Author Topic: DONE: A quick, no-gui, one script holding macro recorder/player. (Read 77,995 times)

vbmark · « **on:** November 03, 2005, 09:58 PM »

Greetings,

I want a macro recorder/player that works as follows:

-- It sits in the system tray.
-- When I do Ctrl-F12 (or some assignable key combo) it changes colors to let me know that it's recording.
-- It records all keyboard and mouse activity.
-- I do Ctrl-F12 and it stops recording.
-- I do Ctrl-F5 and it runs.
-- I do Ctrl-F5 and it runs again.
-- I do Ctrl-F5 and it runs again.
-- etc.
-- I do Ctrl-F12 and it records a new macro over the old one.

Note: I don't care if it saves the macro. It's just for quick, repetitive stuff like adding the letters "abc" to the front of every line of text in notepad.

For example: I start the recorder, type "abc" once, arrow key to the front of the next line, stop the macro and do Ctrl-F5 for as many times as I need the text added to each line.

This would be great! PSPad has something like it but I want this ability in all programs.

Thanks!

LuckMan212 · « **Reply #1 on:** November 04, 2005, 04:47 AM »

wow I think this a really great idea, I have looked for this kind of utility as well... hopefully somebody will want to create it!

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #2 on:** November 04, 2005, 04:19 PM »

There are some good lookingfreeware marco/automate tools here you could try out

AceMacro, MacroMaker and WinMacro look like they are worth a look.

I haven't tried these (I have a couple of macro programs running already so don't want to get confused with more) ...

vbmark · « **Reply #3 on:** November 04, 2005, 05:02 PM »

Actually I've already been through that entire page and none of them work as I need.

Thanks though.

mouser · « **Reply #4 on:** November 04, 2005, 05:45 PM »

this seems like a very good idea.. i might try it duing our next coding snacks weekend if no one can find a proper macro tool to do it in the meantime. does seem like it might be a feature present in a proper macro tool though.

jazper · « **Reply #5 on:** November 04, 2005, 06:41 PM »

I took a stab at it, this is an initial version, if this is what you had in mind, i'll customize it so that you can change the Hot Keys, and save the macro as well.

Defaults:

Start/Stop Macro Recording - > CTL-F12
Playback -> CTL-F5

Also, the tray icon has 3 colors

Green - Not Recording
Red - Recording
Yellow - Replay macro

http://www.zaboo.net/kdunlap/QuickMacro.zip

jazper

mouser · « **Reply #6 on:** November 04, 2005, 07:31 PM »

WORKS LIKE A CHARM HERE - JUST BEAUTIIFUL.

one thing i would like to see in a future release:
1) ability to set options saying macro should play back at full speed.
2) about box that would remind me the keys to use.
3) the hotkeys are fine for me but some people might want to change them.

Really amazing job.

mouser · « **Reply #7 on:** November 04, 2005, 07:34 PM »

jazper - if you want some web space to put up your files just drop me a line - this tool in particular should be up on a website somewhere that people can find.

jazper · « **Reply #8 on:** November 04, 2005, 08:03 PM »

mouse,
that works, let me know what I need to do for that.

jazper

skrommel · « **Reply #9 on:** November 04, 2005, 10:10 PM »

A late entry!

DoOver - Record and playback keyboard and mouse actions.

Features:
- User defined hotkeys.
- Recorded macro can be edited throught the Settings menu before playback.
- Change playback speed through the Settings menu.
- Press Ctrl-F12 to start and stop recording.
- Press Ctrl-F5 to start playback.
- Won't move windows due to relative mouse actions.

Changes:
- 2005.11.06: Updated to v1.1: Added userdefined hotkeys and settings to ini file, better window handling.

You'll find the downloads and more info at Skrommel Software.

Skrommel

mouser · « **Reply #10 on:** November 04, 2005, 11:37 PM »

DoOver works amazing... love the way it shows the keys being recorded as you type. you've outdone yourself this time skrommel.

ok this is a bit crazy though - i think vbmark is going to faint when he reads this thread and finds not just one but do programs have been coded to perform what he requested -

-

ps.
i'm guessing that it won't be common that we get two programmers coding the same request - might be kind of frustrating if it happened a lot? maybe the solution is just to invite more people to post requests so that there is plenty to go around

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #11 on:** November 05, 2005, 01:48 AM »

For some reason DoOver records double clicks for me instead of single clicks ?

For example if I record a left click on an item the tool tip that appears says [mouse D][mouse U] as you'd expect but when I play it back I get a double click so if I opened a window from Quick Launch toolbar it opens two ?

skrommel · « **Reply #12 on:** November 05, 2005, 08:27 AM »

Just one parameter short! Try it now, Carol!

I actually wasn't planning to show the recorded keys, I just forgot to remove the code before posting! But If you like it, I'll keep it in. I'll just shorten it.

Skrommel

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #13 on:** November 05, 2005, 12:37 PM »

Thanks - that has got rid of the double clicking, but it still needs one more tweak for me - that is (at leastthe option of) real time playback.

At the moment it seems to replay too quickly to keep up with screen redrawing. For example, opening a webpage and clicking on a link in a known position within that webpage. If the page doesn't have time to draw it doesn't work.

Another thing that would make it even more useful is to make clicks within windows relative to the window rather than absolute, then if a window position changes slightly it will still work (eg. multiple webpages open in their usual cascading style).

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #14 on:** November 05, 2005, 02:37 PM »

I have tried to add the timer coding myself but I am getting really stuck on how to use arrays in AHK, and also how to distinguish between numbers and text ...

My idea was in the Record subroutine add entries to an array of the time offset from the last stored key/mouse of recording. Then in playback wait the time in the array before sending the next key.

Sounds simple enough to do but I am getting in a total knot with AHK producing 'text' instead of numbers? I tried adding code to the the tooltip and everytime I used an array the NAME of the array was displayed rather than the value ???

skrommel · « **Reply #15 on:** November 05, 2005, 03:16 PM »

DoOver was not intended to record beyond the active window, but if you want, I can watch windows titles and slow down the playback.

Skrommel

vbmark · « **Reply #16 on:** November 05, 2005, 08:47 PM »

I was very excited with the replies and quickly tried both of them.

However, I'm sorry to say that neither one worked.

It seems that the programs are working for other so I don't know why I'm having a problem.

To test I do the following:
Open notepad, type some stuff, use arrow keys to move around, exit notepad without saving.

DoOver won't recognize the Ctrl-F12 key combination to stop recording.

QuickMacro did some other random stuff than what I recorded.

Any ideas as to why I'm having these problems?

Thanks!

skrommel · « **Reply #17 on:** November 06, 2005, 02:11 AM »

Try DoOver v1.1.

Features:
- User defined hotkeys.
- Recorded macro can be edited throught the Settings menu before playback.
- Change playback speed through the Settings menu.
- Press Ctrl-F12 to start and stop recording.
- Press Ctrl-F5 to start playback.

Won't move windows due to relative mouse actions.

Skrommel

mouser · « **Reply #18 on:** November 06, 2005, 02:34 AM »

really really nice.

couple of tweaks to consider -

the "playback finished" text that is shown after activating - am i write that the display of this is why we can't activate the ctrl+f5 multiple times in a row without waiting till text dissapears? if so, i suggest just getting rid of that message.

i found the default wait times were long.. i changed them and then had to exit and restart to take effect (maybe add a comment in settings file to remind user they need to exit and restart to have changes take effect?

skrommel · « **Reply #19 on:** November 06, 2005, 03:13 AM »

Try the last uloaded version of DoOver. Also added option to move the mouse back to it's original position after playback. Remember to delete or move your DoOver.ini-file.

Some of the delay is due to playback having to wait until the Ctrl is release after pressng Ctrl-F5, as to prevent interferance with the macro.

Skrommel

mouser · « **Reply #20 on:** November 06, 2005, 05:42 AM »

hitting ctrl+f5 multiple times is much better now, can run it several times in a row.
reload settings works great.

i have my settings at:
keydelay=1
windelay=1

maybe thats too fast for some computers but one thing, at the default settings of
;keydelay=10 ;ms to wait after sending a keypress
;windelay=100 ;ms to wait after activating a window

it takes a full 5 seconds after i push ctrl+f5 before playback actually starts - can that possibly be the way it is meant to operate by default?

skrommel · « **Reply #21 on:** November 06, 2005, 07:43 AM »

I think that has to do with a missing window. I have a 2 sec delay if a recorded window can't be found and another 2 sec delay if it can't be activated. Check your macro in the Settings menu.

I have tried with waiting until the active window is deactivated, but it's just not reliable.

But a class might work accurately enough. If your problems persists, I'll check it out.

Skrommel

mouser · « **Reply #22 on:** November 06, 2005, 08:45 AM »

let me be clear -
i really don't have a problem - it works perfect and fast for me - as long as i change the default settings to 1 and 1 (other settings may work fine too).

i was just pointing out that the default settings cause that 5 second delay. as soon as i change them it works perfect.

let me add that i think this might be one of the more useful little utils requested.

nice work both jazper and skrommel.

AbteriX · « **Reply #23 on:** November 06, 2005, 03:05 PM »

WOW
thanks both of you jazper and skrommel

Such little tools are very nifty.

My suggestions for the tray menu are this:

Start recording (so i must NOT press Ctrl+Fx to not interact with other apps)
Stop recording
Execute macro one time
Execute macro repeatedly... (popup who ask me how often to execute)
Save macro...
Load macro...

--------------------------------------------

Start and Stop recording should wait for an trigger key
for NOT record the mouse way to the tray and back
(or maybe for such things like "bring the right window in front" too)

i.e.
If i press "Start recording" the macro-tool should wait
till i press e.g. the s-key on the keyboard.
After the macro-tool recognizes that the user have pressed the s-key
it should start the recording.

And if i press the Break-key on my keyboard
the macro-tool should pause the recording
so i could go to the tray and stop the recording.
(or do other things and press an another key to reactivate the recording again)

--------------------------------------------------

During executing the macro
the macro-tool should recognizes
if the user pressed the ESC-key (maybe twice or three times)
and stop the macro immediately.

Thanks for your work!

---
EDIT:

Maybe this open source code will help our authors ?
http://geocities.com/win_macro/download.html

Screenshot of WinMacro v1.2

The Options button throws up a dialog box like this

skrommel · « **Reply #24 on:** November 21, 2005, 10:53 PM »

Just uploaded DoOver v1.2.

You can now start playback/recording from the menu, and I corrected the hotkey handling.

Skrommel