Display text in a window without "Ok" button

[Axolotl]

I would like to create a thin window containing some text which is informing about the current step that a specific macro currently is in (kind of a status window). This window will be frequently closed and re-created at the same position whenever a new status needs to be reported.

I would like this status window to be rather thin (complete width of my screen but only about 5-10% of the height) in order not to use too much screen-real-estate.

Is there a way to use the "Display text in a window"-command but suppressing the OK button to minimize the unusable space consumed by the created window? Any alternative method (I did not yet dare to venture into the custom HTLM prompt territory) which could be used to create a thin status window is also greatly appreciated!

Thanks a lot in advance for any kind of support!

[Nige_S]

@Axolotl

Is there a way to use the "Display text in a window"-command but suppressing the OK button to minimize the unusable space consumed by the created window?

Nope.

A "Custom HTML Prompt" is the way to go. You could also leave it open all the time, refreshing the status info in place.

Don't be put off by the HTML bit -- a bit of googling goes a long way! Or you try the "vibe coding" thing the kewl kids talk about... Add in a quick read of the "Custom HTML Prompt" wiki page and you'll soon get something going.

I'm HTML/JavaScript clueless, but spending a couple of minutes with the above resources got me a working Prompt the size you're after and that updates every 5 seconds, pulling in the date and time from KM:

Custom HTML Prompt Demo.kmactions (1.0 KB)

It'll cause despair in anyone who actually knows what they're doing -- but it works!

Have a go yourself and see how you get on.

[_jims]

@Axolotl

I would like to create a thin window containing some text which is informing about the current step that a specific macro currently is in (kind of a status window).

This macro by @griffman works very nicely to display a macro status, but it might not be a direct fit because the implementation and presentation is different than you described. With that said, maybe you could get some ideas from @griffman's work.

MACRO: A list-based alternative to the Progress action

My MacroBackerUpper macro is quite involved, and can take a while to run, so I used a bunch of calls to the Progress action scattered about the code, each with a hardcoded number as an estimate of task completion. While these worked fine, they're a major hassle if, as I have been doing, you rearrange your macro, take sections out, add new sections in, etc. A simple change can mean changing a number in almost every Progress action, scattered across 20+ separate macros. Ugh. And ugh again. I wan…

[Axolotl]

@Nige_S and @_jims : Thank you both very much for taking the time and providing support!!!

@Nige_S : I already tested your action and it worked instantly on my system. It will take some time for me to dig deep enough into Custom HTML prompts but at least I now know that it is definitely worth it. Thanks a lot for putting me on the right track.

@_jims : Thanks a lot for providing the reference to @griffman 's work. However, I believe Nige_S's proposal is more suited for my needs. I did not provide the entire storyline (it would have been a bit too overwhelming as original post) but what I am actually trying to do here is to create a macro where the user selects multiple individual text segments from an open document (e.g., a pdf document opened in Preview) and the file then automatically renames itself intelligently according to the selected text segments (including an intelligent extraction of the date in YYYY-MM-DD format, more or less regardless of the date format provided in the document). The status bar will inform the user what text has already been selected and provides a preview of the filename that has been deduced from it so far. Therefore, the status bar will contain highly variable information ... and I guess that makes Griffman's solution less suitable in this specific case.

Thanks a lot to both of you again!