Atari XL manual Loading Macros

The Last Word 3.0 Reference Manual

7 MACROS

LW’s Macro facility is among the most powerful of any Atari 8-bit word processor. Macros allow you to automate frequent tasks, redefine the keyboard layout, call up passages of text with a single keystroke, create interactive menu systems, and construct entirely new commands by combining existing features of the program. What’s more, macros can now be attached to standard command keystrokes, so they can work like built-in features of the program. Macros can even disable screen updates and prompts while they work, so all you see is the end result.

LW’s macro commands are really a superset of the commands found in the Public Domain word processor TextPro, and any users familiar with the way macros work in that program will have little difficulty in understanding how they are implemented in LW. Macros are written as plain text files (NOT .DOC document files) containing one macro definition after another. A macro is defined as follows:

<Macro ID><Macro Definition>

Where Macro ID is the keystroke the macro is called with, the equate symbol is an inverse equals sign, and Macro Definition is simply the string of characters and commands the macro issues. Macros are NOT terminated with <Return>. The end of a macro definition is merely marked by another definition following it or by the end of the macro file.

Macro files can be up to 4K in length when using “Banked” memory, otherwise the size limit is 1K. Macros can “chain” other macro files, and even selectively run macros in the target macro file.

7.1 LOADING MACROS

Macros are loaded with the <Shift+Ctrl+M> Load Macros command. If the file contains a macro attached to the “&” character, this “autoexec” macro will be run immediately after the macro file has loaded, unless you add the “/N” switch after the macro filename on the input line.

When the macro load command is issued from within a running macro, it’s possible to pre-select a different macro to run instead of the “&” macro. See the pre-select macro command later in this chapter for details.

When LW first starts, it looks for the macro file LW.MAC and tries to run the “@” macro if one exists. This “start-up” macro is only ever run when the program first loads LW.MAC. SpartaDOS X users can disable the start-up macro from the command line or even select a different macro in LW.MAC to execute at start-up. Users of other DOS packages can disable autoexec and start-up macros by holding down the <Option> key during the loading process.

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