7D remote flash and macro ?

I never use flash for macro so treat this as a beginner question. The 7D has some ability to fire remote flashes as I understand. How does this apply to macro work? Can I use a remote, not wired to camera flash and have auto exposure and not have the camera built-in flash affect the results?

There's always going to be at least a little light from teh on-board flash but this can easily be drowned by the main flash. Shooting macro usually means a small aperture and that helps a lot. Worst case is that you may need to cut up a piece of cardboard that is high enough to block any light from the on-board flash and then keep the remote flash above the cardboard so that it can still see the communication pulses.

But, since my lens hood and/or lens is blocking the light from the built-in flash anyways, can I get AE using a 430X, 580X off to the side with no cables? To be honest it sounds too good to be true.

yes, it works just fine. You can't do second curtain flash or high speed synch, but other than that it's exactly like having the flash attached to a long E-TTL cord that you can't trip over and never gets tangled.

The Nikon guys have had this for a long time, it's about time Canon tried to catch up. Now you too can be like the Nikon shooter in the black shirt in this shot:

Also, this isn't a macro shot but was my first time using the built-in wireless. Had the 7D on a tripod about 15 feet from the statue and the shutter button set to timer. I pressed the shutter button then walked over to the side of the statue and held the flash up with the light pointed at the statue and the front of the flash (where the receiver is) pointed back towards the camera.

Nice pix.