Adding and arranging steps
The ADD A STEP chips
The chips under the step list add steps. The first six each add one common step:
| Chip | Adds | What the step does |
|---|---|---|
| Send keys | Send keys | Presses a key combination, such as Ctrl+T. |
| Type text | Type text | Types text as if it were typed on the keyboard. |
| Click | Click | Clicks a mouse button at a point on the screen. |
| Move window | Move window to monitor | Moves a window to the next screen. |
| Show a notification | Show a notification | Shows a Windows notification with a title and a message. |
| Wait | Wait | Pauses for a number of milliseconds. |
Three more chips follow, in Simple and Advanced mode alike:
- All N builtins… opens the list of every builtin (All builtins).
- Set variable adds a step that stores a value under a name (Variables).
- If / loop opens a menu of blocks: If…, If… otherwise…, Repeat a number of times, Repeat while…, Repeat until…, Exit the loop and Stop the steps (Conditions, Repeating steps).
Where a new step goes
Every chip adds just below the selected row and selects the new step, so you can fill it in at once. With no row selected, the new step goes at the end.
- Select an If or Repeat row, or an Otherwise row, to add inside that block.
- Select an End if or End repeat row to add after the block.
- A block is added whole: If… adds an If row and its End if, If… otherwise… also adds Otherwise between them, and a repeat adds its End repeat. The opening row is selected, so the next step you add goes inside.
- Exit the loop can only be added inside a repeat. Elsewhere it is unavailable in the menu.
All builtins
All N builtins… (N is how many there are) opens a list of every builtin, from Input.Observer and
from running plugins. Each one shows the name a script uses, followed by its plain-language name where
it has one, such as WindowMaximize Maximize window. The step it adds shows the plain-language
name.
| Builtins |
|---|
| Window |
| WindowIsMaximized |
| WindowMaximize |
- Type in the search box ①. Every word you type must appear in a builtin's name, its plain-language name, its area or its description. The list ② shows the matches grouped by area (builtins with no area are under Other), with a count of how many match out of all of them.
- Use Up and Down to move through the list while typing. The highlighted builtin's signature and description show under the list.
- Press Enter, double-click the builtin, or click Add step ③. Esc or a click elsewhere closes the list without adding anything.
The builtins themselves are documented in Builtin signatures.
Moving steps
- Drag a row by its handle to a new place. A line shows where it will land.
- Or select a row and press Alt+Up or Alt+Down.
An If or Repeat row moves together with its whole block, everything inside it included. Otherwise, End if and End repeat rows only move with their block. Any other step moves freely into and out of blocks.
The editor doesn't check that a step which saves a variable stays above the steps that use it. After moving steps, check that each variable is still saved before it is used (Variables).
Removing steps
Click Remove in the open step, or press Delete while a row (not a text field) has the focus.
- Removing an ordinary step removes just that step.
- Removing an If or Repeat row, or its End if or End repeat, removes the block's marker rows but keeps the steps that were inside; they move one level out.
- Removing an Otherwise row keeps its steps; they join the part that runs when the condition is true.
Turning a step off, or copying it
Steps can't be turned off or duplicated one by one. To try an action without one step, remove the step and add it back later, or turn the whole action off with Enabled. To repeat a step, add it again from the chips.