http://docs.kde.org/
PrevWorking with PluginsNext

Keyboard Macros Plugin

Pablo Rauzy

Introduction

Record and play keyboard macros (i.e., keyboard action sequences).

Basic usage

To start recording a keyboard macro:

Tools → Keyboard Macros → Record Macro... (Ctrl+Shift+K).

The plugin will record every key presses until you end recording.

To end recording:

Tools → Keyboard Macros → End Macro Recording (Ctrl+Shift+K).

The plugin will stop recording key presses and save the sequence as the current macro.

To cancel recording:

Tools → Keyboard Macros → Cancel Macro Recording (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+K).

The plugin will stop recording key presses but the current macro won't change.

To play the current macro:

Tools → Keyboard Macros → Play Macro (Ctrl+Alt+K).

The plugin will play the current macro.

The kmplay command without any arguments will also play the current macro.

Named macros

It is possible to save keyboard macros by giving them a name.

Named macros are persistent between Kate's sessions, they're saved in the keyboardmacros.json file in Kate's user data directory (usually ~/.local/share/kate/).

To save the current macro:

Tools → Keyboard Macros → Save Current Macro (Alt+Shift+K).

The plugin will prompt you for a name and save the macro under it.

The kmsave name command will save the current macro under the name name.

To load a saved macro as the current one:

Tools → Keyboard Macros → Load Named Macro....

The plugin lists saved macros as items in this submenu, activating an item will load the corresponding macro as the current one.

The kmload name command will load the macro saved under the name name as the current one.

To play a saved macro without loading it:

Tools → Keyboard Macros → Play Named Macro....

The plugin lists saved macros as items in this submenu, activating an item will play the corresponding macro without loading it.

Note that each saved macros is an action that is part of the current action collection so that a custom shortcut can be assigned to it through the Settings → Configure Keyboard Shortcuts... interface.

The kmplay name command will play the macro saved under the name name without loading it.

To wipe (i.e., delete) a saved macro:

Tools → Keyboard Macros → Wipe Named Macro....

The plugin lists saved macros as items in this submenu, activating an item will wipe (i.e., delete) the corresponding macro.

The kmwipe name command will wipe the macro saved under the name name.

Tips for commands:

Note that after the km prefix, all these commands use a different letter so you can efficiently call them using tab-completion!

Limitations

As of now, keyboard macros fail to play properly if some types of GUI widgets are used: QMenu, QuickOpenLineEdit, or TabSwitcherTreeView, for example. I'm not sure why but my first guess would be that these widgets work in a non-standard way regarding keyboard events.