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Recent Posts

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3001
General Software Discussion / Re: Text/Books Database
« Last post by rjbull on February 21, 2006, 04:02 AM »
I think Jot+ Notes has compression    http://www.kingstairs.com/jot/

3002
General Software Discussion / Re: batch programs and stuff
« Last post by rjbull on February 21, 2006, 03:59 AM »
Personally, I have used Rob Van der Woude's scripting pages as a reference for some time now.

That's a good one.

I also dabbled with PowerBatch (no longer available, quite old) that promised to make batch files into .exe's but I never got it to work.

There were others, like Extended Batch Language (EBL), BatLite, and FromBAT, but I suspect most of them have gone during the rise of Windows.  Some people had reasonable success with PC Magazine's Bat2Exe, BAT2EX15.ZIP.  I always found I had too many external programs to make these very useful.

I'll look into these others you mention, as NT's batch language is quite different from even 95 and 98's.

Also take a look at Acme Software (now Swanson Software) batch file reference for Windows 2000 and XP at  http://www.acmesoffw...erence_BatchFile.asp

3003
General Software Discussion / Re: batch programs and stuff
« Last post by rjbull on February 20, 2006, 11:14 AM »
@rjbull: His name is Stefan :)

Apologies to Stefan.

I just mentioned Bob Stephan, author of GET.  That really is Bob's surname.  At my age, maybe you should expect neuronal crosstalk...  :(

PD version of GET:

  GET -- Bob Stephan's Batch file enhancer -- a public domain utility
         Syntax:  GET command argument
Purpose             Command       Argument   Environment Errorlevel  Extended
---------           -------       --------   --(GET=)--- --(Exit)--  --[E]---
Get character       C[E] ["prompt"] [chars]  Character   ASCII dec.  No Echo
Get yes/no aNswer   N[E] ["prompt"]  None    Character   ASCII dec.  No Echo
Get string          S[E] ["prompt"]  None    String      Length      No Echo
Moving Text(GetaKey)T[E] "Filespec" [chars]  Character   ASCII dec.  No Echo
Get DOS version     D[E]             None    Major Vers. MajorMinor  MinorEnv
Get environment left    E[E]         None    Bytes left  Bytes left  Bytes/10
Get file size (DIR=0)   F[E]  Filespec       Hex bytes   Kilobytes   Kb/10
Get disk space          K[E] [driveletter]   Kilobytes   Kilobytes   Kb/10
Get memory free         M[E]         None    Kilobytes   Kilobytes   Kb/10
Clear (Blank) Screen    B[E] [New attribute] Current or last attr.   HexAttr
Check for printer(PRN)  P[E]         None    1=yes,0=no  1=yes,0=no  Initialize
Get/set video mode      V   [New mode]       Current or last mode    None
Check coprocessor       7            None    1=yes,0=no  1=yes,0=no  None
Check for ANSI.SYS      A            None    1=yes,0=no  1=yes,0=no  None
Get current directory   Y[E]         None    Directory   Level/Drive Drive
 Surrogate [char] args: } is Carriage Return, ~ is Escape, ` for Extended Keys.


Version 2.8 needs three pages of online help screens.



3004
General Software Discussion / batch programs and stuff
« Last post by rjbull on February 20, 2006, 09:00 AM »
Talking about batch
Batchman.- Multi-function batch program.

Old (1989) but packs 48 batch functions into a single 6K program.

Stephan,

Two more small but powerful multi-function multi-purpose utilities, both shareware;

Bob Stephan's GET   http://www.redshift....bstephan/bs01000.htm
Should also be on BFDS link above.  Very early versions of GET were public domain.  Later ones, with 3.5 being the last, were free for personal use (and still do plenty); the last few are all-payware.

PocketD - author site seems to have gone, here's a link for a description and download link
http://www.digibuy.c...uct.html?93930276892

3005
General Software Discussion / Re: Living without AutoHotkey - possible?
« Last post by rjbull on February 20, 2006, 05:00 AM »
My favorite use is to automate batch processing stuff through command-line utilities.

Good grief, all those languages?!   :tellme:

It's probably too late now, as these are almost all plain DOS, but if you're into batch processing  via command-line utilities, you might like to know about
BFDS  http://www.filegate.net/bfds/
which is the repository for the Fidonet BATPOWER echo's files.  It contains lots of useful tools, including some not radily available elsewhere.  Also, don't overlook Horst Schaeffer's DOS batch ("PBATS") and Win32-bit command-line tools at
http://home.mnet-online.de/horst.muc/



3006
Find And Run Robot / Re: CTRL+SPACE
« Last post by rjbull on February 20, 2006, 04:39 AM »
you who uses a IBM Thinkpad and found the lack of "WinKey" on the keyboard a big annoynance

Rats.  Only listed for Win2000 and XP.  My T22 (which is in the hardware list) is Win98SE...

3007
Find And Run Robot / Re: CTRL+SPACE
« Last post by rjbull on February 20, 2006, 04:37 AM »
rjbull, you might want to check out WinKey.

Thanks!

Have you noticed how many DC participants like AutoHotKey for kb remapping?

link here  http://www.autohotkey.com/

3008
General Software Discussion / Re: Multiple desktops
« Last post by rjbull on February 10, 2006, 08:05 AM »
PowerPro has multiple desktops, and is supposed to run light - if you can figure out PowerPro...

PowerPro, freeware macro program for Windows
http://powerpro.webeddie.com/index.html

PC Rangers third-party PowerPro support
http://powerpro.pcrei.com
Contains archives of the user groups, the "Wink" based Flash demos, etc.

Beginners user group / mailing list:
http://groups.yahoo..../powerpro-beginners/


3009
THANKS rjbull!

Thanks, but actually, I think we should all thank Google   :Thmbsup:

And, to repeat; it only works with some versions of Windows.  Not with Win9x, as I recall it.


3010
Find And Run Robot / Re: CTRL+SPACE
« Last post by rjbull on February 10, 2006, 03:40 AM »
I had trouble with that because I use Alt-Space (N|X) all the time for minimising and maximising windows.  Sorted now, thanks to that pointer.

3011
CopyMessageBox

Even CopyMsgBox doesn't always work.  I hae to access some programs via Citrix Metaframe, which seems to leave the rest of the computer completely blind to what's going on.

On some versions of Windows, such as Windows 2000 at least, you can just get the focus on an error message box and press Control-C to copy the plain text to the clipboard.  Again, doesn't work with Citrixed programs.

3012
General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software
« Last post by rjbull on February 08, 2006, 04:30 AM »
I wish the terminology was a bit clearer...  I think of programs for saving and retrieving text notes, something of particular interest to me, as not necessarily the same thing as tools for organising information into structures.

Mouser, are you really sure you want to give this category a try, given just how many there are out there already, some of them very good?  Especially with Keynote's author's exhaustion  in mind?
3013
General Software Discussion / Re: Living without AutoHotkey - possible?
« Last post by rjbull on February 08, 2006, 04:23 AM »
I use Autohotkey and love it for what it does, which is a lot, and will continue to use it for the many things it does for me. But sometimes I am itching for just a little more power and scripting languages seem to be a sweet spot for me. Thus FBSL. I'll keep you posted...

Edvard,

I thought you were DC's chief fan of PowerPro.  Are you still using all these scripting languages?

3014
Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Addressbook Software Mini-Shootout
« Last post by rjbull on February 08, 2006, 04:14 AM »

trying Info Select for Windows?
Oh yeah!  I tried InfoSelect a couple of times over the past two years.  It was pretty good, but if you read the beginning of my review for this addressbook software, I mentioned that I am now at a point that I want the addressbook to just be an addressbook and nothing else.

Sorry, forgot that...   :-[

InfoSelect does everything under the sun.  It was too much for me to use it as an addressbook, and I felt like the other features were done better individually on other programs.  I am always highly skeptical of all-in-one solutions to anything.

I can't make my mind up.  While I can see that there's a good case for small individual programs working better for their specific objectives, I then have to remember which program I stored which bit of information in.  And there's always an overlap - addresses, fine, but many people will want something more like a contacts system, with more notes, for example.  One of my e-contacts has a constant mantra: "horses for courses..."   8)

I suspect, though, that Info Select as it now is tries to to do far too much.   I'd be more interested in the equivalent of a straight port of the DOS version, at a much lower price.

Evernote
You know, I agree with you about the size thing, but the program runs pretty light.  The reason why it's big is because it has this sketchpad in it where you can draw and paint.  ...  Evernote is good for entering a bunch of random notes in, and finding them very quickly.

Speed of finding random notes is good, but I don't need the handwritten notes/sketching abilities.

I love Keynote, what a fantastic program.  If Keynote would just resume being actively developed

Sadly, looks like it won't, but check out posts by kfitting on sucessors/similar programs.

TC has filter-as-you-type?  I didn't know that!

Options, Operation, "Quick search (current dir)" section, Letters - _w_ith search dialog checkbox.

3015
General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software
« Last post by rjbull on February 08, 2006, 03:47 AM »
While there's an overlap, I assume this is separate from outliners in the Keynote or ECCO senses?

My first thoughts:

1)  Indexed, for fast retrieval
2)  Boolean searching, for precise retrieval
3)  Keyboard driven, or rather, everything readily accessible by keyboard
3016
Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Addressbook Software Mini-Shootout
« Last post by rjbull on February 07, 2006, 04:49 AM »
AZZ got it right for the purpose they were trying to achieve, which is a general note accumulating program. 

I liked - still like - Memory Mate for DOS as a "random notes" program.  Simple, clean interface, very fast and just enough power.  But it didn't really make the transition to Windows  :(

knew someone's number started with 398- but you didn't know the rest, it would be nice to just type in 398 and get the list in front of you.  It's just more

Memory Mate has simple but useful Boolean searching.  When you've done a search, it's like you have a small stack of qualifying 5x3 file cards in front of you, though you can only read the top one and have to page through the others (but a well-designed search will limit the stack to only a few).  If you want to see several cards at once, Info Select for DOS did that with immediate searching.  Which begs the question, have you considered pushing the financial boat out and trying Info Select for Windows?  It's $249.95 and isn't shareware, though there's a 30-day money-back guarantee.  Link here: http://www.miclog.com/

powerful that way.  I'll never say no to more power, because you can always turn features off, but you (as the end-user) can't add features.

Agreed, with the proviso that the power features have to be organised so they don't put off the novice.  Or indeed anybody who needs to get the job done, but doesn't have lots of time to learn.

Have any of you checked out EverNote?  It's a cool, quirky program that

Just had a quick look at the Web site, and was put off by the size.  The free version is an 8.4Mb download, the payware one 18Mb.  It's not just the download time and hard-disk footprint, I tend to expect that programs that size are going to be slow to load, which puts me off using them.

I mentioned to kfitting on another thread that there are lots of Keynote-type outliners now - and that's getting a problem in itself, because they aren't mutually compatible and you don't want to commit to the "wrong" one.

If you can't tell, I'm in love with the filter-as-you-type feature.  I'm immediately attracted to any program that has it, and more and more programs are using it.  PowerMarks, EverNote, CardScan, Essential PIM, Directory Opus (so cool!), Find and Run Robot...that's all I can think of for now.

And Total Commander  :D  depending on how you set it up, and that's how I've set it up now as being most intuitive.

3017
Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Addressbook Software Mini-Shootout
« Last post by rjbull on February 06, 2006, 03:43 AM »
superboyac,

Sounds like AZZ got the mix right in the sense that if you had immediate search on the whole record, you'd get too many "false drops."  Think of trying to look up someone called Theodore - how many times does one use the definite article?  The lady who mentioned AZZ Cardfile in PowerToolsSoftware actually said that she used it for quotes/one-liners/short paragraphs, so it looks like she implicitly agrees.

You obviously need a heavier-weight, more structured program...
3018
Post New Requests Here / Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Last post by rjbull on February 06, 2006, 03:25 AM »
I realize that one program may not do everything I want... but dreaming is nice!!

I was beginning to think that you wanted two diametrically opposite approaches combined in the same program  :)  Well, please let us know if TreeDBNotes eventually does the business.

One more that I don't recall having been mentioned on DC before:
WhizFolders,  http://www.whizfolders.com

3019
Post New Requests Here / Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Last post by rjbull on February 03, 2006, 09:00 AM »
benefit of this.  My first taste of this type of thinking was with Opera Mail Client
...
In the initial phases I was collecting data and didnt know what I knew.  Grabbing random bits of info I would put them where I thought they made sense.  As my understanding improved I realized I needed to change the structure somewhat.  But, what I also realized is that there are different ways of looking at the same data. But, often, I find myself wanting to throw data into the mix and then, once I figure out how it relates to different things (projects, concepts, parts, etc) quickly relate it. 

Isn't this the kind of thing brainstorming tools/mindmappers are meant to help with?  John Buckman's page on these is http://john.redmood....m/brainstorming.html
Looks like Brainstorm  http://www.brainstormsw.com/ and Inspiration  http://www.inspiration.com/
might be worth looking at, also possibly Axon  http://web.singnet.com.sg/~axon2000

Thanks for the detailed explanation.  You sort of want a relational database, without having to know and set up a rigid structure before you start, and being able to change it as you go along...
3020
Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Addressbook Software Mini-Shootout
« Last post by rjbull on February 03, 2006, 06:00 AM »
Addressbook Software Mini-Shootout

I've probably tried dozens of these programs, and there are way too many to even list.

Pity, because it begs the question: did you try AZZ Cardfile,  http://www.azzcardfile.com/

I saw this mentioned in the Yahoo! Group PowerToolsSoftware, mentioned by someone who said it had "immediae entry search," which I think is what you mean.


3021
Post New Requests Here / Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Last post by rjbull on February 03, 2006, 05:34 AM »
I haven't RTFM (I very seldom do!)

:D

but I have found that stickies linger on and on - when I reinstalled it recently,

Good!

I'm just downloading WikidPad now

I seem to remembetr dropping it like a hot potatoe, I think because the version I tried had no easy way to import pre-existing text (memory faulty here).

3022
Post New Requests Here / Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Last post by rjbull on February 03, 2006, 05:20 AM »
Nobody has mentioned the possibility of using some kind of Wiki, either online

But then you have to have text in Wiki capitalisation, which might not be so good if you have things like code numbers / serial numbers to deal with.

There's a thing called WikidPad by Jason Horman which is a local personal Wiki.

And then I use Tom Revell's Stickies (www.zhornsoftware.co.uk) for all the myriad little notes I type as I go

What worries me about Stickies is the bit in Options General where it says Keep (x) closed stickies, as if it's going to delete all the other ones.  Maybe I should RTFM  ;)

Also, there doesn't seem to be a global search function, so how do you find scraps of text you've stored as stickies?  A similar program, the cheap-shareware Magic Notes  http://www.magicnotes.com  does have this, though it has a habit of sometimes forgetting its alarm settings on my computer.  That could be just a local issue.
3023
Post New Requests Here / Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Last post by rjbull on February 03, 2006, 04:40 AM »
Right now is an interesting time for this type of program.  Many people are realizing their value and adding different features.  Unfortunately finding one with all the features you want is tough. 

The downside is going to be too many similar programs all with different and incompatible file formats, so once you're committed, it will be very hard to change.

Add TreeDBNotes to the list of Keynote replacements. 

Both a "lite" free version and a (presumably freely-distributable) viewer, too.  That's good; I'd prefer something that was all-free, partly because of cost to me, especially if I want to have copies at home and at work, but a free viewer would be a help if the program isn't itself free.  I see Maple has that, too.

I took a look at this one and if "Novo Libero" or Neomem do not take off, I am

It looks too early to commit to either of those, especially "Novo Libero!"

which is the use of nodes as filters and make notes have properties.

I don't understand those features, which probably means I don't need them  ;)

Have you tried the SEO Note that Stefan mentioned, and if so, how does it compare with the others?

There's also a free "lite" version of Action Outline now, but it looks too "lite" to be very useful.  If I read it correctly, nodes can only have up to seven child nodes.  Better viewed as an unlimited-time trial, perhaps.

Really, I don't need an organiser so much as a free-text database.  But those are rare, expensive, and complex.

3024
Find And Run Robot / Re: What's the correct abbreviation?
« Last post by rjbull on February 03, 2006, 03:47 AM »
little icon that looks like Mercury running.

Then you need to change the icon so he has wings on his heels  :)  (I think that's the conventional representation)

Mouser, the village I live in has a chimney sweep who trades under the name "The Happy Smiling Chimney Services"   ;D
3025
Post New Requests Here / Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Last post by rjbull on February 02, 2006, 08:52 AM »
kfitting,

Another interesting project that I've been watching is neomem.  Go to neomem.org and then check the blog and the forum for the latest news.

Does NeoMem have good I/O features?  It would be nice if it could import Treepad Lite/Keynote files, for example, and export things in properly indented format, and/or some way of marking nodes and their levels so that other programs could pick them up.  Nicer still if it was possible to make a "universal" file-format converter for these things...

And, I'd really like an indexed (for fast searching) program with good Boolean logic (for precise searching).  No end to wishful thinking <sigh>
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