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Macro Express News
February 15, 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 v 3.0c is released 2 - Upgrading to Macro Express 3 from a previous version of Macro Express 3 - More Macro Express Downloads 4 - User Submitted Macros 5 - Macro Express Tip: Launch a program associated with a file type 6 - Macro Express Tip: Variable formatting 7 - Macro Express Tip: Copy Command Text 1 - Macro Express 3 v 3.0c is released Macro Express 3 version 3.0c has been released and is now available for download from our site at http://www.macros.com/download.htm. Macro Express 3 has a brand new look and feel. We have added over 100 new commands to provide more power and flexibility. Macro Express 3 is more stable and powerful than past versions. If you haven't upgraded yet, find out more at http://www.macros.com/me3intro.htm or download a fully functional 30 day trial version from http://www.macros.com/download.htm. Over 130 bug fixes and enhancements have been added since v 3.0a was released. The top 10 changes include: 1. Added the ability to automatically back up the macro file when Macro Express 3 closes. Preferences allow you to choose how often to back up, how many copies to keep and where to save the backed up macro files. 2. Added "Open Folder" script command. It's identical to "Open Folder in Explorer", but doesn't have the folders list on the left side. 3. It is no longer necessary to enter the license code for each user login name. However, in order for this to work in Windows NT, 2000, and XP, the license code must be entered when logged in with administrative rights. 4. Added an option that allows the user to determine if the program will use the same settings for all user logins on the computer. 5. If a macro file fails to load and crashes Macro Express, the next time Macro Express runs, it will warn that the file may be bad. 6. Added the ability to import and export the program's configuration. 7. Added a command-line option ('/IC') that allows the user to specify a configuration file to import. 8. Added "FTP Delete File" command. 9. The registry write and read commands can now read and write to the Default value. 10. Improved compatibility with other programs. A list of the top 10 enhancements in Macro Express 3 v 3.0 can be found at http://www.macros.com/rev3_0.htm. A complete list of enhancements and bug fixes for Macro Express 3 v 3.0a can be found at http://www.macros.com/rev3_0a.htm. A complete list of enhancements and bug fixes for Macro Express 3 v 3.0b can be found at http://www.macros.com/rev3_0b.htm. A complete list of enhancements and bug fixes for Macro Express 3 v 3.0c can be found at http://www.macros.com/rev3_0c.htm. 2 - Upgrading to Macro Express 3 from a previous version of Macro Express Macro Express 3 is only $39.95. Special upgrade pricing is available for owners of previous versions of Macro Express. You may qualify for a free upgrade to Macro Express 3 if you recently purchased Macro Express 2000. Upgrade from Macro Express v 2.xx to Macro Express 3 v 3.0 for $20.00. Upgrade from Macro Express v 1.xx to Macro Express 3 v 3.0 for $30.00 For specific details see http://www.macros.com/upgrade.htm. Before upgrading from Macro Express 2000 to Macro Express 3 you should read the notes and warnings at http://www.macros.com/v2tov3.htm. You can now read the Macro Express 3 Help and Macro Express 3 Tutorial on the web from a web browser. Visit http://www.macros.com/help/macexp3.htm and http://www.macros.com/tutorial/ME3Tutorial.htm. 3 - More Macro Express Downloads We have posted several files that you may want to use to customize or enhance Macro Express 3. Tweak Macro Express 3 is a playable macro that allows you to change several useful options that cannot be adjusted from the Options menu in Macro Express 3. For example, change which pane has focus in the Macro Express Editors, adjust what is displayed in Macro Explorer, change advanced Shortkey options, and suppress the Macro Aborted message. You may also want to study this macro as a sample demonstrating use of some of the different macro commands. Requires Macro Express 3 v 3.0b or later. Do you want to read the Macro Express 3 Help or Macro Express Tutorial without trying to navigate through the menus in the help? Macro Express 3 Help and Macro Express 3 Tutorial are now available for download in Word format. Do you want more icons to use with Macro Express 3? Several collections of icons created by various authors are now available. (Be sure to read the copyright information for each collection.) These are all available at http://www.macros.com/downmore.htm. 4 - User Submitted Macros Jace Greenman shares a macro that Locks a Windows NT, 2000 or XP workstation. Read more about Jace's macro here: http://www.macros.com/usermacs/umlockworkstation.htm. Rich Mewes shares a macro he wrote to automatically shutdown your computer at 1:15 AM each day. Read more about Rich's macro here: http://macros.com/usermacs/umautoshutdown.htm. Jace and Rich each win a Macro Express T-shirt for their contribution. You can view all user submitted macros at http://www.macros.com/share.htm#User. 5 - Macro Express Tip: Launch a program associated with a file type There are many changes in Macro Express 3 that make it more reliable than previous versions. In some cases prior versions of Macro Express allowed things in a macro command that were not recommended or desirable. For example, it is no longer possible to launch Notepad by entering the path to a text file inside the Web Site command. And, you can no longer include another macro command inside a Text Type command. There is a way to launch a program associated with a particular type of file. The Launch Program command does essentially the same thing as double clicking on a program name or icon. It will launch whatever program is associated with that icon and load the file you selected. This is a way to launch programs using Windows shortcuts. For example, to launch Notepad and load the file Readme.txt, you can use the Launch Program command and enter the pathname to readme.txt. You can also launch your default browser and load a web page from your hard drive by using the Launch Program and entering the pathname to the .htm file on your hard drive. To get around the restriction where you cannot include macro commands inside a Text Type command, you should include the macro commands as part of the macro script. In some cases, this does not work. One user reports that they put different macro commands in a variable, %T1% for example, and then do a Text Type %T1% to execute those commands. This no longer works in Macro Express 3. As a work-around, you can put the macro commands in %T1%, save %T1% to a text file and then use the Load Macro Text File command to run it. 6 - Macro Express Tip: Variable formatting We received a great tip from Macro Express customer Philip Swazey. He needed to create a string containing the contents of several variables separated by commas. Normally this would require a tedious series of several commands: Variable Set String %T40% "" Variable Modify Decimal: Convert %D40% to text string %T40% Variable Modify String: Append "," to %T40% Variable Modify Decimal: Convert %D41% to text string %T40% Variable Modify String: Append "," to %T40% Variable Modify Decimal: Convert %D42% to text string %T40% Variable Modify String: Append "," to %T40% etc. Philip was able to combine all this into a single macro command: Variable Set String %T40% "%D40%,%D41%,%D42%,%D43%,%D44%,%D45%" This will work with other variable types as well. Thanks to Philip for sharing this great tip. Philip wins a Macro Express T-shirt for his contribution. 7 - Macro Express Tip: Copy Command Text Have you received an email message from us (including this one) that contains fragments of macros and wondered how we did that? Normally when you copy one or more macro commands out of the Scripting Editor and paste into another application, the result is something that looks like it came from the Macro Express Direct Editor. For example, if I copy the command Variable Modify Decimal: Convert %D40% to text string %T40% and paste it into another application, the result looks like this: <DMVAR:05:40:1:000000000000040.0000:1:000000000000001.0000> The secret is the new Macro Express 3 feature called Copy Command Text. Simply highlight the lines in the Scripting Editor that you want to copy and click Edit and then Copy Command Text. You can also right-click the mouse and choose Copy Command Text from the popup menu that appears. Use this feature to quickly include an example of macro commands in an email message or some other document. 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. Insight Software Solutions: http://www.wintools.com
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