NANY 2011 Release: Auspex - a Windows Productivity App

[joiwind]

I suppose you're giving me the bird 

- chicken ?

[cranioscopical]

- chicken ?

You're egging me on!


@timns We're just filling in time, waiting 

[app103]

- chicken ?

You're egging me on!

Is that what I think it is?

If you are thinking that I zapped Cody with a time machine script written in Python, then yes, it is.

[timns]

Jeez, you guys! 

Ok here she is:
http://redmine.dcmembers.com/attachments/download/59/Auspex1.0.0.42.zip

Build 42
New Features

   * Can now set the typing speed when Auspex adds text to your application (see Options->Advanced)
   * New Splash screen (removed reliance on 3rd party component)
   * New Unicode XML encoder/decoder (removed reliance on 3rd party component)
   * Structures in place to allow drag of text from other apps to automatically create Replacements/Completions (already working if you want to drag text into the Replacement Text area on the left of the app)
   * Improved the efficiency of the keyboard mapper
   * Made the application able to communicate with a larger numnber of other programs (e.g. KEdit)

Bug Fixes

   * Hopefully nailed the bug where creating new items can sometimes overwrite an existing one
   * Hopefully nailed the bug where dragging an item into a sub-folder sometimes caused it to be lost

[timns]

Aurochs, Auspex… what next?

Ah 'spect you'll tell us  

[joiwind]

* Structures in place to allow drag of text from other apps to automatically create Replacements/Completions (already working if you want to drag text into the Replacement Text area on the left of the app)

That was the suggestion I was going to make...! but I don't see how it works - if it does ?

Teach your Grandmother...?

[timns]

* Structures in place to allow drag of text from other apps to automatically create Replacements/Completions (already working if you want to drag text into the Replacement Text area on the left of the app)

That was the suggestion I was going to make...! but I don't see how it works - if it does ?

Teach your Grandmother...?

Ok: Create a new Replacement by clicking the new button, and fill in the usual fields (name, mnemonic etc)

Then select some text in your external application. Single click it again, and drag over to the "Replacement" area on the bottom left of Auspex, just above the dials.

Drop.

Should work!
[attach]

[joiwind]

OK, yes that works - I reckon I was expecting it to create a new entry from scratch (which I think is what you mean in the first part of the quote - and which is still to come ?)

[timns]

OK, yes that works - I reckon I was expecting it to create a new entry from scratch (which I think is what you mean in the first part of the quote - and which is still to come ?)

Correct senor... I'll be adding that almost immediately, plus a couple of other things which I hope will improve the program's usability further.

[joiwind]

[joiwind]

Two suggestions :

* as you are integrating Drag and Drop we will need an option for 'always on top'
* make the *.exe icon the same as the tray icon, the *.exe icon looks like a bit of squashed chewing gum...

Then : the popup with suggestions or corrections doesn't show up near or at the cursor as I think it is supposed to, it is sometimes way up left.

[timns]

Two suggestions :

* as you are integrating Drag and Drop we will need an option for 'always on top'
* make the *.exe icon the same as the tray icon, the *.exe icon looks like a bit of squashed chewing gum...

Then : the popup with suggestions or corrections doesn't show up near or at the cursor as I think it is supposed to, it is sometimes way up left.

Ok, I'm working on a 'mini-mode' which you can have always tucked away somewhere, which will be a drop target.

I have a Top Man on the logo right now, which will then also become the new icon.

The cursor is a tricky one: I have to very politely ask the currently active application's currently active control where it thinks its caret is. I don't always get a very satisfactory reply, and have to guess a bit. I'll see if any more can be done about that.

Thanks!

[joiwind]

The cursor is a tricky one

sorry I meant the caret !

[joiwind]

Bug : it sometimes happens that you cannot minimize to tray, nothing happens when you click on the hyphen, you have to quit and open Auspex again - but I can't see under which conditions that occurs.

[timns]

Bug : it sometimes happens that you cannot minimize to tray, nothing happens when you click on the hyphen, you have to quit and open Auspex again - but I can't see under which conditions that occurs.

Does it still appear to be functioning? Still adding text etc? And can you  quit by using File->Exit or the 'X', or do you have to kill it from the Task Manager?

[joiwind]

Does it still appear to be functioning? Still adding text etc? And can you  quit by using File->Exit or the 'X', or do you have to kill it from the Task Manager?

No, I can still use it, add text and so on and quit using either Exit or the 'X'

[cranioscopical]

@timns

Just had a few more minutes to play with .42

I just deleted everything from \Local Settings\Application Data\Auspex
Launched Auspex, all is blank (as expected)
Created no folders at all in the right-hand pane
Entered "Paddle To The Sea" as an auto-complete. Typed "Pad" and got the correct suggestion.
Entered "Martin Smith" as an auto-complete.
Hit the refresh button.
Martin Smith simply vanished from the right pane as I watched; Paddle To The Sea is unaffected.
Entered "Martin Smith" as an auto-complete once again.
Closed Auspex
Started Auspex
Paddle To The Sea has vanished
Martin Smith is in and works
Entered "Paddle To The Sea" again  leaving the Mnemonic field with the numeric id
Paddle To The Sea doesn't fire
Removed the numeric identifier
Type "Pad" and am offered Martin Smith
Closed/restarted Auspex
Both items are in the right pane:
Typing "Pad" pops up Paddle To The Sea
Typing "Mar" pops up Martin Smith  ; Martin Smith ; Martin (one on each of 3 lines, with "Martin" selected)

[timns]

@timns

Just had a few more minutes to play with .42

I just deleted everything from \Local Settings\Application Data\Auspex
Launched Auspex, all is blank (as expected)
Created no folders at all in the right-hand pane
Entered "Paddle To The Sea" as an auto-complete. Typed "Pad" and got the correct suggestion.
Entered "Martin Smith" as an auto-complete.
Hit the refresh button.
Martin Smith simply vanished from the right pane as I watched; Paddle To The Sea is unaffected.
Entered "Martin Smith" as an auto-complete once again.
Closed Auspex
Started Auspex
Paddle To The Sea has vanished
Martin Smith is in and works
Entered "Paddle To The Sea" again  leaving the Mnemonic field with the numeric id
Paddle To The Sea doesn't fire
Removed the numeric identifier
Type "Pad" and am offered Martin Smith
Closed/restarted Auspex
Both items are in the right pane:
Typing "Pad" pops up Paddle To The Sea
Typing "Mar" pops up Martin Smith  ; Martin Smith ; Martin (one on each of 3 lines, with "Martin" selected)

Thanks for this! I think it's helped me find the issue. I had made a fix to Replacements, but Completions are handled slightly differently. New build coming out later today.

[timns]

It's uploaded now. I made a few fixes as follows:

Build 43
New Features

    * Fuzzy Search algorithm in place, but not really doing anything yet (see Options->Advanced)
    * Drag-Drop of text into Tree now creates a new item

Bug Fixes

    * Tab key in KEdit working
    * Completion and Replacement handling cleaned up (no more disappearing items we hope)

Coming soon

    * Scan files for often-used words to auto-create useful completions!
    * Use fuzzy matching to help pop-up completions you can't quite remember!
    * Small drop-target to create items more easily!
    * Something else! 

[cranioscopical]

It's uploaded now. I made a few fixes as follows:

Build 43
    * Tab key in KEdit working
    * Completion and Replacement handling cleaned up (no more disappearing items we hope)

.43
Tabs working fine in Kedit!!
Multiple-word auto-completes working

Dragging text to the tree doesn't seem to work. Can you elucidate?

Issue:

• I created 1 new folder (Auto-Complete: note not AutoComplete)
• Created 2 auto-completes (manual entry)
• Dragged the 2 auto-completes to the folder
• All okay
• Created new folder
• Hit refresh
• New folder disappeared
• Stop/restart
• New folder still gone
• Created new folder
• Stop/restart
• New folder disappeared
• Restarted again
• A new folder appeared in the tree, not created by me (AutoCompletions)
• Within that is a new entry, "folder," again not created by me
• (So, when Auspex is first installed/launched is it meant to appear with the tree already populated? If not, from whence came that second folder?)
• Once the new (program created) AutoCompletions folder appeared I could add another folder and it was persistent
• Autocompletions begin to be erratic

1.    
2.     first one doesn't work
3.  
4.     then the other does work
5.  
6.     then the first does work
7.  
8.     following that I have "List index out of bounds (1)"

(If Joy saw the wiki I hope it helped her )

[cranioscopical]

re the above

Still getting some flaky-folder issues.
Editing an item can cause it to vanish, but not always 

Here's something: using tab as the trigger for auto-completes (I've not tried other triggers) it's not possible to have two in sequence; after the first, one has to type some other character before a second will fire. This probably explains why I had the one on/one off issue with one not working and then, later, working again. I was testing by hitting the two in succession. When they both worked I'd almost certainly hit [Enter] in between.

[joiwind]

Bug : it sometimes happens that you cannot minimize to tray, nothing happens when you click on the hyphen, you have to quit and open Auspex again - but I can't see under which conditions that occurs.

I have found one occasion when this happens : if you create a new entry (either completed with text etc or not) and then drag and drop it into a folder

[timns]

• Created new folder
• Hit refresh
• New folder disappeared
• Stop/restart
• New folder still gone
• Created new folder
• Stop/restart
• New folder disappeared
• Restarted again
• A new folder appeared in the tree, not created by me (AutoCompletions)
• Within that is a new entry, "folder," again not created by me
• (So, when Auspex is first installed/launched is it meant to appear with the tree already populated? If not, from whence came that second folder?)
• Once the new (program created) AutoCompletions folder appeared I could add another folder and it was persistent
• Autocompletions begin to be erratic

1.    
2.     first one doesn't work
3.  
4.     then the other does work
5.  
6.     then the first does work
7.  
8.     following that I have "List index out of bounds (1)"

(If Joy saw the wiki I hope it helped her )

Ohhh kay then. Thank you!

First off, at the moment, if a folder is empty it is discarded when the tree is refreshed (either by the button or by a stop/restart) - so that explains 1 thru 10 (stupid list got renumbered!)

11: AutoCompletions is where Auspex parks completions it has made for you on-the-fly, as you probably guessed. The 'folder,' inside is simply the *word* 'folder' that you have probably been typing so often it decided it would store it for you as a suggestion.

[timns]

Dragging text to the tree doesn't seem to work. Can you elucidate?

Select a block of text in some program. Let go of the mouse, and then single-click the text again so you can drag it. Drag to the tree, and wait a heartbeat. The tree will detect a drag over, and the cursor should change to your ghosted text.

Drop.

You will see a new item created with random name and mnemonic, and your text in the replacement field.

Edit to suit!

You can also drop your text into an existing Replacement's text area on the bottom left.

If that does not work, please let me know  

[timns]

Bug : it sometimes happens that you cannot minimize to tray, nothing happens when you click on the hyphen, you have to quit and open Auspex again - but I can't see under which conditions that occurs.

I have found one occasion when this happens : if you create a new entry (either completed with text etc or not) and then drag and drop it into a folder

Is that consistent? I can't get it to go wrong here. Were you trying it with a completely empty tree?

By the way, thank you all for your continued and helpful feedback. If anyone has to tell me I have software that's buggier than a dead rat, I'm glad it's you guys.