What information is recorded

During macro recording the Macro object adds one or more descriptors to the new <description> element of each new macro screen that it creates.

For the first macro screen of the macro being recorded, the Macro object creates only one descriptor, a Field Counts and OIA descriptor with the following contents:
  • The Number of Fields is set to blanks (meaning, ignore the number of fields).
  • The Number of Input Fields is set to blanks (meaning, ignore the number of input fields).
  • The Wait for OIA to Become Uninhibited field is set to true.
Therefore, when the recorded macro is played back (without having been revised in any way), the macro runtime matches the first macro screen to its corresponding application screen based entirely on whether the input inhibited indicator is cleared.
For every other application screen of the macro after the first application screen, the Macro object likewise creates only one descriptor, a Field Counts and OIA descriptor, but with different contents:
  • The Number of Fields is set to the actual number of fields in the application screen (can be 0).
  • The Number of Input Fields is set to the actual number of input fields in the application screen (can be 0).
  • The Wait for OIA to Become Uninhibited field set to true.
Therefore, when the recorded macro is played back (without having been revised in any way), the macro runtime matches every macro screen after the first one to its corresponding application screen based on whether the input inhibited indicator is cleared, whether the count of fields in the macro screen's description matches the number of fields in the application screen, and whether the count of input fields in the macro screen's description matches the number of input fields in the application screen.