DonationCoder.com Software > N.A.N.Y. 2010

NANY 2010 Idea: A 'polite' reminder/diary system

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skwire:
Website | Download
v1.0.1 - 2009-11-06
    + Made popup window always-on-top.  (Thanks, tomos)
    + Made application single-instance.  (Thanks, doctorfrog)
    + Added option for wave file play on popup.  (Thanks, doctorfrog)
    + Added option to flash the taskbar on popup.  (Thanks, doctorfrog)
    + Added Enter/Ctrl-Enter options to popup.  (Thanks, doctorfrog)
    + Added hotkey to bring up options dialog.  (Thanks, doctorfrog)
    + Added hotkey to bring up the popup immediately.  (Thanks, tomos)
    + Added hotkey to close the popup at any time.  (Thanks, tomos)
    + Added option to not show options on startup.  (Thanks, doctorfrog)
    + Added "Show popup" to the tray menu and made it the default
      double-click action.  (Thanks, doctorfrog)
    * Popup window now remembers its last position.  (Thanks, doctorfrog)
    ! Blank entries are no longer saved.

No changes were made regarding timestamping and file handling.  I wanted to get the main options out of the way first before concentrating on that aspect of the program.  I'll work on it more later; need some sleep right now.   :)

mouser:
ill put a vote in for no viewer and plain text files; lots of good search tools out there if we need to search.

doctorfrog:
It's looking real good so far, more or less feature complete. The icon goes better with it than I thought it w- ALL HAIL HYPNOFROG.

skwire:
Since we've decided on the .anu extension, here is how I would like to handle the writing and archiving of logs.  If you agree to this, then adding custom timestamp formats for the log files would be a snap to implement.  Also, the custom log folder will be easy to implement as well.

1) The current log will be written to the app's folder as "current.anu".  Basically, no timestamp on the filename at this point.
2) When the archiving routine fires, the "current.anu" will be moved into the archive folder using whatever timestamp format the user has set.
3) Collisions will get the "[1]" addition or however you would like that handled.

If the log filename timestamp format includes the time, collisions should rarely happen.  Also, I think I'm going to add a button to the Archive tab that will allow the user to initiate the archive routine immediately.  Your thoughts?

doctorfrog:
I was actually going to suggest this exact method of archiving. Glad you anticipated it. Needless to say, I approve.

1. File collisions could be avoided if the filename included the time as well as date. However, I find [1], [2] to be personally acceptable.

2. Right-click option to Archive current log = good thing.

3. An advantage to using current.anu is that when the viewer is invoked, it can easily be programmed to display the most current logfile. Obviously, it should not lock this file when it is being viewed.

4. I see the viewer as a separate .exe from Anuran. From the limited comments in this thread, there are some who want one, some who don't, so a separate viewer would please both crowds.

If you don't mind another of my drawings, here's another mockup of a simpler two-pane viewer layout. (Stick with whatever you feel works best, however):

[attachimg=#1][/attachimg]

Notes:
0. Proposed viewer names: Anuview, Anuvu, Anuran Viewer
1. The panes and window itself would be resizable, of course.
2. The items in the logfile pane would be organized according to file datestamp, or according to the first datestamp contained within the file itself, in case the file properties get messed up by Windows.
3. On startup, Anuview defaults to current.anu. Logfile pane defaults to \archive, but the current.anu is always displayed on top.
4. If Anuview is started by double-clicking on a .anu file, it displays the file, regardless of where it is, plus any other .anu files that are in the same directory as the .anu file it is displaying. This is for folks who end up moving their logfiles around.
5. Do we want a full-on file tree in the logfile pane, or just a 'flat' list of logfiles in \archive?
6. Ignore the titlebar and status bar ornamentation, they come from bblean's skinning engine.
7. And yes, I basically took a screenshot of MiniAim, and cut and pasted around.

Blue-sky possibilities:

1. If you apply a 'tail' function to the viewer, it could even auto-update the contents, which provides a fingertip-ready view of the last x hours of entries. I worry a little about people who want to tail their own personal log, but it does provide a quick answer to the question "Now, just what the hell have I been doing the last hour?"

2. An automatic vertical timescale that visually measured the time between each entry would still be a pretty neat Stupid Coding Trick.

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