The Macro Library
Types of Macros
Macros are named event sequences that you can invoke with a gesture or surface-key. There are three types:
- Event Macros are lists including one or more keypresses, mouse clicks, or mouse motions or drag events. The macro library contains hundreds of macros, mostly simple hotkeys like Ctrl+S for Save. Event macros can be nested, i.e. they can include references to simpler macros. When a gesture is recognized, its assigned macro's entire event list is immediately transmitted to the host over the USB cable.
- Text Macros are text strings or messages that can be emitted on the USB keyboard channel. For now, only simple ASCII (unaccented US English) text is allowed in text macros. While functionally equivalent to a list of alphanumeric keystrokes, text macros can store long, multi-line text messages more easily and efficiently than event macros.
- Internal Function Macros do not cause any key or mouse events to be emitted. Rather, they change the internal mode or state of the MultiTouch Unit, say from Mac OS mode to Windows OS mode, or from application gesture mode to game mode, or from Qwerty key layout to Dvorak.
Macro Sub-Folders
The macro library is organized into the following sub-folders.
Not all of your applications support every macro. To find out if your app. supports a particular macro, check whether the macro's hotkeys are listed in your application's menus.
- Editing -- (Hot-key) Event Macros that invoke clipboard operations, indentation, word completion and deletion.
- Search -- (Hot-key) Event Macros for text and file searches, both incremental and dialog.
- File/View -- (Hot-key) Event Macros for file management, email composition and web browsing.
- Window/Desktop -- (Hot-key) Event Macros for minimizing and maximizing windows, application switching and exiting.
- Text Navigation -- (Arrow-key) Event Macros for jumping between words, lines, paragraphs, and whole documents.
- Selection -- (Arrow-key) Event Macros for selecting words, lines, paragraphs, and whole documents.
- Text Formatting -- (Hotkey) Event Macros for stylizing, aligning and indenting text within a word processor.
- Mouse -- Event Macros for clicking and dragging with various mouse button combinations.
- Zoom/Rotate -- Key and Mouse Event Macros for zooming and rotation in popular applications.
- Photoshop -- Event Macros for zooming and magnification within Photoshop.
- Vector Graphics -- Event Macros for grouping and layering graphics objects.
- Emacs -- Event Macros that invoke special commands for the Emacs text editor.
- Emacs -- Event Macros that invoke special commands for the Emacs text editor.
- VI -- Event Macros that invoke special commands for the VIM text editor.
- Internal Fuctions -- All available Internal Function Macros.
- Text Strings -- Text Macros for signatures, addresses and your favorite URLs.
- Punctuation -- Text Macros of common punctuation sequences for use in the embedded programmer pad.
- Emoticons -- Text Macros for smileys and other email/chat slang.
Creating new Macro Sub-Folders
To create a new sub-folder, click on the 'Macro Library' icon in the gesture tree, enter a name and click the 'Create Macro Folder...' in the right pane.
Empty sub-folders are automatically deleted when you exit the editing session.
Moving Macros to other Sub-Folders
Use the drop-down sub-folder list at the top of each macro's edit pane to move it to a different folder.
Creating new Text or Event Macros
To create totally new text or event macros, expand the Macro Library subtree and click on the desired sub-folder icon.
Then enter the desired name of the new text or event macro at right and click 'Create ... Macro...'. An empty macro will be created in the selected sub-folder. You cannot create new internal function macros.
Editing Text and Event Macros
Click here to read about macro and event editing.
Assigning New Macros to Gestures
After you've created or edited a macro, the fastest way to assign it to a gesture is to select it in the macro library tree,
copy it with your Copy gesture (Ctrl+C), then select the desired destination gesture in a hand/chord subtree, and paste into that gesture's event list.