Recent Posts

36676

Image Manager Shootout / Re: Xnview vs. Irfan View

« Last post by mouser on July 06, 2005, 09:57 AM »

xnview also seems to insist on centering its window on startup on the primary monitor, while irfanview truly remembers the last position of the window (even when i check the option in xnview to remember form position).  am i wrong?

again these seem like trivial issues but when all i use it for is quickly displaying images, im going to be very picky about how i want my images displayed when i double click something, and i dont want it always popping up in front of my file browser, i want it in upper left or wherever i left the window last time.

i'm attaching two pictures to show how xnview uses significantly larger amount of desktop when viewing small images, which is one reason i am still drawn to irfanview for its minimalist interface:

36677

Image Manager Shootout / Xnview vs. Irfan View

« Last post by mouser on July 06, 2005, 06:33 AM »

I thought it might be good to start a thread comparing these two - i have a hard time deciding between them.

I have been using irfanview daily for many years, and have gotten used to its idiosyncrasies.

Using xnview again lately, its a more calming experience - it has an excellent file browser.  the irfanview "thumbnail view" is one of the worst looking things even to be seen on a computer screen.  very win 3.1.

And the options tabs in xnview are easier to navigate and clearer.

But both of them have their pros and cons from my standpoint, in terms of use as quick image viewers.

One of my longstanding real pet peeves with irfanview is its absolute insistence on Save As starting in the last directory you saved into, rather that the current directory holding the picture.  i almost always want to save as in the directory the original image came from.  I've taken to patching my irfanview exe to block this but it is surely annoying.

Xnview has an option to default to original picture location.  very nice.

The thing that has really kept me from using xnview might not be relevant at all to many people, but i use irfanview as a super quick image viewer - i rarely use it to view thumbnails.  and xnview is missing the display mode that i like the most, which is: fit window to image, but fit big images to desktop.

that is, i dont want a big window in the image viewer, i want it as small as the picture (xnview seems designed to run in a bigger window than irfanview, given its toolbar, which makes it a little harder to use on small pictures compared to irfanview); but if its a big image, too big for screen, i want it scaled to a reasonable size without me having to scroll around.

again, this is important precisely because i use this for quickly viewing images all the time - so even a small difference in efficiency effects me. and irfanview still feels like a less obtrusive way to quickly view an image.  and i've also come to love the pngout plugin for irfanview and i don't see it (yet) for xnview.

but i can't deny that xnview feels better organized and less idiosyncratic.

so i guess i'm still feeling conflicted..

36678

General Review Discussion / Re: Vote for what Review to do Next

« Last post by mouser on July 06, 2005, 04:27 AM »

looks pretty clear what we're going to be reviewing next, if the trend continues.
Note taking programs, here we come.

36679

Find And Run Robot / Re: Feature Request Thread

« Last post by mouser on July 05, 2005, 06:17 PM »

yeah - the new focus grabbing code can be downright annoying if you want to keep f&r open and do other things..
i just have to figure out a good way to do exactly what you are suggesting - take focus only when appropriate.

36680

Living Room / Re: Printing out pages from www.donationcoder.com eg reviews

« Last post by mouser on July 05, 2005, 05:37 PM »

this is an interesting idea..

would people be interested in a downloadable pdf version of the reviews?

36681

Screenshot Captor / Re: Three images are captured with one click

« Last post by mouser on July 05, 2005, 03:25 PM »

i know it's not much of a consolation, but your experience finally motivated me to figure out how to extend  the timeout so that this shouldnt happen in the future to people (i hopefully changed it from 30 seconds to 4 minutes).  so while you suffered, your suffering may prevent the suffering of others 

36682

Screenshot Captor / Re: Three images are captured with one click

« Last post by mouser on July 05, 2005, 03:09 PM »

i'm really sorry about the timeout thing-
i will try to find a way to fix that so other don't suffer from it.
i'm sorry.

36683

Screenshot Captor / Re: Three images are captured with one click

« Last post by mouser on July 05, 2005, 10:58 AM »

could you try changing the color depth of your desktop (ie right click desktop -> properties -> settings -> color quality)
and/or maybe desktop resolution, just to see if that has any effect? maybe it would yield a clue.

36684

Screenshot Captor / Re: Three images are captured with one click

« Last post by mouser on July 05, 2005, 10:32 AM »

that is really a bizarre problem;
do you have multiple monitors? what operating system are you using?

do you get those 3 image things even if you select a specific rectangular region, rather than the whole desktop?

anyone else experiencing this?

36685

Screenshot Captor / Re: Three images are captured with one click

« Last post by mouser on July 05, 2005, 10:25 AM »

1.01.19 and 1.01.20 are the most recent - we aren't too strict about such stuff and when trying to solve bugs we always give people with problems access to the most recent versions so do not feel like you have to donate.

36686

Screenshot Captor / Re: Three images are captured with one click

« Last post by mouser on July 05, 2005, 09:32 AM »

sorry, i had attachments disabled for non-donating members, but it should be available now.

you can modify your post (or make a reply), and then click the triangle at the bottom next to "Additional Options" and attach the picture.

i think i need the picture to understand the problem


forum is definitely the best place for these bug reports so others can see them to, but if you ever need to you can always mail me directly at  [email protected]

36687

Find And Run Robot / new v1.05.16 full setup now available on member download page

« Last post by mouser on July 05, 2005, 07:42 AM »

https://www.donation.../MemberDownloads.php

this is the latest version - my apologies for not making a full version setup download available sooner.
from the help file version history:



Verion 1.05.16, June 02, 2005 
   
 cleaned help file a bit 
 added info about running main executable with -tray commandline option 
 fixed a failure to identify some duplicate links 
 added browse for file+folder buttons from the config add/edit entry dialogs. 
 removed menus to load and save configuration files (not it always use the main FindAndRunRobot.ini file. 
 program tries to grab focus back whenever it loses it. 
 attempt to fix issue with launching SFN versions of apps (ie opera problem). 
 fixed bug where it kept re-activating the start-with-windows switch (bug also could cause tiny slowdown on startup) 
 
 · Version 1.05.13, April 03, 2005 
 statusbar hint for "stop on exact alias match" was corrected; thanks mario_a from forum.   

36688

Screenshot Captor / Re: error if I press more than once the Print Screen key

« Last post by mouser on July 05, 2005, 05:11 AM »

thanks for the comments and suggestion and im glad to hear the bug is gone in the new version.

the tools menu also will be easier to use now in v1.01.19 since you will find a "configure external tools.." item in that menu.  that menu can be customized by you to launch other programs to perform operations on the current image file.

yes, i need to add a "run only one copy" feature to the programi agree.  i will add this.

i agree that it needs more features for drawing different objects (arrows, circles, etc.), i'm just trying to think of the right way to do it.

36689

Official Announcements / Vote in the Poll to Determine What Categories we will Review Next

« Last post by mouser on July 04, 2005, 02:55 PM »

if you are a member on this forum please vote in the poll to decide what we should review next:
https://www.donation...ndex.php?topic=482.0

(note: the poll is only available to donating/honorary members; if you have made a donation but are still listed on the forum a 'visitor' and can't get to the members only sections, please email me so i can fix your forum account, [email protected]).

36690

General Review Discussion / Vote for what Review to do Next

« Last post by mouser on July 04, 2005, 12:55 PM »

Each member can make *FIVE* votes.
Feel free to post a reply to suggest programs not listed.

36691

Living Room / Re: new "UNREAD POSTS" button

« Last post by mouser on July 04, 2005, 12:24 PM »

there is a button that says "notify" on it at the bottom of posts - i think this is like subscribing..  not 100% positive though.

36692

General Review Discussion / Re: What categories should we review next?

« Last post by mouser on July 04, 2005, 11:07 AM »

i'm gonig to put up a poll where people can vote on what to review next - please post more suggestions of categories so i don't miss any.

should it be open to everyone, or just members?

36693

Living Room / new "UNREAD POSTS" button

« Last post by mouser on July 04, 2005, 10:42 AM »

i added a new experimental button to top navigation bar of the forum, to take you to a page listing all posts on the board that you haven't yet read.  let me know if it works for you or if you notice any bugs with it.

ps. always happy to hear new suggestions for the forum or site in general.

36694

Image Manager Shootout / Re: Future Review (not this week): Graphics Viewers

« Last post by mouser on July 04, 2005, 09:54 AM »

fun link, pictures of adobe photoshop over time from v1 to CS2:

http://www.aresluna....ebook/apps/photoshop

36695

Living Room / We are in for a real treat - Graphics Viewer Shootout review by Nudone

« Last post by mouser on July 04, 2005, 09:21 AM »

Part 1 (the intro preview) for Nudone's Graphics Viewer Shootout is now up.

see link on main page or https://www.donation.../Reviews/preview.php


I have to say i haven't been this excited reading the intro to a review in a long time.
Really looks like its going to be a great review and surely a crowd favorite.




You can help make this a great review by adding your comments and suggestions and opinions (and we've still got a week before the final review so if you know of some graphics viewers that you should should be up for contention, post those too!), on the thread in the members only section where the review is being discussed: https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=398.40

36696

Find And Run Robot / Re: Problem turning off auto start

« Last post by mouser on July 04, 2005, 09:07 AM »

it sounds like i need to revisit the startup checking and writing code, maybe move to storing startup trigger in registry which would be a lot simpler and less prone to these issues.

36697

Best ScreenCaster / Links to other reviews

« Last post by mouser on July 04, 2005, 02:47 AM »

bitwise mag just reviewed the latest camtasia 3:

http://www.bitwisema...asia3/camtasia3.html

36698

Screenshot Captor / v1.01.20 available to members

« Last post by mouser on July 04, 2005, 02:42 AM »

it's likely there will be another update in next couple of days, so wait on this if you dont care about testing this version.

download on member download page.

ps.
i cannot thank enough the people who sent in detailed bug reports and helped me identify the problems in past releases; makes all the difference in the world, and i really really appreciate your goodwill and patience.


version history:

v1.01.20 - 7/05/05
 · only once instance of the program will run at a time (others will automatically close on launch) 
 · no more separate modes for select vs. scroll, you can now right-click to scroll (drag).   

v1.01.19 - 7/04/05
 · hopefully the mystery bug causing starting dir to sometimes default to c:\ is fixed. 
 · splitter positions now saved [thanks Jorge M.] 
 · restarting after exit from tray caused iconization of application bug [thanks Michael]. 
 · start in tray now works without an initial "flash" 
 · selection boxes were sometimes getting confused and jumping around [thanks Jorge M.]. 
   
v1.01.18 - 7/03/05
 · fixed bug causing crashes on some machines when taking new screenshot 
 · minimize with close button wasnt freeing all memory [thanks Michael] 
 · fixed bug cutting off zoom % caption 
 · added "Configure external tools" to tools menu   

v1.01.17 - 7/01/05
 · faster screenshot capture, and no longer "flashes" screen during capture (which also kicked fullscreen apps out of focus) 
 · new zoom level trackbar lets you easily zoom to any magnification and see current magnification 
 · quick zoom level buttons for 50%, 100%, 200%   

v1.01.16 - 7/01/05
 · fixed memory leak that was using up more and more memory with each screenshot [thanks to Andreas G. for reporting this bug]   

36699

Finished Programs / Re: IDEA: Capslock reverses case of selected text

« Last post by mouser on July 04, 2005, 02:35 AM »

some of the clipboard tools have easy hotkeys that will take text on clipboard and fix case.
ill bet one of the autoit coders here can make a compiled autoit macro script that will copy selected text to clipboard, change case, and paste it back.

as for caps lock sounds - thats a nice idea.. i know there are some utils for making click sounds when you type - perhaps some of these can be configured to only make certain sounds for certain keys.

if not, its actually a REALLY fun idea for a coding snack to make a keyboard map and let you define different sounds for each key - for example make a mapping that speaks the letter of each key you press, or makes slightly different click sounds for easily mistyped keys so that you could eventually learn to identify typos based on sound feedback.  very interesting idea.

im interested to hear if anyone knows of tools to assign custom sounds to dif. keys.

36700

Best Weather Monitor Tool / Re: help reqeusted from non-US members

« Last post by mouser on July 04, 2005, 02:30 AM »

the two good freeware tools (weather watcher and weather pulse) in our review both turn out to support international cities.