Specialized buttons

[hjackson]

I have to re-request 2 specialized Xlobby screen buttons that I think everyone would benefit from. An auto-repeat button and a toggle button.
An auto-repeat button would be used in such instances as volume control or channel changing. No one wants to press the volume button 5 times to increase the volume of their audio player. We all want to just hold our finger down on the button until we get to our desired sound volume. If Steve understands how the up and down scroll arrows for the web browser are coded, then maybe it can be applied for Xlobby.
A toggle button is great for toggle switches such as Power buttons (press and it turns ON the device, press again and it turns OFF the device) A different picture for each state of the toggle button would be the finishing touch (ie. the button's name changes between "ON" and "OFF" with each press) This is an elegant feature that will help clean up some clutter from the screen (especially ppc screens!)
I hope these can be implemented.

hjackson

[Colby]

Bump on both!

[dalanik]

B-B-B-bump!

[Twit]

The radio (toggle on/off) button has been asked for loads of times before. Hey but its worth a bump. You never know when steven get a week or two to impliment it.

I would presume it is difficult to do!

[lar282]

since it's been a month I'll reactive this thread!


//Lasse

[cwellsaz]

Im in on the 2 buttons. where would one have to start if he would like to code it though.

[gamejester]

Bump on both here to.

[BaddaBing]

Bump

[hjackson]

Well, I figured it out. The key is to use a small category window and a picture database that both 1) scrolls down then 2) performs the desired event when pressed.
First create a seperate picture database for each toggle button with a different picture for each state (ie. if you want an "StereoOn/StereoOff" toggle button, you will need 2 pictures; one for the StereoOn button and one for the StereoOff button). Place the 2 buttons into one folder.
Next you create and name a small category window (ie. StereoPower). The window should only be big enough to show one button at a time. In the skin editor "Edit Category" window, make sure "Layout:thumbs" is checked and select "Scoll:up down".
Next in the SetUp:Event Manager, you will make 2 new events, each with 2 commands. In our Stereo On/Off example, we will create an event named "StereoOn" and another named "StereoOff". To each event you will FIRST add the "down" navigational command followed by the appropriate IR command (ie. "StereoOff" or "StereoOn"). This will cause the button in the category window to first shift down, and then perform the IR Stereo power command.
Next, create a button database in the SetUp:Database editor. This is done by going to the Databases:Import screen, and in the "Add" window place the name of your button database (for this example: StereoPower). Next add the path of the folder with the pictures of your 2 button states (StereoOn.jpg and StereoOff.jpg), then import it.
You will now need to attach the appropriate event to each button state. To do this, enter the "Edit DB" screen. You should see your 2 buttons in the "Items" window. Next go to the Advanced window. Add the approriate event that you just created in the Event Manager to each button.
And that's it! When you exit the SetUp, your screen sould show the new category window which is only large enough to show one button at a time. When you click on the button (ie. StereoOn), it will first SCROLL DOWN to the other button (StereoOff) and next perform the StereoOn command.
I hope that's clear enough for everyone. Good luck with your buttons!
Now, to figure out auto repeat...

hjackson

[Colby]

You could have done a similar thing with the show/hide feature, which on click would hide the itself and show the other, this would simulate a toggle button as well, graphically. There are still some problems with these methods, does the event actually toggle. And what about the third state of an image.


I still move for actual toggle buttons.

[Twit]

Good work around - BUT i need the button to toggle from an outside source.(Girder). Not sure it can be done with your method??

[hjackson]

"You could have done a similar thing with the show/hide feature, which on click would hide the itself and show the other, this would simulate a toggle button as well, graphically. There are still some problems with these methods, does the event actually toggle."
In the show/hide feature, can you assign an event to each image? If the image is hidden, does that mean that the hidden image's event will not occur when clicked?
When you use the category window method, the category window is essentially your toggle button. Each press of the category window changes the button graphic. Since there is an event assigned to each button image, the event will also toggle, not just the graphic. I am now using this for my X10 light screen. Instead of having 2 different buttons (On and Off) for each of my batch files, I know have just one category window which shows only one button at a time. With each press, the light will either come on or off depending on which button is clicked in the category window. When I used MainLobby, this was exactly the same way my X10 light screen was set up with their built in toggle button feature.

"BUT i need the button to toggle from an outside source.(Girder). "
Twit, if Girder can activate an image in a category window, then you will be able to use the Toggle feature. I imagine you will just need to set Girder to 1) navigate to the category window (toggle button) then 2) click the enter button. I hope that helps.

hjackson

[Colby]

The problem here is you would need a seperate (on/off switch) category for every toggle button you would want on the page. Because you cant use the same category twice or it will remember the state of the other. Not to mention no enter and exit events.

[hjackson]

That is correct, the drawback is the tediousness of creating all the different toggle switches for each page. Hopefully, you wouldn't need too many...

"Not to mention no enter and exit events."
Funny you mention that, I was recently wondering what situations you would use seperate enter vs exit vs click events. I know it's off topic, but can you please give an example of how an exit or enter event is used on a button?

hjackson

[dalanik]

Well, that could be a workaround if you're desperate enough for a toggle button (radio button). But IMHO, that's just too much work... this functionality should be built in xlobby... as a matter of fact, it already exists for PLAY/QUE/OPEN !! So it can't be that hard to implement...

D.