Messages

126

Living Room / Re: Sorry, This Post Has Been Censored

« on: January 14, 2012, 11:58 AM »

I've just seen some news on how reddit convinced a lot of people to call for their senators, donate money to them for future campaign, but the most pro-sopa senator are still determined to pass the law. I didn't realised how corrupted the system is, now I do, and I suppose it's probably only the tip of the iceberg. I don't say that about the US only actually, this as much as true for France.

This law basically gives the right to the media company to shut down any business, association, forums that use his website as a way to communicate. Why should a business have such a right on everything ? Google, Youtube, etc... would have been shutted down in their infancy if this law existed by then.

That's an absurdity. Especially since they are the same paranoid people who warn you that you shouldnt pirate the dvd you've paid. I suppose we'll see a warning that we shouldn't pirate every time we open a browser anytime soon for 2 minutes like on dvd.

I'll be very sad if this pass.

127

Living Room / Re: Planning a major programming project - tips requested

« on: January 14, 2012, 06:49 AM »

I went from the plan everything route then back to no planning at all. When I'm working on personnal projects, I'm very iterative now, to the point that I usually start with everything in one CPP file, then gradually move things into headers, then split headers in H and CPP. I try to reuse functionnality available in the OS and the libraries as much as possible if they don't make things more complex. I often have a pretty clear idea of what design I expect to work, so I often test that.

I take care to separe the pieces that effectivelly do something and the part that are structure. A wrong structure can be extremely damaging to a project and from what I've experienced I'm much more sensitive to go into something overly complex by planning how your project is design before getting my hands dirty. Structure is best when there is as few as possible of it. Keeping the pieces that do the work apart make it much easier to change the structure too, so this is important (don't glue everything inside deep structure hierarchy ).

All of that is learned from experience though, I don't know how much of this is transferable to anyone. I tried to explain my may to a coworker and he went into a template berzerker rage . I now have years of rework to get things back in order.

My current rule is now : "Don't listen too much the tips of people". If something doesn't make sense for you don't try to use it, experiment. XML can be good and bad, and INI files, sqlite or not. All of theses choices depends on very small scale decisions. If at some point a decisions make things harder, it's most likely wrong for you.

128

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Release : Qatapult

« on: January 13, 2012, 05:36 PM »

As NANY is over I moved the Qatapult topic here :
https://www.donation....msg274710#msg274710

129

Ecaradec's Software / Qatapult

« on: January 13, 2012, 05:30 PM »

Application Name	Qatapult
Short Description	Qatapult is keyboard application launcher focusing on the decomposition in objects and actions ala Quicksilver.
Supported OSes	Windows 2000 -> 7
Website	http://emmanuelcaradec.com/qatapult/
Setup File	http://emmanuelcarad...ult/bin/Qatapult.zip
Screenshots
Change list	10.03.2012 (summary of changes happened onto the period ) - plugin system for creating custom sources (in javascript ) - plugin system for defining new commands to use in rules (in javascript ) - plugin system for skin (in javascript ) - better ranking - fix crashing when no debugger was installed - alfred-like skin by pigeonlips - bookmark plugin by ewemoa - catalogs (allow to not include every source by default ) 12.02.2012 - settings format change to xml - basic plugin system for creating new rules - a 'reload' rules command for quickly testing changes - shift+enter now create newline in text - provide multiple values inside rules - a WINDOW source that list the currently active windows that can be queried for $x.title and $x.hwnd 06.02.2012 - the text now don't display vertically anymore - the completion don't automatically select the first subfolder - you don't need to hit the down key twice to browse the results - results are cleared when you hide the ui, so that it's always clean when you invoke qatapult - fuzzy matching on some results like on the startmenu items : "moz firx" will match firefox. All characters must be in the name in the correct order to match. That allows to miss a char and still get the correct result. 21.01.2012 I made some change progressively since the 15 - Fix some memory leak on images - Hotkey configuration (you can now set you favorite hotkey in the settings ) 15.01.2012 - Text edition mode : you can now switch to edit mode by typing . and then use the arrows and delete keys. - You can also paste text into the UI with ctrl+v - There is now support for extra user commands : there is no UI, but you can check them in the ini file. I added two examples. You can use %p (path), %d (directory ) and %f (filename ) as inputs 14.01.2012 - windows 2000/XP support (hopefully ) - status line 08.01.2012 - The focus issues should now be gone. Qatapult hides itself when it's not the foreground window - The download of gmail contact is now limited to only new contacts - The contact sources now fetch and displays the profile pictures from the gmail directory (the download of theses is a bit long of course : if you enable this, please wait that the download complete before closing Qatapult otherwise, you'll only get half of your contact ) - I added a special source (type Clock ) that display an animated clock. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it but it's fun. If it gives you ideas, please share - You can add extra directories to index (they are currently limited to 3 level of recursion because indexing too large directories cause huge slow downs ) - The text is not typed anymore (it's displayed by underline the text on the icons ). I'm not sure if this behavior is very usable. Tell me what you think about it. However it definitly looks better. 18.12.2011 - remove the verb indexing from the shell (it's too slow, doesn't always work and not nicely extendable ) - scale small icons (badly ) - unicode storage for startmenu items - icons in the listview - new controls tabs/shift+tab for pane navigation, right for completion (the rest is a bit more difficult to bind right now ) - extra icons (with reference to people who made them, I removed one GPL icon so I think that my source code was automatically GPL till previous version ) - memory leak fixing - automatic opening of listbox after 1 second - slower (not a very desirable feature :I will need to spend some time there, it's ok on my very new PC, not sure on others ) 15.12.2011 - fix a bug in the indexing of the verbs associated with the startmenu items 14.12.2011 - you can now send email (you'll need to edit the settings.ini file to add your email, username, password and smtp server ) rem : I use blat to send email, it requires that you add the stunnel proxy server if you use a ssl smtp server like gmail (http://www.stunnel.org/ ) - qsll can fetch your contact from gmail (see the little knob on the top right corner of the UI to give him the permission ) - items from the startmenu are now fetched from an index that make finding them faster
Instructions	Here is what you can do with the current version : The invocation shortcut is shift+space You can run an application by typing it's name You can type windows path like that and browse the file system (tab works for completion ) c:\... You can type text either with a ' prefix which will give text a boost, or just continue to type until there is nothing left but text and it will be automatically known You can use this text in 2 ways. Once you get a text hit the right arrow then the down arrow to get a list of what is available at this point. There is two operation you can send a mail to a contact (this doesn't work yet ) or you can search a website. Type 'search with' then hit the right arrow to select which website to search. You can try actions on applications too, you can open, get the properties and other things detected from the context menu. Hit 'return' at any point to run the current action. If you want to quit, just type quit in the first pane.
Current commands	- Type 'name of your software' to run it, or followed by properties, sendto, etc... - 'Quit' to quit the application - 'Clock' to display a animated clock (won't display the animated clock before vista ) - 'text' 'EmailTo' 'name of your contact' - type '.' to switch to text mode when typing something

130

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Release : Qatapult

« on: January 13, 2012, 05:23 PM »

I uploaded a new version, it should work on xp now. I haven't tried it because only the kids have an xp machine and they are sleeping right now. Hopefully someone will confirm that it's ok.

It also fix a small bug with the display of the files and and a status line to make things clearer.

I find a bit difficult to use that thing without seeing what I'm typing, it's not as straightforward as FARR. I'm not sure of how QS handled that kind of cecity while typing. I'm a bit annoyed because I really like the look of this thing without the typed characters, but it seems to make things harder when doing anything but the simplest things. But it may improve  once I'll have a decent text mode. Is that the same for you ?

131

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Release : Qatapult

« on: January 13, 2012, 03:32 AM »

this will be my next update pigeonlips

132

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Release : Qatapult

« on: January 08, 2012, 08:31 AM »

I uploaded a new version of Qatapult : see details in the first post.
I have a nany question too. What is going to happen to this thread, as I'm planning to continue working on Qatapult for some extra time. Should I create a new thread in some other place ?

133

DonationCoder.com Newsletters / Re: --> Newsletter for December 19, 2011 - "Snowy Feathers"

« on: January 03, 2012, 03:09 AM »

Mouser is the app himself...

134

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Early beta: Qatapult (was QSLL )

« on: December 31, 2011, 07:36 AM »

Thanks kyrathaba, I think I'll stay with this release for the nany launch. I have a lot of changes on the launchpad, but it may not be smart to send a release now as I won't be able to make any fix. If you can, add a link to the qatapult website.

I'll change the title.

135

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Early beta: Qatapult (was QSLL )

« on: December 31, 2011, 07:24 AM »

I made a logo and a website for qatapult

136

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Early beta: Qatapult (was QSLL )

« on: December 29, 2011, 03:58 PM »

Wow, totally awesome to get noticed that fast (my second time on ghack too ), and a little bit scary since Qatapult is still very very beta. Thanks for spotting that rgdot.

137

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Early beta: Qatapult (was QSLL )

« on: December 21, 2011, 02:35 PM »

I had the impression that quicksilver was hiding what was really typed and shows keys by underlining characters in results. Showing the typed text was and still is a sort of shortcut for making the developpement easier, but I was hoping to remove that just as in QS.

I'm still not sure what you mean ewemoa : I tend to navigate to path from c:\ and completing and navigating with arrows, I can't figure out were I'd need to edit the current path ? Occasionally within FARR I change a subdirectory from a path I use but this is very rare. So may be all you need is the left arrow to navigate one folder up and the ctrl+shift+backspace or esc to clear the request ? May be I'm just reluctant to add an editable field on a transparent window, which is going to be difficult (a kind of instinctive programmer defense ? )

For copying and pasting, I'll probably add copy, and paste as command and probably also copy/paste filename, as well as various subparts of path and url.

138

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Early beta: Qatapult (was QSLL )

« on: December 21, 2011, 04:48 AM »

I'm still not using it actively myself, my work computer is still XP for a few days, I should change this week. I'll try to make a fix for XP too, it's too bad that it can't work for a icon issue.

The blurry icons are an improvement I made over the previous behavior, I found an ugly way to detect icon size and scale it. It's a bit better ihmo, I think that Quicksilver does it as well.

Thanks for pointing focus issues, I think I'll just hide it when it lose focus for the moment, it should make things much clearer. It would be nice to have a fully usable piece of software for nany release .

I'll add some customization for hotkey, shift+space is not even my personal favorite (my favorite is still binded to FARR ). space+shift is not really possible because space would create a space in all apps before invoking Qatapult. You can also use autohotkey to bind any key to shift+space temporarily.

I'm not sure what you mean with the possibility of selecting text. I don't think I'll allow to select text from the UI, I'd prefer to add commands to paste it and use it in various way. What's your need for that ?

139

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Early beta: Quicksilver Like launcher

« on: December 20, 2011, 05:35 PM »

After reflexion, I think I'll go with Qatapult, your first proposition tomos, as you like it it's even better.

vitalyb... what would you like to see the most in the near future ?

140

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Early beta: Quicksilver Like launcher

« on: December 18, 2011, 04:00 PM »

The Q is here to keep some ascendance to Quicksilver, however Cuteapult is a good find 

141

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Early beta: Quicksilver Like launcher

« on: December 18, 2011, 02:26 PM »

I would have like it pronounced Queue-tapult, but may be the 'a' is better ?

142

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Early beta: Quicksilver Like launcher

« on: December 18, 2011, 02:10 PM »

I'm considering switching the name of the project for the more "Qtapult". QSLL is already taken for unrelated things, and I like this idea more and it sounds more fun.

What do you think of it ?

143

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Early beta: Quicksilver Like launcher

« on: December 17, 2011, 06:13 PM »

Thank for spotting navigation details in the QS doc. I just realise that I use tab for completion because I'm used to, but I don't think that it's very useful to do completion in a QS like UI except for folders navigation. We can probably keep tab for pane navigation and left, right or / for navigation inside folders. I'll try these settings.

144

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Early beta: Quicksilver Like launcher

« on: December 17, 2011, 04:26 AM »

Thank's for feedback ewemoa, I was feeling a bit alone

Yes some icons are small, they are non vista enabled icons. I should scale them but I haven't find an api that tell me what size the icon is. That sound stupid but I haven't found a good solution yet. I have stupid solutions still, so I might switch to that as a fallback.

I'm not sure what you mean with arrow key navigation for directories ? Would you prefer arrows instead of tab ?

Is it slightly unresponsive for very short period of time or long like seconds or minutes like hanged ?

I've added the . for text too. I don't know if you spotted that.

145

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Early beta: Quicksilver Like launcher

« on: December 15, 2011, 04:01 PM »

Verbs should be ok now

146

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Early beta: Quicksilver Like launcher

« on: December 15, 2011, 02:53 PM »

Whoops ! verbs are broken in the last version, it only worked because of my local index on my machine. Wait until I upload a fix

147

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: Topic: NANY 2012 Pledge: Quicksilver Like launcher

« on: December 14, 2011, 04:52 PM »

Hello there,

Here is a new version that allows to send text or selected file by email.

It can also fetch your gmail contacts.

Also the startmenu is now indexed to make search really fast for running applications. (be patient if when you type nothing show, the indexing might still be running, just wait a minute on first launch )

I'm rushing like crazy to get a great piece of software for nany, so expect some bugs, I really really need to polish the code. Do not hesitate to signal issues. Don't worry, I'll fix them, I like this project

148

Living Room / Re: I Have an Itch for a Video Camera...

« on: December 06, 2011, 01:49 AM »

A friend of mine bought the gopro camera, it's a really well done piece of furniture. The image is great and has some fun panoramic and fish eyes mode. Just wanted to add that as I've seen it.

149

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: Topic: NANY 2012 Pledge: Quicksilver Like launcher

« on: December 01, 2011, 08:48 AM »

I've found the howard melman manual and it's my basis for implementing qsll. I didn't know kupfer though. I haven't tried it yet, I haven't a unix installed with a gui.

I'm not attempting to do a complete clone anyway, it's more the image of QS that I have in my mind that I'm trying to implement.

150

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: Topic: NANY 2012 Pledge: Quicksilver Like launcher

« on: November 30, 2011, 06:38 AM »

Great to know that . I'll try to add a 2000/xp mode later, but the icons will be very fuzzy for those OS. It won't look as good.

I was sort of reserving tab for completion. Of course for text it has no use and it could be reused. I'll add . as a shortcut for text. It makes for sense for an english keyboard probably where it's an easy key to hit.

I'm in the process of adding an index, because the query of verbs for displaying on the second pane is very slow and it slows down the whole typing. I'm almost done, and I'll post a new version then.