Win Macro

WinMacro is a simple Macro recorder/player for Windows written in Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0. It can record whatever you do at your Windows Desktop, and can replay them exactly. It doesn't record video, instead it uses windows hooking mechanisms to monitor your mouse and keyboard events, and plays them back. Therefore the recorded file is much smaller than what would be if you recorded live video, typically in the range of kilobytes.

If you are wondering what use such software will be, you'll be surprised to know it's power. WinMacro can be used to automate everyday tasks that you need to repetetively. You only have to look at Word or Excel to know how useful it is. I personally use WinMacro to connect to the internet using dialup, open browser windows and type URLs for checking my mail. All I had to do was do that once, and record the whole thing. The next time, I simply play that file back, and everything takes place automatically.

You can use it to give a practical demonstration as part of a tutorial. Just imagine, instead of instructing users to go to Start->Programs->blah blah, you can show the whole thing like somebody sitting nearby. You do what you want your users to do once, record it, and simply give the file as part of the tutorial. Users can then play back the file to get first hand knowledge. You can even use it for testing purposes, say to test a GUI. You needn't keep moving the mouse or banging the keyboard, WinMacro can do it for you.

And it can be just plain fun watching the mouse move by itself and keystrokes appearing all by themselves. I'm giving the source also as part of the download, so you may tweak it to do whatever you wish. The source is very well commented, so you'd have no problem going through it.

Using WinMacro v1.2

WinMacro v1.2 adds to the features of the previous version of WinMacro. To download the new version, go to Download.
To Record

• Type the filename to record to (or use Browse to select an existing file). Existing files will be overwritten.
• Click Record to record to the file
• When you want to stop recording, press the Pause/Break key. You may also use Ctrl+Esc or Ctrl+Alt+Del.

To Playback

• Type the filename or use Browse to select an existing file to playback.
• Click Playback to playback from the file. WinMacro minimizes itself to the taskbar and starts playing back events from the file.
• After playback is over, WinMacro restores itself to the desktop and pops a message box indicating "Playback Over". In case you want to interrupt playback midway, press Ctrl+Esc or Ctrl+Alt+Del.

The Options button throws up a dialog box like this. This is what has been added to this version, UI wise.


To Repeat Playback
To repeat playback, check the "Repeat Playback" checkbox and type in the no. of times you want to repeat playback in the "No. of Repetitions" textbox. Remember, it's the number of repetitions, so if you type 1 in there, WinMacro will play back the file twice.

To Adjust Playback Speed
Warning: Speeding up playback may not exactly reproduce recorded events. Read on to know why.
The default setting is "Playback Events at Normal Speed", which means events are played back at the same speed at which they occurred while recording. Click the "Playback Events at My Own Speed" to adjust playback speed. The value you give in the "Time Interval" textbox determines the speed. Positive values slow playback by increasing delay between events, while negative values reduce them, thereby speeding things up.

The "Add to Recorded Time" checkbox is checked by default. This option adds the time interval value you give (positive or negative) to the original delay occurred while recording. So this speeds or slows things relative to the original speed. If you uncheck the "Add to Recorded Time" checkbox, WinMacro plays events at a constant speed as determined by the Time Interval value. The original delay while recording is not taken into account at all, the delay between events is now constant and equal to "Time Interval".

The reason why increasing playback speed may not replay events correctly is this. Assume that while recording, you opened Notepad and typed something into it. If you playback at normal speed, the delay between clicking Notepad and opening of application is preserved. But if you playback at increased speed and the delay gets lesser than the time required by Notepad to load, keystrokes and mouse events to the application will not reach it until it loads. In general, if your speed is too quick for other things to happen (like applications loading, or a menu expanding), it might cause trouble, so please take care while running at increased speed.

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Using WinMacro v1.0


If you are going to record,

• Type the name of the file you want to record into, directly or by selecting it by clicking Browse in the Record section.
• Click the Start Recording button. Once you click it, the button will get disabled.
• Do whatever you wanted to record.
• When you are finished, press Ctrl+Esc.

If you're going to playback

• Type the name of the file you want to playback, directly or by selecting it by clicking Browse in the playback section.
• Click the Playback button.
• The application then takes control of the mouse and keyboard and begins to play back the actions stored in the file. Once it's finished, a message box pops out, which says "Playback Over". The application returns control back to you.
• If you ever wanted to interrupt playback (or recording), press Ctrl+Esc or Ctrl+Alt+Del

That's all there is to it.

Download