Macro Editor, Looking For Code Reviewers And Suggestions.

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Macro Editor, looking for code reviewers and suggestions.
 Valefor.Omnys
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By Valefor.Omnys 2017-01-17 20:21:28
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Now with 100% more source code
might a mod edit the title to "Macro Editor, now with 100% more source"?, pretty please?

(Couldn't find a better forum)

(Edit: Should also be clear that this has no affiliation or dependence on Windower (it doesn't need Windower to operate).

I'm looking for reputable members of the community to review source code of a Macro Editor application I wrote in Visual Basic .NET. Qualified people (lol) probably already have Visual Studio 2015 installed.

Years ago there was a macro editor written by Yekyaa in C# that was amazing and I always loved it for what it did to improve the experience. I've tried to replicate and improve on it. However, this uses some of Yekyaa's libraries (unmodified) to encode and decode auto-translate. These libraries is written in C#, and the source is part of the project I'll share on github.

I'm not eager to freely distribute the source code (look ma, source code) because I'm not trying to create a platform for malware to be introduced for any purposes but I also don't expect people to just trust 1 of 10,000 players to write a well-intentioned program. I wouldn't trust a program from just anybody either.

The application does require administrator privileges to run but this is solely because FFXI's macro files are protected.

All I'm trying to do is improve people's experience.

Opinions on functionality / improvements are also welcome from reviewers.

As to anyone else, what features would you like from a macro editor? It presently has

  • Cut, Copy, Paste interaction with internal clipboard at the macr, side (ctrl/alt), full row, and book level

  • Likewise for windows clipboard, because sharing is caring

  • Importing of macro files

  • Mouseover previews of macros

  • Macro Maps of books.

  • The ability the copy this books as FFXIAH-BBML tables

  • Revert at book, row, or macro level to last opened/saved.

  • Keyboard navigation for changing macros/rows/books

  • Auto-translate support thanks to Yekyaa (F2 rather than tab)

  • Search

  • Evaluation for errors/advice on changes

  • The ability to save macros at row, book, and all-books level

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 Valefor.Omnys
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By Valefor.Omnys 2017-01-19 13:58:22
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Here it is

This program needs to run as administrator for write access to FFXI's macro files.

There is no definitive indicator, that I've found, of the owning username of file.

The program never saves at any level unless you directly tell it to. Even when exiting after making unsaved changes, it only reminds you and gives you a chance to cancel the exit and save.

The program is a good tool for figuring out which of your folders is your character's (different folders belong to different mules, same-account or otherwise). Once you have found it, I would recommend backing up the entire folder (because that's easiest) before saving anything. The program only makes changes to the 201 files that comprise your macros (one for every row of every book, and one containing macro titles.

I believe I've ironed out any bugs or errors or inconsistencies but it's my program and I know how to use it. You can report any bugs to me here on ffxiah, in private messages, or on github issue tracker.

For getting started, I recommend checking out Help >> Help and Help >> Feature Tour.

Noone has volunteered to review the code, but the invitation is still open. I'd love some input. I still feel like giving the source code away to any executable addon program creates an easy platform for others do malicious things with it.

Later releases will be packaged in a setup file, but I think this is the best approach for now. These are the two files this program needs.

I hope the people that use it like it.
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 Asura.Chiaia
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By Asura.Chiaia 2017-01-19 14:13:56
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I would like to point out the guys over at Windower have been for years "maintaining" the PolUtil code. It has a built in macro editor and is open source and by a trusted source. Also doesn't require admin priv to edit your macros.

I would highly recommend people use that till someone trusted does look at the source of this.

Builds: https://github.com/Windower/POLUtils/releases
Source: https://github.com/Windower/POLUtils

Nothing against yours as I've said in PMs but I think its the smart move for people till then. I do like the layout and some of the features you've pointed out that yours does.

Hopefully someone will take a look at yours soon :)
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 Valefor.Omnys
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By Valefor.Omnys 2017-01-21 11:51:17
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I would agree: It's generally wise not to trust applications from people that you don't know, which is why I'm still inviting help from outside.

I also don't know many program authors advising caution towards their own program (I guess I suck at marketing), but I've known a few people who download programs because that sounds neat and get hacked. It's generally great advice to be aware of what you're downloading.

I improved some of the features within the program.



I don't find the POLUtils macro editor to be very intuitive to quick creation of macros whereas Yekyaa's was quite an intuitively designed program, which I missed when I created this.
 Valefor.Omnys
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By Valefor.Omnys 2017-01-30 21:38:59
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Now with 100% more source code
After some consideration, it is unfortunately not that difficult to decompile a VB.Net application. The best way to protect the intent of the application, in this case, is to give it away.

Improve on it, please, and I'm sure there are things--big and small--that can be improved. VB is about as easy to read as LUA but I added a few comments to help.

The only change I did make to Yekyaa's encoding is that he origionally used characters that are visually similar to <, |, and > and I just used those direct characters.

I can say that Iryoku over at Windower gave it a once-over, even so far as to decompile the program (a slightly earlier version) and found no problem but now you can easily be your own judge.
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By Felgarr 2017-01-30 23:34:06
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How do we get folks to share books (and sticky macros)? Like for ...SCH :(
 Fenrir.Nightfyre
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By Fenrir.Nightfyre 2017-02-17 22:39:23
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Oh hey, this is a thing.

The one thing I'm missing in my short time playing around with it is a quick way to get back to the macro header. Shift+Tab works, but it's inefficient when you're writing multi-line macros and I'm not up to trying to alternate between top-down and bottom-up writing at full speed.

Felgarr said: »
How do we get folks to share books (and sticky macros)? Like for ...SCH :(
Looks like the functionality's there (Right click->import? Would be cool if we could export individual books, now that I'm thinking about it.), just need people on board with it to start sharing things.

edit: Would also be nice if Enter moved down macro lines same as Tab, and perhaps let ctrl+tab/ctrl+shift+tab move left/right within the current row (for both control and alt rows, possibly wrapping around to the next row up/down a la Prev/Next button functionality within the client).
 Valefor.Omnys
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By Valefor.Omnys 2017-02-18 00:56:48
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The shortcuts are neat suggestions.

I can make Enter do as you suggestion.
I could make Escape, if there's no selected text, hope to the title row of the macro.

As for macro->macro and row->row, control left/right and alt-left/right should cover them pretty well. Control+up/down navigates row->row and alt up/down navigates book->ook.
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 Fenrir.Nightfyre
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By Fenrir.Nightfyre 2017-02-18 01:11:58
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Ctrl/alt+left/right work, but I keep reaching for ctrl+tab habitually and it's annoying having to remember to switch back and forth between ctrl/alt while writing out several books worth of preplanned macros on a row-by-row basis. One unified command that fits that workflow would be a nice QoL change.
 Valefor.Omnys
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By Valefor.Omnys 2017-02-18 01:51:29
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Updated and goodnight :)

I added support for enter and escape, but if you have text selected, it de-highlights first, since I imagine that's a habit for many (it is for me).

I added support for Control+Enter (to the right) and Control+Shift+Enter (to the left). Personally I like arrow keys but I know some keyboards are uncomfortable. My old laptop keyboard, for instance. So it supports both.

Edit: Also, do control+tab/control+shift+tab work in game? Hahahahahaha, if they do, I never knew.

This entire thing started because I hate that you can't copy left side or right side of macro rows (or even entire macro rows).

Here's where someone tells me the bad news, lol....
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 Fenrir.Nightfyre
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By Fenrir.Nightfyre 2017-02-18 11:09:42
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Doesn't work in the vanilla client, but it's such an ubiquitous shortcut nowadays that I guess my brain expected it to work here regardless. Macros = tabs or something.

Appreciate the update, it's a big help.
necroskull Necro Bump Detected! [141 days between previous and next post]
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By Felgarr 2017-07-09 01:38:18
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Can this program al;ow for exporting/importing of macros?

I would like to see how a master SCH sets up their macros.
necroskull Necro Bump Detected! [91 days between previous and next post]
 Diabolos.Ferociousraven
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By Diabolos.Ferociousraven 2017-10-07 15:35:27
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I have a simple feature request.

Being able to swap macros, something like being able to select for example, Ctrl+1 macro and swap its location to Alt+7 and w/e is on alt+7 takes the place of ctrl+1.
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