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Macro Express News
October 8, 2002 You have received this message because you are subscribed to the Macro Express News email list. To unsubscribe from this email list go to http://www.macros.com/esubs.htm, click on the unsubscribe link and follow the instructions. Contents 1 - Macro Express 3 version 3.0f is released 2 - Some viruses cause Macro Express to stop working 3 - How to stop a running macro 4 - Use TweakME3 to change Advanced Options 5 - Suppressing the Macro Aborted Message 6 - How to change preferences in Macro Express from a macro 7 - Changing the default Macro Express preferences 8 - Determining the state of a checkbox 9 - Past issues of the Macro Express News 1 - Macro Express 3 version 3.0f is released Macro Express 3 version 3.0f has been released and is now available for download from our site at http://www.macros.com/download.htm. All licensed Macro Express 3 users can download and install this update without cost. Changes include: 1. Added a feature that will load a default preferences file ("defprefs.mcf") the first time a user runs Macro Express (if the file exists). This feature is discussed in more detail in Section 7 below. 2. Added a browse button to the "Window Resize/Reposition" commands. 3. Added the "Add CRLF" option to the "Variable Modify String - Append to Text File" command. 4. Added a command to adjust and set the system date and time. 5. Added the "Set Window Order" command which allows the user to set the order status of a specific window (Top, Bottom, Always on Top). 6. The shortkey activation buffer is now cleared when a different window becomes focused. After installing Macro Express 3, you can click Start | Programs | Macro Express | Whats New 3 for a complete list of changes. You may also view the list of changes on the web by visiting http://www.macros.com/revise.htm. 2. Some viruses cause Macro Express to stop working Some viruses are known to cause Macro Express to stop working. The problem occurs when the virus interferes with the Windows "Hooks". On September 30, 2002 a new virus named BugBear was discovered. This virus can cause Macro Express to stop working. We recommend that you update your anti-virus software and scan your computer. You can read more information about the BugBear virus by visiting http://www.wintools.com/comm/virus/bugbear.htm. 3 - How to stop a running macro There are two ways to stop a macro that is running. First, you can press the Abort Macro HotKey. By default, this is set to Scroll Lock + Pause but you can change this by selecting a different HotKey combination in the preferences. Click Options, Preferences and Miscellaneous and then choose the option next to Abort Macro HotKey. The second way to stop a macro is to right-click on the icon in the system tray. When a macro is running, this icon looks like a running man. Sometimes Windows is too busy to abort a macro. At times the mouse click will not stop a macro but the Abort Macro HotKey will. Conversely, at times the Abort Macro HotKey will not work but the mouse click will. It depends on what Windows is doing at the time you try to abort. On rare occasions, Windows will not let either method terminate a macro. This can happen if a program running under Windows gets stuck. Once you close the program that is not responding, the messages to terminate the running macro will be processed and the macro will stop. 4 - Use TweakME3 to change Advanced Options TweakME3.mxe is a playable macro that allows you to change several Advanced Options that cannot be changed in the Macro Express preferences. Examples of these options include changing which pane has focus in the Macro Express Editors, adjusting what is displayed in Macro Explorer, changing advanced Shortkey options, and suppressing the Macro Aborted message. Download TweakME3.mxe from http://www.macros.com/downmore.htm and save it to your hard drive. Then either double click on TweakME3.mxe from Windows Explorer or import it into your macro file. You may also want to study this macro as a sample demonstrating use of some advanced macro commands and techniques. 5 - Suppressing the Macro Aborted Message When a macro is stopped before normal completion, a message is displayed that says the macro was aborted. The Macro Aborted Message is displayed when the "Macro Stop" command is executed, when the Abort Macro HotKey sequence is pressed and when a right-click is performed on the Macro Express icon in the system tray. It is possible to turn off these Macro Aborted Messages using TweakME3.mxe. Download TweakME3.mxe from http://www.macros.com/downmore.htm and save it to your hard drive. Then either double click on TweakME3.mxe from Windows Explorer or import it into your macro file. Turning off the Macro Aborted Messages disables the message for all macros run on that machine. 6 - How to change preferences in Macro Express from a macro When writing macros that will be used by many users, you may need to change certain Macro Express preferences. This may be necessary because your macros do not use the default values for the preferences or because you want to make sure that changes to the preferences made by a user do not cause your macros to stop working. The preferences for Macro Express are saved in the Windows Registry. The actual area of the registry used to store the preference depends on which areas of the registry the user can read and write. TweakME3.mxe, discussed above, contains sample macro script that can determine where in the registry the Macro Express preferences are stored. Further, it contains macro script that causes Macro Express to load the preferences from the registry after they may have been changed. To see how this works, download TweakME3.mxe from http://www.macros.com/downmore.htm and import it into your macro file. Then use the Macro Express Scripting Editor to view the macro. 7 - Changing the default Macro Express preferences If you do not want to set the Macro Express preferences from within a macro (see section 6 above) but need to change the default preferences used by Macro Express, you will want to use a defprefs.mcf file. To do this, you will need to create a file that contains the Macro Express preferences to be used when a user logs on to a computer and uses Macro Express for the first time. This file must be named defprefs.mcf and must exist in the same folder where Macro Express is installed. You can create defprefs.mcf on one machine and copy it to other machines. Follow these steps to create this file:
8 - Determining the state of a checkbox Macro Express does not have a macro command that allows you to determine the state of a checkbox, but there is a way to do this using existing macro commands. Several steps may be needed. First, get the position of the checkbox, second, use the Get Pixel Color command to determine whether the checkbox is checked and third, use an If Variable command to take specific action if the checkbox is checked or unchecked. There are several ways to determine the position of the checkbox:
Then, using the "If Variable" command, you can have your macro take a specific action such as clicking on the checkbox to uncheck it. Example Macro: Get Control %C1% Variable Set Integer %N2% from Control %C1% Left Variable Set Integer %N3% from Control %C1% Top Variable Modify Integer: %N2% = %N2% + 4 Variable Modify Integer: %N3% = %N3% + 6 Get Pixel: Screen Coords: %N2%,%N3% into %N1% If Variable %N1% = 0 // The box is checked Else // The box is unchecked End If 9 - Past issues of the Macro Express News Are you a new subscriber to the Macro Express News email newsletter? Did you miss an issue? Past newsletters are available online at http://www.macros.com/newsletters/MENews.htm. Comments and Suggestions The new features and commands included in Macro Express 3 are a result of feedback from customers like you. Let us know what you like and dislike about Macro Express. Send questions, comments and suggestions to info@wintools.com. Thank you for your continued support of Macro Express. The Macro Express Development Team Insight Software Solutions: http://www.wintools.com Macro Express: http://www.macros.com Email: info@wintools.com |
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