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+----------------------------------------------------------------+ |(C)Copyright K.I.T.A.L. Software 1989-1992. All rights reserved.| | (C)Copyright by Haruyasu Yoshizaki, 1991. All Rights Reserved. | | | | | | SUPER MACRO LIBRARY For LOTUS(R) 1-2-3 | | | | | | K.I.T.A.L. Software | | P.O. Box 748 | | Karmiel 20100 ISRAEL | | (972)-4-987255 | | | | | | * * General Info, Installation and Macro Tutor * * | | | | | | SHAREWARE Version 3.4 | | | | For registration fee see ORDER.TXT and INVOICE.TXT | | | | Developed and Written by Israel Kehaty | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ _______ ____|__ | (R) --| |o |------------------- | o___||_ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER Member of the ASP Since 1993 - 2 - Table Of Contents 1. Asp Ombudsman Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2. K.I.T.A.L.'s License Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.1 Warranty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.2 Shareware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.3 Registration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.4 Future Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 3. Note For Shareware Distributors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4. General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4.1 List of Files in Disk 1 (360K) . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4.2 List of Files in Disk 2 (360K) . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4.3 List of Files in Disk 3 (360K) . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 5. Hard Disk Installation and Unpacking . . . . . . . . . . . 8 5.1 Automatic Hard Disk Installation. . . . . . . . . . . 9 5.2 Manual Hard Disk Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5.3 Manual Installation of The Scientific&Engineering tool 10 6. Floppy Disk Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 6.1 Automatic Floppy Drive Installation . . . . . . . . . 11 6.2 Manual Installation to Floppies . . . . . . . . . . . 11 7. Macro Tutorial for Beginners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 7.1 What is a Macro? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 7.2 How Macro Works?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 7.3 Saving a Macro to Disk for Later Use. . . . . . . . . 17 7.4 What is an Add-in?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 7.4.1 Using the MACROMGR.ADN Add-In. . . . . . . . . 17 7.4.2 Loading an *.MLB Macro . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 7.4.3 Executing the Macro in Memory. . . . . . . . . 18 7.5 Managing Macro Libraries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 7.5.1 Grouping the Macros in One *.WK1 File. . . . . 18 7.5.2 Grouping the Macros in One *.MLB File. . . . . 18 7.5.3 Using Menu-Driven Macro Managers . . . . . . . 19 8. Using the Macro Library (See the MANUAL.DOC file). . . . . 19 8.1 Using the Macros Manually. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 8.2 Using the Macro Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 8.3 Managers Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 - 3 - 1. ASP OMBUDSMAN STATEMENT This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware- related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at: ASP Ombudsman 545 Grover Road Muskegon, MI 49442-9427 U.S.A. or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe MAIL to ASP Ombudsman [70007,3536]. - 4 - 2. K.I.T.A.L'S LICENSE STATEMENT 2.1 WARRANTY SUPER MACRO LIBRARY FOR LOTUS 1-2-3 AND ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SUPER MACRO LIBRARY FOR LOTUS 1-2-3 IS ASSUMED BY YOU. With respect to the physical diskette/s and/or physical documentation enclosed herein, K.I.T.A.L. Software Warrants the same to be free of defects in material and workmanship for a period of 60 days from the date of purchase. In the event of notification within the warranty period of defects in materials or workmanship, K.I.T.A.L. Software's entire liability and your exclusive remedy for this warranty shall be limited, at K.I.T.A.L. Software's option, to either (a) return of the purchase price or (b) replacement of the disk and/or of the documentation, and shall not encompass any other damages, including but not limited to loss of profit, special, incidental, consequential, or other similar claims. K.I.T.A.L. Software, SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A DOCUMENTATION, AND THE PROGRAM LICENSE GRANTED HEREIN. IN PARTICULAR, AND WITHOUT LIMITING OPERATION OF THE USE, OR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL K.I.T.A.L. SOFTWARE BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGE. 2.2 SHAREWARE This software package is a Copyrighted software and "IS NOT" a PUBLIC DOMAIN software, but a SHAREWARE software package. Which means that you can copy and distribute this software freely for the sole purpose of evaluation and testing before purchasing. To use this software legally you need to be registered with us. There is no limit on evaluation time and the program is not crippled in any way. If you like this software and you USE it you are expected to be registered with us. Support from users enables us to develop additional features and future versions of The SUPER MACRO LIBRARY. Your payment of $50.00 would be greatly appreciated. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | please, help us to help you and other users to keep and | | preserve the SHAREWARE idea. | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ 2.3 REGISTRATION You can REGISTER your copy of the SUPER MACRO LIBRARY for Lotus 1-2-3 directly with K.I.T.A.L. Software, or you can register with other vendors such as the Public (Software) Library using your credit card, see the ORDER.TXT and INVOICE.TXT files for detailed information. - 5 - By sending in your payment, together with your Company name, mailing address, telephone number and Version number, your copy of this software will be registered with us for two (2) years, thereby enabling you during the two years period to use any version free without the need to register again if you download them yourself from a BBS, or purchase them from a shareware distributor. Your registration fee entitles you to use this software on a SINGLE COMPUTER ONLY and to make as many copies of this software as you wish for backup purposes. The codes of the macros in this package are copyrighted material, therefore you are NOT allowed to copy, sell, lease, rent, give away a macro from this package or incorporate it in a commercial application that you develop and sell. However you are allowed to use the MENURANG.WK1 and the LINK.WK1 macros freely in commercial applications that you develop and sell, as long as they become an integrated part of your code in such a way that it cannot be recognized as a separate macro. You also must include our copyright notice in your application. Site licenses are available, call or write for details. As a registered customer you are also entitled to: (1) Letter which confirms your registration (2) Technical support by phone (evenings and weekends) or writing (3) Announcements of possible later releases (4) Normally, we do not send the latest release when you register, you can always find it the same way you have found your current version. However as a special service to our faithful customers, we can send you the latest release on disk/s for a $9 charge any time during the two year period. (5) The option to purchase the "SUPER POWER" hyper text COMMERCIAL book at a 40% discount. See the ORDER.TXT and the INVOICE.TXT files for details. See pagagraph 2.4 NEW DEVELOPMENTS for how to use the book's demo in this package. Please feel free to add comments and improvements that you would like to see included in future versions. 2.4 NEW DEVELOPMENTS The HyperText book, "SUPER POWER MACROS, TECHNICS AND SECRETS, FOR LOTUS 1-2-3 (SUPER POWER in short) is here. SUPER POWER is a COMMERCIAL book that teaches the reader the Lotus macro language through the analysis of the hundreds of macros taken from the SUPER MACRO LIBRARY. SUPER POWER includes a detailed explanation of the macros and every technique and command that were used in the macros. SUPER POWER comes as a Windows 3.1 help file, the equivalent of 1000 printed pages. This package contains a demo of SUPER POWER in the form of the SUPER.HLP file. To use it, after installation, start Windows and double click with the mouse on the SUPER.HLP file name. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | ONLY the SUPER.HLP file is a demo, the rest of the package is | | the complete fully functional macro library, the SUPER MACRO | | LIBRARY for LOTUS 1-2-3. | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ - 6 - During the process of writing SUPER POWER many macros were updated and improved. In the coming months watch for the release of the sister package, the SUPER MACRO LIBRARY for QUATTRO PRO, which will include hundered of equivalent macros for QUATTRO PRO 1.0/2.0/3.0/4.0 and QUATTRO PRO for WINDOWS including 3-D support. 3. NOTE FOR SHAREWARE DISTRIBUTORS K.I.T.A.L. Software grants you, without charge, the right to reproduce and distribute copies of the "SHAREWARE" version of the SUPER MACRO LIBRARY for LOTUS 1-2-3 and software package on the express conditions: 1. NO fee other than a disk and handling charge (of up to $10 per disk) may be charged. The rights to receive any such financial or other benefits are exclusively reserved by K.I.T.A.L. Software i.e. Tsipora and Israel Kehaty. 2. NO change will be made to this license agreement or the copyright notice. 3. No change will be made to the installation and disk files, the diskettes must be distributed as is, except an introduction file/s that can be added by shareware distributors. 4. If you are not an ASP approved disk vendor, you can distribute this software ONLY with K.I.T.A.L.'s written approval. Please attach your catalog. This package comes on three 360K 5.25" floppy diskettes. A shareware distributor is allowed to create workable/installable packages for other types of disks: 1. To prepare a 1.2M 5.25" or a 1.44M 3.5" version, copy the contents of the three diskettes to the 1.2M floppy diskette or the 1.44M diskette. 2. To prepare a 720K 3.5" version, you need two floppy diskettes. Copy the contents of the first two 360K diskettes (Disk 1 and Disk 2) to the first 720K 3.5" diskette and mark it as Disk 1, then copy the third 360K floppy diskette (Disk 3) to the second 720K 3.5" floppy diskette and mark it as Disk 2. The installation files HARD.BAT and FLOPPY.BAT will install the package correctly if the packages are prepared this way. NOTE: If the software comes on diskettes other than the 360K format, you can create 360K disks following the list of files in each disk later in this document. 4. GENERAL This version of the SUPER MACRO LIBRARY for LOTUS 1-2-3 supports releases 2/2.01/2.2/2.3/2.4/3.0/3.1/3.1+/3.4 and 123W for Windows 3/3.1. This general statement overrules statements that you may find in the macro itself. For example, if the macro states that it - 7 - works with Lotus 2/2.01/2.2 and 3.0 it will also work with 3.1/3.1+/3.4/2.3/2.4 and 123W. There are 250 macros in the library, therefore we have decided not to change these statements unless there is another reason to update the macro. When a macro mentions 2.2 it also means 2.3 and 2.4. When a macro states 3.0, it also means 3.1/3.1+/3.4 and 123W. We have made a major overhaul on the *.MLB macros after we found a unique bug in Lotus 2.4, and improved other macros after we found a serious bug in the European version of Lotus 2.4. We reported those bugs to Lotus. Lotus 123W for Windows 3/3.1 does not offer a replacement for the classic custom menu commands ({MENUBRANCH} and {MENUCALL}) and a mouse support inside a macro, unless it uses the SmartPak Add-in. However, because we are not sure that 123W version 4 (the next version) for windows will support SmartPak commands as they are now, this library continues to use the CLASSIC MODE which is supported by Lotus 123W for windows. We already have macro managers that support the mouse and pull down menus for Lotus 123W. We also transformed macros which use custom menus to work with SmartPak commands but we are holding them until the next version of 123W. The Macro Library may come on the following types of disks: - Three 360K 5.25 disks - Two 720K 3.5" disks - One 1.2M 5.25" disk - One 1.44M 3.5" disk Some files in the diskettes are compressed and packed files which expand during installation. The files were compressed using the PUBLIC DOMAIN LHA Versions 2.05/2.10/2.12 (c)Yoshi compression utility. To install and use this package, you need to have an IBM PC XT/AT/PS2/386/486 compatible machine and at least two floppy drives that support the diskettes of the Macro Library or one floppy and a hard disk. The contents of the disks presented here are for 360K 5.25" floppy disks configuration. The contents of other disk configurations may have minor changes. 4.1 LIST OF FILES IN DISK 1 DISK1.EXE - A packed file which builds disk 1 during floppy installation DISK2.EXE - A packed file which builds disk 2 during floppy installation DISK3.EXE - A packed file which builds disk 3 during floppy installation HARD.BAT - An automatic hard disk installation batch file. FLOPPY.BAT - An automatic floppy disk installation batch file. 4.2 LIST OF FILES IN DISK 2 DISK4.EXE - A packed file which builds disk 4 during floppy installation DISK5.EXE - A packed file which builds disk 5 during floppy installation - 8 - SCIENCE.EXE - A BONUS packed file which contains the complete menu-driven solver and calculator, "The SCIENTIFIC and ENGINEERING TOOL for LOTUS 1-2-3". After unpacking see the README.WRI text file for use instructions. This solver was chosen by PC Computing to be included with the best 250 shareware software packages in the market today. HARD.BAT - An automatic installation to hard disk batch file. FLOPPY.BAT - An automatic installation to floppy disks batch file. 4.3 LIST OF FILES IN DISK 3 MANAGERS.EXE - A packed file which includes the macro managers README.TXT - Contains installation, short use instructions, and basic macro tutor (can be printed using the PRINT or COPY DOS commands), at the DOS prompt type: COPY README.TXT PRN [RETURN] MANUAL.DOC - The user's manual. Take the time to look at this text file to get the most out of the library and avoid unnecessary problems in using the macros. This file can be printed using the PRINT or COPY DOS commands, or type PRINTME and press [RETURN] INVOICE.TXT - Contains an invoice form to order from K.I.T.A.L. ORDER.TXT - Contains information on how to register HARD.BAT - An automatic installation to hard disk batch file. FLOPPY.BAT - An automatic installation to floppies batch file. README.BAT - A batch file to read the README.TXT file. MANUAL.BAT - A batch to read the MANUAL.DOC file. PRINTME.BAT - A batch file to print README.TXT, MANUAL.DOC, INVOICE.TXT and ORDER.TXT TV.COM - A public domain viewer for text files. TV.DOC - Documentation for TV.COM POWER.EXE - A packed file which contains the files for the demo of the COMMERCIAL book "SUPER POWER MACROS, TECHNIQUES AND SECRETS, FOR LOTUS 1-2-3". NOTE: The HARD.BAT and the FLOPPY.BAT files appear in all the diskettes. Do not erase them, they are needed for the installation process. 5. HARD DISK INSTALLATION AND UNPACKING Before installation, make backups of the disk/s to protect your investment, and place the originals in a safe place, then write protect the diskettes. To unpack all files to a hard disk you need to have about 2M free space in the hard disk. IMPORTANT: The installation described here is for 360K disks. When you use the automatic installation (HARD.BAT) it is automatic and takes care of different types of disks. When you use the manual installation, the packed files will be on a different disk number. - 9 - 5.1 AUTOMATIC HARD DISK INSTALLATION When you choose to use automatic installation, the program assumes that you are using all releases of LOTUS 1-2-3 as well as the ENGINEERING TOOL. Insert disk 1 to the source floppy drive and type: HARD [Source drive] [Target drive] [Target directory] [RETURN] Example: HARD A C MACROS [RETURN] Explanation: - Source disk in source drive A: - Target drive is C: - Target directory is C:\MACROS - Press RETURN From now on the installation is automatic. Follow the on-screen instructions. At the end of installation you will find: - 539 files in the C:\MACROS directory - The ENGINEERING TOOL in the C:\MACROS\SCIENCE directory If you are NOT using LOTUS release 2.2/2.3/2.4 type: DEL *.MLB [RETURN] to delete the *.MLB files. If you are NOT using the 3-D releases of LOTUS 1-2-3 type: DEL *.WK3 [RETURN] to delete the *.WK3 files. 5.2 MANUAL INSTALLATION TO A HARD DISK - Open a directory on the hard disk (C:\MACROS for example) - Make the new directory the active directory - Insert disk 1 into drive A: (or B:) and type: A:DISK1 /x [RETURN] The packed files in the DISK1.EXE file will be unpacked in the C:\MACROS directory in the hard disk. When the program is finished, do the same with the DISK2.EXE file and type: A:DISK2 /x [RETURN] The packed files in the DISK2.EXE file will be unpacked in the C:\MACROS directory in the hard disk. When the program is finished, do the same with the DISK3.EXE file and type: A:DISK3 /x [RETURN] (must be lowercase "x") - 10 - The packed files in the DISK3.EXE file will be unpacked in the C:\MACROS directory in the hard disk. When the program is finished, insert disk 2 in the A: floppy drive and type: A:DISK4 /x [RETURN] The packed files in the DISK4.EXE file will be unpacked in the C:\MACROS directory in the hard disk. When the program is finished, do the same with the DISK4.EXE file and type: A:DISK5 /x [RETURN] The packed files in the DISK5.EXE file will be unpacked in the C:\MACROS directory in the hard disk. Insert Disk 3 to the A: floppy drive and type: A:SUPER /x [RETURN] The SUPER.HLP hypertext book will be unpacked in the C:\MACROS directory in the hard disk. Now type: A:MANAGERS /x [RETURN] The macro managers will be unpacked in the C:\MACROS directory in the hard disk. Now type: COPY A:*.* [RETURN] The files in "original" Disk 3 will be copied to the C:\MACROS directory. The rest is the same as described in the previous section for automatic installation to a hard disk. Last, type: DEL SUPER.EXE [RETUR] DEL MANAGERS.EXE [RETURN 5.3 INSTALLATION OF THE SCIENTIFIC & ENGINEERING TOOL for LOTUS Open a directory C:\MACROS\SCIENCE for example, and make this directory the active directory, then insert disk 2 to the A: floppy drive and type: A:SCIENCE [RETURN] All the packed files in the SCIENCE.EXE file will be unpacked to the C:\MACROS\SCIENCE directory in the hard disk. After unpacking, see the README.WRI text file for instructions. You could copy all the above files to the relevant directories and start them, however you would need more than 2M free space on the hard disk to hold the packed files as well. After unpacking the files, use the DOS DEL command to delete the packed files. 6. FLOPPY DISK INSTALLATION Before installation, make backups of the disk/s to protect your investment, and place the originals in a safe place, then write protect the diskettes. - 11 - IMPORTANT: The installation described here is for 360K disks. When you use automatic installation (FLOPPY.BAT) it takes care of the different types of disks. When you use manual installation, the packed files may be in a different disk number. 6.1 AUTOMATIC FLOPPY DRIVE INSTALLATION Format eight (8) 360K floppy disks and number them from 1 to 7. The last one mark as BOOK. (five 720K disks or three 1.2M or three 1.44M disks). Assuming that your computer has two floppy drives, A: and B:, insert "original" disk 1 to the A: floppy drive, make it the active drive and type: FLOPPY [Source drive] [Target drive] [RETURN] Example: FLOPPY A B [RETURN] Explanation: - The source diskettes are in the source drive A: - The target (preformatted) diskettes are in drive B: - Press [RETURN] From now on the installation process is automatic, just follow the on-screen instructions. When the installation process is finished you will find: - 87 macros in the root directory and 51 macros in the \CONTINUE sub-directory of the preformatted disk 1 - 103 macros in the root directory and 29 macros in the \CONTINUE sub-directory of the preformatted disk 2 - 76 macros in the preformatted disk 3 - 9 macros in the root directory and 47 macros in the \MACRO22 sub-directory and 18 macros in the \MACROS3 sub-directory of the preformatted disk 4 - 73 macros in the root directory and 4 macros in the \MACROS3 sub-directory and 28 macros in the \MACRO22 sub-directory of the preformatted Disk 5 - The SCIENTIFIC and ENGINEERING TOOL for LOTUS in disk 6 - The macro managers, the text files and batch files are in Disk 7 - Three files for the SUPER POWER book demo in the disk marked BOOK 6.2 MANUAL INSTALLATION TO FLOPPIES Format seven (7) 360K floppy disks and number them from 1 to 7 (four 720K disks or two 1.2M or two 1.44M disks). Assuming your computer has two floppy drives, A: and B:. 6.2.1 UNPACKING TO PREFORMATTED DISK NO. 1 - Insert preformatted disk 1 into the target drive (B:) and make it the active drive using - 12 - B: [RETURN] - Insert "original" disk 1 into the source drive (A:) and type: A:DISK1 [RETURN] The compressed files in the DISK1.EXE file will be unpacked to the disk in the target drive (B:). 6.2.2 UNPACKING TO PREFORMATTED DISK NO. 2 - Insert preformatted disk 2 into the target drive (B:) and make it the active drive using B: [RETURN] - Insert "original" disk 1 into the source drive (A:) and type: A:DISK2 [RETURN] The compressed files in the DISK2.EXE file will be unpacked to the disk in the target drive (B:). 6.2.3 UNPACKING TO PREFORMATTED DISK NO. 3 - Insert preformatted disk 3 into the target drive (B:) and make it the active drive using B: [RETURN] - Insert "original" disk 1 into the source drive (A:) and type: A:DISK3 [RETURN] The compressed files in the DISK3.EXE file will be unpacked to the disk in the target drive (B:). 6.2.4 UNPACKING TO PREFORMATTED DISK NO. 4 - Insert preformatted disk 4 into the target drive (B:) and make it the active drive using B: [RETURN] - Insert "original" disk 2 into the source drive (A:) and type: A:DISK4 [RETURN] The compressed files in the DISK4.EXE file will be unpacked to the disk in the target drive (B:). 6.2.5 UNPACKING TO PREFORMATTED DISK NO. 5 - Insert preformatted disk 5 into the target drive (B:) and make it the active drive using B: [RETURN] - 13 - - Insert "original" disk 2 into the source drive (A:) and type: A:DISK5 [RETURN] The compressed files in the DISK5.EXE file will be unpacked to the disk in the target drive (B:). 6.2.6 UNPACKING TO PREFORMATTED DISK NO. 6 - Insert preformatted disk 6 into the target drive (B:) and make it the active drive using B: [RETURN] - Insert "original" disk 2 into the source drive (A:) and type: A:SCIENCE [RETURN] The compressed files in the SCIENCE.EXE file will be unpacked to the disk in the target drive (B:). 6.2.7 COPYING TO PREFORMATTED DISK NO. 7 - Insert preformatted disk 7 into the target drive (B:) and make it the active drive using B: [RETURN] - Insert "original" disk 3 into the source drive (A:) and type: COPY A:TV.* [RETURN] COPY A:*.BAT [RETURN] COPY A:*.TXT [RETURN] COPY A:*.DOC [RETURN] The files in "original" disk 3 will be copied to the disk in the target drive (B:). Now type: MANAGERS [RETURN] The compressed files in the MANAGERS.EXE file will be unpacked to the disk in the target drive (B:). - Insert preformatted disk 8 into the target drive (B:) and make it the active drive using: B: [RETURN] Type: SUPER [RETURN] to unpack the SUPER.HLP book into the disk in the target drive (B:) - 14 - 7. MACRO TUTORIAL FOR BEGINNERS To allow users who are unfamiliar with the macro concept to take full advantage of this macro library, here is a basic lesson for Lotus macros. 7.1 WHAT IS A MACRO? A macro is a series of written instructions consisting of keystrokes, macro commands, or both that the Lotus macro processor can understand and execute to speed up repetitive or complex tasks. A macro can automate procedures normally performed from the keyboard, such as using commands; or a macro can perform complex tasks and programming procedures, such as loops and if-then-else statements. To tell Lotus to start to execute instructions, we usually need to press two keys together, normally these are the ALT key and a one character key, such as ALT and A, in Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows the CTRL key replaces the ALT key . For example, normally it takes 7 key strokes to change a column width to 20: /WCS20~ The Tilde "~" stands for [RETURN] in Lotus macro language. A macro will save 5 key strokes every time it is activated. You can define any set of key presses as a macro and activate it by pressing the ALT and an assigned key together. Imagine how time- consuming it is to try to change the width of 50 columns manually instead of using a macro. A macro can be a set of key presses which can include Lotus commands and functions that bring each macro to a high level programming language almost like BASIC. Using these macro commands and functions, you can add functions that cannot be reached using the keyboard alone. Few examples include: - correctly transpose a range with formulas - change text appearance in large tables automatically from lowercase to uppercase or proper - print form letters from an address database - print address labels from an address database - print a current date stamp like "Monday Dec-15-1991" without typing - insert a number and receive a number written in words There are many more examples that cannot be achieved using the keyboard alone. The SUPER MACRO LIBRARY and other commercially available macro libraries are proof of that. Add Lotus support for custom menus and you can build friendly, menu-driven applications and macros, are which work with the Lotus menu bar style with which Lotus users are familiar. We do not intend to teach you how to become a macro guru. There are many fine books and courses that you can depend on for that, but using macros can save you a great deal of time and money and make your work with Lotus a pleasure. - 15 - The most important thing is that you don't have to write your own macros because we did it for you. In fact this macro library is specially built in such a way that you can use the macros from menu-driven "macro managers" using point and shoot. All you need to learn is how to load and activate the "macro manager" which is as "difficult" as combining the macro manager to an empty part of the worksheet using: /FCCE [macro manager name] [RETURN] Then follow the built-in instructions inside the macro manager (see the MANUAL.DOC manual for full explanation). 7.2 HOW DOES THE MACRO WORK? The only way to fully understand what is a macro and how it works is to write one, therefore we will start right away: - Start a new and empty worksheet in Lotus 1-2-3 - Place the cell pointer on an arbitrary cell like the B1..B1 cell - Type exactly as shown: '/WCS20~ Press [RETURN], and don't forget to type the apostrophe ' at the beginning, and the tilde ~ at the end. Now the B1..B1 cell displays: /WCS20~ The apostrophe is not shown. It is only a prefix which tells Lotus that the cell contains text and it is left aligned. - Place the cellpointer on the A1..A1 cell (the cell left to the cell that contains the code) and type exactly: '\X Then press [RETURN]. Again the apostrophe is hidden and the text appears as: \X So far all we have done is type some text into the A1..A1 and the B1..B1 cells. How we can make Lotus 1-2-3 to understand that it is a macro and how we can force Lotus to activate it? Before Lotus can understand that the text in the B1..B1 cell is a set of key strokes to execute, we must issue a RANGE NAME to the B1..B1 cell. The range name must be composed of the back slash \ and one of the alphabet characters, such as \X in the A1..A1 cell. But just writing the \X alone and pressing [RETURN] will appear as XXXXXXXXX - 16 - in the A1..A1 cell (assuming that it is 9 characters wide). This why we had to add the apostrophe ' as the prefix. Otherwise Lotus considers the back slash \ to be the prefix which causes the X to fill the column width. There are two ways to issue a range name to the B1..B1 cell: - The first uses the text already written in the A1..A1 cell, so the range name will be \X. Place the cell pointer on the A1..A1 cell and type exactly: /RNLR Press [RETURN]. Now the B1..B1 is named \X. To verify it, press the F5 function key (the GOTO key), type \X and press ENTER. The cell pointer will land on the B1..B1 cell. This way of naming range names is advantageous because cell A1..A1 serves as a reminder that the B1..B1 cell is also the \X cell. It's also possible to name a large number of cells in one operation as is in the macros of the SUPER MACRO LIBRARY (see the built-in instructions in every macro). - The second way of issuing a range name is less recommended because it doesn't use the A1..A1 cell and therefore lacks a reminder of the range name. Place the cell pointer on the B1..B1 cell and exactly type: /RNC\X Press ENTER twice. - Press the [ALT] key and press the [X] key while you hold the [ALT] key. The column width rapidly changes to 20. Why? When Lotus senses that the ALT-X key combination is pressed, it looks for a cell named \X (the B1..B1 cell) and starts to execute the keys and commands in the cell in the exact order, exactly as they were pressed from the keyboard. When Lotus gets to the tilde ~, it understands it as a command to press ENTER. The macro type that we have just built is called a KEYBOARD macro because it exactly simulates the keys pressed from the keyboard. Most of the macros in the SUPER MACRO LIBRARY and other commercially available macro libraries are far more complicated and include macro commands and functions in addition to keyboard key simulations. The simple macro that we wrote contains only one cell, but a cell can hold up to 240 characters in the 2-D release of Lotus 1-2-3 and up to 512 characters in the 3-D releases of Lotus 1-2-3. Therefore, it seems that we could expand the macro to perform more tasks than just change the column width. But this is unnecessary, we can continue our macro to the next cell B2..B2 and further down without filling the whole 240 characters in every cell. Lotus will continue to execute the macro all the way down until it reaches an empty cell or meet the {QUIT} or {RETURN} macro commands. A macro command in the Lotus macro language is always surrounded by curled braces "{}". - 17 - 7.3 SAVING A MACRO TO DISK FOR LATER USE A Macro is a Lotus file with the same properties as as any other Lotus file. Therefore you save it the same way you save a Lotus file. Type /FS [macro name] [RETURN]. The macro is saved with the .WK* extension. To use it again, combine it to an empty area on your current worksheet and type /FCCE [macro file name] [RETURN]. Then assign the macro name (\*) as we have seen earlier. It may seem that we can have up to 26 macros and macro names in one worksheet because there are only 26 letters in the English alphabet. This is partially true since there are some utilities, add-ins, in the market which allow us to use any kind of name for a macro. In the SUPER MACRO LIBRARY, we included a macro that does the same thing. The RUNKEY2.* macro allows you to activate macros with any kind of name, for example a macro can have a name like "COLWIDTH". This was the situation until the appearance of release 2.2 and up, the new releases support any macro name including the \* type. To execute a macro in the new releases, press the ALT-F3 key combination and then point to the macro to execute and press ENTER. You can also use the ALT-* key combination to execute a \* macro type. With the introduction of 2.2/2.3/2.4, a new type of macro was introduced. This is a hypertext macro which resides in the memory instead of the worksheet and therefore can be used on many worksheets one after another. You can erase the worksheet or retrieve a new one and the macro will continue to stay in memory ready for execution. This type of macro has the .MLB extension to the macro name. To handle such macros, the MACROMGR.ADN add-in is included with Lotus 1-2-3 2.2/2.3 and 2.4. 7.4 WHAT IS AN ADD-IN? To allow users with special needs to use the Lotus platform, the Lotus company programmers built Lotus 1-2-3 in so that it can work with external modules that add special performance and properties to Lotus on demand. For example, a programmer with the right development tool (supplied by Lotus) can develop a full blown statistical application that will work in harmony with Lotus 1-2-3 on call. This type of module is called ADD-IN The add-in has to be ATTACHED to Lotus and then INVOKED to be used. When it is invoked, it becomes an integral part of Lotus including Menus, Formulas, etc. One of the add-ins that comes with Lotus 1-2-3 2.2/2.3 and 2.4 is the MACROMGR.ADN add-in, which allows the *.MLB macros to operate. - 18 - 7.4.1 USING THE MACROMGR.ADN ADD-IN Consult the manual that comes with Lotus 1-2-3 for a full explanation of how to use the MACROMGR.ADN add-in. The MACROMGR.ADN add-in has to be ATTACHED and then INVOKED to make it usable. To attach it: - Start Lotus 1-2-3 (release 2.2/2.3 or 2.4 only) - Press the following keys in order (ignore the spaces) /A A MACROMGR [RETURN] Lotus will offer four options to assign two keys combination for invoking the add-in (a combination of ALT and either F7, F8, F9 or F10 function keys). If you choose not to assign the two key combinations you will need to type: /A I MACROMGR [RETURN] to invoke the add-in. When the MACROMGR.ADN is invoked, a menu appears and you are asked to load a macro, edit a macro, save the macro on disk, and a few other options. 7.4.2 LOADING AN *.MLB MACRO Invoke the MACROMGR.ADN using the two key combination (ALT-F*) or use /A I MACROMGR [RETURN] and choose the LOAD menu option. Then point to or write the macro's name and press ENTER. 7.4.3 EXECUTING THE MACRO IN MEMORY Press ALT-F3 and point to or write the range name/routine to activate and press ENTER. 7.5 MANAGING MACRO LIBRARIES METHODS 7.5.1 GROUPING THE MACROS IN ONE *.WK* FILE Keep a group of macros in one spreadsheet file (*.WK*) and combine it to the current worksheet every time you need the macros. A spreadsheet of macros is called a library and this is the simple method mentioned in books and some commercial macro libraries. But this method is limited, old fashioned, and memory and time consuming. There are always some macros in the library that you do not use during your working session. But they use memory because they belong to the worksheet. Trying to erase these macros before you start your work session demands exact preparation, and a solid knowledge of the exact actions you are going to use during the working session, which is not simple to predict. - 19 - 7.5.2 GROUPING THE MACROS IN ONE *.MLB FILE This method is identical to the previous one, and therefore suffers from the same limitations. 7.5.3 USING MENU-DRIVEN MACRO MANAGERS With this method every macro is saved as an independent file. The macros are located in a directory. Using the menu driven manager you can: - see the list of all the macros in the directory - activate the macros using point and shoot - read the macro's operation instructions This method is unique and is used only in the Super Macro Library. The advantage is clear: - Only one macro resides in the memory. - The manager loads the macro, defines the range names and activates the macro automatically without your interference. The result is memory space and preparation time saving, because there is no need to plan the work ahead. - The work is menu driven using the Lotus style menu bar. 8. USING THE MACRO LIBRARY (See the MANUAL.DOC file) 8.1 USING THE MACROS MANUALLY All the macros in the library can be used manually by combining them to an empty part of the worksheet. use the /File Combine Copy Entire-file Lotus command sequence. Then follow the built-in use instructions in the first nine rows of the macro, which are dedicated to macro description and use instructions. 8.2 USING THE MACRO MANAGERS This macro library employs a unique philosophy to manage macro libraries, which allows you to start the macros in the disk from a central macro manager a macro, itself. Only the macro manager needs to be COMBINED to the worksheet. Using the manager's menu, the macros in the disk can be easily managed and used. This way every experienced and inexperienced Lotus user can take full advantage of the macros in this library. All he/she needs to know is how to combine a macro using / File Combine Copy Entire_file ... , to read the built-in instruction in the first 9 rows of the manager and start it. From that point on, the work is menu-driven and automatic. The macro manager combines the macros, starts them and erases them after use. - 20 - For every release of Lotus 1-2-3, two managers are supplied: the first is for the experienced user of the MACROS LIBRARY who is already familiar with the names of the macros in the library; the second is for the inexperienced user who is unfamiliar with the names of the macros. The manager for the inexperienced user contains a description line for every macro name and allows you to search and find using a keyword. The manager presents you with all the macros containing the keyword in the macro description line. Using point and shoot, the desired macro is activated. The managers for the experienced users are only 6-8K in size compared to the managers for the inexperienced users which are 25-28K in size, because they contain hundreds of description lines for the macros. 8.3 MANAGERS NAMES MACROMGR.WK1 - For inexperienced users, works with Lotus 1-2-3 versions 2/2.01/2.2/2.3/2.4 SMALLMGR.WK1 - For experienced users, works with Lotus 1-2-3 versions 2/2.01/2.2/2.3/2.4 MACROMG3.WK1 - For inexperienced users, works with Lotus 1-2-3 versions 3.0/3.1/3.1+/3.4/123W SMALLMG3.WK1 - For inexperienced users, works with Lotus 1-2-3 versions 3.0/3.1/3.1+/3.4/123W MACROMLB.WK1 - For inexperienced users, works only with Lotus 1-2-3 versions 2.2/2.3/2.4 SMALLMLB.WK1 - For experienced users, works only with Lotus 1-2-3 versions 2.2/2.3/2.4 NEW_MNGR.MLB - For experienced users, works only with Lotus 1-2-3 versions 2.2/2.3/2.4. This manager resides in memory and is a breakthrough in the way of handling *.MLB macros. The manager was created from a simple list of the macros in the library (see the NEW_MNGR.PRN text file) using the COMPILE.MLB macro "compiler". The last three managers use the MACROMGR.ADN add-in supplied with Lotus 1-2-3 versions 2.2/2.3/2.4, See the MANUAL.DOC text file for details.