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Button Editor Catalog Audit

Local cross-check against the VDJScript catalog bundled with VirtualDJ's Button Editor.

Source app: /Applications/VirtualDJ.app

Observed on 2026-05-26:

  • VirtualDJ app version: 8.5.9307
  • VirtualDJ bundle build: 18.0.9336
  • Main executable SHA-256: 233f36a8d454d0fe90e7bb1c57b9550a4ea8aa3ee0a9f219624c24aa8aaa59f1
  • Language pack: /Applications/VirtualDJ.app/Contents/Resources/languages.zip
  • Language XML build: 9320

Purpose

The Button Editor has a built-in searchable action catalog with categories, action names, and descriptions. This audit records the local source for the description text and compares it with the official appendix and the runtime-looking string table in the executable.

Syntax highlighting and hover tokenization are tracked separately in VDJScript Syntax Evidence, since they are parser/highlighter evidence rather than catalog-description evidence.

This is a documentation cross-check, not a replacement for the official appendix. Treat it as Built-in app resource evidence: stronger than community examples for existence and prose, but not sufficient by itself to prove behavior, parameter coverage, or current public support.

Bundled Language Catalog

The action descriptions are stored in Resources/languages.zip, inside per-language XML files. In English.xml, the descriptions are under <Actions>, for example get_beatpos has the same prose shown in the Button Editor UI.

Counts from the installed app:

Source Count
English.xml <Actions> unique tags 812
Union of <Actions> tags across all languages 813
<Actions> tags present in every language 810
<tooltips> unique tags across all languages 144
<skintooltips> unique tags across all languages 33

Only three action tags vary by language:

Tag Notes
dualdeckmode_decks Missing from English but present in Spanish, Dutch, Greek, German, Italian, and Chinese.
edit_lyrics Present in English, Spanish, and Dutch only.
video_source Missing from Japanese and Arabic only.

The multilingual union is therefore the best Button Editor catalog source, not English alone.

The language XML does not encode the per-action Button Editor category mapping shown in the UI. That mapping is compiled into the executable and is now tracked in Button Editor Taxonomy.

Runtime String Table Cross-Check

The main executable is a universal Mach-O binary. Plain strings exposes two contiguous alphabetical VDJScript-looking blocks from action_deck through zoom_vertical.

Initial counts:

Source Count
Binary block 1 957
Binary block 2 967
Official appendix audit 991
Button Editor language action union 813

The second binary block includes aliases not seen in the first block, including close, get_album, get_artist, get_beat, get_beatpos, get_bpm, get_title, get_vu_meter, pitch, and video_crossfader.

Concrete Mismatch Findings

Generated with:

python3 tools/extract_vdjscript_catalogs.py

Button Editor Catalog, Not Official Appendix

Source: Built-in app resource (Resources/languages.zip multilingual <Actions> union).

These 14 action tags are present in the Button Editor catalog but are not parsed from the official VDJScript appendix audit:

  • assign_related_controller, crash, flip_arm, flip_load, flip_loop, flip_play, flip_record
  • pad_page_insplit, pad_pressure_switch, rane_motor_enable, rane_timecode, rane_timecode_enable
  • sampler_inputgain, stem_volume

Treat these as catalog-only candidates until another source confirms behavior, parameter shape, or public support.

Runtime String Block, Not Official Or Button Editor

Source: Binary string-table (strings -a block 2 from Contents/MacOS/VirtualDJ).

These 21 VDJScript-looking names are present in the richer runtime string block but are not in the official appendix audit or the Button Editor action catalog:

  • all_decks, browser_colorfilter_edit, combine_query, controllerscreen_action, effect_beats_sliderindex
  • flip_get_status, get_pad_page_name, hot_cue_stutter, load_security_shown, master_beat_num
  • masterbpm, motorwheel3, ns7_get_drift, pad_page_favorite, pad_page_split
  • rane_screen_input, rane_screen_output, remote_action, send_nothing, setting_if_unchanged
  • timecode_no_jump

Treat these as discovery-only candidates. The executable string table is useful for finding possible internals, but it is not enough evidence for normal user-facing recommendations.

Shipped XML Evidence Check

Source labels searched: Built-in pad page, Built-in skin.

The extractor scanned exact token matches for the 35 non-official candidates above across:

  • examples/Pads/Built-In/
  • examples/Skins/Built-In/
  • examples/Samplerbanks/Built-In/

Result: none of the 35 candidates currently has shipped XML evidence elsewhere in this repo.

Next-Step Promotion Targets

  • Immediate XML-backed promotions: none from this mismatch pass.
  • Highest-value catalog-only local tests: stem_volume, sampler_inputgain, pad_pressure_switch, pad_page_insplit, and the flip_* group (flip_arm, flip_load, flip_loop, flip_play, flip_record). Use Undocumented VDJScript Candidates for the candidate inventory and Reference - Hidden Button Editor Tests.xml as the starter harness for low-risk probes.
  • Hardware/context-dependent catalog candidates: assign_related_controller, rane_motor_enable, rane_timecode, and rane_timecode_enable.
  • Runtime-only names to watch, not promote yet: get_pad_page_name, pad_page_favorite, pad_page_split, remote_action, hot_cue_stutter, timecode_no_jump, and setting_if_unchanged. Some now have forum, changelog, or published-skin context; keep behavior promotion in Undocumented VDJScript Candidates and the local tracker until a current build run confirms syntax and side effects.

Interpretation

The local evidence now points to several overlapping catalogs and binary evidence streams:

  • The official VDJScript appendix: public names and aliases; currently parsed in this repo as 991 names.
  • The Button Editor language catalog: user-facing action descriptions; currently 813 action tags across bundled languages.
  • The executable string block: runtime-looking action names; currently 967 names in the richer block.
  • The Button Editor compiled taxonomy: currently 918 visible action items across 37 displayed categories.
  • The demangled ACTION_* symbol table: implementation-class and method-surface hints; currently 800 exact class matches inside the full compiled taxonomy.

None of these is identical to the others. The Button Editor catalog omits sparse or helper-style official names such as deck_has_error, get_mixfx_active, and system, while the binary block contains runtime/internal-looking names not currently in the official appendix. Exact ACTION_* method-symbol matches are useful for execute/query/tooltip hints, but alias and dispatcher-backed verbs can be visible, official, and language-described without an exact class name.

Use this hierarchy when updating the API reference:

  1. Official remains authoritative for public name coverage.
  2. Built-in app resource can supply Button Editor description evidence and discover localized catalog-only names.
  3. Binary compiled table can supply Button Editor category placement and visibility.
  4. Binary symbol table can supply exact action-class and method-surface hints.
  5. Binary string-table evidence can identify runtime candidates, but candidate names need official, bundled-resource, shipped XML, or local behavior evidence before promotion into ordinary user-facing recommendations.

Reproduction

Run:

python3 tools/extract_vdjscript_catalogs.py

The helper is read-only and compares the installed app's language catalog, executable string block, this repo's official coverage audit, and exact-token shipped XML evidence in the copied built-in/official XML roots.