Before You Begin

Many macros can be used in PowerPoint input templates to create attractive reports with a multitude of shapes, more easily than using Word in landscape mode.

To generate PowerPoint (.pptx) output you must:

1. In PowerPoint, turn off spell checking and grammar checking (else your macros can fail).
2. If possible, also disable smart quotes as follows:
1. Click Options
2. Click Proofing
3. Click AutoCorrect Options...
4. Select the AutoFormat As You Type tab
5. Clear the "Straight quotes" with "smart quotes" checkbox
3. In your Schedule, ensure PPTX is selected as an output
4. Ensure that there is at least one PowerPoint file in the input folder for the Schedule

Supported Macros

At the moment, these are the main supported PowerPoint macros:

• The [DeleteRow:] macro: deletes a row from a table
• The [Xlsx.Embed:] macro: inserts an embedded Excel (.xlsx) file as a clickable icon - from ReportMagic 3.25 onwards
• The [InsertTableCellImage:] macro: sets the background image of a table cell
• The [FormatTableCell:] macro: formats a table cell
• The [FormatTableRow:] macro: formats all the cells in a table row
• The [LogicMonitor.Dashboard:] macro: inserts a LogicMonitor Dashboard into a shape
• The [RepeatRow:] macro: repeats a row in a table
• The [Shape.Add:] macro: adds a new shape and optionally gives it a new ID
• The [Shape.Clone:] macro: clones a shape (all formatting and properties) and gives it a new ID
• The [Shape.Delete:] macro: deletes a shape / shapes, optionally by ID(s), and by scope:
• Slide (the default) e.g. [Shape.Delete:ids=DELETE_ME]
• Presentation e.g. [Shape.Delete:ids=DELETE_ME, scope=Presentation]
• The [Shape.Format:] macro: formats a shape / shapes, optionally by ID(s), and by scope (as above):
• Text size and colour
• Fill type
• None
• Solid: any colour and transparency
• Picture: an image (.bmp, .gif, .jpg / .jpeg, .png, .emf / .emfplus, and .svg) and transparency
• Pattern: any built-in pattern, with option to set foreground and background colours
• Outline
• Colour
• Transparency
• Width
• Dash type
• Position and rotation
• Position relative to centre of shape
• Position relative to top left of shape (the default)
• Height and width
• URL and ScreenTip (tooltip) (3.13 onwards) - inserts a clickable hyperlink (CTRL-click) onto the shape
• The [Shape.Hide:] macro: hides a shape / shapes, optionally by ID(s)
• The [Shape.SetText:] macro: removes existing text and inserts a single paragraph into a shape / shapes, optionally by ID(s)
• The [Slide.Delete:] macro: deletes a slide, optionally by index
• The [Slide.DeleteSection:] macro: deletes a slide section (from version 3.17)
• The [Slide.Link:] macro (3.13 onwards): inserts a hyperlink and text (with optional tooltip) into a shape, which when CTRL-clicked goes to another slide
• The [Slide.MoveTo:] macro (3.13 onwards): moves the current slide from its position to another slide position (or relative to a slide section) in the presentation, relative to the start or end
• The [Slide.Repeat:] macro: repeats a slide and stores a variable
• The [Table.ColumnCount:] macro: counts the number of columns in a table
• The [Table.Delete:] macro: finds the only table on the current slide and deletes it. When there are more than one tables, an error is generated
• The [Table.Format:] macro: formats cells in a table, e.g. border width, colour, style
• The [Table.RowCount:] macro: counts the number of rows in a table
• The [Web.Image:] macro: inserts an image from the web into a shape
• The [Web.Screenshot:] macro: inserts a webpage as a screenshot into a shape
• Any macros that produce text or image (e.g. graph) output can be inserted into a shape

Graph macros can be inserted as an image into a table cell. Note that unlike Word, which inserts images into the cell and allows text to flow around it, the behaviour in PowerPoint is to instead set the cell background - this is a limitation of the PowerPoint application.

More table-related macros will be available in future.

Order of Macro Processing

Macros are processed in the following order per slide, sequentially:

1. Macros in the Notes field
2. Macros in the Alt Text property of a shape
3. Macros in the text of a shape (text that is visible on the actual shape)

You can also run .rmscript files anywhere in PowerPoint input documents.

To guarantee certain macros are processed first, add them to the Notes field, or even in a (hidden) earlier slide to create an input document where you are sure the macros that need to run first (to create variables to be used later) are processed in the correct order.

Shapes are processed in a non-deterministic fashion, that is, on a slide containing 10 shapes, each shape is processed in turn, starting with Alt Text then the shape text. So for each slide, following the processing of the Notes area, you only know that a shape's Alt Text (which may contain macros) is processed before the shape's text (which can also contain macros).

Using Macros in Notes

You can use various macros in the Notes field. As stated, these are always processed first on a per-slide basis. Any macros that you insert here (such as String macros, ForEach macros, or File.Execute macros etc.) will be processed in the expected order to produce an output document containing the actual substituted results.

Using Macros in Alt Text

To insert a macro into the Alt Text field of a shape:

1. Right-click a shape.
2. From the menu that appears, click View Alt Text.
3. In the editing panel that appears, enter the macro text (or any other text)

When the Alt Text contains ANY macros, the entire text is copied into the shape text before any existing text or macros already contained in that shape. This means they will execute first. Note that when you just want to use an ID in the Alt Text, you should NOT use the special 'macro' characters '[', '"' and ']'.

Unlike macros in Word documents or in PowerPoint Notes fields or shape's main text, anything in an Alt Text field is not removed.

Once a macro has run in the Alt Text field, it is moved to the shape, not removed or substituted. Viewing the Alt Text field of an output document will show you the original macro (although it will have run).

Using Macros in Shape Text

You can use almost any macro in a shape's main text. Select a shape and start typing.

For lines (or, as PowerPoint calls them, "Connection Shapes") you can only use the Alt Text field, because those shapes do not have any text on the actual shape itself. For example, to delete a line, set its ID in the Alt Text then use [Shape.Delete:id=MY LINE] in another shape's text, its Alt Text, or in the Notes field.

Even though the order of processing is non-deterministic (effectively), each shape is processed in the order in which it was added (Alt Text first, then shape text). However, you should not rely on this. Instead, it is recommended that macros in a shape's Alt Text or text fields should be self-contained, unless they rely on previously stored variables / macros that were executed in the Notes field or in previous slides.

Shape Capabilities and Limitations

In general, most properties can be set for all shapes (width, height, position, etc.)

Most core macros work fine as does any macro that outputs text. We do not provide a list of the many macros that are unsupported, but you can use common sense - for example, you would not use a [Xlsx.Embed:] macro to embed an Excel document into a shape. There are many other examples of macros that will not work, and it is recommended that you should try macros when developing a template to find out what works.

It is not recommend to insert macros into 'placeholder shapes', i.e. those that appear on a new slide by default. This may lead to unpredictable output results. For example, suppose you add a new slide to a presentation - usually there is a special 'Click to add text' shape pre-populated on the slide, and small icons inside (to add an image, add a table, etc). We recommended to delete such placeholder shapes and create new standard shapes from the toolbar instead (such as a text box or other shape).

Connective Shapes

Connective shapes are shapes that appear in PowerPoint's "Lines" shapes UI. Connective shapes have these limitations / features:

• The connective shape's Alt Text can be used to set a shape ID (which can be manipulated with other macros outside the shape, for example, to set colour, position, and so on.)
• For lines shapes ONLY, we provided the ability in ReportMagic 3.25 onwards, to use image-based macros into the shape's Alt Text (e.g. a [File.Image:] or a [List.Graph:] macro, and more) aligned with the shape in various ways (horizontal, middle, vertical, etc) for COMPLETELY VERTICAL or COMPLETELY HORIZONTAL lines only (and the line is also deleted once the image is inserted) - see the note below
• With most connective shapes (except for the case mentioned above), macros can't be processed in the shape text - because there isn't any! That is, you cannot create a line and set its text in the PowerPoint application.

Note: to insert an image aligned with a vertical line, follow the steps below.

• Open a PowerPoint document and insert a vertical line (holding the SHIFT key makes it easier to snap vertically)
• Make sure the line is selected, right-click and select "View Alt Text..." from the menu
• In the text box that appears, paste this: [File.Image: fileName=blah.png, hAlign=right]
• Find a PNG file, rename it to "blah.png" and put it into the same input folder as your PowerPoint file
• Run the Schedule (make sure PPTX is checked)

When the above steps are completed, you should find that the image is now perfectly right-aligned to where the line was, and the line has been removed from the document

Standard Shapes

Standard shapes are shapes that do not appear PowerPoint's "Lines" shapes UI. In standard shapes you can process macros (including image macros) in the Alt Text and also macros in the shape text.

Embedding Excel Files

From ReportMagic 3.25 onwards, the [Xlsx.Embed:] macro is supported. This is a special macro which, if you have checked "XLSX" on your Schedule, and there are macros in the document which produce data (such as graph macros), the resulting Excel file is, once the output slides have been generated, included in the document as a clickable icon.

Once you click the icon, the embedded Excel file opens, and can be viewed and edited just as it can in the Excel application.

Refer to the macro help for more details about this macro.