About Recording Action Macros

You use the Action Recorder to record commands and input values that can be played back as an action macro.

After you start recording an action macro, a red circle icon appears next to the crosshairs in the drawing area to indicate that the commands and input entered will be recorded.

When you stop recording an action macro, you have the option to save or discard the recorded actions as an action macro. If you save the recorded actions, you must specify a command name and optionally, a description and the playback settings for the action macro. The saved action macro (ACTM) file is saved to the folder stored in the ACTRECPATH system variable.

If the Action Recorder is set to check for inconsistencies during playback, it compares the settings of the drawing environment when the action macro was recorded against the current settings of the drawing environment. For example, the Action Recorder checks the value of the INSUNITS system variable in the current drawing against the value that was used when the action macro was recorded. If an inconsistency is found, you are given the option to continue playing back the action macro or to stop playback. If you continue playing back the action macro, the action macro might produce unexpected results.

While recording an action macro, you should be aware of the following:

• Current drawing settings used when recording an action macro are not completely retained by an action macro. If an action macro is dependent on specific drawing settings, be sure to record the setting as part of the action macro using the system variable name or SETVAR command. When an action macro is saved, you can have the Action Recorder check for inconsistencies with the drawing environment during playback.
• While most commands can be recorded, there are some exceptions, which are listed in the following table:

  ACTBASEPOINT	ACTMANAGER	ACTSTOP
  ACTUSERINPUT	ACTUSERMESSAGE	-ACTUSERMESSAGE
  DXFIN	EXPORTLAYOUT	FILEOPEN
  NEW	OPEN	PARTIALOPEN
  PRESSPULL	QNEW	RECOVER
  TABLEDIT	VBAIDE	VBALOAD
  -VBALOAD	VBAMAN	VBANEW
  VBAPREF	VBARUN	-VBARUN
  VBASTMT	VBAUNLOAD	XOPEN

• Recorded actions are limited to interactions with the Properties palette, Quick Properties palette, the Layer Properties Manager palette, any user interface element that starts a command, and commands and values entered at the Command prompt. User interface elements that start commands include most tools on tool palettes, some actions in DesignCenter, and some tools on the status bar.
• When a view change occurs with the ViewCube, a mouse wheel action, or a 3D Orbit navigation mode, rather than from an explicit command such as with VPOINT coordinates, PLAN, or ZOOM, a View Change (Observation Change) node is added to the action macro. You can delete a View Change node when recording is stopped. If you delete a View Change node, you might be prompted to provide input or continue during playback because the view change no longer occurs. This might affect the creation of a selection set or the use of a command.
  Note: Before deleting a View Change node, consider creating a copy of the original macro file since you cannot undo the deletion of the node.
• Commands that display a dialog box should be avoided when recording an action macro. The changes to a dialog box are not recorded, but the dialog box is displayed during playback. As an alternative, use commands that display prompts instead of dialog boxes to ensure that the action macro behaves consistently each time it is played back. For example, use the -HATCH command instead of the HATCH command, which displays the Hatch Creation contextual ribbon tab or displays the Hatch and Gradient dialog box.
• Commands defined with custom applications can be recorded, but the command must be loaded before the action macro is played back. To make sure the custom commands are available when an action macro is played back, you can use one or more of the following:
  • Startup Suite - The Startup Suite in the Load/Unload Applications dialog box can be used to load files that contain custom commands when the program first starts up.
  • Startup AutoLISP Files - The acad.lsp or acaddoc.lsp file can be used to load files that contain custom commands automatically.
  • Menu AutoLISP (MNL) File - An MNL file can be used to load files that contain custom commands related to a specific CUIx file.
  • Customization User Interface (CUIx) File - AutoLISP files that define custom commands can be associated with a CUIx file by adding them to the LISP node in the CUI Editor.
  • Script Files - A script file can be used to load AutoLISP, ObjectARX, VBA, or .NET files. To record the running of a script file, set FILEDIA to 0 before using the SCRIPT command.
• Action macros can be played back while recording an action macro; you can combine multiple action macros together to create a new action macro. Make sure any action macros used while recording an action macro are present in one of the paths defined by the ACTPATH or ACTRECPATH system variables.
• The direction of an arc segment created with the Arc option of the PLINE command is not played back correctly unless the Direction option is used to define the arc segment.
• The creation of a table with the TABLE command is recorded, but any edits made to the table cells are not recorded.
• Action macros cannot have the same name as a command that is already defined and loaded into the program.