Toggling Action Buttons

[shkm]

Is it possible to hide/show or change the alpha of action buttons? Perhaps it requires hooking a secure function?

I started writing a simple addon to trigger one of the above on a button when "ACTIONBAR_SLOT_CHANGED" is fired, but trying to use methods Hide(), IsShown(), IsVisible(), GetAlpha(), etc., returns an error. Come to think of it, can action buttons be modified at all without modifying the entire bar? I notice that no major action bar addons have features to change individual buttons, short of making a new bar to house them.

For the record, I was getting the number of the button based on arg1 of the event "ACTIONBAR_SLOT_CHANGED" and concatenating it to what would be its respective frame name by default. Using the following in-game would work, which left me perplexed:

/run ActionButton1:Hide()

Thanks.

[Seerah]

Without knowing your error, or when you received it, it's hard to say what your problem is.

But I will tell you that you cannot hide/show secure frames while in combat.

[shkm]

Thank you for the prompt response, Seerah. Indeed, I should have included an error.

attempt to call method 'Hide' (a nil value)

In its current state, the code on the line in question is simply

button:Hide()

Where button holds a string containing the frame name. According to debug prints, this is correct (currently MultiBarRightButton7). Perhaps the problem is in that it's a string?

P.S. I receive this on calling a function (currently called HideMe) which takes the argument button. I'll give more info if you like, but I don't think it's relevant given the simplicity of what this function does right now.

[Seerah]

Yes, it's because it's a string, most likely.

_G[button]:Hide()

That will look up the string (name) in the global table and get the appropriate reference to the frame for manipulation.

[shkm]

Works beautifully. Thank you very much.

One more question while we're at it: am I right in assuming that alpha can be changed in combat without issue?

[Cralor]

While I am not 100% sure in giving a Yes or No answer, I know plenty of addons that set alpha on PLAYER_REGEN_DISABLED (entering combat).

[shkm]

Thank you for the response, Cralor. Indeed, having tested this I can confirm that alpha changes in combat work just fine.

[Seerah]

Note that your buttons are still clickable.

[nightcracker]

Eehm, both solutions aren't complete I think, the one with :Hide() is reappearing when something(like a cooldown) happens to the buttons, but this one always keeps them hidden:

local securehandler = CreateFrame("Frame", nil, nil, "SecureHandlerBaseTemplate")
securehandler:WrapScript(_G["Button"], "OnShow", "self:Hide()")

Change "Button" with ur button.

[Vrog]

Originally Posted by Seerah But I will tell you that you cannot hide/show secure frames while in combat.

Actually you can, you just have to use the secure methods of doing so. One needs to study secure state handlers and how secure headers work, which is not a trivial task. But the hide/show methods can be called on buttons in combat if done correctly.

Read up on secure state handlers to find out how.