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Last post Author Topic: LATEST LaunchBar Commander VERSION INFO THREAD - v1.158.01 beta - Jan 22, 2020  (Read 277915 times)

mouser

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LaunchBar Commander
Requires: Microsoft Windows XP/NT/2000/Vista/Win7/Win8/Win10



Web Page and Download:

v1.158.01 - Jan 23, 2020
  • [Feature] New option on DockingBar2 tab of launchbar to disable the default show-on-mouseover behavior; only useful if you toggle hide/show of your dock with hotkey and don't want it showing automatically on mouseover.
  • [Improvement] Dock color selector now allows arbitrary custom color to be chosen.
  • [Improvement] Using hotkey to toggle dock now works properly to toggle dock visibility even for floating docks.

v1.157.01 - Dec 30, 2019
  • [BugFix] On some monitors with high text scaling the configuration dialog was cut off.
  • [MinorChange] Right-clicking on an item on a launch bar brings up a context menu for the file pointed to by the item; the delete/rename/cut context menu items for nodes work on the actual files, which may not be what the user expects.  Because of this, these actions are now forbidden from the right-click context menu.
  • [Improvement] Settings file location shown in about box.
  • [MinorChange] Right-clicking on an item on a launch bar brings up a context menu for the file pointed to by the item; the delete/rename/cut context menu items for nodes work on the actual files, which may not be what the user expects.  Because of this, these actions are now forbidden from the right-click context menu.
  • [BugFix] Windows 32-bit versions were giving an error about missing function GetTickCount64

v1.154.01 - Nov 17, 2018
  • [BugFix] Minor improvements to startup and dock adjustment settings during monitor resolution changes, to try to avoid scenarios where dock is not visible.

v1.153.01 - Mar 24, 2017
  • [MajorFeature] First High-dpi compatible version beta.
  • [BugFix] Too many backup files were sometimes being created.
  • [MajorFeature] You can now set custom icon sizes for large and small buttons (see main options tab 3).
  • [Improvement] Improved message when you try to launch a second instance.
  • [Feature] Added an "auto-size" bar to right-click bar pop-up menu.
  • [BugFix] Fixed error that could occur on rare occasions that the configuration tree attempted to display twice.


v1.151.01 - Mar 3, 2017
  • [Feature] New option to show mouseover hints for submenu items of a menu.
  • [BugFix] Top level folder nodes were not showing mouseover hints even when option was enabled for the dock.

v1.150.01 - Jan 20, 2017
  • [Feature] New option for command nodes to launch as admin.

v1.149.01 - Dec 22, 2016
  • [BugFix] LBC was sometimes not autoadjusting its dock position when a multi-monitor secondary screen resolution changed, leaving the dock off screen.
  • [BugFix] When dropping shortcuts to create new command nodes, LBC would sometimes set the "run hidden" checkbox resulting in a launch button that seemed to have no effect.
  • [MinorImprovement] Icons added to pop-up right-click menu in config tree.
  • [MinorFeature] New launch item added to pop-up right-click menu in config tree.
  • [BugFix] Right-click shell context menus would not work on command nodes that uses environment paths.
  • [BugFix] Fixed rare crash that could occur when installing new version and existing version was already running.
  • [BugFix] Right-click context menus were sometimes disappearing - thanks abc163!
  • [BugFix] LBC was sometimes staying topmost even when a full screen app was running, contrary to options set.

v1.146.03 - Dec 10, 2015
  • [MajorFeature] New global search and replace function in Tools menu.
  • [MinorFeature] Added -nooptions commandline arg, and stopped hiding right-click tray menu unless this option is passed.
  • [BugFix] Fixed some problems with the -config and -exit commandline arguments and fixed a bug that could cause an exception on exit.

v1.145.01 - Apr 22, 2015
  • [BugFix] On bootup, a docked launchbar was occasionally docked off screen and could only be restored by Ctrl+Alt+Shift+L emergency hotkey.

v1.144.01 - Dec 31, 2014
  • [Feature] Added toolbar button in tree configuration dialog to quickly rebuild toolbars and preview changes.
  • [Feature] Added option to folder contents nodes to sort results by date (and list date).
  • [MinorFeature] When Ctrl+V paste is not accepted by a node, you now get a better error.
  • [MinorFeature] Some error messages could appear on wrong monitor of multimonitor setups.
  • [MinorFeature] Added shortcut to Control Panel itself in control panel shortcut list.
  • [MinorFeature] Maintenance check for missing images and commands now reports each node's internal id.
  • [MinorFeature] Dropping a shortcut file and telling LBC to copy shortcut properties will now use shortcut name as node caption.
  • [MinorFeature] Menu item captions can now use environmental % vars.
  • [BugFix] SwitchTo running process was not detecting running processes if the command was specified using relative path or environmental vars.
  • [BugFix] LBC was failing to grab icons from non-exe files.
  • [BugFix] Fixed hanging crash that could occur if an icon could not be extracted from a file (for example a dropped .scr file).
  • [BugFix] Fixed incorrect missing-icon image used when icon could not be extracted from a file.
  • [Change] In an effort to avoid having significant changes to configuration tree lost on a crash -- the program now prompts you to save changes whenever you close the configuration tree.
  • [BugFix] On opening configuration tree, the tree was sometimes scrolled so that the Options node was easy to overlook.

v1.142.01 - May 14, 2014
  • [Improvement] The preferences (configuration tree) dialog was always scrolling the top Options node out of view, making it hard to find.  This top node is now scrolled into view where it is more obvious.
  • [BugFix] Automatic fixing up of form position/size on resolution change was sometimes not being engaged.
  • [Improvement] Clarified onscreen instructions for adding a node that opens a folder.
  • [MinorFeature] The exit menu item on launchbars can be disabled.
  • [Feature] You can now use Ctrl+Shift plus Up,Down,Left,Right when in the configuration tree to move nodes around the hierarchy easily.
  • [Feature] Supports use of environmental variables and %APPDIR% like replacements in command launch arguments (needs testing!).
  • [Feature] An error is now reported if user tries to launch a node pointing to a non-existent file (needs testing).
  • [Feature] Added new maintenance menu item to check entire tree for any filepaths that may no longer be valid (user has option for trying to auto fix them).
  • [Bugfix] LBC was not properly identifying full screen applications, causing it not to unhide when it should if current window was maximized (but not full screen); if you have turned off the option to Keep LaunchBars "On Top" and you use AutoHiding docks, you should try re-enabling this option.  Should make it possible to use full screen games without LBC waking up.
  • [MinorFeature] You can now set custom size of separators.
  • [MinorFeature] You can now set custom margins for docking bars.
  • [MinorFeature] You can now set minimum width/height for items (for entire dock or overide for single items).
  • [MinorFeature] If dock is set to show item hints, those hints will now also be shown on hover when dock is minimized to tray.
  • [Bugfix] LBC was not properly identifying full screen applications, causing it not to unhide when it should if current window was maximized (but not full screen); if you have turned off the option to Keep LaunchBars "On Top" and you use AutoHiding docks, you should try re-enabling this option.  Should make it possible to use full screen games without LBC waking up.


v1.140.01 - Feb 13, 2014
  • [Bugfix] LBC was not properly identifying full screen applications, causing it not to unhide when it should if current window was maximized (but not full screen); if you have turned off the option to Keep LaunchBars "On Top" and you use AutoHiding docks, you should try re-enabling this option.  Should make it possible to use full screen games without LBC waking up.

v1.139.02 - Dec 6, 2013
  • [BugFix] Dropping a file into the middle of a parent's children could have resulted in tree showing incorrect items until preferences closed and reopened.
  • [Improvement] Minor improvements to the preferences/tree configuration UI; split main program options into multiple tabs.
  • [Improvement] Improved layout of command node options and instructions for handling dropped file arguments.
  • [MinorFeature] You can now explicitly rebuild launchbars from the preferences tree dialog from View menu, without closing preferences; this acts as a kind of Apply/preview function.
  • [Change] Enabled the "add padding" option to launchbars by default; this just adds a little padding at top and bottom (left and right) of launchbars.  This is especially useful for making non-full height docking bars.
  • [Improvement] When specifying a menu to be built from file contents, replacements will be made on the filename path specified, allowing you to use virtual folder replacement variables (e.g. %APPDIR% and %APPDRIVE%).
  • [Improvement] It was confusing to new users that the root Options node was where you had to go to change global system options, so I added a View -> Program Options item to menu,
  • [Improvement] LaunchBars won't unhide if a full screen app is running (think Netflix, screensaver, etc.)
  • [Improvement] Some checks for fullscreen app running were failing.
  • [Improvement] On portable use, it was possible for mcf docking bar files to not be found if the directory name had changed.
  • [BugFix] Folder node hints were wrong.
  • [BugFix] Change icon button was sometimes unreadable.

v1.136.01 - Aug 17, 2013 Beta
  • [Feature] LBC was sometimes not properly docking hiding/sliding docks -- they would reserve desktop space even though they shouldn't.
  • [Feature] Option to check for updates at startup.
  • [Feature] When using keyboard keys to resize dock, you can now use ctrl and alt + arrows to move and resize docks (works well when you have the don't stretch option checked for a dock).  Fixed bugs related to resizing with keyboard.
  • [Feature] New license options that make it possible to use LBC as a launcher for a read-only file that you distribute to others.
  • [Improvement] Uses captions as hints when icons are set to not display captions and hints are enabled.
  • [Improvement] When specifying custom x,y popup location of dock menus, you can use negative values to offset from right and bottom of screen.
  • [Improvement] Installer now offers to run the program after installation.
  • [Improvement] Program no longer advises you to backup your file until you have a non-trivial number of nodes in it.
  • [Improvement] You can now drag+resize even borderless docks (usually!).



v1.135.01 - July 8, 2013
  • [Feature] LBC will now try to load launchbar files (.mcf) relative to the project file (.mcp), and try to load the project file relative to the application exe.  This is useful when using LBC portably or when using LBC on a multi-account system.

v1.133.01 - November 24, 2012
  • [Feature] You can now configure docks to not be full height/width when docked; use the right-click menu to center the bars and drag to resize.
  • [BugFix] Toolbars docked to left or right hand side of screen would have the right-hand side border line disappear when the width of the toolbar unless a generous right-hand margin was left unused.

v1.132.01 - April 15, 2012
  • [Feature] You can now drop urls and url shotcuts onto items (like browsers) that accept them, in the same way you can drop files onto items that accept files.
  • [Feature] You can now drop urls and url shortcutes onto an empty space to create new items to launch those urls (just like when dropping files)
  • [MajorFeature] New node type: Paste Text/SendKey simulator -- you can paste preset text into last active window, or simulate the pressing of global hotkeys (function keys, contrl/alt/shift etc).  Supports both Ctrl+V use for fast pasting large block of text, or one-by-one character simulation which can support virtual keys and can work in any target window (even a dos box).
  • [MajorFeature] You can now use the virtual commands "paste" and "sendkeys" in menus built from text files, plugins, or commandline output.  This makes it fairly easy to use LBC to show a large menu (stored in a plain text file) of things to past into the active window.
  • [Feature] New node type for MenuContents from File -- which allows you to specify a text file whose contents will be used to build menu dynamically.  This feature was actually already possible using the MenuContents from Commandline node by specifying a .txt file, and could be used by .lbctool files to support plugin-like use of text file menus, however the new node type also allows you to manually specify some menu content text directly in the node configuration itself.  I don't recommend using this for large menus but for quickie stuff and testing it can be useful.
  • [Feature] Portable zip now uses ConfigDir_Default.ini which is overridden by the presence of a ConfigDir.ini file, so users unpacking the contents won't overwrite any custom ConfigDir.ini  they may have.


v1.131.01 - February 28, 2012
  • [Feature] You can now use commandline invocation to show a menu under the cursor for a running LBC menu node.
  • [BugFix] Restoring a hiding/sliding dock from the tray could cause it to reserve desk space when it shouldn't.
  • [BugFix] You should no longer see the floating dock temporarily while it is starting up before restoring its last position docked to the side of the screen.
  • [BugFix] When triggering a pop up menu with a hotkey that contained Control key, the folder of the menu was also opened simultaneously; pop up menus also now start with keyboard focus.
  • [BugFix] Captions were showing temporarily on submenus configured as toolbar buttons, when switching between them.
  • [BugFix] Docks (typically multiple docks) were forgetting whether they were docked or floating.
  • [AdvancedFeature] You can now configure a node with submenus to be a "Treat as tool button" menu, which will make one submenu the active button at any given time, with bottom choices to switch.
  • [MinorFeature] Added additional configuration tab for docks; added button to reset dock/window size/position from configuration.
  • [BugFix] Automatically checks for if floating docks are off screen or too large, and repositions.
  • [MinorFeature] Position of configuration tree dialog is now remembered.
  • [Feature] Now using a dual package (installer and portable zip), with portable zip preconfigured for portable use; installer and executable are now signed.
  • [BugFix] On large font displays the docks were taking up more space than they should.
  • [BugFix] Tab Page menus with captions were not updating captions properly when switching tab page menus.

v1.129.01 - November 21, 2011
  • [BugFix] When using multiple docks, all but first dock would fail to remember the monitor it was docked on.
  • [BugFix] When minimizing docks to the system tray, docks could forget which monitor they were docked to, or whether they were docked or floating.
  • [BugFix] Floating docks could sometimes change size or monitor when docked and undocked.
  • [MinorFeature] When clicking on a dock that is minimized to the tray (left or right click), a second click will toggle the menu off.
  • [MinorFeature] You can now set custom screen popup location for hotkey triggered menus (overiding default of popping up under mouse cursor)
  • [MinorImprovement] Improved help for resizing docks.
  • [Feature] If you try to launch multiple instances of LBC you will now get a message saying so, the second instance will exit, and the first instance options will be shown.
  • [Feature] If you now use the hotkey to toggle visibility of hidden/sliding docks, they will STAY visible until you toggle them back into their hide/slide mode with hotkey again.
  • [Feature] You can now customize the hide and unhide delays for hidden/sliding docks.
  • [BugFix] The hittests for revealing Hidden/Sliding docks was ignored pixels near extreme sides of screen, which could result in dock not appearing when mouse was over it.
  • [MinorFeature] New program icon by HamRadio.
  • [MinorImprovement] Improved installer and default dock (especially for win7)
  • [BugFix] Fixed crash that could occur when closing a file from three that was already showing a launchbar on screen, or deleting such a dock node.

v1.127.01 - June 4, 2011
  • [Feature] For command nodes you can now use the checkbox to say that if the process if found already running, LBC should switch to it rather than launching a new process.
  • [BugFix] Backup option on main root node was not always being saved.
  • [BugFix] Removed Nirsoft Nircmd auto installation, because antivirus companies were giving stupid false positives.
  • [BugFix] If you now set a custom menu font and choose color BLACK for text, it will properly invert the color when highlighting it.
  • [BugFix] The # character in urls was being converted to %23 which was causing them to sometimes not launch properly
  • [BugFix] Changed default arguments of dropped node from %file% to "%file%"

v1.124.01 - March 20, 2011
  • [MinorFeature] Right-click context menu for tree node now selects it first (could be source of reported deletion bug)
  • [MinorFeature] New confirmation when deleting nodes (reports caption of node to be deleted and summary of children count); confirms when trying to delete parent node with many children.
  • [MinorFeature] Custom hotkey option for bringing up configuration tree.
  • [BugFix] Attempt to improve vertical docking bar blank area display.
  • [BugFix] LBC was overly aggressive about reacting to screen resolution changes, especially on multimonitor setups; should now only readjust when a monitor a dock is on changes resolution.  (uncheck main option to disable this behavior).
  • [BugFix] Right-clicking in menus to bring up context menu could sometimes launch the item.
  • [BugFix] The borders of left+right docked docks could become hidden.
  • [BugFix] Rebuilding of docks sometimes forgot recent size changes.
  • [MinorImprovement] Left+right docked bars with normal and menu buttons of different widths would left-align icons; they are now centered if the "all same size" option is set.

v1.120.01 - February 15, 2011
  • [MinorFeature] Tree Configuration dialog can now be resized to short height to fit on netbook screens.
  • [MinorFeature] The default launchbar file can now be saved and no longer gives warning about "should be resaved as a different name"
  • [Feature] You can now right-click items in popup and tray menu bars to get their context menus or jump to them in explorer/config.
  • [Feature] You can now CTRL+Right Click items on docking bars OR on any popup menu to open the containing folder of the item without closing menu.
  • [MinorImprovement] Better hints for dragging and dropping nodes; better text for sibling/child node creation.

v1.117.01 - January 18, 2011
  • [MinorFeature] New options to reduce/control backups
  • [MinorFeature] Options to customize custom file and web browsers.

v1.116.01 - September 26, 2010
  • [MinorFeature] New option to disable the autofix on resolution change; and attempt to not perform this when full screen application is taking over;
  • [MinorFeature] Unhiding docks with hotkey now causes them to show immediately, even if "Delay on Unhide" option is set.
  • [MinorFeature] New general option to disable the default behavior of turning off on-top behavior when a screensaver or other full-screen application is running.
  • [BugFix] Older files with a bad icon image somewhere in the dock could cause improper matching of tree items and icons, resulting in wrong icons being shown for tree nodes.

v1.113.01 - August 5, 2010
  • [Feature] LBC now detects when the monitor changes resolution and auto-adjusts itself to the new dimensions (fixes bug where a resolution change could cause LBC to be offscreen an unactivateable)
  • [BugFix] Options for specifying multiple folder inclusion and exclusion patterns said to use ; but this did not work.  You should now use | character to separate multiple patterns.
  • [Feature] Added item to right-click menu to open the containing folder of an item on the dock or in a folder menu.
  • [BugFix] Trying to fix rare error message about showing a modal window when working with options.

v1.112.01 - May 4, 2010
  • [Feature] You can now drag+drop files and folders onto tree configuration nodes that aren't containers, and items will be added below them, like siblings.
  • [BugFix] When dragging and dropping files+folders onto tree configuration, they were previously lowercased.

v1.111.01 - April 15, 2010
  • [Feature] You can now choose to hide all (or only .lnk) file extensions in folder nodes.
  • [BugFix] Using an item with an icon that can't be read could mess up item images temporarily -- fixed.
  • [Feature] Creating new dock node starts with a default icon.
  • [Feature] You can now add custom spacers in the Separator item nodes.

v1.110.01 - December 25, 2009
  • [Feature] Some people were getting error about missing drives when LBC tried to resolve paths for items that no longer had valid paths; such resolution is now not enabled by default, but can be enabled in the main Options page.

v1.109.01 - November 29, 2009
  • [BugFix] Removed usless "Preferences" menu from preferences dialog.
  • [Feature] If you ctrl+click on tab page tool buttons they will cycle through child "tabs".

v1.108.01 - June 28, 2009
  • [Bug Fix] It seems that recently the icon loading of document files stopped working (executable file icons were detected properly but not document file icons); this is now fixed.

v1.107.01 - June 26, 2009
  • [Major Feature] LBC now scans the Tools subdirectory for .lbctool files which define pre-configured menu items that can be added easily to launch bars using the tree configuration gui.  This works with the new commandline tool output system to provide a kind of limited on-demand Plugin functionality.
  • [Minor Features] Better commandline output processing into submenus.
  • [Feature] Better error detection during file save and load.
  • [Feature] SaveAs now defaults to current filename.
  • [Feature] Unhiding trigger on mouseover now ignores top right and bottom left corners of screen to avoid maximized window buttons and start menu.

v1.105.02 - June 20, 2009
  • [Feature] V1.04 and v1.05.01 of LBC had an invalid pointer bug that could crash when loading launchbars.

v1.105.01 - June 18, 2009
  • [Feature] LBC now makes automatic backups more often -- one each month that you make changes to the file, and when updating LBC version.
  • [Feature] LBC now warns if you are saving a LBC docking bar file with the initial default filename.

v1.104.01 - June 17, 2009
  • [BugFix] Adding entries from running processes was not grabbing full file path -- hopefully i haven't broken anything in fixing this.
  • [MajorFeature] You can now specify node menus that are built from commandline tool output (or file contents); this can be used to create plugin-like nodes.
  • [Feature] Added ability to overide icon+caption settings for submenu nodes and tab nodes and their children -- this lets you mix and match large and small icons on a dock bar.
  • [BugFix] Captions weren't changing properly on tab nodes when switching.
  • [Feature] You can now Ctrl+Click on dynamic file/folder menu items to open their *containing* folder.
  • [BugFix] The %APPDRIVE% and %APPDIR% replacements were not being done properly.
  • [BugFix] Trying to fix the occasional error when using the "Configure this item" menu.

v1.102.01 - June 13, 2009
  • [BugFix] On Windows Vista and Windows 7, LBC was by default saving the initial launchbar in, and defaulting to saving in, the Program Files directory.  This is now changed to the user's documents directory.  If you are using VISTA or Windows7 and have a previous version installed, please save your custom launchbars in a directory of your own choosing and remember to back it up with your other data files.
  • [MajorFeature] You can now create "tab" submenu nodes, which are meant to hold a collection of child submenus, which can be switched between.  By placing such a tab submenu on your dock you can easily click to switch the configuration of your docking bar icons on the fly to different sets of buttons to suit your needs.
  • [BugFix] Mouseover hints should work now if you enable them on dock options.

v1.100.01 - June 13, 2009
  • [BugFix] Attempt to fix annoying behavior where dock would unslide twice in rapid succession.
  • [MinorFeature] On Windows7 (and in no-border mode) there is now a right-click menu item to toggle resizeable border mode to adjust size of docked bar temporarily; this is another way other than shift+cursor keys to resize docking bars.
  • [MinorFeature] Added larger icon to program.
  • [Feature] Added background image mode to dock display properties.
  • [BugFix] On Windows 7 and Vista the non-docked launchbars were not resizeable.

v1.98.01 - June 10, 2009
  • [BugFix] On Windows 7 and Vista the docking bars were showing with big ugly grey borders.  They now look much better.
  • [NewFeature] You can resize the docking bars by clicking on them and using the keyboard Shift+Arrow keys -- this is needed when using Windows Vista and Windows 7 as the docking bar is not dragable/resizable.
  • [NewFeature] In Maintenance menu is now a command to fixup changed drive letters and report any links to file paths that cannot be found or fixed.
  • [BugFix] Trying to fix flickering caused by yet another try to keep ontop status in place.
  • [New Feature] You can set Left or Center text alignment for captions.

v1.96.01 - June 01, 2009
  • [BugFix] LBC knows to hide when a full screen application (game or screensaver) runs; but it was losing it's ontop status after such an app closed.

v1.94.01 - May 26, 2009
  • [BugFix] Linked nodes were not launching in Batch mode for Batch menu parents.

v1.93.01 - May 7, 2009
  • [BugFix] In portable use, the last loaded (.mcf) file was not being automatically loaded when drive letter change occured.  LBC now autocorrects last file name to account for drive letter changes in usb drives, etc.  Applications and custom settings already autocorrect for drive letter changes.

v1.92.01 - March 13, 2009
  • [BugFix] Fixed flicker on hiding/sliding docks



OLDER VERSIONS:

v1.91.01 BETA - 3/10/09
  • New option for custom bottom text in tray menus (including ability to disable)
  • [BugFix] Dropping a new item onto a sliding/hidden docking bar caused it to push other windows out of the way.
  • Added -config commandline switch to open up configuration dialog at startup -- useful to correct layout problems that prevent docks from showing.
  • Added option to docks to always show tray icon -- useful for testing and hidden/sliding docks.
  • You can now trigger the normal LBC popup menu from the right-click menu of items on the dock -- especially useful in transparent background mode when there is no way to click on LBC background to get this menu.
  • [BugFix] The NOBORDER option was still leaving a thin border
  • [BugFix] The right-click context menu of items could sometimes be hidden behind normal node menu.
  • You can now ask far to completely hide the docking bar and not even show a sliver when docked (new option in the dock), or show a sliver but now with some transparency to make it less intrusive.
  • Added %APPDRIVE% virtual folder to list of virtual folders accepted.
  • [BugFix] The upper right corner of a bar docked to the top or right hand of screen is ignored for unhiding bars because of likelyhood of system icon buttons there -- but cursor there was also causing docks to hide which is no longer the case.
  • Added option to delay unhiding of docked bars.
  • [Bugfix] Default options for some newly created nodes could show values of last loaded node.
  • If you change icon file for a node manually (to a valid new image file), it now recognizes that you have made a change and saves it
  • Default ConfigDir.ini is now included with installation for portable use.
  • [Bugfix] Improved theme/transparent/colored options slightly (icons were looking more ragged than they should with colored backgrounds)


v1.86.01 - 1/14/09
  • Fixed bug where hotkey popup menus were showing contents of last virtual folder (control panel,etc.)

v1.85.01 - 12/24/08
  • More attempts at making the ontop behavior work well and consistently
  • Attempt to hide under fullscreen games/screensavers.
  • Avoids unhiding when cursor is in top right corner of monitor (where maximized windows have their close button)




LaunchBar Commander is what is commonly referred to as an "Application Launcher"; it is typically docked to the side of your screen and lets you configure buttons and menus which will launch your favorites programs. 

screenshot.gif



Features:
  • Create as many "docks" as you want; each dock can also be minimized to the system tray to be used as a tray menu.
  • All configurations are stored in portable configuration files - easy to move to different computers, backup, etc.
  • Easily enable/disable/copy/move items using a sophisticated hierarhical tree configuration gui.
  • Full drag+drop support - create new items by dragging files or programs onto a launch bar; or drag a document onto an existing button to launch the program with the file dropped.
  • Lots of customization options, including skins and transparency options; customizable font style and size, labeled headers, etc.
  • Advanced button and menu types - including switchable Tool Buttons, Batch Buttons, Virtual Links, and more coming soon.
  • Smart shortcut processing (drag+drop and launch shortcuts and urls properly).
  • Smart icon retrieval - use application icons, standalone .ico files, or even .bmp files.




OLDER RELEASES

v1.83.01 - 11/03/08
  • More attempts to fix the bug where launchbars were losing their ontop status.
  • Fixed bug where Folder nodes stopped working.

v1.80.01 - 10/28/08
  • Tried to improve hit detection for sliding/hiding docks and improve ontop behavior

v1.79.01 - 10/28/08
  • Added "Shortcuts" folder with "My Control Panel" subfolder during install -- useful to easily make a folder menu of control panel items on a new dock.
  • Folder nodes can now specify directories using the %APPDIR% replacement field and paths of folder nodes can now include system environmental variables combined with subfolders.

v1.76.02 - 10/28/08
  • Fixed hotkey menu popup not responding to keypresses and not disappearing.
  • Fixed multiple hotkey popup menus being shown -- now hotkey toggles popup menu.

v1.75.02 - 10/27/08
  • Fixed bug where bar slid out and back multiple times in a row.
  • Fixed bug where hotkey pop-up menu was not getting focus or disappearing on change of focus.

v1.74.03 - 10/27/08
  • You can now customize the click sound for menus; click sound played when hidden bar appears
  • Tried to fix a bug where toolbar was temporarily shown blank on unhiding
  • Included small directory of sounds with installation
  • Trying to fix bug where "On Top" setting is being ignored.
  • Improved system tray menu.

v1.73.01 - 10/26/08
  • Totally rewritten auto-hiding/sliding docking bar support (make sure you set docks to be OnTop from main root options node)
  • Improved clarity of node right-click menu.
  • Improved multimonitor support.

v1.71.01 - 10/25/08
  • Big news.. Multimonitor support! Now docks can be docked to any side of any monitor. YAY!

v1.70.03 - 10/22/08
  • Hotkey support implemented; you can now configure hotkeys for any item, menu, virtual folder, or dock.  Triggering a hotkey normally shows menu under cursor for that branch of tree.  For docks you can also configure the hotkey to toggle visibility of dock.
  • Tree configuration now does not hide docks -- easier to see skinning options.
  • Right-click on items now shows shell context menu when appropriate.
  • Click sounds now played during virtual folder navigation.
  • Files were not being marked as modified after drag+drop on a launch bar which could result in failure to save the new item.
  • Added new readonly file mode which says to ignore any changes without warning.
  • Fixed noborder option for transparent launchbars.
  • Right-clicking on a node and choosing preferences/configure will now open up configuration tree to that node.
  • Added "Save As.." to readonly file change warning choices.
  • Added -open "filename" commandline option to specify a filename to load (useful for portable invocation)


v1.61.01 - 8/13/07
  • Added update checking support.

v1.60.06 - November 19, 2006
  • When you drag and drop nodes between DIFFERENT files it will now default to a COPY operation not a move (you can override by holding CTRL to force a copy operation or SHIFT to force a MOVE operation).
  • Added option in file node for configuring different confirmation levels for saving file changes.
  • Several improvements in backup/save procedures designed to minimize the possibility of a crash during save corrupting any data, and make it highly likely that a backup will exist if your launchbar file gets fubar.
  • Bugfix: An error message could be generated when clicking on a menu item, due to a mistaken toggle button link id#.
  • Improved save procedure on exit.
  • Improved save confirmation dialogs.
  • Dragging and dropping a shortcut on a bar offered choice of linking to shortcut but ignored this choice and always linked to real file; fixed.
  • Fixed bug that could cause crash if you close files/nodes that are showing on a docking bar on screen while you are editing it (docking bars now close while you edit preferences).
  • You can now drag and drop file order in tree (i dont know why you would want to do that, but at least it doesnt crash like before)
  • You can now drop tree files onto tree to load them.
  • Bugfix: images could become temporarily mis-assigned when closing files.
  • Added a backup reminder feature on first use.
  • Added ability mark files as read-only so they will never be saved accidentally.
  • Bugfix: canceling an exit from configuration screen could hang program.
  • Changed special folders to have the form %SPECIALNAME% for easier identification.
  • Internal file format upgraded (will notify you on loading old files) to speed up special folder access somewhat and speed up hiding of missing files.
  • Bugfix: Folder icons weren't displaying in last version.
  • Bugfix: .tmp files were not being deleted on successful save.
  • Included HamRadio's awesome Icon Set #0 dll (thanks HamRadio) <---- NICE !!!
  • New improved icon image selection mechanism.
  • You can now cancel an icon change and it will revert to previous icon.
  • You can now manually set the imageid for an item (useful for cloning images from other nodes).
  • Added Help item to popup+tray menu.
  • Added sample launchbar with categories from HamRadio using his icons (see SampleLaunchbar directory).


1.56.02 - 10/13/06
  • Bugfix - adding sibling menus could generate temporary eroneous copy of menu underneath (thx pencoe).

v1.55.03 - 8/18/06
  • Now .lnk extensions are not shown in virtual folder menus 
  • Better sorting in virtual folder menus 
  • New option in virtual folder menus to use dividers between letter groups 
  • Virtual folder menu item names were being displayed incorrectly when filtering was applied 
  • Added automatic backup process that backs up config tree files whenever saving new versions 
  • Icons can now use environmental variaibles in paths 
  • Better support for old fashioned folder nodes (click to open in file explorer) 
  • Loads default Launch Bar on first use 
  • Fixed broken help file shortcut.
  • Option to Hide missing items on a dock.


v1.54.02 - 7/25/06
  • Folder browse button didn't trigger a need to save node details.
  • Full support for portable use on removable drives (like USB drives), by automatically changing drive letters, or letting you specify program locations using paths relative to application or application drive.
  • Fixed bug where skin preferences were not being used at startup.
  • Fixed bug where menu caption colors were wrong when default skin was selected.
  • Fixed bug when trying to copy entire file tree..

v1.53.01 - 7/24/06
  • Added extraction of icons from dll files.
  • Added flexible virtual folder contents menus with pattern filters.
  • Wrote preliminary help.
  • Fixed bug not saving new items on shutdown.
  • Added drag and drop files/folders/icons into configuration fields.
  • Added sample LaunchBar file.

v1.51.01 Alpha - 3/06/06
  • When launching apps which can take filename arguments but are launched without any, they are now called with NULL commandline args (otherwise some apps were launching with 1 empty commandline arg, which could cause different behavior).
  • Taskbar now shows item entry for preferences.
  • Added hint to system tray icon when minimized.
  • Removed no-border option temporarily since it doesn't work right.
  • Files with .htm and .html extensions are now launched with custom browser if configured.
  • Improved drawing of icons after a new item is dropped onto the bar
  • Added option to switch to apps if they are already running (instead of launching new copy)
  • Set default skin theme to Office2003

v1.50.01 Alpha - 2/28/06
  • First limited alpha release to testers.
« Last Edit: January 25, 2020, 11:32 PM by mouser »

mouser

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please keep in mind this is an early release - i am using it as my launcher and all basic functionality is working, but there is a lot of stuff that hasn't been implemented yet.

it should only be installed by people who like testing new things; those wanting a full finished program with full help file should wait for future releases.

i would appreciate comments and suggestions (on a separate thread).

future versions will probably come with a sample configuration file - right now you'll have to figure out how to make one yourself from scratch.

-mouser

mouser

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new version posted with a very flexible virtual file/folder menu feature for adding menus that refer to folders on your hard disk with pattern matching etc.

mouser

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The latest version has features added to make LaunchBar Commander suitable for use on a removable drive, like a usb stick.  You can now specify paths to commands relative to the current drive, or relative to the program.

Actually though, you really don't have to do anything special, just specify programs and documents as normal full paths and the program will automatically figure out to change the drive when you move it.

Note that you dont have to install the program either, just open the .exe setup program in a zip program like winzip and extract the contents and put them where you want.  The first time you enter a license code it will create a license key file you can take around with you.

mouser

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some notes on focus:

LaunchBar Commander has a slightly different focus than some other launch bar tools:

  • It's designed for power users who value efficiency over eye candy - although you can choose some nice appearance skins for the program, if you are looking for a super fancy animated mac-style dock with dancing icons, LaunchBar Commander is not the tool for you.
  • It's designed to store docking bar configurations in self-contained files - so you can back them up easily, move them to other computers, switch between configurations, etc.
  • It emphasizes the use of highly configurable Menus rather than just buttons - you can build hierarchical menus of any depth and varying types.
  • It has a very powerful tree configuration tool which supports copy and paste, drag and drop, easy temporary disabling.
  • Multiple dock support - a single instance of the program can support multiple docks and tray menus.
  • Robust support for virtual file menus - confgure menu items to give you access into specific folders, with many options.
  • Drag and drop runtime support - drop files onto buttons to open them with the specific program, or add them to the launch bar.
  • Smart tree building - extracts icons and descriptions from files and pictures.
  • Special menu building blocks for Start Menu, MyDocuments, etc.
  • Special support for using it on portable drives, with smart resolution of changed drive letters.

mouser

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New minor release - mostly to address the issues raised by others here on the forum.  Most involve the virtual folder system.

mouser

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Try the new "Divide Letter Groups" option when you have big virtual folders, i find it helps to make large lists of files and folders more manageable:


mouser

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I've been working for days on a new update; there are really no new features just a lot of bug fixes and tweaking.

Anyone who wants to stress test it, i'd love to have reports on it:


But please do back up your launch bar files first, just in case.

I'll post an official beta soon.



v1.60.03 - 11/18/06
· When you drag and drop nodes between DIFFERENT files it will now default to a COPY operation not a move (you can override by holding CTRL to force a copy operation or SHIFT to force a MOVE operation).
· Added option in file node for configuring different confirmation levels for saving file changes.
· Several improvements in backup/save procedures designed to minimize the possibility of a crash during save corrupting any data, and make it highly likely that a backup will exist if your launchbar file gets fubar.
· Bugfix: An error message could be generated when clicking on a menu item, due to a mistaken toggle button link id#.
· Improved save procedure on exit.
· Improved save confirmation dialogs.
· Dragging and dropping a shortcut on a bar offered choice of linking to shortcut but ignored this choice and always linked to real file; fixed.
· Fixed bug that could cause crash if you close files/nodes that are showing on a docking bar on screen while you are editing it (docking bars now close while you edit preferences).
· You can now drag and drop file order in tree (i dont know why you would want to do that, but at least it doesnt crash like before)
· You can now drop tree files onto tree to load them.
· Bugfix: images could become temporarily mis-assigned when closing files.
· Added a backup reminder feature on first use.
· Added ability mark files as read-only so they will never be saved accidentally.
· Bugfix: canceling an exit from configuration screen could hang program.
· Changed special folders to have the form %SPECIALNAME% for easier identification.
· Internal file format upgraded (will notify you on loading old files) to speed up special folder access somewhat and speed up hiding of missing files.
· Bugfix: Folder icons weren't displaying in last version.
· Bugfix: .tmp files were not being deleted on successful save.
· Included HamRadio's awesome Icon Set #0 dll (thanks HamRadio) <---- NICE !!!
· New improved icon image selection mechanism.
· You can now cancel an icon change and it will revert to previous icon.
· You can now manually set the imageid for an item (useful for cloning images from other nodes).
· Added Help item to popup+tray menu.
« Last Edit: November 18, 2006, 11:35 AM by mouser »

mouser

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updated sat, nov 18th.  whew.
im going to make this official in the next couple of days - would appreciate any bug reports.

the icon selection is a but nicer now i think, as well as better undo/cancelation of icon changes.

thanks to HamRadio for provide a nice custom icon set.

mouser

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Ok v1.60.06 is now official (still beta), and is a highly recommended update for all users.

Although it doesn't include many new features, it includes numerous bugfixes.

As always, do yourself a favor and backup your launchbars occasionally!

mouser

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ps. Thanks to HamRadio for letting me include his unique custom icon set with this version!
You'll also find a sample launchbar configuration file using the icons, which you can use to start your own new launchbar:
hamicons.png

lanux128

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thanks to HamRadio.. i've been waiting for your cool custom icon set since an earlier preview here. :Thmbsup:

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Have fun with them! :)

superboyac

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Re: v1.60.06

One thing I noticed missing from this release was that when you go into preferences to edit the launchbar, the actual launchbar disappears until you exit the preferences dialog.  Then it reappears.  before, the launchbar would never disappear, and it was still useable even with the preferences open.  That was nice.

mouser

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yes - i'm afraid that was necesary - because otherwise you could end up with a launch bar that was out of sync with the tree data, which could cause some bad behavior :(

superboyac

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Ah, I see.  That's ok, no big deal.  the only place it was really useful was when you were switching themes, and you could try out all the themes before closing the preferences.  That's the only one I could think of.

mouser

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oh thats a very good point. i'll have to put something bak in there to help that.
perhaps a good solution is to have a sample Launch bar on that actual skin theme tab that you can play with while you are testing themes..

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Ok v1.60.06 is now official (still beta),

Some tiny 'to do's:
(Windows 2000:)

Installer said "1.60.05", not .06.

"AllStartMenu" gave me "No items to dipslay". I had to use "AllPrograms".

mouser

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Thanks Curt,

Someone else recently reported empty with AllStartMenu too, but it really should be working and works here.. i'll have to experiment on win2k..

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hi guys, my first post here.

first of all, i've been looking for the perfect launcher since ever and believe me, i tried *a lot* of them.
mouser, i'm glad you value efficiency over eyecandy because most eyecandy launchers are pure crap. they lack options, are sluggish and buggy.

despite i found and enjoyed true launch bar on my desktop pc for a couple years, i moved to a portable software solution (which i carry in my portable 100gb hd) months ago and i had to keep looking for (yet) another launcher and this time, it had to be portable. double grief.

until i found launchbar commander. despite its bit buggy, beta version, it has been working good so far and it's fast and pretty. with a future option for us to make our own skins, it will rule the socalled-eyecandy-maclike-launchbars, by miles.
exactly what i was looking for. great piece of software.

now, i found it's *almost* portable (may be a bug):
it uses relative paths for apps and works good but it doesn't use relative paths for the configuration file.
so when i connect my hd to another computer and the drive letter changes and i run LB, a warning box appears telling me it can't find any docks/toolbars/systrays in the config file. i have to click "configure" close my empty mcf file and open my saved mcf file for it to change drive letter in the config file (.ini).
i tried replacing the drive letter in the .ini with the ".\" command but it doesn't work and as soon as i close the program and run it again it will replace the ".\" with the drive letter again. if i set the .ini file to read-only, when i close the program it says it can't write to the config file.

btw, the custom file explorer and internet browser options use relative paths too?

is there a work-around for this? i had "pstart" as my app launcher and its "tree interface" is very confusing for someone who uses more than 2 menu sub-levels.
please don't make me go back!   :Thmbsup:

love your program. keep on the good work.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2006, 01:55 PM by mimiihu »

mouser

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ah great point!!

i will fix it so it can find relative configuration files.
the custom file explorer and internet browser should be made to also work on removable drive but i will check to make sure.

i will try to have a new release by next week at the latest.

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thanks a lot for the quick reply!
i'll be looking forward to it and i'll be glad to test it.

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To all users,

Please post each new BUG REPORT in it's own thread. Do not use this thread for bug reports. You can add them to the LaunchBar Commander forum. After one is posted, we will add it to the LaunchBar Commander - Official Bug Tracking Thread. This will help eliminate the clutter that was the old bug tracking thread.

Thanks for your help!

Josh

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New beta is up with a bunch of new features.

lanux128

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this is cool! downloading now.. thanks mouser! :Thmbsup: