Why would the same macro work on one computer and not on another?

Questions & Suggestions
1

I have made a macro that opens a folder and brings it to the foreground where I can drag files to it. On my MacBook Air, it works fine, but on my Mac Pro nothing seems to happen at all. Both machines are using the same Mavericks. The macro is pretty simple.

Thanks for any ideas.

-jg

2

nothing seems to happen at all

Whenever a macro does not fire when expected, the troubleshooting process is the same (as described on the wiki Troubleshooting page).

Here is what to do:

  • Ensure the Keyboard Maestro Engine is running - the Keyboard Maestro status menu should show in the menu bar on the right hand side (unless you've turned it off).
  • Ensure the Macro Group is enabled, and is active in the application in question.
  • Ensure the macro is enabled.
  • Ensure the macro actions are enabled.
  • Add a status menu trigger, and verify that the macro is active by checking for its name in the Keyboard Maestro status menu.
  • Add a Display Text Briefly or Growl action to the macro to verify that the macro is firing.
  • Choose Start Debugging from the Status Menu, ensure Pause New Macros is turned on, and trigger the macro. Step through the actions to see where it is going wrong.

Basically, you have to discover if the macro is active, if the trigger is firing, or if the actions are failing.

3

Hey Jimmy,

My guess is that you have different user names for the two machines.

OR

You have subtly miswritten the path to the folder.

Try using a relative path:

~/Documents/ Skitch/

Also: Make certain the space in your folder name is a space and not a non-breaking-space (Opt-Space).

In fact I’d just delete the path and start over. Drag the ’ Skitch’ folder into the field and then edit it to the relative path.

~ == The current user’s home folder.

-Chris