Prompt for User Input Time

Questions & Suggestions
#1

Hey Everybody,

I am a beginner at using KM, but am learning a lot just from lurking on the forum.

i am programming a macro in which i need to manually enter information before the rest of the macro enters the rest of the variable information. My problem is that the box will close before i am finished typing my data. I have a 'Pause Until' action with the front window being the condition for the rest of my macro, which is all operating as expected.

My question is: How do i make the Prompt for User Input box stay open until i either hit the OK button, or the Cancel button?

Thanks Much!
-b

#2

That is odd as "Prompt for User Input box " will always wait for button response by default unless some timeout is set.

image
image2100×614 113 KB

Suspect it is something to do with this :slight_smile:
"I have a 'Pause Until' action with the front window being the condition for the rest of my macro, which is all operating as expected. "

It is hard to figure out what's wrong from your description. Maybe you want to post portion of the macro.

#3

@macdevign_mac i put the "pause until" thinking that it was the the rest of the macro that was closing the window prematurely.

Screen Shot 2021-04-04 at 11.46.34 AM
Screen Shot 2021-04-04 at 11.46.34 AM2028×2262 404 KB

here is a screen shot of the first portion of the macro.

no matter what i try to do, the Prompt for User Input box will close after a few seconds, often while i am in the middle of typing.

#4

Click the gearwheel in the upper-right corner of the Prompt action and see if you have a Timeout set.

#5

First - which Pause for User action is being closed prematurely? Is it the first one or the second one.

Secondly - repost the image of your macro but this time with the Pause Until Conditions actions expanded so we can see and understand what’s happening.

#6

You can simplify all actions before Activate Safari with just one prompt:

image
image926×473 55 KB

1 Like
#7

Both the dialog boxes will close after a few seconds. will post the macro with the actions expanded, but it exhibits the same behavior regardless of its being enabled or disabled.

#8

This was the way that i originally had it set up, but the window would close before i could fill it in, which is why i went for two prompts

#9

Screen Shot 2021-04-04 at 2.46.05 PM
Screen Shot 2021-04-04 at 2.46.05 PM2032×2558 441 KB

The Prompt For User Input Boxes close after a few seconds regardless of the Pause until commands.
I also checked to see whether i have a timeout selected, but it is set to 99 hours... it seems like that wouldn't be the issue

#10

Hi @blaine.misner, have you tried this suggestion?

Also, it's best to upload your macro for others to try out on their computers to see if the same thing happen on other machines. The more information you provide, the quickly others can help you do the trouble shooting and problem solving. Just by looking at your screenshots, it's not easy, and sometimes impossible, to find the problem.

#11

@martin i did. see my post above. it says 99hours which to me means that it shouldn't be timing out after a few seconds

as to posting the macro.... i don't know how to do that. will gladly if someone can tell me how

#12

Ah. Sorry. I missed that.
For uploading a macro, see:
How_to_PostUpload_Your_Macro_to_the_Forum

There is a macro for doing that:
UPLOAD KM Macro to New or Existing Topic - Macro Library - Keyboard Maestro Discourse

#13

In the image you posted originally there were 3 Pause Until actions, but in this one there are just 2 and they are now disabled (unlike in the original). I’m afraid I can’t offer help if you keep moving the goalposts...

#14

Sorry, I missed that, too.

#15

Let's isolate the issue:

Can you create a macro that only contain the "Prompt for User Input" action (create from Action list) and trigger it, and see if the prompt auto-close ?

If it still auto-close, could be some compatibility issue between KM and mac os. What version of KM and mac os you are using.

#16

@macdevign_mac i am on km9.2 osx10.15.7

i did as you suggested and created a macro with just the Prompt for User Input. it also closes after a few seconds. is there a mac preference that I need to change?

#17

@tiffle all of the pause until actions are still in place, i was merely toggling the first two on/off to see if they had any effect on the macro, which they do not. the third Pause Until is for inserting text in the correct fields of safari.

#18

here is my macro!

(also found a great vid on youtube by JMichaelTX)

Go To Wetransfer add File(s) copy Macro (v9.2)

Go To Wetransfer add File(s) copy.kmmacros (20 KB)

Keyboard Maestro Export.jpg999×2078 231 KB

#19

KM9.2 and macOS 10.15.7 sounds like a very common environment (mine, in fact).

So it seems like you can't successfully execute a Prompt action. Has this always been the case for you? Did Prompts work at one time and then stopped?

For the heck of it, immediately after seeing an aborted Prompt action, go to the KM Editor and, under the Help menu, select "Open Logs Folder". In that folder, double-click "Engine.log". Scroll to the bottom of that Console window. See anything suspicious?

One other thing: I don't see the Macro trigger in any of your screen shots. How are you triggering this Macro?

#20

@SLWorona i do not think the problem is in this macro itself. Taking the advice of other posters, i created a test macro consisting of only a Prompt For User Input action. This Prompt for User Input box also closed prematurely. also, Keyboard Maestro does not return an aborted action notification when the Prompt for User Input box closes.

As to the current lack of trigger: i am still building this macro and have not assigned it a Trigger yet. i have been using a combination of the run macro icon at the top of the editor along with the try function. Once it is working properly i will decide whether it is a hotkey or folder condition Trigger.