Old 05-30-2020, 08:13 AM   #1
Glennbo
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Default REAPER Environment Variables

I have never even looked at the scripting or Python interfaces in REAPER, but I am getting VERY tired of not being able to SEE thumbnail icons when I'm looking for track icons in REAPER's file dialog.

My question for today is, does REAPER maintain it's own system variables that can be read through scripting or Python? In particular, if I were to browse in REAPER's "Pick a track icon" browser out to a location like,

~/.config/REAPER/Data/track_icons/Percussion/

does REAPER have the above location sitting in a variable that I could read and then launch THUNAR to the same location via a custom button or something?

THUNAR displays thumbnails, so if I could just hand it the location I've navigated to in REAPER, I wouldn't have to spend ten fucking minutes doing something simple like choosing an appropriate track icon.

Edit: I should add that I use track templates that are already setup with the icon that is an image of each of my 7 guitars, banjo, mandolin basses and drums.

The problem arises when I've used tracks that I didn't have a template with icon already setup, as was the case with some percussion instruments the other day. Navigate in REAPER for Linux file browser to pick one of the many "shaker" icons but all I see is the text, so I try the first one. BAM, it's some kind of world instrument thing that looks nothing like my egg shaker. So I try the next one only seeing text and no image. Lather, Rinse, Repeat, and eventually I'll hit one that looks something like the instrument on the track. Very time consuming and counterproductive.
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Old 05-31-2020, 09:07 AM   #2
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I guess the answer is no. Bummer. I always loved how my programming editor would let me construct commands using a combination of these internal variables and my own static text.
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Old 06-02-2020, 11:37 AM   #3
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I tried drag & drop, only shows up into the arrange, but, it shows up into the arrange.. guess a drag & drop thing'ie could be implemented, but not by me hehe

The only scripts i've seen is to copy/paste icons from one track to another from ReaPack, so you could have lots of empty tracks in a track folder or, something just, for this purpose

Linux is veeery good with thumbs, including .xcf
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Old 06-02-2020, 02:04 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by SmajjL View Post
I tried drag & drop, only shows up into the arrange, but, it shows up into the arrange.. guess a drag & drop thing'ie could be implemented, but not by me hehe

The only scripts i've seen is to copy/paste icons from one track to another from ReaPack, so you could have lots of empty tracks in a track folder or, something just, for this purpose

Linux is veeery good with thumbs, including .xcf
I was hoping there was a user accessable internal variable holding the full path for the "Current Folder" in REAPER's file browser.

So I could construct something like,

/usr/bin/thunar $REAPER_Variable_With_The_Current_Folder

and put it on a button so when selecting a track icon I could navigate in REAPER to the folder where I know I want an icon from (like Percussion), then click my custom button to open the same folder in Thunar where I will see thumbnails of the twenty shakers with names like "shaker1, shaker2, Etc."

Then after using my eyeballs on actual little pictures, I could decide that "shaker 18" is in fact the one that looks pretty similar to the shaker I used on my track. Finally after deciding on "shaker18" via a thumbnail, I would switch back to REAPER's file brower and select "shaker18" without having to have loaded shakers 1-17 only to find out that they are not what I need.
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Old 06-07-2020, 02:35 PM   #5
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you could also go to your icon folder, maximize, zoom and .. *BAM!* new wallpaper
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Old 06-08-2020, 07:46 AM   #6
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you could also go to your icon folder, maximize, zoom and .. *BAM!* new wallpaper
Alternatively, I can repeatedly start new threads here and in the feature request forum, asking for and complaining about the lack of graphic based thumbnails in REAPER's file browser when browsing for graphic based track icons.

At least REAPER could give us Linux users a button on the file browser that could temporarily hand the job over to a file browser that is up to the task of displaying graphics when searching for graphics, like Thunar or Nautilus.
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Old 06-08-2020, 03:08 PM   #7
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ohh - glennbo
For what it is worth, i agree with you that if REAPER support .png stuff then you should be able to ... - ... SEE it!
You could/should post a FR me thinks, hope it is not complicated to Dev, does not sound like a Huge FR so, but what do i know about programming..
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Old 06-08-2020, 04:35 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by SmajjL View Post
ohh - glennbo
For what it is worth, i agree with you that if REAPER support .png stuff then you should be able to ... - ... SEE it!
You could/should post a FR me thinks, hope it is not complicated to Dev, does not sound like a Huge FR so, but what do i know about programming..
I don't know anything about programming stuff for Linux, but a simple button that launches the OS file browser should be pretty simple to implement. I did find this info out there on the net.

Quote:
The Linux-native builds are on par with the features in the Windows and Mac versions, the only thing to be aware of is that the GUIs can be somewhat inconsistent due to menus and dialogs being implemented directly in libSwell.
So, whatever libSwell is, it's less than swell when browsing for track icons. Now I gotta find out more what libSwell is, who is responsible for it, and if it can be made to display thumbnails. That's what the paying customers in the cheep seats want to know!
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Old 06-08-2020, 09:30 PM   #9
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Yeah you are right, all is fine on Windows and i'm guessing Mac also heheh
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Old 06-09-2020, 09:32 AM   #10
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Default One of these things is not like the others

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Yeah you are right, all is fine on Windows and i'm guessing Mac also heheh
Without reading the text on the left, see if you can identify the REAPER for Linux window browsing for track icons!

A simple button on the file browser in the middle image, that would launch the file browser in the third image to the same folder location would be way better than text only with no way to preview.

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Old 06-09-2020, 10:15 AM   #11
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Sh1-t, for a 0.0003 millisec-moment, i thought it all worked on XCFE..
It might be the case that REAPER for Linux is a Justin-singlehandedly-thing project, but Glenboo is just saying, how about This be the next thing to tackle if, at all possible, thank you wewwy much.
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Old 06-09-2020, 10:39 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Glennbo View Post
I don't know anything about programming stuff for Linux, but a simple button that launches the OS file browser should be pretty simple to implement.
Due to the possibility of various file browsers over the different distros (and whatever browsers you may have installed alongside the default one in the distro), I can see this potentially being problematic. Reaper isn't installed from a distro's repo (with Arch being the exception, I think), so you wouldn't have a Reaper version that "knows" to open a specific file browser.

Then again I know about as much as you do, about programming...probably less. It may be easy to implement.

I just added a +1 and your picture to your FR thread (and a link to this thread).

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Old 06-09-2020, 10:51 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JamesPeters View Post
Due to the possibility of various file browsers over the different distros (and whatever browsers you may have installed alongside the default one in the distro), I can see this potentially being problematic. Reaper isn't installed from a distro's repo (with Arch being the exception, I think), so you wouldn't have a Reaper version that "knows" to open a specific file browser.

Then again I know about as much as you do, about programming...probably less. It may be easy to implement.
The way it could EASILY be implemented is let the end user specify what file browser or utility to use. Exactly the same way "Open With" works in both Linux and Windows, except opening a folder rather than a file.
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