Action Editor bookmarks and Macros

[Geoffww]

Greetings / Merry Xmas / Happy Holidays.

How are the bookmarks feature supposed to work with the action editor? Specifically are they supposed to be saved permanently or only by session or only when the window is open?

If I'm on a Screen Properties action such as On Start and create a Bookmark, click OK to close the Screen Properties window and then reopen it, the Bookmark is still there. However if I click OK on the Screen Properties window then OK on the Screens window such as "After Installing" and go back, all the Bookmarks are gone. Same issue with all the windows for On Startup, On Pre Install, On Post Install, and On Shutdown the Bookmarks don't persist. If this is working as intended, I think a Go To Line number button on the UI would be helpful. Since Bookmarks don't save permanently, I could have a multi line comment with a line numbers list as pseudo bookmarks.

I have an issue with how the Macros are used. Since they are saved keystrokes, using a Macro uses up the number of possible Undo/Redo levels. The maximum Undo/Redo levels is 300, what if I have a 300 character macro, if I use it once I lose all of the previous Undo keystrokes. I think some sort of snippet tool for commonly used snippets of code would be better. Say 20 possible snippets of code that can be setup, pressing CTRL+ALT+1 inserts snippet 1 (previously saved in SUF preferences).

Cheers.
Geoff

[Geoffww]

I think a GoTo Line Number tool would be helpful as well on the Actions window toolbar below the tabs. Since the Bookmarks aren't saved permanently I could write a multi line comment at the top listing line numbers for specific areas, then entering a line number in a field at the top of the window to go to that line would be nice.

[Ulrich]

Geoff, I agree that the script editor could receive a serious overhaul, and this is something which was suggested repeatedly for the other products as well, e.g. AutoPlay Media Studio. I will move this to the suggestions sub-forum, where hopefully this will be seen if/when a newer release is published. (No, I do not have any new information on this.)

Personally, I never used the bookmarks or even the macro functions, as they did not appear useful in the past years using the products, and yes - they are apparently not saved when switching screens. I never found a reason to use them... Also, I have never had the need to playback a macro, as I use a separate product for organizing my script excerpts, named Ultra Recall. In this product, I have built a database over the years with many known issues, workarounds, links, documents, scripts and anything else I thought would be useful to save for a future occasion. Everything is indexed, can be found quickly, and copied/pasted where needed.



I tried before a product named "Source Code Library", which now appears to be discontinued, but I had lots of problems using it and dropped it quickly after some days of frustration. The idea then was to have a repository of recurring scripts, basically in the same manner the "Add Code" works in the ediot dialog, just for any custom code I may re-use in projects, but it simply did not work, starting with the fact that the software was not Vista-aware... Ultra Recall I still use daily, and "it just works". It may not be pretty, but it is fast and it is trustworthy. Nothing beats a quick search, copy & paste.

Ulrich

[Geoffww]

Thanks for the Ultra Recall suggestion I'll definitely check it out. I haven't needed to use the Bookmarks until now. After having a couple of established installers of several iterations, I find that I now need to create the installers with an unattended option. Realizing no screen action code is used at all for that I've been going back and forth between numerous screens and the "On Pre Install/On Post Install" copying over relevant code for silent mode. The Bookmarks saving would be handy.