< All Topics
Print

Record and Play back

Record and Play back Macros

There are two fundamental parts of any macro, 1.Recording & 2.Execution.

1. Recording of Keystrokes ::

Recording is the most important and one time process where the user has to record the keystrokes properly. When you start recording a HelloClips macro, it will capture three things, the keystroke, the key event and the delay time between two consecutive keystrokes. The keystroke means the name of the key which you have pressed, the key event means whether the key is in down condition or in up condition and the delay time is the time gap between the two keystrokes you are taking. The delay time can be modified letter but the keystroke and the event cannot be changed. So while recording you have to record the macros very carefully.

Before recording the keystrokes, first decide whether you want to record HelloClips Clip-based macro or an Independent macro. If it is a clip based macro, first you have to choose the particular Title from the HelloClips main panel . Otherwise you cannot save the recorded keystrokes as a clip based macro.When keystrokes are completed, stop the recording and  All HelloClips Clip-based macros have a common trigger keys combo < Ctrl+[ >. So you don’t have to worry about setting up the trigger key. Here you have to just choose a suitable name of the macro and set the macro running speed.

In case of an Independent macro, after the recording of keystrokes is done create the macro running/triggering key or combination of keys, choose a suitable name and set the playing speed. After completion of the recordings all the HelloClips macros will be listed according to their names in the left side treeview. The independent macros will be shown in the top of the list and the clip based macros will be available in the bottom of the list. Triggering key or combination of keys of each macro are also be seen from the list.

In terms of modification, you can modify some parts of a recorded macro like triggering key or keys combo (in independent macros only), name of the macro, playing speed and the delay time between the two keystrokes. You cannot add any new keystrokes or delete existing ones. To do so you have to delete the particular macro from the list and start the recording process from the beginning. Addition and deletion of keystrokes are only possible once at the time of recording and before the macro is not listed. Once you have saved the recorded macro and it is started showing in the HelloClips Macro list, you cannot add or delete the keystrokes.

2. Execution or Play back the Recorded Macros ::

To execute or play back a recorded macro, follow the steps as mentioned below :

  • Bring the application to foreground on which the macro will be played.
  • In case of Clip based macro, press < Ctrl+[ > to start the execution.
  • And in case of Independent macro, press the trigger key or keys combo assigned for that particular macro. You can see the complete list of macros and their triggering keys from Help>Keyboard_Shortcuts>Assigned_Macro_Keys_button
  • To stop the execution at any point, press the ESC key. The running macro will be stopped immediately.

NB:You should follow some rules while a macro is executing.The rules are…

  • 1. DONOT RUN another macro when one is executing. It may cause error and disrupt the whole process.
  • 2. You should not switch between the running applications.
  • Try to avoid touching your Keyboard, Mouse and other input devices unless your macro is intelligently designed to handle the inputs when macro execution is in progress.

Table of Contents