Release OVR editor and PND aware application launcher


Caine

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This is a simple application launcher dialog which I have written which is aware of PND files installed on the users system (as opposed to the standard Run Program... dialog.


In my nub configurator thread, peelie asked for a tool to simplify setting of keyboard shortcuts. I initially dismissed the idea, but after thinking about it some more, I had the idea to simplify the task of fetching the proper execution command of a PND. When Blue Protoman requested an ovr file editor for XFCE, the direction to take this project became clear to me.


So, here I present the first functional release of this application. Features:

  • Search and run dialog which searches for applications on the system whose name contains the search query as a substring.


    E.g. type geometry [enter] or geom [enter] to open Super Geometry Dust.
    This reveals the execution command of the application, click run (or press [enter] again) to launch it.
  • An initially hidden application editor can be opened to edit an override file of the PND (PND applications only).
  • There is also an application menu to browse if you so prefer.
  • Applications can also be launched directly by passing the query as a command line parameter.


    It is convenient to setup a helper script for this as otherwise you still have to write the entire pnd_run.sh invocation. E.g. (adapt your path):


    Code:
    #!/bin/bash
    
    
    /usr/pandora/scripts/pnd_run.sh -p "/media/mmcblk0p1/pandora/menu/runapp.pnd" -e "runapp.py" -b "runapp" -a "$@"
  • The launcher can open the keyboard settings for quickly adding a new keyboard shortcut. For convenience, the execution command is automatically copied to clipboard whenever you open an application.


Known issues:

  • Icon override currently does not work. See my question here.
  • The built-in applications menu is never updated, so after changing categories applications are misplaced.
  • The keyboard editor relies on an external application. Yes, the request which started it all is solved the poorest :p


Older releases:

Release one:


PND file


Screenshot


Release two (minor bugfix for properly handling non-existing keyboard file):


PND file

Release three (fixed incompatibility with OVR files generated by minimenu):


PND file (11-10-2011)
 
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I bet after I download and use this Hotfix 6a5 will come out. Still, great job!
 
cheers another useful tool; setting up shortcuts on this is simpler for sure, i.e. don't need to search manually for application path.


also "ovr editor" (that appears in the accessories folder) runs the app but what is "run pnd application" that appears in system folder? it does not seem to do anything?
 
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cheers another useful tool; setting up shortcuts on this is simpler for sure, i.e. don't need to search manually for application path.


also "ovr editor" (that appears in the accessories folder) runs the app but what is "run pnd application" that appears in system folder? it does not seem to do anything?
I'll try to add more native support for editing shortcuts, but this was a quick and safe way to add it. I'm already reading the shortcut file, so adding new entries to it shouldn't be too hard (unless the default keyboard shortcut editor does more which I'm not aware off).


Run pnd application has nothing to do with this application and is installed by default on your pandora. The rather schizophrenic name of this application (pndrun/ovr editor) can be a bit confusing. I basically have no idea yet what to call this thing :p
 
cheers another useful tool; setting up shortcuts on this is simpler for sure, i.e. don't need to search manually for application path.


also "ovr editor" (that appears in the accessories folder) runs the app but what is "run pnd application" that appears in system folder? it does not seem to do anything?
I'll try to add more native support for editing shortcuts, but this was a quick and safe way to add it. I'm already reading the shortcut file, so adding new entries to it shouldn't be too hard (unless the default keyboard shortcut editor does more which I'm not aware off).


Run pnd application has nothing to do with this application and is installed by default on your pandora. The rather schizophrenic name of this application (pndrun/ovr editor) can be a bit confusing. I basically have no idea yet what to call this thing :p

the default keyboard shortcuts is buggy - i.e sometime shortcuts works other times you need to manually go into keyboard settings and reenable so a different app that is not buggy would be great!


ah right, so what does run pnd application do?


you should call it Caine Super Settings II :)
 
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the default keyboard shortcuts is buggy - i.e sometime shortcuts works other times you need to manually go into keyboard settings and reenable so a different app that is not buggy would be great!
That doesn't sound very promising. Processing the keyboard shortcuts is something done by XFCE itself, I doubt I can do anything about that (aside from patching XFCE which is not on my agenda). Is there any bug report and/or thread describing this issue in more detail?

ah right, so what does run pnd application do? you should call it Caine Super Settings II :)
Ehhhh... it runs a PND :p Or rather, I suppose it would if you pass one as a parameter (I have no idea how to do that from the menu).


Hahaha, interesting name proposal :D
 
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it seems to be, note that had no problems with keyboard shortcuts on HF5; is xfce so much different between HF6 and HF5?
 
Just wanted to say thanks again for this, as its proved very good for tidying up the menus/categories and the keyboard shortcut fix I posted, now seems to work permanently under HF6a4 (so no more issues there), so your built in one also seems to work fine. Great app
smile.gif
 
Sadly I cannot launch OVR editor neither on Pandora OS 1.5 nor on 1.6.a4.


I would like to have used OVR editor for changing the categories and note lines for multiple installed apps, rather than doing this from MiniMenu.


Launching OVR editor results in SD card access (LED indicators!) but then nothing happens.


dmesg does not report any launch related errors neither.
 
It must be because of what other things you're running; the OVR editor eats a ridiculous amount of RAM.
 
I am running nothing else!


Depending on the GUI mode, this is what happens:


XFCE: After launch, nothing happens.


MiniMenu: The app crashes immediately after launch, MiniMenu restarts.


For the timeframe in question dmesg reports:



Code:
keyboard.c Can't emulate rawcode for keycode 139

As in bug #249. But I think that's rather unrelated to our problem.
 
It must be because of what other things you're running; the OVR editor eats a ridiculous amount of RAM.
Oh yes, I promised to look into that. Forgot about it. I probably need to load stuff into memory a bit more lazily.


[edit]By the way. How much memory usage are we talking about? Right now, I'm observing a 10MB difference between running it and not-running. Are you experiencing anything different?


[/edit]
 
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