MacroShrinker

Nope. What we can shorten are console commands (/console *) and script commands (/script *).

The other things are hidden from our access as addon developers (casting spells, and special macro words like #showtooltip). :-/

Hi Thantik!

Unfortunately, addons aren't allowed the same kind of control that Blizzard has, so casting spells via slash command is blocked, therefore we have no choice but to use the slash commands blizzard gives us (and I agree, the word /castsequence is really freaking long). The only way an addon can cast spells is if it creates what's known as a "SecureFrame" (a button) which you then have to CLICK on like a button (this is how the "HealBot" addon works for instance, as well as all Action Bar addons; they follow the Blizzard rule that there must be a physically clickable button to be allowed to cast spells from an addon).

The other suggestion is interesting,

/msh clr = /uic, /msh sfxon = /se 1, etc.

I like the idea, but the thing about slash commands is that every addon chooses their own and other addons have no way to know if their command becomes overridden. So if I register "/se" to this addon, and you had an addon (let's call it BagSearch) that uses /se to start searching, then EITHER his or my addon would work, not both. Whichever addon was loaded last in the loading order (addons are loaded in alphabetical order) will have its command mapped to /se. That is why you have to be careful to pick unique identifiers. /msh is very unlikely to be registered by something else. /uic is interesting because it's not very likely to be used either (it's 3 letters and it's unlikely an addon will have the 3 initials UIC), but /se is a no-go since it's too common of a word.

If another addon picks that word, then this addon will not work at all and your macros will no longer work, that's bad. That's why /msh is needed.

How about a compromise that won't break other addons, but will make the individual commands a tiny bit shorter?

/msh clr + /msh c
/msh sfxon + /msh s1
/msh sfxoff + /msh s0

Most people will be using the composite "/msh 0 /somecommands /msh 1" shortcuts which do the most common macro combo, but for those that just want one of the individual commands, this would give a bit shorter commands. Thoughts?

Hi again,

Unfortunately us addon authors can't access anything regarding those builtin commands, they're not accessible from the LUA interface (which is what addons are written in).

People were writing addons that would do stuff like "if my health is under 25 percent, cast healing", so Blizzard decided to COMPLETELY disallow casting spells from addons.

They then introduced "secure buttons" which is a button that HAS TO be clicked in order to work, and that's now the only way an addon can cast spells. There's no way to make slash commands for it. They wanted to disallow automation.

Here's how to cast spells from addons:

local frame = CreateFrame("Button", "PortalUC", nil, "SecureActionButtonTemplate")
frame:SetAttribute("type", "spell");
frame:SetAttribute("spell", "Portal: Undercity")

This creates a button that is clickable and when clicked, casts the spell "Portal: Undercity".

I'm definitely annoyed with Blizzard since it affects what we can do with addons (there ARE legitimate reasons to cast spells from addons, such as making easy slash commands) but I understand their need to limit spellcasting since there's huge potential for bad stuff there as well.

Version 1.2 released. Fully stable, enjoy.

If there are any commands you want added, and they are WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THIS ADDON (shrinking COMMON commands from macros), then post a comment and I'll respond to you.

An example of something that's NOT in the scope of this addon: "Please add a command for autoselecting a mount". There are other addons for specific features like that, with way more options and slash commands, that you should use in your macros instead.

The purpose of THIS addon is to shorten common BLIZZARD commands.

Thanks.

I think you've misunderstood what the "sound effects on/off" toggling does. It's not for "error speech" (most people have that disabled).

Almost all actions that are on cooldown (or for some reason or another are unable to cast, such as lacking a proper target) will trigger a sound effect, usually a "clonk" sound. That's why almost all advanced, multi-purpose macros or 1-button-spam macros out there start off by disabling the sound effects, then performing the actions (which very often fail if the time is not right, and would have triggered a "clonk" error sound if sfx were on), and finishing up by clearing the errors and re-enabling the sound effects.

The result is that you won't hear the error sound effects (again: not error speech, not the same thing), and the quick toggling means you don't even notice that the sound effects are turned off and then on again. It's an extremely common technique.

----//

On another note, do you have any commands you want added? I've been using this for about a year now, and I write extremely advanced macros (context-sensitive macros with 5-6 actions in each depending on what's happening in the game) that constantly break the 255 char limit forcing me to re-evaluate them over and over, and have yet to come across any more commands worthy of inclusion.

Sound effects (error "clonks") and error text are the most common, basic features of any advanced macro, and there doesn't seem to be anything else that needs shrinking.

This is mainly because most other commands you'd use in a macro are already extremely efficient, such as /cast [conditions]Spellname;Spellname2, /attack [conditions], /cleartarget [conditions], /use [conditions]itemnameORslot, and so on.

As you can see, all the above commands are already short, highly specialized (they have an intelligent conditions->alternate path order), and they make up the bulk of most macros.

That's why I am open to suggestions: Are there any long console commands you want included? Any other features? ;-)

You're welcome! ;-)