Hey Everyone,
I wanted to take a moment to ask what everyone’s thoughts are on adding a toggle to run a large custom node. I have noticed that a lot of people added this functionality when “Run Automatically” became the default. I have even added it to some of my tools.
I feel it makes sense because I want the person to understand what they are dropping on the graph before running it, some of my custom nodes do huge things.
Let me know what you all think and thanks!
-JohnP
If it’s easy enough to do, then totally. Great idea I think and very useful functionality.
It’s not too difficult for OOTB nodes. I simply embed this bad boy! :mrgreen:
Seems like a good idea
However, it seems to convey that the default Automatic mode is a bad idea, if it makes such precautions necessary 
Vikram, it depends on how large the workflow the custom node is doing.
If someone dropped the node several times by accident and it didn’t have a toggle, it is pretty crazy!
It is nice to have the toggle so that there is the option to put the definition on hold why you are working through a project. Regardless of size, sometimes having everything run after each node connection can introduce enough of a momentary pause to be a nuisance. For example, when you are trying to set up a FilterByBooleanMask function there are several nodes/steps involved until you get the desired output, sometimes causing a chain reaction of yellow down the line and hampering momentum.
In case anyone stumbles across this post (like I just did), there’s new functionality in 0.9.1 that more or less does this
http://dynamobim.org/dynamo-0-9-1-release/
You can right-click on a Node and “Freeze” it. At first, I was a little concerned that people would realize this, but when you Freeze a Node, it and everything dependent on it turn half-tone.
Is “Automatic” being the default open behavior bad? Good question Vikram. Is Automatic potentially dangerous if you don’t know what is in the dyn (or if you first need to set some file paths)? Is there ever a case that opening in Manual would not be safe (has a manual open file ever crashed Revit on opening , or made unintended changes, or locked up your computer for several minutes until you could set it up right and wait another few minutes while it runs again)? Safety First. Remember the dyn author is not always the end-user.
It just bothers me that I have to educate all my users on the dangers of Automatic and make sure they always remember to check Open in Manual until you are 100% confident that nothing need be set. It seems that it would make more sense to “force safety by default” and “live dangerously by choice”.
I wouldn’t make automatic the default at all. Only simple things work well for this. Manual for me.
Yes, the toggle I include in my tools is to simulate a button click of an add in on the toolbar. As I said before, some of the tools we build are pretty hefty workflows and require some input.
But what if the dyn is saved with the True value instead of false??? Would it then basically open in Automatic and start running? Have you essentially replaced the single click of Open in Manual on starting with multiple clicks of True to False before saving?
The point still remains that is there really any benefit to opening with Automatic? Is it that much trouble to switch manual to automatic before the first run if you want Automatic to run?
that said- I do like having a toggle on some nodes to make it run or not. I am very excited about the freeze capability in 0.9.1.
If someone saved the single tool in a graph that can be used, that’s a different story. This is to assist with the initial placement from the node library.