That's the basic problem with any scripting (even should-be-simple vba stuff out of Access or Excel).
The Vantage Apps (more importantly - the controls themselves) do a piss-poor job of notify the OS when they are active (and ready for input).
That doesn't mean you can't get some benefit from script engines though... Just be careful with them until you gain confidence they can get through all your input records. That likely means so error handling code to handle situations where a record key being entered pops up an unexpected dialog box due to some odd condition.
I'm happy just to replace 4 or 10 mouse clicks and keystrokes with a simply AutoKey macro launch mouse click to do one record at a time updating. We're through the worst of our post go live (almost a year ago) scrambling to do mass re-entry/corrections of data that didn't import as expected. For the occasional mass entry now (100-800 records), using a single record at a time macro cuts the manual entry time by at least a factor of 4 (and I get to see unexpected conditions/error messages that can result in further insight to other problems not resolved yet).
... I still miss the ease of VBA scripted telnet hosted character based apps (reading data from csv files as you suggested)... That was rock solid.
Rob
Â
________________________________
From: pklein256 <pklein@...>
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2009 9:52:32 AM
Subject: [Vantage] Re: AutoHotKey for automating
We had an Epicor consultant suggest "Ground Control" software from website http://www.acrasoft.com/. It isn't free, but It looks like it does similar functions as AutoHotKey. This allows you to read and process a .csv instead of an excel spreadsheet and tabbing thru column cells doing copy/paste. The big problem we have with it, is we need to wait for a response, or the Vantage screen to return data – example, keying a part# and hitting tab – you need to wait for the Vantage screen to come back with the part description. If Vantage is having a slow moment, the Ground control scripts keep running because you tell it how long to wait before moving the mouse and clicking on the next step. So maybe your AutoHotkey script is working, but if your Vantage is having slow response time, is what's messing things up.
The Vantage Apps (more importantly - the controls themselves) do a piss-poor job of notify the OS when they are active (and ready for input).
That doesn't mean you can't get some benefit from script engines though... Just be careful with them until you gain confidence they can get through all your input records. That likely means so error handling code to handle situations where a record key being entered pops up an unexpected dialog box due to some odd condition.
I'm happy just to replace 4 or 10 mouse clicks and keystrokes with a simply AutoKey macro launch mouse click to do one record at a time updating. We're through the worst of our post go live (almost a year ago) scrambling to do mass re-entry/corrections of data that didn't import as expected. For the occasional mass entry now (100-800 records), using a single record at a time macro cuts the manual entry time by at least a factor of 4 (and I get to see unexpected conditions/error messages that can result in further insight to other problems not resolved yet).
... I still miss the ease of VBA scripted telnet hosted character based apps (reading data from csv files as you suggested)... That was rock solid.
Rob
Â
________________________________
From: pklein256 <pklein@...>
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2009 9:52:32 AM
Subject: [Vantage] Re: AutoHotKey for automating
We had an Epicor consultant suggest "Ground Control" software from website http://www.acrasoft.com/. It isn't free, but It looks like it does similar functions as AutoHotKey. This allows you to read and process a .csv instead of an excel spreadsheet and tabbing thru column cells doing copy/paste. The big problem we have with it, is we need to wait for a response, or the Vantage screen to return data – example, keying a part# and hitting tab – you need to wait for the Vantage screen to come back with the part description. If Vantage is having a slow moment, the Ground control scripts keep running because you tell it how long to wait before moving the mouse and clicking on the next step. So maybe your AutoHotkey script is working, but if your Vantage is having slow response time, is what's messing things up.
--- In vantage@yahoogroups .com, "Brian W. Spolarich " <bspolarich@ ...> wrote:
>
> Robert, I think you're more down with Vantage than I am.
>
> I've not seen many issues with scripting the UI actions in terms of robustness and reliability (my stuff always "worked"). Its just that I discovered what I suspect is a race condition with something on the server-side. I suspect for most folks this would work just fine, just don't tell Epicor you used a third-party tool, and test.
>
> -bws
>
> --
> Brian W. Spolarich ~ Manager, Information Services ~ Advanced Photonix / Picometrix
> Â Â Â Â bspolarich@. .. ~ 734-864-5618 ~ www.advancedphotoni x.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: vantage@yahoogroups .com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups .com] On Behalf Of Robert Brown
> Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 12:07 AM
> To: vantage@yahoogroups .com
> Subject: Re: [Vantage] AutoHotKey for automating
>
> I second that Brian. Vantage is such a flaky GUI (much more so thannearly anything I've ever used), I would never attempt a complex looping script.
>
> The few times I've used AutoHotKey, I've just recorded VERY simple (but keystroke/mouse- click wearying) 'copy from excel cell, pass to open Vantage app & paste into control/field, do some simple stuff in vantage (like press save button), return to excel and arrow down to next cell' scripts.All single record update automation that just increments and excel list to the next record.
>
> Even simple stuff like that goes haywire every 10th record or so - so I'd never trust looping scripts.
>
> Still, you can process several hundred records with the simple single record scripts (replacing several mouse clicks and key strokes per record with a single mouse click) with a tool like AutoHotKey (or others like it).
>
> I'm showing my age - but I miss TelNet apps! I could script looping updates (from a CSV text files as source) of tens of thousands of records with those reliable non-GUI app script tools.
>
> "Progress" (bah, humbug!)... Those old non GUI interfaces were much more productive and controllable (and didn't require 3 Gb PC's to run BETTER functional apps)... Somewhere along the way, the underlying technology for ERP systems became the sales point driver (at the expense of true functionality) .
>
> There will be a revolt and that will change... Happens every decade or so (usually when money gets tight as in the current recession). Some upstart will come up with something cheap and good that catches the bleeding edge of technolgy companies by surprise.
>
> I'm betting it will be 4G cell phone like devices with applicable, dirt cheapWii like natural human interfaces that are the next platform to knock off the current bloated client-server ERP resource pig suites (like Vantage).
>
> Rob
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ____________ _________ _________ __
> From: Brian W. Spolarich <bspolarich@ ...>
> To: vantage@yahoogroups .com
> Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 11:01:02 PM
> Subject: RE: [Vantage] AutoHotKey for automating
>
>
>
>
>
> Caveat administrator.
>
> http://tech. groups.yahoo. com/group/ vantage/message/ 74897
>
> YMMV.
>
> -bws
>
> --
> Brian W. Spolarich ~ Manager, Information Services ~ Advanced Photonix / Picometrix
> bspolarich@advanced photonix. com ~ 734-864-5618 ~ www.advancedphotoni x.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: vantage@yahoogroups .com [mailto:vantage@ yahoogroups .com] On Behalf Of Kerry_Muntz
> Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 6:54 PM
> To: vantage@yahoogroups .com
> Subject: [Vantage] AutoHotKey for automating
>
> Robert (and others), I had a look at AutoHotKey after your post re engineering workbench, and it looks like I might have to consider migrating to it from my current Kratronic recorder.
> Can it call Vantage programs directly? (ie can it open Part Maintenance if it's not already open? or does everything need to be open already?
>
> The ability to compile looks especially promising.
>
> Are there any limitations that I should be aware of? Is it at all buggy? Cheers kindly.
>
> ------------ --------- --------- ------
>
> Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
> (1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto: http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/vantage/ files/.
> (2) To search through old msg's goto: http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/vantage/ messages
> (3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto: http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/vantage/ linksYahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------ --------- --------- ------
>
> Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
> (1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto: http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/vantage/ files/.
> (2) To search through old msg's goto: http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/vantage/ messages
> (3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto: http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/vantage/ linksYahoo! Groups Links
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]