Macro Recording and Automating Windows with Macro Scheduler – Tips & News
In the comments to my last post Richard asked how we can wait for a process to finish updating a file. In my reply to Richard I point out that most of the time we can use a visual cue. Where possible this is the approach I would use. Usually an application would present some […]
Today I was helping someone who was wanting to write a script to take screen-shots from one application and then paste those screen-shots into Microsoft Excel. Initially things weren’t working reliably because the script didn’t factor in the time taken for the large bitmap of a screen-shot to exist in the clipboard after pressing the […]
Edit: 23 March 2011. In Version 12 it is possible to make a dialog stay on top simply by setting the dialog’s FormStyle property to fsStayOnTop. The method outlined in this post is not necessary for v12 dialogs but will remain as it can be used for older versions and the same approach can be […]
If you need to run a 64 bit system command, or a system command that requires access to the 64 bit system folders you may need to turn off File System Redirection. To turn off File System Redirection call the snappily named Wow64DisableWow64FsRedirection function and remember to turn it back on with the equally memorable […]
Macro Scheduler has a number of scheduling features to allow you to specify when a macro should fire. One of these mechanisms is called a Trigger. There are several trigger types: Window Event File Event Folder Event Custom Event A Window Event can be set to fire when a specified window appears or disappears. Similarly […]
When sending keystrokes to other applications remember that Macro Scheduler works much faster than a human being can type. Many applications do form field verification or background processing on the fly as the text is received. And most applications were designed on the assumption that a human being would be operating them. It may not […]
A quick and easy way to launch a URL in the default web browser is just to use the ExecuteFile command: ExecuteFile>http://www.mjtnet.com/ However, I have recently discovered that ExecuteFile is currently limited to a command line length of MAX_PATH (260 chars) and that if more than 260 chars are passed it will cause Macro Scheduler […]
As noted yesterday I have been waiting on Twitter to provide xAuth access. They declined, saying it was not appropriate. I’m not really sure why. No matter, I decided to make a small DLL to simplify Tweeting from Macro Scheduler. It uses the full oAuth interface. Implementing oAuth in Macro Scheduler code would require lots […]
A while back I posted an article showing how to Tweet via Twitter‘s API. It uses basic authentication which Twitter plan to turn off in the near future. The alternative, oAuth is awkward for desktop based apps, but xAuth is now available and should be doable in Macro Scheduler. I have requested xAuth access from […]
I thought I might start a weekly round up of some of the Macro Scheduler forum posts that caught my eye during the week. Not everyone gets a chance to browse the forums all the time, so it might help to link to some here. Then those that subscribe to the blog via RSS/Email will […]