I selected the macro to open a Numbers file, but it opened a different Numbers file and at another trial a text file, both from the same folder.
It just could not open this one file, but from the folder it was no problem to open it.
Re-created the macro from the bottom up, and rebooted the computer. This helped.
Later, I could not change the color of a comment to green, although the dots are in green (see image above).
So the action before the comment ”Open with TextEdit” was in blue, and when I tried to change the colour of the comment to green it only changed to the same blue as above. No way to change the colour after that.
This doesn't look like a big deal, but it makes me suspicious something is wrong.
I use a lot of KM macros in various Excel spreadsheets. Over the last few weeks the behavior has become quite erratic. Keystrokes that used to perform flawlessly 100% of the time seem to miss a lot of steps now. I have added pauses, trying to slow things down. No luck. I am still trying to figure out if the problem is with Excel or KM.
I am still on macOS Sequoia on an Intel iMac. I may try updating to Tahoe soon, hoping that it will reset whatever has gone sideways.
I can think of a few ideas. First, you could show us one of the macros - preferably one that fails consistently. Second, there's a feature in the KM Editor under the Help menu called Interactive Help which you should try. Third, there's a feature in the KM Engine called the debugger which you could turn on and you can watch your macros run, or you can even pause them and run them step by step to see what they are doing. Fourth, there's a file called Engine.log (you can find its location in the KM Editor under the Help menu) which records the activation of all macros, and sometimes there is useful information in there. Fifth, you can tell us what other "utilities" you have on your Mac, as these can sometimes interfere with KM. Sixth, you can ask yourself when did the symptoms begin, and prior to that time think about whether you updated any software on your system.
If you think you are able to launch the Debugger and read its screen, that would be what I would do in your case. It's available as an option under the KM logo in your menu bar at the top of your screen. In fact it's so useful I created a permanent macro attached to one of my keys (Shift F19) that toggles the Debugger's window.
The blue colour is automatic when you have any characters entered into the box at the top of the KM Editor window. That blue colour, with stripes, overrides any other colour that the action may have. What it means is that this action contains the characters that you types into the box. Nothing is broken, that's how the KM Editor works.
If the first issue was resolved by rebooting, that sounds like something in your system was very confused.
The second issue, as @Airy explained, is that you are current searching for something (top right of the editor window), and Keyboard Maestro is indicating the matching actions by highlighting the actions in striped blue, overriding any color settings for the action.
I’ve got a strange one, that has just happened today, similar to the OP one. It has only just started doing it, with NO changes to my computer (that I’m aware of) but now, when I execute the macro, it flashes up, then vanishes, and does not complete the process. If I select it a second time, immediately after it failed, it works perfectly. This is now happening every time I select it. I have tried rebooting computer, and all open apps, and restarting KM, but still the same. I’ve hunted on KM for all the diagnostic tools above, but can’t find any of them. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Aha, I’ve discovered, it is not KM that’s messing up, it’s Illustrator. Hitting the OPEN, or even selecting return, does not OPEN the file, until the second attempt. I’ll now have to look into Illustrator for the reason.
Thanks for pointing me to the Debugger. That was new territory for me. I can see where it will be helpful.
In my case something changed between Excel and KM in the last few weeks in the way that Excel responds to the “Insert text by Typing” (or pasting) action. Previously, all I had to do was have KM position the cursor over a cell and the insert action would type text. Now I first have to enter “Edit Mode” on Excel (F2), and then run the action to insert text. It turned out to be a simple solution of just inserting a bunch of F2 keystrokes but took a while to track down.
You know, the problem of applications getting new versions is a common problem. That gives me an idea. Maybe I can write a macro that is constantly tracking app version numbers and show a timeline of when they got changed/upgraded. That would help people to uncover whether or not the app itself may be at fault. EDIT: I have a rough prototype working. So it can be done.
Great suggestion. Each time I see the stripes I come back here to get reminded what they are. I guess it’s cuz I don’t use search within a macro all that often.
