Is It Possible to Get a Macro To Trigger by Selecting Text in a Particular App?

Questions & Suggestions
1

I am trying to create a macro to save an opened PDF file in Safari to my Downloads folder. I am trying to trigger the macro by selecting some text in the document which will be used as the filename.
Is it possible to trigger a macro by selecting text? I know some other apps like Popclip can do this but I will prefer if the whole sequence of actions can be executed by KBM to reduce any redundancy. I also think it will be nice to have this as a trigger in KBM.

2

There is no trigger for just selecting text. You will need to trigger the macro some other way (via Popclip, or with some other trigger like a hot key or whatever).

3

Hey Mirizzi,

To save a PDF thatā€™s already open in Safari by downloading it again type:

Cmd-L
Option-Return

To just export it from cache save it with Cmd-S.

This gives you the opportunity to name it as you wish.

The Keyboard Maestro sequence would go something like:

Copy
Save
Pause Until button ā€˜Saveā€™ is enabled.
Paste
Type Cmd-Shift-G
Paste or type /Users/chris/Downloads
Press button 'Goā€™
Press button ā€˜Saveā€™

Since I have Default Folder Iā€™d actually script getting the selected text from Safari, the name change, and the save-location change. This bypasses the clipboard and is faster. Keyboard Maestro would still be used to activate the save, run the script, and press the final ā€˜Saveā€™ button.

-Chris

4

Iā€™m thinking you could map a KM workflow to a BetterTouchTool action that actually copies and pastes the selected text and saves the file

1 Like
5

Thanks. I tried your macro for a PDF that is embedded in the page, http://joliclic.free.fr/html/object-tag/en/object-application.html#pdf. I could not get it to save the PDF.
How can I save embedded PDFs and non-embedded PDFs using a single macro?

My initial approach was to select the title text in the PDF, select a right-mouse click and then select ā€œOpen in Previewā€. After opening in Preview, the PDF can then be saved to a particular folder using the copied title as its new filename.

6

Is it possible to copy the PDF file in the background from the cache folder and rename it before pasting in the Documents folder?

7

Hey Mirizzi,

Were you speaking to me? Unless your reply is directly after someone elseā€™s post itā€™s a good idea to address them, so they know who youā€™re speaking to.

The answer is that you have to be able to test for content.

Such tests might go like:

tell application "Safari"
  set _url to URL of front document
  if _url ends with ".pdf" and (source of front document) = "" then
    return true
  end if
end tell

If this returns true then the loaded document in Safari is almost certainly a PDF file.

If itā€™s false then you can run something like this following script to pick up linked pdf files.

There will probably be cases where this technique wonā€™t work, but you can inspect the code of the web page to see if itā€™s possible to pull out the links you want.

------------------------------------------------------------

set linkList to safari_links(".*\\.pdf", "*", "href")

if linkList ā‰  {} then
	tell current application
		set myPicks to choose from list linkList default items (item 1 of linkList) with multiple selections allowed and empty selection allowed
	end tell
end if

------------------------------------------------------------
--Ā» HANDLERS
------------------------------------------------------------
on safari_links(regexStr, tagName, tagType)
	set js to "function in_array (array, item) {
	for (var i=0; i < array.length; i++) {
		if ( array[i] == item ) {
			return true;}}
	return false;}
	var a_tags = document.getElementsByTagName('" & tagName & "');
	var href_array = new Array();
	var reg = new RegExp(/" & regexStr & "/i);
	for (var i=0; i < a_tags.length; i++) {
		var href = a_tags[i]." & tagType & ";
		if ( reg.test(href)) {
			if ( !in_array(href_array, href)) {
				href_array.push(href);}}}
 href_array;"
	
	try
		tell application "Safari" to set linkList to do JavaScript js in document 1
		if linkList = missing value then set linkList to {}
	on error
		set linkList to {}
	end try
	
	return linkList
	
end safari_links
------------------------------------------------------------

So. Your task goes from fairly simple to fairly complicated, and thereā€™s no one-size-fits-all answer.

When I undertake something like this I usually write a script that works for my specific use-case.

Later I find a situation that breaks my script, and I add code to account for the new use-case if possible.

Rinse and repeat.

-Chris

8

There is now (seven years later) the option to have the "This Device Key" as a trigger. While this isn't a selection per se executing the macro, the click and release parts of making a selection can now be used.

If configured to have the RELEASE of the device key along with a modifier be the trigger, then that trigger could execute the macro that does the rest of the work.

To test on an MBP, I have releasing the trackpad with the Control key down execute a copy action, and clicking the trackpad with the Command key down executes a paste command.

1 Like
9

Thanks for the tip. I was not aware of that. With a double click on a word it can be copied directly to the clipboard (trigger: "ist tapped twice") Just to name one of the possibilities. Nice. I'll have to think about how else to use that.