Any Way To Start A Macro With Single Key From Dos

[nevada]

As a result of a long story I will spare everyone from, I have a

new need to minimize my DOS window with WordPerfect dozens of

times a day. I never had this need before but do now.

 

The mouse and title bar minimize button are too much time and

energy. Alternate spacebar to open the control menu and n to

minimize the window beat grabbing the mouse but grow old quickly.

 

Going to a dos prompt within the DOS window and invoking a ME

macro takes longer than alt-spacebar and n.

 

I have never been able figure out a way of doing an alternate

space bar and n from a dos program or macro to see if that would

work.

 

Is there anyway with ME to minimize my DOS window from within it

with one keystroke?

 

I use Windows 98 SE. I use a 84-key keyboard, with the function

keys on the left, where I can touch type them. It doesn't have a

win key.

 

I have discovered the following. On DOS pif file properties

page, miscellaneous tab, you can specify certain keys that

Windows does not pass on to DOS but processes itself. One of

those keys, alternate space, works as a ME macro activation key.

I reasoned that since Windows doesn't pass the key to DOS there

is no reason for macro express not to respond to the key if keyed

within DOS. However, it doesn't work that way. I set up a macro

with that key combination and from a DOS window it does nothing.

 

It seems to me like there should be some way to invoke a macro from within DOS so long as it only executes windows functions outside of DOS.

[kevin]

From the Macro Express Knowledge Base:

 

Macro Express only works with Windows programs. Macro Express works in the Command Prompt of Windows XP, 2000 and NT because the Command Prompt is a Windows program. It does not work in the MS-DOS prompt of Windows Me, 98 and 95.

[nevada]

The statement, "It does not work in the MS-DOS prompt of Windows Me, 98 and 95," is partially misleading.

 

You can invoke a ME macro by calling meproc and the a switch, like "f:\progra~1\macroe~1\meproc.exe /Acfl2cl" to execute a ME macro named cfl2cl. To save documents or blocks in the Windows clipboard from WordPerfect 5.1, I have a WordPerfect macro that stores the file or block in a text file and calls a WordPerfect shell macro which starts a DOS batch file which does the above call. I can then paste in windows. This takes a short while loading the DOS command processor, but it works.

 

Obviously two keystrokes, alternate spacebar, n, are easier for my present purpose.

 

It seems to me that for keys from a DOS window that Windows processes itself and doesn't return to the DOS window because the user checked them on the misc tab, ME should treat those keystrokes like from a Windows window.