Messages

76

ProcessTamer / Re: How to limit a specific program?

« on: February 02, 2013, 11:25 AM »

Progress report and assessment:

I made an explicit rule for Eudora.exe in PT, to "Force Low" priority. But it doesn't achieve what I need. PT doesn't prevent Eudora from jumping to 25% CPU, apparently because no other programs are competing for the CPU. So Eudora is actually not "in the way" of other programs and slowing them down, and PT doesn't see a need to intervene.

So my goal is still to prevent Eudora from using so much CPU that it normally doesn't need, and thereby heating up the computer. PT doesn't do this.

I tried Battle Encoder Shirase, and it does accomplish what I need -- it reduces a specific program's CPU usage by a specified %, regardless of what CPU other programs may or may not need. Although the BES homepage says it is for "Windows XP/2000," it works fine on my Win7/64.

77

Screenshot Captor / Re: Why not come up with a 'Templates' Idea within the Screenshot Captor?

« on: January 31, 2013, 07:00 PM »

An another query..why does every prevalent Screenshot Capture utility allow you to capture a region ONLY in a "Rectangular" form(freehand goes exempted)?

-saurabhdua (July 14, 2012, 05:58 AM)

Well, not "every" one. FastStone Capture has freehand capture -- the older freeware version (5.3) is still available from various places on the Web (Google it).

78

ProcessTamer / How to limit a specific program?

« on: January 31, 2013, 01:37 PM »

I'm having a problem with a specific program. I think PT can help, but I don't know how to set it up.

I use Eudora for my email client. Usually it runs on very low CPU, but occasionally when I open an email message, CPU usage jumps up to 25% until I close that message. It doesn't slow down my computer, but its temperature rises.

I'd like to somehow prevent Eudora from running away like that. Can PT do that? If so, how? If not, can Process Lasso do it? Thanks very much.

EDIT: I should add that there are enough CPU cycles available for all my programs; I'm not experiencing a slowdown due to Eudora taking 25%. What I am trying to prevent is Eudora suddenly taking a lot of CPU cycles that it normally doesn't need -- and thereby prevent the extra heat in the computer.

EDIT 2: Perhaps what I need to use is an absolute, program-specific limiter such as Battle Encoder Shirase http://mion.faireal.net/BES/ (thanks to rasmnick for the tip https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=13003.0 )  Any comments on that as an option? I'm using Win7/64.

79

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 24, 2013, 10:46 PM »

I understand, skwire. Things like that present a barrier. In the meantime, v1.0.6  is a significant improvement over earlier versions -- much easier to use -- and I'm quite pleased with that. It is helping me keep focused on several projects.

80

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 18, 2013, 03:12 PM »

Thanks, skwire -- this is wonderful! I haven't experienced any data loss in the several days I've been using 1.0.6. The new icon is more distinctive and representative, and the single-click opening makes it noticeably easier. Also it is really nice to have a link from any meter bar directly back to its configuration -- much more efficient. The color picker module is still a bit odd, so I have sent you details by email.

What do you think of a dynamic update of the meter display (if already shown) when the configuration is changed, rather than needing to click on the refresh button? Lack of that feels a bit awkward to me.

81

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 15, 2013, 04:22 PM »

... and a single-click toggle of the tray icon would be easier.

82

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 15, 2013, 01:24 PM »

Everything works great in 1.0.5 -- beautiful! Easy to use, intuitive, useful 

The only significant wish remaining is for the color-picker module to highlight the currently-selected color, and to remember custom colors.

83

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 15, 2013, 11:43 AM »

   + Meters window should remember its position now.

-skwire (January 15, 2013, 02:26 AM)

The configuration window remembers its position, but the meters window always reopens in the upper left corner of the screen.

EDIT: The configuration window remembers its position only during the current session. It forgets once the program has been closed.

84

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 15, 2013, 11:06 AM »

Is that solution acceptable to you?

-skwire (January 15, 2013, 10:50 AM)

Yes, that's great now that I know what to do. Thanks!

85

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 15, 2013, 10:48 AM »

Wishes for 1.0.4:

1. Provide a way to remove use of a due date. Currently, once a due date has been entered, there is no way to revert to showing no date, short of editing meters.xml.

2. Clicking on the pencil icon for a meter will always go to the Meters tab. Currently, it goes to the last open tab -- including the Options tab.

86

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 15, 2013, 10:39 AM »

I placed barbecue.exe 1.0.3 in C:\Program Files (x86)\Barbecue\ and it automatically wrote meters.xml in C:\Users\Scott\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Barbecue\

I did the same thing with 1.0.4 but it doesn't know anything about my existing meters.xml file, and generates the error message above when trying to save data. So obviously it doesn't refer to the user folder, but tries to write to the Program Folder location instead and gets blocked.

I then copied barbecue.exe and meters.xml to a folder on my data partition. It ran correctly, including opening the data file. So that works fine, but contrary to how Win7 expects it to be done.

87

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 15, 2013, 10:06 AM »

Thanks, skwire! Beautiful and more intuitive rework of the interface, and very nice additional functionality. Thank you for adding many of my wishes.

However, there is a problem with Save List: It returns "Error saving list contents" so I suspect it is trying to write the data to C:\Program Files (x86)\Barbecue\ where I had placed the executable.

Once it gets redirected to a writeable folder, it would be nice if it would use an existing copy of meters.xml.

88

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 14, 2013, 01:54 PM »

Wish: The color picker will highlight the current color choice, and will remember custom colors. (The "highlight" is the dotted line around a color box after it has been clicked.)

Currently it always opens with the black color box highlighted, regardless of what color is already configured; it also doesn't remember custom colors. This makes it difficult to adjust colors from a known starting point, or to reuse custom colors. Thanks.

89

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 14, 2013, 11:48 AM »

Humour me...what speed is your computer?

-skwire (January 14, 2013, 09:28 AM)

The relevant speed to question is my personal memory. I copied a good backup copy over the corrupted (zeroed) one, went to bed, forgot about it, and got up this morning to find a "miraculously" intact version. Heh. Apologies.

90

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 14, 2013, 09:24 AM »

I'm not sure I believe what I just experienced: Yesterday when I started Barbecue, it had zeroed both the Number and Total values for every meter. I neither edited it nor replaced the meters.xml file from a backup. Today when I restarted it, all the correct values were back in place.

EDIT (with red face): IGNORE this; see my comment below.

91

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 10, 2013, 06:25 PM »

It already has my love 

92

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 10, 2013, 05:03 PM »

I think it would be good to add a confirmation for deleting a meter. I intended to click on the Save icon, but accidentally hit the Delete icon without realizing it -- then wondered why that meter wasn't there anymore!

It would also be good to use the same terms for both the icons and the context menu. Compare
ICONS: New meter, Delete row(s)
MENU: Add new meter, Remove selection.

93

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 10, 2013, 11:36 AM »

Sorry, I should have mentioned my OS; yep, it's Win7/64. Which is also why meters.xml gets written to C:\Users\...\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\...

I wonder if saving it to another location would solve the data loss bug.

Start minimized would certainly be nice, and appropriate for a Tray app. Thanks.

No need at all to apologize for the time this takes. I think in the context of DonationCoder, the learning process and community interaction are as valuable as the results. BBQ has good potential, so it's worth waiting for. I'm in no rush, just take your time. I very much appreciate your effort.

94

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 10, 2013, 11:07 AM »

Two observations about BBQ 1.0.3:

1. When started, it always opens the configuration interface -- even though it was minimized to the Tray when last closed. I think this is unnecessary. I prefer to have it open in its last state. (BTW, Show Meter Bars is set as the double-click-on-icon action.)

2. As already noted, it sometimes zeros all Total fields. Sometimes it also zeros all Number fields. It may delete some of the fields and not others. But sometimes it leaves all fields intact. This happens between exiting the program and restarting it, never when BBQ is running. I haven't found any pattern for when it zeros the fields or not.

95

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 09, 2013, 12:31 PM »

Thanks, skwire; I'm backed up now.

96

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 09, 2013, 11:50 AM »

Where is the progress data saved? Barbecue changed all my Totals to zero, so it would be nice to backup the data for recovery purposes.

97

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 07, 2013, 11:35 PM »

Hamradio: Thanks for your offer -- I really appreciate it!

Skwire: Wow, thanks for such a quick and positive response! I'm looking forward to trying an updated version.

Here's one more request I hope you might consider as well:
7. Make the tray icon a single-click toggle, replacing what now requires a double-click then Escape.

98

Finished Programs / Re: SOLVED: Progress Bars re-visited.

« on: January 07, 2013, 07:39 PM »

Another free option is "A Ruler For Windows." It has a nice ability to place marks on the ruler (e.g. thirds, halfway, golden ratio, free). It will remember its last size and position, so if you need to repeat measurements, you can set it and forget it.
http://www.arulerforwindows.com/

99

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 07, 2013, 07:22 PM »

I recognize that my requests may be more than what is expected of a "snack," but I think they would make Barbecue more integrated internally and bump it up to a really nice level. Thanks for considering this.

100

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Desktop progress meter

« on: January 07, 2013, 05:00 PM »

Here are several wishes for improving Barbecue -- especially as a tracker of irregular, non-chronological progress.

1. Make it easier to enter units of progress. Rather than going through the 5-6 steps listed above, double-click on the desired meter bar to go directly to its Number box. This is the primary place a user interacts with Barbecue once a meter has been set up, so make it more directly accessible.

2. Auto refresh the meter bar display when the configuration has changed. Currently refresh must be forced either by clicking on the "Show meter bars" button or by closing and reopening the meter bar display. This should be dynamic.

3. Similar to PBoL, add an "Enabled" column or checkbox to each meter configuration. Otherwise a meter must be deleted permanently to remove it from the display.

4. Like PBoL, allow meters to be moved up or down in the list. Otherwise pairs of meters must be edited in place.

5. Repeating my wish from above: Provide an option to specify the number of decimal places reported in the % done. Or simply make it no places instead of two as it now is.

6. Allow the user to determine where to save the meter data. (Where is it saved by default? I haven't found that yet.)