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User

13.04.2009 21:26:10

HOWTO: add a simple command to my remote buddy menu

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This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.

I'd like to add a command onto my remote buddy menu called something like

"Wake media server"

which essentially will use this perl script

http://gsd.di.uminho.pt/jpo/software/wakeonlan/

with my media server's MAC address as parameter to send the magic packet that will wake the server. A command of the form like this

wakeonlan 03:5e:df:5c:34:29

I've never added a behaviour before but the more i read into it the more i don't actually think this is what i want to do. Isn't a behaviour typically mapped to a long running program like say quicktime, and then it has extra actions possible whilst its running. I only want to call a script in a one off fashion.

If anyone could point out what it actually is that i'm trying to do if its not a behaviour and perhaps have some tips on how to do it. Is it an action perhaps? I can't see a way to execute a script or program that's not an apple script.

Cheers

Jim

These entries from the FAQ may be relevant to this topic:

Behaviours

The installed application XY, for which a behaviour exists, does not turn up in Remote Buddy's menu. What should I do? (FAQ015E0160)
There are several possible error sources:
- The application has been installed after Remote Buddy has already been launched
  For efficiency reasons, Remote Buddy only searches for supported applications when its started. If you have installed an application after launching Remote Buddy, please quit Remote Buddy and launch it anew.
- Oudated program versions
  The installed version of the program in question could be outdated and identify itself with a different Bundle Identifier than the version supported by Remote Buddy. This problem often occurs with Mplayer OS X. The most recent version of that application is not to be found on Sourceforge but on directly on the pages of Mplayer HQ.
- Custom menus
  If you use a custom menu in Remote Buddy and you don't make use of Remote Buddy's smart folders, the menu structure is static. You have to manually add the behaviour into a place of your choice in the menu.
- The behaviour is deactivated.
  Make sure, the checkbox in front of the Behaviour's name in the Mappings pane of the preferences is active.
- The Launch Services database is outdated.
  Remote Buddy uses Launch Services to check for the availability of an application on your Mac. If the Launch Services database of OS X is incomplete or outdated, so is Remote Buddy's dynamically created menu. The solution, though is easy. Download LSRefresh, launch it, select the application(s) that don't turn up in Remote Buddy's menu, wait until the update is finished and then restart Remote Buddy.

Configuration

How do I add a new action to a Behaviour - f.ex. an emulated key press or AppleScript? (FAQ015E0153)
1) Open the Remote Buddy Preferences via the pulldown-menu and choose "Mapping".
2) Choose the mapping you want to modify.
3) Select "Custom actions" for the button you want to map to an action of your own.
4) Create the action you need using the appearing editor.

Hardware - Apple® Remote

After uninstalling/quitting Remote Buddy, my Mac® no longer reacts to the Apple® Remote. (FAQ015E0241)
To enable you to use all capabilities of the IR Receiver of your Mac®, Remote Buddy is using its own driver. In contrast, all other applications with integrated Apple® Remote support usually use the OS X Apple® Remote subsystem.

As long as you're running Remote Buddy, Remote Buddy and its driver are responsible for turning the received button presses into actions. As soon as you quit Remote Buddy, this task is again handled by the OS X Apple® Remote subsystem.

If other applications don't use the interface to the OS X Apple® Remote subsystem correctly, this can lead to the effect that nothing happens when you press a button on your Apple® Remote. For as long as you're running Remote Buddy, issues like this are covered by Remote Buddy and it's driver and are therefore not visible to you. However, as soon as you quit Remote Buddy, the OS X Apple® Remote subsystem is back in control and any issues caused in it by other applications become visible.

Therefore Remote Buddy is neither the cause of the issue nor is it responsible for it. Instead, the cause of the issue exists independently of Remote Buddy. It's located elsewhere and can also only be solved there.

Although our products can't cause any such issues, we're regularly contacted about such issues and asked for help. In order to make locating and fixing the cause of such issues as easy and efficient as possible, we've developed a free diagnostics tool: Remote Control Diagnostics. It can locate issues with a single click and will provide you with information about the issue as well as with instructions on how you can fix it.
After updating to OS X 10.6.2, my Apple® Remote is no longer available for selection in Remote Buddy. (FAQ015E0236)
Please update your copy of Remote Buddy to version 1.15 or later.

User

14.04.2009 14:40:16

Re: HOWTO: add a simple command to my remote buddy menu

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This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.

Thanks for asking.

You can launch command line tools (including the perl interpreter or
any other command) via AppleScript using "do shell script". Apple has
a good technote on its use and capabilities here:

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn2002/tn2065.html

Regarding the best implementation: Behaviours are not just for
controlling applications. Instead they were named that way because the
remote will have a different behaviour depending on which Behaviour is
currently active. Examples for Behaviours that are not responsible for
a specific application include the Audio & CD/DVD, Virtual Keyboard,
Virtual Mouse, Virtual Remote, ... etc. Behaviours.

Behaviours act as the parent of a number of Actions (which themselves
consist of Actors, which can be keyboard or mouse wheel events,
AppleScripts, etc.). Or, as their "container".

What you'd likely want to do is create an action that uses AppleScript
to execute the shell command of your choice. And then have that action
to be globally available (by checking the respective checkbox), so it
can be used as a menu item as well as being mappable to the button of
a remote.

You can either just mark an action global in the Behaviour
Construction Kit (it'll then turn up in the "Miscellaneous"-group in
the Mapping and Menu prefs). Or you can also create a Behaviour to
contain that action.

You'll find more info and step-by-step instructions in the Remote
Buddy Help (under "How do I ..") as well as in the video found in the
"For Developers" subpage of the RB site.

Best regards,
Felix Schwarz

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