Bootmate

Bootmate is a lightweight automation tool that accepts via command line arguments a recipe file, path to an executable with any command line arguments for this executable and then it runs this executable and performs actions from the recipe.

Or you can run Bootmate with just a path to a recipe. In this case, no executable will be run and Bootmate starts performing the actions immediately.

You can also run executables from a recipe itself, using a run command (see All Recipe Commands).

Bootmate.exe [recipe] ([executable]) ([command-line arguments])

A recipe file might look like this:

var:name Bootmate
var:half_second 500

loop:2
  write:Knock...
  press:enter
end

write:Who's there?
sleep:${$half_second*2}
press:enter
write:It's $name!
sleep:$half_second
press:enter
write:Boot, who?
name:Boot Mate
sleep:$half_second
press:enter
write:$name!

hold:ctrl
press:s
release:ctrl
sleep:1200
write:kkjk.txt
press:enter

When you run this recipe on a notepad.exe, like this

Bootmate.exe example.recipe "C:\Windows\notepad.exe"

the process will start the Notepad, type the following text and save it as kkjk.txt

Knock...
Knock...
Who's there?
It's Bootmate!
Boot, who?
Boot Mate!

In the example you can see a usage of loop, write, sleep, press, hold, and release commands, but also variables and Expressions. There are also commands to drive a mouse, like in this example:

set cursor:512 400
var:size 100
move cursor:$size 0
move cursor:0 $size
move cursor:${-$size} 0
move cursor:0 ${-$size}
click:left

This first sets the cursor position to x 512 and y 400 pixels, then moves it along a square-shaped path clockwise and simulates a LMB click.

You can also move cursor to a position of the top-left corner of a window with a given title using point cursor command.

point cursor:Calculator

This will move cursor to the top-left corner of a Calculator window, assuming the window with such title is present, otherwise nothing happens.

On top of that, Bootmate is configurable by bootmate.ini you can but don't have to provide, and both ini and recipe file support single-line comments prefixed with ;. If you need a semicolon you need to escape it with a backtick.

var:name Bootname ;this is a comment
name:Bootname`;this is NOT a comment

In this^ example, the value of the name variable has been re-assigned from Bootname to Bootname;this is NOT a comment

All Recipe Commands

Each command has to be placed on a separate line. When a command accepts values, values are separated from the command with a :. Multiple values are separated from themselves by space.

Syntax	Description	Example
write:{text}	Simply types a given text. Default delay between characters is 1 millisecond (see Bootmate.ini).	write:hello
press:{key*}	Makes a single key press.	press:enter
hold:{key*}	Holds a key until release is called or program ends.	hold:shift
release:{key*}	Releases a key. If the key is not currently held, nothing happens.	release:shift
set cursor:{x} {y}	Move cursor an absolute position (position [0,0] is the top left corner of the screen).	set cursor:512 400
move cursor:{x} {y}	Move cursor to a relative position.	move cursor:0 10
point cursor:{windowTitle}	Move cursor to a position of the top-left corner of a window with a given title.	point cursor:Calculator
click:{left/middle/right}	Performs a left, middle, or right mouse button click.	click:right
hold mouse:{left/middle/right}	Holds a mouse button until release mouse is called or program ends.	hold mouse:left
release mouse:{left/middle/right}	Releases a mouse button. If the button is not currently held, nothing happens.	release mouse:left
scroll:{amount}	Rolls a mouse wheel. A positive number rolls up (forward), a negative rolls down (backward).	scroll:-120
sleep:{ms}	Waits a given time in milliseconds.	sleep:500
loop:{n} ... end	Repeats commands between loop and end n-times.	loop:10 ... end
run:{exe} ({args})	Runs an executable, optionally with cmd line args. If your path contains spaces or ':' wrap the path with "	run:"C:\Program Files\My Precious App\MPA.exe"
var:{name} ({value}) **	Declares a variable. You can but don't have to initialize it. The default value is an empty string.	var:name Bootmate
{name}:{value} **	Re-assign a variable. Value can contain any character, including a space (semicolon needs to be escaped with a ` as everywhere where you don't want to mark the rest of a line as a comment).	name:Boot Mate

*) See the List of Keys

**) Use variables in values of any command by prefixing its name with a $ (e.g. $name)

List of Keys

Some virtual keys have two options (the second option is in brackets)

return (enter)
shift
ctrl (control)
alt,
backspace
delete
tab
escape (esc)
space
left
right
up
down
home
end
pageup
pagedown
insert
f1 — f12
numpad0 — numpad9
multiply (*)
add (+)
subtract (-)
decimal (.)
divide (/)
0 — 9
a — z

Built-in Variables

Bootmates has a couple of built-in variables. Here's a list of them:

Variable	Description
$weekday	The current day of the week from 1 to 7, where 1 is Sunday and 7 is Saturday.
$day	The current day of the month
$month	The current month
$year	The current year
$hour	The current hour in UTC, if you need to adjust to your timezone, you can do that with an expression like this ${$hour+2}
$minute	The current minute
$second	The current second

Expressions

You can also use basic mathematical expressions (supported operators are (), %, ^, *, /, +, and -) in any value, an expression has to start with ${ and ends with }. Here are some examples:

write:${2+4*2} is smaller than ${(2+4)*2} and ${(2+4)*-2} is a negative number.
write:Two to the power of four is ${2^4}.

Writes 10 is smaller than 12 and -12 is a negative number. Two to the power of four is 16.

var:pi 3.141592
var:tau ${$pi*2}
write:$tau is twice as large as $pi

Writes 6.283184 is twice as large as 3.141592

var:n ${2+4*2} 
n:${$n/2}
loop:${$n+1}
  write:${$n*2} divided by 2 is $n
  press:enter
end

Writes 6 lines of 10 divided by 2 is 5

Branching

You can compare numbers and expressions using common comparison* and logical** operators and branch your recipe with if, else if, and else statements. Notice the whole block has to end with end if.

*) Comparison Operators
==	equal
!=	not equal
<	less than
>	greater than
<=	less than or equal
=>	greater than or equal

**) Logical Operators
&&	and
||	or

Here are a few examples:

if:${1+1 < 3}
   sleep:5000
end if
write:Five seconds have passed

Because the expression ${1+1 < 3} evaluates to true, program waits 5 seconds and then writes Five seconds have passed.

var:n 1
if:${$n != 1}
   sleep:5000
else
   write:One equals one
end if

Immediately writes One equals one

if:${$weekday == 1}
   write:Sunday
else if:${$weekday == 2}
   write:Monday
else if:${$weekday == 3}
   write:Tuesday
else if:${$weekday == 4}
   write:Wednesday
else if:${$weekday == 5}
  write:Thursday
else if:${$weekday == 6}
   write:Friday
else
   write:Saturday
end if

Writes the name of the current weekday ($weekday is a built-in variable)

if:${$weekday == 1 || $weekday == 7}
    write:It's weekend!
else
    write:Weekend starts in ${7 - $weekday} day(s)
end if

Writes It's weekend! on Sunday and Saturday, otherwise writes how many days remain until Saturday, including the present day.

Bootmate.ini

Optional bootmate.ini currently supports the following global configuration pairs.

Key	Description	Default Value
bNoMultipleInstances	Prevents Bootmate from running an executable if such application is running already	1 (true)
bFindWindowByTitle	From some applications Bootmate fails to get a window handle. You can switch it to try to find a window by its title instead. This can be also useful when you run Bootmate without passing an executable.	0 (false)
sWindowTitle	A window title relevant to bFindWindowByTitle	-
iDefaultDelay	A delay between each command in milliseconds	1
iDefaultWriteDelay	A delay between each character in write command in milliseconds	1