Re: Mapkey Writing/Editing Tips

To be clear there is the VB Toolkit and then there are mapkeys. I am not using the VB Toolkit. I am using the OS command (@SYSTEM) that can be called from a mapkey. Below is an example of my typical structure with comments.

!=================================================================
!== Mapkey Name
!=================================================================
!Max number of characters per row is 80 although mapkey(continued) doesn't count
!2345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890
!=================================================
!mapkey(continued)12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890

Header to make it easier to find the mapkey and know what it is. The lines below help you if you are manually editing the mapkey to make sure you don't go beyond the maximum number of characters per row

mapkey MapkeyABC123 @MAPKEY_LABELThis is the ToolTip;\

MapkeyABC123 is what the user needs to type in and or select from the mapkey dialog box. "This is the ToolTip" is the description that shows up if you hover over the mapkey with your mouse.

mapkey(continued) @SYSTEMC:\\NetworkPath\\Folder1\\Script.VBS;\

This is how you call a Visual Basic script from a mapkey. Typically this script deletes any left over files from the previous session or if the mapkey failed for some reason and left files behind. It also creates a config.pro file that can be read in the next block of the mapkey code.

mapkey(continued) ~ Select `main_dlg_cur` `appl_casc`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Close `main_dlg_cur` `appl_casc`;~ Command `ProCmdRibbonOptionsDlg` ;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Select `ribbon_options_dialog` `PageSwitcherPageList` 1 `ConfigLayout`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Select `ribbon_options_dialog` `ConfigLayout.ImportExportBtn`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Close `ribbon_options_dialog` `ConfigLayout.ImportExportBtn`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Activate `ribbon_options_dialog` `ConfigLayout.Open`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Trail `UI Desktop` `UI Desktop` `DLG_PREVIEW_POST` `file_open`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Activate `file_open` `file_open`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Update `file_open` `Inputname` `C:\\Folder1\\mapkey_config.pro`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Activate `file_open` `Inputname`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Activate `ribbon_options_dialog` `OkPshBtn`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ FocusIn `UITools Msg Dialog Future` `no`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Activate `UITools Msg Dialog Future` `no`;\

This block runs File-> Options -> Configuration Editor -> Import / Export -> Import configuration file with the path to a config file. In my case the VBS script that was previously called writes a config.pro text file.

mapkey(continued) %TempMapkey123;\

This is a temporary mapkey that is contained within the config.pro that the VB script wrote out. This line runs that mapkey.

mapkey(continued) ~ Command `ProCmdUtilMacros`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Select `mapkey_main` `list_mapkeys` 1 `TempMapkey123`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Activate `mapkey_main` `DeleteButton`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Activate `mapkey_main` `CloseButton`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Command `ProCmdOaDeselectAll`;

This block selects and deletes the previously run temporary mapkey from the list of mapkeys. The last line deselects anything left selected.

All together it looks like this:

mapkey MapkeyABC123 @MAPKEY_LABELThis is the ToolTip;\
mapkey(continued) @SYSTEMC:\\NetworkPath\\Folder1\\Script.VBS;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Select `main_dlg_cur` `appl_casc`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Close `main_dlg_cur` `appl_casc`;~ Command `ProCmdRibbonOptionsDlg` ;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Select `ribbon_options_dialog` `PageSwitcherPageList` 1 `ConfigLayout`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Select `ribbon_options_dialog` `ConfigLayout.ImportExportBtn`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Close `ribbon_options_dialog` `ConfigLayout.ImportExportBtn`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Activate `ribbon_options_dialog` `ConfigLayout.Open`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Trail `UI Desktop` `UI Desktop` `DLG_PREVIEW_POST` `file_open`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Activate `file_open` `file_open`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Update `file_open` `Inputname` `C:\\Folder1\\mapkey_config.pro`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Activate `file_open` `Inputname`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Activate `ribbon_options_dialog` `OkPshBtn`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ FocusIn `UITools Msg Dialog Future` `no`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Activate `UITools Msg Dialog Future` `no`;\
mapkey(continued) %TempMapkey123;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Command `ProCmdUtilMacros`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Select `mapkey_main` `list_mapkeys` 1 `TempMapkey123`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Activate `mapkey_main` `DeleteButton`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Activate `mapkey_main` `CloseButton`;\
mapkey(continued) ~ Command `ProCmdOaDeselectAll`;

Here is an example of what the VBS looks like:

'****************************************************
' Header '
'***************************************************'
'-----------variables---------------------------
Option Explicit
Dim objFSO, objShell, objFile, i
Dim strFile, strConfigFile, strTempDirectory, strTextAll
Dim ConfigPro

strTempDirectory = "C:\Folder"
strFile = "\TextFile.txt"
strConfigFile = "\mapkey_config.pro"

'---------- Create the File System Object ---------------------
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

'--------- Check if File Exists----------------------------
If objFSO.FileExists(strTempDirectory & strFile) Then

'Create variable to hold config.pro file
Set ConfigPro = objFSO.CreateTextFile(strTempDirectory & strConfigFile, True)

Set objFile= objFSO.OpenTextFile(strTempDirectory & strFile, 1)
' Read all lines in ...
strTextAll = Split(objFile.ReadAll, vbCrLf)

For i = 1 To 2

	'Do something here
	
		ConfigPro.WriteLine("mapkey(continued) ~ Command;") 
		ConfigPro.Close
		
Next
objFile.Close
	

Else
WScript.Echo "File " & strFile " does not exist in " & strTempDirectory & " Program will end."
End If 

'---------End Error Checking script------------
set objFile = nothing

In this case it opens a text file created by Creo, does something with it, writes a config.pro file and then closes.