Recent Posts

36976

Cheat Sheeter / Re: New Program Idea: Cheat Sheeter

« Last post by mouser on June 03, 2005, 04:13 PM »

just an update: i've working on it..  i think it's looking quite nice, aesthetically speaking.

36977

UrlSnooper / Re: failed to initialize network adapter???

« Last post by mouser on June 03, 2005, 10:50 AM »

does it still happen after a reboot?
if so, try uninstalling winpcap and reinstalling it.
is it possible you installed another app which is currently running and has captured the winpcap driver?

36978

Find And Run Robot / Re: new beta 1.05.15 (update only) available to beta testers

« Last post by mouser on June 03, 2005, 09:44 AM »

well you could always kill one of the programs from task manager.
i think youd also be able to close either one from the close box on upper right of window, so its not a big deal, would just be strange.

if the startin field of the app is "D:\Program Files\CDBurnerXP Pro 3\cdbxp.exe", then it sounds like what you have their is a malformed shortcut, where the startin field should specify the directory but instead specifies the actual full filename.  so that would explain why its not being launched right.

36979

Find And Run Robot / Re: new beta 1.05.15 (update only) available to beta testers

« Last post by mouser on June 03, 2005, 07:34 AM »

it's not a bad idea to check if the file pointed to by a shortcut exists before listing it, seems reasonable and shouldnt take much time as long as i do it only for shortcuts that are about to be added.  although if i remember correctly, there are certain shortcuts that use these strange special windows links, like ms office apps, that dont actually point to files but just special names, and lets windows resolve these.   so it may just not be practical to distinguish a broken shortcut from a special shortcut that the OS is expected to resolve, so it might not be fixable.

in fact it sounds like this is exactly your cdburnerxp issue.. but then you are saying that f&r is not launching this properly..
i wonder if this is what is happening.. did you say that there is a FOLDER named with same name as the name inside the shortcut?  it may be that the existence of that folder is confusing F&R and preventing it from launching the shortcut.  i could try to make a test for this degenerate case if we think this might be the problem.  it seems like this might be whats happening to me, assuming the shortcut to that app works when you run it through start menu.

as for flickering, yeah i guess thats probably unavoidable, unless i can find a different technique for preventing apps from stealing focus; right now it doesnt prevent another app from stealing focus, but rather it grabs control back.  but there is one more dif. way i can try.  ps. if you want to see some real flicker, find another app that also refuses to let itself lose focus and let f&r fight with it

36980

Find And Run Robot / Re: Feature Request Thread

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 09:57 PM »

regarding previous requests for some kind of ability to open web pages or conduct google searches.

i was thinking i could expand the functionality of the alias list to allow such things, by saying that if the first word matches an alias,
then any remaining words would be treated as arguments that could be referred to on commandline launch of alias.

so for example you could define the alias "go"
with commandline: "C:\program files\internet explorer\iexplorer.exe %args%"

then if you typed into the box:
go www.donationcoder.com

it would launch
"C:\program files\internet explorer\iexplorer.exe %args%"

you could use the same exact approach to add an alias to conduct google searches.

the only other thing i can think of that might be nice to add to that is
maybe an ability to specify a mask to match the arguments

so that you could create an alias called "go"
and it would trigger a different commandline depending on whether the arguments that follow start with "http" or not.

36981

Find And Run Robot / Re: new beta 1.05.15 (update only) available to beta testers

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 09:48 PM »

if the loss of focus is fixed for 90% of the cases and happens randomly in others, i may be able to fix that extra 5%, as i'm guessing that would mean that its just that the other app is grabbing focus in the right smack in middle of f&r trying to regain focus, and that i could use a little temporary timer to check for such a degenerate condition.

36982

Find And Run Robot / Re: new beta 1.05.15 (update only) available to beta testers

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 09:42 PM »

id be particularly interested to know if the old f&r could launch that excel file.. if so then i need to address it.  if not then i still need to address it   but at least ill have a clue as to how to attack it.

36983

Find And Run Robot / Feature Request Thread

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 09:39 PM »

Let's put feature requests here.

i'll start with the feature requests in to f&r todo list:

when set to display relative path, display parent path if the relative path is \
separate words should act as AND searches rather than phrases
search patterns on full paths and extensions?
add scripts
add heuristic points for recent access based on access date stamps
get list of recently run apps from system
checkboxes to choose columns in details mode
add general hotkey support
Folder name searching
Ability to use \ to specify dir name pattern (so graph\photo would match graphics\photoshop)..
Ability to specify an extension with a . (so photo.exe would match photoshop.exe)
Ability to drag files from the box outward from app into other program
ability to right click and get normal shell context menu
Customizable sound effect when launching?
Right click to add current item to an alias.
Speed up loading of ini files.
Add toolbar for custom icons
add ability to specify custom file browser + internet browser
Improve icon

36984

Find And Run Robot / Re: new beta 1.05.15 (update only) available to beta testers

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 09:22 PM »

1.05.16 is up

fixed bug where it kept re-activating the start-with-windows switch (bug also could cause tiny slowdown on startup)

36985

Find And Run Robot / Re: new beta 1.05.15 (update only) available to beta testers

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 08:57 PM »

important suggestion for testers:

create a copy of your find&run robot dir, and copy this new exe over the old.
that way you can run the old version and compare it to new version.

BUT remember to check the tray (or titlebar) to make sure you are really running the version you think you are before you report that a problem still exists.

ie, im saying dont just permanently overwrite old version without keeping a backup, or it may be hard to check back on previous behavior.

36986

Find And Run Robot / new beta 1.05.15 (update only) available to beta testers

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 08:56 PM »

v1.05.15 is now available for beta testers
http://donationcoder.../FindAndRunRobot.zip

this is the new exe ONLY, and is only being made available for those who are helping me try to fix some bugs; if you don't fall into this category then you might as well wait a couple days for a real release.

here are the things im trying to fix with this version:

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).

the most important things are focus grabbing and duplicate bugfix.
i tried to address the sfn issue (see scott's post about opera), but i am worried that in the process i may have re-broken the problem we had where some strange shortcut links weren't launching properly, so i'm keen to hear if i have really fixed the opera launching issue and not broken other things.

look forward to hearing a report.

36987

Find And Run Robot / Re: Question

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 07:14 PM »

we will do a wish list thread after the bugs are fixed,
i am very open to adding some smart stuff in the next version and adding features like being able to do things like using F&R to launch web pages, run scripts, etc.

36988

Find And Run Robot / Re: Question

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 07:13 PM »

ok let me work on this stuff and see what i can get fixed.

36989

Find And Run Robot / Re: Question

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 06:53 PM »

never mind duplicates, i can see it here clearly now - i must have broken it with the past recent updates that changed the way shortcuts were launched.

36990

Find And Run Robot / Re: Question

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 06:36 PM »

also, maybe you can describe again an example of the duplicates it finds, and see if you detect any difference, like difference in uppercase/lowercase..

36991

Find And Run Robot / Re: Question

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 06:33 PM »

its def. my fault - i have been meaning to update F&R for months, i just keep putting it off.

here are the bugs ive found looking through the posts:

when unchecking "start auto with window", its checked again on restart.
executing with Short File Names causes opera confusion (always use long?)
not remembering window location?
browse button when adding folders/files
ability to launch apps into background (minimized?)
remove duplicates isnt working 100% (lnk files not removed?)
save and load dif config files doesnt work right.
loses window focus sometimes, break key no longer works when this happens.

as i understand it, the top priority bugfixes from your standpoint are the focus issue and the duplicates.
duplicates shouldnt be hard to solve once i understand what causes it.
focus may be painful to try to fix but i'm going to try.

i think im just going to remove the ability to save different config file names - i think it just adds confusion and is not helpful.

can you explain to me the focus issue one last time so i can really get a handle on the behavior?

36992

Find And Run Robot / Re: Question

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 06:16 PM »

please don't give up on F&R,
i understand completely what you mean about frustrations, and i imagine they must be growing.
the last thing i want to do is alienate the loyal users of F&R who have been waiting so long for an update.
it's hard not to be tempted away to work on new programs..

i'll tell you what, my plan was to add some serious new features to F&R, and that's been hanging me up a bit..
but.. let me suspend the new cheat sheeter app for a couple days and try to work on F&R and the review this week, as of now.

hopefully you can help me test it in the next few days as i imagine it will require some real testing to figure out some of this stuff.
the losing foreground focus problem i struggled with originally, but lately i had to solve the program for another app in a different way, so let me see if i can use that technique in F&R.

i've probably forgotten some of the issues we've talked about.
i'll look back over this thread - kfitting if you feel like giving me a summary of bugs and what priority you would put fixing them in, i will follow your pirority list exactly.

let's not add new substantial features yet (like dir search and what i really want to add, logical or feature for multiple keywords), but concentrate on tweaking F&R to fix these bugs.

hopefully we can get them fixed in next couple days, ok
you waited long enough.

36993

Cheat Sheeter / Re: Finally, a robust keyboard shortcut app!

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 02:54 PM »

i will try to make it as configurable as possible.
of course you will be able to make your own cheat sheets easily, and yet cs will auto detect them and make them available.

as for font/color, this is one of those things thats going to be either easier or harder due to using html.
if we use style sheets in the cheat sheet htmls, then we should be able to provide different stylesheets that very much alter the appearance of cheat sheets, effecting font color, size, style, etc.

36994

Cheat Sheeter / Re: Finally, a robust keyboard shortcut app!

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 02:03 PM »

one of the nice things about our approach is that you will be able to install as many or as few sheets for a given app as you want;
i will make sure it remembers that last one you used.

so its fine if 10 dif people make 10 dif cheat sheet sets, and users can install/enable the ones they find the most useful.
i think that will be one of the nicest features.

one of the thing that governs what sheets people will want is how they plan to use the cheat sheeter panel.
ie will be it full screen, in which case it could hold a lot of info, or will it be docked to top or side of window and be small.
i see this as a possible real dilemna.. in that its hard to know how to design a page if you dont know the size of the window the user is going to have open.. im not sure exactly how to solve this.

one thing i was thinking is, we dont necesarily have to support ONLY html.
for example i can see making cheat sheets that are just big images.
or plain text files.

ill try to at least think about providing infrastructure for this when designing the system.
but it still doesnt answer the size of window problem.
this falls into the category of what i was talking about before, namely, standards and styles.
we will have to get together and agree on some suggested standards.
i can see the possibility of having 2 or 3 different styles of cheat sheets depending on how users work; one for people who like full screen cheat sheets, and one for people who like really small pop up window cheat sheets.

36995

Cheat Sheeter / Re: Finally, a robust keyboard shortcut app!

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 01:00 PM »

i think we are on same wavelength.

the details of how to organize cheat sheets is going to be a little more complicated than your dir structure, but essentially the concept is the same.
the program will autodiscover cheat sheets based on finding them in its Sheets directory; there will be no need to do a separate install/uninstall procedure.

i also thought that the idea of being able to quickly add personal notes would be useful, and i will add that; just have to figure out the best way to show that information.

let me explain why a menu would be better than a drop down.

not only can menus scroll if there are too many, but menus can be nested.

so let me give you an example of what im thinking; its sort of similar to the mac's top menubar.

it would be like this

| FILE | ALL SHEETS | FAVORITE SHEETS | RECENT SHEETS | PHOTOSHOP SHEETS |

so you see, from the menu you can quickly access a hierarchical menu of your favorite cheet sheets, of recently viewed cheat sheats, OR
the set of cheat sheets associated with currently running app (photoshop).

note that im allowing for the possibility of multiple sheets for an app.

so from the photoshop menu you might see a drop down menu like:
 Hotkeys
 Common Functions
 My Notes

the first two would bring up html pages written by a someone else
the last one, My Notes, would be available for every utility and would bring up a simple rtf-like page you could edit and customize.

on the All Sheets menu, there would be an item for Photoshop Somewhere, with again a submenu for Hotkeys, Common Funcitons, My Notes

seems to me this would be a really nice flexible solution, and opens up the possibility of having many sheets for each app.

there are some tricky things that have to be worked out, but i think the general approach is sound.

there is no doubt that i will offer multiple ways to show/hide the info panel,
pop up window, full screen overlay, docked bar (with or without auto-hiding), double click tray.

i dont see any reason why i couldnt add an auto-activate on moving mouse to some corner of screen - the code is not complicated to do this.

i can already think of some other really cool things to add.

for example, i said for the app menu you could have multiple sheets, and then a My Notes page.

might also be nice to have a customizable page of urls related to the app don't you think? linking to 3rd party sites, etc.
seems to be something that would very well be suited for a cheat sheet type of app.

i can see that one substantial part of this project will not be coding per se, but in writing up guidelines for sheet authors, and making some example cheat sheet sets that show a good layout and format, so that we dont end up with each cheat sheet being completely looking different.  i hope i will get some help on that stuff from you guys.

ok, this project is definitely green lighted, and i am working on it now. it will be the next donationcoder.com app.

keep the ideas coming.

36996

Best ScreenCaster / Opinions?

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 12:12 PM »

i need some help here guys+gals, anyone want to try installing some of the demos and give us your impressions? see the list in part1 of the review for features we think are important.  also interested in gut-level impressions.

36997

Cheat Sheeter / Re: Finally, a robust keyboard shortcut app!

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 11:36 AM »

i've decided to use a menu bar instead of dropdown or tabs.. let's see how it goes - it will let us have a menu for Favorites, Recent, Application, All, so that it will be easy to organize cheat sheets and select them in different ways.

36998

Living Room / pc magazine issue came out today, cannon photo printers win top slots - i agree

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 11:18 AM »

this week's pc magazine came out with article on best photo printers.
canon took took top 2 slots (i990, pixma ip8500).

i've been waiting for an excuse to rave about my older pixma ip4000, and i guess this is my chance.

although some people love the strange appearance of these printers, i don't,
but i do LOVE the way they work, and perhaps as important, the software that comes with them.

i used to have hp color inkjet before this and i never liked it (897). the canon is a joy to use.
the really surprising thing to me what the easy-photoprint software that came free with the printer.
imagine my suprise when it turned out this free printing software was easier to use and the best software i could find for printing photos, even amongst all the commercial programs i looked at.  other programs may have more options, but i LOVE this printing software.

anyone who has requested a donationcoder.com postcard (see international visitors welcome message) - it's been printed using a canon ip4000, on these great little 4x6 and 5x7 inch postcard sized glossy photo paper sheets.

anyway, i love my canon printer, fast, great quality, great software.

36999

Cheat Sheeter / Re: Finally, a robust keyboard shortcut app!

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 10:43 AM »

great comments dragonrider.

yes i think the winkey idea may just die; having a single global hotkey to toggle the window is probably best.  so hit it once to show, and again to hide.  hotkey will be user-configurable of course.

i will also add the ability to dock it to the side of the screen and do that old autohide thing, so you can move mouse up to top of screen to cause it to drop into view and automatically get out of the way.  could be fun.. we'll have to see.

i agree, simply having a tab for each cheat sheet is not going to work when there might be 100 of them or more.  a drop down list might be more appropriate, or a menu bar with categories might be best, again we'll have to experiment and see..

detecting current application will be flexible, and will be able to look for patterns in window titlebars or owner exe's.  i think we should be able to do a good job of it.

i agree it should be easy to switch to system wide info, etc.
maybe tabs might be useful in switching between "open" cheat sheets? so that you could have a couple of your favorite ones "open" but on inactive tabs? alternatively, what i was originally thinking was that you might have multiple panels, one for current application help and one for system wide cheats/hints.  but maybe the idea of being able to choose a set of cheat sheets using a tab (or drop down) would be better.

transparency im going to have to play with; i'm in the camp that typically finds it not particularly useful and is confused by it - you're suggestion of having it visible by not the focus of keyboard input (so that you could still send hotkeys to the current program sounds intriguing but difficult).  this might be better suited for if we set the cheat sheet panel to dock to the side of the screen while working in the other app.. we'll have to experiment.

i think using html is the best bet in terms of flexibility.  as you say, writing an html editor is way outside the scope of this project, but there is a built in html editor activex with windows that i could use for minor tweaking.  i do agree though that the primary focus of this tool will be to display cheat sheets for programs, where the cheat sheets have been written by OTHER PEOPLE, who are more comfortable editing html.
ie we won't expect everyone with ultraedit to write their own cheat sheet, but rather that one or two people will write one, and users can pick which one they like best.

but advanced users who customize their hotkeys will want to be able to make minor modifications to reflect their custom hotkeys, so a minor editing feature for such things would be highly desired.  or at minimum a button to launch an external html editor.

one of the downsides to the flexibility of html is that it will inevitably make it harder for end users to edit the cheat sheets, as compared to if every cheat sheet was a simple text list of hotkey , feature pairs.

maybe we can write a little wizard like helper to get the best of both worlds later.

we will also want to establish some guidelines for suggested appearance of cheat sheets and a css style guide so that there is some consistency between most cheat sheets (though writers could ignore this if they wanted).

lets remember that we are talking about cheat sheet not just hotkey lists; a cheat sheet could contain other things besides hotkey tables, such as mini guides to doing certain things, etc.  so it might be nice to be able to be able to design like a "cheat sheet set" for an application; essentially a group of pages that the user could view.  but now it sounds like we are talking about full fledged help files.. have to be careful to keep it simple, after all the object is to provide a quick easy to read screen of info to help remind user what they need to know, not replace a full fledged help file.

37000

Cheat Sheeter / Re: Finally, a robust keyboard shortcut app!

« Last post by mouser on June 02, 2005, 10:00 AM »

i think we're going to have to get a test version of this up and running with the view that after people try it we may have to do some real revision to the user interface - its a util that will depend heavily on having a convenient gui and i don't yet have a great feeling for the best way to do it yet.  but i will try to put together my best attempt and we can go from there.

btw, i didnt mean to hijack this hotkey thread - i'm still very interested in hearing more suggestions for hotkey utilities, so let's keep the original thread intention alive, and i'll split off the cheat sheet stuff into a separate thread in a bit.