Macro Editor

The Macro Editor is a framed tool window for browsing and editing a character's in-game macros ("socials"), copying a macro set onto your other characters, and sharing it as a file. See Macros & socials for the concepts.

Open it from the tray → Macro Editor. It needs the EQ install directory set in Settings → General.

Layout

• Top bar — pick the Server (P1999Green, P1999Blue, P1999Red, Real-Test) and Character, then Load. The Show filter dims slots that don't match an origin, rather than hiding them, so positions stay readable.
• Left: Grid tab — one tab per macro page, each a grid of button slots. A slot shows its position, an origin badge, a ⧉ marker when it duplicates another macro, and the macro's name. Empty slots say so.
• Left: Local library tab — the mirrored copy of this character's macros, grouped by origin. Macros the client has since dropped appear as not in file, with Restore from local copy beside the count.
• Right: the macro form — Name, Color, and up to five command lines, plus a line naming who last wrote this slot and Clear this macro. The command lines autocomplete: type / for client commands, % for tokens like %T.

The page grid mirrors the in-game socials window, which also makes free slots obvious — useful when an import offers to move a macro out of a taken slot.

Buttons

Button	What it does
Load	Reads the selected character's macros and refreshes the local copy.
Save to character	Writes the working copy to that character's .ini.
Copy to character(s)…	Replicates this set onto other characters — writes immediately.
Import…	Merges a macro pack into the working copy.
Export…	Writes a macro pack, defaulting to only what you authored.
Find duplicates…	Lists duplicate groups and jumps to a slot. Changes nothing.

Editing rules

• Nothing reaches the .ini until Save to character — edits happen on a working copy. Closing with unsaved changes prompts you.
• Copy to character(s)… is the exception: it writes its targets straight away, like the friends push does. Its confirm dialog names the characters and says whether it will replace or merge.
• Import never writes — it only fills the working copy, and says so.
• Grid dimensions are read from your own file rather than assumed, so a client build with more pages, buttons, or lines works unchanged. An imported macro that would land outside your grid is reported instead of written.

Safety

• Every file is copied into socials_backup/ beside it before its first write, and that first copy is never overwritten.
• Saving warns — but does not stop you — when the EQ client looks to be running, because it rewrites these files on camp and logout. See the warning in Macros & socials.
• Only the [Socials] section is rewritten. Other sections of the file, unrecognised keys, comments, and blank lines are preserved exactly.
• Sync macros when EQ exits (Settings → Advanced) keeps the local copy current without opening this window. It only reads your EQ directory — it never writes macros back into the game.

Colour is a number

Color is the client's own palette index, shown as a raw number. The P99 palette mapping isn't verified, and a swatch showing the wrong colour would be worse than an honest index.