Open only one instance of Opus, from external hotkey

Hi,

I use windows hotkey assignments to bring up my most used programs.

I chose shift alt 6 for Directory Opus.

The problem is that when I press this hotkey combination, a new Opus window is opened if the program is already running. Is there any way to have Opus simply switch to the running instance of the program?

Thanks.

What are you using to create the hotkey? Can it run any command (with arguments) that you configure it to?

Do you have Opus set to launch at startup and stay running in the background? If so then there may be an easier way, depending on the method you're currently using to define the hotkey.

I'm using Windows7 system hotkeys.

Go to an exe file, create a shortcut, edit the properties, and add a hotkey.

How do I set Opus to keep running in the background?? I didn't find anything in preferences.

[quote="DigitalDawn"]
How do I set Opus to keep running in the background?? I didn't find anything in preferences.[/quote]

There may be more to it than this, but in Preferences -> Launching Opus - Startup, I have Launch Directory Opus automatically on system startup checked. I also have Don't open any Listers selected.

Opus stays running in the background unless I explicitly exit Opus via the notification area icon.

Once this is accomplished, if Explorer Replacement is active (Preferences -> Launching Opus -> Explorer Replacement), Win + E should give the behavior I think you want.

If you really want to use shift alt 6 for some reason you can define that key in Opus. Go to Settings -> Customize Toolbars -> Keys. Click the first icon or press Alt + N. In the resulting Command Editor, place the mouse cursor in the Hotkey: field and press shift alt 6. In the Function: field, enter go new LastActiveLister. Check System-wide Hotkey. Click OK in the Command Editor and Customize windows. shift alt 6 should now behave as you wish.

Use the steps in Bob's reply above if you want to create the hotkey inside of Opus and launch Opus in the background when Windows starts.

Only a couple of things to add to that:

[ul][li]Win-E will open the My Computer folder, unless you override it. If there isn't already a window showing My Computer then Win-E will, by default, still open a new window, unless you also turn on Preferences / Launching Opus / Explorer Replacement / Open external folders in a new tab.
[/li]
[li]If you want to assign Shift-Alt-6 to a system-wide hotkey inside of Opus, don't forget to clear the hotkey from your existing shortcut. Otherwise, the shortcut will probably continue to handle the hotkey and it will seem like nothing has changed.[/li][/ul]

On the other hand, if you want to keep using the shortcut method, and not define the hotkey within Opus (so that you don't need to run Opus at boot, and it doesn't matter if Opus is running in the background or not when you push the hotkey), you can do that by modifying your shortcut as follows:

[ul][li]Edit the shorcut's Target field so that it runs dopusrt.exe instead of dopus.exe.
[/li]
[li]Still in the Target field, add on /cmd Go New LastActiveLister so it looks like this (the path may be different if you're installed Opus somewhere else, of course):

"C:\Program Files\GPSoftware\Directory Opus\dopusrt.exe" /cmd Go New LastActiveLister[/li][/ul]


The shortcut, and its hotkey, should now do what you want.

Leo,

Thanks, that did the trick!

Since I'm so new to this program I have a couple more questions if you don't mind.

Is there a way to have one click access (like in a toolbar?) to certain folders I use all the time?

I've tried tabs, but even though I lock one of them, it keeps disappearing. And whenever I use the tabs, I lose the back button to other folders I've visited. I'm Not really interested in drop down boxes for this.

Also, if I ever tried to move to another computer, there is no way on earth I would be able to recreate all the settings for this feature-rich program. Can you tell me which file contains all the configuration settings?

Thanks so much,
Dawn

Yep. The easiest way is to find the folders you want, then go into customize mode (Settings -> Customize Toolbars) and drag the folder(s) to the toolbar. That will create buttons which go to the folders when you click them. (Click OK in the Customize dialog to return to normal mode so you can try out the new buttons.)

Have a look at How to backup or locate your Opus configuration (Simple).

If you have any more questions or need more detail for either of those two, it's best to start a separate thread for each one, so it's easier to keep track of the conversation and to help people who come to the forum searching for the same question. (Guidance here.)

Happy Opussing! :smiley:

Leo,

Thanks so much. Great program.