Long Palettes vs Find/Trigger Macro by Name

Questions & Suggestions
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1

Continuing the discussion from MACRO: Renumber Macro Prefix Numbers:

Since this is substantially off-topic for the above topic, I have started a new topic just to discuss a comparison of palettes vs trigger by name.

Dan, obviously you have developed a preference for this approach.
Can you comment on the pros/cons of using a large palette, vs using trigger macro by name (which I'm using more and more)?

Here are mine:

  • Pros of using Long Palette
    • Helps you remember what macros you have when you have a long list
    • Great for people who prefer mouse over keyboard
    • Great when you have a sequence of Macro to run, each with a single click

Example: Using Dan's Macro Alias technique, I created this long palette for Evernote, for when I can' remember even what macros I have:

Note here I have also assigned hot keys to trigger the most often used macros.

  • Pros of using Trigger by Name

    • Doesn't use any screen space until I need it
    • Doesn't require any use of the mouse
    • All I have to do is remember any word in the Macro name
    • As I type the name, the selection quickly shortens
    • I can use a common word to quickly show a related macros, like "Fav"

  • Cons of using Trigger by Name

    • You have use the "n:" qualifier to actually filter by Name
    • The filter will include characters within a word, which I almost never want to do

Example: Using "EN" as the initial search by name:

I am still developing my techniques and preferences for finding and triggering macros. I welcome all discussion on that subject here.

2

I only use large palettes with applications that are already heavily mouse-centric. Whole there’s a lot you can do in the KM Editor with just keystrokes, you always have to use the mouse for some things. So I don’t mind the big palette.

Regarding Trigger by Name, for some reason I just hadn’t really noticed it before. And now that I see it, I see another use of a new set of macros I’m working on. More on this later.

3

Makes sense.

I used to mostly use the mouse with the KM Editor, but as of late I've been using keyboard hot keys for

  • the Action Insert by Name, with a ^A shortcut -- makes it fast and easy to type.
  • Hotkey triggered macros to set Action color (⌥C) and name (⌥N)
4

Me too. In fact, I have a new macro I'll be releasing shortly to hopefully make this even easier (fingers crossed).

I have to look at the colors before I can decide which color I want. So that won't work for me. :slight_smile:

But yes, I wish I could do most everything from the keyboard. I am a developer, used to IDEs. But I realize KM isn't the same animal, and that's cool with me.

5

Actually, you see the colors:

Put the mouse pointer over the top, non-active, part of the Action (or just select the Action), and When I press ⌥C, here's what I see:

Then I just type the first letter of the color, and RETURN.

##Macro Library Set Color of KM Action

Set Color of KM Action.kmmacros (4.7 KB)

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6

Oh, I get it. Cool! Thanks.

7

I still think using a key or key combo trigger to launch the palette, then type a letter in the choice I want is pretty powerful and allows me to stay away from the mouse.

Note in this case I am using CONTROL+K to launch the palette then for example to convert selected text to Sentence case I merely type "S".

8

So you're using it to insert actions in your macro construction and colorize them then?

9

Yes. However, by using @DanThomas' new KMFAM macro system, I now have a number of Actions already colored and named, so it just takes one step to insert the finished Action.

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10

Great food for thought! I understand how you use, trigger the long palette. But I do not get how you use/trigger the "Trigger by name" palette.

11

It is very easy, very simple to use MACRO: Execute Macro by Name (Spotlight) by @DanThomas:

  1. Trigger this macro (I use ⌘⌃⌥M)
  2. This popup window appears,
    • which filters your macro list to only those that are ACTIVE in the present context (app).
    • So this window shows ONLY those macros that can be triggered in Brave Browser.
      .
      image
  3. Simply start typing any characters in the macro name
    • You can use a SPACE to search for different words in the macro name
      .
      image
  4. If the macro finds your target macro, just hit RETURN
  5. Else arrow down or enter more characters to select your target macro; Then hit RETURN

It is very fast and very easy. It is my default way of triggering macros, which I use many times a day.

Make sense?

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12

It makes super sense!

I just didn't know this lovely tool existed (cc @DanThomas) .

Thank you for your detailed answer :+1:

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