Buttons and hyperlinks

[Ernst]

I am amazed with the latest developments of PTE. Thanks Igor for your continuous work, effort and time in the development of PTE.

Let me play newbie for a while, with the following:

PART 1

1. I am testing a show, synchronized to length of sound file.

2. I want that the last slide... "When show ends keep last slide in show on screen" to be on.

3. I put a button with the action: "Go to first slide" as an Object on that last slide that stays on screen.

It did not work. I tried also with an hyperlink. Nothing.

4. Then I placed a button on a slide about in the middle of the show, Go to First Slide, just for testing.

My conclusion: When working with a synchronized show nothing of the above is possible, unless I do not use synchronized show, right?

PART 2

1. I know this has been an old discussion in the forum (the old forum and this one) about menus, and I remember that I made some posts in the old forum about a routine to work as it were the option of menus in the program, bypassing the lack of menus options.

2. When I want a viewer, who gets to the last slide (that one fixed on the screen) to go to slide 1 (that is reinitiate the show), or have the option to go, for example to a part 2, or 3, from that slide, how should I operate?

Questions:

1. Should I use non synchronized show, or synchronize custom each slide, and then this option for navigating ( I mean buttons and hyperlinks, not the navigation bar) will be active?

2. Maybe I am doing something wrong?

I must confess that I did not work with PTE in the last few months, and maybe did not closely follow the very important improvements in PTE and all the discussion about this topic in this forum. My excuses.

Your guidance will be welcomed.

BTW, Hola Guido ! Saludos !

Regards

Ernst

[think(box)]

Hola Ernst,

PART1:

Against repeated requests for control in a sync show there is still none, and there are no functional buttons. Many agree that a simple sync show pause by "Pause" key that stops music and allows arrow key navigation to go back a slide or two etc. would be very handy. This is still on Igor's wish list. Look for this in next PTE version! (Click here to see)

PART2:

Ernst, the new v4.10 PTE does what you need! The new feature, "Customize Slide -> (Main) Advanced options -> Run external application" solves it for you. Make your shows SYNC as you want. Customize last slide in each SYNC show with the "Run app" set to run a NON-SYNC "selector" show. The "selector" show is a separate NON-SYNC show with "Run app and exit" buttons to select from multiple SYNC shows, even the same show again.

The "Customize Slide -> (Main) Advanced options -> Run external application" feature works in SYNC shows!

NOTE: Under "Project Options -> (Main) Show settings" don't use the option "When show ends keep last slide in show on screen" since the shows won't close. Instead use "Close show after last slide" in every show.

[Ernst]

Thanks, Bill.

Certainly a very good and clear explanation on how to proceed, while we wait to get eventually also a programmed pause for the shows.

What I did:

1. Made a show and SYNCed it

2. Last slide customized to start external application, that is another NON-SYNCed show. I called it Menu.

Menu is a one-slide-show, and it is set to "When show ends, keep last slide in show on screen. This works fine even as a starting Menu, for several shows.

On this one-slide-show I put buttons, that lead to different synced shows, all ending with a customized last slide, with a "run application and close". The run application is my one-slide-show (the menu).

Excellent!

3. The only thing that happens is that the so-called linked shows (from the menu) should eventually be your own shows, where you have a control on the last slide to start the "menu" application. I for example, linked from the menu to a show called Kirov, made by Igor at the beginnings of PTE. This show loops. So, no way to have my new system working with these kinds of shows, where I can´t control the last slide. The show never ends, unless you ESCape. And then you are at your desktop, and not at your Menu, unless you have your menu slideshow open. Since you told it to run application and exit, it will no longer be there.

This takes me back to what I proposed (maybe two years ago), in order to have a second show open, with menu buttons, and looping all the time. So, even if you ESCape from a looping show, you land on your Menu-show.

So your suggestion is a big step forward, but maybe only working with shows that one personnally can control, as to configure their last slide.

Will keep experimenting.

Thanks again, for your time and generosity.

Regards

Ernst

[think(box)]

You're most welcome Ernst. I think you have another option that gets closer to what you're looking for. The "Run application or open file..." button action can be selected instead of "Run application and exit" in your "Menu" show. Then the Menu show will still be there after you escape-close from the "looped" show. Just be sure that you don't play any music in the Menu show since it will keep playing during shows started from its buttons.

If that is not sufficient, I have an idea for a more complete, general solution to running "old" shows:

I have been working on utilities that control (run, close, minimize, activate) other shows by various means. One potential way to end or close looped shows is by the show run time. If you are running a sync show that takes an exact amount of time before it loops or repeats, then a timer utility can force-close that show. The same utility that stops the timed show can restart a "Menu" show.

One problem I haven't yet solved is that not all shows have a "window title" that may be used to close them. By that I mean a title that Windows displays in the taskbar for the show. I may be able to close the show by other means. It's just most easy to control using the window title.

By the way, this .PTE file entry sets the show window title: opt_scr_caption=Show selector

I made that example have a title that could be used for the special Menu show. You do not have to match the .exe show name made with PTE "Create" button to the window title. PTE doesn't modify what you've called the window, and in fact it usually leaves that show title line blank (no name).

If I get a general timed show utility working anytime soon I'll post about it in the forum and send email to you if you want. It is possible that this dialog will surface someone who has already made such a utility though.

[think(box)]

By the way, I checked out the two links mentioned in your "signature". It is a chilly 1C/34F in Santiago right now according to ECOLYMA site. Brrrr. (Oh yeah, it's winter in Chile while we're sweating summer in US). The second link didn't work for me though (http://www.ecolyma.cl/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi). Maybe it is off-line.

You have some nice photos and links for organic horticulture - thank you!

[jimlarkey]

Hello Ernst,

Igor has recently again promised the feature that I think you are looking for, objects in synched shows.

Refer to:

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums//index...ct=ST&f=2&t=857

I've tried various "work arounds", none of which accomplish the same as enabling objects in synched shows on the last slide. The workarounds are usually difficult and clumbsy, and usually involve some trade-offs with either the visuals, or the music.

Igor has indicated that he realizes the importance of this feature.....patience.

It reassuring to know that other PTE users value this feature.

Cheers,

Jim

[Ernst]

Bill, I am sorry that the link to my forum did not work. I forgot to change the signature when I reinstalled the forum in another folder. The route has been corrected now in my signature.

Cold: Yes, for our standards it´s cold around here (we have got a polar wave in the last week).

Thanks for all your time to explain working straight forward or around the problem I posted.

I will read carefully and work on some of the advices, and answer later again. Maybe there will be other posts in the next time, so I can react to them, too.

Thanks again

Ernst

[Ernst]

Jim:

Thanks to you, too. Certainly it will be a most desired and useful improvement in PTE.

Regards

Ernst

[gourmetphoto]

I'm very new to this and am not understanding how to get my hyperlinks to work at the end of my slide show.

Would someone care to explain it to me step by step??

Thanks

[nobeefstu]

gourmetphoto,

By your post I assume you know how to make the object/links ... but just cant get them to work ?

If your Show is Auto Syncronized they wont work ...as there is no way for the mouse to access any objects. The mouse is inoperable in Sync Modes. You must build your Show using the other Modes for the mouse tobe able to function.