Q #1: What exactly does "Reveal mode" do? Does it record my keystrokes and
mouse movements and if so, do I cut and paste the contents into a text
file to make a script? Lets say I want to automate a software
installation. Will I need to study the commands and write it in
notepad or will AutoIt assist me and create a script by recording my
key strokes?
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A #1: The AutoIt "Reveal" mode
allows you to find out the exact title and
text content (if any) of any open window in order to properly specify
the window within an AutoIt script (see the WinXXX commands, e.g.
WinWait, WinWaitActive, WinClose, etc.)
The Reveal Mode window shows
information about some other window that
is active. For example certain AutoIt commands take window titles as
an argument. The Reveal Mode window echoes the title of the currently
active window which you can copy and paste into your script. In a
similar way the other information displayed allows you to script the
clicking of a button, etc.
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A #2: Let me give you a scenario of how I
go about creating an automation
of a process. Let's say I want
AutoIt to automatically bring up the
desktop properties dialog box.
First, if you haven't done so
already. Install AutoIt. It will make
some things easier.
I would start with bringing up
AutoIt in reveal mode. Reveal
mode is just a way of seeing
information about windows and the mouse
position while you are going thru
the process. All you need to do
to bring up reveal mode is to click
on it in the AutoIt group in
the Program item on the Start menu.
Once that's done. start up an editor
(NoteTab, the AutoIt Script
Editor, WinVi, etc.) and minimize
it. This will allow you to write
down what is being displayed in
reveal mode.
Then I would start up the process I
want to automate. In my example
I could bring up the display dialog
box in 2 different ways. But for
this example I'll bring it up via
the control panel.
To get to the Start menu I would
normally press CNTRL-ESC. So
I would put a "Send,
^{ESC}" as my 1st statement in the editor.
Next I would use the arrow keys to
go up 6 menu items to the
"Settings" item. So I would put "Send, {UP 6}" as
the next line.
Next I would press the right arrow
key to highlight the
"Control Panel" item and
then press <ENTER> ("Send, {RIGHT}{ENTER}").
Now I have to look at the reveal
mode window and see what the
title of the "Control
Panel" window is. Obviously in this instance
it's "Control Panel" so we
need the script to wait for the window to
come up so we'll put a
"WinWaitActive, Control Panel" as the next
line.
Lastly, we need to bring up the
Display dialog box. The easiest
way is to get the focus into the
main part of the window by pressing
an arrow key so "Send,
{RIGHT}" comes next. Then in my
Control
Panel window I have 3 icons that
start with a "D". So I would
have
to type 3 d's to get to the proper
icon ("Send, ddd{ENTER}") and
then press an <ENTER> to bring
it up.
All of this together is in the
script below. Of course this is a
contrived example. But I'm sure you get the drift.
; =========== Scriptlet Starts Here
===========
Send, ^{ESC}
Send, {UP 6}
Send, {RIGHT}{ENTER}
WinWaitActive, Control Panel
Send, {RIGHT}
Send, ddd{ENTER}
; =========== Scriptjlet Ends Here
===========