WinMapper Advanced Tutorial

This tutorial assumes you can find your way around WinMapper, and is interested in learning more about the advanced features.

You will be guided through Creating a hotkey to start an application Macros Bookmarks Profiles Loop features Antz

Creating a hotkey to start an application

In order to define and use hotkeys, you first click on the Hotkeys tab in the WinMapper window. If the WinMapper window is not currently visible, open it by double-clicking the WinMapper icon in the Taskbar / Systray, or press and hold both Windows keys at the same time (if that particular setting is enabled).

Define a new hotkey by pressing the Add button. This will result in another window being displayed, where you can define the hotkey and its function.

Select the key and modifier (these are special keys such as the SHIFT key used in combination with other keys) for which you would like to set up a hotkey.

Select the "Start Application" function from the Functions menu. You may have to select the All or "Run" category before this function is available in the list.

The Start (and Switch To) Application functions supports 3 parameters: 1. Document: This is the document, application, Internet favorite, shortcut, command, function, or Inverted Verb you wish to start when the hotkey is run. Use the Select window (click on the Select button to access this window) to find the desired document/application/etc.

2. Mode: This is the "display" mode used when starting the application. Note that this may be overridden if a shortcut is started (which can define this as well), or the application does not support the desired mode. The default is Normal, which displays the application in the Windows default mode. Use "Maximized" and "Minimized" to start applications in a maximized or minimized state.

3. Parameter: Some applications can take optional parameters, and they can be specified here.

When you have selected all the required options, and entered a short description of your hotkey, press the OK button. If an error occurs you should be notified of its origin and severity ; if no errors occurred WinMapper returns to the overview of installed hotkeys and displays the newly selected hotkey in the list. Click on OK to return to the WinMapper window, then hide WinMapper by clicking on the Hide button.

Your hotkey should now be ready for use :).

Macros

Macros are the recording and playback of keystrokes you type. To use macros, you will need to define some hotkeys to start recording your keystrokes, and to play them again. Examples are provided here:

Define a new hotkey for the Start Recording Macro function. Open WinMapper (if you have the "Show WinMapper when both Windows keys pressed" setting ON, this can be achieved simply by pressing the left and right Windows key simultaneously ;), and click on the Hotkeys button. Click on Add to add a new hotkey. Our example hotkey uses WIN as modifier, F7 as the key, and record as the description. Then click on the Macros group in the category list, and select the Start Recording Macros function in the Functions list. Then click on OK to save the new hotkey.

Define a new hotkey for the Play Macro function. Click on Add to define a new hotkey. Our example hotkey uses WIN as modifier, F8 as the key, and play as the description. Click on the Macros group in the category list, and select the Play macro function in the functions list. Then click on OK to save the new hotkey.

Example of use: Open a text editor such as Wordpad, Microsoft Word, etc. Now hold down the Windows key and press F7. At this moment, the WinMapper icon should change to RED in the taskbar/system tray (next to the clock) to indicitate you are now recording a macro. Enter the text testing 1-2-3 ! , and then press the Windows key and F8 simultaneously. This is the hotkey we defined earlier for Play macro, and (in v0.99) this will abort the recording of a macro and start playing it. The text testing 1-2-3 ! should appear to the right of the text you typed. Press WIN+F8 again to insert the text again. The recorded text is kept in memory until you exit WinMapper, or use another macro function.

If you need to insert the same text 100 times, there is no need to keep pressing the Play hotkey. You can define a hotkey for the Repeat macro function, and press that hotkey instead of your Play macro. You will then be prompted for the repeat count (up to 500), and the macro you recorded will be repeated that number of times.

If you need to use your new macro permanently, you should use a SendKeys function instead. This function will insert a predefined text in the same way as a Play Macro. To Convert your macro to a SendKeys hotkey, click on the Convert Macro menu in the Macros menu. From this menu, you can also Load and Save macros.

Another Macro function is the NextNumber function. This function allows you to enter a starting value and a positive/negative adding value. The first time the hotkey is used, the starting value is "played" as a text macro. Whenever the hotkey is used after that, the value is changed by the value you specified during the hotkey setup, and "played" again. To make the changing of the starting value / changeby value easy, you can rightclick on the WinMapper icon in the taskbar/system tray and click on the Edit Last Hotkey shortcut. That will take you directly to the editing of the last hotkey you used, and you can then change the number (if the NextNumber hotkey was your last hotkey ;).

The NextNumber feature makes it very easy to remember a number and automatically go to the next one after each use. The SendKeys function makes it even more fun, as you can set up hotkeys to send a predefined text containing the next number. To do this, you type the text you would like to appear, and then go to the position in the text where you would like the next number to be inserted. Insert the text <NEXTNO> at that position(preceded by a "less than" sign, and followed by a "larger than" sign).

If your text sequence looks like this "My next number is <NEXTNO> right now.", and the NextNumber function was defined with a starting value of 100 and a change by value of 1, using the hotkey 3 times results in this: My next number is 100 right now.My next number is 101 right now.My next number is 102 right now. And so on. To make this more usefull, the SendKeys function also supports two other "tags" (names within the <> characters): <CR> and <TAB>. The TAB replaces the text with a tab character, and the CR replaces the text with a new line character (return). If your text sequence looks like this "My next number is <NEXTNO> right now.<CR>", and the NextNumber function was defined with a starting value of 100 and a change by value of 1, using the hotkey 3 times results in this: My next number is 100 right now. My next number is 101 right now. My next number is 102 right now.

Bookmarks Use Bookmarks to first bookmark a window, and then return to it using a simple keypress. WinMapper has a built-in setting for using 10 Bookmark hotkeys on WIN+0 to 9. You can also create individual hotkeys for other bookmarks.

To bookmark a window, press Shift, the Microsoft Windows Key, and a number between 0 and 9. Press the Microsoft Windows Key and 0 to 9 to return to that window. Bookmarks are temporary and 'dropped' on-the-fly. To always switch to a window, use the Switch to Application function.

Profiles WinMapper now features a Profiles menu that allows access to the first 5 profiles installed on the system (and always the default profile), and access to the Profiles window. In the Profiles window, you can copy, create and remove WinMapper profiles, or Load a profile from the list. Each Profile contains a list of hotkeys, and the basic WinMapper settings. This allows you to create highly specific keyboard profiles, for use in specific programs or environments.

We plan to implement an advanced version of the Start Application function that will support the preloading of a specified profile in version 1.05. This may later be enhanced with automatic detection of the profile to use for a given application.

Loop features Two new functions were implemented to support endless loops: the Antz Loop and SendKeys Loop functions. These two functions are identical to their non-loop counterparts, but will repeat continously until you press ESCAPE or the hotkey again. You can specify the delay in miliseconds (a value of 1000 is 1 second) to wait between each Playback.

Both functions allow you to program your keyboard or mouse response in advance, using simple text commands or key names. Antz is made specifically for mouse simulations, while SendKeys is for keyboard simulations.

By allowing indefinate loops (aborted by a simple ESCAPE keypress, which is automatically removed from the system), and allowing for the creation of individual keyboard profiles, WinMapper is now suitable for use in games. For example, you can create a keyboard profile for a specific game, using some of the keys that are not used by the game. These hotkeys can then be programmed to execute a series of keyboard or mouse actions (or both), or continue to do so until you press the hotkey or ESCAPE.

Antz The two new Antz functions allow you to program your mouse using simple text commands. Currently the Antz functions supports the commands

CNTR - Center mouse in window P:ms - Pause the specified number of milliseconds before next action. T:ms - Pause the specified number of milliseconds before next action. This is an alternative to the P: command and may work better with some applications. This is also more appropriate for longer delays (more than a second). LD, LU, LC - Left mouse button Down, Up, or single Click RD, RU, RC - Right mouse button Down, Up or single Click MD, MU, MC - Middle mouse button Down, Up or single Click Both LC, RC and MC supports the optional parameter :count to repeat the click at the current position a specified number of times (I.e. LC:10 results in 10 left clicks).

MV:x,y - Move mouse cursor. You can either specify absolute screen positions, or use the + and - signs as a prefix to describe relative movement. For example, MV:+10,+10 will move the cursor 10 pixels to the right and 10 pixels up from where the mouse was when the macro was played. MV:320,200 will position the mouse at the absolute pixel position of 320,200. Each value is checked for relative or absolute values, and can be mixed.

If the command is none of the above, it is checked for a Key name or value. This support is also available in SendKeys, but must be specified between a < and > characters. The Keynames are the ones listed in the Edit Hotkey window, and the Key Value can be specified directly by prefixing the hexadecimal key value with a $ sign. The hexadecimal value is the value shown in the Key field in the Edit Hotkey window. Either the name or the key value can be specified.

Separate each command with a space. An example is provided here : (drawing - should be executed when running an image editor - such as MS Paint)

LD MV:+10,+0 LU LD MV:-10,+10 LU LD MV:-10,-10 LU LD MV:+10,-10 LU LD MV:+0,+10 LU

Tip/example: For continued walking in the game Diablo, create a hotkey to use the Antz function with the command LD. The result is that Diablo thinks you pressed down the left mouse button, and hasn't released it yet - and it will therefore continue walking towards the current mouse position. Click or use another hotkey to stop walking. You can also create hotkeys for firing spells or range weapons by using RC (right click), or for continued firing (left clicking). To perform the action repeatedly, use the Antz Loop function and insert small delays: The command LC T:500 RC with a loop delay of 500 results in a left click, a pause of 0.5 second, followed by a right click, and after a 0.5 second delay the entire sequense is repeated.

Getting and Using Help

For the latest news and documentation, please visit the official WinMapper site at http://www.spinnersoftware.com/products/winmapper/.