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User's Manual
for
MachIII Version 3.0
and
SetMachIII Version 3.0
Copyright 1988-1990 by Brian Moats
Copyright
MachIII, SetMachIII and this documentation are Copy-
right 1988-1990 by Brian Moats. Lawful users of these
programs are hereby licensed only to read the pro-
grams, from their media into the memory of a computer,
solely for the purpose of executing the programs.
Duplicating or copying for purposes other than backup
is forbidden. This manual, or parts thereof, may not
be reproduced in any form without the written permis-
sion of Brian Moats and Polyglot Software.
Disclaimer
This product is sold "as is" without representation or
warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. The
user assumes all risks and responsibilities related to
its use.
Information And Technical Support
Polyglot Software
884 W. Melrose Ln
Boise, ID 83706
(208) 336-4583
Table Of Contents
Introduction ................................ 1
Terms Used .............................. 1
Chapter 1. Usage ........................... 2
Running SetMachIII ...................... 2
Chapter 2. Mouse Features .................. 5
Mouse Accelerator ....................... 5
SunMouse ................................ 5
Window Cycling .......................... 5
Click To Front .......................... 5
Mouse Off ............................... 6
Mouse To Menu ........................... 6
Chapter 3. Clock Features .................. 7
Basic Clock Types ....................... 7
Clock To Top Window ..................... 8
Clock To Top Screen ..................... 8
Online Meter ............................ 8
Alarm ................................... 8
Low Memory Warning ...................... 8
Clock Position .......................... 9
Clock On And Off ........................ 9
Chapter 4. Hotkeys And Macros .............. 11
Recording Macros ........................ 11
Correcting Mistakes ..................... 12
Aborting Execution ...................... 12
Clearing A Macro ........................ 12
Chapter 5. Using SetmachIII And Macros ..... 13
Changing The Current Hotkey ............. 13
Using Select Hotkey ..................... 13
Selecting By Name ....................... 14
Modifying Macros ........................ 14
Copying And Appending ................... 14
To A Named Macro .................... 14
To Another Configuration ............ 15
Maximum Macro Size ...................... 15
Help .................................... 15
Using Show All .......................... 15
Chapter 6. More About Macros ............... 17
ARexx Support ........................... 17
Help In Viewing A Macro ................. 17
Recording Mouse Clicks .................. 18
Using Escaped Characters ................ 19
Moving Windows And Screens .............. 20
Sizing Windows .......................... 20
Layering Windows ........................ 21
Pausing Within A Macro .................. 21
Auto Execution .......................... 22
Executing Programs ...................... 24
Terminating Strings ..................... 24
Identifying Labels ...................... 25
Chapter 7. Configurations .................. 27
Changing Configurations ................. 27
Adding And Deleting ..................... 28
Loading And Saving ...................... 29
The Configuration File .................. 29
Chapter 8. Priorities And Screen Blanking .. 31
Chapter 9. Miscellaneous Features ........... 33
Suspend ................................. 33
Remove .................................. 33
Check Waltz ............................. 33
No Caps Lock ............................ 33
Beep .................................... 33
Hold Qualifiers ......................... 34
Chapter 10. Foreign Names .................. 35
Appendix A - Table of Escaped Characters .... 37
Appendix B - Common Questions ............... 41
Introduction
MachIII is a utility program that provides hotkeys
and many optional features for both CLI and Workbench
users. All options and macros may be changed at any
time with SetMachIII.
The supplied disk is a standard 1.3 Workbench disk
that you may boot from. The sample configuration file,
MachIII.Cfg, is in the s: directory. MachIII will be
run from the startup-sequence, and then SetMachIII
will run.
If you do not boot from the disk, make that disk
the current disk (with cd df0: for example) and type
Run MachIII and then Cancel the s:MachIII.Cfg Not
Found and Using Defaults requesters. Now activate the
clock window with your mouse and press the right
button. This will run SetMachIII, the program used to
configure your options and modify your macros. Change
s:MachIII.Cfg to s/MachIII.Cfg and click on Load.
Terms Used
In this manual, qualifiers mean the keys Ctl,
Shift, Alt, Left-Amiga (C=), and Right-Amiga. The term
hotkey means any other key pressed in combination with
one or more qualifiers. The term macro means the
string of characters that are sent as keystrokes, or
backslash functions that are interpreted as some
special action. A macro may be attached to a hotkey or
to no key at all. Any macro may have a name, but
macros not attached to a key must have a name. A key
may have up to 32 macros attached to it, each with a
unique qualifier combination.
IMPORTANT: All hotkeys referred to in this docu-
mentation are included in the sample MachIII.Cfg file.
You may change them later to suit your needs.
-1-
-2-
Chapter 1
Usage
SetMachIII and MachIII should normally be in your c:
directory and MachIII.Cfg in your s: directory.
Type:
Run MachIII
Or...
ARun MachIII NOIO Allows the CLI window to close.
Or...
RunBack c:MachIII >Nil: The CLI window can close.
Or...
RunBack c:MachIII RunBack needs the full path.
Any one of these commands may be included in your
startup-sequence file, and MachIII will run every time
that you start or reboot your computer. If you do
this, be sure that the command is after your Path
command (if you have one).
The only obvious indication that MachIII is run-
ning is the title bar clock. The real power of MachIII
is lying in the background waiting to assist you.
Exactly what it does will depend on your configuration
file.
Running SetMachIII
There are four ways to run SetMachIII. The easiest
is to activate the clock and press the right mouse
-3-
button. You may use the hotkey Ctl-Left-Amiga-ESC,
which has \x as its macro. Or you may simply type
SetMachIII in your CLI window. The final method is to
execute an \XSetMachIII macro. \x is preferred over
this because \x will bring SetMachIII to the front
immediately if it is already running, while \XSetMac-
hIII must load SetMachIII.
NOTE: Do not rename SetMachIII or MachIII won't be
able to find it. SetMachIII must also be in the path
as it was set when MachIII was run.
-4-
Chapter 2
Mouse Features
All mouse features are adjusted or toggled on or
off in the Mouse Features section of SetMachIII. Some
features may also be modified with macros.
Mouse Accelerator
Move the mouse. Notice how much quicker it moves?
Both the speed and sensitivity are adjustable. The
Speed is an acceleration factor applied to mouse
movements. The Threshold adjusts the sensitivity of
the mouse. Low values equal decreased sensitivity. Set
the Speed to 0 to disable the accelerator.
SunMouse
Now move the mouse into another window. The window
under the mouse automatically becomes the active
window. This is called the SunMouse, named for the way
in which mice behave on Sun work stations. This may
also be toggled on and off with \Ms in a macro.
Window Cycling
If you have more than one window open, place them
so that one is behind the other. Now with the mouse
over the top window, press and hold the left button
and press and release the right button. The top window
will move to the back. This is called Window Cycling.
If the mouse is over a "back drop" window or no win-
dow, the screen will be sent to the back.
Click To Front
Now place a window behind another so that you can
-5-
see just part of it. Move the mouse into this area and
click quickly twice. That window should now be the top
window. This is the N Click feature where N is the
number of clicks required and may be set from 0 to 9.
If the mouse is over a backdrop window, the screen
will become the top screen.
CAUTION! Due to a bug in the intuition library, click-
ing to front over an icon may cause a lockup. The
program WTFPatch3 (included in the c: directory) by
David Jenkins will fix this.
Mouse Off
Press a key. Notice that the mouse disappeared?
Now move the mouse. It reappears! MachIII assumes that
if you are typing, you do not want the mouse in the
way. It will also turn the mouse off after 5 seconds
of inactivity. This time delay is adjustable in Set-
MachIII or with \Monn in a macro, where nn equals the
number of seconds. Set Mouse Off to 0 to disable this
feature.
Mouse To Menu
One feature that defaults to off is Mouse To Menu.
When this is on, every time that you press the right
mouse button the pointer will jump to the menu bar.
When you release the button, the pointer will return
to where it was. This is the MTM gadget in SetMachIII.
It may also be toggled with \MM in a macro.
-6-
Chapter 3
Clock Features
There is a wide variety of clocks to choose from
Click on the clock type gadget in the Clock Features
area to change types. These are shown below. Each of
these may be either horizontal or vertical by using
the H/V gadget and the time may be in 12 or 24 hour
format. If you select Clock+Memory or Memory Only, and
if you do not have any "Fast" memory, the clock will
not show Chip and Fast, just Mem.
Basic Clock Types
Clock+Memory
-------------------------------
|Chip 456 Fast 357 4:32:45|
-------------------------------
Memory Only
---------------------
|Chip 456 Fast 357|
---------------------
Clock+Date
-------------------
| 8-01-90 4:32:45|
-------------------
Clock Only
---------
|4:32:45|
---------
Clock+Memory (No fast memory available)
-------------------
|Mem 456 4:32:45|
-------------------
-7-
Clock To Top Window
You may select to have the clock pop to the front
window by having Clock Front selected. If Clock Depth
is selected, invisible depth gadgets are placed on the
far right side of the clock (horizontal clocks only).
Clock To Top Screen
The clock may pop to the top screen by having
Clock To Top selected. This and the Screen Depth
option will place an invisible screen depth gadget on
the left side of the clock. Or you may select WB
Screen to keep it on the Workbench screen. (These must
be used with some caution as not all programs work
properly with another window on their screen.) You
cannont drag a vertical clock unless you select WB
Screen.
Online Meter
You may select to have the time portion of your
clock keep track of your online costs by selecting
Meter On. Clear your costs with Reset. Put the online
rate (per hour) in the Rate gadget.
Alarm
An alarm may be set in the Alarm gadget. Use 24
hour format. The clock will beep six times when it
goes off. (There are ways to set more alarms in mac-
ros.)
Low Memory Warning
If you would like to be alerted to low memory
situations, enter the memory warning level in the
LowMem gadget. When free memory drops below this value
(in kilobytes), the clock's text will turn red or
orange (or the color that is set by color number 3.
-8-
Clock Position
You can change the clock's position by entering
the left edge and top edge in the appropriate gadgets.
An easier method is to position the clock with the
mouse and then enter a -1 in the gadgets. The correct
value will then be entered for you.
Clock On And Off
You may, of course, turn the clock on or off with
the Clock On / Off gadget.
Within a macro, a clock may be turned on with \KD,
turned off with \KK, toggled on or off with \KZ and
sent to the top screen with \KT.
-9-
-10-
Chapter 4
Hotkeys and Macros
The real power of MachIII is its ability to record
and playback macros. In their simplest form, macros
are simply strings of keystrokes attached to hotkeys.
You may, for example, have a macro that contains the
text diskcopy df0: to df1:. When played back, these
letters will appear in your active window just as if
you typed them. But there is much more to macros.
Besides having letters in macros, you may include any
special key by preceding a letter with a backslash.
This is called an escape character. Some examples: \F1
is Function key 1, \E is the ESC key, \5 is numeric
key pad 5. In addition, there are many special func-
tions that may be performed in a macro. You may send a
screen to the back with \sB, or to the front with \sF.
(Functions such as these cannot be recorded, they must
be entered using SetMachIII.) Left mouse button down
may be done with \Mld or up with \Mlu. There are many
more of these listed in Appendix A.
Recording Macros
One of the most important escaped character func-
tions is \mk. This is the macro that starts or stops a
recording session. In the sample MachIII.Cfg, this is
attached to the key combination Alt-ESC. By pressing
this, and then pressing the key combination that you
want for the hotkey, you begin a recording session.
Press any keys that you want recorded and then press
Alt-ESC again. The macro is now ready to be played
back.
A practice session may help to understand this. To
do this, you must be in a CLI or shell window.
-11-
Press Alt-ESC (you will hear a beep and the clock will
display the message Select Hotkey...).
Press Alt-D (the clock will say Recording Macro...).
Now type dir df0: and press Return.
The directory of the disk in df0: will be displayed.
Now press Alt-ESC again to end recording.
You may now press Alt-D and your recorded keystrokes
will be played back.
There is a beep for each keystroke and mouse
button entered during recording. This is not the same
sound as in the Beep gadget, it is very brief.
Correcting Mistakes
Ctl-H may be used to correct a keystroke without
recording the mistake or the backspace. Because of
this feature, you cannot record Ctl-H. You may howev-
er, enter it as \Ch in the macro. (If you are using a
keymap that has "H" in a different location, you must
use the key that has the key code of 25 hex.)
Aborting Execution
Pressing ESC during macro execution will abort
further execution. An exception to this is when paus-
ing for variable length input (\PV). Press Ctl-ESC to
abort and ESC to terminate input.
Clearing A Macro
To clear a macro, press Alt-ESC, then the hotkey,
then Alt-ESC again. This records no keystrokes which
means that the macro is empty and the hotkey is free.
-12-
Chapter 5
Using SetmachIII And Macros
Macros may also be created, modified, copied or
appended in SetMachIII. In the area titled Hotkey /
Macro, there are many gadgets that are used to do
this.
Changing The Current Hotkey
The two up/down arrow gadgets next to Hotkey are
used to step through all your macros. The word "More"
will appear when there are more macros attached to the
same key but with different qualifiers. The gadgets
Ctl, Shift, Alt, C= and Amiga show the qualifiers for
the current hotkey. You may click on them to change
current hotkeys. If you select qualifiers that have no
macro, the Macro gadget will be empty, ready to accept
a new macro.
Note: Hotkey is not a gadget. It just displays the
current key.
Using Select Hotkey
You can make a hotkey current by clicking on
Select Hotkey and then when prompted by the flashing
message, press your desired hotkey combination. This
will make that combination your current hotkey and
display the macro attached to that hotkey (if there is
one). If you want to display a macro that is not
attached to a hotkey (that is, a named macro), you
should press Caps Lock when prompted and then enter
the name in the gadget that will pop up. Note that the
red LED on your keyboard will remain on...you need to
press it again to deactivate it. If you want to make a
mouse button current, hold down your selected qualifi-
er keys and click INSIDE the message box.
-13-
You may also press the letter S instead of click-
ing on Select Hotkey. Select Hotkey functions the same
way in Show All.
Selecting By Name
Macro Name displays a (possibly) descriptive name
for the macro. You may select a named macro by enter-
ing the name in the Macro Name gadget and pressing
Shift-Return. Pressing just Return will simply change
the name of the current macro. This operates the same
way in Show All.
Modifying Macros
The gadget titled Macro holds the macro that is
attached to the current key. You may modify it, or
delete all its text to free that hotkey.
To enter the example from Chapter 4, click on
Select Key and press Alt-D. Now enter dir df0:\N in
the Macro gadget and press Return. That's it! dir
df0:<Return> will be played back when you press Alt-D.
If you recorded the previous example, the macro will
already be there.
Copying And Appending
Copy will copy a macro from one hotkey to another
and Append will append a macro to another hotkey.
First make the hotkey that you want to copy or append
from the current hotkey. Then select Copy or Append.
When prompted by the flashing message, press the
desired destination hotkey combination.
To A Named Macro
To copy or append to an unkeyed named macro,
-14-
proceed as above but press CapsLock when prompted
for a hotkey and then enter the name in the gadget
that will appear.
To Another Configuration
Proceed as above and then while the message is
flashing, switch configurations with the up/down
arrows in the Configuration area. Then select your
hotkey.
CAUTION! Since any key or mouse button may be
copied or appended to, there is no way to back out
when the message is flashing. If you make a mistake
and do not want to continue, you MUST select some-
thing. Use a key that does not have a macro attached,
and then later delete that macro. Do not simply click
the left mouse button or that button will replay the
macro whenever you press the left button.
Maximum Macro Size
The default maximum macro size is 512 characters
but this may be changed in the Max Size gadget. This
controls the size of dynamic buffers which are allo-
cated only during macro recording or when SetMachIII
is running. The actual macros take up only as much
space as they need plus a little bit of overhead.
Help
Clicking on Help will show all the escaped charac-
ters that may be used in macros. They are also listed
in Appendix A.
Using Show All
Show All opens a window that has most of the same
Macro / Hotkey functions, but up to eight macros for a
-15-
particular key are displayed together. If you have
more than eight macros for a key, the rest may be
viewed by using the scroll bar. The top macro is the
current one. Only the current macro may be modified.
As you select other macros, the macros that scroll off
the top wrap around to the bottom. Some help is dis-
played in the upper right corner. The text depends on
just what you are doing at that moment.
You may click on the Qualifier gadgets to make
other hotkeys current, or if no macro is attached to
the combination, you may enter a new macro.
Selecting Add Macro will prompt you to select a
new hotkey. Again, you may use CapsLock to select an
unkeyed named macro.
Copy and Append operate the same as in the main
SetMachIII window except that you can not copy or
append to a macro in another configuration.
-16-
Chapter 6
More About Macros
ARexx Support
Macros may be sent to MachIII from ARexx programs
with the ARexx command "address 'MachIII Port' `macro
string'". MachIII will execute the macro just as if
you pressed the hotkey.
Help In Viewing A Macro
You can view a macro by issuing the help command
(\h) in a macro. This is Alt-Help in the sample
MachIII.Cfg file. You will be prompted for a hotkey
combination. Use the same macro (\h) to end help.
An Example
As an example of the flexibility and power of
MachIII (and to show why there are so many escaped
characters), this macro will toggle the Workbench
screen to interlace and change your preferences:
(Assuming that you have wbLace in c: and a system-
configuration (preferences) file named prflace in
devs:)
Endcli\N\KK\PS1\Xc:wbLace\\pdevs:prflace\\KD\
j\XNewShell "Newcon:0/0/640/400/AShell"
Ends the current shell - Endcli\N
Turns the clock off - \KK
Pauses 1 second - \PS1
Executes wbLace - \Xc:wbLace\
Changes preferences - \pdevs:prflace\
Turns the clock back on - \KD
And creates a new shell - \j\XNewShell
"NewCon:0/0/640/400/AShell"
-17-
Recording mouse clicks
Mouse button clicks may be recorded, or entered
manually in the string gadget. When recording a button
click, MachIII puts in the mouse's position, which
button it was and whether it was pressed or released.
For example:
\Mx155\My075\Mld
When played back, the mouse will be moved to x = 155,
y = 75 and a left button down will be sent.
A \PSnn will be inserted for every nn second delay
between clicks. This will allow for menus to drop or
requesters and windows to open. You may adjust or
delete them from your macro if desired.
If you record just the left button, you might see
something like this for the macro:
\Mx152\My\095\Mld\Mx152\My095\Mlu
unless you moved the mouse between clicks in which
case the x and y values would change. You may edit
this to \Mx152\My095\Mld\Mlu if the x and y values are
unchanged.
Notes:
The mouse will be moved to the same position as
when recorded which may or may not be over the desired
gadget or icon.
If you are pressing a qualifier such as Shift, it
(\S) will be placed before a \M and will affect the
mouse movement and the first click. e.g.
\S\Mx330\My122\Mld.
-18-
When a menu item has a subitem it may be necces-
sary to bring the mouse down to the menu item, click
the left button on it, then move the mouse over the
subitem and click the left button or release the right
button.
Sometimes gadgets will not respond to a quick
button down/up. It may require a pause of 1 second
between the down and up (\PS1).
Do not depend on the SunMouse to activate a window
on playback. When recording, click in the window to
activate it even if it is activated by the SunMouse.
Using Escaped Characters
All non-printable keys and many special functions
are preceded by a \. For example, \B is the Backspace
key, \H is the help key and \F3 is function key 3.
These qualifiers modify the key or mouse activity
immediately following them:
\C Control.
\S Shift (either one).
\A Alternate (either one).
\L Left-Amiga (C=).
\R Right-Amiga.
An example:
\Cc\u\A\S\l
This plays back the key combinations:
Ctl-c up-arrow and Alt-Shift-Left-Arrow
You do not need \S or \A before any character that
is printable. For example Alt-E displays the copyright
-19-
symbol. You can press Alt-E instead of entering \Ae.
But if you need Alt-E played back, use \Ae.
Note that all escaped characters must be used in
the case as shown. That is, if a macro is described as
\WF, you cannot use \wF or \Wf.
Moving Windows And Screens
MachIII implements many functions by putting
certain escape sequences in macros. For example, \WF
will bring the back window to the front while \WB will
send it to the back.
You can replace the combination Left-Amiga-N with
the macro \sF to bring the back screen (instead of the
Workbench screen) to the front. Replace Left-Amiga-M
with \sB. Add \WA to make \sF\WA and \sB\WA, which
activates the window under the mouse.
CAUTION! When using these, there are some instances
when you have an interlaced and non-interlaced screen
- the interlaced may become deinterlaced and possibly
lock up the computer.
There are more functions listed in Appendix A.
Sizing Windows
The active or the top window may be resized with
\Wsxxx,yyy or \WSxxx,yyy. Some examples:
\Ws640,200 Make the active window 640 by 200.
\Ws0,200 Make the active window 200 pixels tall and
do not change the width.
\WS,+10 Increase the top window's height by 10.
\WS-90,+10 Decrease the top window's width by 90 and
increase the height by 10 pixels.
-20-
An omitted number is assumed to be 0, which will
leave that value unchanged.
If the requested size is to large for the window's
position, the window will be moved. If it is to large
for the screen, the screen size will be used. Finally,
if it is to small, it will be ignored.
So to make a full sized window, it is save to use
"Ws1500,1500", for example.
You can combine this with \Watitle to size a
specific window. For example: \WaAmigaShell\\Ws0,100
will make your AmigaShell window 100 pixels tall. Be
sure to note the \ terminating the title.
Layering Windows
Windows may be layered or stacked with \WL. When
this is executed in a macro, all windows will be ar-
ranged in a stack. Windows listed in No Layer Titles=
in MachIII.Cfg will not be layered. Typically, these
would be MachIII and your shell. You can include as
many as 5 titles. Due to the length of time that
Workbench takes to refresh a window filled with icons,
this function may not be very useful when using Work-
bench.
Pausing Within A Macro
There are three types of pauses, pause for 1-99
seconds, pause for fixed length input, and pause for
variable length input.
-21-
Examples:
\PS1 Pause for one second.
\PK5 Pause for five keystrokes.
\PV Pause for a variable number of keystrokes.
Terminate input with ESC. Abort this macro
during input with Ctl-ESC.
\PKn and \PV may be useful in some data entry
macros where the macro performs some functions, waits
for some user input, and then continues with more
functions. The macro may even call itself over and
over.
An easy way to setup such a macro would be to
record a complete data entry loop, and then, using
SetMachIII, enter the pause in the appropriate place.
A data entry macro might look like this:
\Mx150\My40\Mld\Mlu\PV\\Mx460\My23\Mld\Mlu\F1
With this attached to the F1 key, the mouse would
click in a gadget at 150,40, wait for a variable
number of keystrokes, click on another gadget (which
might be a "Next" gadget), and then execute F1 which
would then cause it to repeat.
Remember to abort a recursive macro like this with
Ctl-ESC for a \PV pause, or just ESC for all others.
Auto Execution
\annnn is the auto execution command. If nnnn = 0
or is omitted, the macro will be automatically execut-
ed when MachIII is started.
-22-
An example:
\a\XNewCli will open a new CLI window automatical-
ly when MachIII is first run.
If nnnn equals a time of 0001 to 2400, the macro
will be executed at that time.
Another example:
\a930\XNewcli CON:220/50/200/50/Alarm\Call
Joe\G\PS3\CxEndCLI >nil:\N
At 9:30 this will open a window in the center of
the screen, print the text Call Joe, beep, pause 3
seconds, delete (Ctl-x) the text and end the CLI
window. (Note the \ terminating the newcli string.)
\a1200\Xecho >speak: "Lunch time. Why not take 2
hours?"
Assuming that you have mounted the device speak:,
at 1200, speak the quoted string.
You may use \a+nn which will execute the macro
every nn minutes per hour. \a+30 will execute every 30
minutes, but \a+45 will execute only at 45 minutes
past the hour.
\a+10\RS
Every 10 minutes, issue the key combination of
Right-Amiga-S (which might be a save file keystroke).
A popular combination of macros is this:
\a+15\G
\a+30\G
\a+45\G\G
\a+60\G\G
-23-
This will beep once at 15 after, twice on the half
hour, three times at three quarters after, and four
times on the hour. These are 4 separate macros and may
be unkeyed.
Executing Programs
Many programs can be run from a macro. Simply put
\Xprogram in a macro. For example, \Xrun myapp would
run a program named myapp. Usually, you would want to
use Run in your command string to keep from suspending
MachIII during the application's execution.
Terminating Strings
Strings following escaped characters like \Xstring
and \pconfiguration must be terminated with a \ if
anything will follow.
e.g. \XNewCLI\Dir\N or \XRun Comm\\F1\F2.
Note the two \s after Comm. One terminates the
\XRun Comm string and one introduces a function key.
When creating a NewCLI, you probably want to
preface the command with \j. This will bring the
Workbench screen to the front. For Example:
\j\XNewCLI
You need to have NewCLI and Run in the c: direc-
tory. A full window example might look like this:
\j\XNewCLI CON:0/0/640/200/MyCLI
Or
\j\XNewShell NEWCON:0/0/640/200/MachShell
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Identifying Labels
For the purpose of identifying portions of your
macro or for adding comments, you may insert text
following \i. Terminate the text with a \. Example:
\iMouse To Close Gadget\\Mx014\My004\Mld\Mlu
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-26-
Chapter 7
Configurations
You may have more than one configuration within
your MachIII.Cfg file. The term "configuration" in
this section refers to a configuration inside
MachIII.Cfg.
Let's assume that you've set up the SunMouse, some
macros attached to function keys and other features
that work well in a shell. Now you want to run a
program such as WordPerfect. Well, WordPerfect doesn't
like the SunMouse and it uses the Function keys. You
could disable MachIII when running WP but that's not
very good. Another alternative is to add another
configuration to the one that you have already set up
and modify it to work with WP. To do this, select Add
in SetMachIII. This will make a duplicate configura-
tion and number it 2. Set the SunMouse to off and
clear your macros that are attached to the function
keys. Next, in the gadget to the left of Add, type in
" WordP" (notice the space before the WordP, that's
like it is in the title bar). Now whenever you click
in a WordPerfect window, this configuration will
become the active one. In your first configuration,
you should type in the title AmigaShell or whatever is
in the title bar of your shell. Now, when you click in
a WordPerfect window, the second configuration becomes
active. Click in your shell window and its configura-
tion becomes active.
Changing Configurations
You may have as many configurations as you like.
Each one may be attached to a window or screen through
its title and activated by clicking in that window.
The first configuration with no title will be activat-
ed when no title matches. The title need be just long
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enough to uniquely match a window's title. An @ as
the 1st character will lock a configuration which may
then only be changed from SetMachIII or by executing a
macro that has \cN \cL or \cT in it (see Appendix A).
When a configuration is changed from within a macro,
there will be no further execution of that macro.
Note that you must click in the window to change
configurations, even if SunMouse activates it.
When a new configuration is made active, its title
will appear in the clock for about one second.
If the clock is identical to the clock in the
previously active configuration, it will not be closed
and reopened when configurations are changed.
You may put in multiple window titles separated by
a | such as Ashell|TextEd| WordP up to a maximum of 40
characters.
Not all windows or screens have real titles. It
may be just text written where the title should be.
MachIII cannot locate these titles and thus cannot
change to the proper configuration. You can manually
change to these configurations with a \cN macro. A
program supplied with MachIII call AllTitles will list
the window and screen titles that are useable. Simply
type AllTitles at the CLI prompt.
Adding And Deleting
Add duplicates the current configuration and then
makes that one current. You may then delete or modify
macros in the new configuration.
Delete a configuration with the Del gadget. You
cannot delete the last configuration.
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Loading And Saving
For any changes to be permament, you just need to
click on Save. When MachIII is first run, it looks for
s:MachIII.Cfg and loads that. You may save configura-
tions to other file names, but only s:MachIII.Cfg will
be loaded automatically. Click on Load (or use
\cLfilename in a macro) to load other configurations.
The Configuration File
MachIII.Cfg is straight ASCII text and may be
edited (but does not need to be except to enter No
Layer Titles, Month Names, Day Names and Date
Format). Multiple configurations are all saved togeth-
er under one file name. Each configuration within this
file must start with ID=3.0. The specific order of
everything else is not important except Month Names
and Day Names which must be sequential. These are not
needed unless you want to use names other than the
English names that are internal to MachIII.
Macros must be in the following format:
Macro=key\qualifiers{macroname}Macro body
The keys and qualifiers are identified in Appendix
A. The name should be no more than 12 characters. To
enter no name use {}.
Examples:
Macro=J\L{WinToFront}\WF
This is Left-Amiga-J Window to front.
Macro=\E\L{newshell}\j\XAShell
"newcon:0/1/640/100AShell"
This is Left-Amiga-ESC and executes a newshell
-29-
command. (Note the \j brings the Workbench to
front before executing the command string.)
Macro=\E\A{Start/Stop}\mk
This is Alt-ESC and begins or ends a recording
to key session.
Macro=N\C\L{X named mac}\n
This is Ctl-Left-Amiga-N and it will execute a
named macro.
-30-
Chapter 8
Priorities And Screen Blanking
Priorities
All tasks in the Amiga's multitasking operating
system run at a particular priority. Higher priority
tasks have higher numbers and will run while other
tasks wait. Most user tasks run at a priority of 0 and
share the computers time equally. MachIII runs well at
1. MachIII can change its priority while playing back
a macro. A priority of 1 is usually ok here too. You
may experiment with these numbers and your particular
applications to find what works best. Don't try to set
them very high though, usually no more than 6 and
certainly no more than 10.
Blanking
After a preset length of time, you may have the
screen either go blank or just dim. If you select a
dimness of 0 and have Check Waltz on, there will be
two dancing check marks on the blanked screen. As
these are sprites and the pointer is also a sprite,
the pointer is moved to the lower right corner. You
may adjust the tempo with the keys 1-9.
The screen may also be blanked with \b in a macro.
-31-
-32-
Chapter 9
Miscellaneous Features
There are six features that don't fit into any of
the above categories.
Suspend
MachIII may be temporarily suspended by clicking
on the Suspend gadget. Or, you may create a macro that
has \Z as its first 2 characters. Pressing the hotkey
that this macro is attached to will either suspend or
activate MachIII.
Remove
You can remove MachIII completely by clicking on
Remove. \Q in a macro may also be used.
Check Waltz
When you have selected 0 for your Dimness in
screen Blanking, and you have Check Waltz on, screen
blanking will include two dancing check marks. The
speed of these may be adjusted with the keys 1 to 9.
No Caps Lock
Selecting No Caps Lock on will disable your Caps
Lock key. It actually may be still used by pressing
Left-Amiga-CapsLock.
Beep
You can use a custom sound for MachIII's beep. The
sound should be a raw data file with the file size in
bytes 1 to 4 and the period value in bytes 5 and 6. As
this file is read in for each beep, it should be as
-33-
small as possible and perhaps even copied into RAM.
Several samples are provided. This sound will not be
the sound used when recording macros. It will be re-
peated 6 times for the alarm. Enter the name and com-
plete path in the Beep gadget.
Hold Qualifiers
If Hold Qualifiers is on, you may press and re-
lease any qualifier and it will be remembered and
added to the next non-qualifier key or mouse button.
Many disabled people find it difficult if not
impossible to type key combinations such as
Ctl-Shift-F1. So you could for example, press Shift,
Alternate, and then F1. The Shift and Alternate would
be added to the F1 just as if they were pressed at the
same time. This feature is not intended for someone
who doesn't need it as it sometimes may cause unex-
pected results. For example, if you press Alternate
and then change your mind, the Alternate will still be
added to the next key pressed. Pressing Caps Lock or
the right mouse button will clear the qualifiers.
Pressing a qualifier again will clear that qualifier.
An orange or red (color #3) bar will appear on the
clock's left edge when there are qualifiers accumulat-
ing. Qualifiers may be held for multiple keystrokes if
you first press Alt-CapsLock.
This may also be used with Workbench's extended
selection. Press the Shift key, then click on your
icons. Hit any non-qualifier key or the right mouse
button to clear the Shift.
-34-
Chapter 10
Foreign Names
You may include in your MachIII.Cfg file alternate
names for months and days. The format to use is this:
Month Name=Name
Day Name=Name
These may be placed anywhere after the ID=3.0 line,
but they will be saved after Clock Screen Type=. Enter
12 lines of month names followed by 7 lines of day
names followed by 1 line of 3 characters of date
format. The date format can be mdy, dmy, ymd etc. The
date output by the short form \y will be displayed
accordingly as will the Clock+Date display. If you
select dmy, the long form \Y and the Clock+Mem will
display DD. Month Year.
(y = year, m = month, d = day).
Do not use names longer than 10 characters.
A German file might look like this:
Month Name=Januar
Month Name=Febuar
Month Name=Marz
Month Name=April
Month Name=Mai
Month Name=Juni
Month Name=Juli
Month Name=August
Month Name=September
Month Name=Oktober
Month Name=November
Month Name=Dezember
-35-
Day Name=Sonntag
Day Name=Montag
Day Name=Dienstag
Day Name=Mittwoch
Day Name=Donnerstag
Day Name=Freitag
Day Name=Samstag
Date Format=dmy
-36-
Appendix A
Escaped Characters
Letter Funnction Example Comments
A Alt Qualifier \A
B Backspace Key \B
C Control Key \C
D DELete Key \D
E ESCape Key \E
F Function key \F1 Function key 10 is \F0.
G Beep Function \G
I
J
K Clock
D Display \KD Display the clock.
K Kill \KK Turn off the clock.
T Top screen \KT Clock to top screen.
Z Toggle clock \KZ Turn clock on / off.
L Left Amiga \L AKA C=.
M Mouse
xnnn \Mx127 Send mouse position.
ynnn \My058
lu \Mlu Send left button up.
ld \Mld Send left button down.
mu \Mmu Send middle button up.
md \Mmd Send middle button down
ru \Mru Send right button up.
rd \Mrd Send right button down
onn \Mo05 Set MouseOff seconds.
s \Ms Toggle SunMouse.
M \MM Toggle Mouse To Menu.
N Newline \N Return key.
O Macros On/Off \O Must be 1st in macro.
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P Pause
Snn \PS01 Pause 1 second.
Knn \PK4 Pause for 4 keystrokes
V \PV Pause for a variable
number of keystrokes.
End input with ESC.
Q Quit \Q Remove MachIII
R Right Amiga \R
S Shift \S
T Tab Key \T
U
V
W Window
A \WA Activate window under
mouse.
atitle \WaAsh Activate by title.
B \WB Top window back.
b \Wb Active window to back.
F \WF Back window to front.
f \Wf Active window to front
L \WL Layer windows.
N \WN Activate next window.
Sxxx,yyy \WS640,200 Size top window.
sxxx,yyy \Ws640,200 Size active window
X Execute command \Xcomm End the command with a
\ if not at the end of
the macro.
Y Long date \Y Send date as keystrokes
Z Suspend \Z Suspend MachIII. (Must
be 1st in the macro).
a Auto execute \a1730macro Execute at 5:30 pm
\a+5macro Execute every 5
minutes.
b Blank screen \b
-38-
c Configuration
L load \cLfilename Load configuration
N next \cN Switch to next.
S save \cS Save configuration.
T title \cTtitle Switch to configu-
ration with title.
d Down arrow key \d
e Enter \e Numeric keypad.
f
g
h Help \h Display a macro.
i Identifier \ilabel\ This is a comment.
j Workbench to \j
front
k
l Left arrow key \l
m Macro
k \mk Record to a key.
n \mn Record to a named macro
n Execute macro \n Get name from user.
by name Must be last item in a
macro or followed by a
blank.
nname Execute macro \nsetup Execute macro named
setup.
o
p Set preferences \ppreffile
q
r Right arrow key \r
s Screen
B \sB Screen to back.
F \sF Screen to front.
btitle \sbWorkB Screen titled
WorkB???? to back.
ftitle \sftitle Titled screen to
front.
t
u Up arrow key \u
-39-
v
w
x Run SetMachIII \x Brings to front or top
if already running.
y Short date \y Send date as keystrokes
z
0 Numeric pad number \0 to \9
()/*.+- Numeric pad \( \) \/ \* \. \+ \-
-40-
Appendix B
Common Questions
Q. Why does the SunMouse sometimes not work?
A. When a string gadget (or any gadget anywhere) is
active, the SunMouse will not work. You must
deactivate the gadget with a click of the left
mouse button.
Q. Why does the SunMouse seem to fight some pro-
grams?
A. When a program such as WordPerfect has a reques-
ter up, it tries to keep the requester's window
active. If MachIII has the SunMouse option on,
every mouse move will activate a window and then
WP will activate its requester's window. The only
thing to do in this case is to turn off the
SunMouse or hold down the left button. (Or use a
second configuration with a title of WordP and
the SunMouse turned off and perhaps move the
clock over off of the extra gadget.)
Q. How can I run MachIII from an icon?
A. This program is usually run from your startup-
sequence, but if you want to run it from an icon
you can by using XIcon. See your AmigaDos manual
for more information.
Q. Why can't I close my CLI window after running
MachIII?
A. In order to keep the current path, MachIII does
not detach from the CLI. Use RunBack c:MachIII or
ARun MachIII NOIO. Either of these will allow the
CLI window to close.
-41-
Q. Why does my application crash when I run it from
the NewCLI or \X?
A. Programs executed with \X (such as NewCLI) will
have a stack the size that was set when MachIII
was run. These and ones that you may run from a
new CLI may need a larger stack. Either set the
stack before running MachIII, or after you create
a NewCLI use the stack command to set your stack
to a larger value. The default stack size is
4000. Many programs need 10000 or more.
Q. Why does MachIII ask for my Workbench disk when I
run a program from a macro?
A. MachIII uses the "Run" program which may be in
your c: directory. Also, if you made "Run" resi-
dent, it will not be found unless you run the
patch program SetPatch (Workbench 1.3).
Q. Why am I in the c: directory when I create a new
CLI?
A. MachIII's current directory is the one that was
current when MachIII was run. If you bring up a
new CLI and find yourself in the c: directory for
example, it is because that was the current
directory when MachIII was run. You probably did
a "cd c:" somewhere before running MachIII.
Q. Why am I getting a Close Screen Vector message?
A. The clock options Screen Depth and Clock To Top
replace the CloseScreen vector with one that will
allow MachIII to close its clock window. Select-
ing WB Screen or removing MachIII will put back
the original vector. If another program also
replaced the vector, you will be given the oppor-
tunity to terminate that program before the
original vector is replaced. If you get a reques-
-42-
ter with the message Close Screen Vector Was
Changed!, either terminate the program that
changed the vectors and click Retry or just click
Cancel. If WB Screen is selected, the vectors are
not changed.
Q. How can I display only the total memory in the
clock?
A. You can fool the clock into displaying your total
memory even if you have fast ram. In your start-
up-sequence, turn off your fast ram with a com-
mand like "nofastmem", run MachIII, then turn
your fast ram back on.
Q. Why doesn't it change configurations when I click
in a window?
A. The title entered in the string gadget in the
Configurations section must exactly match the
window or screen title (although it may be short-
er). It may also be that there is no real title
in your window or screen. Check the section in
Chapter 8 that deals with this.
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