#( system_restart
Time: START-TIME
Rule: GetTickCount 90000 <
Action:
\ here we perform all the required actions
)#
If a computer starts slowly, we might want to increase the length of time to which we compare GetTickCount (90000 - 150000).
How can I temporarily block mouse and keyboard input?
Here's how:
WINAPI: BlockInput USER32.DLL : BlockTheInput TRUE BlockInput DROP ; : UnblockTheInput FALSE BlockInput DROP ;
But this will only work in Windows 9*/2000/XP. Besides, it has been found that in Win9*, the above construct doesn't just block the user's activities, but also blocks key words SEND-KEYS: and (apparently) MOUSE* as well. Be careful!
Example:
#( test_hint
WINAPI: BlockInput USER32.DLL
: BlockInput TRUE BlockInput DROP ;
: UnblockInput FALSE BlockInput DROP ;
Action:
BlockInput
HINT: ">>>>> Warning! <<<<<%crlf%User input is blocked!%crlf%"
PAUSE: 2000
START-APP: "Notepad"
PAUSE: 1000
SEND-KEYS-DELAY: 200 500
WIN-SEND-KEYS: "*Notepad" "t{ENTER}te{ENTER}tes{ENTER}test"
SEND-KEYS: "{ENTER}test{ENTER}tes{ENTER}te{ENTER}t"
PAUSE: 1000
HINT-OFF
UnblockInput
THINT: "User input unblocked!" 3
)#
Please note also that the user input will be only blocked for the time or execution of the task which has called BlockTheInput. As soon as the task is completed, the user input is automatically unblocked.
How can I "instruct" nnCron to keep a single log file and not to create a new one every day?
To do this, you should change values of variables Cronlog and (optionally) LogTimeFormat in nncron.ini:
\ path of log Cronlog: "log\nncron.log" \ log time pattern LogTimeFormat: "%DD% %MMM% %hh%:%mm%:%ss% %ThreadId%"
Here is how information in the log will look:
11 Jul 13:25:04 436 Start nnCron 11 Jul 13:25:07 436 Load crontab 11 Jul 13:25:08 436 D:\TOOLS\NNCRON\nncron.tab 11 Jul 13:25:08 436 D:\TOOLS\NNCRON\vk.tab 11 Jul 13:25:08 436 D:\TOOLS\NNCRON\hotkey.tab 11 Jul 13:25:08 436 D:\TOOLS\NNCRON\test.tab 11 Jul 13:25:10 988 TASK: system_restart 11 Jul 13:25:35 508 TASK: hotkey_Ctrl+Alt+F 11 Jul 13:25:36 508 Start: d:\tools\far\far.exe 11 Jul 13:25:36 508 Start result: 0
By the way, the single log can be "cut down" from time to time with the help of word FILE-CROP:.
How can I stop a running task (e.g. in case of an error)?
Use word EXIT (it belongs to Forth kernel), which is used to exit the current word. It can be used because Action: also is a Forth word.
#( test_exit
NoActive
Action:
\ ... doing something useful
\ and checking for any errors:
FILE-EXIST: "error.log"
IF
\ there is an error,
\ deleting the file and stopping the task
FILE-DELETE: "error.log"
EXIT
THEN
\ ... if there are no errors, going on with our work
)#
Attention, please: word EXIT cannot be used within DO ... LOOP construct. To exit both a loop and a task, use UNLOOP EXIT: construct
DO ... IF UNLOOP EXIT THEN ... LOOP
How can I stop a task from another task?
For example, this way (it will only work in Windows NT/2000/ÕÐ):
#( task1
VARIABLE t1-id
Action:
GetCurrentThreadId t1-id !
)#
#( task2
WINAPI: OpenThread KERNEL32.DLL
Action:
t1-id @ ?DUP
IF
0 1 OpenThread ?DUP
IF STOP THEN
THEN
)#
How can I make the task Active/NoActive programmatically?
From inside the current task:
\ activating CUR-NODE CF-ACTIVE SET-CRON-FLAG \ deactivating CUR-NODE CF-ACTIVE CLR-CRON-FLAG
From the another task:
\ activating <task_name> @ CF-ACTIVE SET-CRON-FLAG \ deactivating <task_name> @ CF-ACTIVE CLR-CRON-FLAG
Note, please: you are not changing the crontab physically, when programmatically setting or clearing NoActive task option. Thus, the task keeps it's new active/non-active status until you reload crontabs for the next time.
Using the following words you can check if the task is active or not:
\ checking if the task is active from the task itself
CF-ACTIVE?
IF
\ ...
THEN
\ checking if the task is active from another task
<task_name> @ CRON-FLAGS @ CF-ACTIVE AND?
IF
\ ...
THEN
How can I intercept exceptions so that I can handle them myself?
nnCron provides a possibility to intercept any exception and decide afterwards what you are going to do with them.
This is how exceptions are intercepted :
['] word_name CATCH
['] looks up the following word in a dictionary (in compilation
mode) and compiles its address xt (execution token) into the definition
as a numeric literal.
CATCH takes xt from the stack, "remembers" state
of the stack (broadly speaking) and executes this xt. If an exception
arises while xt is being executed, it won't go anywhere beyond CATCH.
World CATCH returns 0 if there are no exceptions, and error
code if there was one.
Therefore, in a "real-life" situation this will look somewhat like this:
word_attributes ['] word_name CATCH ?DUP
IF \ processing the error
\ error code will be on top of the stack
\ and below it there will be some garbage,
\ depending on parameters
THEN
Example:
S" from-path" S" to-path" ['] FCOPY CATCH ?DUP
IF
\ writing error code to 'nncron.out' and to the console
." Copy error # " . CR
\ removing the garbage
2DROP 2DROP
ELSE
\ this branch doesn't have to exist, actually
." Copied successfully" CR
THEN
You can only use CATCH directly with "postfix" words. If it is necessary to process an exception of a "prefix" word, you should first create a new postfix word based on this "prefix" word.
Example:
#( task1
: copy1 FILE-COPY: "path-from" "path-to" ;
\ ...
Action:
['] copy1 CATCH ?DUP
IF \ ...
)#
Sometimes, when a task is large and there are several operators that can throw an exception, the following trick can help: we can place the entire content of Action: section into a new word and use CATCH to "watch" it.
Example:
#( task2
NoActive
: task-body
\ placing the content of Action: section
\ into a new word task-body
\ ...
;
Action:
\ executing the new word and catching the mistakes at the same time
['] task-body CATCH ?DUP IF ." Error # " . CR THEN
)#
How can I find out the meaning of error numbers that I see on Forth console, log file and in nncron.out?
If you want the errors to be displayed on console in user-friendly (verbose) format rather then as numerical codes (5, 2003, FILE ERROR # 3 etc.), download and extract to nnCron home directory the following file: http://www.nncron.ru/download/spf_err.rar (~24k). Here you can also find descriptions of errors recorded in log file and nncron.out (you can look them up by error number).
How can I change a string's encoding from WIN to OEM and vice versa?
nnCron's kernel contains definitions of "recoding" words OemToCharBuffA and CharToOemBuffA. Here is how you can use them to change encoding of a string:
#( test_recode
NoActive
\ defining "recoding" words
: WIN2OEM ( a u -- a u ) 2DUP SWAP DUP CharToOemBuffA DROP ;
: OEM2WIN ( a u -- a u ) 2DUP SWAP DUP OemToCharBuffA DROP ;
\ creating a buffer to place a string
\ whose encoding is going to be changed
CREATE RECODE_BUFFER 256 ALLOT
Action:
S" a test string" RECODE_BUFFER PLACE
\ writing text in OEM (ASCII) encoding:
RECODE_BUFFER COUNT WIN2OEM S" c:\test_oem.txt" FWRITE
\ writing text in WIN (ANSI) encoding:
RECODE_BUFFER COUNT OEM2WIN S" c:\test_win.txt" FWRITE
)#
Nicholas strongly recommends to copy a string to a buffer and change its encoding there (as in above example), instead of changing encoding right where the the string is stored.
How can I use nnCron to change attributes of a file?
Let's look up what Windows API says about this:
BOOL SetFileAttributes( LPCTSTR lpFileName, // file name DWORD dwFileAttributes // attributes );
That means, for example, that we can do the following :
#( test_file_attrib
WINAPI: SetFileAttributesA Kernel32.dll
NoActive
Action:
\ setting the "hidden file" attribute:
2 S" c:\temp\test.txt" DROP SetFileAttributesA DROP
)#
Here is a list of constants (with their values) that can be used instead of dwFileAttributes:
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY 1 FILE_ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN 2 FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SYSTEM 4 FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY 16 FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ARCHIVE 32 FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL 128 FILE_ATTRIBUTE_COMPRESSED 2048
How can I check a condition on one computer in a network and execute a task on another one (provided, of course, that a copy of nnCron is running on both computers)?
The simplest way to do this is to use an intermediate file created on a shared network drive accessible from both computers.
In the first place, you can use this file as a flag: one computer is used to create it, and the other one to watch for it.
You can also use such a file to pass to the second copy of nnCron the text of the task to be executed. Here is an example: one copy of nnCron creates a file named remote_task.spf with the following content:
S" Hello" MsgBox
And on the second computer, the following task is being executed:
#( remote_task
WatchFile: remote_task.spf
Action:
1000 PAUSE
S" remote_task.spf" INCLUDED
S" remote_task.spf" DELETE-FILE DROP
)#
Please also keep in mind that it is possible to run a task stored in a text file by using command line key -runfile
How can I find out the current display resolution?
Word WIN-RECT returns four values which are coordinates of upper left and lower right corners of a specified window. This word takes the window handle of this window as its argument. Therefore, to learn the display resolution you only have to learn the coordinates of Program Manager window: the last two values will show the current display resolution.
Example:
#( test_screen_resolution NoActive Action:
\ getting window handle of Program Manager WIN-EXIST: "Progman" IF \ printing the coordinates of Program Manager window to console WIN-HWND WIN-RECT . . . . CR THEN )#
How can I programmatically empty the recycle bin?
1. Create a file clearbin.spf with the following contents:
WINAPI: SHEmptyRecycleBinA shell32.dll : main 7 0 0 SHEmptyRecycleBinA DROP ;
2. Define a task:
#( clear_task
\ Clearing the recycle bin on hotkey combination Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Ñ
AsLoggedUser
LoadProfile
WatchHotKey: "^@+c"
Action:
ShowNormal NormalPriority
START-APP: %ModuleDirName%nncron.exe -wp -runfile clearbin.spf
)#
Why all these complexities? Well, a user profile should be loaded in order to empty the recycle bin correctly, and a user profile will not load properly without starting a separate thread. However, if you are using Windows 9õ, this problem does not affect you, for you can use the following construct right within a task:
7 0 0 SHEmptyRecycleBinA DROP
By the way, here are some constants you can use in emptying the recycle bin:
SHERB_NOCONFIRMATION 0x00000001 SHERB_NOPROGRESSUI 0x00000002 SHERB_NOSOUND 0x00000004
How can I find short name of the file (8.3) when I'm inside the FOR-FILES: loop?
You can define a special word (say, FOUND-SHORTFILENAME) and use it inside the FOR-FILES: loop.
Example:
<%
: FOUND-SHORTFILENAME
__FFB cAlternateFileName ASCIIZ> DUP 0=
IF
2DROP
FOUND-FILENAME
THEN
;
%>
#( test_shortnames
NoActive
Action:
FOR-FILES: "c:\temp\*"
MSG: "%FOUND-FILENAME% : %FOUND-SHORTFILENAME%"
;FOR-FILES
)#
How can I start my own task by double-clicking on nnCron system tray icon?
Just create a postfix word (you can do this right in nncron.ini):
: launch-your-task S" your-task-name" SFIND IF EXECUTE LAUNCH ELSE 2DROP THEN ;
and edit the value of nncron.ini variable TrayIconDoubleClick:
TrayIconDoubleClick: launch-your-task
How can I create my own pop-up menu which is shown when right-clicking on nnCron system tray icon?
Create a plain text file menu.f in nnCron home directory and place the following definitions inside this file:
201 CONSTANT MI_ITEM1
202 CONSTANT MI_ITEM2
204 CONSTANT MI_ITEM31
205 CONSTANT MI_ITEM32
206 CONSTANT MI_ITEM33
: make-my-popup ( -- h )
POPUPMENU
S" item1 " MI_ITEM1 MENUITEM
S" item2 " MI_ITEM2 MENUITEM
POPUP
S" item31 " MI_ITEM31 MENUITEM
MENUSEPARATOR
S" item32 " MI_ITEM31 MENUITEM
S" item33 " MI_ITEM31 MENUITEM
S" item3" END-POPUP
END-MENU
;
: def-item-action S" item2" MsgBox ;
\ setting the action for each menu item
: start-my-menu-item ( id -- )
CASE
MI_ITEM1 OF S" item1" MsgBox ENDOF
MI_ITEM2 OF def-item-action ENDOF
MI_ITEM31 OF S" item31" MsgBox ENDOF
MI_ITEM32 OF S" item32" MsgBox ENDOF
MI_ITEM33 OF S" item33" MsgBox ENDOF
ENDCASE
;
: my-menu
CronIcon hWnd @ SetForegroundWindow DROP
make-my-popup >R
\ setting one of the menu item as 'default' (should be
\ executed by double-clicking on nnCron tray icon)
0 MI_ITEM2 R@ SetMenuDefaultItem DROP
0 CronIcon hWnd @ CalcMenuYX
( TPM_RETURNCMD) 256 R@ TrackPopupMenuEx
?DUP IF start-my-menu-item THEN
R> DestroyMenu DROP
;
Now just edit your nncron.ini like this:
S" menu.f" INCLUDED TrayIconDoubleClick: def-item-action TrayIconRightButton: my-menu
That's all! Now you have an example of fully-functional multilevel pop-up menu, that will be shown by right-clicking on nnCron tray icon. Note, please, that the default menu item (the bold one) will be executed by double-clicking on nnCron tray icon as well.
How can I launch a task using windows shortcut (*.lnk)?
This is rather easy if you use the -run <task_name> command line option. Here is the procedure:
1) Create a task. Mark this task NoActive if you don't want this task to be executed automatically:
#( test_task_shortcut
NoActive
Action:
MSG: "Hi there!"
)#
2) Now create windows shortcut in the desired location: mouse right-click - New - Shortcut and browse to 'nncron.exe'. Edit the Location of the item field like this:
<path_where_nncron_is_installed>\nncron.exe -run test_task_shortcut
Press Next and give the meaningful name for the newly created shortcut (test_task_shortcut for example). Press Finish.
3) That's it. Your shortcut is ready! Double-click it with your mouse to run test_task_shortcut task.
How can I launch a program using windows shortcut (*.lnk)?
It is not difficult at all:
#( test_shortcut
NoActive
Action:
5 0 0 Z" c:\temp\cmd.exe.lnk" Z" open" 0 ShellExecuteA DROP
5 0 0 Z" c:\temp\notepad.exe.lnk" Z" open" 0 ShellExecuteA DROP
)#
The example will look slightly different if you need to authorize the task:
#( test_shortcut_authorized
NoActive
AsLoggedUser
Action:
START-APP: tm.exe 5 0 0 Z" c:\temp\cmd.exe.lnk" Z" open" 0 ShellExecuteA HALT
START-APP: tm.exe 5 0 0 Z" c:\temp\notepad.exe.lnk" Z" open" 0 ShellExecuteA HALT
)#
There is another one example of launching an application from the windows shortcut with authorization. This example uses JScript. Note the forward slashes in shortcut paths:
#( test_shortcut_authorized1
NoActive
AsLoggedUser
Action:
<JScript>
var WshShell = new ActiveXObject("WScript.Shell");
WshShell.Run("c:/temp/cmd.exe.lnk");
WshShell.Run("c:/temp/notepad.exe.lnk");
</SCRIPT>
)#
How can I copy all the files and all the subdirectories tree?
The easiest solution is to use the nnBackup utility, which was created especially for this purpose:
#( test_backup
NoActive
Action:
START-APP: nnbackup.exe copy -i "c:\data" -o "d:\backup" -v -s
)#
On the other hand, the problem can be solved by using nnCron as the only available tool. Since FILE-COPY: does not create subdirectories when copying files, you need to have nnCron create them as shown:
#( test_backup1
NoActive
Action:
RECURSIVE
FOR-FILES: "c:\data\*"
IS-DIR?
IF
\ creating intermediate directories
DIR-CREATE: "d:\backup\%FOUND-RELPATH%"
ELSE
\ copying files
FILE-COPY: "%FOUND-FULLPATH%" "d:\backup\%FOUND-RELPATH%"
THEN
;FOR-FILES
)#
How can I restart nnCron right from the given task?
Take a look at the example (restarting nnCron every night, at 23:59):
#( test_restart
Time: 59 23
Action:
SWHide
StartIn: "d:\TOOLS\NNCRON"
START-APP: %COMSPEC% /c net stop nncron && \
start/wait nncron.exe 5000 PAUSE BYE && \
net start nncron
)#
How can I determine the element of active window over which the mouse pointer is hovered?
Just send the windows message WM_NCHITTEST to the active window and analyze the numerical value that was returned. Here is the list of possible return values:
0 On the screen background or on a dividing line between windows (HTNOWHERE).
1 In a client area (HTCLIENT).
2 In a title bar (HTCAPTION).
3 In a window menu or in a Close button in a child window (HTSYSMENU).
4 In a size box (same as HTGROWBOX) (HTSIZE, HTGROWBOX).
5 In a menu (HTMENU).
6 In a horizontal scroll bar (HTHSCROLL).
7 In the vertical scroll bar (HTVSCROLL).
8 In a Minimize button (HTMINBUTTON, HTREDUCE).
9 In a Maximize button (HTMAXBUTTON, HTZOOM).
10 In the left border of a resizable window (the user can click the mouse to
resize the window horizontally) (HTLEFT).
11 In the right border of a resizable window (the user can click the mouse to
resize the window horizontally) (HTRIGHT).
12 In the upper-horizontal border of a window (HTTOP).
13 In the upper-left corner of a window border (HTTOPLEFT).
14 In the upper-right corner of a window border (HTTOPRIGHT).
15 In the lower-horizontal border of a resizable window (the user can click the
mouse to resize the window vertically) (HTBOTTOM).
16 In the lower-left corner of a border of a resizable window (the user can click
the mouse to resize the window diagonally) (HTBOTTOMLEFT).
17 In the lower-right corner of a border of a resizable window (the user can click
the mouse to resize the window diagonally) (HTBOTTOMRIGHT).
18 In the border of a window that does not have a sizing border (HTBORDER).
20 In a Close button (HTCLOSE).
21 In a Help button (HTHELP).
-1 In a window currently covered by another window in the same thread (the message
will be sent to underlying windows in the same thread until one of them returns a
code that is not HTTRANSPARENT) (HTTRANSPARENT).
-2 On the screen background or on a dividing line between windows (same as HTNOWHERE,
except that the DefWindowProc function produces a system beep to indicate an error)
(HTERROR).
Example:
#( test_buttons
\ appropriate message is shown when you hover your mouse over
\ 'Minimize', 'Maximize' or 'Close' buttons in active window
SingleInstance
Action:
BEGIN
MOUSE-POS 16 LSHIFT OR \ converting x,y to lParam
\ checking the cursor position:
0 132 GetForegroundWindow SendMessageA
DUP 8 = \ cursor is over the Minimize button:
IF
DROP
MSG: "Minimize Button!"
ELSE
DUP
9 = \ cursor is over the Maximize button:
IF
DROP
MSG: "Maximize Button!"
ELSE
20 = \ cursor is over the Close button:
IF
MSG: "Close Button!"
THEN
THEN
THEN
PAUSE: 100
AGAIN
)#
Use the keystate.spf plugin to monitor the mouse-click on a specified element of active window instead of mouse pointer hovering: this plugin allows you to determine wheter specified mouse button is pressed or not.
Example:
#( test_buttons_rightclick
\ appropriate message is shown when you right-click on
\ 'Minimize', 'Maximize' or 'Close' buttons in active window.
\ Make sure that plug-in 'keystate.spf' is loaded.
SingleInstance
VARIABLE allowMB \ this flag allows to work with the current window
Action:
BEGIN
VK_RBUTTON KEY-PRESSED? \ right mouse button
IF
allowMB @ \ first press?
IF
MOUSE-POS 16 LSHIFT OR \ converting x,y to lParam
\ checking the cursor position:
0 132 GetForegroundWindow SendMessageA
DUP 8 = \ cursor is over the Minimize button:
IF
DROP
MSG: "Minimize Button!"
ELSE
DUP
9 = \ cursor is over the Maximize button:
IF
DROP
MSG: "Maximize Button!"
ELSE
20 = \ cursor is over the Close button:
IF
MSG: "Close Button!"
THEN
THEN
THEN
THEN
ELSE
\ the mouse button was released, set the flag to ON:
allowMB ON
THEN
PAUSE: 100
AGAIN
)#
There is another one useful example: "How can I hide any window to system tray by right-clicking on a Minimize button?".
How can I hide any window to system tray by right-clicking on a Minimize button?
There is an example from the RU.NNCRON news-group (make sure taht plugins keystate.spf and win2tray.spf are loaded):
#( test_min2tray_mouseRB
\ put the current window into system tray by
\ right-clicking on the 'Minimize' button
SingleInstance
VARIABLE allowMB1 \ this flag allows to minimize the current window
Action:
BEGIN
VK_RBUTTON KEY-PRESSED? \ right mouse button
IF
allowMB1 @ \ first press?
IF
MOUSE-POS 16 LSHIFT OR \ converting x,y to lParam
\ checking the cursor position:
0 132 GetForegroundWindow SendMessageA
8 = \ if the cursor is on the Minimize button:
IF WIN-TO-TRAY: "%GetForegroundWindow%" THEN
allowMB1 OFF \ set flag to OFF
THEN
ELSE
\ the mouse button was released, set the flag to ON:
allowMB1 ON
THEN
PAUSE: 100
AGAIN
)#
