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AceText - text & clipboard manager (for coders, writers, etc.)

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allen:
The RSS read/write is integrated very unobtrusively -- you'd miss it if you weren't looking for it. :)

It's all handled via folder creation.  When making a new folder, two new folder types have been added in version 2.x.  RSS Reader and RSS writer.  If you select RSS Reader, you can input the URL for the feed.  If you go with RSS Writer you can specify an ftp server to publish it to.

As for RSS reading, I made a little script for converting an opml from your rss reader into an AceText collection.  It can also convert an AceText collection to an opml.  I like to dump my opml into acetext when I'm going somewhere -- put acetext on my usb drive and have all of my feeds right there for offline viewing and updatable when/where the net is available.

Carol Haynes:
Neat ... thanks

rjbull:
From there, the ability to read and write xml files is inherent, so why not give it the ability to read/write a popular web technology?
-allen (September 11, 2006, 05:20 AM)
--- End quote ---

So adding the RSS features was in fact very little extra cost.  I see, thanks.

it's light, fast and efficient.

--- End quote ---

I still use ClipCache 1.41 (last free version), and it's good enough for me; seems fairly light.  Also does images, but that's something I seldom use so I don't know if it does it well.

KenR:
Does anyone have any thoughts on the relative advantages and disadvantages of AceText,
Clipboard Help and Spell, and ClipMate?

Thanks, Ken

allen:
CH+S is simply a clipboard extender that can preserve files -- and as such, it's one of the best true clipboard extenders, in my opinion.  I especially love it's quickpaste menu -- brilliant configurable auto-cleanup procedures. I often have it running alongside acetext for the QuickPaste alone.  AceText and ClipMate, on the other hand, emphasize data storage and manipulation primarily and include clipboard monitoring in the suite.  (AceText especially falls into this, with clipboard monitoring being a feature, not the backbone, of the application.)

The two I've used the most are ClipMate and AceText -- in that order.  I was a user of ClipMate from version 2 or 3 onward.  I can't say anything truly bad about it -- the reason for my switch was one of personal taste.  AceText's design better suits my own personal needs and methods.

That said, the most obvious pros of ClipMate--it's really become a full blown information manager.  It's ideal for collecting text and graphics alike, organizing them in folders.  It can be configured to automatically regularly backup your data, has a full search capabilities and I believe now even has (or at least they are in the works) filters for directing clips to different folders based on search criteria.  You can create templates to apply when pasting, with a single click paste one item, then the next, then the next -- even adding keystrokes/delimiters between items.  I (and many others, users and otherwise) consider clipmate to be the godfather of ClipBoard extenders.

The downsides to ClipMate aren't so much shortcomings as differences that are deal breakers for me.  The biggest reason I made the switch, was ClipMate has become far more than I need/expect/want from it -- too big, too much.  What it does, it does brilliantly.  I know of quite a few people who absolutely adore it for ancestral research, writing/archiving reviews/essays, etc.  The other thing, for me, was lack of portability -- ClipMate is 100% tied to the system registry.  While one can import/export registry keys, it's not a truly portable application.  I like to be able to take my daily apps with me when I go -- home away from home, as it were.

AceText is not as robust as ClipMate in its filters, configurability, or pasting options.  Also, it handles text and text alone.  It does have the core features you'd expect from a clipboard extender -- sequence pasting, text cleanup options, folders for saving data.  Bottom line is that it has a good text editor (it'll be familiar for editpad users, as it's the same one therein--though obviously not as feature filled), inline spell check (as does ClipMate), and does so in a much smaller, lighter and responsive package.  It's entirely portable, easily run full featured from a portable drive.  Collections are stored not in a database but as xml files that can easily copied, edited, etc. from outside acetext.  Clips can be simple text, fore and aft text (has two text fields, pasting such a clip will paste both and put the cursor between -- handy for web code. I have a collection I made of all xhtml tags), web clips (to associate with a URL) or even binary (If you feel like typing in 1's and 0's).  For those who use editpad, it also integrates to an extent with EditPad Pro -- which can read and display AceText collections in the sidebar.

Over the years, I've experimented with a lot of clipboard extenders.  I've yet to find one that I can truly say is the best and only a few I'd consider among the worst.  There are a lot to chose from, many are excellent applications -- it's about finding the one that best suits your own needs/usage.

Another great option, which has recently become freeware, is ClipMagic -- what makes it stand out is its inbound filtering.  No sorting things after the fact -- like your e-mail inbox, you can have them sorted as they come.  It's a nice small application at a great price.

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