Old 02-02-2013, 10:24 AM   #1
Susan G
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Default Save theme with project or template?

Hi-

I'm wondering if it's possible to optionally save a theme with a project or template and if not, if anyone else would find this useful. If so I'll write up an FR.

The reason this would be helpful for me is that I use REAPER for two totally different activities, and I switch between two different themes depending on what I'm doing.

Thanks-

-Susan

FR link: http://forum.cockos.com/project.php?issueid=4688

Last edited by Susan G; 03-07-2013 at 05:01 PM. Reason: Added link to FR
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Old 02-02-2013, 10:55 AM   #2
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I think that's a good idea as I use multiple instances, and of course I save seperately, but during editing using the theme I am most comfortable with then saving to the SLAVE theme, or MASTER theme as an option, whatever name they may be, would be cool.
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Old 02-02-2013, 11:27 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Susan G View Post
Hi-

I'm wondering if it's possible to optionally save a theme with a project or template and if not, if anyone else would find this useful. If so I'll write up an FR.

The reason this would be helpful for me is that I use REAPER for two totally different activities, and I switch between two different themes depending on what I'm doing.

Thanks-

-Susan
Same here. Is there anyone who know how to do this? If this is not possible yet, this is a great feature request.
There are themes which work best with specific tasks: tracking, editing, mixing. I save every instance of the project (i.e. projectname editing v1.0 or projectname mix v3.0). Layouts of each theme are find, but it will be great if themes could be recall when a RPP project is open. It shouldn't be difficult to code, just an additional line in the RPP file saying which theme of the installed themes use when open.
Susan, you should put this in the feature request.
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Old 02-02-2013, 11:44 AM   #4
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afaik, it is not possible and it really might not be a great idea.

just think of sending a project to someone who did not have the theme you used...

HOWEVER, you can certainly put in project Notes that tell what theme to use and even where to go to get that theme, and have it so those project notes appear when you load the project.
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Old 02-02-2013, 12:11 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hopi View Post
afaik, it is not possible and it really might not be a great idea.

just think of sending a project to someone who did not have the theme you used...

HOWEVER, you can certainly put in project Notes that tell what theme to use and even where to go to get that theme, and have it so those project notes appear when you load the project.
Hi hopi-

But as I said, just an option. If you're sending it to someone else, you could uncheck it and save the project again, no?

It's fine to put it in Project Notes, but I already know when I load or start a specific type of project that I'll want to use a different theme for it. That's when saving the theme with the project or template would be useful for me.

Thanks-

-Susan
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Old 02-02-2013, 12:43 PM   #6
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There is a way to do this already, but it is a bit involved.

First thing to do would be to save your current configuration as is, which is a good backup safety thing to do anyway. So, going to
Options\Preferences\General and Export configuration...

For this safety backup I always save everything and name the package by the current Reaper version.

Now that we are introduced to this configuration feature, we can use it for our "template" too. First we set up all the project specific things the template has to have (special settings, Theme, tracks or special project loaded etc.) like we want. After the template project behaves and looks like we want to, we have to save this project. Then we can go and export this configuration. There is no need to save everything into this specific configuration package this time around, just the main Configuration might be enough, depending on needs. We could name this Config export as "whatever template" and export.

Now back to business making all the setting changes for the other templates, and then exporting them too. At any given time we would like to get the exact settings of one specific config template we have made, we would simply Import that configuration.

Like I said, it's a bit involving to set up, but it will work, I have tested it. It will bring back all the settings made before saving each configuration. And again, please make an overall basic configuration export before starting, so you can always bring back the current state you have.

edit: I doubt this would be easier than loading in a pre-made project template and simply changing the theme manually. But it is there at least.

Last edited by xpander; 02-02-2013 at 12:58 PM.
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Old 02-02-2013, 12:57 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hopi View Post
afaik, it is not possible and it really might not be a great idea.

just think of sending a project to someone who did not have the theme you used...

HOWEVER, you can certainly put in project Notes that tell what theme to use and even where to go to get that theme, and have it so those project notes appear when you load the project.
If you send a project to someone who doesn't have the RPP theme, then maybe a message like: "The project you are opening has a theme associated within that you don't have installed. Do you want to use your default theme? Abort loading? Always use my default theme (check box)"
Default theme should be choose in the Reaper preferences.
The option to lock or not the project to that specific theme should be choose in the Project settings.
Right now is odd you just install a new theme for a new project and if you want to open an old project that new theme take place.
I have always thought that themes should be associated with the project itself.
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Old 02-02-2013, 01:07 PM   #8
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I think Reaper will already default to loading in a basic default theme features even if there is no other theme available. I remember erasing at some point all the theme files and still getting something displayed.

Just to say that I don't think getting these project + themes to load for other people would be too big of a problem if default theme would be ok too.

---
edit: found the old test notes
http://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php...15&postcount=9

Last edited by xpander; 02-02-2013 at 01:18 PM.
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Old 02-02-2013, 05:32 PM   #9
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Default GOT IT !!!

Just a little extra work - Create a "My Song.bat" file.

First I copied the "ColorThemes" folder to my Reaper Drive/Partition. (the default location involves too much typing)

Then create a text file as below, substituting the appropriate file/folder names, and save it as "Your Song.bat"
Note - Any File/Folder names with spaces need quotes around them.

================================================== =====================
@rem BATCH FILE
@echo off

R:\Reaper\"ColorThemes"\WT_Imperial.ReaperTheme

R:\Reaper\"My Songs"\"Come Home"\"Come Home.RPP"

================================================== =====================

Run the bat file - Reaper will load with the selected theme.
Use the X-box to close Reaper and the selected song will now load.

It only takes 2 clicks - 1 for the bat file - 1 to close Reaper.
On my system it all takes about 10-12 seconds.
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Old 02-02-2013, 06:12 PM   #10
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Somebody tell me if this works as I have no clue what the kind person who made this just wrote.
But would get out the dictionary and fumble through thimgs if I know someone else liked it..
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Old 02-02-2013, 11:47 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by XITE-1/4LIVE View Post
Somebody tell me if this works as I have no clue what the kind person who made this just wrote.
But would get out the dictionary and fumble through thimgs if I know someone else liked it..
Well, the easy way to do this is open Notepad (If you're on a PC - Not sure about MACs)
Copy & Paste everything between the === lines into Notepad & leave it open.

Open your Reaper Songs partition or drive - leave it open
then start Reaper
Under "Options", select "Show Reaper resource path..."
When that window opens copy the "ColorThemes" folder to the Reaper drive.
Close Reaper & the Reaper Resource Window.

Now, in Notepad, change the drive letters to whatever your Reaper Drive is.
Mine is "R" - Yours may be "C" or "D" etc

Pick the Theme in the "ColorThemes" Folder that you want to use.
R-Click on it and select "Rename" - Hold down SHIFT and the Right ARROW key to select the whole name. Then CONTROL +C to copy it.

In Notepad delete the ReaperTheme name and paste the name you just copied in it's place.
Replace "My New Song.RPP" with whatever your song is called

EXAMPLE
C:\Reaper\"ColorThemes"\Default_4.0_unpacked.Reape rTheme

C:\Reaper\"My Songs"\"My New Song"\"My New Song.RPP"

NOTE - NO spaces. I don't know why it shows one between "e & r" in "ReaperTheme". I can't get it to go away.

Name the Notepad file "My New Song.bat"
Then "Save As" and pick the type "All Files *.*"
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Last edited by Boydbob; 02-03-2013 at 12:00 AM.
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Old 02-03-2013, 01:29 AM   #12
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A very nice idea IMHO.

There are themes people prefer for recording, recording in the dark, recording a specific set of performers, mixing in the dark , editing dialogue, editing drums, composing midi, writing orchestral works and so on.

Loading a theme takes very, very little time, so this would be a perk for me, so writing up an FR for this gets my vote. Of course I agree it should be optional and perhaps not activated by default, but visible in the file-save dialog so people know it IS there right off the bat.
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Old 02-03-2013, 03:46 PM   #13
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Yo Bro, thank you so much for the English translation.
Now I am reading ReaScript and seeing all of the cool traicks i might use from other cats here who share their hours of work for others.

Cheers.
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Old 03-07-2013, 05:02 PM   #14
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FR link is in the first post and here:

http://forum.cockos.com/project.php?issueid=4688

Thanks!

-Susan
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Old 03-12-2013, 04:09 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Susan G View Post
I'm wondering if it's possible to optionally save a theme with a project
That's not really what you asked for Susan G, I know.. But it might be useful for other matters too, so I post!

Since v2.3.0 #12 the extension might help, you can run an action on project load thanks to:
+SWS/S&M: Set project startup action
+SWS/S&M: Clear project startup action
.. and you have "slot actions" to switch themes too (the slots must be filled in th S&M Resources window)
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Old 03-12-2013, 06:56 PM   #16
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Excellent, Jeffos, thanks!

-Susan
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Old 03-13-2013, 02:28 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeffos View Post
That's not really what you asked for Susan G, I know.. But it might be useful for other matters too, so I post!

Since v2.3.0 #12 the extension might help, you can run an action on project load thanks to:
+SWS/S&M: Set project startup action
+SWS/S&M: Clear project startup action
.. and you have "slot actions" to switch themes too (the slots must be filled in th S&M Resources window)
Hi Jeffos (or anyone)-

I've loaded the themes in the Resources window, but when I filter the Action list for "slot" and "theme" I can't find the one to switch to a theme. There's "Load theme..." but that brings up a dialog to select a theme to load into a slot, and there's Clear and Delete.

What am I missing? Which action would select a theme I've already defined in the Resources window?

Thanks-

-Susan
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Old 03-14-2013, 08:30 AM   #18
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Hi Susan,

First, I forgot something important.. Are you running OSX?
I ask because theme actions are Win-only ATM (I should be able to port them though..)

___


Otherwise, if you run a Windows OS:

To switch/load themes, the exact action names are: SWS/S&M: Load theme, slot n, where n is in [1;4] by default
(^^ so, by default, you have 4 actions like - but you can customize things as explained here: up to 99 themes/actions)

Of course, before you can switch themes with theses actions, you have to fill those "theme slots".

Two ways you can fill slots:

1) Either just run the theme action, so here: "SWS/S&M: Load theme, slot 4"
=> if this slot #4 is empty, you will be automatically prompted to load a file in this slot (.ReaperthemeZip file), but only once: the very first time you run this action, and only if the slot is empty. Then, each time you will run this action again, the theme file you have defined will be applied, of course.

2) Or, in the S&M Resources window:



^^ with this window, you can manage slots (drag-drop, add, insert, clear, delete, etc...) and more.

Ok, we have filled the slot (BTW, this is the same for all types of Resources slots: FX chains, Track Template, Project, etc..).



Now, to define our example action "SWS/S&M: Load theme, slot 4" as project startup action, run SWS/S&M: Set project startup action
=> a message box is displayed, it explains how to do that: "please select an action, macro, or script in the Actions window and click OK"
=> so, select "SWS/S&M: Load theme, slot 4", click OK and save the project!, i.e. to save your startup action in the RRP file

Hope this clarifies.

___

Annoying note! Susan, please wait for the next SWS/S&M build before re-trying :/
(I have tested the above from end-to-end => it works here but I had to tweak things a bit because theme actions are special..)

.

Last edited by Jeffos; 03-14-2013 at 08:35 AM.
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Old 03-14-2013, 08:35 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeffos View Post
Annoying note! Please wait for the next SWS/S&M build before re-trying :/
(I have tested the above from end-to-end => it works here but I had to tweak things a bit because theme actions are special..).
I had done everything as in your post, but when I got to the "Load theme..." part it just opened the Windows file dialog. I'll wait for the next build.

Thanks!

-Susan
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Old 03-14-2013, 08:48 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Susan G View Post
I had done everything as in your post, but when I got to the "Load theme..." part it just opened the Windows file dialog.
Well, if the slot is empty, it is normal.. As explained above:
Quote:
=> if this slot #4 is empty, you will be automatically prompted to load a file in this slot (.ReaperthemeZip file), but only once: the very first time you run this action, and only if the slot is empty. Then, each time you will run this action again, the theme file you have defined will be applied, of course.
^^ reason why: this is to make things works only with key shorcuts.

The prob in the current version has nothing to see with that, very technical stuff that would be useless/time-consuming to explain
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Old 03-14-2013, 08:52 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeffos View Post
Well, if the slot is empty, it is normal.. As explained above:

^^ reason why: this is to make things works only with key shorcuts.

The prob in the current version has nothing to see with that, very technical stuff that would be useless/time-consuming to explain
It wasn't an empty slot, but I'll wait anyway !

Thanks-

-Susan
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Old 03-14-2013, 09:02 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Susan G View Post
It wasn't an empty slot, but I'll wait anyway !
!!?
.. and when you dbl-click a theme slot in the Resources window, what does happen?
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Old 03-14-2013, 11:46 AM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeffos View Post
!!?
.. and when you dbl-click a theme slot in the Resources window, what does happen?
Okay, I see what happened. I forgot that I created a new bookmark for my themes, so of course the "Load theme..." action wouldn't recognize those as theme slots. My bad, sorry!

I did come across something a little inconsistent, though. When I tried to load a theme in a Theme slot it only listed the .ReaperThemeZip files. I checked in Options>Preferences>Theme Editor, and when you save a theme there it still assumes the .ReaperTheme extension, so for a theme to show up in the resource list you need to save it explicitly with the .ReaperThemeZip extension.

No biggie, but perhaps the Theme Editor Save dialog should be updated to add "Zip" to the extension since that seems to be the new normal.

Thanks-

-Susan
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Old 06-05-2013, 08:54 PM   #24
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Hi Jeffos-

I'm no longer able to select an action from the list to use as a project startup action. I posted details at the SWS site.

Thanks!

-Susan

Edit: Never mind. It's working again. Thanks!

Last edited by Susan G; 06-06-2013 at 08:24 AM. Reason: Never mind
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