The software falls into the ‘must have utility’ categorisation, and it has appeared on every pretty much serious Mac users essential apps list for years. As the name suggests Keyboard Maestro enables the design and creation of macros to enable the automation of all kinds of routine functions.
I’ve been a casual user for many years but only recently started to investigate the power of the tool to help me fix specific problems I’ve encountered in my most recent daily work.
For example, I have created a macro to archive the Rapid Weaver project file I am using for our local village museum website. The macro is triggered from the Keyboard Maestro menu, copies the latest version of the RW8 project file to an archive folder, unmangles the path and filename of the file, asks for a date to be entered and rebuilds the filename using this date.
The screenshot below shows the very simple macro I wrote to ensure that TotalFinder relaunches automatically whenever Finder restarts.
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| Keyboard Maestro editor window and actions |
I use another macro to refresh the Weather Dock Express desklets on my screen which occasionally get overwritten. This runs invisibly in the background every couple of hours or can be forced to run on demand.
Keyboard Maestro is an incredibly powerful tool, with in-built debugging facilities, and a large library of built-in actions. It has logic and control flow features and can run embedded Apple Script within its macros. It's one of those tools that, the more you use it, the more you find you can do with it. There's a massive online manual and wiki and you have access to a community of users to assist and inspire you in your creative endeavours.
At the time of writing the software is available for about £35 (including VAT) from the Stairways Software Store.
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