Quick Launch hot keys - Save as a bank?

[kellyllek]

I'm a bit confused on how the Quick Launch works in relation to the open instance. I have to open a blank instance of MMM or a saved macro to get quick launch to work (of course). But I also want to record a single macro on the fly. If I try to record one and use it, but then I use a hotkey Quick Launch to use another, it replaces the current temporary macro. The fix seems to be to open yet another instance and make my temporary macro. I'm unsure why the Quick Launch doesn't overwrite it but at least it works!  However if I the try to save that macro and add it to the quick launch, it seems not to save it to Quick Launch correctly.



I'm using MMM to help data from invoices and then paste that data into our software. I've successfully done this with one invoice template from one company. It takes about 4 macros to go through the process but it's amazing how much time and frustration it saves, and it's 100% paperless! 


However we have about 5 invoice  templates from the various companies, and each will need their own set of macros. I'm not sure I have enough hotkeys and it'll get confusing! It'd be great to load a bank of macros, so essentially you use the same hotkeys for each set. If the Quick Launch menu had a Save As function I think that would work, as I'd just load the bank of macros I need for a particular set of invoices.


Is there a way to do this? 

I'm still trying to get through all the FAQ and instructions. MMM is more sophisticated than I realized. My immediate boss seems very impressed with the potential and would like to take it to the higher-ups.  I see this though as a temporary solution for a much more painstaking and expensive fix to integrate our vendors' software.  

I hope to make a video of what I'm doing to get feedback. I'd post it here and to a few entities that specialize in PDF extraction. There may be much better ways of doing what I'm doing and it'd be great to get feedback.  

[zeak]

Does each invoice template have a set name?

If so you could get MMM to recognize which invoice is open with IF | WINDOW TITLE | EXIST and then just jump to the part of the macro that handles that particular invoice.

[Steve]

Hi kellyllek ,

Thanks for the run down on how your using MMM. I'm always interested to hear how people are using this little tool in different ways.
I'll try to answer off your questions.

May 7, 2020 12:06:16 GMT kellyllek said:

I'm a bit confused on how the Quick Launch works in relation to the open instance. I have to open a blank instance of MMM or a saved macro to get quick launch to work (of course). But I also want to record a single macro on the fly. If I try to record one and use it, but then I use a hotkey Quick Launch to use another, it replaces the current temporary macro. The fix seems to be to open yet another instance and make my temporary macro. I'm unsure why the Quick Launch doesn't overwrite it but at least it works!  However if I the try to save that macro and add it to the quick launch, it seems not to save it to Quick Launch correctly.

I see your using multiple instances of MMM to get around the quick launch clearing your recorded macro. Thats a good idea. One thing to know though is that while MMM can work with multiple instances it will only be the first instance of MMM that responds to hotkeys and quick launch loads.

"However if I the try to save that macro and add it to the quick launch, it seems not to save it to Quick Launch correctly"
I'm not sure about this one. If you save your macro to a .mmmacro file, then you should be able to add it to your quick launch. Maybe your not saving the quick launch after you add the macro or are not setting the item in the quick launch to 'ON'.

I'm using MMM to help data from invoices and then paste that data into our software. I've successfully done this with one invoice template from one company. It takes about 4 macros to go through the process but it's amazing how much time and frustration it saves, and it's 100% paperless! 
However we have about 5 invoice  templates from the various companies, and each will need their own set of macros. I'm not sure I have enough hotkeys and it'll get confusing! It'd be great to load a bank of macros, so essentially you use the same hotkeys for each set. If the Quick Launch menu had a Save As function I think that would work, as I'd just load the bank of macros I need for a particular set of invoices.

Is there a way to do this? 

zeak hinted in the post above that using conditions in your macro's could help you automate the need to load multiple macro's. The proper use of conditions (www.turnssoft.com/conditions.html) within this macro could automate the process to a point where you click play on one macro and it detects the invoice template type and loads the macro's it needs accordingly.

I'm still trying to get through all the FAQ and instructions. MMM is more sophisticated than I realized. My immediate boss seems very impressed with the potential and would like to take it to the higher-ups.  I see this though as a temporary solution for a much more painstaking and expensive fix to integrate our vendors' software. 
At first glance it seems possible that this whole process could be automated. You'll need to go pretty deep on some advanced conditions within MMM to achieve it though.
This forums a good place to check for solutions and post problems.

Hope this helps get your started

[kellyllek]

Steve thanks so much. I'm still digesting everything! 

I took the liberty of creating a video demonstrating what we are doing. If you can watch a bit of it I think you'll get the idea! 

MMM allows us to automate some of the cumbersome process. But it's also dependent on specific set up and placement of windows for the recorded mouse movements. It's not something everyone would be able to implement without  creating their own macros. Plus, even if I sign in to another workstation, if the screen layout and resolutions are not the same it will be impossible to replicate. 

Nonetheless it's still much better than the current situation. 

Thanks again for all your help. 

[Steve]

Thanks for your video@kellyllek

Ok I see what your dealing with now. One of your solutions would be to not rely on click and mouse movements where possible. As you put it, these events at playback target set positions. On a different computer, different layout, and so on this may not work when the positions for items are not the same. To get around this you need to write the macro's with a heaver use around conditions and less (or none) reliance on set keys.