How to Display a List of Triggers

Questions & Suggestions
1

Howdy folks, been a while. Mostly because I have Keyboard Maestro working pretty much just how I want it these days.

However, I just recently got a programmable USB keyboard that is dedicated to triggering macros. But I'm having a hard time remembering which keys trigger which macros.

What I'd like to do is create a macro that shows a list of the keyboard's keys and their corresponding macros. I came across several threads about exporting in one way or another lists of macros and their triggers but they were all several years old.

So my question is: what's the easiest way to show a list of macro triggers, and is there a way to have this list update automatically as I add new macros and/or change their triggers?

Thanks for any suggestions!
-Chris

2

Have you tried the built-in Macro panel (center panel)?
It shows the Macro name and triggers, and you can sort by triggers by clicking on the down triangle at the top, or by menu/shortcut View > Sort macros by >

To see ALL macros, just select the "All Macros" Macro SmartGroup at the top.

3

Yea I use that extensively for certain things. But what I'm trying to accomplish is just to open a window that shows the triggers for only certain macros that are scattered throughout a variety of macro groups.

Right now I have them saved in a PDF that I open with Preview and position in the top right corner of the screen. It works pretty good, I just was wondering if there's any way to show something that updates dynamically.

4

have you looked into using palettes? I use them for macros that are application specific so that I don't have any possibility of accidentally triggering them in other applications and I don't need to remember anything (except to glance at the palette and actually use them!).

5

Thanks for the suggestion! But, yes I use palettes quite extensively. My situation is there are certain macros that I use universally and want them accesible from any app even though they're organized into different macro groups. So I don't want to have to have them all lumped together in one macro group just to use a palette.

6

Hey Chris,

KeyCue is a possibility.

This too might be worth a look as it can be customized quite a lot:

⇢ Export Names of all Macros in the Selected Group to CSV or Excel - #11 by ccstone

-Chris

7

This AppleScript might get you started:

use framework "Foundation"
use scripting additions

property this : a reference to the current application
property nil : a reference to missing value
property _1 : a reference to specifier

property NSArray : a reference to NSArray of this
property NSMutableArray : a reference to NSMutableArray of this
property NSPredicate : a reference to NSPredicate of this
property NSSortDescriptor : a reference to NSSortDescriptor of this
property NSString : a reference to NSString of this

to getTriggers for triggerTypes as list
	script
		property id : "com.stairways.keyboardmaestro.editor"
		property km : application id id
		property _M : a reference to every «class MKma» of km
		property _T : a reference to every «class MKmt» of _M
		property xml : a reference to «class MTxm» of _T
		property triggerType : "MacroTriggerType"
		property keyCode : "KeyCode"
		property modifiers : "|modifiers|"
		property notKeys : ["FireType", "ElementUsage", "TapCount", ¬
			"ElementDeviceUsage", "ElementDeviceUsagePage", ¬
			"UseModifiers", "ElementVendorID", "ElementCookie", ¬
			"ElementProductID", "ElementUsagePage"]
		
		to sortByKeys(keys as list)
			local key
			
			repeat with key in keys
				set key's contents to (NSSortDescriptor's ¬
					sortDescriptorWithKey:key ¬
						ascending:yes ¬
						selector:"compare:")
			end repeat
			
			keys
		end sortByKeys
	end script
	
	tell the result
		set xml to its xml's contents
		set xml to (NSArray's arrayWithArray:xml)'s ¬
			valueForKeyPath:"@unionOfArrays.self"
		set xml to NSMutableArray's arrayWithArray:xml
		
		repeat with i from 0 to (|count|() of xml) - 1
			set plist to ((stringWithString_(xml's ¬
				objectAtIndex:i)) of NSString)'s ¬
				propertyList()
			(plist's removeObjectsForKeys:(its notKeys))
			if (triggerTypes does not contain (plist's ¬
				objectForKey:(its triggerType))) ¬
				then set plist to ""
			(xml's replaceObjectAtIndex:i withObject:plist)
		end repeat

		set notNull to NSPredicate's predicateWithFormat:"self != ''"
		xml's filterUsingPredicate:notNull
		xml's sortUsingDescriptors:sortByKeys({keyCode, ¬
			triggerType, modifiers} of it)
		
		set its xml to xml as list
	end tell
end getTriggers

return getTriggers for "HotKey"

Presently, the output is a series of key codes and modifier flags:

{
   {keyCode: 1 , modifiers: 0 , MacroTriggerType:"HotKey"},
   {keyCode: 1 , modifiers: 0 , MacroTriggerType:"HotKey"}, 
   {keyCode: 1 , modifiers: 256 , MacroTriggerType:"HotKey"}, 
   {keyCode: 3 , modifiers: 0 , MacroTriggerType:"HotKey"}, 
   {keyCode: 3 , modifiers: 0 , MacroTriggerType:"HotKey"},
   {keyCode: 4 , modifiers: 256 , ... } , 
   ...
}
1 Like
8

what's the easiest way to show a list of macro triggers<

Chris, I hope you keep this forum updated re your search. I fopr one am interested. Since returning to KM, I've discovered, my primary interest is not too different from what you describe above.

Some months back, it seemd like I was trying everything to improve organization and accessibility to my macros. While nearly everyone else was focused on learning variables and such, my interest has been 'access.'

I tried one monster global palette with every macro and its hot key. THen, there was a period when I was using multiple palettes and gads of other methods. I eventually realized, my personal preference is to use the mouse (not the keyboard).

Have you come across Butler?

For me, Butler is the best software solution I can imagine for organizing, accessing and executing KM macros. I wish I had the time to make a short video. Over the last four to six months or so, I've spent countless hours integrating the two programs and it never stops getting deeper. Just recently, I figured out yet an entirely different approach with Butler and I'm getting read to implement it.

I rarely use hotkeys anymore (except for the tried and true, like command-c and command-v,). I no longer use any palettes. (At least from a subjective point of view), I have instantaneous access to the (more or less) thousand macros on my drive, with one click of the mouse. I don't know if it will convey very much but I can at least take some screenshots of what my monitor looks like and post it. This way, if you have an interest,I can tell you more at a later date. The screenshot below are of the perimeter of my monitor.

Btw, as excited as I am about this solution, I recognize, this is one area that's all about personal preference. There's no right or wrong way. Thx....

1

2

3

4

9

6

7

8
8.png835×25 9.3 KB

10

Howdy folks, thanks for the great suggestions! Unfortunately, some of them were out of my league.

BUT, I found two ways of doing it that work great and aren't too much trouble since it's likely that I will rarely if ever change the shortcuts so after the initial setup I probably won't have to do anything.

One simply consists of opening a PDF file and positioning it on the screen.

The other consists of displaying text in a window along with a plugin I downloaded that allows me to position the "Display Text" window so it's consistent every time. I added a variable to set whether the window is open or not that way I can use that variable to either open or close it when I hit the shortcut again.

I've included them here in case anybody wants to take a closer look.

Show USB keypad layout - Display Text Method.kmmacros (16.4 KB)

Show USB keypad layout - PDF File Method.kmmacros (16.4 KB)

11

Hi @cdthomer, thank you for sharing those macros. Can I request that you post screenshots of the macros and, if any of them contain scripts, that you would be kind enough to paste a code block with the scripts’ contents?

I think other forum users (myself included) find the screenshots in particular a very helpful way of helping to determine whether or not a macro is suitable for them, without having to go through the trouble of downloading and opening the file themselves.

1 Like
12

Of course @CJK ! I think I'm doing this right with the screenshots....

This is the way with the plug in I downloaded that allows you to resize the "Display Text" window. That can be downloaded here.

This is the way I do it with the PDF file I created. I blanked out the file path just for security purposes but you get the idea. It's certainly not elegant, but it works quite reliably.

1 Like