Shortkey Question

[vndaber]

Hello.

 

I bought ME for more than a year now after extensive testing and comparing to many other macro apps. ME is more versatile than any other macro app, even from those with more than double price.

One feature that made me decide to buy ME instead of other apps, is the "shortkeys". But I still have some questions on this feature.

 

If I decide to assign the "`" shortkey (this is a key that it is useless to me), to the command "<ALTD><TEXTTYPE:<F4>><ALTU>", the keystroke is always received by the focused window. Under preferences> miscellaneous, I have tried all options available, but I couldn't find solution.

Under preferences >shortkeys, I have the "Prefix Keys" box empty.

For example I have set above command to apply in winrar, windows explorer, MS word, etc. When I press "`" in winrar, the windows closes, but the keystroke is always received first. Same in MS word, if I open a new MS word document and without writing anything press "`" (to send the command <ALT> + <F4>) the MS word is always receiving the keystroke and asks me if I want to save the changes.

 

Same if I use hotkey <F1> for the command "<ALTD><TEXTTYPE:<F4>><ALTU>", instead of shortkey. Whenever I press <F1>, the active app always receives the keystroke first. The result is the help will open and closes immediately. This means that the <F1> is received by the active app first, opens the help file and afterwards the ME sends my command to the active app which is the help file and not the app that I want to close.

 

Any help would be much appreciated. May be this is irrelevant but I gave higher priority to ME than the default (i.e. 2048 KB) but this also didn't help. Also I tried remap the "`" key to space " " but this had similar results.

 

Thanks

[randallc]

Hi,

I had hoped one of the ME guys would answer this; I don't know; I don't use "Shortkeys", only use shortcut combinations, so I guess I never see this problem. I don't know where I would use these keys you are using in preference?

Best, Randall

[stan]

Hi,

 

The way the shortkeys works is that the key or keys are actually typed into the application and backspaces erase the keys. Then the text or macro commands are played back. So when you type the "`" shortkey into your application, this key may do something in that app. The keystroke will be entered into the app before it is erased with a backspace.

 

In this type of situation a hot key would be a better solution.

 

The F1 key can also be tricky. Many applications have this key reserved to open a help file topic. This is a reserved key in Windows and we cannot reliably override the F1 key. This means that the help topic may open and then a macro plays back, or the help topic may open and the macro will not play back at all.

[XXGKASTK]

In this type of situation a hot key would be a better solution.

 

The F1 key can also be tricky. Many applications have this key reserved to open a help file topic. This is a reserved key in Windows and we cannot reliably override the F1 key. This means that the help topic may open and then a macro plays back, or the help topic may open and the macro will not play back at all.

Hello.

 

Please advise in which other type of situations the hotkey is better than shortkey.

 

Also now after the latest update there is no way to completely map the F1 key?

 

It is useless to me also. Thanks

[XXGKASTK]

I figured it out.

 

“Macro Express” is different as it executes the command/macro immediately after I release the hotkey combination.

 

Windows (and almost all other third party apps) execute any command immediately after pressing the keys; on the contrary “macro express” launches its macros immediately after releasing the keys. Therefore <F1> cannot be used as the active program receives the <F1> command (launching help) when pressing the key and “macro express” runs after releasing the key.

 

Is there any way to overcome this?

 

Thanks.

[jowensii]

Have you tried F2, F3, F5, F6 and so on. Maybe one or more of these are ignored by your app.

 

I use the functions keys along with a Text Box Display prompt (that leaves the focus with the application) to resume paused macros all the time. I normally avoid F1 and F4 but then I just find one that doesn't interfere with the app/ME macro that I am working with. Since my Text Box Display leaves the focus with the app, when I press the function key to resume macro, I'm really sending it to the app. Since I've chosen one that the app ignores, I'm good to go.

 

Text Box Display: Macro Paused...Press F2 ro resume macro.
Wait for Key Press: F2
Text Box Close: Macro Paused...Press F2 ro resume macro.

 

<TBOX4:F:6:CenterCenter000278000200:000:Macro Paused...Press F2 ro resume macro.Press F2 ro resume macro.><WAITKEY2:000000:000000:37><TBCLOSE:Macro Paused...Press F2 ro resume macro.>

[kevin]

What you are observing is that Microsoft treats different keys in different ways. Most function keys are sent to the 'hook chain' before being acted on. But when you press the F1 key in some programs, the help dialog is displayed and then the F1 keystroke is sent to the 'hook chain'. The result of this is the help comes up and then a macro assigned to the HotKey F1 runs.

 

To see the difference, create two macros, one with a HotKey activation of F1 and the other with the HotKey activation of F3. Load Internet Explorer and press F1. The IE help dialog comes up and the macro runs. Now press F3. The macro runs but the IE Find dialog does not come up.

 

Now, load Firefox and repeat the test. In Firefox when you press F1, only the macro runs.

 

Macro Express relies on keystrokes sent via the 'hook chain'. Macro Express cannot control what happens before it receives the keystroke from the 'hook chain'.

[XXGKASTK]

Really thanks for replying.

 

After crawling to the forums a bit, I found out about “Tweak Macro Express”.

 

Do you think that if I set “Macro Priority” to “0” and also set the “Caching” to 4000 kb, that will help Macro Express execute some commands faster?

 

Also do I have to run “tweakme3.mxe” after every reboot?

 

Because I set it to “0” yesterday and today it is set back to default (:1000)

 

Thanks.

 

Edit: sorry I forgot to post another question and I thought not to open new thread.

 

When I am using the Macro Express to terminate a process (with no visible window - just icon on the system tray) this icon is still displayed on the system tray, until I move the cursor over it and it then disappears. Not all processes behave the same. With some of them the icon disappears instantly, however most processes eventhough terminated maintain the icon on the system tray.

 

I know this is windows fault, because exactly the same occurs when terminating a process through "Task Manager".

[kevin]

Do you think that if I set “Macro Priority” to “0” and also set the “Caching” to 4000 kb, that will help Macro Express execute some commands faster?

The macro priority is most noticable with longer macros. It will not speed up a short macro.

 

The only reason to increase the size of the cache is if your macro file is large. If your macro file is < 1 meg in size, then a cache value of 1024 makes sense. If your macro file is > 1 meg and < 2 meg in size then a cache value of 2048 makes sense. The only reason to set the cache to 4000 would be if your macro file approaches 4 meg in size.

 

Because I set it to “0” yesterday and today it is set back to default (:1000)

Enter -1 instead of 0 to turn the Macro Priority feature off. This will give the most priority to running macros. Doing this will cause Macro Express to use more CPU cycles.

 

Icons in the system tray are controlled by Windows. If a program shuts down normally, then it will tell Windows to remove the program icon. When you terminate a program via the task manager or via the Terminate Process command, the program may not shut down gracefully. For example, there is no guarantee that files will be saved or even closed and the system tray icon may not be removed properly. I recommend that you use the Terminate Process command only as a last resort. Closing a program from its menu or by typing Alt-F4 is less likely to cause trouble.

[XXGKASTK]

Thanks Kevin

[rain]

I experienced the same issue as the original poster when using shortkeys. In most instances, I had the most trouble with Macro Express sending the suffix key, causing some unwanted effects in the program the Macro was working in.

 

I could have unchecked send suffix key in the shortkey options, but I had set up substitutions for spelling errors (If I typed recieve it will replace with receive) and there was no option to set this option on a per macro basis.

 

What I ended up doing was using the F12 button as a prompt field and setting variables that if the prompt field contained certain text, to perform the macro.

Although it causes an extra step, it works very well, with an added bonus of being able to set strings for search text without another prompt field (in the applicable text the macro would delete everything in the variable string prior to a space and send that to the search query).

 

I still use shortkeys in a few instances when I know that the suffix will not affect the macro, but the F12 prompt seems to have been the ticket for me.

Plus, a prompt field has the added bonus of being able to make sure you are spelling the text correctly, instead of a shortkey going into "empty space".

 

Hope this helps, or at least sparks something for other possible Macro Express uses.

[dgehman]

[reply posted in wrong thread, removed]