Brass Plugins: Mime
The Custom Action Wizard: Adding
an Application
Custom actions work in exactly the same way as
developed plugins. When they're created, they look exactly like
every other plugin you have. The difference is that you have complete
control.
Let's walk through adding a new application to
Mime. We're going to enable Notepad to receive gestures again, but
this time we're going to do it properly. Previously we simply used
the "All Applications" criteria plugin, now we're going
to give Notepad an entry in Mime all of its own. We'll also add
the custom action of "File - Save".
To access the Wizard, simply click the "Custom
Action Wizard" button underneath the "Available Actions"
tree. The Wizard intro screen will appear.
We want to add a new custom application, so select
the top option and click "Next".
This is where you name the new application entry.
We're adding Notepad to Mime, so I think "Notepad" is
a good application name and "Notepad.nfo" is a good filename
to store our configuration in. All custom applications and actions
are stored in a file with a ".nfo" suffix, so if you don't
add ".nfo" to the filename it will be added for you. Fill
out your wizard page as per the screenshot, and click "Next".
Now we need to name our first custom action for
this application. We're going to configure an action to get Notepad
to save the current file, so "FileSave" is a good name
for the action. You can also provide a descriptive name for this
action.
What's the difference? The action name is what
Mime uses to internally refer to your action. The descriptive name
is what Mime uses when displaying your action in the configuration
trees. So if you add a gesture to this action and then rename it,
what you're actually renaming is the descriptive name. If you don't
provide a descriptive name, Mime uses the action name instead.
In a sentence: The action name never changes, the
descriptive name can be changed.
Fill out your wizard page as per the screenshot,
and click "Next".
Now we come to the confusing part :-). Criteria
are how Mime understands which application you want to add an action
to. To fill out the fields in this wizard page, run Notepad (Start
- Run - Notepad). When the Notepad window opens, move the mouse
to the windowfinder icon ( 
), click and hold the left mouse button, then drag the icon over
to the Notepad window. If you do this correctly, your Wizard page
will automatically be filled out like the screenshot above. This
means that Mime has recognised Notepad as an application.
We're not done though. Edit the fields in your
Wizard page so they look like this:
Most of the fields are now blank. Selecting criteria
is a bit of an art, and it is covered in detail in Writing
Good Criteria. So for now just continue following this guide
and we'll go through criteria in a little bit.
Once you've filled out the Wizard page as per the
screenshot above (the mostly blank one), click "Next".
This is the directive configuration page, where
you tell Mime what you want this action to do. In the "Directive
Type" combobox you can select from various directive types.
Each directive has a specific meaning, for example "Keyboard:
Hold ALT and send keys" pretty obviously emulates pressing
ALT and then some keys in the application.
To get Notepad to do a File - Save, we would hold
ALT, press "F", release ALT, and finally press "S".
Try it in Notepad if you don't see what I mean, it's the standard
keyboard accelerator.
To configure this first select "Keyboard:
Hold ALT and send keys" in the comobobox. You'll see parameter
boxes 1 & 3 change to reflect your ALT key press, and parameter
box 2 become enabled. In parameter box 2, type "F" (without
the quotes) then click the big "Add this directive" button.
In the text box at the bottom of the screen, "[ALT DOWN]f[ALT
UP]" will be added.
Next we want to send a normal keypress of "S".
Select "Keyboard: Simple keypress" and type "S"
into parameter box 1, then click "Add this directive".
When you've done it, your complete directive line
at the bottom of the wizard page will look like the one in the screenshot
above.
This wizard page makes it easier for new users
of Mime to create directives. If you're a bit of an expert user
you can type your directive line straight into the bottom edit field.
To find out about all the directives Mime supports
and how to use them, please visit the Supported
Directives page. It's linked from the main Mime page too, so
you can go and read it after you've finished this walkthrough.
Click "Next" once you've created the
directive for our "File - Save" action.
Here you can give a description for the action
you've created. This is displayed in the bottom left of the Mime
gesture configuration screen when you click on the action. Type
any description you like and click "Next"
You're done! This final page is a summary of your
configuration choices. Take a moment to read through it and make
sure everything is as you expect. Your changes are not made until
you click "Finish", and you can click "Back"
at any time.
Before you click "Finish", you can tick
"Restart the Wizard after my changes have been made".
This is handy if you want to add a lot of applications or actions
and saves you restarting the Wizard each time.
That's it - you've created a new application and
"File - Save" action that will only apply to Notepad!
You add a gesture to it in exactly the same way as normal - find
it in the "Available Actions" tree and click the right
arrow button.
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