Managing Your Macros in ClarisWorks (All)

This is a portion of an article that originally appeared in the ClarisWorks Journal, the monthly publication of the ClarisWorks Users Group, Box 701010, Plymouth, MI 48170; (313) 454-1969; Fax: (313) 454-1965. Copyright ClarisWorks Users Group; reprinted with permission.

This information was provided by Claris Corporation on 16 March 1998, and incorporated into Apple Computer's Tech Info Library.

ClarisWorks stores all your macros/shortcuts in a file called "ClarisWorks Shortcuts". This file is located in the "Claris" folder which is located in the "System Folder". These macros/shortcuts are always available to all ClarisWorks files (unless otherwise specified). To make macros/shortcuts created on Computer A available on Computer B just copy the "ClarisWorks Shortcuts" file from Computer A to Computer B (NOTE: Computer B may already have a "ClarisWorks Shortcuts" file so don't delete macros/shortcuts that were created specifically for Computer B).

ClarisWorks stores your macros in collections called "sets"; it stores each macro set in a different file. You can create one large set that contains all your macros or create separate sets that contain macros for different ClarisWorks environments. For example, you can store all your word processor macros in one set, your spreadsheet macros in a separate set, and your communications macros in a third set. You can also develop customized macros for any specific project. For example, students can create their own sets of macros and store their personalized macros on their floppy disks.

Follow these steps to save your current set of macros:

1. Go to the Macro Menu and select "Save Macros". ClarisWorks will display the Save Macros Dialog Box .

2. Assign a file name to the set of macros and store the macro in a folder of your choice. We suggest that you add the suffix ".macros" to the file name and that you store all general macros in the ClarisWorks folder. You can store all task-specific macros in their respective task folders.

ClarisWorks lets you create a special set of macros called your "default macros" that it automatically loads when you launch ClarisWorks. To declare a default set, save your macro set in a file called "ClarisWorks Macros" in the ClarisWorks folder.

You make a macro set active by "loading" the set into ClarisWorks. Just select "Load Macros" from the Macro Menu and select the macro set you want to use. That set will remain active until you select a different set or quit ClarisWorks.