Macros for styles in RH 2020

[Amy@csl]

Hi, All. Has anyone created a macro to apply a style to text in Robohelp 2020? RH 2020 has created a few macros for headings 1 to 6 (ctrl+alt+1 and so on), but I would like to create a macro to apply another style to format text but I need a way to call the Styles panel in the macro. So...

• Does anyone know the keystrokes to open the Styles panel? There has to be a faster way of finding a style instead of opening the Styles panel and then scrolling through the entire list. 
• Has anyone created a macro for RH 2020? Did you use a macro app to do it? I've read a few mentions of  RH users using Macro Express for this purpose in earlier RH versions and I was wondering if anyone was able to use it to create a macro in RH 2020. 

Thanks so much for your help. 

[Peter Grainge]

What you are referring to as Macros are known as Shortcuts in RoboHelp.

There is no built in way to add new shortcuts and I am not aware of any for other styles. There are programs that create all sorts of macros including shortcuts. I use Macro Express, it's an old program but it still works. It has far more options than anything else I have seen. There are free alternatives.

Provided you always use a full size window it would be very easy to create a macro that open the styles pod but that's where the problem starts. It opens at the style of the paragraph that has focus so how do you tell the macro program how far up or down the list to go for the style you apply? I guess you could get the macro to scroll to the top and then work down. That will all get blown if you then add a new style to the list.

Because the macro is relying on the position on your screen, that's why RoboHelp would need to be full screen.

By now you are possibly losing the will to live. :=)

I think at some stage Adobe are likely to allow customisation of shortcuts and possibly adding new ones. To hurry that along, please follow this link to report bugs or request new features. https://tracker.adobe.com. Post the link to your bug report / feature request in this thread and others can vote for it. The more people who do so, the higher it gets prioritised.

Sorry it's not the answer you want.

________________________________________________________

My site www.grainge.org includes many free Authoring and RoboHelp resources that may be of help.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

I forget if RH ever supported Extendscript...

[Peter Grainge]

Wasn't that in Classic versions? The new UI is javascript but good luck figuring out the inner workings.

________________________________________________________

My site www.grainge.org includes many free Authoring and RoboHelp resources that may be of help.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

You're probably right - with the new UI in Electron, I suspect Extendscript wouldn't work anymore (not that I'm a script programmer at all).

[Amebr]

Extendscript doesn't work, or at least not natively. The scripting is definitely all in jquery, node.js, electron and lord knows what else as there's no doco on what libraries are built in as far as I can find. (rip, my classic macros.)

What passes for documentation for the RH specific api mentions something called "PROPERTY_STYLE_CLASS_APPLY" which sounds promising, but the only notes are "Type: any". So good luck figuring out how to use it without being an expert developer . 😛

If the OP is interested, the scripting reference is an appendix in the help (F1 in Robohelp).