Sometimes it works Sometimes it doesn't Part II

[patgenn123]

Here is another example of why MEPro does not work consistently:

 

I use a Control Activation and then this script:

 

 

<DELAY Flags="\x12" Time="250"/>
<TEXT TYPE Action="0" Text="<CTRLD>c<CTRLU>"/>
<VARIABLE SET STRING Option="\x02" Destination="%T[1]%"/>

 

The point of the script is when I click on the LIST Control(of which I activate from MEPro), ME is supposed to type a Ctrl+C to copy the line onto the clipboard. It is never EVER EVER consistent.

 

I used 2 activations events(control event and mouse event) together. I used the mouse Event Activation solo. I used Control Event Solo. It never works consistently. NEVER.

 

When I go from one list line to another list line, it does not copy the next click no matter what is used or any combination thereof(mouse event and or control event). the reason is that it does not capture the text because the window title is not reactivated, but that does not matter because the Mouse Event Solo should solve this problem. The Problem is that this control event is not consistent either.

 

Now if I am doing something wrong, I would like to know. No matter how much of a delay is used in any way, shape or form in the script itself, it does not work consistently. If I put a 250 milliseocnd delay at the top, it still does not work well.

 

In short nothing works well. Nothing.

 

Pat

[paul]

Once you have selected your text, how about getting your macro to do a right-click and then choose the Copy option? Would that work better?

[patgenn123]

Paul,

 

Thanks. However the database I am using does not have a COPY right-click. I use ACT! for contact management and it does not have a right click copy. Besides it's not as elegant/smooth.

 

any other ideas to get MEPro to work the way it should(or the way I should?) Is this a flaw in the software?

 

I added a message box to the end of this script and because the message box steals the focus of the database window, it works 100% of the time because when I click on the control again, it brings the focus back to the list control and it works 100% of the time. The problem is when a user(such as myself) clicks one line and then the next line(without a messagebox stealing the focus), it does not work even though the Activation is a Control Event and its supposed to activate when the control gains focus.

 

Why not tell us that this is not true? The dropdown in Control Event activation says it will trigger when the control gains focus. Well, what it really means is that it will activate when the top level window gains focus and then it will work. That's not right. It should work when the listbox gains focus and that means when I click anywhere on the control regardless of whether the top level window has to reset itself for another run at it.

 

At least there should be an option for this. The control event only works when the top level window resets it. That's not right. A database listbox such as in ACT! should be able to be clicked 5 trillion times and not have a relationship with the top level window that way.

 

 

Pat

[paul]

Thanks. However the database I am using does not have a COPY right-click. I use ACT! for contact management and it does not have a right click copy. Besides it's not as elegant/smooth.

Instead of a right-click context menu, is there a menu option under a top-level entry called, say, Edit?

[patgenn123]

Yes, the program does have a copy from the edit menu on top, but I had it planned to do it by clicking on the control. Oh well, I just wish that ME could do it the way I planned it.

 

What does it mean that it activates the control from the Control Event then? It is no different than Control Window gaining focus. There is no difference between the Control gaining focus and the control's window gaining focus. Why have the two when they act the same?

 

Pat

[acantor]

It takes time and effort to make macros work reliably. There are no shortcuts to success, except putting in the hours and doing a lot of trial-and-error experimentation.

 

I find macros triggered by control events can be tricky to script. When they work, they work beautifully, but getting there can be circuitous. Sometimes, strategic time delays inserted into the script is all it takes. On occasion, I have switched control activations to window (or other) activation because there was either no advantage, or no way (that I could find) to make the scripts reliable.

 

You might want to try chaning the copy command to <CONTROL>c. It's probably not the reason your script isn't working reliably, but with all macros, simplicity is a virtue!