Anyway to take argument and run separate set of workflows?

[apermanentwreck]

So I'm not sure if this is possible, but I'm looking to run an Alfred workflow where, depending on the argument, it will open up a different set of urls.

 

I have a keyword set up with the argument required, and I'm looking to take that argument and then if its one of 3 options, then open up a specific set of URLs in Chrome.  The use case here being I want to open up the local testing URLs when the command is "dev" or all of the production testing URLs when "prod" is passed in.

 

I can't figure out how to pass that part of the query to a specific set of Actions.

[Tyler Eich]

So I'm not sure if this is possible, but I'm looking to run an Alfred workflow where, depending on the argument, it will open up a different set of urls.

 

I have a keyword set up with the argument required, and I'm looking to take that argument and then if its one of 3 options, then open up a specific set of URLs in Chrome.  The use case here being I want to open up the local testing URLs when the command is "dev" or all of the production testing URLs when "prod" is passed in.

 

I can't figure out how to pass that part of the query to a specific set of Actions.

Could you use three different keywords? One could be 'keyword dev', another 'keyword prod', and finally 'keyword third command'; each could be linked to a different action set.

[apermanentwreck]

I'm trying to keep it to 1 workflow using the same keyword with 3 different arguments.  So to run it, "site dev" and it will launch 3 urls for testing and then I run "site qa" and it runs 3 different urls for testing and then I run "site prod" and it will run 3 different urls.  I realize I could make this work with 3 different keywords linking to the different actions, but that kind of takes away the fun of workflows.

[Tyler Eich]

I'm trying to keep it to 1 workflow using the same keyword with 3 different arguments.  So to run it, "site dev" and it will launch 3 urls for testing and then I run "site qa" and it runs 3 different urls for testing and then I run "site prod" and it will run 3 different urls.  I realize I could make this work with 3 different keywords linking to the different actions, but that kind of takes away the fun of workflows.

Quick note: you can use multiple keyword objects in a single workflow (in case you didn't know already)

If you don't want to use multiple keywords, you'll probably need to use a 'Run Script' object that looks at the argument, compares it to a list of commands, and launches the appropriate websites with an 'open' command in the script.

I really don't understand why you wouldn't use multiple keywords; it saves work, prevents errors, and is likely faster than the above method. It's just cleaner IMO to use built in functionality from Alfred

[apermanentwreck]

Yeah, I understand the point and the keyword method, but I was just hoping there was a way to accept a parameter and pass it to different actions based on that.

[jdfwarrior]

Yeah, I understand the point and the keyword method, but I was just hoping there was a way to accept a parameter and pass it to different actions based on that.

 

This isn't possible without including a script to parse the input data.

[apermanentwreck]

This isn't possible without including a script to parse the input data.

 

If I wanted to use a script to parse the input data, how would I return that data to the "Actions"?

[jdfwarrior]

If I wanted to use a script to parse the input data, how would I return that data to the "Actions"?

 

Well since you are doing something easy, just trying to open urls, you could create a workflow with a single keyword (or you could always use a script filter to keep from having to type the additional input) then pass that to an Action->Run Script. Inside of there you could do...

userinput="{query}"

if [ $userinput == "dev" ]; then
 //code to open 3 urls from bash
elif [ $userinput == "qa" ]; then
 //code to open 3 urls from bash
elif [ $userinput == "prod" ]; then
 //code to open 3 urls from bash
else
 //maybe display an error?
fi

 

To open the urls.. if Chrome is your default browser, a simple:

open http://url1.com
open http://url2.com
open http://url3.com

 

If Chrome is not your default browser then you would have to specify what to open the URLs in. Similar to this:

open -a /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app http://url1.com
open -a /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app http://url2.com
open -a /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app http://url3.com