Proxi Blog

I ran across a post on Daring Fireball today which described using a perl script along with ThisService to search Google for selected text and replace that text with a link to first result returned by Google. Very handy, but I wanted to achieve the same functionality using Proxi.

Proxi supports shell script execution, but only as extra values (for now) so that makes it a little trickier. If you don’t care how much trickier, you can skip the rest of this and simply grab the blueprint.

We have to first break down the blueprint into several stages:

• Put the selected text on the clipboard.
• Construct a script using the text we’ve selected. Display the query.
• Execute the script, place the results in the clipboard, paste and display the results.

More specifically:

Stage 0 - A Control-Shift-L Hotkey Monitor trigger starts the ball rolling. It executes two tasks, a Command-C Key Press to initiate a copy, then an AppleScript which waits a short while to allow the clipboard to export after which it asks Proxi to handle an AppleScript trigger named “query stage 1″.

Stage 1 - Is an AppleScript trigger continues the process. This trigger will fire when Proxi is triggered via AppleScript with the correct name. In this case the name it’s looking for is “query stage 1″. The trigger places the contents of the clipboard into a value named “Clipboard” and executes a Screen Message task to display the search term. Next it write our a perl script using the clipboard contents and the Write to File task. Finally, it kicks off the last stage with another AppleScript task named “query stage 2″.

Stage 2 - An AppleScript trigger which matches “query stage 2″. When fired, it executes the perl script we made in Stage 1 and places the results in an extra value named “ScriptResults”. ScriptResults is displayed in a Screen Message task and loaded onto the clipboard using a Load Clipboard task. Finally, Command-V (paste) is simulated to insert the results in place of the selected text.

This is a great little exercise to demonstrate how to construct complex triggers using Proxi. It also demonstrates some of the shortcomings of Proxi that I’d like to address in future revisions. The ability to execute a script as a task and also modify values during task execution would eliminate the need to break this down into three separate triggers. In the meantime, I hope this helped.

The Proxi wiki has a download link as well as additional information on the Insert Link Blueprint.

Taken directly from the wiki entry:

Who loves Apple’s brushed metal look, raise your hand? OK there are a couple, but there are some others… not so much.

When creating Proxi, we decided to go with the standard brushed metal look with the idea that if Apple changed it we, as we used the standard brushed metal window, would get any changes that Apple made to this look “for free”. There are rumors of such a change underway in Leopard, but who knows. We might have also gone with the new Unified (hardly) look, but it requires the addition of a toolbar at the top of the window (see Mail for an example). We looked at this early on and it looked funny. So there it is, nothing can be done about this right?

Rejoice brushed metal haters, for there is a hidden preference in Proxi to switch to, what I like to call, the Plastic look.

To enable the Plastic look, you can open the Terminal enter the following and relaunch Proxi:

defaults write com.griffintechnology.Proxi guiStyle 1

To switch back to Brushed Metal, enter this in the Terminal and relaunch Proxi:

defaults write com.griffintechnology.Proxi guiStyle 0

Or check out the Style Switcher blueprint.

So why didn’t we build this into the Preferences? It may one day find it’s way in there, but we’re anxious to see what direction Apple heads with Leopard. Perhaps they’ll officially change to some other look and we won’t have to worry about such things.

Is there perhaps another guiStyle you ask? Well yes, the guiStyle can be set to 2 for extreme silliness. You’ll also need to set patternPath to a valid image file. In other words:

defaults write com.griffintechnology.Proxi guiStyle 2
defaults write com.griffintechnology.Proxi patternPath "/A/Path/To/A/Valid/Image"

What the window looks like depends on what sort of pattern you choose, but here’s an example:

Have fun.

For those interested in in staying on the cutting edge of Proxi releases, there is a blueprint that will let you switch Proxi to the beta software feed. You can get the blueprint here:

Feed Switcher

It works by triggering on a hotkey (control-option-B) which will execute a shell script that changes the location where Proxi looks for new updates. You may want to relaunch Proxi if it doesn’t seem to “notice” the change right away. A trigger is also available to switch back to the regular feed (control-option-R).

If you feel more comfortable executing these commands in the Terminal then you can forego the blueprints and executing the following in the Terminal:

Beta: defaults write com.griffintechnology.Proxi SUFeedURL http://proxi.griffintechnology.com/software/ProxiCastBeta.xml
Release: defaults write com.griffintechnology.Proxi SUFeedURL http://proxi.griffintechnology.com/software/ProxiCast.xml

If you switch to the beta feed, you’ll notice a new release of Proxi is available. Version 1.1 adds these items:

• Added radioSHARK trigger (requires radioSHARK v2.0.1)
• Added radioSHARK task (requires radioSHARK v2.0.1)
• Added Battery monitor task
• RSS Monitor errors now display in the RSS settings view
• RSS Monitor now correctly handles more varieties of feeds
• Fixed a problem where unnamed triggers did not appear to be selectable

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

The Proxi open beta has been out for a while now and it seems that a few people have a false impression about what Proxi is and how it can help them. For example:

“Do you have to have Griffin hardware to use Proxi?”

Griffin hardware is not required to use Proxi. Of course, we hope you’ll like what you see and consider extending Proxi’s functionality with the purchase of an AirClick or PowerMate.

“Is it an Automator clone?”

Not exactly. Automator will certainly allow you to define tasks (workflows), but it is missing the other half of the equation: triggers. To run an Automator workflow you have to click the Play button in Automator or save your workflows as applications and launch them when needed. Proxi allows you to describe events to trigger your tasks automatically.

“But it’s only free during the beta, right?”

Proxi is and will continue to be a free download even after the beta is complete.

So what can Proxi do for you?

Proxi has been likened to Legosâ„¢ for your Mac. We’ve provided all the pieces. It’s up to you to decide how to put them together. A few ideas are:

• Create hotkeys to launch your favorite apps, execute Automater tasks, or run AppleScripts.
• Customize your AirClick to control FrontRow, VLC, QuickTime player and other media players.
• Schedule tasks to run periodically such as a backup, reminder or alarm clock.
• Use one or more PowerMates to control GarageBand, iMovie, Podcast Maker and more.
• Initiate a Skype call by speaking a phrase like “Call home”.
• If your computer is equipped with an iSight, have Proxi periodically take a snapshot and use it as your iChat picture.
• Have Proxi watch for incoming email that contains a particular subject and speak the contents to you when it arrives.

The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. We hope you’ll take Proxi for a test drive and see what it can do for you.

Still not convinced? Head over to the wiki and get more information.

The most obvious use of value substitution in iNotify is for things like screen messages that display track information for an iTunes trigger or an email trigger displaying information about incoming message in a screen message. This is all good, but value substitution works in custom AppleScripts as well.

Yeah, so? Well that means you can have dynamic AppleScripts which change based on the values provided by the trigger. Consider this AppleScript attached to a PowerMate trigger:

This little script will multiple the current AbsoluteValue of the PowerMate (which is a value between 0 and 1) by 100 and use the result to set the volume in iTunes. Easy.

Here’s another example using value substitution from a Mail trigger to present a dialog allowing you to have the computer read an email to you if you like:

These are two quick and dirty examples. I’m sure there are better, but hopefully this will provide a little food for thought.