Recent Posts

1976

General Software Discussion / Re: INfix: easy, capable, but expensive WordPad-like PDF editor

« Last post by rjbull on June 12, 2009, 07:47 AM »

@Curt: that little box about changing "For" to "Four" was just the problem I hit with PDF TExt Replace Tool!  I can't get the boxes to resize properly using Foxit PDF Editor, either, though in practice there are too many of them to manually deal with anyway.  The author of PDF TRT has already made a new version that saves its search-replace string pairs between sessions, but I haven't tried it yet.

1977

General Software Discussion / Re: Best macro program to click a toolbar button, and...

« Last post by rjbull on June 12, 2009, 07:41 AM »

Automation Anywhere. Since it requires no programming

-autogeeek (June 11, 2009, 11:43 PM)

autogeek, the OP is tranglos, who is a respected programmer 

At $495, Automation Anywhere will be only a dream for most people.

1978

General Software Discussion / Re: Screenshot tool with built-in OCR?

« Last post by rjbull on June 11, 2009, 09:26 AM »

Hmmm...  Don't have OneNote, but hadn't thought of using Evernote like that.  Thanks! 

Saw a comment in the Snagit forums that WordScale by TMA Software does a good job in this area.  Haven't heard of TMA before.  They're too coy to put the price on their Web site, so I'll have to wait for an e-mail reply to find out the current rate.  But I really should try Evernote   

1979

General Software Discussion / Screenshot tool with built-in OCR?

« Last post by rjbull on June 11, 2009, 05:51 AM »

Please, is there a good screenshot tool with built-in OCR?

I have to extract editable text from documents, including PDFs that are scanned-in image files.  PDF seem to be a problem because it handles fonts differently than Windows.  Some screenshot tools, like the recent free version of SnagIt, can't do it.  I could save an image and use Evernote to OCR the text, though I haven't tried that.  What I do at present is load the PDF into Foxit PDF Editor, increasing text size if necessary, and using freeware JOCR to capture and recognize the text.  This works surprisingly well, but JOCR is dependent on Microsoft Office components, which I'd rather avoid if possible.  I also have Able2Extract which isn't, erm, as able as its name, especially with small fonts.  [For comparison with Able2Extract, I've asked Darwin about Nuance elsewhere on DC].

[Edit]
And lived to discover I was wrong.  Able2Extract is able to do the job, see my confessional message   
[/Edit]

So, please, any recommendations for anything "better?"

Thanks...

1980

General Software Discussion / Re: Best macro program to click a toolbar button, and...

« Last post by rjbull on June 11, 2009, 04:19 AM »

I can't give you a definitive "best,", but as a left-field suggestion, you might look at PTFB Pro.  While you can find the last free version around the Net, recent payware versions are much more advanced and have macro features.  The program's main purpose is to "Push the Freakin' Button" so I would hope it would work for you, though it is only fair to add that PTFB Pro's Help file has plenty of caveats.  PTFB turns up on Bits du Jour from time to time, but you just missed one.  I haven't checked its resource usage, but keep it running all the time without apparent problems.

Other suggestion, which is freeware - PowerPro - can do almost anything, and relatively light on resources, but hard to get to grips with.

1981

General Software Discussion / Re: INfix: easy, capable, but expensive WordPad-like PDF editor

« Last post by rjbull on June 10, 2009, 09:25 AM »

Hmm... now that I see the jpg "full-size" here, maybe it's not the best test candidate... The font looks big in the jpg. rjbull - do you have an image file that you could post for me to try to convert or is this what you were looking for?

-Darwin (June 10, 2009, 08:29 AM)

Well, it certainly looks like small text that's been greatly enlarged, but I agree you can't tell the original size    My problem files are usually patents, which always seem to be scanned in and sometimes have quite small text.  I'll try and dig out an offending page and PM you, thanks 

1982

General Software Discussion / Re: INfix: easy, capable, but expensive WordPad-like PDF editor

« Last post by rjbull on June 10, 2009, 04:43 AM »

Darwin, how does Nuance fare on PDFs with small fonts?  Able2Extract tends to fail, not altogether surprising as PDF seems to handle fonts differently from Windows.

-rjbull (June 09, 2009, 10:37 AM)

I'm not sure I understand the question - do you mean when creating a document or in searching a pdf or...?

-Darwin (June 09, 2009, 02:45 PM)

Sorry - I meant when trying to convert a PDF that's an image file (scanned in) to a Word .DOC or any other editable format.

1983

General Software Discussion / Re: INfix: easy, capable, but expensive WordPad-like PDF editor

« Last post by rjbull on June 09, 2009, 10:37 AM »

Nuance PDF Converter Professional 5, on the other hand, will search for text over the entire document but doesn't seem to offer a batch replace feature.

-Darwin (May 28, 2009, 08:57 AM)

PDF Text Replace Tool (PDF TRT) does batch search-and-replace of multiple strings over multiple files, and does it very efficiently, but results aren't always what you expect, and convenience features are rudimentary.
 

• I tried replacing serial numbers with code numbers that were longer; the replaced text was scrunched up, characters overlaid.  Checking with pdftotext (part of XPDF) showed that the whole text had been correctly replaced.  That seems to mean that the space allocated by the application that made the original PDF wasn't big enough.   Not PDF TRT's fault, but yet another problem that can jump out and bite you.
• Although multiple search-and-replace strings are supported, there's no provision for saving them!  If you want to do the same set again tomorrow, you have to enter them all over again!     I've already e-mailed the author about this.

Darwin, how does Nuance fare on PDFs with small fonts?  Able2Extract tends to fail, not altogether surprising as PDF seems to handle fonts differently from Windows.

1984

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: multiple clipboards depending of times you press c (or x/v)

« Last post by rjbull on June 09, 2009, 06:19 AM »

Is there a NirSoft style global hot-key utility finder ?  If so, that would tell you at a glance if you have any clashes.

-Steven Avery (June 07, 2009, 05:32 PM)

err, ShortcutsMan by Nir Sofer, but it will only show you hotkeys set at the Windows level, not all those set by programs themselves or by hotkey programs.  There's a DC thread with a recent program by tranglos on this topic, IIRC.

1985

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: multiple clipboards depending of times you press c (or x/v)

« Last post by rjbull on June 09, 2009, 06:12 AM »

  Clipboard managers are inherently cumbersome without multiple clips, like you suggest. Since you have to bring up the manager, find and choose the cilp you want.

-Steven Avery (June 07, 2009, 03:56 PM)

Not necessarily.  Some of them, e.g. ClipCache and ArsClip, allow you to assign hotkeys that will move you up or down the clip stack, showing you a tooltip of the current clip as you go.

1986

Living Room / Re: Where did your DC user I.D come from?

« Last post by rjbull on June 04, 2009, 09:54 AM »

My name badge was washed with laundry once, ES fell from JAM, so I became JAM

-jammo (June 04, 2009, 12:06 AM)

I have a thick winter T-shirt that had "Winter Sports" written across it.  Only some of the letters fell off, and now it reads "Win e  S o ts."  I sort of wondered it that was a Freudian comment.
<sigh>

1987

Living Room / Re: Where did your DC user I.D come from?

« Last post by rjbull on June 04, 2009, 09:51 AM »

Back in the 1940s i worked in Scotland Yard and was a hotshot detective, best in the department.  Nicknamed "mouser" for my ability to always catch my prey (like a cat catch's mice)

-mouser (June 03, 2009, 09:52 PM)

mouser, you should look at T.S. Eliot's book of poems "Old Possums Book of Practical Cats," and check out "Macavity" 

1988

General Software Discussion / Re: Sticky Notes - Freeware Roundup

« Last post by rjbull on June 04, 2009, 09:41 AM »

Notesholder:

Including the browser url from the clipboard is interesting.  Is it getting the last focused screen page ? If so you would have to be careful not to open a new page before clipping to NotesHolder.  Any other strong features come to mind ?

-Steven Avery (June 04, 2009, 06:36 AM)

I think you have to mark some text and immediately hit the Notesholder hotkey.  If you change browser tabs or Alt-Tab to another application first, nothing seems to happen.

I'm not sure about "strong features."  I dislike its reminder system because it displays all expired notes, which I don't always want for routine reminders, and I can't see a way of turning that off.  Notesholder can be portable, which is nice.  You can activate it by hotkey and/or by "bumping" a thin vertical line at the edge of the screen.  The Lite version works well and is small, so there's no reason not to try it.  It has a very different look-and-feel from normal sticky notes programs, more like a continuous ribbon of paper.  Sticky notes are often better if you want something at a particular screen location, which you can't do with Notesholder.

1989

General Software Discussion / Re: Kana Reminder alternative??

« Last post by rjbull on June 04, 2009, 05:41 AM »

Would you be better off with one of the sticky notes programs?  See, e.g., DC's new thread Sticky Notes - Freeware Roundup.  A very popular free one is Zhorn Software's Stickies.

Otherwise, you might like Kirby Software's Kirby Alarm Pro, which some people are very keen on.  I don't think there's a free version now - if there ever was, you'd probably find it via one of the "old version" sites.

1990

General Software Discussion / Re: Sticky Notes - Freeware Roundup

« Last post by rjbull on June 04, 2009, 05:01 AM »

NotesHolder - (Pro - $20)
http://www.alshare.com/

-Steven Avery (June 04, 2009, 02:05 AM)

That appears to be NetNote.  NotesHolder is by A!K Research Labs.  It isn't a conventional sticky notes program in the traditional 3M style, but it's an interesting and potentially useful alternative.  E.g., recent versions have a convenient feature that a hotkey will copy the clipboard contents into a new note, and if your clip came from a browser, will automatically include the URL.  Recent versions of the payware version - $19.95, but offers have been known, including a recent one on Bits du Jour - are mislabelled false positives in Trend OfficeScan AV.  The current free version isn't so treated.

1991

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / SlickRun updated to v4.0.2.1, dated 2 Jun 2009

« Last post by rjbull on June 04, 2009, 04:49 AM »

Bayden Systems just updated their popular freeware "launcher plus," SlickRun: SlickRun Updates

SlickRun 4.0.2.1 (496Kb)

v4.0.2.1 (2 Jun 2009)
+ Added Unicode support for Jot, history, autocomplete, $W$, etc
+ Enhanced UI with visual styles
+ Added Windows Vista/Windows 7 manifest
+ Filename autocompletion prefers .exe files
+ First Run sets smarter defaults (bigger fonts, memory usage, etc)
+ Initial setup backs up installing user's configuration
+ Port to Delphi 2009

1992

General Software Discussion / Re: Adding text 'silently'?

« Last post by rjbull on June 01, 2009, 10:54 AM »

A simple "take note" batch file, let us call it takenote.bat
[...]
The only con I can think of here is that the date and time are somewhat messily on separate lines. I'm not that hot on the syntax for Windows's batch files to make it concatenate those on only one line.

-akx (May 30, 2009, 12:46 PM)

If you can run to an extra little program, take a look at Horst Schaeffer's LOGECHO from his freeware PBATS collection

[Select]

LOGECHO 2.2 (c) 1997 Horst Schaeffer
ECHO using time/date information (case sensitive tokens):
$D  day (01..31) $h  hour
$M  month (01..12) $m  minutes
$N  month (Jan..Dec) $s  seconds
$H  month (hex 1..C) $c  sec/100
$Y  year (00..99)
$C  century (19|20)
$W  day of week (Sun..Sat)
$V  day of week (0..6)
$Z  day of year (001..366)
$$  '$'
$+  new line

which would allow you to enter times and dates however you like.

1993

General Software Discussion / Re: INfix: easy, capable, but expensive WordPad-like PDF editor

« Last post by rjbull on June 01, 2009, 10:48 AM »

at least you had the choice of a similar product (hopefully equally good or better)

-tomos (May 31, 2009, 02:23 PM)

Not sure it does as much, but what it does, seems OK.  Chief drawback I've found so far is with PDFs that are scanned images, where if the font is small, it won't read it, same drawback as Kleptomania.

1994

General Software Discussion / Re: INfix: easy, capable, but expensive WordPad-like PDF editor

« Last post by rjbull on May 29, 2009, 04:26 AM »

. . but I wasn't going to pay so much over the odds just because I live in the UK.  It's a connected world now, and Nuance and other vendors will have to accept that.  I bought a license for Able2Extract instead.

-rjbull (May 28, 2009, 10:29 AM)

you should let them know so they might change their ways . .

-tomos (May 28, 2009, 03:32 PM)

I e-mailed Nuance.  They didn't reply.   

1995

General Software Discussion / Re: The Best Of: text editors

« Last post by rjbull on May 28, 2009, 10:33 AM »

I'm using Notepad++ 4.2...

-wraith808 (May 28, 2009, 09:27 AM)

FWIW, they've updated it to 5.4 in the last day or two.

1996

General Software Discussion / Re: INfix: easy, capable, but expensive WordPad-like PDF editor

« Last post by rjbull on May 28, 2009, 10:29 AM »

Yup - PagePlus X3 will search and replace (ctrl-H) within the text of a pdf file (provided the text is not part of an image).

-Darwin (May 28, 2009, 08:48 AM)

That's potentially invaluable.  Thanks for the research!  PagePlus does so many other things I wasn't sure I'd want to bother with it, even though it's a bit cheaper than InFix.

X3 does offer to open pdf's by default (ie pdfs are listed as PagePlus files in the Open dialogue) but once a pdf is selected to be opened, it is imported as mentioned above. To save as a pdf you have to select "Publish as PDF" from the File menu.

You said import was a little kludgy.  That could be a problem, but the PDFs I have to edit are (at least, look) simple in form, mostly text with a few small graphics.  Can you print direct from the ppp file?  If so, then you could print to any PDF printer.

I found something that claims to do multiple search-and-replace within PDFs: PDF Text Replace Tool but it needs both MS Framework 2.0 and Visual C++ , and costs $49.  I was baffled by the Visual C++ requirement, which only appears when you try to install it, it's not obvious on the Web site.  Because I don't have Visual C++ and don't know what's involved in it, I didn't proceed any further.

Nuance annoyed me.  I live in the UK.  I went to their "Buy Now" page, which says the price is US$99.99, about GB£62.5, then changed the country to UK.  The price turned into £99.99 - which is over $159    Admittedly that includes tax at (currently) about 15%, making the price more like £85 or $136, but I wasn't going to pay so much over the odds just because I live in the UK.  It's a connected world now, and Nuance and other vendors will have to accept that.  I bought a license for Able2Extract instead.

1997

General Software Discussion / Re: INfix: easy, capable, but expensive WordPad-like PDF editor

« Last post by rjbull on May 28, 2009, 08:03 AM »

@Curt:  Does InFix have search-and-replace in much the same form as you'd find in any editor?

And, please, does anyone know if PagePlus X3 has search-and-replace?  I e-mailed Serif's customer service, who said No, but I'm not sure we were quite on the same wavelength (they mentioned databases and mailmerge in their reply).

Hmmm...  any chance of a DC discount on InFix?  Might help their mind-share as well as my wallet.

1998

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: AntispamSniper For The Bat!

« Last post by rjbull on May 28, 2009, 06:05 AM »

I have a now-out-of-date license for Mailwasher, giving up on it because it was tiresome and repetitive to train.  Kept checking everything on the server, not just new messages.  I went on to Magic Mail Monitor, which is rules-based but not Bayesian, and that's worked well for me so far.  But I'd take a look at AntispamSniper for TheBat! if it was on DC offer.   

[Edit]
FAST service!  Discount copy ordered!    Thanks, folks!
[/Edit]

Nicely formatted discount announcement, mouser...

1999

General Software Discussion / Re: Adding text 'silently'?

« Last post by rjbull on May 24, 2009, 03:53 PM »

err, at a very simple level, Unix "cat", from e.g. UnxUtils?

[Select]

Usage: C:\ZDIR\CAT.EXE [OPTION] [FILE]...
Concatenate FILE(s), or standard input, to standard output.

  -A, --show-all           equivalent to -vET
  -b, --number-nonblank    number nonblank output lines
  -e                       equivalent to -vE
  -E, --show-ends          display $ at end of each line
  -n, --number             number all output lines
  -s, --squeeze-blank      never more than one single blank line
  -t                       equivalent to -vT
  -T, --show-tabs          display TAB characters as ^I
  -u                       (ignored)
  -v, --show-nonprinting   use ^ and M- notation, except for LFD and TAB
      --help               display this help and exit
      --version            output version information and exit

With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.

  -B, --binary             use binary writes to the console device.


Report bugs to <[email protected]>.

2000

What's the Best? / Re: Word document compare?

« Last post by rjbull on May 21, 2009, 05:31 AM »

CSDiff, freeware by Component Software, can compare RTFs, but not (IIRC) *.DOC.