How to move slots

@Giuliano_Sulzberger - can you elaborate on your question?

Are you talking about insert slots? At this time we don't have a script to do that.
Perhaps somebody would be interested in trying it out - it would involve simulating mouse drags.

Hi @Giuliano_Sulzberger & @chrscheuer,

I thought I might give this one a go, assuming you are talking about insert slots.

The following script should do the trick (It could however use some code improvments, clearer variable names & testing but it works)... It is currently set up to switch or move "Insert A" to "Insert B".

Please Note... You must have one insert slot free and the track height must be set to medium height or larger for the script to work.

insertSlotSwitcher("Insert A", "Insert B");

function insertSlotSwitcher(slotToMove, destinationSlot) {

    const pluginInsertArray = [
        { id: "Insert A", x: 290, y: 10 },
        { id: "Insert B", x: 290, y: 28 },
        { id: "Insert C", x: 290, y: 46 },
        { id: "Insert D", x: 290, y: 64 },
        { id: "Insert E", x: 290, y: 82 },
        { id: "Insert F", x: 360, y: 10 },
        { id: "Insert G", x: 360, y: 28 },
        { id: "Insert H", x: 360, y: 46 },
        { id: "Insert I", x: 360, y: 64 },
        { id: "Insert J", x: 360, y: 82 },
    ];

    //"Slot to Move" Item and X,Y values
    const slotToMoveItem = pluginInsertArray.findIndex(item => item.id === slotToMove);
    var originX = pluginInsertArray[slotToMoveItem].x;
    var originY = pluginInsertArray[slotToMoveItem].y;

    //"Destination Slot" Item and X,Y values
    const destinationSlotItem = pluginInsertArray.findIndex(item => item.id === destinationSlot);
    var destinationX = pluginInsertArray[destinationSlotItem].x;
    var destinationY = pluginInsertArray[destinationSlotItem].y;

    //Locate "First Free Insert Slot"
    function getFirstFreeInsertIndex() {
        var btns = sf.ui.proTools.selectedTrack.invalidate().insertButtons;
        for (var i = 0; i < 10; i++)
            if (btns[i].value.invalidate().value === "unassigned") return i;
        throw 0;
    }

    //"First Free Insert Slot" X,Y values
    const firstFreeX = pluginInsertArray[getFirstFreeInsertIndex()].x;
    const firstFreeY = pluginInsertArray[getFirstFreeInsertIndex()].y;

    function dragInsert(fromX, fromY, toX, toY) {
        var trackFrame = sf.ui.proTools.mainWindow.groups.allItems[7].frame;

        sf.mouse.simulateDrag({
            startPosition: { "x": trackFrame.x + fromX, "y": trackFrame.y + fromY },
            endPosition: { "x": trackFrame.x + toX, "y": trackFrame.y + toY },
        });
    }

    //If "Slot To Move" is unassigned cancel script
    if (sf.ui.proTools.selectedTrack.insertButtons[slotToMoveItem].value.value === "unassigned") {
        throw (0);
    }

    //If "Destination Slot" is unassigned
    if (sf.ui.proTools.selectedTrack.insertButtons[destinationSlotItem].value.value === "unassigned") {
        //Move "Slot to Move" to "Destination Slot"
        dragInsert(originX, originY, destinationX, destinationY);
    } else {
        //Move "Destination Slot" to "First Free Insert Slot"
        dragInsert(destinationX, destinationY, firstFreeX, firstFreeY);

        //Move "Slot to Move" to "Destination Slot"
        dragInsert(originX, originY, destinationX, destinationY);

        //Move "First Free Slot" to "Original Slot"
        dragInsert(firstFreeX, firstFreeY, originX, originY);
    };
}

Rock on!

@Giuliano_Sulzberger were you able to use @Kitch's solution?

As asked, here is a screen recording of Andrew's script not working. I assigned his script to ctl-opt-cmd-T.
I set the track height to medium then execute the script. It throws an error on line 31.
Hope this helps

I figured why this wasnt working. I was showing track numbers. When that is done, the sourceInsertXY shows up only the track name without the track number, while if the track number was showing it would have to be part of the name to reference the track. Thanks. I have added that check to the beginning of the script and will reset your view once the script has run.

/*This script will open up insert slot 1 on the selected tracks by finding the first empty slot and dragging all plugins down until 1 is open.

*/
sf.ui.proTools.appActivateMainWindow();

var numEnab = 0
var tNum = sf.ui.proTools.getMenuItem('View', 'Track Number').isMenuChecked;
if (tNum) {
    numEnab = 1;
    sf.ui.proTools.menuClick({
        menuPath: ["View", "Track Number"],
    });
}


function waitForResponsive(timeout) {
    var pollingInterval = 200;
    var waitedTime = 0;
    while (true) {
        sf.engine.checkForCancellation();
        try {
            var val = sf.ui.proTools.mainWindow.title.invalidate().value;
            return true;
        } catch (err) {
        }
        if (timeout > 0 && waitedTime >= timeout)
            throw 'Timeout in waiting for Pro Tools to become responsive';
        sf.wait({ intervalMs: pollingInterval });
        waitedTime += pollingInterval;
    }
}
// Moves inserts to the left of the first free insert one slot later to free up slot 1
function makeRoomForInsert(emptySLot) {
    var sourceInsertXY, destInsertXY;


    for (i = emptySLot; i > 0; i--) {
        destInsertXY = sf.ui.proTools.mainWindow.groups.whoseTitle.is(targetTrack + ' - Audio Track ').first.groups.whoseTitle.is(insertSlots[i][1]).first.buttons.whoseTitle.is('Insert Assignment ' + insertSlots[i][0]).first.position;
        sourceInsertXY = sf.ui.proTools.mainWindow.groups.whoseTitle.is(targetTrack + ' - Audio Track ').first.groups.whoseTitle.is(insertSlots[i - 1][1]).first.buttons.whoseTitle.is('Insert Assignment ' + insertSlots[i - 1][0]).first.position;


        sf.mouse.simulateDrag({
            startPosition: { "x": (sourceInsertXY.x + 2), "y": (sourceInsertXY.y + 5) },
            endPosition: { "x": (destInsertXY.x + 2), "y": (destInsertXY.y + 5) }
        });
        waitForResponsive(10000); //Allow for slow-instantiating plugins
        //log("Moved insert " + i);
    }
}


// ---------- Initialise Variables ---------------
// Refresh PTs track list
sf.ui.proTools.mainWindow.invalidate();
var insertSlots = new Array(10);                                                // Array holding text for coordinate hunting later                                                
for (var i = 0; i < insertSlots.length; i++) {
    insertSlots[i] = [];
}
for (i = 0; i < insertSlots.length; i++) {
    insertSlots[i][0] = String.fromCharCode(i + 65);
    if (i < 5) {
        insertSlots[i][1] = "Inserts A-E";
    } else { insertSlots[i][1] = "Inserts F-J"; }
}
var trackCount = sf.ui.proTools.selectedTrackCount;
var trackList = sf.ui.proTools.selectedTrackNames;

// Set up screen
//Close all floating windows
sf.ui.proTools.viewCloseFloatingWindows();

//Make sure Inserts are visible in Edit wondow
sf.ui.proTools.menuClick({
    menuPath: ["View", "Edit Window Views", "Inserts F-J"],
    targetValue: "Enable",
});
sf.ui.proTools.menuClick({
    menuPath: ["View", "Edit Window Views", "Inserts A-E"],
    targetValue: "Enable",
});

for (var j = 0; j < trackCount; j++) {
    var firstFreeInsert = -1;                                       // Holds the first free insert number if there is any, initialized to -1 which is no fre insert
    var targetTrack = trackList[j];
    //log(targetTrack + ' - Audio Track ')                             // Selected track name for later

    sf.ui.proTools.trackGetByName({ name: targetTrack, makeVisible: true }).track.trackSelect();

    var currentInserts = sf.ui.proTools.selectedTrack.invalidate().insertButtons;  // Array to hold the names of the existing inserts so we can find an unassigned slot
    // Find out if there is a free insert slot and assign the first free slot number to a variable
    for (var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
        if (currentInserts[i].value.invalidate().value === 'unassigned') {
            firstFreeInsert = i;
            break
        }
    };
    // Make sure there's a free insert slot somewhere
    if (firstFreeInsert == -1) {
        log("Track: " + targetTrack + " has no free insert slots");
        throw (0)
    };
    // If the free slot isn't slot 0 then move plugins to free up slot 0

    if (firstFreeInsert != 0) {
        makeRoomForInsert(firstFreeInsert);
    };
}

if (numEnab) {
    sf.ui.proTools.menuClick({
        menuPath: ["View", "Track Number"],
    });
}

EDIT: If you copied the script in the last 20 minutes use this instead. Much simpler.

Ok, thanks to Christian, here's a version that works with or without track numbers. With some modification you could specify a constant that will select which slot you want to open up, then you can just make 9 copies of the script with different constants and assign them to different key commands. Or add a dialog to the script that asks which slot you want to free up. I can have a look at this in the next few days. Would definitely be more useful.

/* 
This script will open up insert slot 1 on the selected tracks by finding the first empty slot and dragging all plugins down until 1 is open.

*/
sf.ui.proTools.appActivateMainWindow();

function waitForResponsive(timeout) {
    var pollingInterval = 200;
    var waitedTime = 0;
    while (true) {
        sf.engine.checkForCancellation();
        try {
            var val = sf.ui.proTools.mainWindow.title.invalidate().value;
            return true;
        } catch (err) {
        }
        if (timeout > 0 && waitedTime >= timeout)
            throw 'Timeout in waiting for Pro Tools to become responsive';
        sf.wait({ intervalMs: pollingInterval });
        waitedTime += pollingInterval;
    }
}
// Moves inserts to the left of the first free insert one slot later to free up slot 1
function makeRoomForInsert(emptySLot) {
    var sourceInsertXY, destInsertXY;

    for (i = emptySLot; i > 0; i--) {
        destInsertXY = sf.ui.proTools.trackGetByName({ name: targetTrack }).track.insertButtons[i].position
        sourceInsertXY = sf.ui.proTools.trackGetByName({ name: targetTrack }).track.insertButtons[i - 1].position
        sf.mouse.simulateDrag({
            startPosition: { "x": (sourceInsertXY.x + 2), "y": (sourceInsertXY.y + 5) },
            endPosition: { "x": (destInsertXY.x + 2), "y": (destInsertXY.y + 5) }
        });
        waitForResponsive(10000); //Allow for slow-instantiating plugins
        //log("Moved insert " + i);
    }
}


// ---------- Initialise Variables ---------------
// Refresh PTs track list
sf.ui.proTools.mainWindow.invalidate();

var trackCount = sf.ui.proTools.selectedTrackCount;
var trackList = sf.ui.proTools.selectedTrackNames;

// Set up screen
//Close all floating windows
sf.ui.proTools.viewCloseFloatingWindows();

//Make sure Inserts are visible in Edit window
sf.ui.proTools.menuClick({
    menuPath: ["View", "Edit Window Views", "Inserts F-J"],
    targetValue: "Enable",
});
sf.ui.proTools.menuClick({
    menuPath: ["View", "Edit Window Views", "Inserts A-E"],
    targetValue: "Enable",
});

for (var j = 0; j < trackCount; j++) {
    var firstFreeInsert = -1;                                       // Holds the first free insert number if there is any, (initialized to -1 which is no free insert)
    var targetTrack = trackList[j];                                 // Selected track name for later

    sf.ui.proTools.trackGetByName({ name: targetTrack, makeVisible: true }).track.trackSelect();

    var currentInserts = sf.ui.proTools.selectedTrack.invalidate().insertButtons;  // Array to hold the names of the existing inserts so we can find an unassigned slot
    // Find out if there is a free insert slot and assign the first free slot number to a variable
    for (var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
        if (currentInserts[i].value.invalidate().value === 'unassigned') {
            firstFreeInsert = i;
            break
        }
    };
    // Make sure there's a free insert slot somewhere
    if (firstFreeInsert == -1) {
        log("Track: " + targetTrack + " has no free insert slots");
        throw (0)
    };
    // If the free slot isn't slot 0 then move plugins to free up slot 0

    if (firstFreeInsert != 0) {
        makeRoomForInsert(firstFreeInsert);
    };
}

@Andrew_Scheps Okay so once I've committed Melodyne, insert slot A is now free. When using my macros to add a plugin, it'll add it to the next available slot which is slot A. But I've already got plugins on B and C. Is there a script for moving all the plugins up 1? Like sliding them all up so insert A is now taken and when I click on my plugin macros it'll fall to next in line not go to the top and I won't have to individually drag each plugin to the top?