After you start recording an action macro, a red circle icon appears next to the
crosshairs in the drawing area to indicate that the commands and input entered will
be recorded.

When you stop recording an action macro, you have the option to save or discard the
recorded actions as an action macro. If you save the recorded actions, you must specify
a command name and optionally, a description and the playback settings for the action
macro. The saved action macro (ACTM) file is saved to the folder stored in the ACTRECPATH
system variable.

If the Action Recorder is set to check for inconsistencies during playback, it compares
the settings of the drawing environment when the action macro was recorded against
the current settings of the drawing environment. For example, the Action Recorder
checks the value of the INSUNITS system variable in the current drawing against the
value that was used when the action macro was recorded. If an inconsistency is found,
you are given the option to continue playing back the action macro or to stop playback.
If you continue playing back the action macro, the action macro might produce unexpected
results.

While recording an action macro, you should be aware of the following:

• Current drawing settings used when recording an action macro are not completely retained
  by an action macro. If an action macro is dependent on specific drawing settings,
  be sure to record the setting as part of the action macro using the system variable
  name or SETVAR command. When an action macro is saved, you can have the Action Recorder
  check for inconsistencies with the drawing environment during playback.
• While most commands can be recorded, there are some exceptions, which are listed in
  the following table:

  ACTBASEPOINT	ACTMANAGER	ACTSTOP
  ACTUSERINPUT	ACTUSERMESSAGE	-ACTUSERMESSAGE
  DXFIN	EXPORTLAYOUT	FILEOPEN
  NEW	OPEN	PARTIALOPEN
  PRESSPULL	QNEW	RECOVER
  TABLEDIT	VBAIDE	VBALOAD
  -VBALOAD	VBAMAN	VBANEW
  VBAPREF	VBARUN	-VBARUN
  VBASTMT	VBAUNLOAD	XOPEN

• Recorded actions are limited to interactions with the Properties palette, Quick Properties
  palette, the Layer Properties Manager palette, any user interface element that starts
  a command, and commands and values entered at the Command prompt. User interface elements
  that start commands include most tools on tool palettes, some actions in DesignCenter,
  and some tools on the status bar.
• When a view change occurs with the ViewCube, a mouse wheel action, or a 3D Orbit navigation
  mode, rather than from an explicit command such as with VPOINT coordinates, PLAN,
  or ZOOM, a View Change (Observation Change) node is added to the action macro. You
  can delete a View Change node when recording is stopped. If you delete a View Change
  node, you might be prompted to provide input or continue during playback because the
  view change no longer occurs. This might affect the creation of a selection set or
  the use of a command.
  NOTE:Before deleting a View Change node, consider creating a copy of the original macro
  file since you cannot undo the deletion of the node.

• Commands that display a dialog box should be avoided when recording an action macro.
  The changes to a dialog box are not recorded, but the dialog box is displayed during
  playback. As an alternative, use commands that display prompts instead of dialog boxes
  to ensure that the action macro behaves consistently each time it is played back.
  For example, use the -HATCH command instead of the HATCH command, which displays the
  Hatch Creation contextual ribbon tab or displays the Hatch and Gradient dialog box.

• Commands defined with custom applications can be recorded, but the command must be
  loaded before the action macro is played back. To make sure the custom commands are
  available when an action macro is played back, you can use one or more of the following:
  • Startup Suite – The Startup Suite in the Load/Unload Applications dialog box can be used to load
    files that contain custom commands when the program first starts up.
  • Startup AutoLISP Files – The acad.lsp or acaddoc.lsp file can be used to load files that contain custom commands automatically.
  • Menu AutoLISP (MNL) File – An MNL file can be used to load files that contain custom commands related to a
    specific CUIx file.
  • Customization User Interface (CUIx) File – AutoLISP files that define custom commands can be associated with a CUIx file by
    adding them to the LISP node in the CUI Editor.
  • Script Files – A script file can be used to load AutoLISP, ObjectARX, VBA, or .NET files. To record
    the running of a script file, set FILEDIA to 0 before using the SCRIPT command.
• Action macros can be played back while recording an action macro; you can combine
  multiple action macros together to create a new action macro. Make sure any action
  macros used while recording an action macro are present in one of the paths defined
  by the ACTPATH or ACTRECPATH system variables.
• The direction of an arc segment created with the Arc option of the PLINE command is
  not played back correctly unless the Direction option is used to define the arc segment.

• The creation of a table with the TABLE command is recorded, but any edits made to
  the table cells are not recorded.
• Action macros cannot have the same name as a command that is already defined and loaded
  into the program.