Droplet app

Targets macOS
1

I was wondering if it is possible to create droplet apps from a Xojo application.

Let me explain. On a Mac, you can create a workflow and save it as a standalone application.
The same way I have had some encoders on my desktop, created with the encoder application that came with Final Cut Pro, called compressor. When a media file is droplet onto the app’s icon, it will simply encode it with the settings I assigned when creating this droplet.

So, is it possible to create something like this in Xojo? I want to make some kind of “mother” application that creates workflows, encodes, or whatever.
I want to be able to be able to make a preset… a file handler… or whatever you want to call it, in that “mother app”. That preset can be saved as an app, called a droplet. When I drop a file on the droplet, it does whatever I assigned to it in the “mother app”.

When I look at the droplet apps I created with Compressor, I find that the Contents folder is an alias… pointing to an app called DropletMaster. Besides the Contents folder alias, I see a folder called Settings.
I assume that I will just have to create an app called “Droplet” or something. Install it with my “Mother app”.
When I export my Droplets, I guess I just have to create a folder with some arbitrary name and an app extension, e.g. myCoolDroplet.app
Inside that folder I place an alias of the contents folder of the contents folder of the DropletMaster app.
The DropletMaster would than magically see the other settings folders inside myCoolDroplet.app with the actions to do whatever I planned when exporting the droplet.

Is it still clear what I mean? Does anybody have any experience? So far I tried to mimic whatever Compressor did. No luck so far

2

so when you drop file “A” onto file “B” then both file “A” and file “B” are passed to file “C” which then processes file “A” based on the parameters stored in file “B”… did I get that right?

3

Yep…
Where file B is an App created / generated by my Xojo app

4

Sure why not ?

At a high level

Basically you’d have a “worker” app that can do a well defined set of tasks (encode decode etc)
And it reacts on file drops

And then you have a generator that takes a copy of this app, shoves in a “config” which tells it what steps to do when a suitable file is dropped on it, and that is the new “droplet” saved where ever

And since the generator is using a copies of the original worker each time you can make as many droplets as you want

Now you may have to worry about things like code signing the new droplet app etc

But at a high level it seems doable

5

this might help lead you in the right direction

https://www.macosxautomation.com/applescript/sbrt/sbrt-10.html

6

Problem is, Windows has natively nothing equivalent to AppleScript. It used to in the Windows 3.2 era, but for some reason, that was abandoned since.

Using sendkeys, one can do some “pianola” automation, and with some additional declares, and app can control windows the same way AppleScript does.

It seems fairly possible to create an application that would interpret commands pretty much the same way as AppleScript.

Then if the app was installed on the machine, double clicking on the commands file would run it.

7

Hence the reason I posted my question in the MacOS target’s sub-topic :wink:

8

Sorry. Just disregard if it hurts your eyes :wink: