Execute external program

Hi eveybody,

could someone help me with the exact syntax to use with the this action in the triggers:

I would like to use it to load presets for my sound card & remote preamps. Both are controlled by a .exe,and have 5 presets.
What i want to do:

1-launch cantabile
2-load the preamp program & preset
3-load the sound card & preset
4-launch cantabile audio engine

that way, with just one click i can load an entire environnement which is sometimes very complex (for me …)

is it possible?
for info : my soundcard RME HDSPE MADI FAX + ANTELOPE ORION 32
preamps: ANTELOPE MP 32

cheers!


Hi Sam, below is an example of how command line syntax works in Cantabile. This example puts a jpeg up on the screen with lyrics.

Line 1 - The exe file name with no extension followed by the actual file path and the complete filename with extension you wish to execute in double quotes. (hurt.jpg in example). If you just want to start the exe file with no target file then you just type the name of the exe with no extension. (in the example remove everything inside the double quotes including the double quotes and leave i_view32) If your presets are saved as a file then you should be able to execute them, if not then all you can do is call up the program and do manually.

Line 2 - The directory that the exe file you want to use to execute the chosen file. (the directory Antelope or preamp program is in) (must have!)

It depends when you save presets whether they are saved to files or held in the program itself as to the question about autoloading the presets.I don’t think you can call presets from the command line for your programs (not sure) but you could auto execute the 2 setup programs (sound card, preamp) and have them pop up for you to alter. You would have to save your changes manually. The Audio Engine only stops when you go to options I think. Sounds like you will have to experiment with your particular system to find out how the C3 audio engine reacts. Hope this gets you started. @brad may have other good advice on this as well. Regards

you’re the man!!

thx

You’re welcome Sam! :grinning: Just a follow up. I tried to do call my sound card mixer up and it worked fine but even though it allows me to save preset configurations to a file it won’t execute those files from the command line. So … I guess that it depends on the program as to whether it can do it.

Thanks for answering @dave_dore. Just a couple of points:

  1. Instead of (parentheses) I think you mean “double quotes”
  2. Would triggers for Engine Starting, Engine Started, Engine Stopping and Engine Stopped be useful?
  3. You might also find the “Automatically run on startup option” in External Tools useful for some of this:

Thanks for that, I corrected the post. :grinning:

Hey guys,

I’d like to help, but my developping knowledge is too light i think…
in my case, i can launch the MP 32 preamp with the “trigger/execute external program” but the interface has a on/off button (see 1st image i’ve posted) and i don’t think CB3 can automate this task…, futhermore i can’t load any preset…

anyway i think it would be interesting to be able to manage a whole environnment with CB3. is it possible to go so deep, brad will tell us…

so, instead of helping i will ask for some help again (hope I’m not the only musician on this earth who can’t speak a complete computer language :wink:…):
I try to use the external tool, as brad told it could be useful in that case, but once again I’m fighting with the syntax:

why doesn’t it work?

Hi Sam,

You might need to enter a full path to the command. eg, instead of “launcher” try “C:\Program Files (x86)\MP32 Launcher\launcher.exe”.

Alternatively, click the right arrow next to command box, choose browse and locate the launcher program that way.

Also, don’t forget to check “Automatically run on startup” if that’s what you want - otherwise you’ll need to manually invoke the command from the Tools menus.

(I’m not familiar with this particular tool, so I’m guessing here)

Brad

Hi Brad, I tested this function and it is not working on my machine in C3. Itisn’t working on the tool menu otr on startup. It works fine in C2.

C2 - works

C3 - doesn’t work

might be a bug…

Hi Dave,

The reason it’s not working in v3 is because it’s not automatically putting in the double quotes around the command and since it contains spaces it’s failing.

I’ve made some changes here though:

  1. The browse button now automatically quotes selected files with spaces in them
  2. I’ve removed the arguments field to make this more consistent with the trigger execute external program options. Arguments should now follow the command after a space.
  3. There’s now a more meaningful error displayed if execution fails.

This would work:

But if I removed the double quotes from the audacity command I’d get this:

These changes will be in 3098 (coming soon hopefully).

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Thank you Brad for the explaining, I think I understand now and like the changes you are making. Regards

These changes are available now in 3098.

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After having used this new change some on the song level I must say … well done! I didn’t know it but if the extension is associated with a program in the windows system (irfanview to jpg or notepad to txt for 2 instances) All I have to do is browse to the target file, select it and it comes up syntax ready. I don’t have to define the Startup Directory at all. Very fast and easy. :grinning:

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