Datasheet

Book IX
Chapter 1
Recording and
Using Macros
529
2. Think about what you’re going to do.
Think through all the steps you have to follow to accomplish whatever
task you want to automate with a macro. To create a macro that makes
text bold and italic, for example, all you have to do is press Ctrl+B and
then press Ctrl+I. That’s a simple macro, but other macros can be much
more complex, involving dozens of steps. If necessary, rehearse the
steps before you record them as a macro.
3. Click the Developer tab on the Ribbon and then click the Record
Macro button in the Code group.
The Record Macro dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 1-1.
Figure 1-1:
The Record
Macro
dialog box.
If the Developer tab isn’t visible, choose File➪Options to summon the
Word Options dialog box. Then click the Customize Ribbon tab and
select the Developer check box in the Main Tabs list.
4. Type the name of the macro you want to create in the Macro Name
text box.
The name can be anything you want, but it cannot include spaces,
commas, or periods. When the Record Macro dialog box first appears,
the macro name is set to something like Macro1 or Macro2 (or Macro783
if you’ve been busy). Surely, you can come up with a better name. (I
know: “Yes, I can, and stop calling me Shirley.”)
5. To make your macro accessible from a toolbar or the keyboard, click
the Button or Keyboard button.
If you click the Keyboard button, the dialog box shown in Figure 1-2
appears. Type the shortcut key combination you want to assign to the
macro (in this case, I pressed Alt+Ctrl+B), click the Assign button, and
then click Close.
Doing the Macro Recorder Dance
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