I've finished the macros I've been working on. When I look
back ,they're not too complicated, but the hard part was finding out
how to do what I needed to. It was about as tough for me as learning
Java when I first started because it takes a while to get used to the
Basic API and, at least for me, to searching the Wiki and the API docs.
I definitely could not have done this without Andrew's Macro Document.
Andrew, I'll be ordering a copy of your book in the next week or so. I
hope you are still getting royalties on it! Also all the suggestions
here have been a HUGE help.
I have two small apps now, so I'll start with the one most people can
use. I call it AutoMacro and it's a lot like AutoText, but in this
case, the fields are saved in the document itself. In AutoText, the
abbreviations are global. While it's called AutoMacro, it will only
take text, not macro commands. The entire reason I had to develop this
is so I could use it in connection with another program. For a
refresher, here's what a screenplay looks like:
-------------------
FADE IN:
HAL's study. Papers piled everywhere. Hal is exhausted, concentrating
on writing macros for OpenOffice and in over his head. The PHONE RINGS
and he answers.
HAL
(very distracted)
Yeah, this is Parker. It's not my fault,
nobody saw me do it, and you can't
prove anything.
Hal leans back in his chair as he listens.
--------------------------
Note there are 4 margins used in this script, 1 for the descriptions, 1
for the character's name when s/he speaks, 1 for simple instructions
(in the parenthesis), and 1 for the spoken part.
I used to use Amiga-1 through Amiga-4 to set the margins and Amiga-?
where the ? was any letter I could use (on the Amiga, you had two Amiga
keys that could work as dead keys/modifier keys), so I might use
Amiga-H to set it to the margin and type HAL for the character when
he's about to speak. If AutoText would allow binding of macros to an
item, this would not have been necessary for me to write! (So the bug
fix will mean I'd have to reprogram a lot!)
Now with AutoMacro, I can define a character or phrase. When I type
that phrase, then hit the specified key (I use shift-space), it'll use
that phrase as a key, pull out a document variable, and replace that
phrase with the document variable. So if I specify the key as "H" and
the text as "HAL" when I type an "H" with a space before it or at the
start of a line, then hit the key, that "H" will be replaced
with "HAL".
So far like AutoText, but with two differences: 1) I can store the
phrases in the document and not globally, and 2) I can easily call this
from a macro in a way that works for me. In this case, I have a
companion macro that I've got keyed to F4. If I type a 1, 2, 3, or 4,
then F4, this macro will delete that number and set the margin for me.
If the character I've just typed is not 1,2,3, or 4, it'll first let
the AutoMacro macros read the text before the cursor and make its own
substitution, then it'll change the margin to right one for character
names.
This lets me use SHIFT-SPACE for any phrases in that particular
document. I can still use F3 for any global AutoText phrases, but now
I can have local ones. Then I can use F4 to change my margins (I mean
to change the in/outdent -- I know that's the right term, but I still
think of it as margins -- old habits die hard) and F4 will also use
AutoMacro to do any AutoText like substitution.
I seriously considered just having the macros call AutoText, but the
issue of global vs. local document fields is a serious one. For
example, when I actually had an agent, I was dealing with Star Trek.
If I were writing something for Next Generation, Amiga-D might stand
for Data, but if I were writing something for Deep Space 9, Amiga-D
would stand for Dax. It's the same with film scripts: In one P might
be short for Parker, in another it might be short for Phillip. I can
change them, but if I'm heavily into a script about Phillip and I find
out something's going on with a script about Parker and I need to
re-write a few scenes, I'll have to change the P to Parker, along with
other letters. Then when I'm done, I'll have to change it back. With
local fields stored in the document, that isn't necessary.
I also made it so you can save the AutoMacros from a document in a text
file and load in a text file as well, so it is possible to transfer
macros from one document to another. To use my earlier example, if I
were hired by Deep Space 9 and were writing more than one script, I
could export the macros from the first one and use them in all later
ones.
This was the part that I was asking about polling the keyboard. I was
seriously looking at doing something a little different, but it sounded
like it would be so hard to do, I just gave up and did it this way.
The other mini-app I did was to create the script files for me. For
example, if I have a script titled, "Doctor What" that I'm going to
write, I'll want to create a subdirectory in my writing directory
named "DoctorWhat" (without the spaces) and the script would
be "DoctorWhat-FullScript.odt" I might also want to create files of
partial scripts so I can work on different parts of the film without
having to jump around in one huge file. This set of macros gives me a
dialog box where I enter the name of the script and it creates the
directory, loads in a template file, puts the title and my name and
contact info in the right place and puts the cursor where I will start
typing, 2 lines below the first "FADE IN:"
It also works with TV scripts and can include a series. (We're
considering doing some local work like that.) It also lets me easily
create separate files for TV scripts with one act per file, numbering
them appropriately so one file doesn't overwrite another.
Between the two, the 2nd creates the script files for me. That's not a
hard job, but for a senile person like me, it's a pain because I always
have to double check how far down the title goes and crap like that.
But it's also nice to have it done automatically, without thinking
about it and to have my program that creates them just as I want them
done. Once I have the script file, I can change margins (or
in/outdent) with 2 keystrokes and also easily have character names
typed out for me.
I'm going to be using these programs for a bit to see if they need more
debugging. I saw references and links along the way to macro sites.
I'll probably put them up on my blog where I put the FOSS programs I
write so they can be downloaded there as well as put them up on the
macro sites.
If people on this list want to see the code, I'll be glad to post it,
since this is a developer's list and not just a general usage list.
(It's not yet commented, though!) I'd probably have to post it in an
attachment (if the list allows) to preserve formatting.
Maybe it's some kind of nesting instinct, but it's a LOT easier for me
to be comfortable and to do my writing with little things like this
that give me the environment I like to work in and I've been trying to
get this done for 4-5 years!
Thanks for the help and I hope once I'm sure these are in good shape,
they'll be useful to others. I still have a few quirks I'd like to get
rid of (like can I detect when <enter> is pressed in a text control and
use that to save the field), but it's working and that's a huge relief.
Hal
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