Forums Feature Suggestions play -b

when using /play from clipboard, It would be nice to be able to specify the file name inwhich the clipboard data is saved too.

While I have no objections to this being added, I hope that the current method of using playqN.txt will be maintained as a default if no filename is provided.
One possible problem that I can think of is, if there's already a file with the same name that you are specifying, would mIRC over-write that file with the clipboard information, or would it append to the file then play it? If the latter, a person would have to be careful that the file didn't previously contain anything they didn't want played.

while this could certainly be useful, i think it would be more appropriate to, instead, finally have clipboard support added to /filter.

RussellB brings up a good point about how mIRC would treat a file that already exists. I'm sure mIRC could just choose one method and it would be fine, but it's also very easy to use an alias with /play to specify a filename if needed. It's not as elegant, but it gives you full control over how it's written to a file as well as just choosing a filename. For example, you might want the clipboard written to the file in reverse order or you might want to automatically add or remove color/formatting when writing to the file.

with /play, spaces are preserved while calling an /alias from it wouldn't.

If it wasn't for play preserving spaces, i'd just loop through the clipboard.

And after looking at the help file, the "o" switch isn't in use. So maybe add it coupled with -b

-b = plays text from clipboard allowing for a filename to be specified. if the file is present, clipboard contents are appended, if the o switch is specified with the -b switch, the file is overwritten

Ah, I didn't think of spaces. Ok, ignore my comment on using aliases then.

That or we just need to get multiple spaces throughout mIRC and everyone would be happy.

Agreed!

/filter -Cf file.txt
; Filters from clipboard to file.txt (appends to the end of file.txt)
/filter -cCf file.txt
; Filters from clipboard to file.txt (overwrites existing file.txt)
/filter -fC file.txt
; Filters from file.txt to clipboard (appends to the end of clipboard)
/filter -cfC file.txt
; Filters from file.txt to clipboard (clears clipboard first)

+1 to you sir

If the goal here is really just to skirt the multiple spaces issue, I don't think this is a good idea.

Accepting suggestions like these and setting a precedent here brings us down a road where in a few years we end up with an arbitrary switch on every command in order to bypass multiple spaces, rather than actually solving the multiple spaces problem globally.

Yes, it's easier to add a switch on /play, or /filter. It won't be so easy to maintain them all later on.

A better "workaround", if you're really just interested in preserving spaces from the clipboard, would be to allow copying of clipboard data to a bvar in the form $cb(&bvar). That actually adds a generic functionality that is needed regardless of whether we need multiple spaces support (it allows copying of binary clipboard contents). Then you can /bwrite it wherever you want without losing data.

I didn't suggest being able to specify a filename for /play -b solely as a work around to the mIRC space issue. I agree, adding switches and props to built in aliases to work around the space issue would be a stupid move.

Being able to specify the file would add functionality to play. Aswell as filtering from/to clipboard. They aren't patches or fixes but requests for new features.

I do agree that the 'space issue' does need to be address and that bvars would be one way to go.