2012

Once you are done recording an action macro, you then have the option to
save or discard the recorded action macro. If you save the action macro, you
must specify a name and optionally, a description and the playback settings
for the action macro. The playback settings control if the view prior to the
playback of the action macro is restored when a request for user input is made
or when playback is complete.
When the Action Recorder is set to check for inconsistencies, 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.
Use Action Macros while Recording
You can play back an action macro while you are recording an action macro;
you can combine multiple action macros together to create a new action
macro. To use an existing action macro while recording another action macro,
the action macro that you want to play back needs to be present in one of the
paths defined by the system variables ACTPATH or ACTRECPATH. If the action
macro is in one of the defined paths, enter the name of the action macro at
the Command prompt to play it back.
Use Custom Commands and Routines with Action Macros
When recording commands and input, you can use the standard commands
that come with AutoCAD and other custom commands that you might already
use. The custom commands that you can use is not limited to just commands
defined with AutoLISP or ObjectARX, but also includes commands defined
with .NET and macros defined with VBA.
Before playing back an action macro that contains references to custom
commands and macros, the original programs that define the commands and
macros must be loaded into AutoCAD in order for the action macro to be
played back correctly. 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 Start Up Suite in the Load/Unload Applications dialog
box can be used to load files that contain custom commands.
■ ACAD.lsp or ACADDOC.lsp File - The acad.lsp or acaddoc.lsp file can be used
to automatically load files that contain custom commands.
30 | Chapter 1 Basic Customization