About Action Macros

You use the Action Recorder to record commands and input as an action macro (ACTM) file.

The Action Recorder is a panel on the ribbon that contains tools to record, modify, and play back an action macro. While recording, actions, commands, and input values are captured and displayed in the Action Tree as value nodes. A value node records the input provided at any prompt within a command, including acquired points, text strings, numbers, keywords, or other values that are entered when recording a command.

After recording is stopped, you can save captured commands and input to an action macro (ACTM) file which can be played back later. Once saved, you can specify base points, insert user messages, or change the behavior of recorded input values to pause for input during playback. You can also manage recorded action files with the Action Macro Manager from inside of the product or through the file system from outside the product.

Modifying an Action Macro

After an action macro is recorded, you can change the recorded actions and values from the Action Tree of the Action Recorder. You can edit an action macro by:

• Removing an action
• Editing a recorded value
• Inserting a user message
• Requesting a pause for input
• Inserting a base point
• Setting all points relative to the first point selected during playback, or use a combination or absolute and relative coordinates

Loading an Action Macro

Action macro (ACTM) files found in or added to the paths defined by the system variables ACTRECPATH and ACTPATH are loaded automatically. If more than one action macro file has the same name, the first action macro file that is found is loaded. The other files with the same names are ignored and not loaded.

To identify the path of a loaded action macro, select the action macro from the Action Macros drop-down list and expand the Action Recorder panel. Right-click the action macro’s node in the Action Tree and click Properties. In the Action Macro dialog box, the path to the action macro file is displayed in the Folder Path box.

Playing Back an Action Macro

When playing back an action macro, note the following:

• The results of an action macro can vary when played back in a drawing that has different drawing settings compared to those used in the drawing when the action macro was recorded.
• An action macro is paused when a dialog box is displayed, and then resumed when the dialog box is dismissed. If the dialog box is canceled, the action macro will continue to play back but the results will likely be different.
• An action macro will fail if it contains custom commands or references to VBA macros when the required files are not loaded.

Sharing Action Macros

When sharing action macros with others, note the following:

• Action macros recorded with an AutoCAD-based vertical product might not play back the same way in AutoCAD or a different AutoCAD-based vertical product depending on the commands that were used when the action macro was recorded.
• Action macros might not play back correctly when recorded in one language of the product and then played back in a different language of the product.