Advice on choosing linux scripting software for text processing and keyboard macros

porphyry5 · 07-30-2010, 05:30 PM

Hi, I'm an old guy with a memory problem just converting to Slackware 12.2.
On windows I solved my memory lack by automating everything with scripts, daily stuff for the convenience, uncommon stuff for the remembrance. I'd like to do the same on linux.

On windows I spend 90%+ of my time in a text editor called NoteTab. It has its own scripting language that is extraordinarily good at manipulating text (as strings or WYSIWYG), and at manipulating NoteTab itself. Its rather clumsy for manipulating other apps, for which I turn to a scripting language called AHK. This has excellent keyboard and mouse macroing, a very easy and versatile gui generator for collecting user input, and the usual string, math and I/O functions. Unfortunately, neither of them will run properly on linux.

Would someone kindly recommend me similar software for linux, and even better if it could be combined in one app so I'd only have to learn one new language. Thank you for your help.

sycamorex · 07-30-2010, 05:35 PM

It depends what kind of stuff you'd like to automate. If it's all related to text manipulation/organisation, you could use emacs (there's a windows version as well). It's got macros and a virtually unlimited scope for extending with your own scripts. The language it uses is Elisp (Emacs Lisp).

porphyry5 · 08-02-2010, 12:52 PM

Thank you, I began investigating emacs, but turned aside to check out other features, because of the sheer volume of information for emacs. I'll go back to it.

Certainly the majority of my work is text manipulation, but I use AHK a lot for non-text processes, controlling radio edit extractions to mp3 done with audacity, cd burning the accumulated mp3s, photo and image editing via irfanview, accessing and extracting material from the multiple help files associated with masm32 when I write assembly code, ditto for AHK help when I write ahk scripts, controlling pdf and mht extraction tools in order to convert to html and a number of less often used apps. These can only be run by keyboard or mouse macros that activate their menu choices. Can emacs macros control other apps in this way?