Simple problem converting numerical string on clipboard to number for repetition

Questions & Suggestions
1

Apparently despite all my reading and frequent questions I still can’t sort out numeric versus text fields and tokens vs clipboards vs. variables. I keep coming up with questions about them. Here’s my latest

I have filtered the current clipboard to get the number of characters it contains. (At first I didn’t know where that number went, but since there was no place else in sight I guessed successfully that it was the clipboard itself.)

I then want to repeat an action the number of times represented by the string in the clipboard. For instance, if the clipboard contains “8” I want to execute an action 8 times.

I can’t figure out how to convert the string on the clipboard to a numeric value. I don’t know whether I first need to set a variable to the contents of the clipboard, whether to use a calculation, whether I’m supposed to use a token, whether I can just use the clipboard, or what. I thought there might a function that converted a string representation into a number like in programming language, but Ii know I thinking too hard.

What simple thing am I missing which is going to embarrass me?

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Here's the trick about numeric variables:

  1. You can only use them in Calculation fields. These are fields that expect numbers.
  2. In a calculation field, you reference a variable by its name only - no %Variable% stuff.
  3. In just about any numeric field, even if the edit box looks too small, you can use a variable. When you start typing a variable name, the edit box will expand, or move, or something.
3

Am I imagining things or are the macro steps shown in your recent posts magnified less than normal? The fonts seem small, but big enough.

4

One thing odd about the Repetition numeric field is that it doesn’t follow the FAQs point about numeric fields normally having up/down arrows.

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5

It's because I left my window wide, and there's only so much width it will show. Here:

6

Thanks. So it turns out that embarrassing thing about my failure to find the solution is that I did find the solution — exactly like yours — it just isn’t working for some reason. Have to look more closely.

7

You can use the Clipboard switcher to verify what’s on the clipboard, and you can use Keyboard Maestro Preferences -> Variables to monitor what’s in your variables. Sometimes that helps debug things.

8

Yes it does:

The arrows are removed after expansion of the field.

Amusingly, today I just finished adding a function CHARACTERS() so you can do this:

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