Guide · PuppyMacro 1.26.0

Hotkeys

• Global hotkeys, in Settings > Hotkeys: Open PuppyMacro (Alt+Shift+A) shows the main window, also from the system tray, and leaves overlay mode when it is on, as Open PuppyMacro in the overlay panel; Overlay mode (Alt+Shift+W on a new install) switches between the window and the overlay; Stop all (Alt+Shift+S on a new install) stops every running loop and macro; Record (F8) starts a recording after you select Record macro, and stops it. To change one, click its keys and press the new hotkey (Esc cancels); the arrow next to the keys chooses the side of each Ctrl, Alt, Shift and Win. Only Open PuppyMacro can be removed (Clear in the arrow's menu). After an update, your hotkeys stay as they were; Open PuppyMacro, new in this version, gets Alt+Shift+A unless a loop, macro or remap of yours already uses it: then it has none until you choose one.
• In the title bar of the main window, Enter overlay mode and Stop all show their hotkeys in their tooltips. Stop all shows, in red, only while something runs.
• While a loop, macro or remap editor is open, and while some of PuppyMacro's dialogs are, the hotkeys of loops and macros, Open PuppyMacro and Overlay mode are off: their keys reach the window you are in. Stop all still works while something runs: it stops the running loops and macros and an action you are testing with Test. When nothing runs, its keys reach the window too.
• Everywhere PuppyMacro asks for a key or hotkey, the field works the same way: Set hotkey (or Set key) when there is none; while it waits, a turning ring and “Press … (Esc cancels)”; once set, the keys in the accent color. Click the keys to change them. The arrow next to the keys always has Change; where the key can be removed (the hotkey of a loop or macro, a loop's Press key, Open PuppyMacro) also Clear; and for each Ctrl, Alt, Shift and Win in it, its side (see below).
• A hotkey is a key or mouse button, optionally with Ctrl, Alt, Shift or Win. It matches exactly: F6 does not trigger on Ctrl+F6.
• Ctrl, Alt, Shift and Win have a left and a right key. A hotkey you press counts only with the side you used: choose Left Ctrl+F6 and the right Ctrl with F6 does nothing, so the right one is free for another hotkey. To have either side count, open the arrow next to the keys and choose Left or right Ctrl (or Left Ctrl, Right Ctrl to change the side); the keys then show Ctrl. Hotkeys and remaps saved by earlier versions work with either side, as before. Two hotkeys clash unless a modifier is on opposite sides: Left Ctrl+F6 and Right Ctrl+F6 can both exist, Ctrl+F6 clashes with both.
• With Ctrl, Alt, Shift or Win held, left and right click, the scroll wheel (up, down, left, right) and Esc can be hotkeys too, for example Ctrl+left click or Alt+wheel down. Alone they cannot: they would block the mouse, scrolling or Esc everywhere. While you choose a hotkey, a click alone still clicks, the wheel alone still scrolls and Esc alone cancels.
• A scroll wheel hotkey counts every notch of the wheel as one press. On a touchpad or a wheel that scrolls smoothly, the movement of one notch counts as one press. The wheel cannot be held down, so it works only with Toggle, not with Hold.
• Hotkeys and remap source keys are not passed on to other apps: with Ctrl+left click as a hotkey, other apps do not get Ctrl+left click while PuppyMacro runs. The hotkey of a loop or macro with a Specific app is taken only while that app is in front; in other apps it works as usual.
• Loops, macros and remaps follow the same rule: two of them can use the same keys only when they work in different apps, or one in an app and the other in all apps: the one for the app in front wins, whether it is a loop, a macro or a remap. Two for all apps, or two for the same app, cannot share keys: the editor names the one that already uses them. Open PuppyMacro, Overlay mode, Stop all and Record work in every app, so no loop, macro or remap can use them.