Messages

51

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: xplorer², a powerful windows file manager and explorer replacement / alternative

« on: August 31, 2007, 11:13 AM »

You may be 100% satisfied with TC

Lordy I am incredibly not... you should read my posts over there sometime.  My problem with switching from TC is that it offers some specific things I cannot live without.

OTOH TC's folder tree implementation is awful (though in one way (only) it's better than xplorer2's:  at least TC will display a second tree in the right panel). Its tab implementation isn't as robust as SpeedCommander's (by the way: how do you lock a tab's root folder in xplorer2? or restrict navigation to only up or down the tabs folder hierarchy?).  I hate TCs unmoveable button bar (mostly), though it is still more functional than xplorer2's.  TC seems to have trouble from time to time with Network shares, especially in more recent versions: very bad in a file manager!  And TC doesn't currently support Unicode (a huge shortcoming in today's world... funny no one has mentioned that!)

Why don't I turn the table round and ask you to present us with a TC column that does a summary/non-recursive column like x2 does it?

If I get a chance I'll see about using one of the many TC file/folder-count column values (via the column content plugins) to demonstrate that.  However, showing the count of files and folders only one level down (that is: no recursion) seems useless to me.  Why would you want to ignore the subfolders' contents?

The xplorer2 "mini-scrap" is OK... as a replacement for a kind of folder tree (since it appears to link to whatever is the active tab), but seems only "half" implemented.  It acts more like a list of favorite short-cuts than a virtual file container.  It's immovable, too! Why not take that little window and put it in a tab, instead? Then a user could treat it as just another file tab (albeit with "virtual contents").  Indeed why not mulitiple mini-scraps, one in each tab? 

The TC plugin community has created several "scrap" or "virtual" file container plugins that behave like the xplorer2 mini-scrap except you can have as many of them as you want since they appear in their own tabs, you can create new "virtual" folder hierarchies in them, and navigation occurs within the same panel (not in some other panel), there is no need to explicitly save the contents since they persist between sessions automatically (no need for a settings option for this), etc. etc. 

The TC plugin architecture design means a user doesn't have to settle completely for the TC author's personal vision of a usable file manager (thank goodness, because he and I differ considerably on that).  TC is more like Dopus in many regards: both can be viewed as toolkits for creating personalized file managers.  Dopus concentrates on the flexibility of the GUI toolkit whereas TC concentrates on supporting the widest range of file systems, packers, viewers, editors, and metadata engines (via its open plugin design).  The rest of the file managers in the landscape are more about each individual author's personal vision about how to manage files.  Just because xplorer2's GUI does not work the way I personally think a file manager should (and I can back that up with specific examples), does not mean it isn't useful to many others.

There is no perfect file manager, but the less a file manager is implemented toward a specific metaphor of use and the more flexible it is to user configuration (via GUI elements, plugin architecture, what have you), the better chance it will have to approach perfection for any individual user.  Speed of file copying or compatibility with Windows Explorer or a hodge podge of functions, each individually powerful, which nevertheless are not flexibly integrated into a coherent whole,  do not a complete file manager make!

IMHO and with all due respect to all the hard working and talented file manager authors out there, as well as to those users whose file management tasks are more casual by nature.

52

General Software Discussion / Re: File Managers! Windows Explorer replacement! Come one, come all...

« on: August 31, 2007, 09:54 AM »

File collections or "virtual" folders is an area in which SpeedCommander really excels.

SpeedCommander is dual panel commander that implements two kinds of tabbed panels: folder tabs and "file containers".  The user selects which group of tabs to display from a second level (or row) of tabs that itself contains two tabs (that is: two for each file panel): "Folders" and "File Containers":

To create a "virtual folder" or File Container, one right-clicks on the "File Containers" tab and selects "New File Container".  An empty panel displays.  To add files and folders to your new Container, simply drag or "Copy" them from the opposite panel.  The action is instantaneous, since the actual file or folder is not copied to the panel, just a reference or pointer to it.

This is so easy to do and so powerful that I am addicted.  You can mix and match any files and folders in the SC file containers.  I have Containers set up for various projects, various backup sets, it's wonderful.  And because Containers are so well integrated into the SC panel/tab metaphor, there are no "extra steps" to display the containers and their contents.  They are just file panels like any other (well, almost: naturally, you can't display a folder tree inside a File Container panel).  Deleting a file or folder from a Container only deletes the reference, not the original (an important point!).

There are downsides to SC File Containers, though:

1. You cannot navigate into the folder hierarchy of a folder in an SC Container tab.
2. You cannot create new "virtual folders" in a Container to further organize the contents.  (Some of the several TC virtual folder plugins support this useful function.)
3. SC Containers do not appear in the Folder Trees as they do in Dopus.

IMHO SpeedCommander has by far the best GUI of any file manager I have encountered (this includes Dopus, the runner-up).  Its tab implementation is by far the best (TC's is the runner-up) and it's toolbar implementation competes with the excellent approach that Dopus uses.  SC subordinates folder trees to the tabs (tree visibility is linked to the tab, NOT the panel as in Dopus and every other commander I know of). SC exposes a scripting object model within which you can script essentially anything using the built-in VBScript editor (with syntax checking!). Since SC uses VBScript, it has SC object methods, properties, conditional branching, variables, functions, the whole deal.  Makes Dopus's simplistic (though useful!) button "scripts" seem quite confining, and TC's pathetic "one internal command per button and no parameters" approach positively abysmal.   The latest SC beta (v12) has the best implementation of a breadcrumb bar I have encountered, etc, etc.

SC has no custom column definitions a la TC, though, cannot customize thumbnail captions and tooltips to show EXIF values (for instance) like TC, and the limited number of viewer and packer plugins available for it keep me using TC.

There is no perfect file commander.

53

General Software Discussion / Re: File Managers! Windows Explorer replacement! Come one, come all...

« on: August 30, 2007, 05:11 PM »

2 Dirhael

Yeh that Dopus is a monster.  I have a license, too.  It is really the most powerful straight file manager but has so many "little" quirks and lacunae that I have never been able to abandon TC for it.

By the way, Challenge 1 was to place the recursive counts of folders and files in ONE column.  You display two columns in your DOpus screen dump.  So again, Challenge 1 is still not met.

The purpose of Challenge 1 was to show how TC handles custom columns, allowing you to combine various metadata into one file panel column.  Not only that, there is a TC plugin that lets you "overload" a single column with different column values based on file masks.   This is incredibly useful:  for instance, I have a column that shows subfolders/files for folders, dimensions for images, duration for MP3s etc etc.  All in a single column!

54

General Software Discussion / Re: File Managers! Windows Explorer replacement! Come one, come all...

« on: August 30, 2007, 03:19 PM »

I am partial to the dual-pane "commander" design in file managers. Here is a list of the dual-pane commanders for Windows (only) that I have tried and that I think qualify as legitimate candidates for serious comparison:

ABCommander
xplorer2
Directory Opus
Total Commander
Altap Salamander
Enriva Magellan
RageWork
SpeedCommander
EFCommander
FreeCommander
WinNC.net

There are many more file commanders out there: quite a few "wanna be's" that I discarded immediately and several cross-platform tools (muCommander, for instance) that IMHO aren't quite focused enough on Windows to make my list.

Unless you have used all (or most) of these tools extensively and wrung them dry of their features in real world situations, any claim that one or another of them is the best rings hollow to me.

This could be a fun thread if we all show objectivity and moderation.

55

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: xplorer², a powerful windows file manager and explorer replacement / alternative

« on: August 30, 2007, 12:33 PM »

well, you did pick the weakest part of xplorer2 (mass rename), but you CAN use metadata in renames.

-umeca74

This response to Challenge #1 to use the xplorer2 token ${Column name} to insert image dimensions gets partial credit only.  The token leaves spaces in the resulting filename.  Is it possible to use regular expressions in xplorer2 to remove them?

use Alt+K and select "Contents" stock column. It computes a total number (files+folders) so it isn't exactly what you look for. For your extra credit, define a coloring rule (Customize | Color coding) based on this column, which is active when the number is >=300

-umeca74

Contents only shows the sum of the files and folders the first level down.  It isn't recursive (which is one of the points of the challenge) and doesn't separate the number of files from the number of folders and at the same time display both values in one column so as to save space. Since the Contents column doesn't show the correct values, no points are earned for displaying the incorrectly identified rows in red.

So no credit for Challenge #2!

we can go on like that for ages

Well yes we could.  I have a "million" of real world examples from my daily use of TC.  But the exercise wouldn't reflect well on most file managers .  Perhaps a separate thread of real-world challenges from forum participants might help everyone.

All the top-league file managers do more or less the same thing.

Only to the extent that they "manage files". 

Here's an example that matters if you work in thumbnails mode:

In xplorer2, display thumbnails.  Now sort them by date.  To do that, you must either select View>Arrange By>Date or press a 3-key short cut.  Either way, that's three clicks.  Further, there is no obvious way in xplorer2 to make a tool button to perform the sort.

In TC you click once on the column header for date.

I'm not singling xplorer2 out, here.  No other file manager I know of displays the column headers in thumbnail mode.  And this is a really big deal if you need to sort your thumbs by a custom column not accounted for by the menu.

For instance, in xplorer2, how would one sort image thumbs by image dimensions?  Or by age in days?  Or by an EXIF value?  One can do these things, of course (switch to detail mode, sort, switch back to thumbs), but extra steps are involved.

When one file manager takes three steps for another file manager's one step, and the activity represented by those steps is performed repetitively day after day, month after month, year after year, that "two step" difference really begins to add up.

My point is that unless you use each file manager intently for your daily tasks over a period of time, you won't begin to understand how very different they are from each other and how little things that don't seem important at first can make a big difference to your use of the tool in the long haul.

56

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: xplorer², a powerful windows file manager and explorer replacement / alternative

« on: August 29, 2007, 01:00 PM »

Second challenge:

For folders only (ie the column should be blank for files), show a column in the file display named "Folders/Files" that shows the number of subfolders and "subfiles" in each folder, separated by a slash.

To wit:

12/77

Extra credit:

In the file list, automatically highlight each folder that has > 300 subfiles in red.

57

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: xplorer², a powerful windows file manager and explorer replacement / alternative

« on: August 29, 2007, 12:38 PM »

Not to get in a pissing match, but since my post has been impugned, I'll respond with a couple of challenges to any other file manager (not just xplorer2).

The challenge:

Rename a set (ie. more than one) of image files  (*.jpg, for instance) to include the dimensions of the image file in the filename.

To wit:

Original filename:  MyFile.jpg
Output: MyFile.640x480.jpg

Stipulation: No spaces may be included in the resulting file name.

This is a prima facia example of the integration of metadata into TC.  The rename template for the filename portion in TC would be: [N].[=imgsize.x]x[=imgsize.y]

Where:

[N] ...denotes the original filename
[=imgsize. ...denotes a specific (free) TC content plugin implemented by a user
.x] ...denotes one of the plugins calculated metadata values (the x dimension of the image)
.y] ...denotes the other dimension.

Extra credit:

Sort the file display ascending by the Y dimension.

58

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Microsoft OneNote 2007

« on: August 29, 2007, 11:49 AM »

Sorry to disagree with the generally positive reviews in this thread, but in my opinion (and after an attempt to incorporate OneNote into my work flow) OneNote has too many "on screen" elements and needs a GUI overhaul.  It feels awkward to use and looks unnecessarily cluttered/crude.

OneNote's pages display (circled in the graphic above) is incredibly screen space inefficient and reminds me of an old Lotus application (whose name escapes me) from the early 90's.

59

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Review: ArtRage 2.2 (free and full versions) - Updated with 2.5 info

« on: August 29, 2007, 11:40 AM »

I like ArtRage so much I use it for keeping notes in my own handwriting and making diagrams for presentations.  I learned drafting as a youth and find the new stencils (rulers and french curves especially) combined with the layer functionality make a wonderful idea capture/expression/daigram tool.

If you doodle GUI designs on scrap paper, or scribble out ideas, or sketch flow diagrams, then I think ArtRage is sometimes better for that than dedicated pen notetakers like OneNote, even without the "intelligence".

60

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: xplorer², a powerful windows file manager and explorer replacement / alternative

« on: August 29, 2007, 09:39 AM »

In my use of x², I found its panel layout to be inflexible.  No way to move the preview panel, for instance, or show a tree, then files, then preview or vice versa.  Inflexibility of the toolbars and no customization of the main menu completely turned me off, too.

Also, as a long-time TC user, I have come to depend on TC's content-plugin architecture (user-defined custom column sets / metadata in file list).   The system metadata and user-defined metadata architecture is integrated at the core of the product: into the file display, file filtering, file color-highlighting, file searching, and the file renamer tool (!), too.  No other file manager I know of has such a thing, not even Dopus. 

If your needs are mostly "casual" file management... moving, copying, renaming, etc., then most file managers are reasonably competent (my favorites for casual use are SpeedCommander, Salamander, and Dopus, in that order) and the more configurable the UI, the better.  Also, if you are just now moving from Explorer, then some features shared by most file managers (color-coding of files, for instance) may seem like a big deal to you.  Furthermore, you may not need metadata capabilities beyond the relatively superficial functionality offered by Explorer and recently integrated into most file managers.

But if you need "industrial" strength file management, not just easy drag and drop (and possibly you may not even know yet that you do)... go to the trouble to learn TC.  It is not beautiful and not perfect (the UI is in some ways good, some ways abysmal, I personally have serious nits to pick about TC's folder tree implementation, and the author is un-receptive to certain kinds of GUI innovation), but its extensible architecture via archive, file system, viewer, and metadata (content) plugins allows TC to greatly exceed the functionality of any other file manager.  Don't be deceived by pretty GUIs. There is really no other Windows file manager even close for "technical" file management.

Go to totalcmd.net to see what the very active TC developer community has created for you, free of charge.

61

General Software Discussion / Re: 12 Windows Explorer Alternatives Compared

« on: July 29, 2007, 08:54 AM »

Unicode support.

-Dirhael (July 29, 2007, 05:57 AM)

Excellent point.  Lack of unicode support is a deal killer for many.  (Not a problem for me, though.)

In some cases the core code of these file managers is probably legacy from the 90's (TC and Salamander, for instance).  In those cases, it appears to be rather difficult to support unicode.

For what it's worth, the Salamander team seems to have dropped everything else (development of tabs, quickview, more than 10 favorites, etc) to implement unicode.

Apparently TC is written in Delphi 2!  From what I gather, many if not all of the TC file list controls, trees, what have you, are custom coded from the basic Windows listbox control.  All would have to be re-written to some extent (IMHO).  For a single developer (in TC's case) that's a monumental task.  Maybe not worth it psychologically.  For many it is really difficult to get motivated to write the same application twice.

Though a large portion of these file managers' user bases do not require unicode, for global credibility it seems de rigeur.

62

General Software Discussion / Re: Excalibur 32-bit

« on: July 11, 2007, 12:40 PM »

RPN is for those people who do lengthy chaining of calculations (not just adding-machine work) or who are conscious (or need to be conscious) of mathematical operator precedence and its effects on a calculation's result. 

Once you have learned to use the stack in an HP calculator (an RPN implementation), for instance, you'll understand why RPN is so popular with the more technical-minded among us.

63

General Software Discussion / Re: 12 Windows Explorer Alternatives Compared

« on: July 11, 2007, 12:27 PM »

This is an interesting thread, but needs more specifics.  We all use one or more of these tools.  Let's use our personal experience to be more specific.

Here are some random specifics.  I'll add more in the future.

If you want syntax highlighting in TC, install one of the several available syntax highlighting editor plugins available.  I use the hpg_ed plug-in, but SynPlus is also popular.

If you need virtual/temp folders/collections, try SpeedCommander.  Its tabbed interface supports both "real" folder tab groups and virtual folder tab groups.  IMHO SC's implementation is more intuitive to use than Dopus' or TC's, though it doesn't allow you to build subfolders in a virtual tab. Dopus does. TC supports virtual folders via file system plugins... there are at least 3 different implementations of TC plugins that support virtual folder hierarchies.

TC's Content plugins.  The word "Content" gets bandied about.  One of its meanings is "custom columns" in the detailed view of the file panel.  The number of custom column ("Content") plugins available is staggering.  You can have any media value extracted.  You can show NTFS stream values.  You can calculate various things.  There is a Content plug-in that lets you specify what goes in a column based on filetype (like showing #files/#subfolders" in a column for folders and image dimension for jpegs IN THE SAME COLUMN).  You can format dates, enter whatever text you want etc etc.  You can use any value from a Content plug-in as a line of info underneath a thumbnail, or as a value in the renamer tool, or as a filter value, or in the "change file attributes" dialog (including saving to NTFS streams).  This "Total" integration with custom metadata is unique to TC.  Many other tools support a large number of "custom" columns, but mostly those are limited to what is provided by Explorer.  Dopus, for instance.  But no tool in my experience has the metadata content integrated into the software at such a low level as does TC.

Dopus, TC, and SpeedCommander (SC) support custom menus.  TC via ini-like MNU files, Dopus and SpeedCommander via dedicated editors.

Salamander's toolbars are also customizable using a very cool editor.

TC has only 1 toolbar.  It wraps if the window isn't wide enough.  Antiquated.  On the other hand, TC supports building the toolbar (as well as executing functions on dragged files) by dragging and dropping from the file panel.  Brilliant!

Dopus and Salamander support central (vertical, between panes) tool bars.  FreeCommander has a context-specific version of the same which has functions that switch context based on which file panel is active (ie move, copy).

SC has the best (most complete, easy to use, customizable) implementation of layout management, followed by FreeCommander and Dopus.  Unfortunately Dopus does not allow "fixing" panel dividers (they squirm around a lot) which I dislike.  It also has no internal commands to set the divider position (like 50%).  Nor does TC (use the context menu on the splitter, instead), though TC WILL remember and restore positions.

TC 7 supports a single tree (a la Xplorer2... ) but also dual trees.  But there is no way in TC to show a tree only in the right panel.  Brain dead.  Furthermore, the TC trees do not fully support drag and drop, folder renaming, or deleting.  More brain dead.

SC and FreeCommander subordinate folder tree visibility to the active folder tab.  You can set up folder tabs that have trees and others than don't.  Wonderful.  Dopus subordinates folder trees to the panel, so switching into another folder tab can't change the tree visibility (unless you explicitly script it).  You can toggle each tree on and off, though.  TC subordinates its folder trees to the main window, so you get either one (on the left) or two (both sides) and that's it.

SC offers a dropdown menu in quickview mode to easily select another view plug-in.  In TC you have to highlight the panel and press "4" to cycle through viewers. 

Salamander does not support quickview (ie preview embedded in the opposite panel) but instead pops up a new window.  The window is very full featured, though, with menus, toolbar, etc.

Salamander supports individual "panel" toolbars which are customizable, a great feature.

Dopus is the only file manager I know of that attempts to emulate Vista's "breadcrumbs" bar.  IMHO they didn't do a very good job (it's a separate toolbar instead of being integrated into each panel's path box).  The SpeedCommander blog suggests breadcrumbs will be supported in SC v12.  The preview screen shot looks superior to Dopus' implementation.

In my experience, Salamander ties with TC for the most crash-proof.  It is also the fastest for accessing Network shares and in the responsiveness of the interface.  TC is about the worst when accessing Network shares. In my experience.  It tends to "hang" in situations where its competitors have already produced a dialog box.

IMHO Salamander is very good looking (nicely designed monochrome icons that show color when moused over, for instance) and has many "little" features lacking in the others.  No folder tabs, though.  No folder trees.  No hierarchical favorites in Salamander, either.  And only 10 "favorite" folders.  Whuzzup w'dat?  Salamander has great potential, though, and if you don't need tabs or trees or custom columns, really worth a look.

TC works great with AutoHotKey, but has no internal scripting support (only one command per button).  SpeedCommander has built in scripting for buttons and menus using VBScript and exposes an apparently complete object model of itself.  Dopus uses an internal scripting implementation which supports multiple lines of code per menu item or button, including prompts for parameters, but doesn't support conditional execution.  Salamander's implementation is more like TC's... one line per button.

TC has the best "Overwrite/Replace" dialog of any of them.  It shows these options: Overwrite, Overwrite all, Skip, Cancel, Overwrite all older, Skip all, Rename, Append, Compare, Rename existing target, Auto rename copied, Auto rename target, Overwrite all older and same age, Copy all larger/overwrite smaller, Copy all smaller/overwrite larger.  That about covers it, don't you think?  Also, besides the now ubiquitous thumbnails in the overwrite dialog, TC lets you specific as many meta-data values as you like (see above paragraph about TC's Content plugins).

I have bought/tried out/etc many file commanders (there are many not mentioned in the review at the beginning of this thread) but IMHO FreeCommander, TotalCommander, SpeedCommander, Salamander, and Dopus are the best of the breed, so they are the ones I know.

Who else has specifics?

64

General Software Discussion / Re: Old school Pocket PC software?

« on: June 06, 2007, 09:05 AM »

Hi ManDork

I have 2 such devices, both Cassiopedias (E-100 and E-105) and really have seen no need to upgrade them.  They work just great for how I use them (note taking, outlining, sketching/painting "on the go") plus they have bright, big (3.75") displays. Too bad Casio abandoned them.  They got it right the first time out of the gate! Amazing.

I use the following software on both of them (albeit older versions you may WILL have to hunt down).

Conduits TaskSwitcher 1.1
Old version,  puts a button (with bmp of your choice) into the Windows logo of your start bar and enables gestures & clicks over the button to start/stop/switch between running apps.  Pure simplicity.  Essential.

Also at that site (Conduits): PocketArtist (I'm on v1.1) and PocketPlayer (1.21).  Pocket Artist IMHO is the best of the painter programs, well designed for small screen and stylus.  PocketPlayer is great for MP3s.

TotalCommander Pocket 2.5 beta (freeware)
Total Commander in your PPC.  Dual file panels, zip/unzip, custom buttons, drag and drop to toolbar, favorites, history. Indispensible.

ListPro 2.0
Best hierarchical notetaker/list manager out there.  Multiple lists, custom fields, hierarchical (ie. outline) data types, etc.  PC Synch.  Main man.

BugMe! 3.1
Combined sketching, text notes from the PPC tray.  This is the old B&W version.  The latest (color) version is not so useful.  Great for quick jots.

StarTap
Kitchen sink.  Hard to describe.  Taskbar utilities, quicklaunch panels, etc. etc. Good bitmap viewer that I use with TotalCommander Pocket.

Also (can't find websites for these!):

FootPrint Software PS/PC Outliner (Beta 2, 1998!!!)
A full featured outlining tool.  Works a treat.

PTab
Excel compatible spreadsheet with tabbed interface.  No "About" box no info about it in the software.  Used it for years.

Poof
A simple utility to turn off the PPC with a single tap.

My Casios are perfect for my purposes.  Sort of wish sometimes I could justify a newer machine.  It'd be faster and have more features, but the screen would be smaller and there would be no enhancement over the function I already have.  Both my units still work perfectly.  I found batteries on eBay.

Later...!

65

Screenshot Captor / Reqst: Hide Zoomer/Nav/FileInfo Panel

« on: April 25, 2007, 01:49 PM »

Hi!  I can't believe how useful Screenshot Captor is.  Thank you for it!!!

Please consider an option to completely hide the navigator and file info panels.


Thanks!

66

General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« on: March 13, 2007, 03:16 PM »

Though I don't use it any more (KeyNote imported all my trees successfully, many years ago) I still keep up with TreePad.  It is a little garish to look at but whiz bang with features.  The Lite version is free.

If I could have a combination of TreePad, InfoStore, and KeyNote, in one application... I'd be in hog heaven.

What's missing from all of these apps however is a competent outliner. There is a big difference between hierarchical/tree-based document management and outlining.

PCOutline and Grandview (wonderful DOS outliners from the 80's)  really set my standards for outliners.  There is a Windows PC Outline out there, but development was abandoned before the (many, serious) bugs were expunged.

However, I just discovered Bonsai, a Palm outliner tool that has a Windows desktop version.  It looks promising.

67

General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« on: March 10, 2007, 11:27 AM »

I have searched the forum and found no reference to my "main man" note taker tool!  All this good info and no mention of my favorite tool.  Wild!

Try Infostore from MHSoftware ($19).

I am a big KeyNote fan (and formerly a TreePad fan, too), still use it daily...  but I hate the way it and ALL other notetakers I have tried implement tables... except InfoStore.

InfoStore tables are flat file databases!  Yep, each node in the tree can be a table, with field definitions, checkboxes, picklists, sorting.  You can define and store/load table templates, too!

InfoStore also supports RTF notes and drag and drop between the hierarchy of nodes.  Autobackup.  Passwords.

InfoStore hasn't been updated in a while and is really bare-bones: the printing options are limited and there is no way to populate a picklist from a table stored in another node.  But it is very attractively designed, easy to use.

Give it a try.  If you are a hierarchical/list/note person, InfoStore is excellent.  Down with passive tables!!!!

68

Screenshot Captor / Re: I just want to say...

« on: February 08, 2007, 09:25 AM »

I just discovered this program.  Unbelievable mix of functionality.

The screen/palette/toolbar layouts could be (a lot) more flexible, but I can live with the way it is because the functionality is wonderful!

Thanks for it!

69

Drag&Drop Robot / Re: Display Issues

« on: August 03, 2006, 09:22 AM »

Is the C++ Builder RAD environment like Delphi's?  The Delphi object inspector for forms exposes AutoScroll, AutoSize, and Scaled properties.  Also, the inspector exposes Anchor properties for controls.  They work great.

When designing GUIs it is often helpful to consider a mouse selection "circle of confusion"... the area around the control which represents the mouse cursor placement error of the typical user... and size/space controls accordingly.

Also, my own method of design is to assume that the user interacts with my software via a touch screen (no one actually does, yet).  This causes me to scale and place controls according to "fingertip" width. 

But how to estimate fingertip widths on a display whose physical dimensions you can't know in advance?

Most people run their displays at or near their native resolutions, so one can make some approximate DPI assumptions based on calls to GetDeviceCaps.  For instance, the native resolution of a 17" display is typically 1024x768... few users run at 640x480 on 17" displays.  So if the vertical dimension is, say, 768, and you design for a 15"-19" display at that resolution (and always assume large display fonts and slightly oversized fingertips), your design won't be off by much in most circumstances.

Or skip all of this and use a third party scaler.  There are several VCL versions.

My 2 cents.

70

Drag&Drop Robot / Display Issues

« on: August 02, 2006, 12:42 PM »

Just downloaded D&DR.  Nice functionality.

Two comments: 

1. The font and or size chosen for form captions is inappropriate for my display (1920x1200, large font).  The D&DR control captions are cut off on both the right and the bottom.

For example: "Invoke on Leaf-Recursed fol" and "Redirecte" and "Reuse last file lis"

2. Furthermore the "license Key Saved" dialog cuts off the (I assume) "OK" button ABOVE the button caption.  There is enough of the button visible to click on, but only just.  I have a dialog-resizer utility that does not help expose the button.  Perhaps the "anchors" for the button control were set incorrectly in the form design.

These issues do not impair the functionality, but certainly reduced my initial impression of the quality of the software.