The Insert Action by Name search knows mostly about words, so you can often use just the first letter. For example “s v t c” will select Set Variable to Calculation.
You can also duplicate or option drag existing actions which may be a quick way.
You can copy actions into Named Clipboards and paste them using macros if desired. You could also use exported action files and drag or import them.
Most fields include type completion, and you can press Escape to immediately trigger the type completion. So for example “Sou[escape][return]” will select the variable Source.
And yes, it remains a deep irony that Keyboard Maestro is itself very challenging to control.
I’d be interested to hear other people’s answers as well, and perhaps any suggestions for future improvements. For the most part I find the design of the macro is typically more time consuming that the time spent making the macro, but other people might have different expierences (I doubt I’m typical ;- ).
I believe this is relatively standard Mac behaviour (for example it works in Pages, though Mail uses Option-Escape). Its handled by the system completion routine.
Dang, now I have to admit I’m a Windows developer, not a Mac developer, and I didn’t know that. But don’t hold it against me - at least I use Macs IRL.
Editing can get confusing bouncing back and forth among several macros and several groups.
Especially editing sub-macros (sub-routines) that work across several applications.
To navigate easily, I use bright colored icons as 'targets' in the Editor.
Temporary targets, just for the duration of that editing project.
This screen shows at a glance where I'm editing right now: red icons
.
but this does not work for me, [quote=“peternlewis, post:2, topic:3536”]
The Insert Action by Name search knows mostly about words, so you can often use just the first letter. For example “s v t c” will select Set Variable to Calculation.
[/quote]
That was written a bunch of versions ago, presumably I’ve adjusted the search since then to show more options which means you have to be more specific. set v tex works.
There are a lot of actions, at some point you have to either type enough to specify them or choose from the options.
From browsing this forum, I’m learning that many reported “problems” about KM, and many “feature requests,” can actually be solved by using KM itself, plus some individual creativity.
Chris’ post above is an excellent example of that.
Absolutely. Keyboard Maestro is like a toolshed - people come in and ask for a chair, and others will point out the wood and the tools and help you figure out how to use them and then you can come away with exactly the chair you want.
This is also seen in the way I typically do support. I generally prefer to explain how you can use Keyboard Maestro to accomplish your goals rather than building a macro and handing it over. Thankfully there are lots of other folks here who happily build amazing macros to compliment my style of support!
