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Last post Author Topic: CLIPBOARD HELP+SPELL LATEST VERSION INFO THREAD - v2.46.0 - Dec 30, 2019  (Read 465856 times)

mouser

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Clipboard Help+Spell Latest Release

Download latest stable version from Program Web page: https://www.donation...lipboardhelpandspell

Alpha version with support for extended clipboard formats/unicode/etc.: https://www.donation...ndex.php?topic=49490






Watch an older 15 minute overview video of CHS in action: here



v2.46.1 - Dec 30, 2019
  • [Improvement] Tweak option for database temporary directory now shows the actual directory being used.
  • [BugFix] Fix for temp database mode option #3.
  • [Improvement] Settings file location shown in about box.

v2.45.1 - Apr 28, 2019
  • [MinorImprovement] Excerpt of last clip is now shown in print menu item caption
  • [BugFix] Crash could occur if manually editing a clip field and then typing something in search bar
  • [Feature] You can now specify a list of applications to monitor the keyboard from, with all others being ignored.
  • [MinorImprovement] Minor optimizations/improvements to last active window information.
  • [Feature] You can now set a hotkey to copy the text under the cursor (by triggering a Ctrl+C) and then APPENDING it to last clip.  Useful for building up clips.
  • [BugFix] Sometimes the text put on the clipboard from an ignored application could be stored after switching to another application.
  • [MinorImprovement] Clarified instructions on Capture Options about last active window.


v2.42.0 - April 25, 2017
  • [Improvement] Deleting clip(s) keeps the selection where it was, does not move the list of clips to top or bottom; other situations where clip list position was lost are now fixed as well.
  • [BugFix] Custom group filter sql expressions were being capped at 500 character length.
  • [Improvement] Statusbar now shows linecount of each clip.
  • [BugFix] When StayOnTop option is set (View menu), some dialogs were showing behind the main form.
  • [Feature] New (customizable) hotkey to quickly toggle clipboard monitoring on and off.
  • [Improvement] The hotkey that used to be used to trigger a copy even when CHS monitoring is disabled now does double duty, and can be used to tell CHS to trigger a copy and *NOT* store the clip if CHS monitoring is enabled.

v2.41.0 - Mar 24, 2017
  • [MajorFeature] First High-dpi compatible version beta.
  • [BugFix] Newlines could be pasted in clip title edit, making it seem empy [thx IainB].

v2.39.0 - Dec 22, 2016
  • [Improvement] Significantly improved performance when browsing through clips and adding new clips.
  • [Improvement] Home and End keys now go to top and bottom of grid.
  • [Improvement] New option to not update last view date of clips when browsing (better performance).
  • [Improvement] Path to database folder now shown in options dialog on Database Backup tab.
  • [NewFeature] You can now set custom printer font for printing clips.


v2.36.0 BETA - May 13, 2016
  • [MinorFeature] Added option (Tweaks tab) to disable default behavior of focusing search edit box when toggling display of main window.
  • [MinorFeature] Added option (Interface tab) to not flash/change tray icon when copying clips.
  • [MinorChange] Changed the default values on the maintenance tab to wait longer before moving clips from New to Old section and from Old to Recycle bin.
  • [MinorBugFix] You can now search for - as a single character.
  • [BugFix] Fixed bug where clip title edit field could temporarily disappear if previous clip was an image and window was minimized before capturing a text clip.


v2.34.0 - Jan 4, 2016
  • [BugFix] The quick-paste popup menu width was being shown too wide sometimes (due to the "Additional acctions with current clip" menu item).
  • [BugFix] Try#2 at fixing bug when using "paste clip using sendkeys" from right-click menu, the SendKeys special characters were being replace (see here); now you need to start a clip with {sendkeys} if you expect to have such replacements performed.

v2.32.0 - Nov 1, 2015
  • [BugFix] Manually created notes were forcing the clip naming template in options to be replaced with "Note" (!)
  • [BugFix] Small font sizes and display anomalies when using font/dpi options in Windows.
  • [BugFix] Attempt to fix occasional altkey being seen as down if using ctrl+alt+V hotkey to paste stack items.
  • [BugFix] When using "paste clip using sendkeys" from right-click menu, the SendKeys special characters were being replace (see here); now you need to start a clip with {sendkeys} if you expect to have such replacements performed.
  • [BugFix] The Ctrl+F hotkey to go to search field, as well as default behavior of jumping to search field when toggling display was broken; this could even sometimes lead to program becoming unresponsive.
  • [BugFix] Ctrl+F hotkey to go to search field now also works when editing clip.
  • [BugFix] It was not possible to edit clips when a search filter string was specified.
  • [Improvement] Changing text in search field will now preserve the currently selected row as long as it matches the ongoing search.
  • [BugFix] A couple of formatting preset options were not being remembered when saved to modification preset files.
  • [BugFix] Options to display clip date when pasting were showing wrong dates (note that it will always show the creation date not last modification date).

v2.29.0 - Apr 28, 2015
  • [Feature] Added option (tweaks tab) to not obey programs (like password utilities) that put stuff on the clipboard and mark it as to-be-ignored by clipboard tools.
  • [Feature] Added option (tweaks tab) to go to TOP of grid list when selecting new group; improvement to keeping selected row visible and focused when adding new clips.
  • [Feature] Added option to control frequency of automatic clipboard re-establishment.
  • [Feature] Added hotkeys to print the last clip, and to re-establish clipboard chain.
  • [Feature] Added new sorting/ordering option to the text modification/transformation dialog to reverse the order of lines.
  • [Feature] Added new sorting/ordering option to the text modification/transformation dialog to randomize the order of lines.
  • [Documentation] Added better help to clipboard re-establishment options.
  • [Documentation] Added better help for those who encounter Database Error 11013.

v2.26.0 - October 8, 2014
  • [Feature] Hotkey to display main window (Ctrl+Alt+W by default) now toggles display of main window.
  • [Feature] You can now right-click on a clip in the quick-paste-menu item to show the "more actions" menu for that clip (instead of having to hold shift and left-click).
  • [Feature] Attempt to make CHS smarter about moving to last row in view (should only happen now when the newly added item is visible); currently experimental -- can be disabled on Tweaks tab.
  • [Feature] Added "Add note" to right-click CHS tray menu.
  • [Feature] Quick toggle of inline/live spelling of memos with button on memo toolbar.
  • [Feature] Group ID# now shown in Edit Group box.
  • [Feature] New clip grid menu items for creating new groups based on selection (moves clips) or search (creates a virtual group).
  • [Feature] Group tree drop target is now highlighting while dragging over it.
  • [Feature] Quick search/filter now provides a drop-down of favorite searches; set favorites in the Misc. Options 2 tab.
  • [Feature] Added icons to group/tree right-click context menu.
  • [Feature] Better statusbar info about selected group; reports total # clips in view and # selected.
  • [Feature] Added an option to not optimize database on startup if it has already been done recently (default set to 30 days).
  • [Feature] Manual verify/repair database operation now performs optimization if no errors were found.
  • [BugFix] Experimental fix to improve directory existence checks for network folders.
  • [BugFix] Fixed bug interacting with some other programs (e.g. TinySpell).
  • [BugFix] Right/Shift-clicking on quick-paste menu could sometimes trigger right-click context menu of the application under the cursor.
  • [BugFix] After moving/deleting, selection rows were not cleared.

v2.24.01 - July 14, 2014
  • By default now if you copy a clip from the main window, it will be re-added to the CHS database -- usually this will mean bumping it to the top of the quick paste list.  You can change this behavior on the Clipboard options tab.
  • Ctrl+C from the clip memo window now copies that text to the clipboard.
  • You can now customize the title of manually created "note" clips.
  • New option for what to do when user triggers a stack-pop but there is no more clips in the stack.
  • New import option (available in File menu and also in clip right-click menu as "split"); lets you import text with each line as a new clip.
  • Ratings column now has good icons with ratings from 0-9.
  • Flag column can now be edited with any user text.
  • ClipType column now can be edited with any text.

v2.23.01 - Nov 22, 2013
  • [MajorFeature] You can now define quick actions that can be performed on clips.  These can be web url searches or local program executions.  They are shown in the quick-paste popup menu and on the main window text memo toolbar.
  • [MajorFeature] You can now highlight terms in the clip text memo.  By default it will match any filter you are using to limit clips shown but you can override it.  You can also hit F3 to jump to next occurrence of the term when in the text memo window.
  • [MinorFeature] Added icons to clip grid right-click context menu.
  • [MajorFeature] Rewrote clip export procedure.  There are also now some options in Backup tab so you can specify which fields get exported and how to handle newlines.  You can also now export only the currently selected clips from the grid right-click menu.


v2.20.01 - Aug 31, 2013
  • [BugFix] The "paste entire stack as block" function would not paste more than 25 clips.
  • [Improvement] Maximum text capture size limit now increased from 10k bytes to 1mb (default changed to 32k).
  • [Improvement] Installer now offers to install desktop icon.
  • [Improvement] Custom spelling dictionaries are now stored in users config directory (which will be in App directory if portable or on xp, but in Documents subdirectory on Vista/Win7/Win8).
  • [Improvement] Added Export button to database maintenance tab in options to export all clips (you can also export visible clips at any time from main File menu).
  • [Improvement] Re-wrote the Modify Format/Case dialog help section.
  • [Improvement] Options dialog now has a Cancel button to abandon any changes made.
  • [Improvement] Merge separator is now a MRU-based combo box list.
  • [Improvement] Merge dialog now has a Copy button to copy the merged text to clipboard; hit Cancel afterwards and new clip will not be added to database.  Useful for quick merging without creating new clips.
  • [BugFix] Custom hotkeys set to Ctrl+C or Ctrl+V will be ignored as they cannot be used (you can of course use them with modifiers like alt/shift/winkey).
  • [BugFix] SaveAs and Printer configuration dialogs were sometimes showing behind main window.
  • [BugFix] When Favorites were being shown on root of quick paste popup menu, only 1 was being shown.


v2.19.01 - June 12, 2013
  • [BugFix] The "Print Last Clip" menu item was sometimes printing an incorrect clip instead of the last one captured.
  • [BugFix] The Modify Format dialog sometimes appeared behind main window and was hidden by it.
  • [MinorFeature] The Modify Format dialog now can add a sequence of letters (A,B,C) as well as numbers, to lists.

v2.18.01 - May 18, 2013
  • [BugFix] Several bug fixes to try to handle applications that CHS has had trouble capturing from in the past (Zim Desktop) and that generate excessive clipboard messages, and to avoid delayed captures in Open Office / Libre Office due to a bug in those programs.
  • [BugFix] Fixed disk-not-in-drive error and error creating initial database lock file that could happen on some startups.
  • [Feature] Added option to check for updates at startup.

v2.17.01 - October 22, 2012
  • [Feature] Added new quick template, paste template menu, print template, and quick-template hotkey; all let you configure more elaborate text templates to be used when pasting or printing clips to add additional information and formatting.  See "Paste Template" tab in options.
  • [Improvement] When manually adding new clip via NewClip button, it will automatically be selected regardless of grid sorting.
  • [BugFix] When CHS was set to StayOnTop, options form was showing behind main form.
  • [BugFix] Attempt to fix bug with Ctrl+Alt+C forced Ctrl+C sending (capture beep sound should no longer play if a new clip was not captured).
  • [Feature] Added new quickpaste popup menu item to show additional actions menu (shift+click menu) for first clip.
  • [Feature] Added paste-as-file action in quick paste shift clip menu; see Paste As File option tab for default filename templates.  This idea was copied from a cool utility by DC member c.gingerich called "Paste As File" (see http://starpunch.net/?page=8).
  • [Feature] Maximum excerpt size in database now increased to 255; new option on Tweak tab to change max size of excerpt actually captured.
  • [Feature] New clip hint on quick-paste menu shows maximum excerpt size, and with newlines preserved in hint.
  • [Feature] Added new column for each clip record to store the active window title (WindowTitle).

v2.13.01 - July 6, 2012
  • [BugFix] Paste menu for Favorite group (and other virtual groups) was not showing clips that were manually placed into that group.
  • [Minor Feature] Added balloon tray warning the first time an image exceeds configured limits on clipboard save size.
  • [Minor Feature] Added option to not autofit column headers in grid view (may be useful if you have a very large column)
  • [Feature] For portable users, program now checks for ConfigDir_Default.ini if ConfigDir.ini not found; prevents your custom ConfigDir.ini file from being overwritten when unpacking portable distribution zip.
  • [MajorFeature] Executable and setup are now digitally signed for extra security; instead of a zip-compatible installer, there are now 2 separate downloads for installer and portable version.
  • [Feature] Added new check for text from commandline tools triggered via Modification Presets, so they can be checked for Cancel or Error.
  • [BugFix] Modification dialog was opening up with checkboxes checked for "custom tool" by default.
  • [BugFIx] Sendkeys method was not sending tabs correctly to some apps.

v2.11.01 - November 13, 2011
  • [Feature] Revamped hash/index based dupe checking; should be faster in checking duplicates.
  • [BugFix] Fixed an application crash that could occur when dupe checking was enabled on some applications like Open Office calc -- perhaps related to large clips.
  • [BugFix] Tab order in quick-add dialog fixed.

v2.10.01 - October 29, 2011
  • [Major Bugfix] Fixed persistant dbisam database errors that some users were encountering; thanks mark and spknapp.
  • [Feature] Added option for regular expression search and replace to restrict to single lines or not; added info on using group replacements for regex.
  • [Bugfix] Clearing the quick search filter wit the keyboard sometimes did not reset the filtered display.
  • [Feature] Added simple modification dialog item for stripping text before or after some pattern.
  • [Feature] Added custom hotkey to paste the current clipboard contents as plaintext.
  • [Feature] Added button and menu item to browse clip image directory.
  • [Bugfix] Miscelaneous small UI bug fixes.
  • [Feature] You can now customize the colors and fonts of the main window panels.
  • [Feature] Redesigned the CHS format modification dialog.  See this thread on the DC forum for more discussion.
  • [Major Feature] You can now configure custom user tools/scripts to run when saved formatters are invoked.
  • [Feature] Improved CRC check of image clips to avoid making duplicate clip copies.
  • [Feature] Added quick-paste pop-up option to paste clip using sendkeys method (available when you shift+click on an item); this can be useful when you want to paste into a dos box or in situations where Ctrl+V is not accepted.

v2.06.01 - September 18, 2011
  • [BugFix] The information about the executable process for some application windows was not being parsed properly -- causing CHS to attribute captures to incorrect applications sometimes.
  • [BugFix] CHS was occasionally wasting cpu cycles while idle if it could not detect application window information.

2.05.01 - September 11, 2011
  • [BugFix] Dialogs were not adjusting for machines with Large Font setting resulting in cramped dialog text.
  • [BugFix] The auto filing checkbox options were always being forced on.

v2.04.01 - August 6, 2011
  • [MinorFeature] New hotkey that can be used to sent a Ctrl+C and copy the text to CHS storage even when clipboard monitoring is disabled; this gives you a way to use all of the CHS features but not have it capture text automatically on normal Ctrl+C, but only when you explicitly say to.
  • [BugFix] The clipboard monitor disable checkbox was not working properly.
  • [MinorFeature] Added %shortexcerpt% to clip title replacement fields.

v2.03.01 - August 2, 2011
  • [MinorFeature] Rearranged options to add more info to some.
  • [BugFix] Window watching timer was left running until restart if disabled from options.
  • [BugFix] Temporary database files were not being stored in configdfir/database/temp directory; useful for excluding from antivirus engines to avoid locked file issue; now files are put in \temp subdirectory for easier cleaning.
  • [MinorFeature] Added help file note on dealing with locked dbisam database error which could occur because of antivirus program.
  • [BugFix] Was not saving the page url with clips when using opera.
  • [BugFix] Statusbar text was black even in custom display themes when it shouldn't be.
  • [BugFix] Metafile error could occur if metafile format could not be converted; added option to ignore metafile images.
  • [Feature] Added custom date/time prefix/suffix in formatter dialog.

v2.00.02 - April 27, 2011
  • [MajorFeature] CHS can now capture and paste image clips.
  • [Feature] Source application icons shown in quick paste menus.
  • [MinorFeature] Improved group icon images.
  • [MinorFeature] Image clip files are now stored with dimension info in filename; dimension info is now shown on popup menu.
  • [MinorFeature] When image clips are saved as png, they now include embedded image file comment saying when capture was performed and the source application (and url if appropriate).
  • [MinorFeature] Stats tab in options shows some statistics of your usage of the program.
  • [MinorFeature] Option to move newly pasted clips to top of quick paste menu (ATTENTION: Ugraders need to edit their "Quick Paste" group (right click on it and choose edit), and change the custom sort from "Ordering,CreationDateTime" to "Ordering,ModificationDateTime".)
  • [MinorFeature] Additional Icons in quick paste menu, and clip group icons in menus.
  • [MinorFeature] Window isnt hidden after bringing up quick paste menu from main app.
  • [BugFix] Several minor bug fixes.

v1.47.01 -  Mar 19th, 2011
  • [MinorFeature] Checkbox to choose whether sound plays on pasting clipboard
  • [MinorFeature] Default sorting for all groups when doing pop up paste menus (for example triggering hotkey menu is now "Ordering,CreationDateTime" (though it can be overridden in group properties.
  • [MinorFeature] Added option for maximum excerpt length in quick paste popup menus.
  • [Feature] Added custom formatter dialog invocation option from quick paste formatter menu.
  • [Feature] New option to show preview of next clip on stack in system tray balloon message after popping item from stack.
  • [BugFix] Formatting options for wrapping had a bug where it was wrapping lines with no spaces off by one.
  • [MinorFeature] New formatting option to wrap lines at fixed column position and ignore work boundaries.
  • [MinorImprovement] You can now set hotkeys that are just Win+Key.
  • [MinorImprovement] Regex errors in formatting dialog no longer pop-up, they are shown in statusbar with beep.

v1.45.01 - Mar 7th, 2011
  • [BugFix] Favorite items were not getting automatic numeric prefixes in the quick pop-up menu if shown on root of it (and are now shown above date/time formats).
  • [Feature] Added sorting option for formatting tool.
  • [Feature] Added remove duplicate lines to formatting tool
  • [Feature] Added ability to number lines (prefix/suffix box in formatting tool)
  • [MajorFeature] You can now set custom ordering for popup menus and set ordering for individual clip items. NOTE TO UPGRADERS: You need to edit your favorites and quickpaste groups and specify "Ordering,CreationDateTime" for the custom sql ordering of these groups (no quotes).  And you may need to enable the "Ordering" column in your grid view.
  • [MinorFeature] Removed minimize button on main form (since Close button minimizes)
  • [BugFix] The IsInRecycleBin special sql field was not enclosed in () and so virtual folders sometimes included recycle bin contents; updated sample url virtual filter to exclude reyclebin items.
  • [Feature] Right-click on a group you can now delete all clips in the group (works on recursive clips and virtual folders).
  • [Feature] Added options for dupe-checking new clips and either ignoring, adding, or updating date of previous clip (and position in menus).
  • [Feature] New option to capture the URL source of a clip; show the Notes field in your clips to see it; right click menu for clip items includes "visit url" if appropriate.
  • [MajorFeature] New stack system for queuing up chains of clips to paste in a FIFO order.
  • [MajorFeature] New clip menu (hold shift while selecting a clip to show); lets you print, delete, favorite, or mark as stack start any clip in quick popup.
  • [Feature] Hotkeys can use Windows modifier.
  • [BugFix] Pasting was always simulating CtrlKey Up when sending Ctrl+V and Ctrl+C, which could make it hard to repeatedly invoke certain hotkey pastes in a row; hopefully this fix doesnt cause simulated modifier keydown states.
  • [BugFix] One rare occasions CHS could copy the text it just pasted as a new clip.
  • Upgraders please see this note
  • [Change] Selecting clips from the tray menu now no longer tries to paste them in last active window -- it just copies them to clipboard.
  • [BugFix] The new clip action menu (shift+click on clip in menu) was not working for tray icon menu.
  • [BugFix] Quick paste popup could occasionally show on wrong monitor (hopefully fixed)
  • [Change] First clip on clipboard is now not grabbed on program startup.

v1.44.01 -  Dec 2nd, 2010
  • [Feature] Now includes minimal built-in update checking even if DcUpdater tool not installed.
  • [BugFix] Using {sendkeys} method was not handling shift properly.
  • [Feature] Hold Ctrl+Shift while selecting an item in quick paste menu to move that item to your Favorites group.

v1.40.01 -  May 28th, 2010
  • [MajorFeature] You can now specify hotkeys in formatting presets and in groups; triggering a formatter hotkey will instantly apply that formatter; triggering a group hotkey will show the clips from that group in a popup menu (you can assign the same hotkey to multiple groups -- all matching group contents will be shown).
  • [BugFix] On first show sometimes the clip text memo was not showing the currently selected clip contents.

v1.30.01 - May 4th, 2010
  • [BugFix] Attempting to fix long-standing but rare bug that caused a database error message and caused CHS to stop functioning until database was reset.
  • [MinorFeature] New option when merging clips to do so in reverse order.
  • [BugFix] On startup CHS was sometimes creating an initial clip with wrong text; now clips what's in clipboard at startup.
  • [MinorFeature] Added option to hide cliptext when showing clip titles (useful for favorites)

v1.27.01 - Oct 24th, 2009
  • [BugFix] Sometimes CHS would not paste into last active window.
  • [MinorFeature] Improved option to autorepair DB on startup.
  • [Feature] Added text-export command in File menu.
  • [Feature] Icon changes/flashes during clipboard capture to help visually show that a clip has been captured.



OLDER UPDATES:

v1.24.01 - February 28th, 2009
  • Escape key in search filter edit box now clears it and lets you type a new search string.
  • Implemented quick manual add note feature (default hotkey = ctrl+alt+A)


v1.23.01 - February 28th, 2009 - BETA
  • Apostrophes were being treated as word separators in Title/Sentence case transformations.
  • Changed to new tree-based options dialog.
  • Edit group dialog form can now be resized.
  • Improved display of filtering sql errors (custom virtual group sql)
  • Added sample Virtual Folders group with URL group sample
  • Added ability to change ordering of groups (though it's not exactly convenient).
  • Added Clipboard Viewer Ignore clip format proposed for security reasons here: http://www.clipboard...ender.com/?page_id=8, which can be used to let programs tell CHS that the current clip text should not be saved into the database.  (thanks to chrisk and tranglos on DC forum).
  • Added inactive memory use option for when program is minimized.
  • Added ability to quickly toggle the clipboard monitoring on and off from tray menu.
  • Improved the tray icon double-clicking behavior; added mouse-over hint to tray icon.
  • Added repair database to Maintenance tab in options
  • New Icons for menus
  • [BugFix] The quick search field was acting strangely if you didn't hit Enter after searching.


v1.20.03 BETA - 11/28/08
  • Clips with the IsFavorite checkbox were still being moved from New to Old to Recycled groups based on age.
  • Ctrl+F now jumps to quick filter search box from anywhere
  • Selecting to show CHS from quick popup now focuses in search filter box initially
  • Added customizable hotkey to show main CHS window
  • Ampersands are now escaped in the quick paste menu
  • Added new merge clip dialog where you can customize merging options
  • Added new SendKeys method of pasting (sending/simulating individual keypresses) -- thanks to TPushKeys by Alan Warriner which encapsulates, and extends, Christopher Latta's PushKeys code ([email protected], www.alan-warriner.co.uk)

v1.19.02 - 1/15/08
  • Fixed major bug afflicting computers using non-american date formats, which caused errors on startup and during usage.
  • Fixed bug that could result in non-0 cpu usage when no application window has focus.
  • Fixed bug where settings were not being saved (MS VISTA)
« Last Edit: March 11, 2020, 10:25 PM by mouser »

mouser

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The big thing about this release is that quick formatting presets can now be shown on quickpaste menu - which i think is extremely useful; let's you do things like:
  • create a preset that adds >> in front of lines, word wraps at 74 characters, and does some other stuff
  • then whenever you want to apply that just select text in a program, hit quickpaste, and select this preset to reformat the text.

allen

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Just installed this for the first time -- and am rather impressed, especially for the price.  I've used clipmate extensively over the years and have recently worked with AceText quite a bit -- and have toyed with ClipMagic as well.  ClipMate is undoubtedly a powerful application, but is getting a bit big for my taste.  This application has a lot of promise.  I've already found great use for the text cleanup presets -- mostly apply regex find/replace routines I use frequently cleaning up data before putting it online.

At any rate, nice work here.  Look forward to seeing the other planned features fully implemented and seeing what else gets thrown in.

One little bug--it seems the default clip title contains %niceappname%--which is printed literally since the correct macro is %nicename%.  Other than that, the only annoying thing I've run into are the "This is not yet implemented...post on the forums" dialogs ;)

Features I'd like to see--
--More extensive keyboard navigation.  A keystroke editor like that in EditPadPro would be great--being able to map any keystroke to any menu item/button.
--Maybe I overlooked it, but it seems there's no keystroke to dismiss the CH+S window--optionally closing when I hit escape would be great.
--Ability to auto-filter incoming clips based on text match and/or app name and auto-applying a modify/format case preset to clips that match that criteria.

That's it for now.  Thanks again.

mouser

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thanks allen, and thanks for the bug report.
the auto-filter is definitely in the works.
chs is one of the younger apps on the site, and i do hope to get it to clipmate level of functionality eventually..

allen

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Fortunately, you have other apps that have done their time establishing what features are necessary in this day and age.  You also have much more advanced technology to work with than Chris did when writing clipmate -- so you get to write it from the ground up with the intention of implementing this and that--rather than having to add new things on to an old base over time.  When ClipMate was first created, a lot of the stuff it now does just wasn't even conceivable.  You have an easier path to make a wholly capable app that's more tightly assembled.  In theory, anyway ;)

mouser

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it's always easier when someone else has made a good program - you can see what works and what doesn't, and what you might do differently.  there are lot's of advantages to going first of course, but much to learn from a good program.  clipmate is definitely one of the best.

actually, i used a database solution like clipmate and i'm having 2nd thoughts about it.. i'm not a huge database fan.. so i'm currently mulling over rewriting some of clipboard help+spell myself..  that's part of the reason that chs is in a quiet period.

allen

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Yeah, let someone else do the ground work--piggy back off  their knowledge, add your own unique touch and let the users decide what does the job best for them.  ClipMate is unarguably an amazing program -- only reason I even look at other things is the size and importability of CM.  It goes so far beyond the call of duty for a clipboard extender, it would probably be better referred to as a data management solution with Clip Board monitoring support ;)

AceText (by JG Soft, same guy who makes EditPad/EditPad Pro) is a newer player in the clipboard extender game.  One thing I really like about it is that its data is stored in text files rather than databases.  I like this for portability--unfortunately AceText still requires the registry for its settings and registration info.  There goes portability.  I do like file-based storage because I tend to, when I can, open files and manually work in them when I need to do batch operations with regex, etc.

I haven't tried running CHS from a portable drive--would it work?  I peaked in the folder and it appears that most everything is stored within the program directory including the settings.  So in theory, it should be a fully portable clipboard extender, right?

Little bug of course--CHS doesn't check to see if it's already running when it launches.  So launching another instance results in a bunch of database error feedback and necessitates ctrl+alt+delete to kill the second instance.

kfitting

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Yes, CHS is portable.  In fact, if you download the exe and change the extension to zip, then extract the zip to a folder you can run right away. 

Kevin

mouser

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i'm going to fix the multiple instance bug this week as well - thanks for reminding me, that is a doozy.

as for storing data in text files - i have the same preference as you, and that is what i've been internally debating about the future of chs.  using database has some real advantages in terms of speed working with a large collection, but the advantages of using normal files is quite significant in terms of flexible and traditional file access.  i've not been overly thrilled with the database approach.   we've discussed before the possibility of some kind of hybrid, and it's something i'm considering.  you really don't want 20,000 files holding 10 bytes each, that just won't do.  so some kind of solution other than one file one clip has to be figured out for holding huge numbers of small clips, when dealing with the clipboard..

i'm still struggling with this issue in my head.  it's been made a little easier recently since i've done a lot of work on a new hierarchical node management gui for the upcoming programs contextmenu commander and launchbar commander (launchbar commander should be out in a week btw), and so i'm leaning torwards a more flexible non-database approach to the hierarchical management of information.  we can talk more about this issues, it might help refine my thinking on it.

mouser

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a hybrid approach might in fact do some of the things kfitting has advocated for - allow the program to basically treat each node as an entity that could be a different database, or a text file, etc.  which might be a nice solution if the details could be worked out without it getting too complicated.

allen

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AceText uses one file per collection, you can have as many or as few collections open at a time as you wish--so if you have a lot of big ones, don't keep them all open.  Makes for a lot fewer files to process, at any rate, which would be a lot quicker than individual files if it's being run from a portable drive.  CHS is the only clipboard thing-a-mo-bob that can run effectively off a thumb drive, the rest love the registry. . . you could tout that point ;)

Databases are definitely faster for large collections . . . one nice thing about not using a database, though, would be images -- when CHS supports them, being able to just grab them out of a folder rather than going through the loops to export them would be pretty handy.  Especially for snapping a screenshot with the intent to upload it.

mouser

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yeah i have same feeling as you for images and for manually created clips (which probably are never going to be > 1000 or so) - it would be quite convenient if these were simply stored as plain files and not in a database, and better for manipulation outside the program.

allen

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. . . these features are better suited toward power users and would probably seem coutner-intuitive to general consumers.  But it seems that it's fair to say users of donationcoder software, at the very least, have a favorite text editor -- which says a lot about a [man]. ;)  Along those lines, there isn't a way to pipe a clip to another application and back at present is there?

mouser

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interesting idea - you just mean an easy way to edit text of clip inside another text editor.
this would be something that would again be easy if we used external pure text files for clip text..
i could add a function that saved text in a temp file, launched an external editor on it, and then monitored for changes to the file and update the clip, though it sounds a little messy.

allen

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That's essentially what a number of modern FTP clients do -- make a temp file, monitor it, and upload it when it changes and monitor the defined helper application--deleting the temp file when the other app is closed.  Could be handy.  In the long run, it's not that difficult to paste it into my text editor then copy it again when I'm done -- only save a few seconds time.  But some times I get a little pampered and expect a few keystrokes to do -everything- ;)

mouser

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updated with fixes requested by members.

allen

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CHSGreat stuff, mouser -- I especially love the ability to send it back to the application from whence it came without reaching for my mouse.  That change alone makes CHS exponentially more useful to me.   Of course, I have to nitpick still -- would it be possible to have an option to have it close after sending the text back?

After using this a while, my favorite feature is the ability to apply cleanup presets on the fly via the quick paste menu -- Saving me oodles of time there, I don't believe anyone else offers that do they?

Few things quickly.
1. If nothing is selected, would it be possible to automatically select all before copying? Would be handy in textareas as well as text editors where the intent is, in fact, to grab the whole thing.  Save a keystroke or two.

2. In the text cleanup, when boxes are unchecked most of the child stuff is grayed out -- however now all children are grayed out.  Actually, the only check boxes grayed out when the parent is disabled is "Trim Excess White Space" and "Add to Empties" -- the rest, while unclickable, remain bright white requiring more scrutiny to figure out what is/isn't actually enabled at the time.

3. If CHS is open, activating Capture/View/Spell does not bring focus to CHS, though the text is captured properly.  So if you use it, then send it back to the application, then go to use it again -- you'll have to give focus to the CHS window manually.

mouser

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good poins.
0) yes i will make it close after sending the text back, that makes complete sense.
1) i will try; i know i already do something like this to try to guess whether to initiate a ctrl+c or not; it should be possible to add an option to try to smartly do a select all and then ctrl+c when appropriate.
2) ill look into that -  do i understand that you're basically pointing out a user interface annoyance/baddesign or is there something deeper i'm missing?
3) ill fix this to do focus shifting and then auto closing - makes sense to me.

allen

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2) ill look into that -  do i understand that you're basically pointing out a user interface annoyance/baddesign or is there something deeper i'm missing?

There's nothing deeper, it's just initially a bit confusing when you go to toggle a box that -appears- active, and nothing happens.  Took me a second to figure out why those checkboxes looked more lively than they really were ;P It has absolutely no impact on actual performance of the various cleanup functions that I've used.

mouser

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right, gotcha.

superboyac

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Mouser, I didn't even know about this program all this time!  Wow, you're amazing, this is a cool.  I want to spend some time with it and figure it all out, it looks like I can really use it.

So you're also making your mark in the notetaking software genre?  Man, I hope you know what you're getting into.  Pretty soon (if not already) everyone is going to expect this program to do everything and anything just the right way.  I hope it doesn't burn you out like the Keynote author.

I think pretty soon, I'm going to start a thread here at DC for the discussion of these notetaking software (unless it's already been done...I'll do a search first).  If we ever complete an official DC review of these softwares, it will be really, REALLY impressive.

mouser

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superboyac, notetaking soft is the #1 requested review on the site..
the problem is, as most of us know, the subject is so huge that it will surely destroy the brain of any human who attempts to write such a review..  seriously it might drive you mad.

kfitting

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I agree with mouser!  I can't even convince myself of all the features I think I maybe (possibly?) want in a "notetaking" app! 

Kevin

mouser

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btw.. this may come as a bit of a shock but after working for weeks(months?) on this new hierarchical codebase ive been working on, i think there is a very very high chance that chs will be completely rewritten mostly from scratch..

superboyac

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Alright mouser!  You've done it again.  I am ditching ARSclip and using CHS now.  What can I say?  Good job, and I really appreciate it.