Thread: Controlling Other apps???

After a lot of reading and looking at the XML file and the INI file I think I have this straight in my head...(watch me get this totally wrong...)

Cos I want to use Media Engine which is not supported directly, I need to set up macros for the key commands that control ME.

If I have got this right, I need to place these macros in the ‘names’ section right???

In which case, for the example above of the Home key used for the menu command, I’d need to put something like the following in the [names] section of the xml file:

<p val="300">menu</p>

then in the ini file I’d need to go to the [names] section and put in the line:

name300=VK_HOME

and if I want to get it to give me voice confirmation I’d need to add:

voice300=menu

Is that right???

Also I see I have to put in more details for the initial program info, eg title etc etc

Again, any help much appreciated.

Originally Posted by valve90210

After a lot of reading and looking at the XML file and the INI file I think I have this straight in my head...(watch me get this totally wrong...)

Cos I want to use Media Engine which is not supported directly, I need to set up macros for the key commands that control ME.

If I have got this right, I need to place these macros in the ‘names’ section right???

In which case, for the example above of the Home key used for the menu command, I’d need to put something like the following in the [names] section of the xml file:

<p val="300">menu</p>

then in the ini file I’d need to go to the [names] section and put in the line:

name300=VK_HOME

and if I want to get it to give me voice confirmation I’d need to add:

voice300=menu

Is that right???

Also I see I have to put in more details for the initial program info, eg title etc etc

Again, any help much appreciated.

You totally understand this!

Make sure to delete the old commands like play, pause, etc because you can't have duplicate commands in the XML file.

Good to hear I was right with my thinking. It wasn't making much sense till I printed out both files and then looked at them side by side then it suddenly became clear.

Had a bit of a play briefly last night and now have it opening Media Engine and and I can navigate around using up/down commands, and can type in the search fields just by talking though some of the letter recognition isn't great at the moment....probably a combination of only having done the standard training and also using a mic which isn't great.

This evening I hope to get the rest of the commands within ME working, then I can look at building some macros that will automatically take me to things like the searches etc, though these will be a tad difficult due to the fact that they will need to be triggered from a set state within ME, ie from the main menu with the selector at the top else they will not work.

When working with macros, can I put in pauses between commands to give each command time to take effect before the next command is performed??? ie if I needed to move the selection cursar down three times I would really need a command that works in the following way:

me say "down three"

'down' pause 'down' pause 'down'

so the selector bar moves down then down then down again.

Is there a command I can put in a macro sequence?

Thanks for your help.

Actually I've just been looking at the ini file and noticed the sleep command used in one of the program closing sections. I assume this is used for the waits in a macro right?

I saw it mentioned i the html file with NV but didn't realise what it was for.

program_close454=VK_LWIN,R,^,SLEEP[100],iexplore,VK_RETURN,^,SLEEP[5000],VK_MENU,D,^,www.warp2search.net,VK_RETURN,^

I assume in the above example, the first sleep command is a wait of 1/10 of a second and the second one is a wait of 5seconds. (as the [number] is milliseconds right?)

In which case I will have more a play this evening and see if I can get a few macros on the go for taking me to certain places in ME with just a simple command, such as the searches etc.

Valve

Originally Posted by valve90210

Actually I've just been looking at the ini file and noticed the sleep command used in one of the program closing sections. I assume this is used for the waits in a macro right?

I saw it mentioned i the html file with NV but didn't realise what it was for.

program_close454=VK_LWIN,R,^,SLEEP[100],iexplore,VK_RETURN,^,SLEEP[5000],VK_MENU,D,^,www.warp2search.net,VK_RETURN,^

I assume in the above example, the first sleep command is a wait of 1/10 of a second and the second one is a wait of 5seconds. (as the [number] is milliseconds right?)

In which case I will have more a play this evening and see if I can get a few macros on the go for taking me to certain places in ME with just a simple command, such as the searches etc.

Valve

You are 100% correct. And for the sleep commands, you do not need to close them with the ^.

Another query...

I have been playing around this evening trying to do a few macros to improve the usability of ME with NV but have had a few problems.

I managed to solve a couple of them and now have a useful set of commands for "down two" "down five" "up five" and "up two" which makes scrolling up and down lists nice and quick without having to scroll a page at a time.

The next macro I wanted was to move the cursor to the ok button on the onscreen keyboard within ME and select it to confirm my search. I used a combo of down, up and right commands which worked fine to move the cursor but I can't get any 'enter' command to work. It either does nothing or just types enter in the search field.

How can I go about adding a press of enter into a macro? BTW the command 'enter' works fine by itself.

I know I could use the set mouse position command, and infact have added it to the end of my macro as a temporary fix, but would like to be able to do it with keypresses if possible.

Another macro related question, is there anyway I could make NV repeat a comand until I tell it to stop? This owuld be useful for turning the volume up or down. If not I'll make a few macros for the task, eg volume up/down 10% or 50%, but just thought I'd ask.

The other somewhat odd thing is the fact that Boris will no longer open Media Engine, despite it having worked perfectly before. I removed one or bits from the programs section but none that were relted to Media Engine (or at least I thought not) and now it won't open ME. The command is recognised and the confirmation is spoken but it doesn't open. I've attached my xml and ini files in case that is helpful.

Many thanks for any help you can give me.

Enter = VK_RETURN
No way to loop... unless you're using frodoplayer. It has that mode.

No clue why it stopped opening

Thanks for the help, as soon as I saw your reply I realised, I had been typing the wrong thing, I had been typing VK_ENTER, changed that and it all worked fine.

As for the volume control, I have just written a handful of macros to take the volume up or down. Each macro just repeats the command for up or down a set number of times. A single use of volume up or down changes it up or down by 2% in ME so I have strung 5 of the command in a macro for 10%, 25 for 50% etc. It works great.

I still can’t get Boris to open Media Engine, which is somewhat odd as it was working perfectly. I wonder if it has anything to do with XP blocking the program from running an .exe file, but then why would it have worked in the first place….

Valve

Originally Posted by valve90210

Thanks for the help, as soon as I saw your reply I realised, I had been typing the wrong thing, I had been typing VK_ENTER, changed that and it all worked fine.

As for the volume control, I have just written a handful of macros to take the volume up or down. Each macro just repeats the command for up or down a set number of times. A single use of volume up or down changes it up or down by 2% in ME so I have strung 5 of the command in a macro for 10%, 25 for 50% etc. It works great.

I still can’t get Boris to open Media Engine, which is somewhat odd as it was working perfectly. I wonder if it has anything to do with XP blocking the program from running an .exe file, but then why would it have worked in the first place….

Valve

Glad you got most of it working. About the media engine opening... try

Code:

<p val="412">open notepad</p>
<p val="413">close notepad</p>
<p val="414">minimize notepad</p>
<p val="415">restore notepad</p>
<p val="416">maximize notepad</p>
<p val="417">focus notepad</p>

I mean try those values and add a new ME into the INI.