Recent Posts

676

Official Announcements / Re: JULY 2009 Discounts - Giveaway Winners Announced

« Last post by Nod5 on July 27, 2009, 08:00 AM »

Yay! Thank you! Monkey Dash will be great fun to play - I'm thrilled. Summer is raining away here anyway so there'll be plenty of time for gaming.

677

Find And Run Robot / Re: slenderFARR - a new skin for FARR

« Last post by Nod5 on July 26, 2009, 06:33 AM »

A tip for others that also prefer a minimal GUI: run this autohotkey script once after each FARR startup (usually once after each computer reboot) to disable the statusbar text.
It also has the positive sideeffect of hiding the horizontal line between the main input box and the (now empty) statusbar area until any matches are displayed.

[Select]

Control, Hide,, TPanel1, ahk_class TMainForm
ControlSetText, TPanel3, %A_Space%, ahk_class TMainForm

edit: I autorun the script after each reboot and then delay it for 2 minutes ( autohotkey command: "Sleep, 120000") so that it doesn't try to disable the statusbar before FARR has autostarted.

edit2: the sleep step above didn't work if the FARR window hadn't been opened once yet. This works better. Put it in autorun and change "pause" to whatever you use as FARR hotkey.

[Select]

~Pause::
winwaitactive, ahk_class TMainForm
Control, Hide,, TPanel1, ahk_class TMainForm
ControlSetText, TPanel3, %A_Space%, ahk_class TMainForm
exitapp

678

General Software Discussion / Re: JabRef: Nice Open Source Bibliography Tool (like EndNote)

« Last post by Nod5 on July 24, 2009, 02:55 PM »

Feature list from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendeley :

Free and interdisciplinary
Mendeley Desktop, based on Qt, runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.
Mendeley Web works with all major web browsers.
Automatic extraction of metadata from PDF papers on your computer.
Back up and synchronize your digital library with your private Mendeley Web account and across multiple computers.
PDF viewer with sticky notes, text highlighting and full-screen reading.
Access your private article library online.
Full-text search across all your papers.
Playlist-like organization of your library.
Smart filtering, tagging and PDF file renaming.
Create citations and bibliographies in Microsoft Word and OpenOffice.
Import documents and research papers from selected websites into your Mendeley Web library via a browser bookmarklet.
Create groups to share and collaboratively tag and annotate research papers with colleagues.
Create a research profile on Mendeley Web to share your latest publications, awards and upcoming conference travels.
Connect to like-minded researchers and follow their research profile updates.
Readership statistics about papers, authors and publication outlets in every academic discipline.
Statistics about your own article library.
Find other scholars and academics by research interests and geographic region.

Very promising! The main drawback is that it is proprietary. I haven't looked into the details on the database file and so on but there's a lock-in risk (just like with EndNote) that a program like this really shouldn't have.

But Mendeley looks interesting enough for some testdriving.

Some info on prominent backers here:
http://www.techcrunc...per-management-tool/

Zotero seems to be the best open source challenger to EndNote ATM but I think the tie to Firefox is a big problem. As far as I know it leaves those preferring chrome, opera and so on out in the cold. And it seems hard to add the types of features that Mendeley boasts into Zotero inside Firefox.

OpenOffice Bibliographic (OOoBib), http://bibliographic.openoffice.org/ , seems to move along VERY slowly. So it is out of the picture for the moment.

JabRef has moved through several versions since mousers first post, now at v2.5. Does someone here use it regularly and if so can you share some of your experiences?

Here's a list with some more alternatives, though it wasn't up to date on JabRef version so it might be dated/incomplete for other programs too.
http://en.wikipedia...._management_software

679

DC Website Help and Extras / lite dc forum version for mobile devices?

« Last post by Nod5 on July 17, 2009, 05:19 AM »

Is there some way to switch to a more minimal/lite version of the DC forum for better viewing on mobile devices with slow bandwidth and small screen?
I though I'd seen something like that but can't find it now. I searched here for wap iphone android mobile before posting.

feature idea:
It would be useful if the page
https://www.donation...action=unreadreplies
could come in a very mobile device friendly version. Maybe even one that does not require login but instead a long url that the user can generate and keep private. Example:
https://www.donation...Kswe3Fhuh2r3ihfu3ih2
To reply to posts, goto account settings and so on would still require a login.

680

Find And Run Robot / Re: how can execute a alias without hit enter key ?

« Last post by Nod5 on July 15, 2009, 07:10 AM »

confirmed working now! 

681

FARR Plugins and Aliases / Re: Plugin: AlbumDisplayer (BETA)

« Last post by Nod5 on July 15, 2009, 03:58 AM »

One year later...  

I'm trying to update this plugin to use a non-static index via Everything.exe !
I have done this:
- changed Fscript to call new autohotkeyscript getindex.exe
- set getindex.exe to search Everything.exe via command line through es.exe (re-using code from Skrollster's InEverything script - thanks!) and generate albumindex.txt index file on the fly
- changed FScript to thereafter load album.html
- changed album.html to not filter anything and instead display all in albumindex.txt

This works roughly but is not optimal. I need to reliably wait with the html loading until the indexing is completed.
As of now I do this:

FARR.setStrValue("launch", currentDirectory + "\\getindex.exe " + albtemp);
FARR.setstrvalue("launch", "sleep " + 200);
FARR.setStrValue("launch","htmlviewurl " + currentDirectory + "\\album.html");

But regardless of what sleep time I put in FARR often displays a blank html (with no thumbnails). Clicking in the FARR window and pressing F5 (refresh) displays the thumbnails correctly.

In general I'd like to re-work the plugin like this: (1) f(sub)script calls everything es.exe directly, (2) gets matches back IN MEMORY, (3) generates HTML output IN MEMORY and (4) pushes it to FARR. That would rid the need for an extra autohotkey, an index txt, a html file.

But I don't have the F(sub)script skills that it takes ATM - that's why I'm taking the detour through autohotkey. Does the above seem doable? Any pointers on commands needed? Especially on (2), (3) & (4). edit: and possibly on doing (1) by FARR internal calls to the TinyEv plugin instead.

edit: I would also like some way to let FARR keep the html output displayed even when new text is typed in the inputbox AS LONG AS that text stays within the plugin alias. I.e. if the user has typed "alb beatl" and now enters "alb beatle" then FARR first offloads the html, goes through the other plugin steps and then reloads the html. I want it to not offload the html if possible.

682

Find And Run Robot / Re: how can execute a alias without hit enter key ?

« Last post by Nod5 on July 15, 2009, 03:44 AM »

Mouser, dolaunch seems to have changed in  2.70.01 & 2.71.01.
Before the alias "test" with this command "test | dolaunch htmlviewurl %FARRDIR%\MyLocalData\test.html" displayed the htlm and keept it open in FARR. Now it is briefly opened and then immediately unloaded.

683

Finished Programs / Re: HotkeyRing - One hotkey to rule all others (with plugin system)! AKA JustEnter

« Last post by Nod5 on July 14, 2009, 04:04 AM »

suggestion: to handle apps that have no hotkey, replace line 173 with:

[Select]

if SendInputs contains ControlFocus
{
StringSplit, xarray, SendInputs,`,
ControlFocus, %xarray2% , %xarray3%
xarray2 =
xarray3 =
}
else
 Send, %SendInputs%

Then controlfocus settings could be added via ini like so:

Maxthon.exe.ini (for Maxthon Classic)

[Select]

[Main]
SystemVersion = 1
Total = 1
Input1= ControlFocus,Edit2,ahk_class IEFrame

684

Finished Programs / Re: HotkeyRing - One hotkey to rule all others (with plugin system)! AKA JustEnter

« Last post by Nod5 on July 13, 2009, 01:15 PM »

A hotkeyhotkey - nice!  
Great idea justice. There's definitely a need for something like this. I can think of three commands that a standard hotkey like this would be useful for: (1) focus the main input box, (2) undo/reopen last tab, (3) search (though ctrl+F is getting more and more standardized I think).

ctrl+§, shift+§ could be good candidates for (2) & (3).

The fact that there isn't already a standard hotkey for "focus main input box" -- as compared to copy, paste, close, dragging and dropping and so on -- is symptomatic I think. GUIs nowadays are more and more driven by smart input boxes.

685

FARR Plugins and Aliases / Re: Post your FARR v2 Plugin Idea Requests Here - Plugin Writers Read In

« Last post by Nod5 on July 11, 2009, 03:35 AM »

I would love to see a plugin that connects FARR with the GMarks extension for Firefox. 

-thancock20 (July 10, 2009, 11:48 AM)

Yes, that would be nice. See this thread for some related discussion
https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=16942.0

686

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: sidebar gadget!

« Last post by Nod5 on July 10, 2009, 02:37 AM »

Another quick idea: use autohotkey to make a script that displays an always on top graphic that acts as an open/close button for whatever launcher application you want to use. An even simpler alternative would be a custom desktop icon, but then you have size restraints and not always on top.

687

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: sidebar gadget!

« Last post by Nod5 on July 09, 2009, 03:41 PM »

The launcher part of this (including launching command line arguments and everything else) can probably be achieved with FARR. But I don't think it can do the graphics part. Is the graphic essential to what you're aiming to use this gadget for?

688

Finished Programs / Re: InEverything - Search inside files using the Everything search engine

« Last post by Nod5 on July 07, 2009, 02:05 PM »

Hi Skrommel, I just tried this. I placed it in my Everything folder (es.exe is in there too). But when it starts the buttons are greyed out and the titlebar says "Waiting for Everything..." for about 15 seconds until it times out with "Unable to start Everything!".

Same problem if Everything.exe was running or not (if not running then InEverything starts but then despite that gives the problem above).

BTW, have you thought about converting this into a FARR plugin?

689

Find And Run Robot / Re: Help for a new user please

« Last post by Nod5 on July 06, 2009, 04:53 AM »

A quick illustration of my suggestion above. The other regexp fields would become visible once the user enters something in the first regexp box.


chrisclark, do you mean the hamNotes plugin? I haven't tried it yet, but explain more what you have trouble with. Installing? Or basic use? There's also a special forum thread for it here: https://www.donation...ndex.php?topic=18850.

690

Find And Run Robot / Re: Help for a new user please

« Last post by Nod5 on July 05, 2009, 03:47 PM »

I haven't really thought about the "Group Alias" term before either but, given what bayesian wrote, how about changing all mentionings of "Group Alias" and "Aliases/Groups" in FARR to just "Alias"?

A drawback with that: some might associate the term "alias" to one-one matching only i.e. a single search phrase is matched to a single file or action. Then they miss out on FARR's more powerful alias features. But all in all I think the change could lead to less confusion.

The help text on the new alias window could then be simplified to something like:

"An alias ties a keyword or regular expression to some results (files or actions). Enter the alias in FARR to list the results."

Then mark the two (main) steps in the GUI more:
"Group Alias Name" could be "1. Alias name" (in bold, larger font)
"Results..." could be "2. Results..." (in bold, larger font)

The design of the results part of the window is crucial since that's where the most complex stuff happens. FARR is getting so powerful here that it seems hard to give feature tips in the GUI that a new user will really understand. Maybe better then to trim the description, add dropdowns (or something similar) for quickly inserting commands/special search strings and then just provide direct links to the relevant help sections. An advantage with such dropdowns is that the advanced commands the are explicitly listed in one place there in the GUI. A new user can then see that there are more powerful features to use and they have terms (from the dropdowns) to look up in the help file, should they want to read more.

691

Find And Run Robot / Re: suggestion: tiny enhancements for options GUI & helpfile

« Last post by Nod5 on July 05, 2009, 11:27 AM »

re no 8: I discovered in your answer to the other thread that there already is a context menu shortcut for going straight to the new alias window. Great! I didn't know about that but it is that kind of shortcut I was thinking of. (Detail: it might be better to put the "New Alias Group..." at the top of the right click submenu since users with many aliases might miss it otherwise - I had to scroll down in the submenu to discover it.)

It still makes sense to add a special command for it so that keyboard centred users can access it through an alias or hotkey.

692

Find And Run Robot / Re: suggestion: tiny enhancements for options GUI & helpfile

« Last post by Nod5 on July 05, 2009, 08:38 AM »

Some more new (and old) ideas on FARR options enhancements (from some quick brainstorming just now):

4. modest suggestion: lists > aliases should as default always have the "myaliases.alias" selected (reason: almost all users going to lists > aliases are going for that, I think)

5. radical suggestion: maybe the GUI does not need to separate the alias/group files at all? FARR could remove the dropdown box and instead behind the scene add aliases from all such files into one single list. "the select alias..." dropdown and the yellow box could be replaced with a checkbox to filter built in aliases on/off and an inputbox for filtering the list based on alias name (i.e. a FARR in FARR - that will add great recursive cred mouser!   )

Middle way: only two separate lists: combine all built in aliases to one list, combine all user added aliases to another (= default list)

6. add a NEW ALIAS button at the top (rationale: right click + "add new entry" is slower and harder to find)

7. rename "add new entry" to "add new alias" or just "add new"

8. add a special command that immediately opens a blank "edit group alias" window for a new entry in the myaliases.alias file. That allows for starting to setup a new alias in a single step from the FARR input box (a button click, an alias, or a hotkey). I.e. similar to what "gooptions" already does for opening the options window. Also add that command to the "helpfarr" list.

9. add some quick way to access current search folder modifier keywords from the "edit group alias" window - maybe a dropdown or a right click submenu?

10. in the "edit group alias" window hide some of the regex windows until a user enters something in the "Regular Expression Pattern" box (rationale: makes the window less complicated for new users)

693

Find And Run Robot / Re: Help for a new user please

« Last post by Nod5 on July 05, 2009, 08:01 AM »

Hi chris! I'm answering as a FARR user. FARR has a lot of options. That gives power but can also be confusing in the beginning. But keep at it and you'll find your way around the options pretty soon!  

Steps to create an alias:
- bring up the FARR window
- go to options (alt + O)
- select lists > aliases
- select myaliases.alias in the top dropdown
- right click anywhere in the big list, choose "add new entry"
in the popup window:
- name the alias to whatever searchphrase you want
(- enter a regexp pattern for detailed control (OPTIONAL) )
- enter results that you want to find and launch with the alias (you can drag and drop files to that box)
- OK OK

more complex aliases:
- look at some of the built in aliases for examples
- see the help file for details on commands
- or post a specific question and describe what you're aiming for

I don't think there's a PDF of the helpfile.

694

General Software Discussion / Re: August 2009: 30 Days of DonationCoder Screencasts

« Last post by Nod5 on July 04, 2009, 10:42 AM »

Nice idea mouser!  Looking forward to these. I'll try to screencast something too.

695

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful

« Last post by Nod5 on July 04, 2009, 05:47 AM »

In relation to the findbar tweaks above: the Stylish style "Findbar: Top Left On Menubar" http://userstyles.org/styles/15881
decreases the findbar width and moves its position from the lower window edge to be placed on top of the menu bar (file, edit ...). That saves some screen space.

696

General Software Discussion / Re: alternatives to Powerpoint for educational use

« Last post by Nod5 on June 26, 2009, 04:52 PM »

Google Docs: Presentation!

note: I've read about it and have friends who use it but have not much personal experience with it. It is worth checking out I think.

To start it log in to Google Docs as usual and go new > presentation.

overview (from 2008):
http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=omUhhCEpMLA

Google Docs: Working offline (with google gears browser add-on)
http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=7cyHYEfpRVA
(note: I haven't tried it with presentations myself)

Since Google docs files can be shared it should be pretty easy for a group of teachers to set up a common pool of presentations to work on and use.

697

Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR Release v2.107.04 beta - Sep 23, 2012

« Last post by Nod5 on June 23, 2009, 01:33 PM »

This request is a repost from a while back I think but I can't find the other post I made.

The FARR statusbar displays text on startup even when the GUI was just opened and no text has been entered:

Maybe add some way to disable the "Found _ results in _ seconds." message (or replace it with " ")? Or more radically, to disable all statusbar text.

698

Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR Release v2.107.04 beta - Sep 23, 2012

« Last post by Nod5 on June 23, 2009, 01:22 PM »

I also have the black flash in 2.66.01 though I'm not sure if that's a new thing or not. I am using a slenderFARR skin mod and transparency.

See also this post (and #795 further below it) from 2007:
https://www.donation...24.msg70341#msg70341
I don't remember if the issue was solved back then. Either it was or I just blocked it out. If the latter, then I blame dandersahn for bringing it to my attention again 

699

Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR Release v2.107.04 beta - Sep 23, 2012

« Last post by Nod5 on June 22, 2009, 11:10 AM »

"dolaunch" works great! 

I now use it like this: for some very often used apps I've made aliases consisting of one letter three times in a row. example: the regex alias "^fff$" triggers: dolaunch C:\path\firefox.exe . Such letter aliases are speedy to type and there's slight chance of launching the alias by mistake. I'm now also thinking of making a "zzz" alias to immediately shut down the computer

700

FARR Plugins and Aliases / Re: hamNotes (A FARR2 Plugin by hamradio) - (Teaser Enclosed)

« Last post by Nod5 on June 20, 2009, 09:45 AM »