To make the process of adding Macros to a Trigger Macro by Name Macro easier.
INSTRUCTIONS
When a Trigger Macro by Name Macro is set up using the Macro here, its search will be limited to the Macros it has listed. This is a way to bring up a list of favorite Macros. Also, only Macros that can be run will be shown. For example if the Trigger Macro by Name Macro is run when Photoshop is at the front, the list will not only be limited to those Macros in the list but also limited to Macros that are in the Photoshop Group or Global Group.
In the Keyboard Maestro Editor, select a single Macro or multiple Macros that you want to add to the particular Trigger Macro by Name Macro. Press the hotkey ⌥N You will be prompted to choose the Trigger Macro by Name Macro that the selected Macros should be added to. You can set a name, Group and Trigger for this Macro. The defaults are: Group: Global Macro Group Macro Name: Trigger Macro by Name Hotkey: ⌃⌥⌘. You must give this Macro a unique name - a name that is not used for any other Macro in your Library If you choose a Group name that doesn't exist, that Group will be created When "Add" is clicked the selected Macros will be added to the Trigger Macro by Name Macro When "Go to" is clicked the Trigger Macro by Name Macro is opened in the Editor for removing Macros from it To remove Macros from the list, go to the Trigger Macro by Name Macro and click the ⊖ symbol next to the Macros you want to remove.
NOTE It seems the maximum amount of Macros that can be added to a Trigger Macro by Name Macro is 19
Thanks for the gracious "hat tip". I was pleasantly surprised that anyone was interested by my rumination on this subject so it's great that another idea has appeared.
In my testing, I didn't find that to be the case. Any macro that was added became accessible in all contexts, i.e. globally accessible.
If I were to adopt your macro for regular use, I think I would want to tweak it so that the previously generated macro were automatically deleted—or, perhaps, archived, but deletion would be safe enough perhaps, since the list of added macros is not readily lost. If the generated macro is deleted, and a new macro with the same name generated, the new macro will contain the previous list, updated to include the newly added macro.
It might also be worth noting that it is possible to add a macro to the list in any generated "Trigger macro by name" macro more than once. I think that would count as a bug rather than a feature for most use cases, although maybe not for all!
This is an elegant and interesting macro. However, apart from the issue of it seemingly making macros globally accessible, I still actually prefer my little hack of adding "．" to the macro name (and matching that in a smart group) for my needs. That marker character means I can see, in any macro group that I have open in the Editor, which macros are enabled to appear in the prompt. That's not exactly a crucial feature, however.
The added flexibility offered by your macro is not something I would need in this context but the macro is an intriguing demonstration of what is possible and a potentially useful starting point for making similar macros for other purposes too.
Yes, you are right. I got confused between "Active" and "Enabled". I will fix this for the next version so it works correctly.
Because this is work in progress, I wanted to test it more before sending it out with "delete" enabled. But, yes in a later version, it will get rid of the original.
It might also be worth noting that it is possible to add a macro to the list in any generated "Trigger macro by name" macro more than once.
Yes, there should be a check for duplicates. Interestingly this can happen when using the + symbol to add in macros in the native actions so, I don't there is any harm having duplicates. But it could make it fiddly to delete them so, I will fix this in my method.
What I like about this approach is that the source Macros do not have to be changed in any way (such as a name change or notes added or other stuff). This also means the same macros can be added to multiple Trigger Macro by Name Macros - each one maintains its own selection of Macros. I can see myself using this.
The next thing on my list is to allow multiple selections of Macros to be added in one step. @noisneil has done something similar with the Palette of Macros so, I'm thinking I can steal the mechanics of that from him
I did notice that addition, which can be used to further sort macros into smaller sets. The sets could be assigned different kinds of triggers, according to need. When using the same kind of trigger (for example, a hotkey) there would be one or more extra triggers to get into the habit of using, but there might then be less typing to do to choose the macro, and also the macros could be separated by any mental model that the user may prefer.
