Automate your current session tasks with a QuickMacro
See also:
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WordPerfect has a feature called a QuickMacro
that lets you record a series of keystrokes and/or mouse clicks that
you can play back as many times as needed with a single click of your
mouse.
You can play the same QuickMacro in any open
document during the current session. When
you close WordPerfect, the QuickMacro is deleted. (It is a
temporary macro, so it is not saved to disk. If you want a permanent
solution, record a regular macro with Tools,
Macro, Record.
Use this same command to stop the recording, or use the black-square
stop button (■) on the left side of the Macro Toolbar. Note that not
all things can be recorded, so some saved macros will need to be edited
to add commands to them.)
Instructions
- To make using a QuickMacro easier, you
should add a "Record QuickMacro" and a "Play QuickMacro" button to your
toolbar. This is generally easier for most
users than following the instructions in the program's Help file. Here's
how:
- Right-click in the toolbar and choose
Edit to bring up the Toolbar Editor.
- Under the Features tab, in the
"Features categories" drop list, choose Tools.
- Scroll down in the list to "QuickMacro
Record," then click Add Button, then click OK.
- Repeat to add a "QuickMacro Play"
button.
- The buttons look like this:
(Their quick tips will show their names as "Record QuickMacro" and
"Play QuickMacro" -- the opposite of the names in the Features category
drop list.)
- To use QuickMacros:
- Click the Record QuickMacro
button on your toolbar, then press various keys or click the mouse as
needed while you record your task.
- Click the same Record QuickMacro to stop
the recording -- it acts as an On/Off button -- or
use the black-square
stop button (■) on the left side of the Macro Toolbar.
- Then click Play QuickMacro when
you need to perform the same task. (Remember that the macro will exist
only for the current WordPerfect session.)
- To repeat
playing the macro: If you have a repetitive task that needs to
be processed "n" times, you can make the QuickMacro (or any macro)
repeat "n" times:
- You
can, of course, simply click the Play QuickMacro button "n" times
in sequence. For some tasks might be easier and quicker.
-or-
- Click Edit, Repeat Next Action to bring up the
Repeat dialog (image), specify
the number of repeats, (click the Use as Default button, if desired),
then click OK.
- Then click the Play QuickMacro button (if
available) -or- click on
Tools, Macro, Play and select the macro.
Tip: For quicker
access you
could assign the "Repeat Next Action" function to a toolbar (or
keyboard, such as the <Alt+R> shortcut already included with the
DOS keyboard) using the same procedure in the Instructions
section above (but look under the Edit feature category, not the Tools
feature category). Click it before clicking the Play
QuickMacro button
to tell the QuickMacro how many times to repeat itself. The Repeat
Next Action toolbar button looks like this: 
Tip: The
similarly named Repeat Next
button "feeds" the default value
(you previously set in the Repeat dialog) to the Play
QuickMacro function. Hence, if you have several repeat sets of the
same default value
(e.g., 10 for each set), you can just use Repeat Next followed by
Play QuickMacro.
Notes
- If you record a QuickMacro in an empty
document, it will add a line numbering code [Ln Num] at the top. This
code (and thus the line numbering) can be deleted in Reveal Codes after
the QuickMacro has been recorded.
- Explanation: In a blank document,
recording a QuickMacro from a QuickMacro button or from an added menu
item turns on the Macro Toolbar and line numbering. This occurs as
though the purpose was to create a named macro, but it does
record your keystrokes and mouse clicks. The Save&Compile button on
the Macro Toolbar will be grayed out and inaccessible during recording.
- You will be left in Draft view (View,
Draft) if you started your recording in an empty document. Just click
View, Page after making the recording.
- If you record in a document that has at
least one character in it, no line numbering will be inserted and the
current View setting will not change.
- You can also assign these features to
shortcut keys (a/k/a "hot keys") or a menu. See here.
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