Toolbar Button to Run a Script

[oleg01]

Hi!

First of all thanks a lot for this great program!.

I was just wondering if it would be possible to create custom buttons in the toolbar for scripts. I know that there are many options available (the catalog, the favorite file button, the UDCs and so on) and that there's a CTB configuration utility in progress, but just having a couple of toolbar buttons for frequently used scripts in a next beta release would be absolutely awesome.

Thanks in advance!.

[zer0]

Hi!

First of all thanks a lot for this great program!.

I was just wondering if it would be possible to create custom buttons in the toolbar for scripts. I know that there are many options available (the catalog, the favorite file button, the UDCs and so on) and that there's a CTB configuration utility in progress, but just having a couple of toolbar buttons for frequently used scripts in a next beta release would be absolutely awesome.

Thanks in advance!.

Hello and welcome to the club!

I would also like this, but I think Don will do all stuff related to CTBs in one go. Usually, he creates a new feature from scratch to voilà!, so implementing a little bit and then coming back to it further down the line is probably not his style. How glad would I be to be proven wrong there! A couple of other things to mention: a) from what I've read Don is eager to add "Undo/Redo" quite soon, so CTBs is definitely not the next item on the menu and b) he's out of office until the end of the month, so nobody knows when the next beta release will be

[oleg01]

Well, Thanks a lot for the info!

If that is the case, then we'll have to wait, actually my workaround for this was to create entries in the favorite file list for each script. Then I have the most frequently used scripts under that button which more or less fits my needs, but when it comes to speed it's kind of slow because you have to click and then select the script you want from the list. For instance, my first idea for this request was having a button to run external programs from a script passing arguments automatically, so any time I push that button the program runs with the conditions I pre-stated. Plus, associating an icon to it to show the program makes it visually nicer than just running it from the catalog or remembering some KS.

Well, thanks again for the reply!.

[j_c_hallgren]

Hi and welcome to the XY forums from me also!

zer0 gave your the correct info afaik...btw, I have found that using a script category in Catalog gives me the best flexability as I can caption the entries different from the actual script and thus describe it more completely...have you looked at doing it that way?

[oleg01]

Hi, yes, first I had all my scripts in the catalog and UDCs but then the list started to grow and with many categories there just going through the list and finding the External programs category was much of a hassle.

Actually I'm using autohotkey a lot and let's say if you want to compile an autohotkey script just selecting the ahk file and then pushing that button makes a big difference. Also, if you want to run programs like Powercommand which is an extended cmd prompt, having the option of a personalized button comes in handy. And for winrar, let's say you want to compress a couple of files you selected and create a rar file right away... the possibilities are endless and the speed improvement is really huge.

Anyway, thanks a lot for your ideas.

[admin]

Hi!

You know that you can use multi-script resources (in a XYS file, or inline in Catalog or UDC) to pop up menus with any number of items? So you would need just one Catalog item to pop the menu and then one more click to select the right item in the menu.

[oleg01]

Yeap, I know, but that's more of the same story :-), in the end I end up having lists either through pop up menus or through buttons where I only need easy access "one click and go" buttons. :-), like in excel, where you can assign a macro to a button.

Also it would be nice to have a maximize & close button and a search "catalog item" bar over the catalog because when there are many categories moving the bar up to see them is pretty annoying.

Take care.

[admin]

But TB buttons are no solution to this general problem because you'll end up with lots of buttons which you have to look through to find the right button (and at some point they won't even fit on the screen).
IMO, keyboard shortcuts are the golden way because it moves the interface into your head...

[oleg01]

Hahaha, yeah, it's always better to have everything in your head...

Well, I wasn't talking about making 1000 buttons, and creating many toolbars, the idea is to have 95% of the scripts in the catalog and UDCs and 5% in buttons for easy quick access. Actually, it's an additional implementation to the existing items for speed purposes.

[jacky]

But TB buttons are no solution to this general problem because you'll end up with lots of buttons which you have to look through to find the right button (and at some point they won't even fit on the screen).
IMO, keyboard shortcuts are the golden way because it moves the interface into your head...

Yeah but some people are more mouse than KB. Plus, with a TB button you don't have to remember many KS and which is what, etc which can be quite helpful, especially for features you have to trigger on a regular basis but maybe not enough to always remember what KS you might have assign to it. Just look for the right little icon, which is much easier/faster to get than a menuitem.... no, TB buttons are really cool (So are/would be icons on (scripts) menu for that matter...)

[Stefan]

But TB buttons are no solution to this general problem because you'll end up with lots of buttons which you have to look through to find the right button (and at some point they won't even fit on the screen).
IMO, keyboard shortcuts are the golden way because it moves the interface into your head...

I am not afraid about "lots of buttons", especially i don't have to make that many buttons but a few only.

>(and at some point they won't even fit on the screen).
The same with my browser, but FireFox can handle this very fine (and i too)


I agree with this:

Yeah but some people are more mouse than KB. Plus, with a TB button you don't have to remember many KS and which is what, etc which can be quite helpful, especially for features you have to trigger on a regular basis but maybe not enough to always remember what KS you might have assign to it. Just look for the right little icon, which is much easier/faster to get than a menuitem.... no, TB buttons are really cool (So are/would be icons on (scripts) menu for that matter...)

The same here. This are the words i was seeking for