Tasker PC control – tutorial #3 (Apps Menu)
We know how to set up this framework from part one, we also set up the volume controls in part two. Time to open some apps and make our life easier. I will show you few examples I use to quickly enable the programs for streaming the content or just closing the google searches I don’t want others to see when my PC is on. I will show you:
- How to open a program
- How to run a website
- How to open a specific website int the full screen
- How to close the browser
Of course feel free to modify/add more and tailor it to your need. This is after all the beauty of the Tasker. You are never stuck with a template!
Tasker PC control – Apps/Bookmark Menu
EventGhost
The EventGhost side of things I will handle in a similar way. When AutoRemote message is received, the PC will take the action accordingly. For each instance we are going to run application action:
Open a program
Add the run application task in EG and navigate to the .exe file of your program. Select the desired window mode (minimized, maximized etc) and this is pretty much all you need. The same applies to the websites. To open the browser navigate to your browser’s installation folder and select the .exe file. If you want to run plex server or open the steam for games, simply navigate to file and copy the path into the action.
Open a website
Same as above but in the command line options – enter the website address. In my example, I have used an amazon prime website. If you want to run it in a full screen – the easiest option is to simply add the delayed keystroke F11 (add a plugin – keyboard, then add the action send keystroke and from the drop-down menu select F11 and press insert).
Closing the browser
There is an action Close we can use to close the Chrome (or other browsers) but before we can use this we have to find and bring that window/s to the front. Use Find action and in program type in chrome.exe (or your browsers exec file) this will search through ALL windows and will close all the instances of your browser. A great panic button behavior.
Tasker
Open Sub-Menu Profile/ SubMenu Open
Create a new notification and link it to the IF %ancomm ~ openbookmark. If the bookmark icon from the first row is pressed – this action will be called.
Notification is configured as follows:
- Buttons – as per your liking, make sure the first row is consistent.
- Actions: the first row starts with open (see template) but the bookmark menu icon should have openclose action assigned instead. The second row has actions ending with ‘‘…pc”. I used amazonpc,chromepc,chromecpc,plexpc.
- Color, only a second color should be different.
- Prefix for actions: buttontwo
Submenu Actions/Send AR
Since the framework is already done, we don’t need to add anything else. All that hard work from the part one finally paid off.
PC Feedback/Notification
For this section, I have not used any feedback from the PC. If you want to receive a confirmation when the action is executed, you can add the AutoRemote message back in the Event Ghost. In my personal experience, the toast that the AR message has been sent successfully is enough of the confirmation. Please see the Volume Menu tutorial to see how to set it up, as the method is exactly the same.
In the last part (4) I will show you some screen timeout controls and some additional functionality that you can add to this project. I think, by now you should understand how to add more menus and how the process works. Each time you add a submenu, you only have to add a handful of supporting action to make the entire menu works.
