# Omega’s Dev Tools | Shortcuts Library

> A set of tools that includes an updater, external updater, and many other functions!

## What this shortcut does

Omega’s Dev Tools
This shortcut has a built-in updater based on
Pro Updater
, and also a bunch of other functions. Please read more about how this work below, or just read the installation instructions if you’re not a developer.
Info for Users
If you’re not a developer and you’re here, it’s probably, because a shortcut requires it. You just need Actions by Sindre Sorhus in order to install this shortcut. It is used for many functions, formatting folders, and checking for and running updates for shortcuts.
This shortcut doesn’t do much when you run it, other than give you the option to clear temporary data, check for updates in shortcuts that support external updates, and give feedback via the feedback Google form. When shortcuts run it with a special input, it will do some things for them to make it easier.
One of the best features is the external update which developers can easily add so you can just run this shortcut and select the shortcut you want to updates and if it supported, it will just work! click here to learn more.
Here’s a chart of ODT’s built in updater compared to some others:
NOTE:
Lightning updater does have update skip management. My error in reading the code of it. Sorry lol.
If you don’t like the default updater, there’s more options you can override it to in the settings:
BitUpdate
by
@ashbit_
— has a verity of technical features.
Pro Updater
by
@ProCreations
— A fast, easy to use, updater without many advanced features.
Lightning Updater
by
@TheUser
— A quick, semi-advanced updater, that also supports rollbacks.
Just Another Generic Updater (J.A.G.U.)
by
NO_LYMT
— Just a generic updater with a good name lol.
Note: this was last updated with version 1.3.1 of ODT on October 21, 2023.
Functions (For Developers)
This will be a list of every function, and its inputs and outputs in this shortcut, but, first, I need to give some extra info:
This shortcut creates 4 folders that either are meant to be used by other shortcuts or are only meant to be used by functions. Here is a list of them below:
The settings folder -
iCloud Drive > Shortcuts > _settings
- this folder is meant to
only
be used by the Save settings and get settings functions in this shortcut.
The logs folder -
iCloud Drive > Shortcuts > _logs
- this folder can be used by any shortcut for logs. Preferably, each shortcut should create a sub-folder of this folder for better formatting.
The In_use folder -
iCloud Drive > Shortcuts > In_use
- this is meant to be used by any shortcut for
any temporary data
. The user can delete the entire contents of this at any time using the shortcut, so please only use this while a shortcut is running and delete your files after.
The cache folder -
iCloud Drive > Shortcuts > _cache
- this is designed to be used by any shortcut for cached data. Please create a sub-folder and put data inside of there for formatting purposes.
All of the above folders are creating as soon as Omega’s Dev Tools runs no matter the input, before any other function even starts.
If you want to support external updates via ODT, which allow users to update in a much easier way by letting them run ODT and allow them to check for updates for your shortcut, create a valid dictionary for the updater function and output that when ran with the input
outputUpdateInfo
. If you don’t understand, click here to learn more.
If you require ODT or just support ODT External updates, please put the markdown code below in your shortcuts description on :
[![install ODT](https://i.imgur.com/LGmz236.gif)](
It should look like this:
(Credit to
@ProCreations
for designing this for me)
If you want an example for
all functions
, please check out the
ODT Example
shortcut. If you want documentation, info about each function is below:
Updater
Set the
input
variable in the dictionary to the shortcut into to
checkForUpdates
to activate this.
Note: This is based on
Pro Updater
by
ProCreations
.
Other required variables in the input dictionary:
currentVer
- this is the current installed version of your shortcut
ID
- the ending number in a url.
dev
- the developer/author of the shortcut.
shortcutName
- enter the name of your shortcut.
Other optional variables in the input dictionary:
betaID
- A 2nd ID that will be used when the
currentVer
variable contains
beta
,
alpha
,
rc
,
pre
, and/or
test
.Though it does not have to be a specific case and is therefor not case sensitive/
Output(s):
Update installing
- your shortcut did need updated and the user choose to install the update
Update skipped
- your shortcut did need updated, but the user chose to skip it.
No Updates
- your shortcut is up to date.
Error - Offline
- the device is not online, so it cannot check for updates.
Error - missing input
- not all of the inputs that are required were provided.
Error
- There was an error at some point and none of the other outputs could be used.
Internet Checker
Set the
input
variable in the dictionary to the shortcut into to
isOnline
to activate this.
Output(s):
online
- your successfully connected to the internet
offline
- your not connected to the internet
Random Hash Generate
Set the
input
variable in the dictionary to the shortcut into to
genRandomHash
to activate this.
Output(s):
It will output the result random hash, for example:
d9bc284b0252bec1379c8cb1d2d1dcadb5f2d4b7
Get Dev Tools Version
Set the
input
variable in the dictionary to the shortcut into to
getDvToolsVersion
to activate this.
Output(s):
It will output the version of the Dev tools, like for example:
1.0.0
.
Result Viewer
Set the
input
variable in the dictionary to the shortcut into to
showOutput
to activate this.
Other required variables in the input dictionary:
outputToShow
- what you would like it to show.
Output(s):
successful
- no errors
User canceled
- the user pressed the “Do nothing else” button
Share Shortcut
Set the
input
variable in the dictionary to the shortcut into to
shareShortcut
to activate this.
Other required variables in the input dictionary:
shortcutName
- the name of the shortcut being shared
shortcutURL
- the URL to the shortcut that will be shared
shortcutAuthor
- the author/developer of the shortcut being shared.
Output(s):
Shared via QR Code
- the user chose to generate a QR code and share it.
Shared
- the user chose to share it another way
Canceled
- the user canceled it.
Save Settings
Set the
input
variable in the dictionary to the shortcut into to
saveSettings
to activate this.
Other required variables in the input dictionary:
shrtAuthor
- the author of the shortcut (Cannot contain special characters)
shrtTechName
- the shortcut name (Cannot contain special characters)
settings.contents
- The settings to save
settings.filename
- the name of the file that the settings should be saved in (Don’t put in the file extension, cannot contain special characters)
Output(s):
Error: necessary input not provided
- you did not provide one of the required inputs.
Saved
- the settings should have been successfully saved
Get Settings
Set the
input
variable in the dictionary to the shortcut into to
getSettings
to activate this.
Other required variables in the input dictionary:
shrtAuthor
- The author of the shortcut (Must be the same as when saved.)
shrtTechName
- the Technical Name of your shortcut. (Must be the same as when saved.)
settings.filename
- the filename of the setting’s file. (Must be the same as when saved.)
Output(s):
it will output the setting (the contents of the
settings.contents
variable when saved.) unless there is an error
Error: necessary input not provided
- you did not provide all the inputs needed.
Error: settings edited or corrupted
- the contents of the settings do not match the checksum from when they were saved.
Error: Missing File
- the setting you are trying to get does not exist.
Prompt Authentication
Set the
input
variable in the dictionary to the shortcut into to
promptAuthentication
to activate this.
Output(s):
Authenticated
- the User successfully provided Face ID/Touch ID authentication
Refused
- the User did not successfully authenticate.
Markdown To Rich Text
Set the
input
variable in the dictionary to the shortcut into to
convertMDtoRT
to activate this.
Other required variables in the input dictionary:
markdownToConvert
- the original text in markdown formatting to be converted.
Output(s):
The output will be the markdown converted to rich text.
Validate File Name Charcters
Set the
input
variable in the dictionary to the shortcut into to
validateFilenameCharacters
to activate this.
Other required variables in the input dictionary:
original_input
— the text that needs to be validated
Output(s):
This function will output the original text without characters that can’t be in file names.
Feedback
I want to make this easy to use for all developers, and would like to improve things by improving existing functions, adding new functions, and more.
If you have constructive feedback, please fill out this Google Form to help me add new features and improve things.
Try the beta
Under my 2nd account,
Betabird113
, I’ve published a beta version of ODT.
Click here to view it’s page
.
Installation
It only requires the shortcut app & the Actions app by Sindre Sorhus. Once you have all the apps you need, you’ll just need to press “get shortcut” on this page and get it.

## Compatibility

iPhone, iPad

## Required apps

Shortcuts, Actions

[View this page](https://shortcutlibrary.app/shortcuts/omegas-dev-tools)

[Download Shortcuts Library on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id6759494377)