Some Questions on Alfred v <the others>

[rtp]

Hi all,

 

Finally able to shift back to a Mac 100% including for work, after a forced stint on Windows, as well as lack of hardware Apple had that I actually wanted to buy...so now back to all in on a 32GB MBP16, and getting things in order again.  In my prior professional life, before moving to OS X, I would run Linux on every work laptop handed to me, including what there, was simple - hotkeys for virtually everything, including window mgmt.  

 

Have been on OS X since ~Panther or so, and played around with Quicksilver and Alfred, but never really had time to make either do what I wanted.  As i"m now 100% back on Mac for both work and personal, it's time to get to it.  I see some other choices still out there and am leaning towards Alfred with Powerpack, but can someone confirm if the following are possible (with power pack is fine)?

 

I've answered MOST of my questions searching, but the following are still pending...any help appreciated.  I don't mind buying software, but do mind buying software that doesn't do what I'm expecting/hoping it to.. 😕

 

1. Fully browsing bookmarks from within Alfred, as I have nested levels?  e.g. make a shortcut to get to a specific top level bookmark folder (e.g. ADS queries), then nav in Alfred results to select the one I want, and hit enter to launch it in the appropriate browser?  

 

2. Create a shortcut for specific queries with param replacement, e.g. type in 'tfs 19234' to have it open Chrome using an ADS query, replacing or appending the 19234 in the right place in the query URL. I believe this one is possible.

 

3.  When searching files - can I limit the date range of modification via keyboard input?  

 

4.  When searching files, does it have a preview on the results?

 

5. Does it allow for a result to be 'open with'ed' a specific app?  

 

6.  Finally, can I embed AppleScript within alfred workflows in some fashion for if/when they may not be enough?

 

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by rtp
..

[deanishe]

What are "ADS queries"?

 

Alfred can do some of what you're asking natively (4, 5, 6). Workflows already exist for others (1). And you'd have to write your own workflows for yet others (and you can write them in just about any language you want).

[rtp]

ADS is Microsoft's latest renaming of what used to be Team Foundation Suite, then VSTS, now ADS - it's an issue tracking tool, which as a generally sane URL pattern, such as https://visualstudio.com/<a team name>/_backlogs/<type = Epic, Feature, User Story, Bug, Task>/<some ID> - there's a search URL as well assuming I can find it.

 

I installed the free ver of Alfred 4 for now.  I am not seeing the 'send to' equivalent, but just started looking at it.  Can I grab a result from Alfred and email it (either via Mail or Outlook) to a contact?  

 

I don't mind writing scripts or workflows, just need to ensure these things are fundamentally possible.  

 

 

[deanishe]

3 minutes ago, rtp said:

ADS is Microsoft's latest renaming of what used to be Team Foundation Suite

 

Then Alfred can also do (2).

 

4 minutes ago, rtp said:

I am not seeing the 'send to' equivalent, but just started looking at it.

 

It's one of the built-in File Actions. I'm not sure if those are available in the free version.

 

5 minutes ago, rtp said:

I don't mind writing scripts or workflows

 

In that case, you can do all the things you listed. Alfred basically lets you use its UI for your own scripts/programs. You can write them in any language you like. Alfred calls your program using UNIX semantics (input via ARGV and/or environment variables), and you send stuff back to Alfred by printing JSON to STDOUT.

 

You can also drag-and-drop workflows together from various functional elements, like with Automator or Shortcuts, but if you're a good coder, you'll likely prefer to just have Alfred pass stuff between your own scripts.

 

You can get an idea what Alfred's capable of from the Awesome Alfred workflows list.

[rtp]

Thanks.  I think that's what's missing in a quick run through both Alfred and Launchpad.  

I think Alfred needs Powerpack for file actions, but your link showed me what I was expecting there.

 

Launchpad on the other hand, well - had to force kill it when I tried using it, but has the actions etc. available - when it didn't crash on me.  

I was a sw engineer for 'a while,' primarily Unix and Linux, for well over a decade, and have since moved into prod mgmt, but I still enjoy some occasional coding and every now and then I stump one of our truly smart engineers at work, so should be able to get it sorted.

 

Thanks - think I'm going to go ahead with powerpack and see where things wind up.

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by rtp

[deanishe]

3 hours ago, rtp said:

I still enjoy some occasional coding and every now and then

 

You'll probably get a lot out of Alfred, then. It's very easy to plug your own scripts into Alfred and to use it as a frontend.