terrypin Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 My macro is activated by Hotkey 'Shift + T', one of the very few combinations that the application, Movie Edit Pro (MEP), doesn't use itself. I've scoped it exclusively to MEP. Habitually I use the Add Program tab for this, and choose a 'Running process', but thought this time I'd try Add Window and specify its title. However, when it comes to running the macro, even though that title is focused (blue here in XP), it will only activate if I first left click in the title. Makes its use just that bit less convenient. Replacing that scope entry with the running process, videodeluxe.exe, removes the problem. But leaves me curious about its cause. Any ideeas anyone please? More generally, are the Add Window and Add Program options to be regarded as equally useful/valid alternatives in all cases? Or does Add Program have some inherent superiority for some reason? -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acantor Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 I set the scope of my macros to window- or program-specific as needed. I have not noticed one being more or less reliable than the other. Have you experimented with settings such as "wait for Hotkey to be released" (Activation) and "a window with this title must be on top" (Scope)? I haven't had great success when the window title contains a wildcard, but YMMV. Can you reproduce the problem if you leave the scope as window specific, but you change the activation from Shift + T to a function key? Is the macro actually activated when you press Shift + T? (Little man running in SysTray.) If yes, try adding an initial statement that activates the application or window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cory Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 Sounds like the window is not truly focused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrypin Posted September 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2011 I set the scope of my macros to window- or program-specific as needed. I have not noticed one being more or less reliable than the other. Thanks Alan. I've never really grasped the distinction. If a program is on top then its window is always active, yes? And vice versa? Logically that seems to be true, although in practice I realise it doesn't seem to be so! Have you experimented with settings such as "wait for Hotkey to be released" (Activation) and "a window with this title must be on top" (Scope)? I haven't had great success when the window title contains a wildcard, but YMMV. No, but I have now - and I think that's the answer! After unchecking that requirement, the macro was activated OK. Thanks. Can you reproduce the problem if you leave the scope as window specific, but you change the activation from Shift + T to a function key? Same happens with all the hotkeys I've tried. Is the macro actually activated when you press Shift + T? (Little man running in SysTray.) If yes, try adding an initial statement that activates the application or window. No activation. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrypin Posted September 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2011 Sounds like the window is not truly focused. Thanks Cory, I agree. Looks as if, despite still getting the usual blue colouring, it isn't. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acantor Posted September 11, 2011 Report Share Posted September 11, 2011 I've never really grasped the distinction. If a program is on top then its window is always active, yes? And vice versa? Logically that seems to be true, although in practice I realise it doesn't seem to be so! Here is how I would explain the difference. Let's say I have created a macro to work while reading this thread, only. Because I am using Firefox, the title bar says: Activation puzzle - Macro Express Forums - Mozilla Firefox If I set the scope to Program Specific, I would need to identify the program: firefox.exe. The macro will respond whenever Firefox is running; the problem is that the it will respond in any Firefox session. If I set the scope to Window Specific, and specify the window to exactly match "Activation puzzle - Macro Express Forums - Mozilla Firefox," the macro is available only in this thread, and only in Firefox. (If I tried with Internet Explorer, the macro would NOT be available because the window title would be different, i.e., "Activation puzzle - Macro Express Forums - Internet Explorer." If I want the macro to work in both Firefox and Internet Explorer, I would set the scope to Window Specific, partial match: "Activation puzzle - Macro Express Forums" (or perhaps "Activation puzzle"). I hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul Posted September 11, 2011 Report Share Posted September 11, 2011 If a program is on top then its window is always active, yes? And vice versa? I don't think this is true. A program can exist without any windows, so I suppose it follows that a program can be active while a window from a different program is active. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrypin Posted September 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2011 Thanks both. I've been comfortable with the straighforward situations like those Alan describes, when the Window option is the obvious one to choose. It's occasional situations with complex apps like Movie Edit Pro (MEP) that sometimes baffle me. But that's an elegant and convincing proof from Paul. So some program/process, X, other than the visible, superficially active, blue-titled window, Y, can apparently be the truly active one. ME Pro therefore doesn't recognise Y . Unless an extra step is taken to force it to do so, like clicking its title before using the macro's hotkey. What I think is happening in the MEP situation that prompted this thread is that, although the app's main window appears to be active (its title bar is blue), in fact it's the editing window at the bottom (with a clip selected, highlighted in orange) that is really active from ME Pro's viewpoint. And that is presumably one of the countless hidden windows. Well, not strictly countless. In a test just now I've listed and counted all of those hidden windows reported by ME Pro while setting the scope, with MEP running as shown in my screenshot. There are no fewer than 227 of them, many duplicated dozens of times. None jump out as the one to choose! So, when I get this sort of issue in future, if the preferred Program option doesn't work and I use the Window option, then I'll make a point of following Alan's earlier suggestion to switch off A window with this title must be on top. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acantor Posted September 11, 2011 Report Share Posted September 11, 2011 Terry, Have you tried capturing controls as a way to distinguish the different parts of the user interface? Then use "click on control" or "set focus on control" to activate the part of the UI. The technique works beautifully in some applications, but not at all in others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrypin Posted September 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2011 Thanks Alan. I've had very limited success with Controls so it's usually a last resort. But I'll try it with MEP when I next hit a problem macro. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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