Thank you for registering or trying Macro Manager version 5.0 **************************************************************** What is it? The Macro Recorder that comes with Windows slows down power typists (like me). I needed something that would type out long strings of keystrokes at the press of only one or two keys. Macro Manager is what I came up with. The program uses a two key macro entry system. You press a trigger key (user-defined), followed by a letter or number. Keystrokes you have assigned to that letter or number are sent to any Windows application. For example, if the trigger is the keypad * and you have set up Macro A as your address, pressing *A will type out your address in whatever Windows program is running. The two key entry system prevents Macro Manager from interfering with keystrokes used by your other Windows applications. *** NEW USERS *** It is recommended you click on "Tutorial" the first time you run the program. The tutorial will show you Macro Manager's basic features. **************************************************************** HOW TO INSTALL 1) If you are upgrading from the Shareware version, you don't need to do anything except unzip the file MACROMAN.ZIP into the same directory as the shareware version. Add an icon for Macro Manager to Program Manager or Norton Desktop. 2) If you are installilng the program for the first time, copy the file SBCKBD.VBX into your \Windows\System directory. Add a Program Manger icon for the program. The Shareware version is called "Macshare.exe," the registered version is called "Macroman.exe." REMEMBER: VBRUN300.DLL MUST BE IN YOUR WINDOWS or WINDOWS\SYSTEM DIRECTORY FOR MACRO MANAGER TO RUN! ***************************************************************** NOTE!!!! If you are using the version of the program obtained from the WINSHARE Forum on CompuServe it is recommended you completely delete the old version and re-install the new. Be sure to delete the file "SBCKBD.VBX" from your \Windows\System directory and replace it with the new version included here. The version on WinShare is the original version. I have made numerous attempts to get the SYSOP to place the updated version on that board but it has been to no avail. ***************************************************************** IMPROVEMENTS The following improvements have been made since the first version was released. They are fully incorporated in the registered and shareware versions. These improvements are more fully described in the HELP file. 6/94 *** VERSION 5.0 *** ---------------------------------------- EZ-EDIT full-screen macro editor added. EZ-Edit can automatically insert special codes, and automatically converts text pasted from the clipboard to Macro Manager format. Sample macros included: TUTOR.MAC (for the tutorial), WORDPERF.MAC (for WordPerfect for Windows), MSWORD.MAC (for Microsoft Word) and VB.MAC (for Microsoft Visual Basic). The program is more customizable than ever before. A tutorial has been added for beginning users. Macro Manager can now automatically launch another program when it starts, and then minimize itself. Macros can now be played back multiple times, automatically. A bug that caused some program options not to be saved has been fixed. 3/94 ------------------------------------------------------------- A bug which caused a trigger key not to work after a new macro was defined has been fixed. New special keys have been added. They are: {ld} long date {sd} short date {md} medium date {lt} long time {mt} medium time {st} short time {wd} weekday These keys insert the date, time and day of the week in several formats, as defined in the "International" section of the Windows control panel. The word {pause} in braces can now be used to insert a pause in addition to the {|} keystrokes. The PAUSE window now shows the entire macro string (with all special keys processed), instead of only the keys through the point at which the pause was encountered. The PAUSE window also shows the expanded keystrokes for special keys. For example, it will now show "3/15/94" instead of {!}. The speed of the processing of special keys has been improved. Code that prevented multiple copies of Macro Manager from running simultaneously has been removed. This means you can run several copies, each using a different trigger key. For example, if you run four copies, each using one of the four trigger keys, you can have up to 104 macros (you can still only have 10 global macros, however). NOTE: Results are unpredictable if you load several copies of Manager Manager with each using the same trigger keys. Each additional copy of Macro Manager uses a minimal amount of memory since each copy shares the same DLL's (Dynamic Link Libraries). Error trapping for improper special keys has been improved. Macro Manager's caption now turns into "MM" when the icon is minimized. This was done in response to laptop users who complained the icon caption took up too much space. NOTE: Macro Manager still does not intercept keystrokes when CAPS-LOCK is pressed. Many users have said they use SHIFT-LOCK to temporarily disable Macro Manager (rather than using DISABLE). Others, however, want Macro Manager to work when CAPS LOCK is on, and that feature will be added to future versions. In other words, if you're using CAPS LOCK to disable Macro Manager, get used to using the "Disable" feature instead because future versions of Macro Manager will support CAPS LOCK. 11/93 ----------------------------------------------------------- The keys that trigger macro playback are now user-defined. You can choose any of the following keys, or combinations thereof: Keyboard slash (/), Keypad slash (/), Keypad star (*) or Keyboard accent (`). The position of the Macro playback window is now user-defined. Macro nesting is now supported via use of the "Safety" feature. See the help file for more information. 10/93 ------------------------------------------------------------ The ile menu now contains an option called "Print macro list." This does precisely what its name implies, i.e. prints a list of the current macros. This option is useful once most of your macros for a particular job are set and you want a handy reference sheet. This listing takes up a full page. The ile menu now contains an option called "Print form." This prints out the Macro Manager form as it appears on your screen. This creates a smaller listing, taking up about half a page. TIP: Printing a list and then minimizing macro manager once it has started running GREATLY speeds up the rate at which your macros are typed to your application. The program now supports macro keys 0-9 as global macros. Global macros are available at any time, regardless of what macro file is loaded. They are saved in a separate file called "GLOBAL.MAC." Use the global macros for macros that you want to be able to use in any job. The program now incorporates pauses. To insert a pause into a macro insert the keystrokes "{|}" (open brace, vertical bar, close brace) [or "{pause}" 3/94]. Whenever Macro Manager encounters a pause instruction it stops and asks you to type in text from the keyboard. Pressing stops the pause (to actually insert into the paused macro, use the "~" (tilde) key. You can have as many pauses as you want in a macro. The keystrokes are not sent to the application until after the last pause (Macro Manager shows you what keys have been typed so far) [all keystrokes are shown, 3/94]. NOTE: Terminating the program from which Macro Manager was invoked during a pause can cause unpredictable results. The program can now insert dates as part of a macro. See the 3/94 notes for more information. The program now supports a numeric counter. The keys "{#}" (open brace, pound key, close brace) in a macro are replaced with the value of the numeric counter. The numeric counter is useful for macros that contain numbered lists. For example, the following macro prints a number, waits for input and then types the item into a list. {#}. {|}.~ Playing this macro three times might result in the following: 1. Item one 2. Item two 3. Item three The "Counter Value" box contains the next value that will be output by the counter. To change that value, simply click on the box and type in a new value. The "Increment" box contains the amount to add to the counter each time. NOTE: The counter value and increment value can be fractional or negative. For example, typing 1.1 in the counter box and .2 in the increment box produces the following output: 1.1, 1.3, 1.5, 1.7 etc. Typing -1 in the increment box produces the following output: 1, 0, -1, -2, -3 etc. CAUTION: If you type a non-number in the "Counter Value" box, that text will be output the first time {#} is encountered. After that, the value will increment normally from zero. Typing a non-number or 0 in the increment box causes the counter to stay the same. For example: a value of 1 in "Counter Value" and a 0 in the increment box produces the following output: 1, 1, 1, 1, etc. *****************************************************************