Screen text: a row that fires when words show on the screen
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A screen text is an area of a display and the words a row waits for there: a label that says Ready, a caption, a score, a name in a list. The Mac's own text recognizer reads the area twice a second while the preset runs, and the row is held while the words show or pressed when they appear. It is its own input, Screen text in a row's input menu. Where a screen color reads one spot, a screen text reads what an area says.
Add a screen text
- You: Add a row with the input type Screen Text, then choose Edit screen text in its menu. Click Add, mark the area with the two corner buttons (each counts three seconds while you move the pointer to that corner) or type Left, Top, Width and Height in percent, and type the words under Look for.
- InputConfig: Saves the area and the words with the preset and reads the area while the preset runs.
- Check: Right now in the sheet shows the words read in the area and Found or Not found. Change what is on the screen and watch it switch.
The words are matched as whole words, ignoring case, accents and extra spaces, and part of a longer line counts: Ready matches Ready to play, not Already. Keep the area tight around the words: a smaller area is read faster and more surely.
Choose how it fires
- While the text shows
- Held, like a button, while the words are read in the area.
- When the text appears
- A short press when the words appear in the area after not being there.
Allow Screen Recording
Reading the screen needs Screen Recording under Privacy & Security, the same permission screen colors use. Nothing is recorded or kept: the area is read, compared, and dropped, and only while a preset with screen text rows or a macro with a Wait for screen step runs, or the sheet is open. Presets without such rows or steps never need it.
Know how screen text behaves
- Twice a second. Text recognition costs more than a pixel, and words on a screen do not change faster than that.
- Fast recognition, no correction. A label is read as printed, which suits names, scores and codes; very small or stylized type may be misread, so give the area a little more room or a bigger font.
- Sixteen per preset. Saved with the preset; an exported preset carries them.
- No controller needed. A preset of only screen text rows runs with nothing connected.
Questions
Which languages does it read?
The ones the Mac's text recognizer reads; Latin script is the surest. The words you type are matched after accents are removed.
Can it read a number and compare it?
Not yet. It looks for the words you type; a row for a number reaching a value is on the list.
Is anything recorded?
No. The area is read into memory, compared, and dropped.
Related
Updated