PinballX Available Command Line Variables

[MisterB]

Can someone please confirm the command line variables that are available in PinballX?  The documentation references [TABLEFILEPATH] and [TABLEFILE] in the examples - are there others?

Specifically, I am looking to pass the Description tag from the database XML to a batch file that I have configured as the "Launch Before Executable".  My intention is to copy a directB2S backglass file from a central location to the table folder at the time that I launch the table.  The centrally hosted files are named based on the Description tag, just like my other media assets.  Can this be done?

For what it's worth, I have already tried [DESCRIPTION], but it does not translate into the desired value.

[tthurman]

Check out Adultery's QuickLaunch (PinballX Edition) 1.0.3 for additional command line variables.

I can't help you wit your other questions, but one the experts here will hopefully see this and chime in.

 

[Carny_Priest]

Code an autohotkey script that reads the xml, copies over the db2s file and renames it to match the tablefile name then launchesVP. Use PinballX to launch the script and pass in [TABLEFILE]

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[MisterB]

tthurman - Thank you for the suggestion.  However, I believe the QuickLaunch plugin exposes more variables than PinballX does for the 'out of the box' for Launch Before/After operations.  I tried a few of those variables without any luck (PBX just passed the variable name, not the value).  Once upon a time, I also tried using the QL plugin, but Adultery confirmed that it was very out of date and not functioning properly.  Unfortunately, there haven't been any recent updates to correct those problems.

Carny_Priest - Thanks as well.  I was considering going down that path if necessary.  My primary concern with that approach is that I have multiple table folders, and multiple database XMLs that refer to them.  I'd probably have to hard code some table file/database mappings to cover the variations.  If PBX could pass just a little more information (and maybe it can/does?), I could develop a more graceful solution.  But this would work.

At then end of the day, I really just want to keep 1 copy of each DB2S file on my system, and not maintain a large number of copies to account for the multiple folders and variations of tables that I have.  Hence my desire to copy from a central location at launch time (and delete when done).  But if anyone has other suggestion on how to accomplish that goal, I would be very interested!

[Tom Speirs]

There the only two tags right now other than [TABLEFILEWOEXT] which sends the file with the extension removed.

[Carny_Priest]

Ok, I thought you were keeping multiple db2s for some reason. Are you keeping multiple versions of the same table (day mod, toy mod, night mod, phys mod plus night mod, blah blah blah mod)? 

All the multiple VP executables can safely coexist in the same folder. Just use the alternateexe or exe tag in a single xml to call the correct version of VP. For me, I tend to select a single version of the table that best represents that table (usually the latest VPX) and I don't keep any others installed. I don't have much of an issue with having multiple copies of the same db2s. I have a few like AFM where I haven't decided among multiple wonderful versions! But the vast majority of tables I have installed just have one VP file and one db2s file. 

If you do maintain a lot of multiple versions of the same table where it is worth the bother of maintaining a central respository of db2s files to save disk space then you can script what you need following the basic structure of the script I coded for another project:

PinballX launches the script and passes in the table name instead of directly launching VP. Read in the xml that makes use of alternateexe or exe tag. The values of the description tag can be matched to a file name in your central db2s repository. Perform the action and launch VP. Wait until VP closes and clean up. When the script completes control returns to PinballX.

If you maintain multiple xml then the script for GTXJoe's PBXRecorder would be a better example of how to read in values from your various xml. 

I think what you want to do is perhaps well beyond the features that PinballX provides in-the-box, but it is flexible enough to do just anything anyone would want if you were willing to script it for yourself with autohotkey, batch files, Python or whatever.

 

[MisterB]

Thank you for all the great feedback.  I will take a closer look at the examples and see if I can pull something together!