Can the "EDIT" primary command be run from within a macro

rprinceton
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Posts: 29

Can the "EDIT" primary command be run from within a macro Feb 24, 2022 18:59:11 GMT -5

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Post by rprinceton on Feb 24, 2022 18:59:11 GMT -5

Hello,

I am trying to develop an IDE with SPFLite at the center mainly because I do not like the glorified notepad IDE's that typically come with the language.

Simplified it will work as follows.

Get the source code up in SPFLite.

Issue an edit macro that will essentially go thru the compilation process.

The compilation process will direct the compilation output to a text file.

The compilation results will be displayed in SPFLite without ever leaving SPFLite.

I want to display the compilation output in another tab in SPFLite. Be aware that I can get the basic concept to work by starting up another instance of SPFLite from within the edit macro but it would be better to utilize the SPFLite instance that is already running.

I would have thought the way to do this is to simply issue the edit command i.e., SPF_Cmd("EDIT " + "CompileOutPut.txt") from within the edit macro. (It does work by entering the "EDIT" primary in the command area outside of the edit macro).

When coded in the edit macro it does nothing, not even display any kind of problem it encountered. I even pared it down to just the command "EDIT" which should have brought up the Open dialog.

I looked at the example named PB.macro. This kind of does what I want, but I do not see the need to have thinbasic read the compile output file when SPFLite can do it.

I have attached a snippet from the macro and a file named abc.txt which serves as an example of compile output.

Are all primary commands supported using SPF_CMD or are some not implemented, or have I not coded the EDIT primary command properly?

Sidenote: The "LOCATE" primary command does not seem to work either when issued from within an edit macro.

Please advise.

Thank you.

Regards,

RPrinceton

Attachments:

au3.macro (196 B)

abc.txt (35 B)

Stefan
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Can the "EDIT" primary command be run from within a macro Feb 25, 2022 5:08:31 GMT -5

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Post by Stefan on Feb 25, 2022 5:08:31 GMT -5

Hiya,

Re: LOCATE inside a macro - That works absolutely fine. So, as Robert said, we'd need a sample from you.

Re: capturing the output...

I don't do exactly what you ask, but I think this will help.

I have an external program that generates an output file. I chose a filetype of .MCH which I have associated with SPFLITE.

The contents needs to be checked and possibly edited by a human, before going into the next step of the process.

I use SPFLITE for the review & edit phase.

Having closed the file, the external program issues

' START "" "<fully-qualified-filename.MCH>" '

to the Windows CMD processor, and the file pops up in a new tab in SPFLITE.

In fact, if SPFLITE isn't running, Windows will start it up first, but you're not in that situation anyway.

If you need it to start a specific instance of SPFLITE, use something like.

'START "" "<fully-qualified-path-to\SPFLITE2.EXE -whateverARGs you need " "<fully-qualified-filename.MCH>" ' <-- I didn't try this!!!

If you have C:\Program File(x86)\SPFLITE2 in your PATH variable for the Windows Environment, you can probably issue

'START "" "SPFLITE2 -whateverARGs you need " "<fully-qualified-filename.MCH>" ' <-- I didn't try this!!!

In addition to Robert's suggestions, edit macros are thinBasic, which also gives you ways to communicate with the CMD shell in Windows and the manage files.

Try HELP thinBasic from the SPFLITE command line.

Oh, one other thing.

If you want to see the results in a new tab, tick the option for "Only 1 SPFLite running", top right of the OPTIONS GENERAL dialog panel.

----

I can't tell if you invoke the compile from a macro and
-- a) manually enter a separate macro to display the output when the compile finishes OR
-- b) you want the first macro to wait for the compile to finish and then resume the display of the output in a separate tab OR

-- c) you want the first macro to finish and the results to appear in a new tab automagically

I'm guessing (c)

In my case, the external program issues the START command above, but your compiler probably won't do that.

You have two options here.

(1) Redirect the compile output to somewhere else, EITHER a file with a filetype you can choose OR the clipboard

If it's a file, you'll need something like the START command to load it into SPFLITE when compile finishes.

If it's the clipboard you can manually load it into an SPFLITE tab with the 'CLIP' SPFLITE command when the compile finishes.

(2) Build a permanent .BAT file for the command sequence and let your first macro execute that

The permanent .BAT file contains:

COMPILE THIS cmd

RENAME output file from .TXT to a filetype of your choice

START command as above for that filetype.

Option (2) should automate your process. The first macro prepares the source into the named file, invokes the the BAT file and the output appears in a new tab in SPFLITE.

Use a permanent BAT file and always write the source to the same file, so nothing in the BAT file changes. Just re-use the files every time you compile.

PS: You may need a DELETE before the RENAME in the BAT file.

Last Edit: Feb 25, 2022 6:45:38 GMT -5 by Stefan

George
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Can the "EDIT" primary command be run from within a macro Feb 25, 2022 9:56:22 GMT -5

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Post by George on Feb 25, 2022 9:56:22 GMT -5

I think Robert and Stefan's suggestions are indeed the correct way to go. And I believe the SPF_Post_DO technique will overcome the restriction of opening a new tab from a running macro. I'm sure using this with some combination of a BAT file should work. As Stefan said, look at the sample PB macro for something to provide a starting point.

George

rprinceton
Freshman Member

Posts: 29

Can the "EDIT" primary command be run from within a macro Feb 25, 2022 10:21:39 GMT -5

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Post by rprinceton on Feb 25, 2022 10:21:39 GMT -5

Hi Guys,
Re: Locate command not working when used in edit macro
ok...I guess it is me just being anal.
I've attached a test file named loctstfl.txt.
It contains 50 lines of text i.e., LN1-LN50.

I've attached an edit macro named tstloc.macro. The macro enables
passing an argument representing the line number to "locate" e.g., tstloc 17
will locate line 17 of the module being edited. Also contained in macro tstloc
is a stmt that "properly" positions the cursor as it does when the locate command
is issued from the command area.

I've also attached several screenprints.
For these tests I had loctstfl.txt up in edit mode using SPFLite.
The screenprint named LOC17FromCommandLine shows the result
of issuing the LOC 17 directly from the command line area.
Line 17 is on the first page. The locate command positions the cursor
in the line number area of the 17th line.
The screenprint named LOC35FromCommandLine shows the result
of issuing the LOC 35 directly from the command line area.
Line 35 is on the second page. The locate command positions the display on the
second page and the cursor in the line number area of the 35th line.
This is the desired behavior.

Tests repeated using edit macro tstloc.
Entered: tstloc 17 in the command line
The screenprint named LOC17MacroNoCsrCmd shows the result i.e., the display
is on page 1 as it should, however the cursor remains in the command area.

Entered: tstloc 35 in the command line
The screenprint named LOC35MacroNoCsrCmd shows the result i.e., the display
is on page 2 as it should, however the cursor remains in the command area.

The last series of tests were done after "activating lines .A thru .B in macro tstloc.
Entered: tstloc 17 in the command line
The screenprint named LOC17MacroWithCsrCmd shows the result i.e., the display
is on page 1 as it should and the cursor is properly positioned.

Entered: tstloc 35 in the command line
The screenprint named LOC35MacroWithCsrCmd shows the result i.e., the display
is on page 2 as it should and the cursor is properly positioned.

So the bottom line is that the locate command does work however it does not position
the cursor the same way it does when being issued from the command area.

Attachments:

ShowSPFLiteTeamLocIssue.7z (632.87 KB)

George
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Can the "EDIT" primary command be run from within a macro Feb 25, 2022 10:55:26 GMT -5

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Post by George on Feb 25, 2022 10:55:26 GMT -5

Randall: I'm sorry, but it's up to the macro to position the cursor (if it cares), which is what you've proven.

Try again with FIND instead of LOCATE - you'll get the same results. There's a lot of reasons why some things in macros are not 100% identical, I won't go into them, but they aren't going to change. All the tools you need are present, you'll just have to add that 1 liner whenever you want 'proper' positioning.

George