I don't know what to call this request

Questions & Suggestions
21

If I type a snarky post -- me, not you! Trust me, I do a lot of self-editing...

But not this time :wink:

Your first post talked about typing words, implying you were in a text-editing context. Even after prompting, it wasn't until your 5th post that you mentioned it should also work in a non-editing context -- which is Important Information.

Given that new data, what you want to do is A Bad Idea for all the reasons Peter says (and if anyone should know it's him!). It's A Doubly Bad Idea for you -- as you've told us many times, you're a very fast typist so even more likely to get out-of-order characters than a slow hunt-and-pecker like me.

Use a "proper" hot key trigger to fire your macro, type your words normally, save yourself a lot of anguish.

But if you do want to continue...

@Alexander's got you sorted with a neat hot key/typed string combo.

If you want to try pure typed string trigger, the problem is deletion when outside of a text-editing context. Turn that off at the trigger and do the deletion in the macro -- that'll require you to find some indication, ideally one or a combination of menu item availabilities, to show whether a deletion is safe/required. Not too bad if this will only be used in one app, but you may have to make different tests for different contexts if used across multiple apps.

22

I’m finally getting around to replying. Thank you all very much, and @Alexander, thank you so much for your macro :slightly_smiling_face:. It almost does what it’s supposed to. But the problem with these kinds of “setups” will probably always be that they aren’t suitable for fast typing, because letters get twisted. Just as @Nige_S had predicted :smirking_face:

If you want this type of trigger to work flawlessly, there’s only one option: reverse the way the entire keyboard works. All letters are typed when the key is released. This allows for a second function when a key is held down for a longer period.

I actually use it in some apps. In others, I don't, because I've never been able to get used to the slight delay between typing and the letters appearing on the screen, a delay that inevitably occurs.

Edit: I know that several developers are thinking about how to solve this queueing problem. If anyone figures it out, I'll let you know.

The basic idea would be that letters are typed in the order in which the keys were pressed. Just like in real life, whoever arrives later has to wait in line, even if they're already ready :slightly_smiling_face: