Shareware Overload/ShartewareOverload.cdr/wp/pct2_2.zip/PCTDOC1.EXE/lha/CHAP18.TXT

Text File | 1989-04-21 | 26KB | 561 lines

       subject: KEYSTROKE MACROS OVERVIEW

       purpose: A macro is a stored sequence of keystrokes.  Once you
                have defined a macro you can invoke or "replay" the
                macro at any time.

    discussion: If you find yourself typing the same set of keystrokes
                again and again, you probably want to define a macro.
                PC-Type II memorizes your keystrokes as you define the
                macro.  Macros can be used for any PC-Type II process.
                You can even have the macro pause while you enter some
                unique set of keystrokes, and then continue on when
                you are done.

                Once a macro has been defined, you can define a
                special keystroke for that macro, give it a name, and
                save it in a file.  You can define up to 25 different
                macros per macro file and can have unlimited macro
                files.

                Keystrokes reserved for macros are Alt A through Alt Z
                (with the exception of Alt Y).  A macro can call other
                macros, or can even call itself.  If it calls itself,
                it is called a recursive macro.  A macro cannot
                reference a macro in a different .MAC (macro) file.

                Once a macro is defined, you can invoke the macro
                whenever necessary.  If an error message is issued
                either during the creation of a macro, or during the
                replay of a macro, the definition or replay will be
                stopped.  This can be particularly useful for
                automatically stopping a recursive macro when it
                reaches the bottom of a file.

                You can change the name of a macro, delete a macro,
                modify the keystrokes stored in a macro, and reassign
                the macro key.

                Keystroke macros cannot be used when viewing a graph
                created with the Graph command, with the DOS command,
                or outside of PC-Type II.  When you quit PC-Type II, the
                macro will stop running.

                You can, however, execute a macro automatically when
                you start PC-Type II.  This allows you to have PC-Type
                 II
                perform a series of keystrokes each time you start the
                program.  (See the section Starting PC-Type II on page
                45.)

                NOTE: Try to keep macros general by keeping them
                      independent of the configuration toggle
                      settings.  For example, use Ctrl I to insert a
                      new line instead of Enter since one Enter mode
                      does not insert new lines.
                                 189
       subject: KEYSTROKE MACRO DEFINITION

       purpose: The macro definition process memorizes a set of
                keystrokes and saves them in a buffer.

    discussion: While PC-Type II memorizes your keystrokes, a Y will
                flash in the double line at the top left of your
                screen to remind you that a macro definition is in
                progress.

                There are three steps for defining a macro.

            (1) Start defining the macro by pressing Alt Y.
                Alternatively, you can begin defining the macro by
                pressing 0 from the Keystroke Macros menu shown below.
                This menu appears by pressing the (M)acro option in
                the Main Menu.
                ┌──────────────────────┐
                │Keystroke Macros:     │
                ╞══════════════════════╡
                │ Y Save the Y macro   │
                │ 0 Begin new macro    │
                │ C clean up dir file  │
                │ P place . in filespec│
                │ 1 EXIT               │
                └──────────────────────┘
                NOTE: If no macro existed in the temporary buffer, the
                      line "Save the Y macro" would be shown.

                When a macro definition is completed it is saved
                in a temporary buffer until it is assigned its own
                keystroke.  If you initiate the definition of a
                new macro while a previously defined macro still
                resides in that temporary buffer, then the message
                shown below will be displayed.
                ┌────────────────────────────────────┐
                │Question:                           │
                ╞════════════════════════════════════╡
                │                                    │
                │Current Y macro will be lost.  Okay?│
                │Press Y or N                        │
                │                                    │
                └────────────────────────────────────┘
                If you answer N, then the initiation of a new
                macro is cancelled.  At this point you could
                permanently save the temporary macro by going to
                the Keystroke Macro menu shown above, and pressing
                Y to "Save the Y macro".

                If you answer Y, then the macro in the temporary
                buffer is erased, and the new definition proceeds.

                When the new macro is initiated, a Y will flash in
                the double line in the status area of your screen.

                                 190
            (2) Type the text, commands, menu options, etc. which
                you want stored in the macro.  These keystrokes
                can include other macros which have already been
                defined.

                Special macro keystrokes:

                 Ctrl F7 - Cancels the macro definition.

                           If you make a mistake when defining a
                           macro, you can abort the macro
                           definition by pressing Ctrl F7 and start
                           over, or you can continue the macro
                           definition and later modify the macro to
                           remove any unwanted keystrokes.

                  Ctrl K - Temporarily suspends the macro
                           definition allowing you to make
                           keystrokes which will not be remembered.
                           The definition will resume as soon as
                           you press the Enter key.

                           When you press Ctrl K, a K will begin
                           flashing next to the Y on the double
                           line at the top left of your screen.
                           After you press Enter, the K will stop
                           flashing.

                           When you run the finished macro, PC-Type II
                           will process all keystrokes up to the
                           Ctrl K and suspend the macro until you
                           press the Enter key, and then continue
                           with the remainder of the macro
                           sequence.

                Ctrl Ins - Forces the Insert/Overwrite mode to
                           Insert.

                           For macros to be generalized, you must
                           account for the state of PC-Type II when
                           the macro begins.  For example, it is
                           often useful to press the Home key
                           before beginning a macro to be sure you
                           are at the left margin.

                           Ctrl Ins will insure that the
                           Insert/Overwrite state of PC-Type II is
                           Insert.  Should you want to make sure
                           that the state was Overwrite, then press
                           Ctrl Ins followed by just Ins at the
                           beginning of your macro.




                                 191
            (3) Stop the macro definition by pressing Alt Y (or Ctrl
                Ctrl Y).

                Normally you stop the macro definition by pressing
                Alt Y.

                If you press Ctrl Y, then the macro is recursive, that
                is, when it is run, it will repeat itself when it has
                finished all its memorized keystrokes.

                After pressing Alt Y or Ctrl Y, the question below
                will be asked.
                ┌───────────────┐
                │Question:      │
                ╞═══════════════╡
                │               │
                │Save macro now?│
                │Press Y or N   │
                │               │
                └───────────────┘

                NOTE: If a menu is displayed when you stop the
                      macro definition, you will not be asked if
                      you want to "Save macro now?".

                If you answer N, the macro will only be available
                during the current PC-Type II session.  When you
                leave PC-Type II, the macro will be lost.  The macro
                will also be lost if you define another macro in
                the current session.  Of course you can make the Y
                macro permanent before defining another macro or
                quitting PC-Type II.

                If you answer Y, you will be asked:

                Press key to be used to start new macro:
                A through Z (except Y) acceptable.

                Y cannot be used because Y is used to start and
                stop macro definitions.  If the key you select has
                already been assigned to another macro, PC-Type II
                gives you the option of overwriting the existing
                macro, or selecting a different key.

                Enter descriptive word(s) for the macro

                At this point you can enter a name for the macro
                you defined which will help you remember what the
                macro does.  These names are displayed in the
                Keystroke Macros menu.

                In the Keystroke Macros menu displayed on page 196,
                for one macro the letter 'C' was selected and the name
                provided for it was "clean up dir file".  This macro
                is run by pressing Alt C.
                                 192
       subject: RUNNING MACROS

       general: (1) When a macro is run, PC-Type II displays a flashing M
                    in the upper left corner of your screen.  When the
                    macro is finished, the flashing M will disappear.

                (2) If you entered a Ctrl K in your macro, when the
                    macro gets to that stroke, the cursor will change
                    to a rectangle at the top of the character, and a
                    K will flash next to the M cited above.  You can
                    type any keystrokes you want in this mode.  After
                    you press the Enter key to finish your entry, the
                    K will disappear and the macro will continue.

                (3) If you need to stop the macro, press Ctrl F7. (Esc
                    will also work under most conditions, but not when
                    the K is flashing.)

                (4) The macro will stop when it has processed all its
                    keystrokes, if an error condition is encountered,
                    or if an attempt is made to move the cursor before
                    the beginning or after the end of the file.

       Y macro: Once a macro has been defined and left in the macro
                buffer, (i.e., not assigned a keystroke and not
                assigned a name), it can be run by pressing Ctrl Y.

Assigned Macro: Once you have defined a letter key and a name to a
                macro, it is no longer kept in the Y macro buffer.
                These macros can be started in one of two ways.

                (1) Hold down the Alt key and press the letter key
                    under which the macro was saved.  For example,
                    hold down the Alt key and press C.

                (2) Go the Keystroke Macros menu by selecting the
                    (M)acros option in the Main Menu.  Then press the
                    letter to which the ïmacro was assigned.  This
                    will cause a menu like the one shown below to be
                    displayed.

                ┌────────────────────┐
                │ C clean up dir file│
                ╞════════════════════╡
                │ (C)hange name      │
                │ (D)elete           │
                │ (E)xecute          │
                │ (M)odify           │
                │ (R)eassign         │
                │ e(X)it             │
                └────────────────────┘

                Select the (E)xecute option by pressing E.  (The
                heading in this menu displays the macro you selected.)

                                 193
       subject: MODIFYING MACROS

       purpose: Once a macro has been defined, given a keystroke and a
                name, the keystroke, the name, and the macro itself
                can be changed.  It can also be deleted.

    discussion: Go the Keystroke Macros menu, (select the (M)acros
                option in the Main Menu), and press the letter to
                which the macro was assigned.
                ┌──────────────────────┐
                │Keystroke Macros:     │
                ╞══════════════════════╡
                │ Y Save Y macro       │
                │ 0 Begin new macro    │
                │ C clean up dir file  │
                │ P place . in filespec│
                │ 1 EXIT               │
                └──────────────────────┘
                In the sample Keystroke Macros menu above, C was
                pressed, causing the menu below to be displayed.
                ┌────────────────────┐
                │ C clean up dir file│
                ╞════════════════════╡
                │ (C)hange name      │
                │ (D)elete           │
                │ (E)xecute          │
                │ (M)odify           │
                │ (R)eassign         │
                │ e(X)it             │
                └────────────────────┘
                Except for the (E)xecute and (D)elete options, you
                will return to this menu when you have finished the
                selected option.  Press X or Esc to exit the keystroke
                macro menus.

                The macro options available are:

                (C)hange name - modify the name.
                (D)elete      - remove the macro after confirmation.
                (E)xecute     - run the macro.
                (M)odify      - edit/change the keystrokes in the
                                macro.
                (R)eassign    - change the key assigned to the macro.

                NOTE: If you change the key assigned to a macro which
                      is called by other macros, those calls will not
                      be modified.

                Except for the Execute option, these changes will not
                be made permanent until you save the macros to a disk
                file using the (F)ile handling option of the
                Configuration Menu.

                NOTE: The Y macro buffer cannot be modified until it
                      has been assigned a key and a name.
                                 194
       subject: EDITING MACROS

       purpose: The keystrokes defined in a macro can be modified
                without having to go through the steps of memorizing
                keystrokes all over again.

    discussion: To modify a macro, select the (M)odify option of the
                second menu displayed on the preceding page.  The
                keystrokes in the macro are displayed where the
                Command Line is located.

                Letters, numbers and punctuation will be displayed
                as typed.  Cursor keys, Enter, function keys, Ctrl and
                Alt key combinations, etc., are assigned codes.

                The code characters are surrounded with { and }.
                Inside {} is the key code.  These codes are:

                {Fx} - Function key  where x is the function key number.
                       F10 would look like {F10}.
                {Cx} - generally means Ctrl x where x is the designated
                       key.  Ctrl B would look like {CB}.
                {Ax} - means Alt x  where x is the designated key.  Alt 1
                       would look like {A1}.
                {Sx} - means Shift x where x is the designated key.
                       Shift F10 would look like {SF10}.  (This code
                       only works for Function keys and the Tab key.)

                Other key codes you need to know are:
                   {EOM} - End of macro      {ESC} - Esc key
                    {BS} - Backspace         {DEL} - Del key
                  {DOWN} - down arrow      {CDOWN} - Ctrl down arrow
                   {END} - End key          {CEND} - Ctrl End key
                 {ENTER} - Enter key      {CENTER} - Ctrl Enter key
                  {HOME} - Home key        {CHOME} - Ctrl Home key
                   {INS} - Ins key          {CINS} - Ctrl Ins key
                  {LEFT} - left arrow      {CLEFT} - Ctrl left arrow
                  {PGDN} - PgDn key        {CPGDN} - Ctrl PgDn key
                  {PGUP} - PgUp key        {CPGUP} - Ctrl PgUp key
                 {RIGHT} - right arrow    {CRIGHT} - Ctrl right arrow
                    {UP} - up arrow          {CUP} - Ctrl up arrow
                    {C\} - Ctrl Backslash     {C_} - Ctrl underscore
                     {T} - Tab                {ST} - Shift Tab key

       Example: The macro below was created to close a letter with a
                blank line, then type the string "Sincerely,", three
                blank lines, and the name "Dick".

              {CI}{CI}{HOME}Sincerely,{CI}{CI}{CI}{CI}{HOME}Dick{EOM}

                NOTE: When you edit a macro, it should end with {EOM},
                      (end of macro), so that spaces at the end will
                      not be lost.


                                 195
       subject: SAVING KEYSTROKE MACROS

       purpose: In order to use a defined macro in another PC-Type II
                session, it must be saved to disk.

       Y macro: If the defined macro is still in the temporary buffer,
                (called the Y macro), then it must first be assigned a
                keystroke before it can be saved to disk.  This is
                accomplished by:

                (1) accessing the Keystroke Macro Menu (select the
                    (M)acros option from the Main Menu).
                (2) selecting the Save the Y macro option by pressing Y.
                (3) assigning a key to the macro and giving the macro
                    a name as discussed on page 198.

Macros to disk: Macros which have been assigned keystrokes and given
                names, can be used by holding down the Alt key and
                pressing the key assigned to the macro.  However, they
                must be saved to disk in a .MAC file to be available
                for other PC-Type II sessions.

                To save a set of macros to disk, select the (F)ile
                handling option in the Configuration Menu.  Press 3
                (Macro file to disk), and you will be asked to enter a
                path and a filename for the set of macros.  (PC-Type II
                will assign the file extension .MAC automatically.)

   .MAC format: A .MAC file is an ASCII file and can be edited.  In
                the ensuing discussion, refer to the example below.

                The first line of a .MAC file is a header line which
                specifies the number of Keystroke macros in the file.

                Following the header line is the first macro.  Its
                assigned key is in parentheses followed by the macro
                name.  Finally, each keystroke in the macro is given.

                NOTE: Since macro names can be 25 characters long, at
                      least 25 character positions should be left
                      between the beginning of the macro name and the
                      beginning of the macro keystroke description.

                Many macros require more than one line.  Each line of
                a keystroke definition must begin with a \ character.
                If the line ends with a \ character it implies another
                line of keystrokes for the same macro follows.  The
                macro should end with the {EOM} (end of macro) code.
                (See Editing Macros for a definition of the keystroke
                codes).

       example: PC-Type II Macros  2
                (C) clean up dir file        \{CPGUP}{F5}{F5}{F5}{F5}\
                                             \{CPGDN}{F5}{END}{EOM}

                                 196
       subject: LOADING .MAC FILES

       purpose: You can save macros in numerous .MAC files.  To be
                able to execute macros saved in these files, they must
                be loaded into PC-Type II.

    discussion: Macros can be loaded from disk into PC-Type II in 3 ways:

                (1) By reference in the .PRO file loaded at the start
                    of a session or during a session.  (See the
                    section Configuration Files on page 108.)

                (2) Loaded directly from the (F)ile Handling option in
                    the Configuration Menu.   (See the section
                    Configuration Files on page 118.)

                (3) As a command line option when PC-Type II is started
                    from DOS.  In this option, even if the .PRO file
                    loaded contains a reference to a macro file, the
                    command line option will override that reference
                    and load the macro file specified.  (See Command
                    Line Options in the section Starting PC-Type II.)

                When a different set of macros is loaded, the previous
                set is no longer available for use until it is
                reloaded.





























                                 197
       subject: MACRO HINTS

       purpose: By following certain conventions, macros can be made
                more general and useful.

    discussion: As a general rule, always try to define a macro in
                such a way as to be independent of specific PC-Type II
                states.

                It is safer to begin macros from either the text area
                or from the Command Line.  If a macro is started from
                a menu, you must insure that you are in that same menu
                before starting the macro for it to work properly.

                If you want a macro to always begin in the text area,
                you should begin it with a keystroke, or combination
                of keystrokes to guarantee that it is in the text
                area, such as Ctrl Home or the down arrow followed by
                the up arrow.

                If you want a macro to always begin on the Command
                Line, do the same as above and followed by Esc.

                It is useful to begin a macro with the Home key to
                insure the cursor is positioned at the left margin of
                the text or the home position of the Command Line.

                It is a good practice to insure that the
                Insert/Overwrite state is always in the same condition
                when defining a macro.  Ctrl Ins insures that it is in
                the Insert state.  Ctrl Ins followed by Ins insures
                that it is in the Overwrite State.

                Insure that no highlighting exists when you begin a
                macro which highlights text areas.  Begin such macros
                with Ctrl U.

                Use F10 when possible to execute commands.  It is very
                powerful when used in conjunction with recursive
                macros.

                Finally, give the macros meaningful names when you
                save them.  It is easy to forget what function a macro
                performs, and long macros are not easy to read.

                NOTE: .MAC files are ASCII files and can be edited.
                      We recommend, however, that you modify your
                      macro files inside PC-Type II.  Errors are far
                      less likely to occur.






                                 198