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Author Topic: SOLVED: Copy Text From Error Windows  (Read 15964 times)

Nzyme

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SOLVED: Copy Text From Error Windows
« on: January 12, 2012, 11:01 AM »
Hi there. Was wondering if there is any program / script (any other way) that can copy text from error windows (or any other message windows). Often while communicating over IM for technical troubleshooting, it is required to quickly copy and send the error message to the other party. Sending screenshots of the error window is one way that I am aware of but what I really need is a way to copy the error message from the window and send it to the other party instead of manually typing long error messages.

A sample image of an error window is attached. In this case normally, I cannot copy the text from this window. Is it possible to make a program that can copy the text from such windows???

Thanks!!

Nzyme
« Last Edit: January 12, 2012, 11:09 AM by Nzyme »

yksyks

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Re: IDEA: Copy Text From Error Windows
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2012, 11:20 AM »
On applications using standard Windows dialogs you can just press Ctrl-C and you get for example:

---------------------------
Notepad2
---------------------------
Save changes to "Untitled"?
---------------------------
Yes   No   Cancel   
---------------------------

This doesn't work with MS Office 2003, though, which is probably your case. On MS Office 2007 it works fine.

Nzyme

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Re: IDEA: Copy Text From Error Windows
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2012, 11:26 AM »
Oh my god. This was built into the OS and I (& probably even others) never even knew of it. I tried it on a couple of windows and it worked. Thanks a million.

yksyks

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Re: IDEA: Copy Text From Error Windows
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2012, 01:39 PM »
It seems just a few people know this quite old trick. It's not very logical, you wouldn't expect the copy shortcut to work on these dialogs. I'm glad I could help a bit. The MS Office 2003 is a lost case in this situation. Why would Microsoft use the standard Microsoft Windows dialogs...?  :-[

tranglos

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Re: IDEA: Copy Text From Error Windows
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2012, 04:18 PM »
Why would Microsoft use the standard Microsoft Windows dialogs...?  :-[

...or menus, or toolbars, or even edit controls. In a normal "Open file" dialog box you can right-click the edit box and paste the filename. In Office, you can't. (You can still paste by Ctrl+V though).

It may be because some Office apps were initially designed outside of MS, but if that was the case, they've had more than enough time to standardize. Maybe MS thinks Office should behave and look slightly different from the rest of Windows, so that people know what they paid for, who knows. Certainly in the case of common controls there is less functionality in Office than in the OS itself.

As for the OP question: for those dialogs where Ctrl+C does not work, would it help to make a screenshot and paste it into Evernote or maybe OneNote? Can these apps OCR such a screenshot well enough? (It's probably faster to just type the text yourself most of the time anyway.)


Target

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Re: IDEA: Copy Text From Error Windows
« Reply #5 on: January 12, 2012, 04:59 PM »
I have no afilliation with the developer, nor can I vouch for it's suitability or functionality, but you you might also look at  GetWindowText

it's standalone and no install


yksyks

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Re: SOLVED: Copy Text From Error Windows
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2012, 12:20 PM »
... would it help to make a screenshot and paste it into Evernote or maybe OneNote? Can these apps OCR such a screenshot well enough? (It's probably faster to just type the text yourself most of the time anyway.)
As for Evernote—you can't. It does some OCR, but only for the sake of searching, because it's rather ambiguous. You can't get the text back to copy it, or so.

tomos

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Re: SOLVED: Copy Text From Error Windows
« Reply #7 on: January 13, 2012, 12:42 PM »
lots of people swear by the Abby Screenshot Reader http://www.abbyy.com/screenshot_reader/
which does OCR on screenshots (and takes screenshots) I havent used it myself (€30 in europe).
Tom

rjbull

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Re: SOLVED: Copy Text From Error Windows
« Reply #8 on: January 13, 2012, 02:30 PM »
lots of people swear by the Abby Screenshot Reader http://www.abbyy.com/screenshot_reader/
which does OCR on screenshots (and takes screenshots) I havent used it myself (€30 in europe).
I use it sometimes, and think well of it.  But the price, in the UK at least, is "€ 9,95 / £ 8.99"

If you have Microsoft Office 2003 or higher version, you could try freeware JOCR.  I used it at work for a while.

Ath

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Re: SOLVED: Copy Text From Error Windows
« Reply #9 on: January 13, 2012, 02:35 PM »
Hm, you just missed it by 2 weeks: free ABBYY Screenshot Reader Pointing to the original post over here: ABBYY Screenshot Reader free Christmas promotion.

tomos

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Re: SOLVED: Copy Text From Error Windows
« Reply #10 on: January 13, 2012, 04:18 PM »
But the price, in the UK at least, is "€ 9,95 / £ 8.99"

odd
your price here
30 euro here - maybe it's a typo, the "box" version is the same price
Tom
« Last Edit: January 15, 2012, 12:19 PM by tomos, Reason: corrected second link »

rjbull

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Re: SOLVED: Copy Text From Error Windows
« Reply #11 on: January 15, 2012, 10:58 AM »
30 euro here - maybe it's a typo, the "box" version is the same price
Your URL is grunged?  Comes out as
[url=http://]here[/url]

tomos

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Re: SOLVED: Copy Text From Error Windows
« Reply #12 on: January 15, 2012, 12:18 PM »
30 euro here - maybe it's a typo, the "box" version is the same price
Your URL is grunged?  Comes out as
[url=http://]here[/url]

sorry
http://buy.abbyy.com...69-812f-8b5f2d3fa347
Tom

rjbull

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Re: SOLVED: Copy Text From Error Windows
« Reply #13 on: January 15, 2012, 03:00 PM »
How odd.  Perhaps you're right and it's just a typo.  I had to navigate to the right country from their main page, and wondered if they were playing that nasty trick of charging different amounts in different countries, but most likely not: when companies do that, they usually charge the UK most  >:(

vmars316

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Re: SOLVED: Copy Text From Error Windows
« Reply #14 on: March 21, 2012, 06:51 PM »
GetWindowText
It doesn't work for all windows messages.
See Attachment:
...vm
"All things in moderation, except for love and forgiveness."
« Last Edit: March 22, 2012, 01:33 PM by vmars316, Reason: add example pic »

rjbull

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Re: SOLVED: Copy Text From Error Windows
« Reply #15 on: March 22, 2012, 05:17 PM »
@vmars316:
You might try Pete's Window Tool or SysExporter or CopyText or maybe CopyMessageBox, though the latter is getting rather old.

But, I still expect the OCR method should be most reliable.