command line options?

Anybody know if you can use command line options to ditch any of the 18
pop-up windows you have to deal with when cranking AB up? Be nice if I
could set up a shortcut to the effect of "Start AB, using this system
(datadef), this army (prefix), and don't pop-up all those info boxes that
tell me things I knew anyways".

- rob.

One fine day in the middle of the night, Rob Moser <moser@unsw.edu.au>
got up to write:

>
>Anybody know if you can use command line options to ditch any of the 18
>pop-up windows you have to deal with when cranking AB up? Be nice if I
>could set up a shortcut to the effect of "Start AB, using this system
>(datadef), this army (prefix), and don't pop-up all those info boxes that
>tell me things I knew anyways".

Nope, you can't I'm afraid. Although I quite like the idea. However...

We use a program at work called "Push the Freakin' Button", which
automatically pushes buttons on dialog boxes for you (obviously not all
dialog boxes, just some you specify). I can't actually find any record
of it anywhere, but if you found that or a similar thing you could make
use of it. I'll try and remember to see if there's an url for it.

--
'Not Colin' McAlister | License to Skrill
Email: demandred@skrill.org | Visit http://www.skrill.org/ today!
-----------------------------+------------------------------------
"Dovie'andi se tovya sagain" - Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time

Colen 'Skrillboy' McAlister quoth:
> >
> >Anybody know if you can use command line options to ditch any of the 18
> >pop-up windows you have to deal with when cranking AB up? Be nice if I
> >could set up a shortcut to the effect of "Start AB, using this system
> >(datadef), this army (prefix), and don't pop-up all those info boxes that
> >tell me things I knew anyways".
>
> Nope, you can't I'm afraid. Although I quite like the idea. However...

Rob? Suggestion for 2.3? (Yeah, I knew you were just hangin out to hear
THAT... 2.2 is great, BTW...)

> We use a program at work called "Push the Freakin' Button", which
> automatically pushes buttons on dialog boxes for you (obviously not all
> dialog boxes, just some you specify). I can't actually find any record
> of it anywhere, but if you found that or a similar thing you could make
> use of it. I'll try and remember to see if there's an url for it.

Should you find it, I'd love to hear about it.

- rob.

[rob]

At 06:14 PM 6/18/2001 +0100, you wrote:
>One fine day in the middle of the night, Rob Moser <moser@unsw.edu.au>
>got up to write:
>
> >
> >Anybody know if you can use command line options to ditch any of the 18
> >pop-up windows you have to deal with when cranking AB up? Be nice if I
> >could set up a shortcut to the effect of "Start AB, using this system
> >(datadef), this army (prefix), and don't pop-up all those info boxes that
> >tell me things I knew anyways".
>
>Nope, you can't I'm afraid. Although I quite like the idea. However...
>
>We use a program at work called "Push the Freakin' Button", which
>automatically pushes buttons on dialog boxes for you (obviously not all
>dialog boxes, just some you specify). I can't actually find any record
>of it anywhere, but if you found that or a similar thing you could make
>use of it. I'll try and remember to see if there's an url for it.

Someone needs to take a look at the oft-ignored user manual. :-O

You can definitely setup AB to automatically load a specific set of data
files. Create a new shortcut to AB and then specify the file extension on
the command line. AB will load that game system immediately. HOWEVER, there
is NOT a way to create a roster for army XYZ automatically. You can only go
directly to the Create Roster dialog.

In addition, there is no way to bypass the messages that may appear for the
game system and/or army. Those messages always appear, period. The hope is
that people will actually READ them. Unfortunately, that's not completely
successful, since I still get regular emails from people reporting bugs in
data files for game systems where the email address appears every time they
load the data files. :-( I sometimes even get emails from people saying "I
don't know who to send this bug report to, but...." - even though the
address greets them every time. :-(

I can only hope that those nagging messages actually get read by a large
percentage of users and save me a great deal of technical support effort.
Unfortunately, the messages are a nuisance to users who DO pay attention to
the info presented. Here's the real tradeoff on my end. The more time I
spend doing technical support, the less time I can spend on development of
new stuff. Since I need to spend a healthy chunk of time on development, I
would have to raise the price of AB and/or start charging for all the
upgrades so that I can pay someone to handle all the additional tehcnical
support questions. Somehow, I don't think most users mind the minor
inconvenience of the messages if it saves them money in the long run. :-)

Hope this helps to clarify....

Thanks, Rob

Rob Bowes quoth:

> In addition, there is no way to bypass the messages that may appear for the
> game system and/or army. Those messages always appear, period. The hope is
> that people will actually READ them. Unfortunately, that's not completely
> successful, since I still get regular emails from people reporting bugs in
> data files for game systems where the email address appears every time they

Ah, but what are the chances that those bongos who won't even read a pop-up
window will read enough of the maual to learn how to bypass it? *grin*
Sallright; if it saves you hassle I can live with it. I just leave AB
running all the time now so that I don't have to wade through dialogue
boxes when I want it.

- rob.

You might also try WinBatch, although I don't know if you can get a version
of it for free...

Fred


> We use a program at work called "Push the Freakin' Button", which
> automatically pushes buttons on dialog boxes for you (obviously not all
> dialog boxes, just some you specify). I can't actually find any record
> of it anywhere, but if you found that or a similar thing you could make
>




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

At 17:04 18/06/01 -0700, you wrote:

>Someone needs to take a look at the oft-ignored user manual. :-O
>
>You can definitely setup AB to automatically load a specific set of data
>files. Create a new shortcut to AB and then specify the file extension on
>the command line. AB will load that game system immediately. HOWEVER, there
>is NOT a way to create a roster for army XYZ automatically. You can only go
>directly to the Create Roster dialog.

haha, fantastic. I stand corrected :O

>In addition, there is no way to bypass the messages that may appear for the
>game system and/or army. Those messages always appear, period. The hope is
>that people will actually READ them. Unfortunately, that's not completely
>successful, since I still get regular emails from people reporting bugs in
>data files for game systems where the email address appears every time they
>load the data files. :-( I sometimes even get emails from people saying "I
>don't know who to send this bug report to, but...." - even though the
>address greets them every time. :-(

Indeed.


--
'Not Colin' McAlister - License to Skrill
Email: demandred@skrill.org | Visit http://www.skrill.org/ today!
-----------------------------+------------------------------------
"Dovie'andi se tovya sagain" - Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time