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Macros are a series of keystrokes that represent commands within a software application, stored for repeated use. They can be accessed using a hotkey or toolbar button. To create a macro, perform the desired actions, assign a name and hotkey, and stop recording. It’s important not to overwrite existing hotkeys.
A macro is a series of keystrokes recorded by an application. These keystrokes often represent commands within a piece of software that are combined to reduce the work required to perform the functions. Macros are then stored within the application to allow for repeated use.
When you record a macro within an application such as Microsoft Word®, keystrokes or commands are associated with a hotkey or stored in a toolbar that makes them accessible using the mouse. Then the saved command sequence can be executed simply by clicking a toolbar button or by pressing the assigned keys.
Let’s say a Microsoft Word® user is looking for a quick way to save a document and then exit Word®. This could be recorded within a macro to combine the save action and exit action as follows using Microsoft Word® 2007:
1.Choose the View tab from the office ribbon
2.Select the Macro object from the Macro group at the right end of the ribbon
3.Select the recording macro from the pop-up menu
After clicking on the macro record object, a dialog appears allowing the user to name it and assign the toolbar button or keyboard shortcut that will activate it. Typically, when assigning a keyboard shortcut for a macro, the Ctrl, Shift, or Alt keys are pressed in combination with the assigned key. The modifier keys, Ctrl, Shift and Alt, can also be pressed together in any combination with a key. The idea is to keep the macro keyboard strokes as simple as possible to allow for easy repeated use.
4.Enter a name for the macro
5. Assign the keyboard strokes or toolbar selection that will trigger the macro, for this example choose Ctrl + Alt + X
6.Click OK
Then the actions that will make up the macro must be performed so that they can be saved. In the example given here, you click on the save menu button at the top of the Microsoft Word® 2007 window, which appears as a small disk, followed by the Office® logo button, also in the upper left. When the Word® menu is displayed, the Exit Word item is selected to close the application or the close option to close the currently active document.
After the actions have been performed, the user selects the Stop Recording option from the Macros group in the View menu of the Office ribbon. This would prevent further action from being recorded and save the series for future use.
Once a macro is created, it can be used to quickly execute the saved sequence of commands assigned to the hotkey. In our save and exit example, pressing Ctrl + Alt + X will save the current document and exit the Microsoft Word® application.
Another thing to keep in mind when assigning hotkeys is to be careful not to overwrite selections that are already in use, such as Ctrl+S which controls the Save action by default. When a key combination is tried, the existing action is displayed to inform the user that the keyboard strokes they are trying to use for a macro are already in use by the application. It’s always best to combine Ctrl with Shift or Alt when assigning keystrokes to a new series to avoid removing existing useful shortcuts.
