Julusian
commented
2 months ago I have been thinking of doing something similar to this, but my thinking was to provide 'local variables'/'local expressions' within a button. I was thinking that wouldn't be settable in the same way that custom variable are, instead designed to be set by the user configuring the button and referenced elsewhere within the button just like normal variables. Do you think these variables need to be settable through actions?
But unfortunately this is blocked by the same underlying limtation as #1909.
the way that modules parse variables does not let companion know any context for that. Due to the async nature of modules in 3.0, there isnt a way to directly tie variable parsing to an action execution without updating modules to support it. It is a fairly simple change to make in modules, but means that it will also be up to the module to parse in the correct way to support it.
We are getting closer to wanting to start pushing for modules to support this (now that there are the $(this:....) variables), I have a feeling there was something else I wanted to look into before doing that though
In fact, this might be pretty much the same thing as the last comment there https://github.com/bitfocus/companion/issues/1909#issuecomment-1588176862
dnmeid
josh-justjosh
Is this a feature relevant to companion itself, and not a module?
Is there an existing issue for this?
Describe the feature
At present there can be a lot of repetition within the creation of buttons. I'd like to have the ability to have input fields that can then be used throughout a button's actions and feedbacks. Perhaps within the button editor, there would be a place to input the variable. Potentially reusing the existing Custom Variables UI either in the top area of the button editor (see mock up below) or as a tab with Actions and Feedbacks.
This kind of links with https://github.com/bitfocus/companion/issues/1909 where people are suggesting introducing variables of the button being accessed as $(button:variable)
Obviously, a current workaround is to just create custom variables in the existing variables interface. However, that creates a lot of clutter and isn't as streamlined as being linked specifically to the button
Usecases
I primarily use companion with vMix. When programming buttons, I will often start with one and copy and paste it to create buttons for different inputs. I will often be setting the input number in the button's text, one or two actions and then one or two feedbacks. When copying this button for different vMix inputs, each of these fields needs updated. It'd be useful to have the ability to just have one place per button to change a variable that all the fields referred to.