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Messages - garbanzo [ switch to compact view ]

Pages: [1] 2next
1
Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: File collection manager
« on: December 10, 2014, 04:49 PM »
Thanks for the warning. I'm aware that I'll have to put the money in escrow, and they accept PayPal so I have protection.

I would rather someone from here dive in, but if I don't get any takers, then that's that :)

2
Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: File collection manager
« on: December 10, 2014, 04:21 PM »
I posted it on Elance. I plan to leave it up at least through the weekend until I decide which developer to work with.

3
Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: File collection manager
« on: December 10, 2014, 12:43 PM »
wraith808 gets it  :)

I do use a powerful file manager already (Directory Opus) and it does have a "collections" feature much like Windows' "libraries", but it doesn't have the level of metadata support that I need.

Think of a library-based music player like foobar, Music Bee, Media Monkey, or any other. They catalog your files, keep track of metadata, and act as a front-end to your collection. The proposed app would do the same thing, but for any files on your computer. Create collections, add metadata, browse/sort/launch.

But I've realized this project is probably too big for this site, so I've put a request up at a freelance site and am already getting proposals. Which isn't to say someone here can't take this on - I'm happy to work with anyone who is enthusiastic about the project! I'm just anxious to fund the project see it through to completion.

Thanks!

4
Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: File collection manager
« on: December 10, 2014, 06:09 AM »
Thanks for the tip. That looks like it's about 20 different apps mashed together into one - a jack of all trades and master of none. It's precisely the opposite of the simple management system I'm after...

Here's the closest thing I can find to illustrate my idea. It's a simple disk catalog software with a tree view on the left and a list view on the right. The big difference here is that the file details in the list view are provided by the system - in the software requested here, they are provided by the user.

adc_s.gif

5
Post New Requests Here / IDEA: File collection manager
« on: December 09, 2014, 05:41 PM »
I would love to help fund a program lets users a) create "collections" of files which are accessed by a tree-view panel on the left side of the screen, and b) associate metadata with those files by creating and populating user-definable columns of data in the main window.

For example, you could create a collection called "movies" and tell the app to look in two different folders on your computer for files to add to that collection. Once the files are in the collection, they show up in the main window in a view that mirrors Explorer's "details" view. From here, users can right-click the column header and choose "add column". You could add one called "release year" or one called "genre" or one called "director". You could then populate these fields in-line, and the program would associate that data with the appropriate file, storing everything in XML files or some other database. These custom columns would be specific to each collection, so if I chose a collection called "comics" from the tree panel on the left, I would see different custom columns than if I chose "research papers". The columns would all be sortable, and double-clicking a file would open it with the system-defined software.

That's all there is to the interface - a nested tree-view on the left where collections can be sorted into folders, and a file view in the main window with definable columns of data. A simple toolbar or menu could let you add/remove collections, choose folders, add files, etc.

As for similar software, there's stuff out there, but it all specializes in specific kinds of files. Foobar lets you do this for music, and there are apps that do it for comics, for videos, for ebooks, for retro video game roms, and so forth. But they're all specialist programs that also bring in data scrapers and file launchers and cover art and all the rest. This program would forgo all of that in favor of simplicity and flexibility.

I don't know what it would take to create such a thing, but if anyone is interested in giving it a shot, I would be happy to throw some $$ at it. It's something that, if done right, I can imagine myself using on a daily basis.

Thanks for reading!

6
Windows 8 lets you adjust the color of the window borders, but it's impossible to select an exact color.

The tool below lets you do that, but it lacks an eyedrop color picker tool.

http://winaero.com/c....php?comment.news.95

I would love to see a simple app that lets you either pick a color from your screen with an eyedrop tool, or enter a custom color using RGB or HEX or other values, then apply that to the registry to set the color of the window borders.

1000 bonus points if it can turn the title bar text to white for use with darker colors :)

Thanks!

7
Post New Requests Here / IDEA: Windows 8 ALT-TAB
« on: November 17, 2012, 07:38 AM »
Windows 8 breaks the ability for most apps to send an ALT-TAB keystroke to switch windows.

Judging by this thread even AHK has trouble, but it indicates there is a way around it?

http://www.autohotke...nymore-in-windows-8/

If someone can make a snack that works as suggested, I would be grateful! I'm so accustomed to switching between apps with my mouse that it's making the switch to Windows 8 very cumbersome for me.

Thanks.

8
Working perfectly, thank you so much  :up:

Skwire, consider this thread closed.

9
c.gingerich, now that I'm home from work and able to test the tool more thoroughly, I realize there is a bug.

Text inputted into the Parameters field ought to be added to the end of the Target string. Instead, it is showing up as the "Start in" data.

If you could have a look, I would really appreciate it!

10
Wow, great!

Working well for my purposes, thank you.

One little request: could you set it up so that hitting Return in any text box sends the command to create the link?

11
I considered that. I don't have them right now, but I could enter the data into Excel as I work, then just export to CSV. So yes, a script would work too!

12
Finished Programs / DONE: Windows software shortcut (LNK) creator
« on: April 19, 2012, 08:47 AM »
Greetings :)

I have a need to create several hundred shortcuts to the same app, each with a different name and different arguments. My current "copy, rename, right-click, edit, confirm, repeat" process is cumbersome. This little project would benefit greatly from an app that would let me paste text in to the relevant fields, hit Create to make a shortcut, then repeat.

Here is a very similar app to what I'm imagining, but it is designed to create admin shortcuts, which I don't need.
http://www.softpedia...reenshot-168241.html

Required fields are Name, Target, Start Dir, and the directory where the file will be created. It would be nice if arguments could be put in a separate text box, since these have to change with every shortcut I create. Optional features could include selecting an icon, adding a description, and whatever else LNK files support, but I don't need these for my purposes. Ideally, form data would not be cleared after creating a shortcut, but maybe this could be an option.

Thanks!

13
yeah i played with it a bit. great start! i hope you develop it more:

i LOVE the xpadder support, great idea! the interface is nice and clean, it works well for this sort of app.
i would like to see native icon support in the details view, and support for more images (screenshots, box scans, etc)

a bug i found:
when you first open it, it lets you try to add a game before creating a category. then it gives you an error. when you click OK, the add new game option is grayed out. then if you create a category, everything works fine. maybe just add a default category to start with?

14
wow zissakos, looking good!

i love the xpadder support, great idea! and the tabbed interface is very well designed, i would definitely make good use of it :)

does the Executable field support command line switches?

could you post a screenshot of how it looks in Details view?

a few suggestions based on what i see so far:

- support for more images (screenshots, maps, media scans, etc). maybe assign a folder for each game, then show all images in the folder?

- the "Game Details" view should show blank lines if data is not present, rather than names like "Pulbisher" and "Year"

i'm looking forward to seeing this develop further!

15
 ;D

good to hear, wraith808.

fyi i'm here all next week, then away for 2 weeks, so if you post something and get no feedback/praise from my end, then that's why!

i know my donation is currently at $0 but if you put are willing to put your time and energy into this, that will certainly change.   

16
Sorry, I guess I'm so familiar with apps like this that I forget not everyone else is :)

It should be stand-alone, self-contained and portable. ZIP distribution, relative paths, and all the rest.

It should be based around some sort of database where all information is stored - something that can be backed up, and maybe even manually edited if mass changes need to be made.

The GUI should be tripartite, taking the form of FOLDER TREE - DETAILS LIST - SCREENSHOTS. Tree doesn't really need custom icons like QuickPlay has, but it should offer folders for each of the default columns in the details view (name, date, publisher, distributer, genre, rating, playcount, etc), along with the ability to create custom folders based on user-defined queries.

The details list should offer an icon column (preferrably 32x32 rather than just 16x16), followed by all preset and any custom data fields present. Columns should be moveable and sortable. In-line editing of data would be nice.

A "new game" dialog should let users easly add a new executable, and to designate any command line switches and/or helper apps to launch with the game. By default it will choose the EXE's icon, but users should be able to choose an alternative icon if desired. Ideally most data would be scraped from MobyGames - I'm sure their API is published someplace. DOSBox Game Launcher even pulls screenshots from there, it's very handy!

The screenshot window simply displays all images in the directory associated with the selected game.

This is pretty much the minimum - though the MobyGames scraping is just an added perk. Later could come things like local links to files such as manuals, walkthroughs and maps, mounting of CD images for launching game backups, GUI customizations, and more.

I'm probably asking for a lot - oh how I wish I knew how to write this app myself!


17
1. You can choose other preset columns, but you can't create custom columns. You can't rate games, you can't add tags, you can't sort them in your own way like these other apps allow.
2. This is just a basic instant search. It cannot search specific fields, and the searches cannot be saved. I cannot create a folder of all games I've completed, or for all FPS games older than 2000.
3. OK you got me there :)
4. I was talking about a folder tree - call me old-fashioned I guess.

I downloaded that game adder you linked to. I didn't find anything about custom icons or command line switches. It crashed on me before I could add Bejeweled Blitz. That's the problem with native Windows apps - you need to download 3rd party programs to hack into them in order to make them useful.

THIS is the sort of thing I am looking for. It's QuickPlay, a frontend for emulators. It can run PC games after a fashion, if you create .lnk shortcut files in place of "roms" and link to explorer.exe as the emulator. It could even display game icons if I were to take the time to extract them from each EXE and zip them up. It's great for emulators, but for PC games, it's far from ideal.

I don't just want an easy way to launch my games - I want a way to sort them, rate them, tag them, categorize them, and explore them visually via screenshots and box scans... But moreover, I like to be in control of the apps I use. I use Directory Opus instead of Explorer, and foobar2000 instead of WMP. Windows apps, designed for the average user, simply don't offer that kind of flexibility.

Oh, and one more thing - what happens when I want to re-install Windows? My games might all be backed up on a non-system partition or drive, but I'll lose all my data in Games Explorer. Not a good incentive to spend time adding a few hundred titles...




18
Thanks for the reply  8)

I'm on Windows 7 but didn't even know Games Explorer existed! I had a look - it's like all native Windows apps, pretty and somewhat functional but not at all customizable and not terribly powerful. No custom columns, no custom filters or categories, no support for command line switches, no support for launching helper apps like FRAPS or Xpadder, no support for game screenshots, no support for custom icons...

I've been spoiled by the power and flexibility of the apps I mentioned in my original post, and would love to see something similar dedicated to PC games ;)

19
I have searched high and low for a simple PC game launcher, but to no avail.

The retro gaming scene is filled with specialized launchers. Arcade gaming has MAMEUI. Console and handheld emulation has QuickPlay. And an excellent frontend to DOSBox for running old DOS games is DOSBox Game Launcher. But where is the frontend for PC games?

All these apps have the same general layout. On the left is a folder tree which saves searches and helps to organize games by various criteria. The main part of the screen is a list/details view that shows the games that have been loaded into the frontend. On the right is a spot for game screenshots. All these apps are built around a database, and many are able to scrape data from websites like Moby Games.

There are frontends that support PC games. One that comes to mind is D-Fend Reloaded. But this, like many others, is first and foremost a DOSBox frontend, so it's not exactly ideal for PC gaming.

Here's what an app like this would need:

1. A database, xml or ini or whatever, filled with game profiles. Entries include game name, target executable and any associated command line switches, screenshot directory, icon (if different from executable), year, genre, developer, publisher, playcount, etc.
2. A basic GUI, with folders on the left, a list in the middle with icons and columns of info, and space for game screenshots/scans on the right.
3. A simple game import dialog, with a browse button for the EXE, and space to fill in data.
4. Ideally, it would interface with Moby Games and grab data/screenshots automatically!

I have no idea how difficult it would be to make an app like this. If it's an unreasonable request, then let me know. If not, I would love to dig in and beta test whatever comes out!

20
ooh i should have checked back sooner  :huh:

the new build works just as i imagined, thanks so much for adding command line support :)

21
this is an excellent little app, skwire! many thanks!

would you consider adding the ability to send files to it via the command line? i would love to add a button in Directory Opus to send selected media files to PlayTime.

 :Thmbsup:

22
General Software Discussion / Re: random number generator?
« on: April 30, 2009, 12:11 AM »
thanks for the replies.

i have seen random.org, and they do have a clock time generator, but i would prefer an offline solution.

i'll look into using Excel, though i'm not very fluent with it...

23
General Software Discussion / random number generator?
« on: April 29, 2009, 02:29 AM »
i'm looking for a very simple app to help me in my quest to learn another language.

something that can generate a whole number between x and y with every click.

it would also be nice if it could generate the following:

random times (4:43, 12:02, etc)
random money amounts (42.25, 445.99, etc)

does anybody know of such an app?

24
Thanks again for the ideas, rjbull.

I tried the free version of Text Monkey, but it has very few options, and can't do what I need.

I also tried TextMorph. What a mess! The installer wouldn't work, so I unpacked it, and threw an .exe extension on the biggest file in there. The app worked fine, but with no hotkey support, it's really not hlepful.

I have actually been using notepad2 today and it's working pretty well. It's speedy and it does a good job. It's a bit of extra work alt-tabbing around, but once I get a rhythm down, it goes pretty quick :)

25
Thanks for the reply, rjbull!

Clippy is fantastic. A slim, no-install app with lots of features - perfect! Too bad it doesn't do sentence case :(

Text Monkey looks great, it seems to have a really nice set of features, but it would wipe out my software budget for the year (setting some aside for Windows 7, just in case), so I have to pass on it.

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