[Plugin] Plugins help script

[Edson]

TIG,

this is what happened to your script on mac: it seems to be working fine.

PluginsListB_01.png

PluginsListB_02.png

[TIG]

TIG,
this is what happened to your script on mac: it seems to be working fine.

PluginsListB_01.png

PluginsListB_02.png

So Edson, you are saying that my version works OK ?

Note: the reason mine lists one more help-file than the other version is that it looks in all of the sub-folders in the Plugins folder and lists any it finds in there too...

[TIG]

Dear TIG,

Do you think you could modify your script to include simple text documents? I ask because when I install a plugin which isn't supplied with a help/readme document (more recently a .pdf file), I create my own help/readme document by making a simple text file and then cutting and pasting any explanation posted with the ruby script. I now have quite a few of these 'readme' files and it would be really useful if I could access them from the Help drop-down menu.

Many thanks,
Bob

The problem is that many people add a .txt suffix to the end of the name of any scripts they don't want to have always loaded - they can 'load "script.txt"' through the Ruby Console later if needed. If the help script listed all .txt files these would come up in the list too. The formats that are found and listed are pdf htm html mht and doc - so you could make the txt files into doc ones ? OR you could make your help files end with a suffix .bob and set .bob files always to open with NotePad.exe; then edit the script and add ".bob" to the list of files it finds - easy to see how it works - and off you go...

[watkins]

Dear TIG,

Many thanks for your helpful suggestions. I will give it a go.

Kind regards,

.bob

[watkins]

Dear TIG,

I wrote before thinking (not unusual). I simply added "txt" to the list as I almost never load scripts using 'load "script.txt"' through the Ruby Console. This is a quick fix, although I should think about doing what you suggested in the future and loading little used scripts via the Ruby Console.

Kind regards.
.txt

[Edson]

So Edson, you are saying that my version works OK ?

yes, it seemed to work fine but i was unsure of it since i did not know whether the result i obtained was the one to be expected from the script or not. is it what you expected?

[watkins]

Dear TIG,

Its me again (bad penny and all that).

Okay, adding .txt works fine, except that for long text files I can only see what will fit on the screen (no vertical scroll bars). I note that .pdf files open with scroll bars and so viewing them is just fine. I also have a lot of .txt files in my plugin folder and so when I try to select a file I can only view/select those that are visible in the text window. It would be useful if your script could be made to work like the Plugin drop-down menu, viz. the window opens and stays open with a single click and then items on the list are accessed (if required) using up/down arrows. This might be a useful feature anyway as users are likely to accumulate lots of .pdf help files with time.

Kind regards,
Bob

[TIG]

So Edson, you are saying that my version works OK ?

yes, it seemed to work fine but i was unsure of it since i did not know whether the result i obtained was the one to be expected from the script or not. is it what you expected?

Yes - all is OK.

[TIG]

Dear TIG,

Its me again (bad penny and all that).

Okay, adding .txt works fine, except that for long text files I can only see what will fit on the screen (no vertical scroll bars). I note that .pdf files open with scroll bars and so viewing them is just fine. I also have a lot of .txt files in my plugin folder and so when I try to select a file I can only view/select those that are visible in the text window. It would be useful if your script could be made to work like the Plugin drop-down menu, viz. the window opens and stays open with a single click and then items on the list are accessed (if required) using up/down arrows. This might be a useful feature anyway as users are likely to accumulate lots of .pdf help files with time.

Kind regards,
Bob

Making the top bar menu list is what takes the time and slows down any model opening - and it's what we are trying to avoid... It's a limitation of the current Ruby dialogs that long lists go off the screen. However if you type the first character of the likely file's name e.g. W for Windowizer_help then the list will jump to that (or at least near that) and scrolling down is then possible... This applies to lots of Ruby dialogs like ones listing layers or colours. It could be done better with a web-dialog... but others have that expertise (and time) - perhaps someone can clobber 'my' getting the list of files into 'their' web-dialog and make it run as a superior form of dialog... before the Ruby dialogs themselves get improved (if ever)...

[watkins]

Dear TIG,

Once again, thanks for giving my enquiries your consideration.

Kind regards,
Bob