some macros work but some don't???

[margaret]

I have written macros for indexers, to copy terms out of a PDF into an indexing program. Usually either they work, or they don't, for a variety of reasons, all of which I have been able to decipher in the past. But now one person is saying that some macros work and some don't. What could account for this? It seemed to happen after she installed some sort of Windows update, but I don't know how a Windows update would product such a result.

Thanks,

Margaret

 

[acantor]

Complex macros, especially written using a scripting tool like Macro Express, can be "fragile" -- they are easily thrown "off" by all sorts of circumstances. 

With time and effort, it's usually possible to refine scripts to be almost 100% reliable. It sounds like you, in conversation with the indexers, are the best person to track down the reasons the macros are sometimes failing.

The repair might be very simple, e.g., adding a delay between critical steps. Or the repair may necessitate ditching the macro and trying an entirely different approach to automating the task. There are no rules about what might cause a macro to be unreliable; figuring it out usually takes trial and error experimentation.