Remove from group

Ideas for new features & functions

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JRL
Automation Wizard
Posts: 3497
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 6:22 pm
Location: Iowa

Remove from group

Post by JRL » Fri Feb 20, 2009 5:50 am

I was wanting to remove macros from the main menu but not delete them. So I went looking for a utility to do that before I requested one. I found just what I was looking for in the main menu under "Edit". Its called "Remove from Group". My suggestion is two fold.

First, rename this item to "Remove from Main Menu". Remove from group makes it sound like it will fall back to the root of the groups hierarchy.

Second, when you select this item a warning message pops up that asks:

Confirm
---------------------------
Are you sure you want to delete the selected macro(s)?
---------------------------
Yes No
---------------------------


That scared me away because I did not want to delete the macro, only remove it from the menu. So I tested and found that the macro is NOT deleted. I think the wording on this message should be something like:

"Are you sure you want to remove the selected macro(s) from the main menu?"

Thanks for listening,
Dick

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jpuziano
Automation Wizard
Posts: 1085
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 12:00 am

Re: Remove from group

Post by jpuziano » Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:43 am

Hi JRL,

About your second point...
JRL wrote:Second, when you select this item a warning message pops up that asks:

Confirm
---------------------------
Are you sure you want to delete the selected macro(s)?
---------------------------
Yes No
---------------------------


That scared me away because I did not want to delete the macro, only remove it from the menu. So I tested and found that the macro is NOT deleted. I think the wording on this message should be something like:

"Are you sure you want to remove the selected macro(s) from the main menu?"
The Help file describes how it works pretty well:
  • Remove from Group

    Removes the selected macro from the group. This differs from Delete in that this option does not delete the macro's script file from the disk. The macro is simply removed from the list of macros in Macro Scheduler. It's script file still exists on the drive.
However I agree with you that the message that pops up makes it seem like it will be deleted from the hard drive... so I second your request to get that message re-worded to clarify what will actually happen.

JRL, it is currently not possible to do this command on more than one macro at a time - try it and you'll see that "Remove From Group" is grayed out. I would recommend the message say something like this instead:

"Are you sure you want to remove the selected macro so that it will no longer show in the list of macros in Macro Scheduler? Note that its script file will still exist on the drive."


Now back to your first point...
JRL wrote:I was wanting to remove macros from the main menu but not delete them. So I went looking for a utility to do that before I requested one. I found just what I was looking for in the main menu under "Edit". Its called "Remove from Group". My suggestion is two fold.

First, rename this item to "Remove from Main Menu".
I don't think "Remove from Main Menu" would be accurate. The menu consists of the menu items that provide commands you can activate and the toolbar buttons. The macros are listed in the body of the main Macro Scheduler window... not in the menu.
JRL wrote:Remove from group makes it sound like it will fall back to the root of the groups hierarchy.
I kind of agree with you there... the root of the groups hierarchy being "All Macros" and... I have been wanting an easy way to do exactly that - please see the following Enhancement request:

[Open] Ability to Sort Groups and change back to 'No Group'

So I see two separate functionalities here:

1) The ability to remove the macro from being listed in the MS main window while not deleting the script file - we have this ability now.

2) The ability to change a macro's group assignment back to 'No Group' i.e. blank it out. We do not have this ability yet but it sure would be nice.

Once you assign a macro to a group... you are sort of stuck. You can reassign it to a different group... but there is no way to blank out the group assignment. If I want to do that bad enough, I copy the script somewhere, maybe a notepad window, delete the script from MS entirely, create a new script in MS and paste in the old script... being careful the focus is on "All Macros" so that the group it belongs to will be blank. Note that any properties that may have been set against the script would have been lost when it was deleted so if you do this, remember to jot those down before deleting. Another way might be to use the "remove from Groups" feature, then re-import the script while your focus is on "All Macros" to get it re-created with a blank group. Perhaps you could also re-import any properties you might have set for that macro this way too but in any case... there should be an easier way.

What do the rest of you think?
jpuziano

Note: If anyone else on the planet would find the following useful...
[Open] PlayWav command that plays from embedded script data
...then please add your thoughts/support at the above post - :-)

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