In the Macro Scheduler 13 releases notes we declared a known issue with the text capture functions when used to capture from a window or rectangular screen area if the underlying window belonged to a 64 bit process. And we promised to release a fix as soon as it was made available to us.

Well I’m pleased to say it is now here. v13.0.03 includes the fixed text capture libraries which address this issue.

Life is never simple though is it!? We’ve had to change the Text Capture Wizard very slightly. The new libraries don’t seem to like the way we used the mouse to drag the cross hairs to the target point for X,Y position capture. It seems that text capture can be affected by having a mouse button held down! I’ve reported this to the developers of the library component but rather than wait any longer we’ve made a simple change to the way the text capture wizard works. For point capture, instead of dragging the cursor to the point you want to capture from you now need to move the mouse while holding the Shift key down until you’ve captured the text you want (or move the mouse to the text you want, then hold Shift down until it shows in the wizard, then release Shift).

Workarounds seem to be the order of the day. Macro Scheduler 13 was built with the newest version of Delphi – Delphi XE2. Shortly after Macro Scheduler 13 was released some people noticed that if you open the help file from the main Macro Scheduler window, then leave help open, go into the Editor and then try and access the help or invoke help from the editor, the help window would become unresponsive.

This issue didn’t occur in v12 and we soon realised it is a bug introduced in Delphi XE2. We’ve reported it to Embarcadero and they are now aware of it. Apparently it is a regression to a bug that existed in an earlier version.

So the good news is that Embarcadero know about it. Trouble is they don’t release bug fixes quite as quickly as we do. So rather than wait we’ve completely re-written the way the help is displayed and handled so as not to use the Delphi libraries. So in this latest build the help system now works correctly!

V13.0.03 also fixes a few other small issues and you’ll find a complete list of changes here.

Registered Downloads/Upgrades | Evaluation Downloads | New License Sales

I am pleased to announce that Macro Scheduler 13 is now Shipping!

Here’s a quick round up of some of the exciting changes and new features in v13.

Easy to use Code Wizards

We’ve added new code wizards for simplifying image recognition, sending key strokes, performing mouse actions, and screen text capture. These code wizards are not just aimed at newcomers, but will also assist the most experienced developer in generating code more quickly. With these code wizards many tasks can be automated more quickly with less coding required.

To view these wizards in action please see the video demos listed below

• Text Capture Wizard
• Keyboard Wizard
• Send Keys to Object Wizard
• Mouse Action Wizard
• Image Recognition Wizard

Scripting Enhancements

Now you can locate UI objects by classname, get their screen position and send keystrokes directly into them even when they don’t have focus. The text capture functions have been improved so that more text can be retrieved from more applications including from 64 bit processes, plus a command to scan the screen for text and return its position. We’ve added a function to read data from an Excel file even if you don’t have Excel installed; more date and time functions; the ability to create your own error handler subroutines; faster – real-time – event handlers, more event handler types and the ability to create custom event handlers. V13 also has new variable/array management functions (and better handling of arrays in the debugger).

• Locate UI Objects
• Send Keystrokes to Objects Without Focus
• Faster Event Handlers
• More Event Types
• More Native Date/Time Functions
• Custom Error Handlers
• Improved Text Capture Functions with 64 Bit Support
• Find the position of text on the screen
• Read Excel data natively
• Improved Display of Arrays in Debugger
• More 64 bit support

In total there are 32 new script functions!

Run Statistics and ROI Calculator

A new tab appears in Macro Properties called “Stats”. This shows you things like when the macro was last run, how many times it has been executed, how many lines were executed, total elapsed run time, average time per line. It also provides a simple ROI calculator so that now you can easily show your boss how much time and money
your macro has saved you!

Hotkey Scope

Now you can specify whether a hot key should be active all the time or only if the macro’s group is active. This means hot keys can be shared between groups. Choose which macro should run by activating the appropriate group.

And that’s not all. For a more complete and detailed list of changes please see the version 13 Release Notes.

Downloads/Upgrades

Registered Downloads/Upgrades | Evaluation Downloads | New License Sales

Registered users with valid, up to date, maintenance can download version 13 from the registered user area here.

I’ve just uploaded another video preview to the Macro Scheduler Facebook page.

We’re close to releasing v13 now. So stay tuned for more news.

Don’t forget that if you buy v12 now you’ll get v13 for free when it is released. So if you are thinking of purchasing there’s no need to wait!

Video preview number 4 is now up on the Facebook page.

Preview video number 3 is up. Here: www.facebook.com/MacroScheduler.

Preview video number 2 is up. Over here: www.facebook.com/MacroScheduler.

I’ve just posted a video preview of an up and coming new feature on our Macro Scheduler Facebook Page. Please head on over to check it out.

I plan to add more previews over the next few days, so be sure to “Like” the page to get instant notification. Don’t worry I’ll keep the blog updated too.

Don’t have Macro Scheduler yet? Buy v12 today and we’ll upgrade you to v13 for free when it is released.

We’re currently working on an x64 version of MacroScript. We now have a working x64 compiler and run time (the Macro Scheduler UI and debugger is still x86) which we are testing internally.

If you are a registered customer and use 64 bits and would like to test out the 64 bit compiler/runtime please let me know. It would help if you have a 64 bit process to automate that you cannot currently do – easily or at all – with the existing 32 bit version.

It should be said that in most cases a 64 bit version is not necessary, as the existing version can still launch and manipulate 64 bit applications. But there are some areas where 64 bit support would be useful. One is where you need to scrape text from a 64 bit application (Edit: though we have a an updated version of the text capture libraries that utilise a “proxy” to get at 64 bit processes – so this will no longer be an issue). Another is if you need to run some advanced 64 bit operating system commands where a 32 bit equivalent does not exist. This is rare but such scenarios do exist. Edit: Actually that can be fixed by disabling file system redirection.

Remember that this is very early days alpha stuff – and as I said above there is no new 64 bit version of the UI or debugger just yet. We’re still working on that and still have some design decisions to make. At the moment the only interface to the 64 bit script interpreter and compiler is via the command line. So only those prepared to get their hands dirty need apply!