Absolute Beginner's Guide to Programming, Third Edition

Macro Languages

At its most basic level, a macro language does nothing more than imitate keystrokes the user of the application might type. There is not one, single macro language. Many software applications support their own unique, nonstandard macro languages. The simplest form of a macro is the keystroke-recording feature, although other forms exist. Once you record a series of common keystrokes in a macro file, you then can trigger those keystrokes by executing the macro within the application. Many of today's Windows applications enable you to assign a new toolbar button or create and assign an Alt+keystroke to a macro so that you can start a macro's execution with a single click or keystroke.

The Need for Macros

Suppose you found yourself ...