steve. Pleased to say that I eventually discovered the cause last night - while I still had hair left Here's the explanation in case anyone else has a generically similar issue and ends up in this thread. Turns out you are right on the mark in your speculation about conflict in background processes. In my case it's with a power utility program I've described before, called Stiletto. On closer study I realised that the spurious and intermittent characters were always the same two, semi-colon ';' and equals '='. It couldn't be coincidence that these were the two prefix characters used by Stiletto for its 'macrophrases', like ME Pro's shortkey prefixes. (Stiletto allows flexible choices in case there are application conflicts. My normal prefix is '=' but I use ';' as an alternative in Excel, as that's its Formula indicator.) After temporarily closing Stiletto, my macro ran perfectly! I'm still perplexed as to why this occurred though, because nothing was actively being done by Stilettto at the time these random errors happened. Anyway, now that I know, I'll run a macro that closes Stiletto at the very start of my macro, and re-open at its end. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cory Posted March 25, 2009 Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 I'm still perplexed as to why this occurred though, because nothing was actively being done by Stilettto at the time these random errors happened.Perhaps something in the ME macro was causing a Stiletto macro to run. Just like key combinations in MEP can cause other MEP macros to run inadvertently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrypin Posted March 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 Perhaps something in the ME macro was causing a Stiletto macro to run. Just like key combinations in MEP can cause other MEP macros to run inadvertently. I guess this is just another example of the strangeness of Stiletto For example, the only way I've found so far of reliably starting it is to d-click C:\Program Files\Stiletto\stiletto.exe. Using a standard shortcut of any flavour doesn't usually work. The process appears in TM, but the program's UI doesn't appear. So I'm still looking for a neat and robust way to get ME Pro to respectively close & open Stiletto at the start & end of my macros. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul Posted March 26, 2009 Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 I don't understand your problems with opening and closing Stiletto! I downloaded it and successfully did the following: - created a desktop shortcut to Stiletto.exe which works exactly the same as double-clicking on Stiletto.exe, i.e. "GUI" appears - Launched Stiletto from a macro using the Program Launch command - Closed Stiletto using the documented close command in another Program Launch command, e.g. Program Launch D:\stil19w\stiletto.exe Parameters stiletto.ini close If your .ini file is called something else, use that name, but don't supply the folder name as part of the .ini parameter Works perfectly for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cory Posted March 26, 2009 Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 Pleased to say that I eventually discovered the cause last night - while I still had hair left I would like to point out here that most of the times these weird things we see on one persons machine are usually due to some odd utility or a problem with the user's computer. It's unfair to assume MEP is always the problem. I mean we see it over and over in the forum. I'm always suggesting to look for incompatibilities with other apps and my advice is usually ignored as far as I can tell. Anyone who is into ME is going to be a tweak and likely to have many pieces of tweak-ware on their PC. And I'm not saying MEP is perfect or that problems that are MEP bugs can't be apparent to only one user but to jump to the conclusion it's MEP's fault just because it's apparent in MEP is not fair and not the best course to take in troubleshooting. BTW thank you very much Terry for following up so everyone now and in the future will be able to see what the solution was. It's one of my pet peeves with Internet forums that people ask a question about a problem, got several suggestions, and never followed up. It's like reading a bunch of paperbacks only to find someone has torn the last chapter out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrypin Posted March 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 I don't understand your problems with opening and closing Stiletto! I downloaded it and successfully did the following: - created a desktop shortcut to Stiletto.exe which works exactly the same as double-clicking on Stiletto.exe, i.e. "GUI" appears Well, it definitely doesn't work here, so there must be some difference(s) between our respective setups. Perhaps my Stiletto configuration is more complex than yours? Even though I've culled it down over the years, my bar still has 8 buttons with a total of 13 menus and stiletto.ini is a 1,750 line file of about 53 KB. As I said earlier, what happens is that stiletto.exe appears as a running process in XP TM, but is not accessible in the usual way. In my case that's by taking my mouse cursor to the middle section of the top screen edge. - Launched Stiletto from a macro using the Program Launch command Not surprisingly, that fails too. But if you post your code I could try it. - Closed Stiletto using the documented close command in another Program Launch command, e.g. Program Launch D:\stil19w\stiletto.exe Parameters stiletto.ini close If your .ini file is called something else, use that name, but don't supply the folder name as part of the .ini parameter Works perfectly for me! Just wish I could say the same I wonder if our versions differ? I think mine is 98h, which I thought was the latest. Given that it's long since been obsoleted by Power Pro, I was surprised you found a download. If you post or PM me the link I'll try that too. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 STILETTO (V1.9v June 96) Stiletto Unfortunately I didn't save the macro. But I published the gist of the code - there was nothing tricky about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrypin Posted March 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 STILETTO (V1.9v June 96) Stiletto Thanks, I've downloaded that. I'm looking forward to playing with it soon, but it's clear that it's a radically simplified version. Bruce stopped developing Stiletto in 1998 and used it as the embryo for Power Tools (which one of these days I'm determined to try again). But he must have subsequently pruned and simplified it and made it freeware. As an indication of relative complexity, excluding all extra INI files I've created over the years, my C:\Program Files\Stiletto folder is 3.2 MB, but C:\Program Files\stil19w is a mere 664 KB. Unfortunately I didn't save the macro. But I published the gist of the code - there was nothing tricky about it! My XP shortcut for opening Stiletto is simply "C:\Program Files\Stiletto\stiletto.exe", (including the quotes) starting in "C:\Program Files\Stiletto", with no shortcut key, and specifying a Normal window. It intermittently fails in the way I described: no bar is accessible, although the process stiletto.exe gets loaded. (And so I have to remember to use TM to close that instance before trying again.) I added 'stiletto.ini' after the executable but that seems unnecessary and makes no improvement. Similarly, the following macro is also intermittent. It seems to work when run independently, but not inside a Macro Run command: Program Launch: "stiletto.exe" (Normal) Parameters: stiletto.ini On the positive side, I'm pleased to say that I seem to be having success using your close macro, thanks. I'd been using ME Pro's Program Shut Down command, with unreliable results. -- Terry, West Sussex, UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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