Recent Posts

2001

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.

2002

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.   

2003

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.

2004

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.

2005

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.

2006

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...

2007

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]>.

2008

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.

2009

Found Deals and Discounts / Chameleon Startup Manager on 20% discount

« Last post by rjbull on May 20, 2009, 07:55 AM »

I've been caught by programs that were on "permanent discount" before, so apologies if this is one such:

Chameleon Startup Manager

Chameleon Startup Manager is a startup control panel that accelerates Windows startup, ensures that the operating system is more stable. It enables the full customization of startup programs, including startup order change, startup delay, priority and much more.  Chameleon Startup Manager automatically monitors and reports back if new programs have been added to the startup list, while a manager provides advanced details on running applications.

Just noticed Special Offer:

Only now you can buy Chameleon Startup Manager with a additional 20% discount. So if you like it, Please hurry up!

Doesn't say how long the discount offer lasts.

2010

General Software Discussion / Re: Gnu grep how can I get colored output in ms concole?

« Last post by rjbull on May 18, 2009, 07:59 AM »

Being a DOS application/device driver, ANSIPLUS doesn't sound like something that'll work (properly) with NT-based operating systems?

-f0dder (May 18, 2009, 01:03 AM)

ANSIPLUS and Windows

Users of Windows 98, 95, 3.1 or NT 4 should consider using ANSIPLUS as well. The ANSIPLUS driver works well under Windows, and because ANSIPLUS is a CON device driver, local copies of it are included in each Windows virtual DOS machine. This means that all the ANSIPLUS internal state variables, and those of its integrated console features, will be local to each virtual machine, so there is no way they can interfere with each other. This section discusses how to work around the specific limitations imposed on ANSIPLUS DOS sessions by Windows or by Windows in combination with other software.

The following topics are covered here: Loading options, Full screen vs. windowed DOS sessions, Copy and paste, Scroll-back, Color palettes, Beep tone, International usage, and Windows NT.

2011

General Software Discussion / Re: Gnu grep how can I get colored output in ms concole?

« Last post by rjbull on May 17, 2009, 04:26 PM »

You could try third-party Windows-ised ANSI programs, like the ones by Jason Hood, or ANSIPlus by Kris Sweger.

2012

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: PolyEdit coming up on BdJ (47% discount)

« Last post by rjbull on May 13, 2009, 06:00 AM »

Noticed that this was coming up.

-Dormouse (May 13, 2009, 04:53 AM)

PolyEdit's been mentioned on DC before, e.g. in Editor Needed which (naturally) mentions several others.  There's also Jarte, which comes in free and extra-featured payware versions.  I'd be interested to know if anyone has tried the payware version.

2013

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your favorite launch bar? Your favorite features? Missing Features?

« Last post by rjbull on May 11, 2009, 05:48 AM »

KeyLink. Once you start using it, you're hooked.

-saxydan (May 09, 2009, 07:18 AM)

@saxydan: how does KeyLink compare with SlickRun, please?

2014

General Software Discussion / Re: paste the last typed characters with a hotkey?

« Last post by rjbull on May 11, 2009, 05:39 AM »

I was asking for something different, the ability to repaste with a hotkey

-kalos (May 10, 2009, 05:44 PM)

You mean something like a rolling FIFO buffer that would hold the last 100 (or whatever) characters, and display them instantly with a hotkey?

2015

General Software Discussion / Re: paste the last typed characters with a hotkey?

« Last post by rjbull on May 10, 2009, 05:06 PM »

Please review these DC threads:

pls recommend a good benign keylogger

save everything I type

also

best clipboard program
(which you started).

As Emsa Save My Work has been suggested to you before, I presume it doesn't meet your needs?

2016

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for Search and Replace tool for MS Word Files

« Last post by rjbull on May 10, 2009, 04:54 PM »

Here's another one:

MegaReplacer for Microsoft Word

MegaReplacer finds and replaces multiple text strings (characters, words, or phrases), text formatting (such as bold and italic), or styles in the active document, all open documents, or all documents in a folder—automatically or with your manual approval. The perfect tool for achieving complete consistency in a manuscript.

It appears to be a Word macro, as the archive only contains .DOT and .DOC files.  I haven't tried it.  Haven't had much success with either HFFR Text Workbench, nor (on very brief trial) with AFR.  However the Word docs I tried were converted from PDFs, so might have been problematic anyway.

2017

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Hound: a grep-alike that searches inside PDFs

« Last post by rjbull on May 10, 2009, 04:50 PM »

Welcome to DC, Fidel   

It was worth downloading Eggbert for the look of alarm when you exit     But did you know that E-Mail Checker gets stamped on by PC-Cillin AV?  Another over-enthusiastic false positive?

2018

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: New program: ActiveHotkeys (freeware)

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

Up to now I've used ShortcutsMan by Nir Sofer.  It will be interesting to compare tranglos' program.

2019

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

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

You can install it as portable to get over the corporate limitation, but for some reason it doesn't run reliably from my USB stick.

-rjbull (April 30, 2009, 10:39 AM)

What do you mean by not running reliably?  Does it crash?  Is it significantly slower?

-superboyac (April 30, 2009, 11:07 AM)

EmEditor crashed a couple of times, not during basic editing, but first time when doing something with macros, second time when fiddling with configuration.  Speed: it's - naturally - a bit slower to load the first time from USB.  I didn't notice it being slow otherwise, but I don't deal in big files.

2020

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

« Last post by rjbull on April 30, 2009, 10:39 AM »

OK, I just tried EmEditor...it is REALLY fast.  The fastest one I've tried as far as loading.  I like it a lot.

-superboyac (April 30, 2009, 04:23 AM)

Be careful of the license.  If you install EmEditor on a corporate computer, you have no right to also install it at home without paying for a second license.  If you only use it at home, you can (IIRC) install it on up to 5 computers of your own.  You can install it as portable to get over the corporate limitation, but for some reason it doesn't run reliably from my USB stick.

HippoEdit is more like a personal license, in that you can use it both at work and at home on only one payment.  Good karma to HippoEdit 

2021

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for a text editor that can colorize text

« Last post by rjbull on April 30, 2009, 04:02 AM »

It goes against the grain for me to say this, seeing I've been fulminating against word processors elsewhere on DC - but would you be better off with a simple word processor that does RTF?  Maybe Jarte or Polyedit?  Otherwise, EmEditor can colourise strings.  However, I don't know anything that will do exactly what you seem to want.

2022

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

« Last post by rjbull on April 30, 2009, 03:55 AM »

Is it not possible to keep the text plain and still use macros, pattern substitutions and paragraph manipulations etc?

-MilesAhead (April 29, 2009, 04:18 PM)

Maybe.  I've been spoilt because the first DOS programs I used were PC-Write, and later VDE, both of which are dual-purpose and both of which do work like that.  Then Windows became popular, and that was the real beginning of a  divide between editors and word processors.  I've been focussed on editors because I use plain text almost all the time, and that's what editors do.  I'd hate to try using Word for plain text, short notes, batch files, AWK scripts, anything like that.  Microsoft Word?  Bah!  Ptui!

2023

General Software Discussion / Re: Virtual text printer?

« Last post by rjbull on April 30, 2009, 03:49 AM »

I have some pdf documents that I want to convert to text. Now I found an application that does it (generally does a bad job)

-kartal (April 29, 2009, 09:09 PM)

Would that be XPDF?

2024

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

« Last post by rjbull on April 29, 2009, 04:11 AM »

For the non-programmers someone should probably start a thread on good, word processors.

-MilesAhead (April 28, 2009, 12:22 PM)

Not for me, thanks.  I don't care what text look like.  Those who do use a DTP program like Microsoft Word.  I need to get plain text down on disk, and edit it, as quickly and easily as possible, with an absolute requirement for plain text so I can search and retrieve information readily with cheap and convenient tools.  There are such things as text databases, e.g. DB/Text Works for Windows, but the company wouldn't buy it.  So plain text is the way to go.  Staying with plain text also allows me to send current awareness bulletins as simple e-mails.  Most of the company insist on either HTML e-mail, or fancy formatting in Word, converting that to PDF and attaching it to a "please read" e-mail, expecting people to fire up the lumbering Acrobat Reader to read five lines of often irrelevant material.

2025

Living Room / Re: The Worm Within: Disgusting and You Can't Stop Reading

« Last post by rjbull on April 29, 2009, 03:49 AM »

Try reading New Guinea Tapeworms and Jewish Grandmothers: Tales of Parasites and People by Robert S. Desowitz for more in the same gruesomely humorous vein...  It's not very PC: e.g. his comment "If feces were fluorescent, the whole of the tropics would glow at night."  Lots of stuff about the disease kuru.