IDEA: "Open" icon - drag and drop icon2 onto it and icon2's Open action happens

[DanD]

(Windows)  My attempts to double-click on an icon don't always work -- my hand may move too much, or the clicks are too far apart, or I actually only clicked once after all.  But I never have problems dragging an icon and dropping it.  It would be nice to have an "Open" or "Run" icon on my desktop so that I can open documents or run applications just by dragging their icons and dropping them on the "Open" or "Run" icon.

On my laptop at work I am usually logged in nonprivileged but do have an administrator privileged account on it.  Some applications like Google Desktop and most installations need the privileges to run.  So the same as the above but with "Run as..." would be useful, too. 

Currently I often mouse button three and make sure I haven't move off the Open and/or move down to the Run as..., but dragon drops  are quicker and easier.

Thanks,
Dan

[AndyM]

A shortcut to an application will almost always open a compatible file dropped on it.

I have a shortcut on my desktop whose target is "C:\pgms\lister.exe", which I drop text files on to read.  My default "open" for a text file is a text editor, Lister is just a reader.

Sometimes you have to add a %1 to the target.

Oh, wait a second.  Sounds like you want *one* "Run" icon that will open any file with it's default executable (.doc with Word, .xls with Excel, etc.).  So you'd need a program that would find the files default in the registry and then take it from there.  I bet it could be done, but it's beyond me.

[brett]

DanD

Not sure if this is what you need, but your feedback is welcome.

DragnDrop



Start D&D, and drag any file/shortcut onto GUI

(you can start D&D by dragging anything onto desktop D&D icon)

f11 to reshow (maximize)
f12 to minimize
esc, will quit


dB

[DanD]

Woo hoo!  Thanks!

Not sure if this is what you need, but your feedback is welcome.

-dB (July 08, 2006, 07:33 AM)

Very close!     I was thinking of an icon instead of an application, but if I could resize the window down small and have it not go away after each use, that would be great!

Dan


p.s.  I Google'd for...  Windows AHK scripting  ...and it asked ...

    Did you mean: Windows AWK scripting 

...but it still got the first hit right...

    AutoHotkey Tutorial: Macro and Hotkey Creation
    http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/Tutorial.htm

[brett]

DragnDrop run



Hmmm, I will read some more if it is possible to start on icon drop. But for now, here is a
- smaller GUI
- stays on top till f12 or ESC

Autohotkey. http://www.autohotkey.com/
Great for quick results. 
Although this still took me 2hrs because fairly new ti this   
But I having a great time learning   
the forum is the place to learn

Thanks
dB

[kimmchii]

or you can change it to "single click to open an item".

IDEA: "Open" icon - drag and drop icon2 onto it and icon2's Open action happens

[DanD]

dB,

here is a
- smaller GUI
- stays on top till f12 or ESC

-dB (July 08, 2006, 04:42 PM)

Thanks!  I have it up on the upper left of my screen now, mostly off screen so that just a little strip (not quite two icons high) shows that I can drag things to and drop on.



kimmchii,

or you can change it to "single click to open an item".

-kimmchii (July 08, 2006, 07:00 PM)

Yes, and in the past I have sometimes used that, but I like this better.

Dan

[skrommel]

  Yes! The world's shortest script! Something for Guinness' book of world records?

To have a program run when it is dropped on an icon, use the following AutoHotkey script:

[Select]

Run,%1%

Save it to a file called DragToRun.ahk, and place it on your desktop. Download and install AutoHotkey from www.autohotkey.com, and during installation, check Enable drag & drop onto scripts. If not, you have to compile the script to an exe file by rightclicking it and choosing Compile Script.

Phew! Programming is such hard work!

Skrommel

[DanD]

Skrommel,

It works great!  It is exactly what I wanted.  Thank you!

Dan

p.s. And the icon has a fine sense of style -- drag the desktop Internet Explorer icon to it and it spits it right back out!

[brett]

DragnDrop has been defeated. after v1 it is no longer
   
*toungue in cheek*
Sure, skommels answer might be technically correct, but wheres the challenge.
Wheres the hours and hours of 'Reading the Manual'.
what happened to all the research at the AHK forums.
and was there a little celebration as it rose from the ashes.
The self satisfaction that you have created a small slice of history.
I have already poured over skrommels code, inserting msgbox's before and after the first line, trying to crack the script.
So much to learn, so little time.
pfffftttttt,
*tounge back out of cheek*

I had another idea before skrommel so elegantly put his script forward.

Bump-n-Run v1b

'Bump-n-Run' puts a thin line, 1 pixel wide down the top left edge of the screen. You dont have to be very accurate with this
- Simply 'bump' a icon into the top left edge of the screen and away she goes.
- drag a file in windows explorer, bump left edge and the file will execute.
and a bonus
- bump mouse agaist left edge, and a button menu of last eight 'Bump-n-Run' is shown,in history order, allowing quick 1 click access.

thanks
dB

[jgpaiva]

Bump-n-Run v1b

'Bump-n-Run' puts a thin line, 1 pixel wide down the top left edge of the screen. You dont have to be very accurate with this
- Simply 'bump' a icon into the top left edge of the screen and away she goes.
- drag a file in windows explorer, bump left edge and the file will execute.
and a bonus
- bump mouse agaist left edge, and a button menu of last eight 'Bump-n-Run' is shown,in history order, allowing quick 1 click access.

-dB (July 12, 2006, 06:40 AM)

Ok, that's sooo cool that i had to check it out, even when i don't need it!
I love the way it works, and the list of recently launched apps is just genious! Nice work dB! 

[DanD]

dB,

That is soooooo cool!    I have it running now.

Dan

--
My request made The Best Of Blog but the image there doesn't look anything like me!

[app103]

My request made The Best Of Blog but the image there doesn't look anything like me!

-DanD (July 12, 2006, 03:38 PM)

It wasn't supposed to be you...lol 
Just a fun image to make the page look a bit more interesting.

[mjsearcy]

I am new to Auto HotKeys and am unsure how to run the "Drag and Drop" program and "Bump-n-Run".  I have an 85 year old aunt that always has trouble double-clicking because of arthritis in her hands.  These programs sound absolutely great and just what she needs.

Thank you.

Maurita

[DanD]

I am new to Auto HotKeys and am unsure how to run the "Drag and Drop" program and "Bump-n-Run".  I have an 85 year old aunt that always has trouble double-clicking because of arthritis in her hands.  These programs sound absolutely great and just what she needs.

Thank you.

Maurita

-mjsearcy (July 20, 2006, 05:53 AM)

There are discussions of AutoHotkey both in these forums and at its own web site.

The very short description is that you can write scripts -- plain old text files, but named with .ahk at the end instead of .txt -- and if you have downloaded the Autohotkey program it can run those scripts.  Alternatively, the person who wrote the script can compile it to an .exe file.  Then all you need to do is download that .exe file -- you don't need anything more from the AutoHotkey site to run it.

Whether you install AutoHotkey and put the .ahk file on the Desktop, or just download the .exe file and put it on the Desktop, the way to use them is:

    Drag and Drop -- drag the icon for some other program (it also works for some types of documents) and
        drop it on the Drag and Drop icon on the Desktop

    Bump-n-Run -- double-click on the Bump-n-Run icon on the Desktop (or drag it to and drop it on the
        Drag and Drop icon, if you have both).  You should see a thin line going down the top part of the
        left edge of the screen.  Drag the icon of the program you want to run or the document you want
        to open "through" that edge.

Dan D