Repeat a Macro Every 5 Minutes if a Key Is Not Pressed

Questions & Suggestions
1

Hi there,

I have a macro that starts with a "Time of Day" trigger each working day at 09:30. This macro is a reminder that displays a large text. Normally at this time of the day I am in front of my computer. But sometimes, if I'm in the toilet or at the coffee machine, I miss the reminder because the large text vanishes after a few seconds. What I would like is that the macro repeats every 5 minutes if I do not press a key when the text is displayed.

I really appreciate any help you can provide.

2

Hi @carycrusiau,

I'm not 100% clear in exactly what you want but I wonder if the "Periodically while logged in" trigger might be better suited to your needs?

if you are using the Notification action, you might like to look into using the "Display Text" action instead, as it gives you some other options about how to display your message.

3

Why not use a Display Text in Window or an Alert or other action that displays the text in a window and requires you to OK it to get rid of it.

Alternatively, you can use the IDLE function to determine wether the Mac is idle and perhaps pause until it is not idle and then display the text.

Or perhaps something like:

  • Repeat 99999 times
    • Display Text Large
    • Pause 10 Seconds
    • If calculation IDLE() < 11 then Cancel This Macro
4

@haptic @peternlewis

Thank you both for your suggestions. I could indeed have used an alert but I like the large text. I did not know the IDLE function. It's perfect. I did exactly what I wanted.

5

Just so you know, the Display Text in Window Action accepts styling. So you could make the text in it as large as you like, with any color you like.

6

If you do not mind sharing the macro. I would like to see it

7

@JMichaelTX I didn't know about that. Interesting.

@JimmyHartington Reminder.kmmacros (46.2 KB)

8

Thanks. Now I understand where you used the idle command.