IdleKeyCounter Macro (v9.0.2)

Macro Library
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IdleKeyCounter Macro (v9.0.2)

I'll bet this will be the shortest useful macro in the history of KM. I wrote it because I wanted an equivalent to the IDLE() function that wasn't triggered by mouse movement, because mouse movements can be accidentally triggered by bumping the table or by a large truck driving past my house. This macro solves that by resetting a variable called IdleKey only when a character key (not by any mouse motion) is typed by the user. In my opinion this is more robust than the IDLE() function.

Since there is no ability to create a function in KM, if you have this macro active then the equivalent to "IDLE()" would be "MS-IdleKey". That's four extra characters, so it's not too bad. I suppose if you wanted to rename the variable IdleKey to T then you could write "MS-T" and it would be really short.

It might be nice to detect not only character keys, but also modifier keys and function keys. I don't think it's possible to trigger on a modifier key with KM. It is possible to trigger on a function key, however there's a small (not insurmountable) problem with that. The hotkey detection trigger eats the key it triggers on. I think KM should be modified with a flag to the HotKey detection trigger to let us "not eat" the key, just as there is with the string trigger used by this macro. If anyone asks I can enhance this macro to support function keys, but it would detract from the sheer beauty of this short macro.

I place this code into the public domain. It's free to use. No attribution required.

IdleKeyCounter.kmmacros (1.5 KB)

Keyboard Maestro Export.png1286×638 56.8 KB

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What is the value "MS" in this macro?

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Time in milliseconds since system startup.

See the following pages:
function:MILLISECONDS [Keyboard Maestro Wiki]
Keyboard Maestro 6 Documentation: Calculations

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So, MS is some magic abbreviation for MILLISECONDS()?

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I think it's an antiquated way of doing things, kind of like how technically you can reference variables without the word variable, I.e. %myVar% instead of %Variable%myVar%.

I say that because I could only find it in KM6 documentation. In KM10 wiki pages it's referred to as a function listed as MILLISECONDS().

But I could be totally off-base here. :sweat_smile:

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Thanks. MS is not in the list of Variables in KM Preferences.

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Well it’s definitely not a variable so it wouldn’t be listed there. I imagine you can find it in either Functions or Calculations but it might be listed as MILLISECONDS() if the MS version is deprecated.

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Yes, once I knew that MS meant MILLISECONDS() it was easy.

1 Like
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This is very cool, indeed. And I'm using it. However, I also want to track mouse clicks. Any ideas on how to do that?

[Why? IDLE() is frequently resetting its timer when other KM's are running in the background. I don't know what is causing this, perhaps it is one of my macros using the "Type a Keystroke" action, but it could be something else. If I could list the specific keys that I'm using in a hot key trigger (like ^0 and ^1) I could exclude those from your IdleKeyCounter macro, but I haven't found a way to do that.]