Helios profile editor - feature request

[dev1981]

Hello dev team,

might it be possible for the future to sort/insert the input/output bindings in the helios editor?

if you have long sequences and you make a mistake you have to start over.
replacing, inserting on a specified position or at least the possibillity of sorting the items would be an absolute help.

best regards and thank you very much for the efforts providing such nice tools.

[BlueFinBima]

Hello @dev1981,
It appears as if you're using a button to effectively run a script of button presses. While that is technically possible (you're doing it), I would not say that Helios is a great solution for that use case. You cannot do things like waiting between two button presses or verify that (for example) the CDU is in a particular mode.
I would have thought that the ability to sort the bindings would be the antithesis of what you would want to do with a sequence of button presses.
I can understand why you'd like to insert a binding, but to be brutally honest, your request isn't likely to be implemented in the short to medium term.
If you're careful, then you could change the orders of your bindings in the .hpf file because it is just xml. Obviously, you're on your own if you mess something up while modifying the .hpf file, but there is nothing particularly difficult about doing it.

[dev1981]

Hello @dev1981, It appears as if you're using a button to effectively run a script of button presses. While that is technically possible (you're doing it), I would not say that Helios is a great solution for that use case. You cannot do things like waiting between two button presses or verify that (for example) the CDU is in a particular mode. I would have thought that the ability to sort the bindings would be the antithesis of what you would want to do with a sequence of button presses. I can understand why you'd like to insert a binding, but to be brutally honest, your request isn't likely to be implemented in the short to medium term. If you're careful, then you could change the orders of your bindings in the .hpf file because it is just xml. Obviously, you're on your own if you mess something up while modifying the .hpf file, but there is nothing particularly difficult about doing it.

Hi,
sorry, maybe I was a little imprecise with the word “sorting.” I was not thinking about an auto-sort (e.g. A–Z), but rather about the possibility to move the binding objects up or down — manual sorting 🙂

Similar to the layer options: 1 up, 1 down, bottom, top. This way, you could insert a new binding at the bottom and move it to the correct place in the planned sequence. If something needs to be replaced, the old binding can simply be deleted.

I understand now that this can be achieved directly in the HPF file, but that is also not a very comfortable way. In emergency cases, however, it might save the day 🙂 i will try to use an XML editor like XMLnotepad which can view the xml in a graphical way and then if required move the bindings up or down.

I also understand that all sequences bound to a switch (momentary or toggle) require careful design. Things like long presses are not doable because, as you mentioned, waiting and execution times are not configurable. I therefore have to react carefully to the switch states and the conditions on the modules device to achieve clean functionality.
That said, aside from some edge cases, basic things — for example setting up the Apache TSD once at startup — work fine. Only cases where timing comes into play are problematic.

I am using Helios to achieve this because I have an interface to the module. This allows me to freely define buttons and their actions without the need to bind all keys for the module and its internal devices. These buttons can then be triggered by physical keys on my joystick(s), as an overlay in VR, or via my Stream Deck — just my personal comfort buttons 🙂
In addition, this approach is much faster and more stable than sending key-press sequences to create macro-like behavior.

I still hope that this small feature will be implemented in the editor someday. It could save time and help forgive design mistakes in logic or larger sequences.

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards

p.s
copy and paste of the single bindings would be a banger as well, in best cases from button X to Y. and i realized if u copy and paste a button with a lot of bindings the list of bindings on the new button is cut off. (not all items are copied max. exceeded?!