Enhancement suggestion: bring back Script Menu for OO
 

It is much easier to access scripts from a menu in OmniOutliner than finding the folder in the drop down general appleScripts menu, which is hard to find because it is huddled on the right menu bar with a lot of other things, then having to open Applications/Omnioutliner etc.

Other apps, for example NoteTaker, have their own script menu, and some for example MS Word, can have an optional Scripts Menu.

OO used to have its own Scripts menu. Can it please be put back?

Thanks

I'm not sure what script menu you're referring to here. Where was it and when did you notice it was missing? Thanks!

Derek, OmniOutliner used to have a Scripts menu between the Window and Help menus, which we would dynamically populate with scripts from the user.

That Scripts menu is actually still in our menu definition (in OmniOutliner.nib), but we dynamically remove that menu (rather than populating it) on versions of OS X which have a built-in system-wide scripts menu. Which means it's now removed on all systems, since that system-wide menu was introduced in OS X v10.4 and OmniOutliner currently requires v10.4.8—explaining why you've never seen it before!

[QUOTE=James.oo;101870]finding the folder in the drop down general appleScripts menu, which is hard to find because it is huddled on the right menu bar with a lot of other things, then having to open Applications/Omnioutliner etc.[/QUOTE]
If you're actually in OmniOutliner, your OmniOutliner scripts ought to show up at the bottom (or top, if you've changed the default setting) of the Scripts menu without any need to drill down through the hierarchy, if you've put them in the Library/Scripts/Applications/OmniOutliner folder in your home directory.

One thing that I find invaluable is FastScripts by Red Sweater Software. It allows you to use hotkeys for scripts, and also lets you clear out most of the cruft from the menu so that it's limited to the app at hand.

I'm with James.oo--there needs to be a way to access the Scripts for OO in the app. I just upgraded to Lion, and cannot find any place to load or access the scripts I have. There are several that I placed in the window task bar that appear for every file, but cannot find the way to edit them. There's no info in the manual, or the online help that responds to "script" when you run a find.

1) Can we have a Script menu, or at least an easy way to access them?

2) How do I edit, delete or add Scripts to the task bar at this point?

I'm running OS X 10.7.3, and OO Pro 3.10.4.

OK...sometimes it takes posting something to help you figure out the issue on your own.

I have found how to edit/add Scripts to the toolbar (task bar) with the Customize Toolbar... menu item. Scripts show up there, and you can easily choose to add them or remove them.

But it did take more searching to discover that it is the AppleScript Editor, no longer AppleScript Utility that controls the Script menu-let and it's appearance. I checked under Preferences->General, and it was selected to appear, but it wasn't until I deselected and then re-selected it that it did.

It seems it's not necessary to create an additional folder in the Library folder to see the OO Scripts. However, I've not been able to discover where those files live in Lion so that more may be added, or these may be edited.

Any help on that? And, can you please add info on Scripting to the manual either in the OO4 book when it comes out, or update the current PDF on line? THere is absolutely no information on Scripting and Scripts in it--just a credit at the end that AppleScript is an Apple-owned mark, even though it doesn't now appear in the book!

Thanks!

See RobTrew's FAQ on using AppleScripts with OmniFocus, and read OmniOutliner wherever you see OmniFocus.

[url]http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=7453[/url]

Keyboard Maestro throws up a menu for any keystroke which has been assigned to several different macros/scripts for the same application.

If the names of the macros start with a unique digit [1-9], you can choose from the menu by typing that digit (otherwise, of course, a mouse click).

I use, for example, a set of OmniOutliner macros which apply the Nth custom text color (Nth position from the left at the bottom of the text color inspector), but you can assemble any kind of custom script palette that you want.

[COLOR="White"]--[/COLOR]

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;110325]See RobTrew's FAQ on using AppleScripts with OmniFocus, and read OmniOutliner wherever you see OmniFocus.

[url]http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=7453[/url][/QUOTE]

whpalmer4: Thanks for this...that's actually how I figured some of this out. It really should have some mention in the manual, though...

[QUOTE=RobTrew;110356]Keyboard Maestro throws up a menu for any keystroke which has been assigned to several different macros/scripts for the same application.

If the names of the macros start with a unique digit [1-9], you can choose from the menu by typing that digit (otherwise, of course, a mouse click).

I use, for example, a set of OmniOutliner macros which apply the Nth custom text color (Nth position from the left at the bottom of the text color inspector), but you can assemble any kind of custom script palette that you want.

[COLOR="White"]--[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Rob, thanks as well. I knew about things ilke QuicKeys, etc., but hadn't heard of Keyboard Maestro. I will check it out and see if it will work for me.

[QUOTE=FJHeumann;110425]whpalmer4: Thanks for this...that's actually how I figured some of this out. It really should have some mention in the manual, though...[/QUOTE]

Well, it is standard Mac OS X stuff, where should the line be drawn? Omni has enough trouble keeping the code they write documented!

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;110434]Well, it is standard Mac OS X stuff, where should the line be drawn? Omni has enough trouble keeping the code they write documented![/QUOTE]

That's my point...the features regarding scripting have absolutely no mention in the OmniOutliner manual. Not even a mention that it can be scripted, or what to do with scripts. I have 6 scripts in my task bar/toolbar, but no mention of what or how to deal with them or how to deal with more.

The Mac OS continues to evolve, so there's no way they can track all that, but certainly a mention of how OO integrates with that is called for. That's all I'm asking for... ;->

The features list on the OmniOutliner product page does prominently mention that OmniOutliner is scriptable with AppleScript, and there's a question on the General FAQ on the product page talking about accessing attachments with AppleScript, so it isn't a very well-kept secret.

I'm not sure that any part of the OmniOutliner manual qualifies as an in-depth treatment.

Geez, next you're going to be complaining that there isn't any discussion of the Automator actions, either :-)

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;110463]The features list on the OmniOutliner product page does prominently mention that OmniOutliner is scriptable with AppleScript, and there's a question on the General FAQ on the product page talking about accessing attachments with AppleScript, so it isn't a very well-kept secret.

I'm not sure that any part of the OmniOutliner manual qualifies as an in-depth treatment.

Geez, next you're going to be complaining that there isn't any discussion of the Automator actions, either :-)[/QUOTE]

I can see we're getting nowhere with this. Not sure why you're getting adversarial about this. Here's my point, and I'm done...

If an app allows you to integrate scripts with what you do, to the point of installing them on the windows toolbar, it ought to be addressed, or at least mentioned. Especially how to install and then remove them. That is not mentioned at all in any documentation. Period.

An in-depth treatment is not what I'm looking for--just a clue.

I use OO most every day, and have for some time, and it seems not right that I have to go through all of this to find out something basic.

Well, once again, this is a system feature, albeit with a bit of additional tweaking by Omni. I took a quick look at several other AppleScriptable apps on my system, and I don't think you would be happy with the level of documentation of their scriptability. Rob and others have put together that FAQ. The online help in OmniOutliner does mention AppleScript, putting scripts in the toolbar and in the Scripts menu. The OmniOutliner product page has a collection of sample scripts which can be used outright or as source material for your own scripts. The manual has been around for a long time, and specific references to how to do some of the AppleScript-related tasks would be out of date. The last copyright date on the manual is 2006!

No question about it that it would be possible to document this all more extensively. There is some room for questioning whether doing so would be the best possible use of the limited bandwidth of the Omni documentation writers. The people wanting to use OmniPlan for the iPad might regard having any documentation at all as a better use, for example! Having a more comprehensive manual for OmniOutliner 4 would be another.

With any Omni product, the best way to influence future direction is to send them email feedback, either with Help->Send Feedback, or directly to <product>@omnigroup.com.