How to store the name of the active program in a variable

[Ken Granger]

I'm trying to duplicate an app I have on my Mac (GhostNotes) that displays "context-aware" notes that change depending upon which program/document is active. In other words, if I'm in a Word it displays a notepad file containing notes I've made regarding the document, and if I'm on a web page, it displays notes I've made about that page. 

 

Not being a coder I won't be able to exactly duplicate what GhostNotes does, but I thought I'd play around with it a bit. I can't seem to figure out how to determine what program/file is active. Can someone point me in the right direction? I'm sure it's staring me right in the face. 😐

 

Thanks for any guidance you can send my way!

[acantor]

This sounds like a good Macro Express project. The instructions you will probably need are:

 

Variable Set String %ProgramName% to topmost program name

 

and/or

Variable Set String %WindowTitle% to topmost window title

 

[acantor]

Another approach would be to use statements like these:

 

If Program "firefox.exe" is focused

 

and/or

 

If Window "How to store the name of the active program in a variable - Macro Express and Macro Express Pro - Macro Express Forums — Mozilla Firefox" is focused

 

[Ken Granger]

Thanks for the headstart! Yeah, it could be really handy. I'm sure I'll be back on here for more help if I get into this, so thanks for your wisdom.

[Ken Granger]

My first thought is using notepad files all stored in specific folder. The reason I need to grab the active program/document name is to be able to automatically create and open a txt file with that name if it doesn't exist, or open it if it does exist, when a program gets the focus. 

 

I'll give your suggestions a try.