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Using Tangerine with your Favorite Applications
Tangerine is designed to integrate with several leading graphics applications.
Often these applications have a number of color properties – foreground
color, background color, fill color, stroke color and so on. Tangerine has
the ability to apply a color to a property and, alternatively, to take a
color from a property. Tangerine also provides 'shortcut' type
functionality so that you can quickly apply and retrieve any color property
within compatible applications.
Applications used for programming in Objective-C, Java, ActionScript, REALbasic
and web development languages can use Tangerine to generate color syntax. Tangerine
can convert a visual color into programming language syntax and insert it straight
into your code or property inspector window. Tangerine has several syntax variations
available for most of the programming languages it supports.
Not all applications use color in the same way or even have the same color
properties. Nor is there common color syntax for all programming languages.
Tangerine's unique design manages this variation. At the same time, it
allows you to customise how it will operate with a particular application.
You can configure Tangerine to best suit your working style and/or the color
requirements of a favorite application.
Events and Actions
To configure and use Tangerine effectively, you need to be familiar with two
important terms – Events and Actions.
An Event is a specific user action within the Palette
window. It triggers an Action.
An Action is an instruction. It tells Tangerine
how to apply a color, take a color or prepare a color for an application.
There are three Types of Events and Actions:
- Input Events and Actions: An Input Event occurs when you
click the Input button. This triggers an Input Action that takes a color
property from an application and places the color in the displayed palette
in the Palette window.
- Output Events and Actions: An Output Event occurs when
you click a color swatch in the Palette window. This triggers an Output Action
that sets a color property or inserts color syntax into an application.
- Drag Events and Actions: A Drag Event occurs when you
drag a color swatch out of the Palette window. This triggers a Drag Action
that transforms the swatch color into a drag-able item – either a color
or syntax – so that it can be dropped into an application.
All three Event user actions – clicking a swatch, dragging a swatch
and pressing the Input button – can be modified with the use of one of
three keys: the 'shift' key, the 'option' key and the 'command' key.
Only one of these keys can act as a modifier at any one time. The use of the
modifier keys creates an additional three Events for each Event Type. In all,
there are four Events for each Event Type.
For an Action to be performed it must be assigned to an Event. This is called
an Event Action Pairing. When Tangerine is first installed, a default set of
Event Action Pairings are pre-configured to allow you to begin using Tangerine
straight away.
Event Action Pairings are defined and can be modified in the Actions window.
For more information see The Actions
Window – An Overview.
Actions Libraries
Actions are grouped into libraries called Actions Libraries. Each library
contains Actions that work with a specific application. Libraries also contain
Event Action Pairings that are used when the application for the specific library
is active. The only exception to this arrangement is the Default Actions Library.
The Default Actions Library contains generic Actions for use with most OS
X applications. It is used by any application that does not have its own Actions
Library or Custom Profile.
Custom Profiles
A Custom Profile allows you to define Event Action Pairings for a specific
application. Unlike Actions Libraries, Custom Profiles have access to the Actions
of all libraries. When a Custom Profile is created you must choose the application
for which the Custom Profile is to be used and configure the Event Action Pairings
that will work with the chosen application. You can also use a Custom Profile
to override the Event Action Pairings of a particular Actions Library.
Actions Summary
When switching from one application to the next, the Event Action Pairings
are likely to change. To keep track of these changes, the Actions Summary panel – displayed
in the Palette window – and the Actions Tooltip provides a summary of
the Event Action Pairings for the active application. Alternatively, you can
display the Actions Summary panel by pressing the 'Actions Summary' icon –
 –in the Palette window toolbar.
For more information see The Actions
Window – An Overview, Modifying
Event Action Pairings and Creating
a Custom Profile for an Application.
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