Accessing TracePro Menu Selections using Scheme

Accessing TracePro Menu Selections using Scheme

Many functions that can be performed using TracePro’s user interface can also be performed by scheme commands. TracePro commands are grouped by the TracePro menu that they mirror.

The entire collection of macro commands are referenced in the online Macro Reference, which is available from the Start menu.

For more information on Scheme

See the Scheme home page at MIT: http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/scheme-home.html (very technical)

and the home page of Schemers, Inc., publishers of “Getting Started with ACIS Using Scheme” as well as other books and software related to Scheme:

http://www.schemers.com

TracePro DDE Interface

TracePro may be controlled by another application using it as a DDE server. All DDE Service, Topic and Item names are insensitive to case. The DDE Execute command strings are also case insensitive. Since much of the interaction is based on sending Scheme commands, the interface is documented along with the Macro functionality.

Introduction

DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) is a Windows protocol to share information between different programs. DDE uses a hierarchy of three names, the SERVICE, the TOPIC and the ITEM. A DDE CONVERSATION is established using the service and topic names as a pair. The item part of the name is used to identify the particular data or command being requested by the client once a conversation is established.

To establish a conversation a DDE client specifies the service/topic name pair it wishes to connect to. Windows broadcasts the request to all top level windows. The first server to accept is connected to the client and so a conversation is established. The application that initiates the conversation is called the client. The application that responds to the client application is called the server.

During a DDE conversation, the client and server applications exchange data concerning items. An item is a reference to data that is meaningful to both applications in a conversation. Either application can change the item during a conversation.

Just as the client application initiates the establishment of a conversation, it also initiates all the transactions. It can request data from the server as a once off (a REQUEST transaction), request being kept up to date about an item of data (an ADVISE or NOTIFY transaction), give commands to the server (an EXECUTE transaction) and send unsolicited data to the server (a POKE transaction). The client associates with all these transactions the item part of the identification. It informs the server of the data required by the client in a request transaction, the