Proxi Blog

link: Proxi v1.0

In this update:

• Fixed a problem displaying hotkeys on non-U.S. keyboard layouts
• Fixed a problem where a trigger might not be selected properly after dragging a new trigger to the trigger list.
• Ability to dismiss a Screen Message in as little as 1 second.
• Finer control over PowerMate when turning at very slow speeds (PowerMate ballastics)
• PowerMate rotation triggers are ignored for a brief period after PowerMate button press or release. Should prevent false rotation triggers when the intent was just a button press or release.
• Screen Messages that do not open a new window should no longer drift from their intended location.
• Pressing ‘C’ while the Screen Message position control is active will set the desired position to the center of the screen.
• Fixed a problem where links contained in Screen Messages would not always respond properly when clicked.
• Applications can now be dragged and dropped into the icon well in the Launch Application task
• Proxi’s data file is now backed up before opening (this file is located at ~/Application Support/Proxi/Store)
• Proxi now directs first time users to the Blueprint Browser
• Added a Blueprint Browser button to the Main window.
• Proxi should no longer forget that it was in dock-less mode after an update.
• More robust Value Store syntax (allows easier manipulation of databases)

Mostly minor bug fixes and a few enhancements in this release.

Aja Bogdanoff wrote me yesterday and had these nice things to say about Proxi:

I’m an animation student who’s also teaching Maya training classes on the side, and I’ve gotten tired of having to constantly tell people “Now I’m hitting the F key. Now I’m hitting the Command key. That was the Space bar.” and I’m sure my students are sick of it, too. Today my husband, who’s a big fan of Proxi, suggested that I use it to display what key I was pressing and what that key does as I work, without having to think about it or explain it or anything. And I LOVE it! It’s totally going to change the way I teach the intro “here’s what all the controls do” class.

…

As I was telling Mark (the husband), the coolest part of this is that we went from saying, “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if….” to having a totally functional and nearly perfect tool in about an hour. And it has almost all the features we could possibly want in it… totally customizable text, placement, colors, opacity… we’ll be able to add images when we get to that point… it’s really pretty remarkable.

So this is really cool. It’s great to see people using Proxi to come up with creative solutions to everyday problems. Aja and Mark even made a little movie to demonstrate her technique. You can watch it here.

Thanks Aja and Mark!

If you’ve looked at the Blueprint Browser in Proxi lately you may have noticed that several new Blueprints have been added allowing an AirClick to control various media players. They are:

• VLC AirClick Control provides control for VideoLAN’s VLC media player using an AirClick USB remote available from Griffin Technology.
  • Play/Pause - Start playing the current playlist item or pause it when it is already playing
  • Prev (|<<) - Go to the previous item in the playlist or the previous chapter in the DVD/VCD
  • Next (>>|) - Go to the next item in the playlist or the next chapter in the DVD/VCD
  • Volume Down - Decrease volume
  • Volume Up - Increase volume
  • Prev (|<<) while holding the Play button - Decrease play speed
  • Next (>>|) while holding the Play button - Increase play speed
  • Volume Down while holding the Play button - Toggle mute
  • Volume Up while holding the Play button - Toggle between full screen and window mode
• MediaCentral AirClick Control provides control for equinix MediaCentral media player using an AirClick USB remote available from Griffin Technology.
  • Play/Pause - Simulate pressing the space key. Also activates MediaCentral if it is not active
  • Prev (|<<) - Simulate pressing the left arrow key
  • Next (>>|) - Simulate pressing the right arrow key
  • Volume Down - Simulate pressing the down arrow key
  • Volume Up - Simulate pressing the up arrow key
  • Volume Up while holding the Play button - Simulate pressing the escape key
  • Volume Down while holding the Play button - Simulate pressing the return key
• DVD Player AirClick Control provides control for Apple’s DVD Player included with Mac OS X using an AirClick USB remote available from Griffin Technology.
  • Play/Pause - Enter if menu is active, otherwise Play / Pause movie
  • Prev (|<<) - Navigate left if menu is active, otherwise go to previous chapter
  • Prev (|<<) held - Rewind if playing movie
  • Next (>>|) - Navigate right if menu is active, otherwise go to next chapter
  • Next (>>|) held - Fast forward if playing movie
  • Volume Down - Navigate down if menu is active, otherwise decrease volume
  • Volume Up - Navigate up if menu is active, otherwise increase volume
  • Next (>>|) while holding the Play button - Go to menu
  • Volume Up while holding the Play button - Toggle between full screen and window mode
  • Volume Down while holding the Play button - Toggle mute
• QuickTime Player AirClick Control provides control for Apple’s QuickTime Player also included with Mac OS X using an AirClick USB remote available from Griffin Technology.
  • Play/Pause - Play or Pause the currently playing movie
  • Prev (|<<) - Rewind the currently playing movie
  • Next (>>|) - Fast forward the currently playing movie
  • Volume Down - Decrease volume
  • Volume Up - Increase volume
  • Volume Down while holding the Play button - Toggle mute
  • Volume Up while holding the Play button - Toggle between full screen and window mode

The Blueprint Browser is accessed from the Window menu in Proxi or the main menu if you are running Proxi in dockless mode. To install one of these packages, select the blueprint or blueprints to be installed and click the “Install Selected” button. You may also drag and drop blueprints from the blueprint browser directly into your trigger list.

Here’s an easy one. So easy in fact that it didn’t occur to me to use Proxi to do this until this morning.

I use VoodooPad (which, by the way, is a fine piece of software) to jot random bits of information and occasionally I need to insert the current date and time into a document. VoodooPad has this functionality built in, but sadly it is not bound to a command key. Proxi to the rescue.

To create a Hotkey that inserts the current Date and Time into any document, add a Hotkey Monitor trigger to your trigger list. Set the hotkey to whatever you like. I choose Control-Option-D. Open the extra values for the hotkey and add a new value. Set this value to Timestamp. Now add a Load Clipboard task to the task list and add the DateTime value to the “To be placed on the clipboard” text. Remember, if you don’t like dragging values from the Values window, you can begin typing with a “[” which brings up a value menu in many of the text fields in Proxi. Click the value popup indicator (the little triangle next to DateTime) to adjust the format of the date and time to your needs. Finally, add a Key Press task to your task list and set it to Command-V.

So now whenever I need to insert the current date and time I just Control-Option-D and Thursday, May 4, 2006 10:21 AM. Tada!

You can grab the blueprint here if you like (control or right click and select “Download Linked File” or “Save Link”): Insert DateTime Blueprint

Another easy one: Every once if a blue moon I need to look at an ASCII chart. What I typically do is google ASCII chart. A better solution is to just pop up a Screen Message in Proxi when needed like so:

You can grab the ASCII chart blueprint here (control or right click and select “Download Linked File” or “Save Link”): ASCII chart. The hotkey is bound to Control-A but of course you can change that to whatever you like.

I hope you find some of this useful. And, as always, we want to hear about how you’re using Proxi. Feel free to share your Blueprints on the wiki