Automator Virtual Input V1.00

After a couple of months work, I have released my first Blitzmax program for the Mac.

I give you Automator Virtual Input V1.00:



Download here (1.1mb):
http://labcoat.tauniverse.com/virtualinput/virtualinputv1.dmg

The program is a hybrid of BlitzMax and Applescipt to create Actions for Apple's Automator Program. Simply use like any other set of Automator Actions then select the "Run Virtual Input" action to execute them. This uses a virtual machine (programed in Blitzmax + MaxGUI +custom module ) to simulate mouse clicks, drags and keyboard presses. This in turn allows you to access all the functions in any program you want with automator, no longer limited by the actions available with Automator, or available online.

I released it yesterday and it seems to be making bit of a splash :D
Mentioned in the O'Reilly blog: http://www.oreillynet.com/mac/blog/2006/07/wednesday_links_and_observatio.html
A "Hot Tiger Download" : http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/
And the Automator Featured Download: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/automator/

Feeling quite proud of myself, not bad for a first attempt :D

Congrats. Wish you all success with this.

If anyone is on Windows and yearns for similar stuff (and more) then take a look at AutoHotkey.

Good job!

Very cool!! Is your app 100% Blitzmax? I was thinking about writing something like that for Windows. I would end up writing an Automation Testing tool.

Jason

The application itself is Blitzmax, however the automator actions have to be written in applescript. I had to add a few custom commands to the MaxGUI module in order to access the required Cocoa commands. So, I'd say it is 70% blitzmax, 10% custom module, 20% applescipt in total.

I have done a bit of Windows automation in WinBlitz3D with Blitz3D, it should be easy enough to extend the windows version of Blitzmax to do a similar thing.

I too was thinking along similar lines, turning the program into a multi-platform automation tool. That would require constructing an entire Automator-like program, not just a virtual machine. But having seen AutoHotKey Beaker pointed out, I put that idea on ice.

If you think about doing it, I would not mind testing it for you. I have 8 years of test automation experience if that helps any.

Jason