Messages

76

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: Regular Expression Helper

« on: July 17, 2005, 06:04 PM »

Thanks.  Please kill this thread. 

77

Unfinished Requests / EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper

« on: July 17, 2005, 06:01 PM »

The idea is a simple wizard-type utility that creates regular expressions for you.

Maybe I didn't search enough for this yet, but I didn't see a freeware tool that does what I have in mind.  I did find a utility called "RegExBuddy", but it's $30, and ... yeah, right, I might cough up $30 for this.  FileLocator Pro also has a regex helper built in, but it's shareware.  I've attached a screen shot of the wizard built into FileLocator Pro, to give a better idea of what I'm talking about.  (Sorry if the image is huge on your screen.)

78

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: Babies on keyboard

« on: July 17, 2005, 03:45 PM »

Toddlock
Keybored

79

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: Babies on keyboard

« on: July 17, 2005, 12:46 AM »

A program like this would make my day.

-momonan (July 16, 2005, 09:24 PM)

In the meantime, try Toddler Keys.  It works well.  Believe me, I should know.

http://tk.ms11.net/

P.S.  Kids do seem to be very good at finding power buttons, don't they?

80

Finished Programs / Re: IDEA: timed alt+tab through active windows

« on: July 16, 2005, 08:43 PM »

Haha, no wonder I couldn't remember where I'd heard of that application!

81

Finished Programs / Re: DONE 7/16/05 - IDEA: Report the Number of Characters in Highlighted Text

« on: July 16, 2005, 06:55 PM »

any clipboard apps already have a hotkey to report this?

-mouser (July 15, 2005, 01:35 PM)

Just for existing ClipMate users...  Whenever you copy text to the clipboard, then view it in the ClipMate Explorer window, the number of characters is shown in the status bar.

Again, I am not suggesting ClipMate as an alternative to Clipboard Helper; just showing that ClipMate users may not need it.  (I can't stand having to put a disclaimer on everything I say, but it seems to help prevent people from going nuts on me.)

82

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: Printing your file window

« on: July 15, 2005, 10:55 PM »

Sorry, haven't tried these, but they're free...

JR Directory Printer
http://www.spadixbd....etools/JDirPrint.htm

PrintFolder:
http://no-nonsense-s...ftware.com/freeware/

83

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: Printing your file window

« on: July 15, 2005, 10:51 PM »

While I'm looking, here is an easy way to do it with a batch file (i.e. you run the command, then print the text file from Notepad or whatever):

[Select]

set dir=<directory>
for /f %%a in ('dir "%dir%" /b') do echo %%a >> <path>\<file name>.txt

Of course, you can use a different dir command, to print file dates or whatever.

84

Finished Programs / Re: IDEA: timed alt+tab through active windows

« on: July 15, 2005, 10:09 PM »

I could almost swear I've heard of an application that does exactly what jacques0 wants.  I'm 99% sure...  I'll post again if I find it.

85

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: Babies on keyboard

« on: July 15, 2005, 10:07 PM »

I hope no one minds that I mention this...

Parents really need this kind of application.  I use Toddler Keys at the moment.  And it does other "necessary" things, like lock the toy--err, sorry--CD/DVD drive doors, disable the power button, and so on.  It can display pictures and play sounds when the keyboard is locked (nice for entertaining very young children), and can disable the keyboard and mouse, while leaving the screen as-is (nice for cleaning the keyboard or mouse, or for letting a child watch a video on the computer without having them wreak too much havoc).

Toddler Keys has been abandoned:

I do not really have time to work on this project any more. If anyone has some software development experience and would like to take over this project, e-mail me at [email protected]

Which is too bad...  It is pretty decent, but I'd be willing to pay (or donate ) for an enhanced version of this software.  I have no idea what language it's written in.

86

General Software Discussion / Re: Open/Save Dialog Utilities - response to Nudone's Blog from May

« on: July 15, 2005, 04:03 PM »

Ummm, uhhh...

87

General Software Discussion / Re: Open/Save Dialog Utilities - response to Nudone's Blog from May

« on: July 15, 2005, 02:36 PM »

PS Hot Folders is pretty nice.  Just to point out, though:

* It doesn't save folder/file histories on a per-application basis--only globally (actually, for some reason, the file history feature didn't work at all for me).

* It doesn't save favorite files/folders on a per-application basis--only globally.

* It adds just one button to Open/Save dialogs, and you access everything from there.

* It doesn't add other things to the dialogs, such as an easy indication of the current path, or drive buttons.

I'm emphatically not trying to be a jerk, putting down mouser's mentioned software.  Just trying to save somone some trouble, since I had to install PS Hot Folders to find out that it's not right for me.  Not everyone will care about the things I mentioned.

And on the other hand, there is no idiotic splash screen, and--GOSH!--you get a registration code as soon as you order (unlike, in both cases, XFilesDialog).  And I can only imagine the license isn't as much of a thumb-up-the-ass.

The drag-and-drop configuration is really nice as well.

88

General Software Discussion / Re: Open/Save Dialog Utilities - response to Nudone's Blog from May

« on: July 15, 2005, 11:58 AM »

I really think your message will bounce right off him.  I have written him about his nonsense forced-splash-screen policy, even for registered users, and he refuses to change it.  There is even a FAQ on his web site about it.  (It basically says "Yeah, there are splash screens in the registered version.  Deal with it.")  Fortunately, there is a (naughty little) way to get rid of the damned things.

Based on things like this, I really doubt he'll change his mind about other annoying nonsense.

89

General Software Discussion / Re: Open/Save Dialog Utilities - response to Nudone's Blog from May

« on: July 14, 2005, 09:09 PM »

The sounds made by Xdesksoftware's stuff bypasses the sound card, and comes right out the PC internal speaker.  Yes, there is an option to disable the sounds, but it's locked in the trial.  Which, quite frankly, I think is bullshit.  He's literally trying to annoy prospective users into buying the software.  OK I'm in a bad mood and about 40 hours behind in sleep this week, but isn't that nonsense?

There has to be a registry value to disable the sound, under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\XDESKSOFTWARE.  Going to see if I can figure out what it is...

90

General Software Discussion / Re: Open/Save Dialog Utilities - response to Nudone's Blog from May

« on: July 14, 2005, 03:56 PM »

Hah, scary!  I installed XFilesDialog, and it is the best alternative to File-Ex I have seen so far.  At first glance anyway.  It seems to do what I need it to do.

I could do without the constant damn beeping though.  That developer really loves making your internal PC speaker beep, I've noticed.  Every time XFilesDialog processes a window (which isn't always when you'd expect), it friggin beeps!  Just a trick to annoy you into registering.  His other application, SysTrayX, emits a pretty long, annoying beep, when you least expect it.  That's really cool when you're up at 3AM and no one else in the house is.

91

General Software Discussion / Re: Open/Save Dialog Utilities - response to Nudone's Blog from May

« on: July 14, 2005, 03:09 PM »

I have been using File-Ex for a long time, but some things about its design (and its limitations) bother me.  But I haven't found anything better.  Maybe I'll bite the bullet and try XFilesDialog again.

92

General Software Discussion / Re: Open/Save Dialog Utilities - response to Nudone's Blog from May

« on: July 14, 2005, 02:07 PM »

Yeah me too on that...  I've often neglected to notice licensing details.  Sometimes, it's just a judgment call.  It may be worth it to you to simply pay up for XFilesDialog...  There is nothing wrong with doing that; I just wanted to make you aware before hand.

I myself keep Calendarscope around, despite none-too-gracious upgrade policies, because I don't like the alternatives (come on, Mozilla group!).

I tried Folder Express last night, and the shell features were really cool, but the moment I discovered it couldn't remember Details view in Open/Save dialogs, I uninstalled it.

93

General Software Discussion / Re: Open/Save Dialog Utilities - response to Nudone's Blog from May

« on: July 14, 2005, 12:19 AM »

Watch out for the licensing of XFilesDialog.  I registered a copy when the current version was 2.21, and now, to update, I'd have to pay full price again.  For a time after my "subscription" ended, I would have had to pay $20 (what a break, since full price is $26).  But I missed the boat, so tough shit fella, full price for you!

Edit:  Removed "Greedy bastard" remark.

Edit:  Added mention that Folder Express, for $20, offers a policy of lifetime free updates.

94

Living Room / Re: zaine's blog rocks

« on: July 11, 2005, 06:00 PM »

I agree with Zaine an uncannily-high percentage of the time, even on issues not related to software.

I only wish he'd allow comments in the blog.

95

Best Text Editor / Re: No option to underline misspelled words in UltraEdit?

« on: July 11, 2005, 05:58 PM »

That would be a cool feature.  Don't hold your breath, though.  It looks to me like IDM (the authors of UltraEdit) have done what Poco Systems did--they're overextending themselves and devoting all their time on a big, new project, while the "good enough" but longstanding bread-winner product gets ignored.

I'm still waiting for them to make the damned toolbars lockable.  Every time I accidentally displace my tab bar, I want to uninstall the thing.

96

General Software Discussion / Re: Clipboard manager

« on: July 11, 2005, 04:23 PM »

I can't remember what ClipCache does to be described as "auto minimizing out of the way", but ClipMate has an option where you can have the window hide whenever it loses focus.  This mainly works for the ClipMate Explorer window.

I'm not trying to change your mind.  What suits you depends on how you use it.  I tend to copy and paste a lot of text, often formatted text, and ClipMate is really the only option for that.

97

General Software Discussion / Re: Clipboard manager

« on: July 11, 2005, 02:46 PM »

There are also forums available for ClipMate:

http://www.thornsoft...com/phpBB2/index.php

98

Mouser's Zone / Re: Any new ideas for small utilities?

« on: July 09, 2005, 07:18 PM »

How about a system volume scheduler?  I hate it when I hit a web site with a loud midi background theme at 2 AM and wake up everybody in the house.

-dajo (July 03, 2005, 03:25 PM)

That's a cool idea for a utility.  There is a kludgy workaround, using Task Scheduler:  Run a utility that can alter the volume at whatever time(s) you want.  I use Task Scheduler to run NirCMD whenever I've stepped away from the computer for long enough, using the command line nircmd.exe setsysvolume 10000.  You can also have it mute the volume.

It may also be a good idea to put such a shortcut in your Startup folder, or run it from HKLM\...\Run.

99

Mouser's Zone / Re: Any new ideas for small utilities?

« on: July 09, 2005, 07:13 PM »

Shortcuts that are actually toolbars...  Cool idea.

I think you'd need to have the shortcut run an application that determined the shortcut's onscreen position, and then overlayed it with the menu.

100

General Software Discussion / Re: Clipboard manager

« on: July 09, 2005, 03:43 PM »

No problem.  And the Favorites option isn't very obvious, so I think it was worth mentioning.

Anyone who tried ClipMate some time ago (soon after it hit version 6) may have been turned off by it.  There were some really nasty, and annoying, bugs.  For some reason, I kept it around, and kept reporting its bugs.  The serious bugs (that I know of) are long gone now.  So I'd encourage anyone who tried an earlier version of ClipMate to try the latest.