Main window

The main window, called smartCommander, is the window that offers all commands for searching, updating and executing commands and scriptlets, switching collections and editing global settings. It contains several sections as seen below:

_images/main_window.jpg
  • 1) Search: Search for commands from the currently selected collection.
  • 2) Close: Clicking this button closes the smartCommander. Hotkey: escape key.
  • 3) Commands list: All commands of currently selected collection.
  • 4) Collections switch: Lets you switch between the collections: “all”, “history”, “scriptlets”, custom collections, “new”. The currently selected collection will be remembered.
  • 5) Settings: Click to reveal the settings section.
  • 6) Resize: Click to resize the smartCommander. The current size of the smartCommander will be remembered.

Searching for commands

To search for commands you can type in the first characters and it will filter the commands list and show only commands that contain the entered word or characters. In the settings window you can change the search algorithm from Word to Character.

Executing commands

To execute any command simply click it. The command will automatically be added to your history.

Creating new collections

There are two ways to create a new collection:

  • Choosing new from the Collections switch at the bottom
  • Creating a new menu on the fly when adding a command to a new collection. This will be described in the Adding new commands section .

Let’s have a look at the first method. From the Collections switch choose new.

_images/new_collection.jpg

A new window shows up that lets you create a new collection. Enter a name and hit the blue Create button. For instance let’s call our new collection delivery.

_images/dialog_new_collection.jpg

The new collection was created and is now accessible using our collections switch.

_images/collection_delivery.jpg

The underlying data model for a collection is an xml file that will by default be saved to:

Linux: /home/[username]/cragl/smartCommand/collections
Mac: /Users/[username]/cragl/smartCommand/collections
Windows: C:\users\[username]\cragl/smartCommand/collections

In the settings section you can change this collection root directory. Changing this directory gives you the flexibility to point to a shared folder in order to share collections with other artists. Or you can also locate the collections root directory to your cloud folder in order to sync collections for yourself across multiple machines.

As seen below we have two xml files in our collections root: Our delivery collection, that we have created right now and our custom collection from the quickstart section, if you have followed that section.

_images/collection_xml_files.jpg

Adding new commands

Each command contains a context menu. Hover over one command and right click to reveal its context menu. From the menu choose Add to collection.

_images/add_to_collection1.jpg

In the upcoming window we can choose which collection we would like to add our command to. If required, we can choose new and create a new collection on the fly. Next to the drop down menu you will find a color pot. Clicking it opens the color picker window as seen in the Quickstart where you can assign a color to your command. Colors can also be added, updated and removed once a command has been added to a custom collection.

_images/dialog_add_command.jpg

When you have set everything up click the blue Add button and the selected command will be added to your selected collection.