LayoutManager [release 1.1]

[klownboy]

Hey Filehero,

I loaded your new update last night. I haven't experienced any issues except for one and I'm not sure it's really an issue. When I have the dynamic mode on, my "original" menu will only show up to layout number 2. "Plain" seems to stay or persist on the number one position for some reason, not that it's a big issue. I believe before with dynamic mode on, a new menu which is active would go to number if I recall correctly. No forget that issue , I've been just playing again going back and forth with various menus and now "original" has gone to number 1 whereas, it didn't seem to want to initially or last night.

If this unit testing is not possible or to difficult to attempt, I'll be glad to check out any options or behavior you want...let me know.

Have fun in the Blackwood Forest. I've never been to Germany. I was In Ireland last summer. We had a great time. My mom and older brother were born there. I have dozens of relatives there.

Take care,
Ken

[Filehero]

Hi Ken,

No forget that issue , I've been just playing again going back and forth with various menus and now "original" has gone to number 1 whereas, it didn't seem to want to initially or last night.

once in a while I have been stumbling over this little "startup-hickup" too (seems only to happen with a "fresh" installation), I'll keep an eye on that.
But I'm glad to hear that the script serves well for regular use.

If this unit testing is not possible or to difficult to attempt, I'll be glad to check out any options or behavior you want...let me know.

Good news: Basically unit testing is working though some detours are needed for implementation as compared to mature programming languages. And it is really working: Already found a new bug (layout properties get completely deleted when you rename a layout under the same name again) with my second test case.

Have fun in the Blackwood Forest. I've never been to Germany. I was In Ireland last summer. We had a great time. My mom and older brother were born there. I have dozens of relatives there.

Thank you for your wishes. I'm looking forward to some nice trecking tours and great landscapes. But just for the weather, I'm sure we'll do much better there (it was snowing this morning ).
Funny, Ireland is one of those must haves on my list.

Have a good time.

Cheers,
Filehero

[klownboy]

Hey Filehero,

I'm back home. It's always good to be back home no matter how much fun you have. We had a bunch of fun, but it was over a 6 1/2 hour drive.

I tried the issue which surfaced during the basic unit testing. I don't know why someone would do that but that's the whole idea to test all the stituations no matter how unusual. I did end up getting the same "opps" message about the missing layout attributes I had seen in earlier testing.

Take care,

Ken

[klownboy]

Hey again Filehero,

I did also check the deleting of layouts as we discussed in earlier posts. I made new layouts Ken, Ken2 and Ken3 again. I then made "Plain" the active layout and then I checked off layouts, Ken, Ken2 and Ken3 in the Delete layout menu. It worked fine...no remnant layouts "2" and "3". I then did the same but had Ken3 active, and as expected Ken3 does not show up in the Delete Layouts menu. I deleted Ken and Ken2 with no issues and then made "Plain" active and deleted Ken3, again with no issues.

One very minor suggestion. Under the more setting menu item, you have a menu item, "Change Menu Item Number...". I hadn't toyed with it before, but in seeing it, I first thought it was to change the number of a layout (e.g., change layout "Plain" from "3" to "1". Obviously, it is not. It's to change the allowable or maximum number of layouts. May I suggest, "Change allowable number of Layouts..." or "Change max number of Layouts..." or something similar. The actual input box title is clearer, "Change maximum Number of Named Layout Menu Items".

Have a great day,
Ken

[Filehero]

Hi Ken,

nice to hear your trip was great. We've just returned. Well, the weather was even worse there. But the black forest was/is a gorgious scenery!

Thanks a lot for retesting and confirming my fixes do work.

As for your suggestion: How about ""Set Max Number of Menu Layout Entries"?

My very next to do's:
- completion of automated tests (I need this for future changes and code maintenance)
- once this is done I'm going to do some code optimizations

Afterwards I'll think about what functional improvements I can add based on the current XY script engine (see my "wishes" in my entry post).


Cheers,
Filehero

[klownboy]

Hey Filehero,

Good to hear you made it back safe and sound and had a nice time . You can never depend on the weather though, can you?

"Set Max Number of Menu Layout Entries" sounds fine.

I noticed you took care of the * asterisk issue, in that it now behaves like it should.

So as you mentioned in your first Layout Manager post, "Catalog Above Tree" is not currently supported by get("#functionID");. I assume this is why even if you had "Catalog Above Tree" in menu you couldn't obtain it's current state and also why in Layout Manager's current version, when you change "Catalog Above Tree", it is not saved as part of the layout changes (i.e., it's not incorporated in to the layout saves) and it can't unless you have get("#functionID"); support.

I noticed in another script, "Toolbar Manager", by Stefan, he has "SetToolbar Icon Size", but there are 2 separate entries one for setting the toolbar to large , another to set it for small. I assume in the script, he is not obtaining the current toolbar size state or can not due to the XY scripting limitations.

Take care and enjoy the rest of the weekend,
Ken

[Filehero]

Hi Ken,

You can never depend on the weather though, can you?

Of course, we can't! Fortunately.

"Set Max Number of Menu Layout Entries" sounds fine.

Good.

I noticed you took care of the * asterisk issue, in that it now behaves like it should.

You notice everything - truly amazing! Yes, I fixed that, and made the asterisk flag a prefix just like in XY.

So as you mentioned in your first Layout Manager post, "Catalog Above Tree" is not currently supported by get("#functionID");. I assume this is why even if you had "Catalog Above Tree" in menu you couldn't obtain it's current state and also why in Layout Manager's current version, when you change "Catalog Above Tree", it is not saved as part of the layout changes (i.e., it's not incorporated in to the layout saves) and it can't unless you have get("#functionID"); support.

I noticed in another script, "Toolbar Manager", by Stefan, he has "SetToolbar Icon Size", but there are 2 separate entries one for setting the toolbar to large , another to set it for small. I assume in the script, he is not obtaining the current toolbar size state or can not due to the XY scripting limitations.

Ken, I hope you don't mind me saying: To be an engineer is a truly privileged mindset too little people are aiming at, you're spot on!

So far my script is "just" supposed to save XY snapshots at any time by getting its GUI "state". So, if there's no get'("#functionID");'-support nothing is saved.
The benefit: You don't have to really worry about the LM script, just use XY (and its keyboard shortcuts), and once you wish to save the XY layout, save it. The bad: Obviously, this approach is patchy.

What do you think about adding _explicit_ menu entries (toggles) for 'small/large icons' and 'cat above tree'? Though they work globally in XY I could make them act per layout.


Thanks & cheers,
Filehero

[klownboy]

Hey Filehero,

Yes, Layout Manager menu entry for 'cat above tree' might be a nice addition especially since you're planning on having them act or saved per layout and it does truly relate to layout management. At first, I wasn't sure about needing or the value of a menu entry for 'small vs large icons' only because most people would tend to stay with what they like for icon size independent of the layout, but then again there may be some benefit from having small icons taking up less real estate and being layout dependent especially coupled with the use of the address bar - either on the same line or not.

Speaking of address bar and toolbar being on the same line, do you use or often change the "existing XY" layout changes allowed under Window - Layout - [Address bar & Tool bar] etc. positioning? Personnally, I rarely change those layout options. I leave it set at [Toolbar & Address bar] and typically do not have the address bar enabled though that could always change.

Talk to you later,
Ken

[Filehero]

Hi Ken,

switching between different addressbar/toolbar layouts I have done only once by now, I think. However, large/small icons and Catalogue above tree I use sometimes.

Conceptual I'm still hesitating, because adding those switches to the script will break the current usage paradigm where XY is the master: The switches have to be triggered from the script and always have to be saved immediately, so I can no longer offer a change flag.

But this year still has a lot of days to go.


Cheers,
Filehero

[klownboy]

Hey Filehero,

I'd say it's probably isn't worth the effort to add "Cat above tree" then if you have to undue existing features like the asterisk change flag to make it happen. I take it this goes back to the fact that there is no get("#functionID"); XY script support for "Cat above tree" as you explained earlier? Maybe Don will expand this support in XY scripting at some point in time.

Have great day or is it approaching night,

Ken

[Filehero]

Heyho Ken,

I take it this goes back to the fact that there is no get("#functionID"); XY script support for "Cat above tree" as you explained earlier?

Exactly, I cannot sense it. Another option is to provide it just as a read-only ini-tweak. Only if it's there (and has a valid value) it will be read and processed. At least, this wouldn't create any confusion out of the box.

IMaybe Don will expand this support in XY scripting at some point in time.

Yes, that's what I'm hoping for.

... is it approaching night,

Now (7.45 pm) I'm back from work - and in the middle of dusk again.

Enjoy your Tuesday hours still ahead!


Cheers,
Filehero

[klownboy]

Hey Filehero,

I'm not positive what you meant by,

Another option is to provide it just as a read-only ini-tweak. Only if it's there (and has a valid value) it will be read and processed.

Does it mean the script would look at xyplorer.ini and see if the line entry "CatalogOnTop" existed and if it does, check it's value of "0" or "1"? If a person changed the catalog position using Layout Manager, would the script change the entry value in xyplorer.ini?
I played with the setting "Catalog above Tree", saved settings, and noticed the value changed from "0" to "1", etc. I also noticed that the "Save Settings" button on the Toolbar didn't change from green to brown as it does when other layout changes are made. I was also curious what the xyplorer setting, "HighTree=1" controlled. It's a few lines below the "CatalogOnTop" entry. At first, I thought this was the entry that controlled Catalog position, but obviously it isn't. I changed it's value to "0" but it didn't seem to do anything. I didn't find anything in help.

Have a great day...it's raining here,
Ken

[Filehero]

Hi Ken,

I'm not positive what you meant by, ......Does it mean the script would look at xyplorer.ini and see if the line entry "CatalogOnTop" existed and if it does, check it's value of "0" or "1"? If a person changed the catalog position using Layout Manager, would the script change the entry value in xyplorer.ini?

No, I don't plan to mess with any of XYs own ini-files and/or settings!

I was just thinking about one way I could add a minimal support for at least CatAboveTree (or Large/SmallIcons) in my script. For instance, I could introduce an optional read-only property catAboveTree=0|1 to a layout config. Optional would mean, it can be manually added to an ini layout section using an editor. If it's there it will be read and processed and if not, nothing will happen. Read-only means, no write/save actions possible.

But that's just an idea I will revisit if I'll find some more time.


Cheers,
Filehero

[klownboy]

Hi Filehero, Ah yes, now I see. Manual editing of the layouts.ini file, if and when I wanted that feature, would be fine with me. Ken

[Filehero]

Hi Ken (and everyone else, of course),

I hope you're doing fine.

Since I'm currently really busy with some other things (mostly job, and during spare time getting Lightroom 4.x to run including migration of my image database) I would just like to ask wether the script is still free of major flaws?

I hope to continue bringing LM to 1.0 at one of the upcoming holidays in May.


Cheers,
Filehero