A macro recorder is
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
At the lowest programming level, executable code consists o ...
that records
macros for playback at a later time.
The main advantage of using a macro recorder is that it allows a user to easily perform complex operations much faster and with less effort without requiring custom computer programming or scripting.
Built-in macro recorders
Most word processors, text editors, and other office programs have a built-in macro recorder to automate the user's actions.
Standalone macro recorders
Not all software comes with a built-in macro recorder. A standalone macro-recorder program allows a user to "record" mouse and keyboard functions for "playback" at a later time. This allows automating any activity in any software application: from copy-pasting spreadsheet data to
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...
maintenance actions.
Most macro recorders do not attempt to analyze or interpret what the user did when the macro was recorded. This can cause problems when trying to play back a macro if the user's desktop environment has changed. For example, if the user has changed their desktop resolution, moved icons, or moved the task bar, the ''mouse'' macro may not perform the way the user intended. That's one of the reasons for preferring ''keyboard'' macros over the mouse-oriented ones.
However, some recorders do attempt to analyze user actions, trying to record mouse activity in window-related, not screen-related coordinates, for instance, or to detect exactly what
widget a user selected.
Possible features of standalone macro recorders include:
* a built-in editor that allows a macro to be composed rather than recorded. This includes adding
conditional statements, custom commands such as "open file", "launch website" or "shutdown computer".
* conversion of a macro to a compressed
executable file (".exe") that can run independently, without the need for the software that generated the macro to be present on the user's computer.
History
The
emacs
Emacs , originally named EMACS (an acronym for "Editor MACroS"), is a family of text editors that are characterized by their extensibility. The manual for the most widely used variant, GNU Emacs, describes it as "the extensible, customizable, s ...
text editor is well known for its macro-recording ability, whose name is an acronym for Editing MACroS.
See also
*
Mouse tracking
Mouse tracking (also known as cursor tracking) is the use of software to collect users' mouse cursor positions on the computer. This goal is to automatically gather richer information about what people are doing, typically to improve the design of ...
*
Programming by demonstration
*
Session replay
Session replay is the ability to replay a visitor's journey on a web site or within a mobile application or web application. Replay can include the user's view (browser or screen output), user input (keyboard and mouse inputs), and logs of netwo ...
*
Keystroke logging
Keystroke logging, often referred to as keylogging or keyboard capturing, is the action of recording (logging) the keys struck on a keyboard, typically covertly, so that a person using the keyboard is unaware that their actions are being monitored ...
References
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Automation software