Guide · PuppyMacro 1.23.0
Overlay mode
Select Enter overlay mode, in the title bar of the main window, or press the Overlay mode hotkey (Alt+Shift+W on a new install). The main window hides and the overlay stays on top of the app you are using, fullscreen too. The overlay is made of the overlay panel, with the loops and macros, and the floating buttons.
PuppyMacroRight-click to enable or disable it.
- Press the Overlay mode hotkey again to leave overlay mode. The main window stays in the system tray. To leave overlay mode and open the window, press the Open PuppyMacro hotkey (Alt+Shift+A on a new install), select Open PuppyMacro at the bottom of the overlay panel or its open button (a box with an arrow, the last at the top right, next to the exit button), the tray icon, or start PuppyMacro again.
- The overlay never takes focus from the app below it. With Click items in the panel to start or stop them (Settings > Overlay panel, on by default), the overlay panel is clickable: click a loop or macro to start or stop it (Hold items stay hotkey only), right-click it to enable or disable it, Stop all at the bottom to stop everything, Open PuppyMacro under it, and the buttons at the top right: move, exit (leaves overlay mode, as the hotkey) and open (leaves overlay mode and opens the main window, as Open PuppyMacro). Two lines at the top of the panel remind what the clicks do.
- Disabling a running loop or macro stops it, as its switch in the main window does. A disabled one does nothing on a click (and its hotkey does nothing); right-click it again to enable it.
- The clicks PuppyMacro takes never reach the app below, unless the loop or macro has Clicks also reach the app behind on (see Show in overlay).
Overlay panel
- The switch of Overlay panel in Settings shows the panel and is on by default. Turn it off to have only the floating buttons in overlay mode; the panel's other settings are off meanwhile, while Position on screen still places the floating buttons. Without the panel, leave overlay mode with the Overlay mode hotkey.
- It lists the loops, then the macros, each with its hotkey and its state (a running one is green). A disabled one has a dashed outline, a hollow dot, a grey name and the state Disabled. A loop or macro with a Specific app is listed only while that app is in front; when there is no loop or macro to list, the panel says “Add a loop or macro to see it here.” and shows only Open PuppyMacro, without the clicks hints and without Stop all (Stop all stays while floating buttons are shown). Stop all and Open PuppyMacro, at the bottom under a line, show their hotkeys. When the panel can be clicked, Stop all turns red while something runs; when it cannot, the move, exit and open buttons and Open PuppyMacro are dimmed.
- Opacity sets the panel's background, with a small preview next to the slider; the text stays fully visible. To move the panel, use Position on screen (below).
- To move the panel during overlay mode, press the move button (four arrows, the first of the buttons at the top right) and drag. The panel follows the mouse and its new position is saved, as with Position. Like the other buttons of the panel, it works only with Click items in the panel to start or stop them on, and the app behind keeps the focus.
Floating buttons
A loop or macro can also have its own round button in overlay mode, which you can put anywhere on the screen: next to a game's action bar, in a corner, on another monitor. Click it to start or stop the loop or macro; right-click it to enable or disable it. Like the panel, it never takes focus from the app below, and the click never reaches that app (unless Clicks also reach the app behind is on).
- Turn it on in the loop or macro editor with Floating button. Label sets the one or two characters in the button (proposed from the name), Size is Small, Medium or Large, and Opacity sets the button's background, from 20% to 100%. Each button has its own opacity. The hotkey, if any, is shown on the edge of the button.
- A running loop or macro has a green ring, like its row in the panel. A disabled one has a dashed ring and a grey label.
- A loop or macro with a floating button is not listed in the panel, so it is never shown twice. Turn the button off to get its row back.
- A new button appears in the middle of the main screen until you place it.
- The button of a loop or macro with a Specific app is shown only while that app is in front.
- Floating buttons are always clickable, also when Click items in the panel to start or stop them is off.
- Hold loops and macros cannot have a floating button: a click can only start and stop.
Show in overlay
The loop and macro editors have a Show in overlay card, on by default.
- Off, the loop or macro is not in the overlay: no row in the panel and no floating button (Floating button cannot be turned on meanwhile). Its hotkey still works.
- Hide when disabled (off by default): while the loop or macro is disabled, it is not shown in the overlay, instead of being shown as disabled. Once it is hidden, enable it again from the main window.
- Clicks also reach the app behind (off by default): a click or right-click on its row or floating button does what it does (start, stop, enable, disable), and the app under it gets the click too.
Position on screen
Position on screen in Settings > Overlay panel and Position in the loop or macro editor open the same view of the whole overlay, as overlay mode shows it: the overlay panel (when the Overlay panel switch is on) and every floating button, also those for other apps. Drag each one where you want it. The last one you clicked is selected and moves with the arrow keys (Shift moves ×10). Press Enter to save or Esc to cancel.