Available macros

The Available macros window appears when you click the "Select a macro" button on the Macro Manager toolbar.

Macro Location:
At the top of the window, select a macro location from the Macro Location list. Depending on how your administrator has configured the session, possible macro locations include Current Session, Personal Library, Server Library and any user-defined libraries. When macros are placed in a library, rather than in the Current Session, they can be easily shared by multiple users and/or sessions. See Sharing and reusing component definitions for more information.

User-defined Locations:
You can use the Add... button to define up to three additional locations. When you add a fourth user location, the least-recently-used location is automatically removed. You can also explicitly delete user locations with the Delete button.

Macro List:
To work with a macro, click the name of that macro in the Macro List. (Notice that macro names are case-sensitive, whether they are stored in the current session or as a file in a macro library. For example, mymacro is a different name than myMacro, Mymacro, MYMACRO, and so on.)

• OK

  When you click OK,

  • The Available macros window closes.
  • The macro whose name you selected in the Macro List becomes the current macro for the session.
  • The name of the current macro for the session is displayed in the text area at the left of the Macro Manager toolbar.

  You can now play, edit, or delete the current macro for the session by clicking the appropriate icon on the Macro Manager toolbar.

• Parameters (optional)

  If the macro whose name you have selected in the Macro List requires or permits a parameter list, follow these steps to play the macro with a parameter list:

  1. Type the parameter list into the Parameters (optional) input field of the Available macros window.
     • For information on how to specify a parameter list see Specifying a parameter list for a macro.
  2. Click OK to close the Available macros window.
  3. Click the Play icon in the Macro Manager toolbar.

  The parameter list that you type into the Parameters (optional) field of the Available macros window is not saved as part of the macro itself. However, the parameter list is saved temporarily in the Parameters (optional) field. The Parameters (optional) field always displays the most recent parameter list typed into either of the following two windows:

  • The Available macros window (see the table below).
  • The Play macro window (see the table below).
  Because the parameter list is saved temporarily in this way, you can play the same macro over and over again without having to re-type the parameter list, until you modify the parameter list in one of these windows, or until you re-start the session.

  There are several locations where you can specify a parameter list for a macro. For example:

  • In the Macro window of the Add Button window (see the table below). The parameter list is saved as part of the customized button that you create.
  • In the Start Options window of the session configuration window (see the table below). The parameter list is saved as part of the session configuration. The macro is started automatically when the session starts.

  For a complete list, see Locations where you can specify a parameter list for a macro.

  For a more detailed treatment of parameter lists for macros see Passing a parameter list to a macro in the Macro Programming Guide (primarily for session administrators and macro writers).

• Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, Properties

  The following functions are available when you right-click a macro name in the Macro List:

  Copy
  Paste
  Cut
  Delete
  Properties
  

  You cannot paste, cut, or delete macros when working with a server macro library accessed through the internet, and thus it is not presented as one of your choices.

  Copy
  To copy a macro, select a macro or a set of macros in the list, right-click the macro name(s), and select Copy. This copies the macro(s) into the Macro Clipboard from which you can paste into a different location.

  Paste
  Paste copies the macro(s) that are in the Macro Clipboard (as a result of a previous Cut or Copy operation) to the specified location.

  Pasting a macro to a new location can have some unexpected results with regard to how it is named. Macros listed in the Current Session are identified by the macro name itself, whereas macros stored as files are identified by their file names.

  Note the following:

  • If a macro from the Current Session is pasted to a file in a macro library, the new file name is the macro name with a .mac extension appended to it.
  • If a macro file is pasted to the Current Session, the macro is listed as its macro name.
  • If a macro file from one macro library is pasted to another macro library, the file name is not changed.

  Cut
  To cut a macro, select a macro or a set of macros in the list, right-click the macro name(s), and select Cut. The macro or set of macros continue to reside in the Available macros list as well as in the Macro Clipboard until you paste it/them into another location.

  Delete
  To delete a macro, select a macro or a set of macros in the list, right-click the macro name(s), and select Delete.

  You cannot use the Available macros window to delete the current macro that is displayed in the Macro Manager. To delete the current macro, you must use the Macro Manager's Delete button.

  Properties
  To view a macro's properties, select a macro in the list of available macros, right-click the macro name, and select Properties. A window opens that lists the macro name, description, author, creation date, and macro location. You cannot edit macro properties from this window. To edit macro properties, you must use the Macro Editor.

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