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4851

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.9.1.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 31, 2011, 02:02 PM »

I haven't been getting what you talk about with the arrow keys.

I removed the timer to automatically get rid of hanging comments because it bogged it down.  When you click on any Explorer window with the mouse, including 'x' to close it, it will kill a hanging comment.  To get rid of a hanging comment press Esc key anywhere. The program lets Esc pass through.  So be aware if you have a dialog open that closes on Esc it will close too.

Can you tell me a bit more about arrow keys not working?

4852

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.9.1.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 30, 2011, 08:45 PM »

Comment Explorer 1.9.1.0 I got rid of the TimeOut option. It caused the app to bog. Now the ToolTip will stay unless you Up or Down or Click in Explorer or press Esc key anywhere.

The Purge and Backup commands are disabled in FolderMode.  But Compact Comments works in either mode.  If the Dictionary is currently empty it will pop up a dialog "No Comments to Compact."  On success it's silent.

4853

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.9.0.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 30, 2011, 04:40 PM »

Comment Explorer 1.9.0.0 Now the ToolTip is shown for a comment if the file is clicked with the Left Mouse Button.

Seems there are 2 list classes in Explorer Windows.  SysListView321 is the one that needs a second kick before it will copy to clipboard. Maybe it has more of a delay getting the focus when you click, I'm not sure. But at least it seems to work every time.

Edit: it's probably a good idea to set the TimeOut option in the .ini file to 3000 or so to improve response.  When you click in one folder to show a ToolTip, then click in another folder the Timer will be running on the ToolTip.  If you mainly use Up and Down keys then you might want a longer time out since hitting the key will clear the tip right away.  But if you mainly use mouse a shorter time out would be better.

I'm still trying to figure out why some folders, the file pane is DirectUIHWND3 and some are SysListView321.  Seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. SysListView321 has the slow response.

4854

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.8.5.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 30, 2011, 04:33 PM »

Thanks for using it.

Version 1.9 shows the tooltip using the mouse.  I found that there are 2 different list classes in Explorer Window.  One the response is snappy.  The other it misses copying on the first go.  Depending on which one happens to be used in the Explorer window, the mouse response will be better or worse.

The Up and Down keys are instant.  Don't ask me why.

I'll post the update notice.

4855

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.8.5.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 30, 2011, 02:09 PM »

I don't really understand the philosophy of the program. Because for me is much better when I have activated the program that if I highlight the file automatically show the comment.

At the present moment you don't see automatically the comment. So you have to go think in the program all time is not confortable.

In other experiment I observ and intermitent behaviour and sometimes see the comment and other dissapear.
By example : If you have previously assign the comment to a icon and use the arrow down to navigate then show the comment .

I am of the opinion that is the program is activated I have to see the comment in all situations when the icon is highlighted.

Best Regards

-Contro (August 30, 2011, 05:27 AM)

Then I guess it's not for you.  I tried adding Left Mouse Button click to the hotkeys. It's not dependable.  It would display the ToolTip when selecting a file at times, but not every time. It seemed to be related to the number of entries in a folder.  There's probably too many things in the system already hooked to the mouse as it is.

Thanks for trying it out. If you find anything better please let me know. I may use it myself.

Ideally it should be built into Windows. I don't understand why they have an item available in Details View called Comment but they don't let you enter a comment.

The advantage of my method is it will work the same on XP and later.  Not change with every Windows flavor.  But now you see why I hate working on this problem. I've been messing with it on and off for over 10 years. I don't see any other superior solutions by anyone else.  Therefore I have to conclude there is no good solution. Only work-arounds.

4856

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.8.5.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 29, 2011, 09:01 PM »

Comment Explorer 1.8.5.0 Minor fixes and adjustments.

@Contro, this may fix the issue with the tooltip update/refresh.

I exit the hotkey routine if comments are being entered or there's file access.
This was screening out the tool tip clear call.  I was relying on a timer call
to clear the tooltip. I put the call to clear the tooltip at the top.  Now the
timer should only be used if you arrow to a file that shows a tip and leave it there.


See if there's less lag now.

4857

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.8.3.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 29, 2011, 05:48 PM »

Comment Explorer 1.8.3.0 Added FolderMode option to .ini file.  If FolderMode=0 the program works just like now.  If FolderMode=1 then a local comment data file is created in each folder when a comment for a file in that folder is made.  Only the filename will be used as key instead of the entire path.

This should make it easier to just copy a whole folder with included comment file onto a new machine.  Also it avoids the drive letter change and change in folder structure issues.

The down side is you don't have a global data file for everything on the system.

Global mode may be convenient but I recommend only using it for download folders on a drive that's not likely to change letters.  For example if you have a bunch of commented files in a folder on a USB drive that was drive x: when you made the comments, and pops up as drive v: when you plug it in, to get the comment lookup working you'd have to force the USB to be drive x: or manually edit the comment file.

If you have a large download folder using local mode with many comments, you can just drag and drop it to a new machine since only the filename is used as key.

Not elegant but it's tough when there's no real mechanism to just declare an alias for a drive.

When FolderMode is active the Back Up Comments command in the Tray Menu is disabled.

4858

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.8.1.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 29, 2011, 05:28 PM »

I'm not sure I understand.  CommentExplorer only sends the currently selected file when selected with Up or Down key. If there is no comment, nothing is shown.  If you are on the file you just added a comment to, press the arrow to go to a different file, then back. It should pop up the tool tip.

The reason I did it this way if I used the Windows Mouse Hover tooltip before. The font is small and hard to read.  There's a lag time before the tooltip pops up. You have to register each file extension type to get it.  This way I can use larger fonts. The response is nearly instantaneous. Any other way would hog system resources.

Also if you don't see any ToolTip and you know you commented the file, right click the Tray Icon and see if Arrow Tooltips has a Check next to it.  If not, it won't show anything.  Click it in the menu or double click the tray icon to toggle it.

This is in the Readme.txt file.

edit: It will only show the comment in Explorer when one file is selected using the Up or Down key.  If you held down shift to select multiple files, you can comment them in a loop but to show the comment only select one file using Up or Down.

4859

General Software Discussion / Re: KeyDrive 2.6.0.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 28, 2011, 08:02 PM »

KeyDrive 2.6.0.0 Made ToolTip text easier to read.  Red font indicates an error.

4860

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.8.1.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 28, 2011, 07:15 PM »

Comment Explorer 1.8.1.0 Fixed Esc key bug.

4861

Mouser's Zone / Re: Im going to be mostly away from the internet this week (Aug 29 - Sep 2, 2011

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 28, 2011, 06:20 PM »

if you can read this i can post from my kindle.

-mouser (August 28, 2011, 06:17 PM)

Hmm, never tried one but I heard it's matchless.
Can't say as I have a burning desire to own one though.
Can't hold a candle to a PC. 

4862

Mouser's Zone / Re: Im going to be mostly away from the internet this week (Aug 29 - Sep 2, 2011)

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 28, 2011, 06:19 PM »

Hmm, the proverbial While the cat's away...

4863

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.8.0.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 28, 2011, 03:13 PM »

Comment Explorer 1.8.0.0 Added Control-F11 Hotkey to Copy Comments for selected files to another folder.  I took the easy way out.  A BrowseForFolder dialog appears.  Once the target folder is selected, the comments are copied in the Dictionary and Comment File. The target folder is opened in Explorer and you are prompted to drag & drop the files.

I added a Quick Start section to the top of the Readme.txt file.
No need to read the minutia after it if things work as expected.

4864

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.7.7.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 28, 2011, 02:07 AM »

No version update but I edited the Readme.txt file.

4865

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.7.7.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 28, 2011, 12:47 AM »

Comment Explorer 1.7.7.0 Added Edit Ini File command to Tray Menu.

Also when the ToolTip is showing on Explorer Window you can press Esc to close it before the time out.

4866

Living Room / Re: Exploding star to be visible from Earth within a fortnight.

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 27, 2011, 07:53 PM »

If Sol explodes I just hope it's during the day.  The bright light in contrast with the night sky could produce a hell of a lot of eye strain.

-MilesAhead (August 27, 2011, 07:39 PM)

You see, thats the thing right there...There will be NO night sky while its happening, it will act as a second sun, causing 100% daylight for 24 hours a day, for who knows how long lol.

-Stephen66515 (August 27, 2011, 07:45 PM)

You really shouldn't explain jokes. It's bad form.

4867

Living Room / Re: Exploding star to be visible from Earth within a fortnight.

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 27, 2011, 07:39 PM »

If Sol explodes I just hope it's during the day.  The bright light in contrast with the night sky could produce a hell of a lot of eye strain.

4868

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.7.6.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 27, 2011, 07:28 PM »

Comment Explorer 1.7.6.0 Minor improvements. Notification when comment file back up succeeds, fails, or comment file doesn't exist.

I'm still mulling over the easiest way to implement and use Copy File(s) with Comment(s). If anyone has any ideas feel free to post.  The drag & drop built into Windows requires a shell extension.  Been there, done that with TipOff.  The Hotkey approach has the advantage of using the clipboard.

For example I could add a Hotkey to copy selected files and add entries to the comment file for the new location.  Perhaps Control-F11.  It could show  BrowseForFolder Dialog or another approach.  BrowseForFolder isn't so bad as long as it has the input line at the bottom.  That way instead of clicking down the tree the target path can be pasted.

4869

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.7.5.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 27, 2011, 06:51 PM »

Comment Explorer 1.7.5.0 Improved exit routines.

edit: I doubt this would come into play in real-world use.  The exit routine checks a flag to see if the comment file is being worked.  A purge operation perhaps.  The system is shut down or the user logs off.  The exit routine sets a timer to call itself again in one second.  This allows a chance for the file operation to complete.  I suppose it could happen if Comment Explorer was on a slow USB key drive.  But I think you'd still have to enter a hell of a lot of comments before it came into play.

4870

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.7.0.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 27, 2011, 05:14 PM »

Splendid. I try again and again and will comment
 

-Contro (August 27, 2011, 04:20 PM)

Thank you.  Feel free to express your preferences.  If I can figure out how to do something in a straight-forward reliable way I'll implement it.

4871

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.7.0.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 27, 2011, 03:38 PM »

Comment Explorer 1.7.0.0 Now several files/folders may be selected for commenting.

Press Shift-F11 hotkey to comment selected files/folders.  The InputBox will be displayed in a loop with the base filename of the current item included in the prompt.  Pressing Cancel, Esc, or closing the InputBox without entering a comment will abort the remainder of the commenting loop.

Note that if you select a folder and press Shift-F11, the comment will be for the folder itself.  All items in the folder will not be commented. (A folder containing 400 files, man I'd be too tired to type in all that!)

4872

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.6.0.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 27, 2011, 01:43 PM »

ToDo List:

Select multiple files then press Shift-F11 to comment each in turn.

Copy file(s) with associated comment(s).


The first enhancement should be easy to implement.
The second I'll have to consider the best method and experiment a bit.

4873

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Allow commenting of files in directory listing

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 27, 2011, 03:55 AM »

aurelius I'm glad you requested this. I finally molded this into something I want to use.  Here's a screen shot of a commented file selected in Explorer.  It's the installer for Newbin news reader.

4874

General Software Discussion / Re: Comment Explorer 1.6.0.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 27, 2011, 12:02 AM »

Comment Explorer 1.6.0.0 Now Clipboard text is saved when Up and Down keys are active in Explorer.  Renaming files in Explorer using the Up and Down keys should work as expected. Non text data is not preserved.

4875

Living Room / Re: Good Free Windows Grammar Checker?

« Last post by MilesAhead on August 26, 2011, 11:24 PM »

Mrs. Ramsey, but she's getting old and has slowed down.....   

Jim

-J-Mac (August 26, 2011, 11:14 PM)

I'd rather have Mavis Bacon with 2 eggs over easy, home fries, toast and coffee.