Macro Recorder: disk defragmenter sample macro

Just to illustrate that creating an automation macro with Jitbit Macro Recorder is as easy as recording a macro, here is a simple (very simple) macro that starts defragmentation on disk C: in Windows XP, with three easy steps:

1) The first line instructs Macro Recorder to launch Windows XP Disk Defragmenter:

OPEN FILE : dfrg.msc :

2) The next line simply waits for the defragmenter window to appear:

WAIT FOR : Disk Defragmenter : appear : 2000

3) Finally this block launches the appropriate item in the defragmenter window menu (which in our case is "Actions - Defragment"):

Keyboard : AltLeft : KeyDown
Keyboard : A : KeyDown
Keyboard : A : KeyUp
Keyboard : D : KeyDown
Keyboard : D : KeyUp
Keyboard : AltLeft : KeyUp

The resulting macro looks like this:

OPEN FILE : dfrg.msc :
WAIT FOR : Disk Defragmenter : appear : 1000
Keyboard : AltLeft : KeyDown
Keyboard : A : KeyDown
Keyboard : A : KeyUp
Keyboard : D : KeyDown
Keyboard : D : KeyUp
Keyboard : AltLeft : KeyUp

Of course you don't have to actually type these commands when you create a script in Macro Recorder, you can use the toolbar instead. First you click "Insert 'Open file' command", then you click "Insert 'Wait for window' command" etc... Jitbit's macro-language remains "hidden", it is used only if you decide to edit a saved macro in some external text editor like Notepad (which is the preferred way for some programmers and tech-geeks).

Simply select the above text, copy it to the clipboard and paste it to the Macro Recorder. Or save as a plain-text file with a ".mcr" extension to open it in the Macro Recorder.

Migrating from Community Server to AspNetForum

Chris Hynes from Krystalwire has wrote a great article on how to migrate from Community Server to Jitbit Asp-Net Forum. Thanks Chris!

Macro Recorder: another trigger example

Another example of "triggering" events with our Macro Recorder software and the IF statement. The following script makes Macro Recorder wait until Notepad window has appeared.

LABEL : start
IF WINDOW EXISTS : *notepad*
GOTO : end
ENDIF
DELAY : 2000
GOTO : start
LABEL : end
MESSAGE BOX : Notepad window found, exiting..

As you can see, this macro checks every 2 seconds, and if it finds a window with the "notepad" text in its caption, the macro exits. Simply save the above text as a plain-text file with a ".mcr" extension and load it into the Macro Recorder to test how it works.

Macro Recorder best practices

Every single business-blogging tutorial shouts - don't be too personal on your blog. I was way too personal lately. So, today I'm going to follow that piece of advise and open a series of posts that will describe best practices for using our products.

Our Macro Recorder software can be used to "trigger" events using IF statements. With this feature, for instance, you can make Macro Recorder "watch" the hard disk, and perform some actions, when a particular file appears in a folder. Another example: with the following script Macro Recorder will wait until some particular text appears in the system clipboard, and then exit.

LABEL : start
IF CLIPBOARD EQUALS : test
GOTO : end
ENDIF
DELAY : 5000
GOTO : start
LABEL : end
MESSAGE BOX : The text "test" is found, exiting..

As you can see, this macro checks the clipboard every 5 seconds, and if the text in the clipboard is "test", the macro exits. Simply save the above text as a plain-text file with a ".mcr" extension and load it into the Macro Recorder to test how it works.