Anasoft Autowork User's Guide

8. Using Quick Bar  Contents  10. Scheduling a Macro with Anasoft Scheduler


9. Setting Options


9.1 General Tab

9.2 Record Tab

9.3 Debug/Run Tab

9.4 Quick Bar Tab

9.5 Hot Key Tab

 

You can set program running options in the Options dialog box. This dialog can be opened by the following menu command:

 

Main Menu -> Tools -> Preferences

 

9.1 General Tab

 

 

Pic UG-9-1 General tab in the Options dialog box

 

If you have checked on "Control bar always on top", the main control bar will be in "always on top" status, it will not be covered by other programs except for some other "always on top" programs.

 

You must select a User Data Directory. This is the default directory to save your custom macro files and other important user data. This User Data Directory will not be removed after you have uninstalled your program, so your important user data can be saved between the time you uninstall an old version of the product, and install a new one.

 

9.2 Record Tab

 

Pic UG-9-2 Record tab in the Options dialog box

 

In this page you can decide some options involved in macro recording.

 

You can decide the transparency and layout for the macro recorder dialog box when you are in the mid of recording some thing. When you are recording, usually you are operating on some other program, rather than operating on some UI of Autowork itself. Therefore, a transparent dialog box can be a pleasure for you because you can see things through it.

 

If you set the "Opacity" value to 0, the dialog box will be completely transparent (don't actually do it, or the dialog box will disappear). If the "Opacity" value is set to 255, the maximum value, the dialog box will be completely non-transparent, just like any common dialog box. The feature of transparency works only under Windows NT/2000/XP/2003. It cannot work under Windows 9x/Me, because these OSes don't support transparency mechanism. Under Windows 9x/Me, the "Opacity" value will be automatically set to 255, and you cannot change it.

 

The after recording processing options allow you to merge a string of 2 to 4 basic actions into one advanced action. This kind of mergence can reduce the size of the final macro, and increase its readability. 

 

9.3 Debug / Run Tab

 

Pic UG-9-3 Debug / Run tab in the Options dialog box

 

Similar to the Recording page, you can decide the transparency and layout for the debug bar which appears when you are running or debugging a macro. 

 

When you are running/debugging a macro, usually you are operating on some other program, rather than operating on some UI of Autowork itself. So a transparent dialog box can be a pleasure for you because you can see things through it.

 

If you set the "Opacity" value to 0, the dialog box will be completely transparent (don't actually do it, or the dialog box will disappear). If the "Opacity" value is set to 255, the maximum value, the dialog box will be completely non-transparent, just like any common dialog box. The feature of transparency works only under Windows NT/2000/XP/2003. It cannot work under Windows 9x/Me, because these OSes don't support transparency mechanism. Under Windows 9x/Me, the "Opacity" value will be automatically set to 255, and you cannot change it.

 

The effect for checking on or off "Show as normal bar", "Show as mini bar" and "Show instruction list" for the debug bar can be found here

 

9.4 Quick Bar Tab

 

 

Pic UG-9-4 Quick Bar tab in the Options dialog box

 

Quick Bar is a small bar on which you can place your favorite macros and run it conveniently. In this page you can set some parameters for the Quick Bar.

 

You can set number of icons in a line on Quick Bar. If you have more than the maximum line count of icons, additional icons will be placed on the next line.

 

Besides running a macro, the most important operation on the Quick Bar is to edit Quick Bar list or to reform it. You can choose to double click the control icon to edit Quick Bar macro list or to reform it (as a horizontal bar, a vertical bar or a mini bar). The default choice is double clicking to reform it.

 

9.5 Hot Key Tab

 

 

Pic UG-9-5 Hot Key tab in the Options dialog box. The hot key values shown in this dialog box are their default values. You can set focus on any hot key edit box and press the new key combination to reset corresponding hot key value.

 

A hot key is a system-level command started by certain key combination. It has higher executing priority than general accelerator key commands. You can press certain key combination specified by a hot key to start a command for certain program when you are working on any program in Windows.

 

You can set 3 hot keys under 2 categories for Autowork:

 

1) When you are recording/running/debugging a macro, you can pause/continue the operation by the first hot key, and you can finally stop the operation by the second hot key.

2) You can show or hide the main control bar with the last hot key.

 

The default values for the 3 hot keys are shown in Pic UG-9-5. You can change the value for any hot key by set focus on any hot key value box, and press corresponding key combination to reset it.