Start Recording an Action Macro

You start recording actions on the Action Recorder panel. To display the Action Recorder panel and to start recording, follow these steps:

1. On the ribbon, click the Manage tab.
2. On the Action recorder panel, click Record.

Modify Objects Using the Properties Palette and Object Selection Filter

When working with the Properties palette, you can control which objects you modify by applying an object selection filter to the selected objects. Follow these steps:

1. Select the objects in the drawing that you want to modify and right-click. Click Properties.
2. On the Properties palette, in the Objects drop-down list, select Circles.
3. Under the General category, select the Color field.
4. In the Color drop-down list, select Blue.

Stop Recording and Save an Action Macro

After all the actions have been recorded, you stop recording and save the recorded actions to an action macro file. Follow these steps:

1. On the Action Recorder panel, click Stop.
2. In the Action Macro dialog box, do the following
   • In the Action Macro Command Name box, enter BlueCircles.
   • In the Description box, enter Changes the color of all selected circles to blue.
3. Click OK.

Change the Selection Set to Use the Pick First Selection Set

With a request for user input, you are prompted for a value to be entered instead of using a recorded value when playing back an action macro. In this action macro, you change the selection set created to use the Pick First selection. Follow these steps:

1. On the Action Recorder panel, click the title bar to expand the panel.
2. In the Action tree, under the Action Macro node, select the Pickfirst value node and right-click. Click Use Pick First Set.

Play Back the Action Macro

When you play back the action macro, you are prompted to select objects if no objects are selected. To see the results of the action macro, follow these steps:

1. Draw some circles and other objects in the drawing. Change the colors of the objects to colors other than blue.
2. On the Action Recorder panel, on the Action Macro list, select BlueCircles.
3. Click Play.
4. In the Action Macro - No Objects Selected dialog box, click Select Objects and Continue.
5. When prompted to select objects, select the circles and the other objects in the drawing. Press ENTER to complete object selection.

   The circles in the selection set are changed to the color blue.

6. If the Action Macro - Playback Complete dialog box is displayed, click OK.

Undo the changes made by the action macro by clicking Undo from the Quick Access toolbar. Now select some objects in the drawing and playback the BlueCircles action macro. This time the action macro uses the Pick First selection and you are not prompted to select the objects in the drawing when the action macro is played back.