How to Create a Table Of Contents/Menu of Category Pages

[gh2023-aesun]

I'm migrating away from ShortcutMaker to HTTP-Shortcuts.

In ShortcutMaker I had a Table Of Contents Menu (ToC) to access the many collections I have setup over the years.

I'd like to setup a ToC Category in HTTP-Shortcuts, which contains shortcuts that jump to another category page. I have many categories and scrolling in the top menu to find the one I'm after is not practical.

This would entail setting up a ToC category, which can be launched via a shortcut on the launcher homepage. The ToC category would contain entries that when clicked would open a different category page.

How can I set this up?

I've tried, in vain, to create a category shortcut to open a different category page:

• Creating a Browser Shortcut with url:
  • http-shortcuts://<category_id>
  • http-shortcuts://category_<category_id>
  • which both result in the popup Shortcut "..." not found
• Creating a Scripting Shortcut and basing the code from inspecting a category shortcut on the launcher page:

sendIntent({
    type: 'activity',
    action: 'android.intent.action.MAIN',
    packageName: 'ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts',
    className: '.activities.main.MainActivity',
    flags: 0x10200000,
    extras: {
        'shortcut_id': 'category_<category_id>'
    }
});

This results in this error:
Failed to send intent: Unable to find explicit activity class {ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts/.activities.main.MainActivity}; have you declared this activity in your AndroidManifest.xml, or does your intent not match its declared <intent-filter>?

I've also tried many permutations of this sendItent command.

What else can I try?

[Waboodoo]

Try the following JS snippet in a Scripting shortcut:

sendIntent({
  type: 'activity',
  packageName: 'ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts',
  className: 'ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.main.MainActivity',
  clearTask: true,
  extras: [{
    name: 'ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.category_id',
    value: '<category_id>',
  }]
});

Currently the only way to get the category IDs is by creating an export and looking at the JSON file that's contained in the resulting ZIP file.

[gh2023-aesun]

One more thing I tried was to dump the apk manifest and filter on activity:

aapt dump xmltree ~/Downloads/base.apk AndroidManifest.xml | awk '/E: activity/{flag=1; print; next} /E: /{flag=0} flag'

      E: activity (line=124)
        A: android:theme(0x01010000)=@0x7f120123
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.main.MainActivity" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.main.MainActivity")
        A: android:exported(0x01010010)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:configChanges(0x0101001f)=(type 0x11)0x4b0
        A: android:windowSoftInputMode(0x0101022b)=(type 0x11)0x10
      E: activity-alias (line=163)
        A: android:label(0x01010001)=@0x7f110098
        A: android:icon(0x01010002)=@0x7f0e0002
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="ch.rmy.android.launchers.AltIconGreen" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.launchers.AltIconGreen")
        A: android:enabled(0x0101000e)=(type 0x12)0x0
        A: android:exported(0x01010010)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:targetActivity(0x01010202)="ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.main.MainActivity" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.main.MainActivity")
      E: activity-alias (line=176)
        A: android:label(0x01010001)=@0x7f110098
        A: android:icon(0x01010002)=@0x7f0e0003
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="ch.rmy.android.launchers.AltIconHacker" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.launchers.AltIconHacker")
        A: android:enabled(0x0101000e)=(type 0x12)0x0
        A: android:exported(0x01010010)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:targetActivity(0x01010202)="ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.main.MainActivity" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.main.MainActivity")
      E: activity-alias (line=189)
        A: android:label(0x01010001)=@0x7f110098
        A: android:icon(0x01010002)=@0x7f0e0004
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="ch.rmy.android.launchers.AltIconSolarized" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.launchers.AltIconSolarized")
        A: android:enabled(0x0101000e)=(type 0x12)0x0
        A: android:exported(0x01010010)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:targetActivity(0x01010202)="ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.main.MainActivity" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.main.MainActivity")
      E: activity-alias (line=202)
        A: android:label(0x01010001)=@0x7f110098
        A: android:icon(0x01010002)=@0x7f0e0005
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="ch.rmy.android.launchers.AltIconWhiteAndBlack" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.launchers.AltIconWhiteAndBlack")
        A: android:enabled(0x0101000e)=(type 0x12)0x0
        A: android:exported(0x01010010)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:targetActivity(0x01010202)="ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.main.MainActivity" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.main.MainActivity")
      E: activity-alias (line=215)
        A: android:label(0x01010001)=@0x7f110098
        A: android:icon(0x01010002)=@0x7f0e0001
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="ch.rmy.android.launchers.AltIconBlackAndWhite" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.launchers.AltIconBlackAndWhite")
        A: android:enabled(0x0101000e)=(type 0x12)0x0
        A: android:exported(0x01010010)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:targetActivity(0x01010202)="ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.main.MainActivity" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.main.MainActivity")
      E: activity (line=229)
        A: android:theme(0x01010000)=@0x7f12026e
        A: android:label(0x01010001)=@0x7f1104ec
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.ExecuteActivity" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.ExecuteActivity")
        A: android:exported(0x01010010)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:launchMode(0x0101001d)=(type 0x10)0x3
        A: android:configChanges(0x0101001f)=(type 0x11)0x480
        A: android:showWhenLocked(0x01010569)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
      E: activity-alias (line=243)
        A: android:label(0x01010001)=@0x7f1104ec
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.ExecuteActivity" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.ExecuteActivity")
        A: android:exported(0x01010010)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:targetActivity(0x01010202)="ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.ExecuteActivity" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.ExecuteActivity")
      E: activity (line=253)
        A: android:theme(0x01010000)=@0x7f12026e
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.misc.host.HostActivity" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.misc.host.HostActivity")
        A: android:exported(0x01010010)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:launchMode(0x0101001d)=(type 0x10)0x3
        A: android:configChanges(0x0101001f)=(type 0x11)0x480
        A: android:showWhenLocked(0x01010569)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
      E: activity (line=260)
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.response.DisplayResponseActivity" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.response.DisplayResponseActivity")
        A: android:configChanges(0x0101001f)=(type 0x11)0x480
      E: activity (line=263)
        A: android:theme(0x01010000)=@0x7f12026e
        A: android:label(0x01010001)=@0x7f11004c
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.misc.share.ShareActivity" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.misc.share.ShareActivity")
        A: android:exported(0x01010010)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:excludeFromRecents(0x01010017)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:launchMode(0x0101001d)=(type 0x10)0x3
        A: android:configChanges(0x0101001f)=(type 0x11)0x480
        A: android:noHistory(0x0101022d)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:showWhenLocked(0x01010569)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
      E: activity (line=288)
        A: android:theme(0x01010000)=@0x7f12026e
        A: android:label(0x01010001)=@0x7f1104ec
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.misc.deeplink.DeepLinkActivity" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.misc.deeplink.DeepLinkActivity")
        A: android:exported(0x01010010)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:excludeFromRecents(0x01010017)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:launchMode(0x0101001d)=(type 0x10)0x3
        A: android:configChanges(0x0101001f)=(type 0x11)0x480
        A: android:noHistory(0x0101022d)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:showWhenLocked(0x01010569)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
      E: activity (line=324)
        A: android:theme(0x01010000)=@0x7f12026e
        A: android:label(0x01010001)=@0x7f1104ed
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.misc.second_launcher.SecondLauncherActivity" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.misc.second_launcher.SecondLauncherActivity")
        A: android:enabled(0x0101000e)=(type 0x12)0x0
        A: android:exported(0x01010010)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:excludeFromRecents(0x01010017)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:launchMode(0x0101001d)=(type 0x10)0x3
        A: android:configChanges(0x0101001f)=(type 0x11)0x480
        A: android:noHistory(0x0101022d)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:showWhenLocked(0x01010569)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
      E: activity (line=341)
        A: android:theme(0x01010000)=@0x7f12026e
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.misc.quick_settings_tile.QuickSettingsTileActivity" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.misc.quick_settings_tile.QuickSettingsTileActivity")
        A: android:excludeFromRecents(0x01010017)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:noHistory(0x0101022d)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:showWhenLocked(0x01010569)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
      E: activity (line=379)
        A: android:label(0x01010001)=@0x7f11042e
        A: android:icon(0x01010002)=@0x7f0803ad
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.plugin.PluginEditActivity" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.plugin.PluginEditActivity")
        A: android:exported(0x01010010)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
      E: activity (line=390)
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.imageeditor.ImageEditorActivity" (Raw: "ch.rmy.android.http_shortcuts.activities.imageeditor.ImageEditorActivity")
      E: activity (line=540)
        A: android:theme(0x01010000)=@0x7f1202d2
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="com.markodevcic.peko.PekoActivity" (Raw: "com.markodevcic.peko.PekoActivity")
        A: android:exported(0x01010010)=(type 0x12)0x0
        A: android:screenOrientation(0x0101001e)=(type 0x10)0xffffffff
        A: android:configChanges(0x0101001f)=(type 0x11)0x480
      E: activity (line=546)
        A: android:theme(0x01010000)=@0x01030055
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="androidx.core.google.shortcuts.TrampolineActivity" (Raw: "androidx.core.google.shortcuts.TrampolineActivity")
        A: android:exported(0x01010010)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
        A: android:noHistory(0x0101022d)=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
      E: activity (line=559)
        A: android:theme(0x01010000)=@0x01030010
        A: android:name(0x01010003)="com.google.android.gms.common.api.GoogleApiActivity" (Raw: "com.google.android.gms.common.api.GoogleApiActivity")
        A: android:exported(0x01010010)=(type 0x12)0x0

FWIW, I asked an AI agent whether or not the sendIntent command was possbile. It said the mainfest was okay (because of the exported="true"). From the error message, "sending a raw payload with a custom extra (category_id) without matching a valid intent filter" may be the cause.

I don't know if that's helpful or not.

It may explain the ... have you declared this in your AndroidManifest.xml ... comment in the error message.

I am not a Kotlin/Java/Android programmer so I don't know, but just sharing in-case it's helpful.

[Waboodoo]

Sorry, my bad. The snippet I posted only works with the debug version of the app. Guess I was not fully awake when I wrote this 😅

But basically, the app has a feature to create home screen shortcuts that open a specific category, and this script is trying to hook into that. So it's not the intended use. I'll have to give this some more thought when I have the time and headspace. Maybe I can even add proper support for something like this to the app.

[gh2023-aesun]

Having the ability to create a Main Menu page that can launch other category pages would be huge for me.

It's something I've relied heavily on when using ShortcutMaker (SCM). Without that capability I won't be able to fully migrate. Right now I use http-shortcuts on the home screen for deeplinks and a shortcut to the SCM menu page and use SCM from there. Having two shortcut apps is not ideal.

I have been progressively migrating away from closed-source apps in favor of opensource. That's why I was so excited to try your project out. I love that the only limits of your app are those enforced by the android os, not what is coded in the user interface.

I understand it's not the main focus of the app, but if you could enable that feature, it would be a game changer for me.

I don't have the programming skills to help you directly, but I can be a tester or help with any other non-programming tasks.

Thank you for all your hard work on this.

[gh2023-aesun]

I just downloaded v4.10.0 and tried out the new the openCategory function.

I works a treat and does everything I was tying to accomplish in the discussion above.

TY for considering my request and implementing it so fast!

You are a model example of the power of the opensource model.

TY again.

[Waboodoo]

I see you already found the new function. Glad to hear it works for your purposes