The FlexTk file management toolkit is a powerful and flexible product providing a large number of features,
capabilities and configuration options allowing one to perform many different file and storage management
operations. In order to simplify management and execution of frequently used operations, FlexTk provides
the user with the ability to add user-defined commands. All major product features such as file search,
classification, organizing, synchronization, copy, move, delete, storage utilization analysis, duplicate
files search and disk monitoring may be added as user-defined commands and pre-configured for user-specific
needs and custom hardware configurations.
In addition to the user-defined commands management capabilities available in the FlexTk main GUI application,
the user is provided with the ability to write user-defined commands in an open
XML-Based Format. The XML-Based
format provides the user with full control over all the features available in the FlexTk main GUI application.
Properly written XML user-defined commands may be imported to the product configuration or executed on-the-fly
using the FlexTk's command line tool (FlexTk Ultimate only).
In order to add a user-defined command, select the user-defined commands tool pane, press the right mouse button,
select the 'Add' menu and select an appropriate command type. On the command inputs dialog add one or more directories
or files that should be processed and press the 'Next' button. A typical command dialog shows command specific features
and options depending on the selected command type. For detailed information about how to use a specific command refer
to an appropriate section in the FlexTk product manual.
Once added, a user-defined command will be saved in the FlexTk user's configuration and displayed in the user-defined
commands tool pane. In addition to the user-defined commands tool pane, FlexTk provides the user with an advanced
user-defined commands GUI management interface allowing one to manage and execute user-defined commands more effectively.
Any user-defined command may be executed in three different ways: in FlexTk's main GUI application, as a standalone
GUI tool and using FlexTk's command line tools. In order to execute a user-defined command in FlexTk's main GUI
application, select the user-defined commands tool pane and click on the command item in the commands list. FlexTk will
load the user-defined command and execute it in the main GUI application showing all the required GUI windows and dialogs
according to the information saved in the user-defined command.
A more effective way to execute frequently used commands is to add command shortcuts to the Windows desktop. In order to do that,
select the user-defined commands tool pane, press the right mouse button over the required command and select
the 'Create Desktop Shortcut' menu item. FlexTk will create a desktop shortcut with the same file name as the command's name.
In order to execute such a command, just click on the command shortcut on the Windows desktop. When executing user-defined
commands using desktop shortcuts, FlexTk will open a command-specific process dialog that will perform all the required
operations and terminate after the user will press the 'Close' button.
Finally, FlexTk Professional and FlexTk Ultimate provide command line tools
capable of executing all types of user-defined commands. FlexTk's command line tools are located in the product's 'bin' directory.
In order to execute a user-defined command using command line tools, open a terminal console, enter the FlexTk bin directory
(or add it to the path) and type the following command line: flextk -execute 'Command Name'. For detailed information about
how to use FlexTk's command line tools refer to the command line tools section in the FlexTk product manual.
User-Defined Commands Management Dialog
FlexTk provides the user with an advanced user-defined commands GUI management interface allowing one to manage and
execute user-defined commands more effectively. To open advanced user-defined commands management dialog, select the menu
'Tools - Manage Commands'. In addition to the features available in the user-defined commands tool pane, the commands management
dialog provides commands search and filters, user-defined command copy, command import/export capabilities and user-defined
command shortcuts.
For each user-defined command, the commands management dialog displays the command name, a user-selected command shortcut
and the command type. In order to find a specific user-defined command, enter all or a part of the command name in the search
entry and press the 'Search' button. Alternatively, select a specific command type in the command filter to show commands
of a specific type only. For example, select the 'View Search Commands' filter to see search commands only. The command type
filter may be user in conjunction with the command search capability. In order to reset search results and the command type
filter, press the 'Clear' button and the command management dialog will show all the defined commands.
In order to add a new user-defined command, press the 'Add' button and select an appropriate command type. On the command
inputs dialog add one or more directories or files that should be processed and press the 'Next' button. A typical command
dialog shows command specific features and options depending on the selected command type. For detailed information about
how to use a specific command refer to an appropriate section in the FlexTk product manual.
Select a user-defined command and press the 'Edit' button to edit the selected user-defined command. Select one or more
user-defined commands and press the 'Delete' button to delete all the selected commands. Select a user-defined command
and press the 'Up' or 'Down' buttons to change the position of a command in the command list. Use this feature to move
more frequently used commands to the beginning of the command list. All changes made in user-defined commands will
take effect in both command management interfaces - the user-defined commands management dialog and the user-defined
commands tool pane.
Sometimes, when you have a working user-defined command and need to create a slightly modified or customized version
of the command, it will be very helpful to copy the existing command and make all the required changes in the command's copy.
In order to copy a user-defined command, select the command item, press the 'Copy' button and enter a new command name.
FlexTk will create a new command, copy all the setting and options from the original command and save the new command
to the user's configuration file.
Another useful feature is the ability to import/export user-defined commands to/from different FlexTk installations.
In order to export one or more user-defined commands, select all the required command items, press the right mouse button,
select the 'Export Commands' menu item and select a destination directory where all the selected commands should be exported to.
In order to import previously exported commands, press the right mouse button, select the 'Import Commands' menu item and
select all the command files that should be imported.
In order to execute a user-defined command directly from the commands management dialog, select the command item and press
the 'Execute' button. FlexTk will load the user-defined command and execute it in the main GUI application showing all the
requiring GUI windows and dialogs according to the information saved in the user-defined command. In order to create a desktop
shortcut for a command, select the command item, press the right mouse button and select the 'Create Desktop Shortcut' menu item.
FlexTk will create a desktop shortcut with the same file name as the command's name. In order to execute such a command,
just click on the command shortcut on the Windows desktop.
Finally, FlexTk allows one to associate custom keyboard shortcuts with user-defined commands. In order to set a keyboard
shortcut for a user-defined command, select the command item in the command list, press the right mouse button and select
the 'Set Keyboard Shortcut' menu item. On the 'Customize Keyboard Shortcut' dialog select an available keyboard sequence
and press the 'Ok' button. Now, you can execute the user-defined command by pressing the selected keyboard shortcut.
