Is there any Windows software that can run other Windows software by generating mouse click events and other needed events, to accomplish simple scripting for applications that were never intended to support it?
I have an application program that requires many clicks but no real thought on the part of the user. It can take up to a minute or so to do things between some of the clicks. And I have to run this program perhaps dozens of times to accomplish a certain analysis. Clearly, this program would be much more useful if it supported scripting of some kind, but it does not, not at all.
I think if I could generate mouse up events at certain pixel addresses on the screen according to a certain schedule, I could fix this. And, I may be able to figure out how to do that - I can do a little programming for Windows, but am not experienced enough to know if this is possible and how to do it, but maybe I can find out.
However, if somebody has already solved this problem, it’d be great!
Formerly from CE Software, now from Startly Technologies, QuicKeys will do it pretty nicely.
Started off as a Mac product, but my girlfriend uses the Windows version and it works pretty good. You can set up a routine that does these 18 mouse clicks and menu choices then lauches this application / this document and does these 5 things, etc etc.
I also use AutoHotkey, which comes with a handy macro recorder.
Be aware, though, that “requiring no real thought on the part of the user” can still be a challenge for any automation software. For example, you may have a drop-down list with a variable number of items on it. It’s easy for a human operator to click on the item “Foo”, but not so easy for an automated script, since “Foo” might appear at different pixel locations.
Sometimes you can get around this by using keyboard alternatives rather than mouse clicks, but not always. And there are plenty of other variable situations that can trip up automation software. I know about this, having spent many hours trying to perfect AutoHotkey scripts, which even then don’t always work as expected. Basically, true software automation requires artificial intelligence.
Another vote for AutoHotkey. It is very easy to record a macro and reasonably easy for someone with a bit of programming skill to work up a script, has a helpful active support forum, it can compile a script as a standalone exe file … and it’s free.