Creating a platform to directly launch an executable

[drewjbx]

Is there a way to launch an exe straight from a created platform entry? Or place a rom/game/exe in a main platform category view? I am trying to setup Fightcade under the Arcade platform category. It would be a lot cleaner this way rather than going into a Fightcade platform to see multiple entries to launch the app. If I remember correctly this can be done in Hyperspin.. but those days are gone. I realize I could place it in a playlist but would rather have it launchable from the main Arcade section. 

Edited January 10 by drewjbx

[JoeViking245]

4 hours ago, drewjbx said:

Is there a way to launch an exe straight from a created platform entry? 

This will do what you want.  

 

[drewjbx]

1 hour ago, JoeViking245 said:

This will do what you want.  

 

I missed this one... great little plugin. I tested with a couple of themes and it works, however the theme I use on my cabinet it isn't working - Hypermax Refried

Any pro tips on what I need to modify in this theme to get this to work?

*edit* In the hypermax theme I am using view 'Platform Wheel 4'

Edited January 10 by drewjbx

[JoeViking245]

31 minutes ago, drewjbx said:

I missed this one... great little plugin. I tested with a couple of themes and it works, however the theme I use on my cabinet it isn't working - Hypermax Refried

Any pro tips on what I need to modify in this theme to get this to work?

Thanks!  Glad it still working after 3.5 years.    As for any pro tips, here's what I got...

 

I'd start by looking in the themes folder for the folder \Hypermax Refried\Views\WheelBackup\

if 'WheelBackup' doesn't exist, the theme wasn't setup.  If it does exist, check that it has 4 files in it.

Hopefully it does. If so...

 

Back in the Views folder, edit the 1st of the 4 files.  In the declarations section add:

xmlns:LPlat="clr-namespace:LaunchPlatform;assembly=LaunchPlatform"

At the bottom of the file, above </Canvas>, add:

<LPlat:LPControl />

It should look like this:

And this:

 

Save and close.

Now edit the 2nd of the 4 files the same way.  Then the 3rd and 4th.

Start BigBox and try it again.

 

That's about all the Pro Tippin' I can give. 

[drewjbx]

1 hour ago, JoeViking245 said:

Thanks!  Glad it still working after 3.5 years.    As for any pro tips, here's what I got...

 

I'd start by looking in the themes folder for the folder \Hypermax Refried\Views\WheelBackup\

if 'WheelBackup' doesn't exist, the theme wasn't setup.  If it does exist, check that it has 4 files in it.

Hopefully it does. If so...

 

Back in the Views folder, edit the 1st of the 4 files.  In the declarations section add:

xmlns:LPlat="clr-namespace:LaunchPlatform;assembly=LaunchPlatform"

At the bottom of the file, above </Canvas>, add:

<LPlat:LPControl />

It should look like this:

And this:

 

Save and close.

Now edit the 2nd of the 4 files the same way.  Then the 3rd and 4th.

Start BigBox and try it again.

 

That's about all the Pro Tippin' I can give. 

Thanks for tips! No go with Hypermax theme... maybe I will try to contact the author and see if it can be figured out. 

Everything looks good in the xaml so I'm not sure why it is not working. 

COMMUNITY Theme Creator - Version 2.5.5
Theme:          Hypermax Refried
Aspect Ratio:   16:9
Published by:   Dark
Published:      Saturday 22, July 2023 @ 3:48 PM
BigBox Version: 13 or later
-->
<UserControl Name="Canvas" ClipToBounds="True"
	xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
	xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
	xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
	xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
	xmlns:i="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/2010/interactivity"
	xmlns:cal="http://www.caliburnproject.org"
	xmlns:transitions="clr-namespace:Unbroken.LaunchBox.Wpf.Transitions;assembly=Unbroken.LaunchBox.Wpf"
	xmlns:bigBox="clr-namespace:Unbroken.LaunchBox.Wpf;assembly=Unbroken.LaunchBox.Wpf"
	xmlns:videos="clr-namespace:Unbroken.LaunchBox.Wpf.BigBox.Controls;assembly=BigBox"
	xmlns:wpf="clr-namespace:Unbroken.LaunchBox.Wpf;assembly=Unbroken.LaunchBox.Wpf"
	xmlns:controls="clr-namespace:Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Controls;assembly=Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows"
	xmlns:converters="clr-namespace:Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Converters;assembly=Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows"
	xmlns:gif="clr-namespace:WpfAnimatedGif;assembly=Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows"
	xmlns:coverFlow="clr-namespace:Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Controls.CoverFlow;assembly=Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows"
	xmlns:sys="clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib"
	xmlns:lbsc="clr-namespace:ListBoxScrollCenterNS;assembly=COMMUNITYlb064"
	xmlns:community="clr-namespace:COMMUNITY_Theme_Creator_Library;assembly=COMMUNITYThemeCreatorLibrary1.3"
	xmlns:commc="clr-namespace:COMMUNITY_Theme_Creator_Library;assembly=COMMUNITYThemeCreatorLibrary1.3"
	xmlns:LPlat="clr-namespace:LaunchPlatform;assembly=LaunchPlatform"	
	mc:Ignorable="d"
	d:DesignWidth="3840" d:DesignHeight="2160" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Style="{DynamicResource UserControlStyle}" >

 

[JoeViking245]

26 minutes ago, drewjbx said:

Thanks for tips! No go with Hypermax theme... maybe I will try to contact the author and see if it can be figured out. 

Everything looks good in the xaml so I'm not sure why it is not working. 

Did you add the line at the bottom also?  (have to ask)

Also, just curious, did the Setup add those 2 lines for you (and create the backup files 1st)?  I didn't study the Theme's xml file.  Hopefully it isn't trying to use the backuped files.  

I doubt the Theme author would be able to help (because of my plugin changes). But would be cool if they had the answer. 

Are you using a view that uses the [new] PlatformWheelxxx?  Maybe try a different View (for process of elimination).

[JoeViking245]

2 hours ago, drewjbx said:

I tested with a couple of themes and it works, however the theme I use on my cabinet it isn't working

Were the other Themes that were tested and worked, tested on the cab?  (vs. a different PC)  Did you, could you test others on the cab?  (more process of elimination)

[drewjbx]

52 minutes ago, JoeViking245 said:

Did you add the line at the bottom also?  (have to ask)

Also, just curious, did the Setup add those 2 lines for you (and create the backup files 1st)?  I didn't study the Theme's xml file.  Hopefully it isn't trying to use the backuped files.  

I doubt the Theme author would be able to help (because of my plugin changes). But would be cool if they had the answer. 

Are you using a view that uses the [new] PlatformWheelxxx?  Maybe try a different View (for process of elimination).

The plugin did add the 2 lines.. the first line was at the top but I moved it to the bottom after xmlns:commc. I don't think that matters but I did it anyway. Also the backup folder was created.Al themes I have tried are using the new platformwheelxxx as those are being backed up. (PlatformWheel1FiltersView.*)

 

49 minutes ago, JoeViking245 said:

Were the other Themes that were tested and worked, tested on the cab?  (vs. a different PC)  Did you, could you test others on the cab?  (more process of elimination)

So upon further testing, the arcade cab was not updated to the latest LB, so I moved over to my main PC where I can really dig in, I tested with the latest 13.10 and from what I can tell the plugin no longer works as I tested with 5 different themes. So far, at least for me,  it is not working on 13.10

Colorful Dark
Colorful Light
Hypermax
Vision
Unified

All themes have the backup folder created and lines added, I tried all platform wheel views as well. 

Maybe it can be looked at again sometime, this should really be a feature built into LB... your efforts are much appreciated!

 

Edited January 10 by drewjbx

[JoeViking245]

2 hours ago, drewjbx said:

So upon further testing, the arcade cab was not updated to the latest LB, so I moved over to my main PC where I can really dig in, I tested with the latest 13.10 and from what I can tell the plugin no longer works as I tested with 5 different themes. So far, at least for me,  it is not working on 13.10

Just tested with [a copy of] the Default Theme and also with Hypermax Refried on LB/BB v13.10 and everything worked as expected.

If you go to \LaunchBox\Plugins\LaunchPlatform\, is there a text file in there named after the Platform that has only the one 'game' in it?  aka, the platform that you added on Step #2 in Launch Platform Setup.

[drewjbx]

55 minutes ago, JoeViking245 said:

Just tested with [a copy of] the Default Theme and also with Hypermax Refried on LB/BB v13.10 and everything worked as expected.

If you go to \LaunchBox\Plugins\LaunchPlatform\, is there a text file in there named after the Platform that has only the one 'game' in it?  aka, the platform that you added on Step #2 in Launch Platform Setup.

Ok got it to work... and it works great. Lately I been having some brain farts lol, the 2 dll's I placed in the root of the plugins folder. Once I placed them in the LaunchPlatform folder all is good. Thanks for taking the time to troubleshoot my incompetence 😇

[Sbaby]

@JoeViking245

But what if you wanted to make a sub-category of the platform instead? for example i would like to put the ports platform under windows

Edited January 10 by Sbaby

[JoeViking245]

48 minutes ago, Sbaby said:

@JoeViking245

But what if you wanted to make a sub-category of the platform instead? for example i would like to put the ports platform under windows

Don't know about Categories. Never tried.  Pretty sure it'll only work on Platforms.  I don't mess with hierarchies at all, but if you can have a 'Ports' Platform under your Windows Platform, it might just work.  But if you put this into the Windows Platform, couldn't you just have it be a 'game' in Windows instead?

[Sbaby]

31 minutes ago, JoeViking245 said:

Don't know about Categories. Never tried.  Pretty sure it'll only work on Platforms.  I don't mess with hierarchies at all, but if you can have a 'Ports' Platform under your Windows Platform, it might just work.  But if you put this into the Windows Platform, couldn't you just have it be a 'game' in Windows instead?

I know how to make a custom emulator with GZdoom and it's a great idea as far as launching mods, but as far as the database and graphics of the games are concerned, for example Doom is an ms-dos game, the choice is to make millions of additional applications in bat format inside Doom or to make many windows games with all the available mods, in both cases they are not real windows games, they are like Dos emulators with graphics fixes and mods, the perfect platform would be to keep a doom in ms-dos and use the 'VERSIONS' but it's too dispersive to manage. So I was thinking about a Ports platform, although I have to admit that it bothers me even so, it's one thing to have Doom for pc, Doom for Playstation, Doom for Saturn, it's another thing to have the same modded Doom for pc and find it in multiple locations, keep in mind that mods are many