FARR alt tab 2.0 beta

[skajfes]

I've made some modifications to the FarrAltTab plugin (with permission from Vitalyb) to prevent opening multiple instances of an application. For example - if you already have Firefox open and you try to run Firefox from FARR, it will switch to an already open instance of Firefox instead of opening another instance.

Plugin idea and known bugs are discussed here.

This is still a beta because I currently have no time to implement options for the plugin but I still want to share it with you and maybe get some feedback about bugs and desired options and features.

Installation:
Go to c:\farr-install-dir\plugins\
backup FarrAltTab folder
extract the contents of the zip to that folder.
restart farr.
enjoy

[alias]

Awesome!  Thanks, skajfes!

[alias]

Just fyi - I've been using the beta for the past few days, with no problems whatsoever.  Do you want future discussion in this thread, or the original one?

[skajfes]

Cool, I am glad that it's working. I think that it's maybe better to keep any future discussion in this thread.

[alias]

I'm really enjoying the instant switchover to an open window.  There is one thing that I'd like to mention, by way of ease of use, and this involves integration of Plugins more so than the FaRRAltTab plugin per se', I guess.  I have a hotkey of Alt-Space for FARR and Ctrl-Space for FaRRAltTab.  Sometimes, I hit one when I meant the other, and I don't think it's because I can't remember which is which:  The thing is, in my mind, at least, I associate FARR as being the one go-to place to change modes/do something different.  I don't really care if it's run a new program or switch to one that's already open.  The reason I switched to FARR from a combination of AHK scripts, SlickRun, Launchy, Switcher, etc. is that I really think it can be the "one ring that binds them all" - and, with plugins, it definitely can be.

But somehow I see this function as something that would ideally fit within the heuristics scoring of FARR.  It already searches aliases, the file system, plugins, etc. - why not running apps/open windows?  If you don't like it, turn it off or set the score really low; if you love it, set the score high.  I'm only speaking idealistically here, of course, not from a program complexity standpoint...

Is it possible for a plugin to add to FARR's internal search path?

[mouser]

can you elaborate a little more what you want to have added?

[alias]

can you elaborate a little more what you want to have added?

-mouser (September 10, 2009, 08:39 AM)

Sure!  Seeing the world (of my computer) from my vantage point, I now view FARR as the starting point, or jumping off point, as the case may be, for pretty much everything.  Right now, with FARR's Search Folders, Heuristic Scoring, Aliases/Groups, and the Scoring options for all of those items, I can almost instantly bring up anything on my computer by typing Alt-Space (or Pause/Break, obviously, which also requires holding down the Function key on my machine), with one sole exception:  Open Windows/Running Apps.

What I envision is (whether through a Plugin or natively, I don't care) the ability to add Open Windows/Running Apps to the results list.  Perhaps, in fact, it could be another List option in the Program Options dialog.  That way, depending on how it's scored, if I type Alt-Space followed by a string that's found in the title of an open window (and/or, perhaps, the name of an open app), it would show up in the results list somewhere.

Does that clarify?

[mouser]

yep, i understand now -- basically the idea is to not require user to type in a special alias to search for open windows/running apps, but have it search for them as if it was a normal search directory with a score.  wouldn't be too hard to do.. i'll give it some thought.

[alias]

yep, i understand now -- basically the idea is to not require user to type in a special alias to search for open windows/running apps, but have it search for them as if it was a normal search directory with a score.  wouldn't be too hard to do.. i'll give it some thought.

-mouser (September 10, 2009, 09:56 AM)

Precisely, mouser - thanks!

[skajfes]

I think I've already asked about that (in a little bit different form, though) but got no answer.

Anyway, my idea of acomplishing this was with using a plugin that can always add results to the list even if it's not triggered. Kind of like modified FarrAltTab takes over the launching and switches to an open window. But a more elegant solution would be to add a list of open windows to the search results and let FARR score them as usual.

Now that is basically the same as you are already talking about.

[alias]

Mouser, now that you're flush with the success of a fantastic new release (Thanks! - btw...), have you given any more thought to this one?  (Gratitude doesn't last long, does it?)

I'm using FARR alt tab 2.0 every day (all day, pretty much) and I think it's a huge improvement over the standard Alt-Tab...

[alias]

Mouser, we talked about this one a couple times, but I was thinking about this as an approach and I'm wondering if this would be a lot of work:  Would it be possible to just have another option in FARR's scoring heuristics to allow scoring of windows?  That way, with a very high score placed on open windows, any text matches would always come to the top, and it would effectively make FARR the ultimate task-switcher...

(In other words:  BUMP!) 

[ewemoa]

I'm using FARR 2.80.02 and not having much luck getting this plugin to run.

My Troubleshooting Log says:

*Loading plugin: FARRAltTab\FARRAltTab.dll
 Failed.
*Loading plugin: FARRAltTab\FARRAltTabRCW.dll
 Failed.

Is this likely to be a case of -- try uninstalling other plugins?

Edit: I tried a FARR installation with only the plugin in question, but got similar results.

[skajfes]

I'm using FARR 2.80.02 and not having much luck getting this plugin to run.

My Troubleshooting Log says:

*Loading plugin: FARRAltTab\FARRAltTab.dll
 Failed.
*Loading plugin: FARRAltTab\FARRAltTabRCW.dll
 Failed.

Is this likely to be a case of -- try uninstalling other plugins?

Edit: I tried a FARR installation with only the plugin in question, but got similar results.

-ewemoa (February 03, 2010, 05:05 PM)

I am working on a new and improved version, but unfortunately I can't allocate much time for this particular task so it'll take a while.

Sorry

[ewemoa]

No hurry, no problem!

Thanks for the response