Idea collecting thread: External Tools

[Stefan]

Thread renamed from
External Tools: Idea collecting thread
to
Idea collecting thread: External Tools
------------------------------
Related threads:

http://forum.hippoedit.com/index.php/topic,134.0.html
But some kind of command bar, where you can enter commands from keyboard in verbal form with paramters etc is a good idea.
Especially when you would think about macro recorder etc, where such functinality would be necessary also.
And about this I can think and place into my todo Wink

Tool Properties: replace text with output from external tool
http://forum.hippoedit.com/index.php/topic,91.0.html

[Solved] Tool Properties: run with associated app « 1 2 »
http://forum.hippoedit.com/index.php/topic,79.0.html

How to run associated application?
http://forum.hippoedit.com/index.php/topic,84.0.html

How to run external tool to sort lines
http://forum.hippoedit.com/index.php/topic,143.msg493.html#msg493

[Stefan]

Topic 1

It's annoying to find an place and an name to save an file,... just to have an saved file for an external tool to work with.

SO i suggest
an fourth option for "Tool Properties" > Save before >>> "Save as HETemp file"
in fusion with an new Argument >>> "%HETemp%"


If i use  "Save as HETemp file" , HippoEDIT should create an new, temporary file like "%Temp%\HETemp.txt"
...with the content of the current, (un-saved) document, or the selected text for that matter.


If i chose  "%HETemp%" as argument within my external tool command line,...
....HippoEDIT should insert the full path as like "%Temp%\HETemp.txt" into my command line.


Also it would be nice to have an option to open that "%Temp%\HETemp.txt"   from "File"-menu


So i would use:  xyz.exe -in "%Temp%\HETemp.txt" -out "%Temp%\HETemp.txt"

[Stefan]

Topic 2

Capture output to new window.  (instead of Output-window)
Capture output and overwrite current selection/whole document  (i think this is planed)


something like  http://www  editpadpro.com/tools.html


.

[Stefan]

Topic 3

Command line preview for tools properties.

I think about an option (field or button to open MsgBox) to show
what my setting would do, like expanded [command arguments] tags

Command: sfk
Arguments:  filter %FileName% +sort
Preview:
            C:\Windows\System32\sfk.exe  filter "C:\temp\testfile.txt" +sort
            "C:\temp\"

EDIT:
this 'command line preview' i like also as tool tip for the menu bar buttons, to see what this button does. (see picture)
The path should be shortened if it is too long: C:\Windows\...\sfk.exe

[Stefan]

Beta 1.42 608 from 01. Feb 2009
Topic 3b implemented:

Status bar now shows complete expanded command line (with replaced tags and environment variables)
when hovering over tool item in toolbar (not in tooltip)

[Stefan]

Topic 4, use intern commands as tool

how about,
like with menu "Tools > Keyboard Settings",
let user chose this editor commands as an tool ?

Title:
Command: HippoEDIT
Arguments: Edit.Capitalize; Edit.Copy; Edit.Delete

Benefits: 
kind of customized menu
and executing a few commands at once.

.

[alex]

Idea is not bad, but generally this is two request I had already in planinng
1) Do toolbar customizable (reorder, hide or add buttons).
2) Macro recorder and possibility to add call of macro as button to toolbar

Of course I can do this in tool definition, but this would make creating of the dialog more complaex. I think for macro I would have to create a new dialog.

?

[Stefan]

 

What I have just needed and was not available to get out off HippoEdit is the ability to exam differences in files and directories.
Is that something others want? I bet this is a cool extra help for us.

Topic 5:

How about to enhance the HE-Tools option to call an external tool with two, three ore more files?

- there could be an dialog with an list of open files, we should be able to select one or more from that list and call an tool.
Or there could be an option with tools too: First we execute an tool which open this file-list dialog an let us choose the files we want.

- there could be an tools-option "execute on all open files" - send file name one-by-one to other tool
or create an temporary list of open files and give this temp-file as parameter to call the other tool.

- there could perhaps be an option to select one or more tabs of open files and call an tool (ctrl+alt+click???)

So we could use WinMerge or 'Beyond Compare', or even an simple DOS diff.exe
We could send the list of files to an batch which make an backup of this files,... or could wrote this list in an list.txt, or...

.

[alex]

Hello Stefan,

I agree on such new tag for templates to show open fies dilaog and you can select some or all. Would implement maybe even in some betas 1.4x. 
Should be some similar to %InteractiveFile% (by the way I have found I think a bug - InteractiveFile could not select more then one file).

Also agree on Execute on all open files. Corrected: not as option, but also as a new template tag.

With selection... maybe. Currently there are no functionality to do something like this. But idea is Ok.

[Stefan]

Just some tought found on the net:

When a filter is to be executed, a new process is started using the command of that filter.
All defined variables are replaced with values.

The selection is then given to the stdin of the started process.
After the process returns, its stdout or stderr is read, depending on what value the process returned. (here it should be optional which we want as return to overwrite the selection)

Finally, the selection is replaced with the output of the process
or an error is displayed, containing the returned error code and the content of the stderr.

System commands need to be executed through a command interpreter, as they do not
have any file names to be executed. Use standard command interpreters (i.e. cmd.exe on Win NT/2000/XP)

Examples:
cmd.exe /c command [parameters]
cmd /c dir /b %1

[Stefan]

Some more topics to think about.

-----------
topic 6

Like %Inter active%
i would like to use  f.ex.    %FileName%  ...but want to be prompted for preview and/or modification.

Maybe an option to add an question mark some where to be prompted?  like   ?%FileName%?
That would show an dialog with the current path & file name and would allow me to modify what i see.

f.ex.
Command:  BackUp.cmd
Arguments: ?%FileName%?

I would get and modify:  [ BackUp.cmd C:\Test\FileName *.cpp]



or f.ex.
Command: grep
Arguments: ?%FileDir%?
I would get and modify:  [ grep C:\very\long\path\test  work\new]

---


topic 7

The output of  unix tools may use an "unwanted" EOL option.
Maybe you can provide an option to provide the output whit DOS EOL chars?   Instead of use the function from the menu myself.

EDIT:   
or i could  use the proper parameters of this tools 

-U, --binary              do not strip CR characters at EOL (MSDOS)

forget this  topic 


----


topic 8

Often we have an inter active "parameter" and "work dir" at the same time.
Maybe you want to provide an new tag which prompt us with this two parameters in one dialog?
Or even more to get all possibilities?


--------------------------------------------------
Parameter: [               ] [V]
        Path: [                ] [V]  [Browse...]
Parameter: [               ] [V]
  Work Dir: [                ] [V]  [Browse...]
--------------------------------------------------


-----------

topic 9

How about "prefilled" %interacitve% parameters?

Like
Command: grep
Arguments: %Options {-i -m1  "here your search term"}%

That way we can provide valid parameters to an tool

and don't have to make this "hard coded"
Like
Command: grep
Arguments: -i -m1 %here your search term in quotes%

-------------------


.

[Stefan]

topic 10

- allow to put tools into context menu.
- allow to use sub-folders in menu to organize tools

-

[alex]

allow to use sub-folders in menu to organize tools

this should already work for main menu.

allow to put tools into context menu.

this is easy, maybe I can add this soon. Require additional flag in tool settings.

[Stefan]

this should already work for main menu.

  upps , right!   Even copy item works (Ctrl+C | Ctrl+V).  I am quiet

[alex]

I wan thinking about the tools in the context menu.
Should it be in submenu Tools or directly inserted?