More Information About Does It For You _______________________________________________ This document contains some information that is not included in the Does It For You online Help. Contents -------- I) Using Send Keystrokes II) Running Sequenced Tasks from the Command Line III) Sequenced Tasks IV) The Log File I) Using Send Keystrokes ------------------------ The Send Keystrokes action will send a set of specified keystrokes to an application or an open window title. For example, if you want to send keystrokes to this document, you can do it either by sending it to the application file C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE (presuming that that's where your program file is located), or to the window NOTEPAD - README.TXT. Note: If sending keystrokes to an application file, it is more reliable if you specify the full path. The following is a set of some useful keystroke sequences: Enter or Return {ENTER} or ~ Alt {ALT} or % Control or Ctrl {CONTROL} or ^ Shift {SHIFT} or + Close the window %{F4} Maximise the window %{ }x Minimise the window %{ }n Activate a Menu option %{underscored letter}underscored letter OK to a dialog box Usually: {ENTER} or %{o} Cancel to a dialog box Usually: {ESCAPE} Activate Minimised Screen {ENTER} If the keystroke is a combination of two keys (like Alt+f to initiate File option from the main menu) then you should use lowercase letters. Some application could misinterpret Alt+F ( %F ) as Alt+Shift+f. More information about send keystrokes can be found in Does It For You help. Note: Do not leave blank space between groups of keystrokes to enhance readability, as Windows interprets every blank space in you keystroke sequence as a spacebar keystroke. Instead, feel free to brake the line by pressing as the will be ignored when the sequence is sent. (If you want to send use {ENTER} or ~). If you want to send a spacebar keystroke, for clarity use { }. II) Sequenced Tasks ------------------- Sequenced Tasks are very similar to the DOS batch files. Here, you set up a group of tasks that will run sequentially one after the other at specified point of time. a) Converting a non-sequenced tasks list to a sequenced Every task list can be converted to a sequenced tasks list and vice-versa. To convert an existing task list to a sequenced one, double click on Tasks List name or choose Tasks - Change List Name option from the menu bar. This will take you to the opening dialog box. If you, at this point, check the Sequenced box, your tasks list will be converted to a sequenced tasks list. The scheduled run time of the list will default to the scheduled time of the first item on the list. To rearrange the order of the tasks, use standard drag-drop feature (or the keyboard simulation Ctrl+Enter+Arrow keys). b) Triggered tasks in a sequenced tasks list Opposed to non-sequenced triggered tasks, which are checked whenever the task is scheduled to run, triggered tasks, inside a sequenced group of tasks, work constantly. This means that the action will be executed immediately when the triggering event occurs. b) the TEST button Each Sequenced group window has a 'TEST' button (located at the top right corner of a tasks list). This is used to instantly execute the sequence regardless of it's scheduled run time. Use this option to: - Test your sequence during the design process - Run the sequence as a macro whenever you need it. III) Running Sequenced Tasks from the Command Line ------------------------------------------------------ Launching *.D4U Sequenced Tasks Lists from an ICON This feature is very usefull if your application does not have MACRO Facilities or you do not want "Does It For You" running. To run Does It For You sequenced tasks from the command line, follow the following format: DI4USQTM.EXE -Md4u_file/user_name/password -M :the switch parameter d4u_file :Name(and path) of .D4U file that you want to run user_name :User Name(if password protected) password :Users Password(if password protected) User name and Password are optional parameters. If these are not specified, and if the .D4U file is password protected, the Password dialogue box will be displayed. If you run DI4USQTM.EXE without any parameters, the Open File dialogue box will be displayed. IV) The Log File ----------------- Does It For You logs all events in a log file. The file is named DIT4UERR.LOG and is located in DOESIT4U's directory. The file is in a plain ASCII format, so it can be viewed in any conventional editor or word-processor. This file will report on execution of scheduled tasks. It will tell you when was the task executed and if it had been a successful execution. In case of any problem, an explanation of the problem will be shown. By default, DOESIT4U shows the contents of this file, each time you start the software. If you don't want to have this file shown at the start-up of the software, uncheck the option 'Show Log File on Start' from the 'Options' menu. During the time, the file will enlarge and it is advised to clear it up occasionally. (You can as well set-up a Does It For You task, to do it for you.)