Might it be possible for an action to collect (for display in a message box) a tabular list of all the automation actions (with their triggers) in a specific group? Possibly sorted in the same way they're sorted in the Automation tab?
Basically, I'm wondering if I can stop having to remember to put reminders of new actions in my Cheat Sheet action, and manage its content instead by putting actions I want to be reminded of in a named group, so I could do something like
string$=ToolboxActions(MyActions)
alert:show a message(string$)
Hi Oblivion. Here's what I think you want? Try this action, but replace the Action path and group in step 1 to where your "Toolbox Data\Actions" is located. I guess I should add a variable called "tooldata$" for the next release, which points to the "Toolbox Data" folder. ???
(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Folder: Assign "C:\[Paul]\[Toolbox]\Toolbox Data\Actions\Windows"
0002 Folder: Start of file processing ""
0003 File: Assign "folder$name$"
0004 String: Assign from line number in file "1"
0005 Data: Add "name$ = string$~"
0006 Folder: End of file processing ""
0007 Alert: Show a message "data$"
(End)
Running this action will show a message of all actions from the group in step 1, with their hotkeys (if any) like below. Yellow highlights added by yours truly. ;)
(https://www.alomware.com/images/forum/actions-hotkey-list.png)
Thanks, Paul -- that's amazing :)
So now all we need is a way to add the yellow highlights programmatically! :D
Haha! :) If it's a hotkey that uses more than one character (so not just "/" or such), then you could make it list only actions with those type of hotkeys:
(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Folder: Assign "C:\[Paul]\[Toolbox]\Toolbox Data\Actions\Windows"
0002 Folder: Start of file processing ""
0003 File: Assign "folder$name$"
0004 String: Assign from line number in file "1"
0005 Action: Do next step if "stringlen$>1"
0006 Data: Add "name$ = string$~"
0007 Folder: End of file processing ""
0008 Alert: Show a message "data$"
(End)
Then you get this:
(https://www.alomware.com/images/forum/actions-hotkey-list-used.png)
...so now I look at how the actions are stored and what they contain...
Hm. New ideas. I'll be back. :D
This is going to grow, I think, but I have a working interim action that reads through the actions in a target group and JUST lists those that are text expansions (as the trigger starts with the word "Type")
(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Folder: Assign "C:\[Tim]\[Toolbox]\Toolbox Data\Actions\My Useful Stuff"
0002 Folder: Start of file processing ""
0003 File: Assign "folder$name$"
0004 String: Assign from line number in file "1"
0005 String: Get first chars "4"
0006 Action: Do this block if "string$=Type"
0007 File: Assign "folder$name$"
0008 String: Assign from line number in file "1"
0009 Data: Add "name$ = string$~"
0010 Action: End of block ""
0011 Folder: End of file processing ""
0012 Alert: Show a message "data$"
(End)
There's probably a better way to do that without putting line 1 of the action in string$ twice, but this has proved the principle -- now I need to embed it in a bigger action that'll ask me if I want text expansions or not and react accordingly. Back later. :)
Now this version might be good enough to keep. :)
(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Folder: Assign "C:\[Tim]\[Toolbox]\Toolbox Data\Actions\My Useful Stuff"
0002 Alert: Ask for a choice "What type of actions do you want to see?~Hotkeys=hotkeys~Expansions=text"
0003 Action: Do this block if "alert$=hotkeys"
0004 Folder: Start of file processing ""
0005 File: Assign "folder$name$"
0006 String: Assign from line number in file "1"
0007 String: Get first chars "4"
0008 Action: Do this block if "string$<>Type"
0009 File: Assign "folder$name$"
0010 String: Assign from line number in file "1"
0011 Data: Add "name$ = string$~"
0012 Action: End of block ""
0013 Folder: End of file processing ""
0014 Action: End of block ""
0015 Action: Do this block if "alert$=text"
0016 Folder: Start of file processing ""
0017 File: Assign "folder$name$"
0018 String: Assign from line number in file "1"
0019 String: Get first chars "4"
0020 Action: Do this block if "string$=Type"
0021 File: Assign "folder$name$"
0022 String: Assign from line number in file "1"
0023 Data: Add "name$ = string$~"
0024 Action: End of block ""
0025 Folder: End of file processing ""
0026 Action: End of block ""
0027 Alert: Show a message "data$"
(End)
I have noticed that a block inside a block doesn't get a second indent when copied to the clipboard, so I've added that manually :)
Also -- I think I've asked this before but I might not have done -- might it be possible to suppress the "Search" element of the "Alert: Ask for a choice" step?
Indents are not done deeply when copying an action's text, by design. This is to save whitespace when pasting to places like here, because the aim is just for someone to copy the text for pasting into the app, where it'll appear indented nicely. I'll see about suppressing the "Search" part of the "Alert: Ask for a choice" step.
BTW, in the update of the app I emailed you, you can now replace step 1 like so:
Old:
0001 Folder: Assign "C:\[Tim]\[Toolbox]\Toolbox Data\Actions\My Useful Stuff"
New:
0001 Folder: Assign "tooldata$\Actions\My Useful Stuff"
The tooldata$ variable is definitely a Good Thing, particularly for portable setups. I haven't been able to download the update yet -- for some reason, although the website is available (or I wouldn't be typing this!) I get "not available" errors when I try the download. Might be an issue with my network setup, and I'm working off a hotspot right now which might also be an issue, but I'll check it out as soon as I can. Thanks, as always!
I made a typo in the URL that I emailed you. Put a dot instead of the slash before "com". ;D
So you did. :)
New version -- the tooldata$ variable in place and working. MUCH improved for portability and readability too! Thanks :)
I absolutely love the dedication of Paul to his users and the app. This topic demonstrates it so well: not only does he take the time to create an action AND screenshots to answer the user's question, but he also goes the extra mile and implements a new function (the "tooldata$" variable) to make it even easier for his user. It's a rare sight these days to see a software developer so caring and devoted like this. Thank you, Paul. I knew my purchase was in good hands.
Hi everyone. I've been watching this software and forum as a while now as a guest lurker and decided to bite the bullet and pay for an unlock code today, based literally on what I saw in this topic. What GCRedditor136 said is true: I wanted a software that was current, supported, and updated. Amazingly, Paul responded to my payment within an hour with my unlock code, and even asked me if I had any questions. I've never experienced such one-to-one support like this in all my years of software ownership! Usually you don't hear back from a company until days later (if at all) so I'm very happy and can recommend AlomWare Toolbox to anyone reading this.👍
Phteven and GCRedditor136 -- you've absolutely nailed it. :)
Once the tooldata$ variable is implemented in the main release, I'm going to put my current version of the action up, with lots of explanation and so on, as a tutorial in the Tips section. It's been a useful learning exercise for me so hopefully that'll apply to other people too!
Thank you both for your kind words. I truly appreciate the... appreciation. ;D