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Also see these tips:
An alternative to the MULTISAV macros:
- See the SaveCopy macro
in the Library,
which offers a way to save your currently opened file and simultaneously
make an archive copy of it on another (alternate) drive using
either the same relative directory (folder) name or a user-specified
directory. The copy can also be made on a floppy disk.
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Disclaimer:
All materials, including any
software or software code contained herein, or that may be found
on a related Internet site are offered without warranty or guarantee
of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited
to implied warranties of merchantability, satisfactory quality,
fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or those
arising by law, statute, usage of trade, course of dealing or
otherwise, and are provided on an "as is," and "with
all faults" basis. The entire risk as to the results and
performance of these materials or software is assumed by you.
The author assumes no liability whatsoever to you or any other
entity or third party for any special, incidental, direct, indirect,
or consequential damages -- including without limitation any
damages to equipment, or for loss of profits, for business interruption,
for loss of data or other information, or for any other loss
arising out of the use or inability to use these materials, techniques,
suggestions, or software programs, even if the author has been
notified of the possibility or actuality of such damages, or
they are foreseeable. Materials herein have been prepared with
reasonable care for educational and informative purposes. No
representations are made regarding the use or the results of
the use of any materials contained herein in terms of their correctness,
accuracy, reliability, or otherwise, and you are again cautioned
that you use them solely at your own risk. You are advised to
make backups of any important files before implementing any materials,
including any macro, suggestion, tip, method, technique, or other
item contained herein or that may be found on a related Internet
site. |
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You can assign
any of these macros to a menu, toolbar, or keystroke combination.
NewFN#.wcm (v1.03)
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NewFN#.wcm (New FileName
with Number) - Saves the current file
with a new filename that has a numerical suffix appended to the
root name (e.g., Myfile.wpd becomes Myfile001.wpd).
Subsequent playing of the macro increases the filename's suffix
(e.g., Myfile002.wpd, Myfile003.wpd, etc.) before
saving. Thus you can easily save your current work-in-progress
with sequential versions, or number letters to the same recipient,
etc.
How it works
If the current file is a new (unsaved) file,
the macro asks you to add a numeric suffix (e.g., 001) to the
filename, and then it saves the file. If the current file has
been previously saved with a numeric suffix (e.g., ClientXYZ-004.wpd),
it increments the numeric (suffix) part of the filename and then
it saves the file under the new name (e.g., ClientXYZ-005.wpd).
You can set the minimum length of the numeric
suffix for the macro to use (and verify) in the redlined User
Modification Area of the macro's code. See the here
for Instructions. The default is three digits, which allows creating
up to 999 versions of the file.
Note
All new files made with this macro are saved
to the same folder as the previously edited/saved version
of the file -- the same way that WordPerfect treats its own automatic backup files -- to
prevent the possibility of accidentally overwriting a backup
file (in a common backup folder) with another backup file of
the same name.
Tip
NewFN# is not
automatic: you still must deliberately save the file. However,
to help boost automation you can use this macro along with the
Period+Save macro. See "Which macro
to use?" below.
Download the MULTISAV.ZIP
archive |
Period+Save.wcm (v1.02)
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Period+Save.wcm - A macro that saves the current file whenever you
press the period (full stop) key (".") -- unless the
period follows a number, a space, or another period, in which
case the macro will not execute a save.
Unlike NewFN#.wcm, it does not change the
current filename. It merely does the same thing that File >
Save does, but it does it for you when you reach the end of a
typical sentence.
Tips
- See Tip #1 below
for more information about this macro's technique. As noted there,
it may be best to assign
the macro to the period key in a copy of your default
keyboard (see details in that Tip).
- Kenneth Hobson posted a macro on WordPerfect
Universe that saves after every five prresses of the period key.
See here.
Download the MULTISAV.ZIP
archive |
HRt+Save.wcm (v1.01)
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HRT+Save.wcm (Hard return-plus-save) - This macro makes special use of the backslash key
("\") to enter a hard return and save the current file
at the same time.
Unlike NewFN#.wcm, it does not change the
current filename. It simply saves the file the same as if you
use File, Save.
Unlike Period+save.wcm, it is not completely
"automatic": You must deliberately double-press the
backslash key (after it has this macro assigned to the backslash
key -- easy to do!). This might be preferred by some users to
a completely automatic process.
The normal functioning of the backslash key
-- i.e., one press of the "\" key followed by some
other key press -- is not affected. You must press this key twice
for the macro to spring into action. Otherwise, you will simply
type a "\" into the document.
Tips
- You should assign
this macro to the "\" key. Then pressing the backslash
key twice causes the macro to delete the backslashes,
enter a hard return, and save the file. (Actually, any available
key can be used; however, the backslash is normally located just
above the Enter key, which makes it especially easy to use to
enter a hard return and then save the file.)
- You can also change the number of required
backslashes in the macro code. (Just open the macro like any
other WordPerfect document to view the comments and instructions
at the top of the file.)
Download the MULTISAV.ZIP
archive |
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Which macro
to use?
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First, note that you can use NewFn#.wcm
in the same document with Period+Save.wcm or HRt+Save.wcm. Here's why.
NewFN#.wcm is
not automatic: It saves the current file only when you
deliberately play the macro. (This is particularly easy to do
if you assign the macro to a
toolbar button next to the normal Save button.) As noted
above, if it is a new document it will ask you for a filename
-- one that has numbers appended to the root of the name (e.g.,
"MyFile001.wpd"). If you have already used Period+Save
on that document, but have not yet appended a numeric suffix
to the root name, NewFN# will pop a message and ask for one.
It then saves the document under the new (now numbered) filename,
and it will use that numbered name to create new, incrementally
numbered filenames each time you play the macro. But you must
deliberately play the macro!
It is meant to create several intermediate
versions of a file -- "works
in progress," so to speak -- such as MyFile001.wpd, MyFile002.wpd,
and so on. This is handy when you want to save some sections
of your original text as they were written, until the final draft
of the document is written. (Of course, you can always clip the
possibly unwanted sections to another document, using something
like the Clipper macro. But that document
is only temporary and must also be save to disk. If you don't
mind the extra files on disk, NewFN# might be more useful, depending
on your preference.)
Period+Save.wcm
(like HRt+Save.wcm) is automatic -- if it is assigned
to the period/full stop key and if the file has a name -- and
will play whenever you type a period into the document (except,
of course, periods preceded by a number, another period, or a
space). If you are working on a new (i.e., originally blank)
document it will pop a message to let you know you should save
the document; once saved, you should not see the message again
in that document. It always saves the document using the same
filename and extension in effect at the time -- the same as
if you use File> Save on any named document.
It is meant to help you save the same document
more frequently than you might do otherwise,
helping avoid loss of text if you absently close the program
without saving many hours of work -- even if you have set
the timed backup option (which, incidentally, works only
for abnormal program termination, not for failing to obey warning
messages about changed documents and the need to deliberately
save or abandon those changes. See
here for more on the timed backup feature).
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Tip #1
The "PERIOD (FULL STOP) - PLUS - SAVE" trick
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The rationale behind the Period+Save macro
above
If you want to save your work
with sufficient frequency to minimize any potential loss and
you don't like the backslash-key macro (HR+Save) method above,
you could force WordPerfect to save the current file as you
type, without having to remember to press a special key,
or click a toolbar button or menu item. (This method can be toggled
on and off; more on this later.)
A logical point to trigger
a save with a reasonable frequency is when you press the period
("full stop") key. You could do this by creating a
simple macro and assigning it to the period key so that it plays
immediately whenever you press the period key. The macro would
type the period and immediately save the file -- automatically.
(If the file has not yet been saved, it will pop up the Save
File dialog to allow you to name the file first.). Here's an
example of such a macro (don't
create it; please read
on):
Type (".")
FileSave
()
Finally, you would assign this macro to the period key on your
default keyboard.
Note: To assign the macro
to the period [full stop] key, when you are in the Keyboard Shortcuts
dialog (as explained in the assign link) you will need to check the
box, "Allow assignment of character keys" to display
normal keyboard characters; the period is just under the hyphen
[-] and above the forward slash [/] in the list, for most keyboards.
Then every time you press
the period key, the macro will play and type a period, then immediately
save the file. If the file has not yet been saved, it will pop
up the File Save dialog to allow you to name the file first.
With this macro, the most
you are likely to lose if you forget to save before closing a
file is one sentence. Other than using the WordPerfect automatic backup feature (Tools, Settings, Files, Doucment
tab, "Save original file as a backup..."), this is
about as automated a periodic save as you will get with WordPerfect.
[Note: Both methods -- using
an auto-save macro and WordPerfect's automatic backup feature
-- can be used together, if you wish. The WordPerfect automatic
backup feature makes just one backup of the current file; however,
this is a separate file from the current file, located
in the same directory/folder but with a .BK! filename extension.
The "period-plus-save" method saves the same file over
and over: no separate backup file is created (unless, of course,
you have the automatic backup feature turned on). And if you
use WordPerfect's automatic backup feature, be sure to set it
to 5 minutes or longer, as explained on the above-linked page.]
However, the simple two-line macro above has some limitations:
It cannot tell if the cursor is located inside a "substructure"
such as a dialog box -- a place where File, Save will not work.
Also, it doesn't notice when you type ellipses ("..."
or ". . ."), and it saves even when you are entering
numerical data, which (slightly) slows such data entry.
The two-line macro above can
be elaborated to
- check if the period you want
to type at the cursor location follows a digit, another period,
or a space; and
- check if the cursor is inside
a a substructure.
If both conditions are true,
the macro would not save the file, thereby avoiding potential
problems with saving and reducing any (very slight) slowdown
in your work. If both conditions are false, the macro would proceed
to save the file.
A macro (Period+Save.wcm)
that does these things is included as part of the MULTISAV.ZIP file on this page. It pops an information
message in an unsaved or read-only document, and also does not
auto-save the document when you are writing or editing a macro
or template (most macro writers probably do not want frequent
auto-saves while they code a macro). These two features can be
changed with a simple setting in the macro's User Modification
Area.
Related tips
It may be best to assign the
macro to the period key in a copy of your default keyboard.
That is, instead of assigning the Period+Save
macro to the default keyboard -- the one you use all or most
of the time, such as <WPWin 11 Keyboard>, <WPWin 8 Keyboard>,
<WPDOS 6.1 Keyboard>, etc. -- create a copy
of the default keyboard definition, and use the copy when assigning
this macro to a key. You can then use your mouse or a keystroke
combination (see next paragraphs) to quickly toggle between keyboards,
depending on whether or not you want to use the period-plus-save
method of automating the saving of your files.
- Click on Tools, Settings,
Customize, then the Keyboards tab. Click the Copy button, then
select the keyboard you want to copy (the "From" and
"To" fields should be the default template file for
your version of WordPerfect, such as "wp11US"). Click
on Copy, then give the new keyboard a name (perhaps <Auto-save
keyboard>). Click OK.
- Back in the Customize Settings
dialog, select the new keyboard, and click Edit. Check the box,
"Allow assignment of character keys." Scroll down to
the period (for most keyboards it's just under the hyphen [-]
and above the forward slash [/] in the list), and choose it.
Click on the Macros tab, then click Assign Macro to Key. Select
the Period+save.wcm macro and assign it to the period
key. (No need to save it with the full path if the macro is in
your default or supplemental macros directory/folder.)
- Click OK/Close until you
are back at the main document screen.
Then -
- Either right-click the Status Bar (the very
bottom of the WP window that shows the names of currently opened
documents) and choose Settings. When the Settings dialog appears,
check the box, "Keyboard," then click OK. You can then
click the keyboard icon that appears on the Status bar to slect
the desired keyboard;
- Or create two simple macros. Using them will require
three fewer mouse clicks to change keyboards than the method
above.
- This method is almost as
easy to set up. First create two macros (which are recordable
with Tools, Macro, Record), then assign them to toolbar buttons or keystrokes -- one macro to select the new keyboard
and one to select your default keyboard. That way, you can use
your mouse or a keystroke combination to quickly toggle between
keyboards, depending on whether or not you want to use the period-plus-save
feature.
- You can now use your mouse
or a keystroke combination to quickly toggle between keyboards,
depending on whether or not you want to use the period-plus-save
method of automating the saving of your files.
Known Limitations
The macro doens't work properly
with the As-U-Type spell check and speed typing program,
when a period follows a word that is in As-U-Type's Correction
Database. If you use As-U-Type, just toggle it off temporarily
with <LeftShift+RightShift>. Or use this tip from the author
of As-U-Type:
'...To fix [this], please
... remove the period from As-U-Type's expander characters set:
Right click the program's running icon and choose the "Options..."
command. Then click the "Others" item on the left,
and remove the period from the "Expanders" box on the
right. (The Expanders box contains all characters which trigger
expansion). Of course after removing the period from the box,
As-U-Type no longer expands text when you type the period (so
"admin." still stays as "admin.", while "admin,"
continues to be expanded to "administration,")....'
For more on As-U-Type -- which
is otherwise an excellent program -- see http://www.asutype.com/.
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Barry MacDonnell's