Cubase 'Enlarge selected track' feature...

[cubic13]

Hi, all

I'm trying to conceive my first eel script to reproduce a quite useful feature of Cubase : the 'Enlarge selected track' one, and I admit to be completely lost. I guess it's doable, though...

This feature is basically supposed to work as following :
1) Activate the 'Enlarge selected track' feature,
2) Dimension a selected track at the wanted height (with the mouse),
3) Select any other track in the track list : it will take the height that you defined in 2), while the previous selected one will be reset to its 'default' height,
4) and so on for every track selection... until you deactivate the 'Enlarge selected track' feature.

This is quite useful, especially in a project with a lot of tracks, as you can quickly view this way for any track selected all the track controls at a glance with only a selection click or quickly do an inline editing without having each time to redimension the involved track.

I would already be happy if, instead of setting the 'enlarged' height with the mouse, I could at least be able to set a predefined value of it in the script. What I don't get in the different eel scripts I already viewed is how to get a script permanently active to detect the track selection and act accordingly. I saw the defer() function but how does this one actually work ? And how to reset the height of the previous selected track to its default ?

Any hint would be appreciated...

[Soli Deo Gloria]

Hi!

You can already do something quite close to that with SWS extensions - I do it all the time -. In the "Command parameters" section of the extensions menu you can define track height A and B. Then you have actions to "set selected tracks´ height to A/B. In that way, by creating a cycle action with them you can easily toggle between both heights, or you could assign two adjacent shortcuts to the A/B actions and it´s almost the same. You´ve just got one more click than in Cubase.

Besides - and I haven´t done it but I´m sure it´s doable -, the exact procedure you ask for should be also achieved at the actions level, with SWS snapshots, just in case you want an alternative to scripting.

[cubic13]

Hi, Soli, and thanks for the suggestion.

The problem is that I would like the unselected track height to automatically go back to its previous own value and the SWS 'toggle selected track A/B' doesn't allow this, without counting with the necessary added command foe each selection. Beside this, I already tried using the SWS cycle actions feature. Could never get it to work, as the 'Cycle actions' window is a nightmare. I never succeeded to actually select an action from the 'Add selected action' command, and, trying to enter one with the command leads to execution error like '<cyle action> name was not registered'. Using the IF/ELSE/ENDIF brings other ones, as 'IF statement must be followed by an action that report toggle state'. This with the 'Apply' button behaving strangely, etc.

And the whole thing is not even evoked in the so-called 'ReaperPlus' documentation which is more than 4 years old and absolutely doesn't reflect all the changes and additions made since. So, I gave up using SWS in an efficient way, actually : rather counter-intuitive and an obsolete doc to go with it...

Thanks again, though...

[cubic13]

OK... A little progress : now, I see how the defer() function works.

Now, another problem : how to end a specific eel script without displaying the 'Reascript task control' window ? This one is a nuisance, as I would be able to start/end a script which would include a defer() function via a menu/shortcut/toolbar icon without any useless added user intervention ?

Thanks for any hint...

[Soli Deo Gloria]

Well, I see what you mean. Maybe the easiest way is to minimize all other tracks when you set the selected one to a specific height, but you also want the previous one to return to its original height... Anyway, if I figure out an alternative I´ll tell you...

[vanhaze]

I made this custom action sequences, assigned to arrow up key and arrow down key.
Trackheight A Is your wished minimal height.
Trackheight B is your wished enlarged height.

For going up in the tracklist: (arrow up key):
Action sequence: (out of my head)

- set selected track to height A
- go to previous track
- set selected track to height B

For going down in the tracklist (down arrow key)

- set selected track to height A
- go to next track
- set selected track to height B

Issue with this: when you rapidly scroll through the tracklist with the arrow keys, the screen flickers.

[cubic13]

Hi again, Soli

I'm struggling with every script lines, presently. When you are not used to eel scripting, there are all kinds of pitfalls arising (reminds me Walter, in a different way...), like this one : I just discovered that the "I_WNDH" parameter of the GetMediaTrackInfo_Value() function reports back the track high with the visible envelope lanes heights included. From which I guess that I'll have to integrate in the script two 'Main_OnCommand' statements involving the 40891 action to make it work properly. I'm not done, yet, far from it...

Thanks for your help proposal !

[cubic13]

Originally Posted by vanhaze

I made this custom action sequences, assigned to arrow up key and arrow down key.
Trackheight A Is your wished minimal height.
Trackheight B is your wished enlarged height.

For going up in the tracklist: (arrow up key):
Action sequence: (out of my head)

- set selected track to height A
- go to previous track
- set selected track to height B

For going down in the tracklist (down arrow key)

- set selected track to height A
- go to next track
- set selected track to height B

Issue with this: when you rapidly scroll through the tracklist with the arrow keys, the screen flickers.

Hi, vanhaze

The problem is that this solution left only two height values available. All the interest of the Cubase implementation of this feature is in the fact that, when a track gets unselected, its height is reseted to exactly the previous state before its selection, no matter the value of it.

Sadly, neither Reaper, nor the SWS extension propose this behavior natively and, after having use it during several years, it's a little workflow gem that I really miss. Thanks for the suggestion, though...

[vanhaze]

I see your point.

Personally, i am fine with just 2 trackheight states, but that's just subjective ofcourse.

I saw in the JS script forum that someone is working on an EEL script for this cubase feature.
I very hope he succeeds, for you, for me and problaby many others :0).

[cubic13]

Hi, vanhaze, and sorry for the late answer...

Well, I think that I got it. Hasn't been without pitfalls and head scratches, but still, it seems to work as expected, AFAICS... So, here it is :

function enlarge_selected_track() (
curr_sel_track = GetSelectedTrack(0, 0);
curr_sel_track != last_sel_track ? (
	Main_OnCommand(40889, 0);
	last_height = GetMediaTrackInfo_Value(last_sel_track, "I_HEIGHTOVERRIDE");
	curr_height = GetMediaTrackInfo_Value(curr_sel_track, "I_HEIGHTOVERRIDE");
	(last_height != 0) ? (
		SetMediaTrackInfo_Value(curr_sel_track, "I_HEIGHTOVERRIDE", last_height);
	);
	SetMediaTrackInfo_Value(last_sel_track, "I_HEIGHTOVERRIDE", prev_height);
	prev_height = curr_height;
	last_sel_track = curr_sel_track;
	Main_OnCommand(41148, 0);
);
defer("enlarge_selected_track()";)
)

enlarge_selected_track();

I'm able to control its start/end via a toolbar button, but there is still the irritating confirmation message when I want to end it : would like to get rid of this one, if possible, but it's not a biggie.

It does the following :
1) At first, it will redimension the height of every further selected track at the same height as the track selected when you launch the script.
2) You can redimension the 'enlarge' height value at any time via the mouse, just by redimensioning the current selected track.
3) When selecting several tracks, the height of the first selected one will take precedence over the other ones.

Could someone test this and post a feedback here ? I would like to know if it works and is as useful for some of you as it is for me.

Thanks...

[vanhaze]

How do i load this script in Reaper ?

I am on mac:

Copy - pasted your script in a text edit and saved it as a .eel file but when i then want to import it as a reascript, it's greyed out.

[cubic13]

Strange : it works here with indeed the .eel extension, so i don't see a reason why it's greyed out, in your case, as it's actually a plain text file editable with Notepad. Just hope that it's not uncompatible with Mac for a reason...

I guess that it should be placed (as it is, here) in the dedicated scripts folder : under Windows 7, its C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Roaming\REAPER\Scripts, but I admit that I don't know how it is organized under OSX.

Try using in Reaper the 'Options/Show REAPER resource path...' menu option which should list the Scripts folder and keep me informed...

[vanhaze]

Hi !

It seemed that the file had an invisible extension after .eel.
Cause when i looked in the file properties, i saw: "Enlarge selected track.eel.rtf"
So i deleted .rtf in the file name and now i can load the script !!

But: i get an error message when i execute the script :

syntax error: '\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\cocoartf1265\cocoasubrtf21 '

I use another .eel script succesfully in Reaper, so .eel scripts in the mac version of Reaper should work ..

[cubic13]

From the very few things that I know about Mac, it seems that the error has something to do with 'cocoa', the API for OSX object oriented development platform, or something related - something more or less equivalent to the MS .NET one under Windows. Strange...

Are you sure that the app that you used to paste the code saved it as raw tewt ? A thing to check, maybe : pasting the code of my previous post in Notepad and directly saving it with an .eel extension delivers a file of 646 bytes long. The file obtained works exactly as the one already installed, here. Maybe something to check...

[nofish]

Originally Posted by cubic13

Could someone test this and post a feedback here ? I would like to know if it works and is as useful for some of you as it is for me.

Just tried it on Win 8.1, works fine here so far.
I never thought about this functionality before but it seems to be very useful indeed. Auto-enlarging the track you're are working on currently, while keeping the others small. Nice one, I can see this running per default in the background here. Thank you !

[vanhaze]

Notepad doesn't exist on Mac.
Instead, Textedit for mac is the equivalent.
The script file is about 2k big for me.

Originally Posted by cubic13

From the very few things that I know about Mac, it seems that the error has something to do with 'cocoa', the API for OSX object oriented development platform, or something related - something more or less equivalent to the MS .NET one under Windows. Strange...

Are you sure that the app that you used to paste the code saved it as raw tewt ? A thing to check, maybe : pasting the code of my previous post in Notepad and directly saving it with an .eel extension delivers a file of 646 bytes long. The file obtained works exactly as the one already installed, here. Maybe something to check...

[xpander]

This is a useful script, thanks cubic13! As for terminating it without any nag screens, I used the action ReaScript: Close all running ReaScripts. Both can be set as one cycle action too, so easy to switch on/off. Unfortunately the latter action will also close all the other scripts which might be running at the same time.

[cubic13]

@nofish & xpander : thanks for the feedback ! About ending the script, yes, the problem of the 41898 command is that it ends all scripts currently running. There is an obvious lack in the available actions, here, something more or less like a 'Toggle run/stop [script name]' for any scripts using the defer() function. This could be a FR subject. Meanwhile, I think I'll have to let it as is...

@vanhaze : what intrigues me in your case is that, first, you had to delete a hidden 'rtf' extension. Under Windows, it marks a 'Rich text format' file which is probably not suited for any scripting. And the fact that you end up with a file about three times bigger than mine let me suspect that things are added in the file which should not be.

So, just in case, I join the .eel file used, but with a .txt extension, as .eel is not an allowed extension for an attachment. Hope that you will be able to use it only by changing its extension...

EDIT : attached, a new optimized version (09-14-2014)...

[cubic13]

Well, few observations about the script, after more tests, which concern limitations/(bugs ?) of it...

1) The automatic redimension of the selected track doesn't work if this one is in a folder for which tracks are displayed with minimal heights. Seems rather logical, but still... If you redimension vertically such a track by the mouse, strangely, the automatic redimensioning will start to work. Guess that there is somewhere a flag that is repositioned in this case for the involved track.

2) More irritating : say you have a track with an empty automation lane. If you select such a track, the involved envelope lane will be hidden, as if the 'Bypass (removes if empty)' button was automatically triggered. There is no issue with automation lanes containing at least one curve point.

With my present eel programming skills, I'm not able to fix the second point, sadly. So, if someone has a solution...

Beside this, I am joining a new optimized version and edited the previous posts which include the previous code accordingly.

function enlarge_selected_track() (
curr_sel_track = GetSelectedTrack(0, 0);
curr_sel_track != last_sel_track ? (
	Main_OnCommand(40889, 0);
	last_height = GetMediaTrackInfo_Value(last_sel_track, "I_HEIGHTOVERRIDE");
	curr_height = GetMediaTrackInfo_Value(curr_sel_track, "I_HEIGHTOVERRIDE");
	(last_height != 0) ? (
		SetMediaTrackInfo_Value(curr_sel_track, "I_HEIGHTOVERRIDE", last_height);
	);
	SetMediaTrackInfo_Value(last_sel_track, "I_HEIGHTOVERRIDE", prev_height);
	prev_height = curr_height;
	last_sel_track = curr_sel_track;
	Main_OnCommand(41148, 0);
);
defer("enlarge_selected_track()";)
);

enlarge_selected_track();

Feel free to report back any other issue(s)...

[vanhaze]

Hi !

Isn't it true that this "enlarge selected track" feature now is implemented in the latest SWS extensions beta ?

If not, i have to try again your script again.
It's been awhile since i tried it but if memory recalls correctly, it didn't work for me in Reaper (mac version)

EDIT: ofcourse many thx for putting effort in this feature !

[Pasajeromoronmoreno]

Hi cubik!! i find this script really useful, i really thank you for making it. One thing only, what is going with envelopes and the script? whenever i click in a track with (hidden) envelopes with automation points, it shows all of them for the track. I prefer the behavior of the script was only enlarge the tracks and no also show the envelopes. I took a look at the script, and delete the Main_On_Commands for show and hide envelope, but the script don´t work if i do that Why it´s necessary the envelope show and hide commands for the script to function? This is the first script i really try to understand so, sure it´s me don´t getting something. Thanks in advance!

[vanhaze]

Ola,

I just tried this script in Reaper 5.1pre4 , 64bit on OSX 10.10.5.

- Run the script within Action Window.
- Select a Track in TCP : it doesn't enlarge.

[cubic13]

@Pasajeromoronmoreno & vanhaze : Sorry for the (very) late answer...

Indeed the thing got kinda messed up when envelopes were involved. So, I have rewritten the thing from scratch, in lua this time, as it's a more intuitive language for me. The code is the following :

function enlarge_sel_track()
c_selTrack = reaper.CountSelectedTracks(0)
if c_selTrack ~= 0 then
	tr_curr = reaper.GetSelectedTrack(0, 0)
	if not flag_start then
		y_last = reaper.GetMediaTrackInfo_Value(tr_curr, "I_HEIGHTOVERRIDE")
		y_prev = y_last
		tr_last = tr_curr
	end
	if tr_curr ~= tr_last then
		reaper.Main_OnCommand(41591, 0)
		if tr_last ~= nil then
			y_last = reaper.GetMediaTrackInfo_Value(tr_last, "I_HEIGHTOVERRIDE")
			reaper.SetMediaTrackInfo_Value(tr_last, "I_HEIGHTOVERRIDE", y_prev)
		end
		y_curr = reaper.GetMediaTrackInfo_Value(tr_curr, "I_HEIGHTOVERRIDE")
		if y_last ~= nil then
			reaper.SetMediaTrackInfo_Value(tr_curr, "I_HEIGHTOVERRIDE", y_last)
		end
		reaper.Main_OnCommand(41591, 0)
		y_prev = y_curr
		tr_last = tr_curr
	end
end
flag_start = true
reaper.runloop(enlarge_sel_track)
end

function main()
enlarge_sel_track()
end

main()

Paste it in a raw text editor (Notepad or an equivalent) and save it with a .lua extension. This one should work more reliably, even from Reaper Actions window.

[mpl]

Hi, cubic13.
I rewrote your script and add to ReaPack with reference to this thread.

ReaPack/mpl_Enlarge selected track

[vanhaze]

Thx mpl !

I just did synchronize packages within Reapack, but after that, i can't find your enlarge script.
I wanna try it cause cubic's script is not working for me well.

[mpl]

vanhaze, same. I used another solution with track GUIDs which I guess a bit less buggy in most situations.
Ensure you have checked: Manage repositories / Options / Install new packages automatically

[vanhaze]

Many thanks for your help mpl !

I just tried both scripts of you and they work beautifully, great and super handy/useful !

Highly appreciated !

[cubic13]

Originally Posted by vanhaze

Thx mpl !

I just did synchronize packages within Reapack, but after that, i can't find your enlarge script.
I wanna try it cause cubic's script is not working for me well.

Originally Posted by mpl

vanhaze, same. I used another solution with track GUIDs which I guess a bit less buggy in most situations.
...

As it seems to be buggy, could you both explain more precisely in which situations my script fails (the lua version shown in the post #23) ? As a reminder, I integrated this script in my Cubicpack themes (available in the stash) as it is, with an added SWS action to run/stop it as a toggle. AFAICS, it seems to work as expected here.

@mpl
I have a problem with your version (downloaded from the link provided by Indi (http://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php...06&postcount=6) ; please, confirm that this one is the same as your own) : it doesn't allow the user to choose the height of the tcp panel by adjusting it with a mouse vertical redimensioning. And this is precisely the feature I wanted for it, so it can be adapted to every theme context, without exaggerating the height of the TCP panel with an arbitrary 250 pixels fixed one.

Thanks for any precisions...

[mpl]

If you have ReaPack you may noticed I added version with fixed height.

Taking tracks directly by their pointers is not always good as GUIDs matching method since pointers are ok only when you calling it inside single loop for example. Hard to reproduce really, but errors happen. The reason I recoded it was at least 4 russian users said there are bugs in your version (although I can`t catch them)

[cubic13]

Originally Posted by mpl

If you have ReaPack you may noticed I added version with fixed width.

Taking tracks directly by their pointers is not always good as GUIDs matching method since pointers are ok only when you calling it inside single loop for example. Hard to reproduce really, but errors happen. The reason I recoded it was at least 4 russian users said there are bugs in your version (although I can`t catch them)

OK... So, could you ask the mentioned users to give us a step by step process to reproduce the bugs ? It would help me to eventualy fix what is misbehaving, if I can, as my scripting skills are rather limited, I must admit. Thanks in advance...

[pinksoir]

This is an excellent and very useful script.

Would it be possible to have it display as a toggle? It'd be very useful, when having a custom toolbar button for it, to see when it is enabled or not as it can be slightly annoying when you forget to turn off the script and end up accidentally resizing a track.

[pinksoir]

Excellent! Thanks so much, it makes a great script even better...

[hopi]

darn nice script... thanks very much

If new improved versions show up could you just post them directly here please or with a link to them... thanks!

[venman]

Thanks for this script, it looks like it have great potential for improving my workflow.

But there is 1 thing that breaks it all for me..

I have a mixer window docked and docker is displayed to the left of the screen, before TCPs. I shrinked it so there is room only for 1 mixer track to be displayed there and in conjunction with mixer's option "Scroll view when track activated" it shows me MCP of the selected track, and only it. It's very convenient.

But for some reason with your script it doesn't automatically scroll to the selected track, so I may accidentally change controls of the previously selected one.

The strangest thing is if I make mixer track expanded, it selects it in the mixer as it should. But it doesn't scroll to it. If I click on the track again, after it is expanded, only then it scrolls to it. Any ideas what could break the scrolling function?

Also, how do I make selected track automatically return to normal size when I deselect all tracks?

UPD. It actually doesn't keep the previous track in focus, but always scrolls to the track 1, ignoring whatever I've selected, which is even more strange..

Thanks.

[heda]

a bit of self promotion
Track Inspector has the option to enlarge selected track, and display automation for selected track only. Right click to define height in pixels of enlarged track.

gif example: https://i.imgur.com/xzdnmDK.gif

[venman]

Originally Posted by heda

a bit of self promotion
Track Inspector has the option to enlarge selected track, and display automation for selected track only. Right click to define height in pixels of enlarged track.

gif example: https://i.imgur.com/xzdnmDK.gif

this looks promising (very)

i'll try it definately if no luck with this script

[Freex]

Hi MPL, love the script, but is there a way to enlarge multiple tracks at once?

Also is there a way to turn the feature off and on via a toggle button on the toolbar?

[hopi]

always some darn problem

cubic's eel gives me a syntax error...

mpl's two scripts don't seem to do anything at all... I see nothing change
I have a track selected and run the scripts and no enlargement is seen

[vanhaze]

hopi !

- Regarding mpl - enlarge selected track, define height:

- Run this script
- Change vertical height of a Track (any Track will do), by mouse dragging it's bottom in TCP.
This will be the vertical height setting that a selected Track will change to.

- Select another Track in TCP.
Outcome: That Track will now have the set vertical height
- Select another Track, and watch wat happens

Nifty Stuff from mpl !!

[hopi]

thanks Van... very non obvious... hahaha

and yes, now that I know how it works it IS very handy thanks mpl


EDIT: it 'works' but there seems to be a limit to what you can define... in otherwords
if I really enlarge one track by dragging it to fill most of the screen, then clk another track...
the clk'd one does enlarge but not as much as the height I used in the first step... any ideas?