Selecting a tab in a row of Tabs in a word processor menu.

[Cliff S]

I  am creating a new macro that needs to select a specific tab in a row of tabs among other tasks.  The menu for this has a row of tabs. When the menu opens it opens on the tab or dialog box last selected. It does not always open at the first tab in the row.  I can repeatedly press the keyboard tab button until it places to the desired tab. In the macro I am creating I can enter a specific number of tab keyboard commands. This can only work if the menu opens in the same position last used which can be either a tab or a dialog box.  Is there a way to work around it. For instance, can the macro be created with a single task to point the cursor to the bitmap desired position and click on it.  Educate me on this. Thanks

[acantor]

Let's see a screen shot of the application.

 

What happens to the menus or tabs if you press and release the Alt key repeatedly? 

[terrypin]

And have you tried other keys? Sometimes a simple Home or Ctrl+Home will get you to a fixed tab from which you can then confidently navigate. While you're at it, try Ctrl+Tab, Ctrl+PgDown, Esc, etc.

 

Or, if your starting screen is consistent in its layout, simply click on the first tab before further navigation.

[Cliff S]

acantor - pressing the alt key does exactly what is suppose to do. It toggles on and off the focus to the first tab. However this means nothing. What the issue is that a ME3 macro does not do that. Which screen shot?  The document, the tabs, the macro explorer, the macro script or the keystrokes window?

 

terrypin - The home key moves the cursor to the start of the line. The Ctrl+Home moves the cursor to home at the top of the document . Both just as expected.  This means nothing too. The issue is that a ME3 macro won't do either.  "if your starting screen is consistent in its layout, simply click on the first tab before further navigation."  Which starting screen. I can easily click on the first tab. However that means nothing, what counts is that the ME3 macro does not click on anything. 

[acantor]

Quote

 

pressing the alt key does exactly what is suppose to do. It toggles on and off the focus to the first tab. However this means nothing. What the issue is that a ME3 macro does not do that.
 

 

 

Do accelerator keys appear in any of the "tabs," or does a menu become selected, when you press Alt? Do the accelerator keys and/or menu selections disappear when you press Alt a second time?

 

Quote

 

Which screen shot? 
 

 

 

The part of the window you are trying to give focus to, to or click on.

[terrypin]

When we see the screenshot of your starting point, maybe we’ll be able to help you further. And your current macro too.

 

I don’t understand what you mean by “a ME3 macro does not do that.” Are you saying that a command in your macro to simulate typing Home for example does not do so? Are you sure that the application is in exactly that state and has focus when the macro runs?

 

By "...simply click on the first tab before further navigation"  I mean do so with your macro, not manually! IOW,  use Mouse Move and Mouse Left Click commands.

 

Also, although I'm guessing (as you haven't yet told us the app or shown us a screenshot), sometimes simply using Backspace repeatedly will halt at the left most tab. From which you can then navigate with tab. (That's Backspace with the macro!)

 

The devil is in the details!

 

EDIT: It's usually more productive to confine a discussion to a single thread. I see you've also posted on essentially the same topic here.

I'll confine my replies to this thread. You've identified the application as Open Office Writer. So I loaded up a very old copy from my XP days and wrote the following one line macro which does what you say MEP cannot do, namely select all text. As @samrae said, use lower case 'a'.

 

And returning to your tabbing query, in the main Open Office application here, simple commands to access each tab do what they should correctly.

 

 

 

Text Type (Simulate Keystrokes): <CONTROL>a // Select all text

Here's the code:

<TEXT TYPE Action="0" Text="<CONTROL>a" _COMMENT="Select all text"/>

 

 

[Cliff S]

On 9/20/2019 at 4:24 AM, terrypin said:

.” Are you saying that a command in your macro to simulate typing Home for example does not do so?  Not exactly. If the macro contains the instructions Alt+O it will not perform it. If the macro has the command Text Type  Rainy day, it will type those words.

 

Are you sure that the application is in exactly that state and has focus when the macro runs? Yes this problem occurs when the document is open and the Macro Express Explorer is minimized. The SETI screen is minimized.

 

By "...simply click on the first tab before further navigation"  I mean do so with your macro, not manually! IOW,  use Mouse Move and Mouse Left Click commands. Not quite sure that I understand this. Are you saying that the macro being created, the first line should be instructions to point the mouse to the first tabs coordinates. Then  have the macro perform a left click?   That sounds like a good work around. 

 

Also, although I'm guessing (as you haven't yet told us the app or shown us a screenshot), sometimes simply using Backspace repeatedly will halt at the left most tab. From which you can then navigate with tab. (That's Backspace with the macro!)  The app type was in the title of the first posting. "Word Processor"  Using backspace does nothing to influence the tab focusing.

 

On 9/20/2019 at 4:24 AM, terrypin said:

 

The devil is in the details!

 

EDIT: It's usually more productive to confine a discussion to a single thread. I see you've also posted on essentially the same topic here.

I'll confine my replies to this thread. You've identified the application as Open Office Writer. So I loaded up a very old copy from my XP days and wrote the following one line macro which does what you say MEP cannot do, namely select all text. As @samrae said, use lower case 'a'.   My apologies if I had previously made a similar post. It must have been a long time ago. I don't recall that the old post was related to getting to a tab that contained the select all command.

 

And returning to your tabbing query, in the main Open Office application here, simple commands to access each tab do what they should correctly. The screen shot resembles no screen I have ever encountered before. It did not come from me. I don''t recall a  @samrae.

 

Text Type (Simulate Keystrokes): <CONTROL>a // Select all text
Here's the code:

<TEXT TYPE Action="0" Text="<CONTROL>a" _COMMENT="Select all text"/>

 

This looks interesting. The ME help page does not find anything about simulated keystrokes. 

acantor
Master
acantor
 

Do accelerator keys appear in any of the "tabs," or does a menu become selected, when you press Alt? Do the accelerator keys and/or menu selections disappear when you press Alt a second time? Yes it toggles them.  The ME3 macro does not.

[acantor]

...accelerator keys... Yes it toggles them. The ME3 macro does not.

 

Let's see the code that is does not activate the accelerator keys. A screen shot would be useful.

 

A[t

[Cliff S]

Screen Shots Macro Express 

[acantor]

The first line of your script should open the Edit menu. I would expect your command will cause the Edit menu to be visible.

 

It's not unusual for a script like this to need a short delay after to give time for the menu to open.

 

Some people find this works better, although I don't usually find it necessary:

 

Text Type (Simulate Keystrokes): <ALTD>e<ALTU>

 

If it's still not working, the source of the problem might be the activation you have chosen, Ctrl+6. For fun, try changing the activation to a function key without a modifier key, e.g., F11. I've seen instances of Macro Express accepting the Ctrl key as input and output, so the application might be seeing Alt+e as Ctrl+Alt+e. If this is what's happening, there may be workarounds.

 

If you have unchecked the checkbox that says "Wait for the Hotkey to be released before activating" in Properties -- the Properties button is at the bottom of the "Activations" tab in Macro Express -- check the checkbox, save the macro, and try again. Unchecking this checkbox can cause all kinds of mischief.

 

[terrypin]

@Cliff S

 

This is hard work!

 

When replying please either use the Quote facility or distinguish quoted material in some way. Such as by using italics etc as I'm doing here.

My reply below is now arguably academic, because your latest post finally makes your question clear with the screenshot requested six days earlier.

 

But FWIW here are my replies to your post of 24th Sep replying to my explanation of 20th.

 

Me: By "...simply click on the first tab before further navigation"  I mean do so with your macro, not manually! IOW,  use Mouse Move and Mouse Left Click commands.

 

You: Not quite sure that I understand this. Are you saying that the macro being created, the first line should be instructions to point the mouse to the first tabs coordinates. Then  have the macro perform a left click?   That sounds like a good work around.  

 

Yes. But that's typically used with web browser tabs.

 

Me: EDIT: It's usually more productive to confine a discussion to a single thread. I see you've also posted on essentially the same topic here.

I'll confine my replies to this thread. You've identified the application as Open Office Writer. So I loaded up a very old copy from my XP days and wrote the following one line macro which does what you say MEP cannot do, namely select all text. As @samrae said, use lower case 'a'.

 

You: My apologies if I had previously made a similar post. It must have been a long time ago. I don't recall that the old post was related to getting to a tab that contained the select all command.

 

Me: And returning to your tabbing query, in the main Open Office application here, simple commands to access each tab do what they should correctly.

 

It was not a long time ago, but very recent, 19th Sep.

 

You: The screen shot resembles no screen I have ever encountered before. It did not come from me. I don''t recall a  @samrae.

 

That's why we asked you for your screenshot. And I told you the source of my screenshot.

 

@samrae answered your recent post, whose link I gave you. You did not reply but presumably you do now appreciate the distinction he (and later I) made. Here's the link again:

https://pgmacros.invisionzone.com/topic/8506-me39-types-characters-will-not-perform-commands-in-word-processor/

 

 

 

 

[Cliff S]

16 hours ago, terrypin said:

 

Clearly this is a lost cause. I have decided to abandon it in favor of other ways to accomplish my intended objective. As a last effort below I am going to address both your questions and issues. Again my apologies. It appears to me that the system does not allow me to designate both of you as best answer person, so I will do it here in this post. Tnx

 

terrypin

 

"My reply below is now arguably academic, because your latest post finally makes your question clear with the screenshot requested six days earlier."

 

My apologies for not getting the screen shots to you sooner. My laptop does not show a F key labeled "PRT SCN". It appeared to me that Windows had quietly removed this function. I took time for me to track down the "Snip Tool". I have just found out that that the "PRT SCN key has been relabel to "SYSRQ".

 

You: Not quite sure that I understand this. Are you saying that the macro being created, the first line should be instructions to point the mouse to the first tabs coordinates. Then have the macro perform a left click? That sounds like a good work around.

 

"Yes. But that's typically used with web browser tabs."

 

Ironically I have never had a situation before where ME3 could not execute a tab related mouse click either in the web or a third party software.

 

"You've identified the application as Open Office Writer. So I loaded up a very old copy from my XP days and wrote the following one line macro which does what you say MEP cannot do, namely select all text. As @samrae said, use lower case 'a'."

 

You: My apologies if I had previously made a similar post. It must have been a long time ago. I don't recall that the old post was related to getting to a tab that contained the select all command.

 

My apologies again for not remembering the name @samrae. There was alot of text to try and keep track of. I had already tried using lower case letters in the macro and found it made no difference.

 

"It was not a long time ago, but very recent, 19th Sep."

 

My apologies again for not remembering the name @samrae. There was alot of text to try and keep track of. I had already tried using lower case letters in the macro and found it made no difference.

 

"You: The screen shot resembles no screen I have ever encountered before. It did not come from me. I don''t recall a @samrae."

 

My apologies again. I was not quite clear enough. I meant to say that I had never seen that particular screen on the programs on my two laptops.

 

"That's why we asked you for your screenshot. And I told you the source of my screenshot."

 

"@samrae answered your recent post, whose link I gave you. You did not reply but presumably you do now appreciate the distinction he (and later I) made. Here's the link again:"

 

My apologies again for not remembering the name @samrae. There was alot of text to try and keep track of. I had already tried using lower case letters in the macro and found it made no difference. Thus no reply.

 

Acantor

 

"The first line of your script should open the Edit menu. I would expect your command will cause the Edit menu to be visible."

 

It did so for many years, but became a problem a later.

 

"It's not unusual for a script like this to need a short delay after to give time for the menu to open. Some people find this works better, although I don't usually find it necessary:

 

I first encountered the need for a delay shortly after purchasing my first version of ME. I found that the delay was particularly important when using the repeat start and repeat start command in a macro. The macro would become wildly erratic and unstable. Worse the macro could not be stopped or terminate.

 

Text Type (Simulate Keystrokes): <ALTD>e<ALTU>"

 

Interesting Idea. But a couple of test runs of the above macro line. It did not work as hoped. When I ran the above as the only command in a macro, I found that the cursor moved downward one line. It performed the Alt Down comand and stopped. It did not type the letter e or perform the Alt Up command.

 

"If it's still not working, the source of the problem might be the activation you have chosen, Ctrl+6. For fun, try changing the activation to a function key without a modifier key, e.g., F11. I've seen instances of Macro Express accepting the Ctrl key as input and output, so the application might be seeing Alt+e as Ctrl+Alt+e. If this is what's happening, there may be workarounds."

 

I tested this with the activation set to F11. It did the same thing as it did using the Ctrl+6 activation. It just moved down one line.

 

If you have unchecked the checkbox that says "Wait for the Hotkey to be released before activating" in Properties -- the Properties button is at the bottom of the "Activations" tab in Macro Express -- check the checkbox, save the macro, and try again. Unchecking this checkbox can cause all kinds of mischief.

 

My version does not have a checkbox that says "Wait for the Hotkey to be released before activating" in Properties tab. In the activation portion of the properties tab at the top it was a Line called "Activation to display in Macro Explorer:" That has a pull down menu showing "Hot Key that is blacked out. In addition there is no buttons at the bottom of the activations tab.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[acantor]

 

1 hour ago, Cliff S said:

My version does not have a checkbox that says "Wait for the Hotkey to be released before activating" in Properties tab.

Click the "Activations" tab

Click the "Properties" button

Find the checkbox at the bottom of the resulting "Select a HotKey" screen

[Cliff S]

This is still a lost cause, going no where. Spending alot of time and effort. Time to move on. Tnx 

[terrypin]

Unless an ME3 user steps in I'd suggest you continue the discussion in the ME3 forum, where you posted recently. I no longer have ME 3 installed, so cannot test it, but it looks to me as if you've not opened the activation properties properly.

 

How long is it since you used the program before working on this particular task? Have you started afresh and written a simple macro that delivers keystrokes

- to other apps?

- to this WP app?

...and (in that new macro) explored changing activations, to ensure that you are following the correct steps.

 

Also check that your version is up to date.

 

And try re-installing ME3. Or, if your usage justifies it, upgrade to ME Pro.

 

Good luck.

[Cliff S]

terrypin

 

"t it looks to me as if you've not opened the activation properties properly".

 

As seen on many websites you can only activation globally, and has for many years.

 

 

"How long is it since you used the program before working on this particular task?"

 

Years

 

"Have you started afresh and written a simple macro that delivers keystrokes."

 

Yes

 

"- to other apps?"

 

Yes, they work as usual.

 

"- to this WP app?"

 

Yes, they work as usual.

 

.".and (in that new macro) explored changing activations, to ensure that you are following the correct steps."

 

All other activations tried do not work either. In addition, from reading many other post on the subject the open office app can only be activation via the ME3 scope set to the default "global". This has also been the practice for many years.

 

"Also check that your version is up to date"

 

Yes it's 3.9. I doubt that it is backward incompatible.

 

"And try re-installing ME3."

 

Been there done that before I started the post.

 

" Or, if your usage justifies it, upgrade to ME Pro."

 

Upgradeding is not under consideration, as nobody can state whether the problem is due to ME3, Windows 10 or any third party app. I might as well just guess which one is the culprit. The command Text Type: <ALT>I is a pretty rudimentary command and always worked in the past. Don't know of anything that Pro can do that I could not already do, or want to do.

 

"Good luck."

 

Waiting for good luck could take a lifetime, that I don't have or want. Time to move on.