If you’re wondering why I’ve been so quiet of late it’s largely because we’ve been working flat out on putting the finishing touches to Macro Scheduler 12. A small group of beta testers are giving it a good workout right now and we should soon be able to open beta testing up to registered users, with a view to release in early June.
Here’s a quick round up of what exciting changes you can expect.
Faster and More Powerful Custom Dialogs; Improved Dialog Designer
The biggest change to Macro Scheduler is regarding Custom Dialogs. We’ve completely re-engineered the way custom dialogs work to give you access to more object properties while also improving responsiveness. We’ve added real-time event handlers so you can respond immediately to button clicks and other object events without the need for cumbersome “action loops”. You can get and set object properties immediately at any time. A new property editor in the Dialog Designer gives you access to all available properties and a visual menu designer means there’s no need to edit any code inside a dialog block.
So if you’re one of those people using Macro Scheduler to create user interfaces you’ll find you can customise your dialogs a lot more and make your dialogs much more responsive. Even if you only create the odd simple dialog you’ll find the new system is simpler.
- More properties
- More responsive
- Real time object event handlers (e.g. button OnClick)
- Enhanced property editor
- Visual Menu Designer
Scripting Enhancements
But if you don’t care about Custom Dialogs there are many more scripting improvements. Version 12 offers an option to give variables local scope. We’ve added native Excel functions, process functions, array functions, more string functions, improved the screen image recognition functions, added 64 bit registry support, added RegEx support to window functions, and added system tray functions. We’ve addressed some issues sending keystrokes to old 16 bit apps and Citrix applications. A new loop construct has been added: While/EndWhile.
- Local Scope
- Native Excel Functions
- Process Handling Functions
- ArrayCount and ArraySort Functions
- More String Functions
- Improved Image Recognition Functions
- 64 Bit Registry Support
- System Tray Functions
- RegEx Window Title Matching
- While/EndWhile Loop Construct
Multi-Tabbed Editing
We’ve made even more improvements to the editor. We’ve added editor tabs so you can now open more than one script at once! Right click on a filename anywhere in your code (e.g. in an Include or Macro line) and open it in another tab. You can right click on a subroutine name – in a GoSub statement for example – to have the cursor placed on the corresponding Subroutine line. Variable breakpoints allow you to set debug breakpoints based on variable values. We’ve added a search bar to the watch list so you can find variables quickly. Code folding is now remembered between sessions. Better integration with WebRecorder: A button launches WebRecorder and outputs the code you record into your macro.
- Multi-Tabbed Editing
- Variable Breakpoints
- Remembered Cold Folding
- Open Files From Code
- Jump to Subroutines
- Integration with WebRecorder
- Variable Search
Reorder Groups; Share Macros; Templates
In the main Macro Scheduler window v12 allows you to move and re-order groups using drag and drop. Quickly import macros by dragging .scp files from Windows Explorer into Macro Scheduler. Linked Groups allow you to share macros with colleagues by linking a group to a network folder and have new macros in that folder show up automatically. Quickly create a new macro from an existing one by right clicking and selecting “Duplicate to New Macro”. We’ve added templates. “File/New From Template” allows you to create a new macro from an existing .scp file.
- Drag and drop macros
- Duplicate macros
- Share macros with Linked Groups
- Resort/Reorder Groups via Drag and Drop
- Templates
AutoLogon for Vista/Windows 7
Reliable AutoLogon for Vista/Windows 7/Windows 2008. Specify a username and password in macro properties and if Windows is locked or logged out when the macro is scheduled AutoLogon will log in to Windows, run the macro and then log out again. Note, we’re discontinuing AutoLogon support for XP which was problematic. Vista/Windows7/Windows 2008 offers a much safer, more reliable mechanism for performing an AutoLogon.
And that’s not all. Watch this space for updates.
Keeping Your Software up to Date – Get a Free Update
If you’re thinking about purchasing Macro Scheduler don’t hold off. If you purchase v11 now you’ll get a free update to v12 when it is released in a few months. If you have a maintenance plan, make sure it is up to date.
