Clipboard manager

[REDONDOS]

Hi there. First of all, I don't know if I'm posting in the right forum, sorry if I got it wrong.

Now to the question: from time to time I'm in the need of an application that would change the way I copy/paste. Something that has a history of objects that had been on the clipboard, so that I can access them later quickly, without the need of using my mouse. About 5 years ago, I browsed entire categories from download.com, tucows.com, and some other software indexing sites looking for a tool that performed these tasks efficiently, but found none. Now, I was about to do that again until I remembered about these forums and that most of you guys like exploring new tools, so maybe you already know such tool, and can help me out with suggestions.

Thanks in advance,
Red

[Scott]

What capabilities do you need, and how much are you willing to spend?

I use ClipMate, and while some things about it annoy me, I haven't found anything better.  Some freeware options like ClipX are fast, but don't have all the features, of course.

I've also used ClipCache, and it's not too bad.

[Darwin]

I'd just like to add a word about ClipMate ($29.95 US - http://www.thornsoft.com/download.htm). There are a number of alternative shareware and freeware Clipboard extenders but this is the best that I have tried.

You can do all sorts of things with it, including having it organise your "clips" into categories. You can save passwords and serial numbers and so on in "safe" folders (encrypted) and you can edit your clips before pasting. The editing feature includes a "cleanup" feature that will, for example, automatically remove the chevrons (>) from quoted e-mail text, change the case of text, remove linebreaks, etc. Of course, this may be overkill...

One complaint is that its unicode support is limited.

All in all, after using a clipboard extender for 18 months, I'd find it hard to function without one now.

Mike

[nudone]

trying both clipmate and clipcache i have to say i think clipcache is underrated.

i'd say that clipcache has the better hotkey support by far - and for this kind of application that makes a great deal of sense to me.

or have i just been lazy and not looked into clipmate deep enough.

i find clipcache the more immediate to use when retrieving stored information. a quick tap of ctrl+` brings up a small menu of all recently snapped information in the clipboard plus a list of my frequently used items that i often paste into things. it's easy to select one of these from the menu just by using the arrow keys or the mouse.

if clipmate has something as simple to use i might swap over to it - i couldn't find anything last time i tried, though.

[mouser]

my 2 cents on clipboard tools:

i use them for 1 and only 1 purpose, to keep a history of stuff copied into clipboard so i can go back and grab something old that i lost,
and so that if app crashes i can retrieve text from clipboard.

so in that sense, almost any tool would be sufficient.

the only problem ive found that my windows system sometimes loses the connection with the clipboard tool, and needs to be "repaired" through the tool.  so if you are like me you might want to just look for a freeware tool, but look for one written by an author with some experience with reliable connections to clipboard chain so you dont lose the connections.

i've been trying clipmate myself - its wayyyy overkill for me, but it does seem able to maintain a good clipboard chain connection and i like having it make a sound when i copy stuff to clipboard so i know it got it.

i'd love to hear some recommendations for free clipboard tool.

oh and ability to search for text would be nice.

[Scott]

ClipX (as mentioned above) is the best freeware clipboard tool I have used.

ClipMate supports hotkeys; you just need to configure it, or figure out what the default hotkeys are.  I have Ctrl+Shift+Q set to bring up "quick paste" window.  There is another hotkey you can use, once there, to switch among your categories (try F6).  The ClipMate Explorer has a different hotkey, and I use F6 to switch between categories there.

[mouser]

do any clipboard tools group clips by application you are in when you do the copy? if not, that's a shame..
i wonder if i could whip up such a clipboard tool in a weekend.


EDIT: i see clipmate does this

[Scott]

Yeah, and that's an important feature.  Some applications contain sensitive data that you don't want stashed away in another database, or on the clipboard for eons.  ClipMate lets you prevent clips from being collected by individual applications.

[Darwin]

This forum/site is fantastic. Through posting a (clumsy) comment about Clipmate here I've already benefited from Scott's superior knowledge of the app. This is a lame thing to admit, especially after two years of using Clipmate, but I didn't know you could hit ctrl-shift-q and select from a navigable menu the clip that you want to insert. I've been content to double click the system tray icon and select from the Clipmate Explorer. What a dolt!

Thanks, Scott.

Thanks, too, to Nudone for prompting me to revisit ClipCache after a long absence. Looks like a very good alternative.

Best,

Mike

[mouser]

nudone was just saying this in his last column, how all of us use apps for years and there are still things we never discover; it's nice to have a place where people who love using tools well can share discoveries.

[Scott]

You're welcome, Darwin.  (Love your theory, by the way )  Once you open the "ClipMate Classic" window, you can select an entry using the arrow keys, and simply hit Enter to paste it in whatever application last had focus before bringing up the ClipMate Classic window.  I emphasize that because ClipMate is smart enough to keep track of what window had focus when you brought up the ClipMate Classic window; so, you can actually flip around among windows, yet still have the selected text (or image) pasted automatically into the correct target window.  (This does also mean that if you want to change the window that the text will go to, you will have to close the ClipMate Classic window, then switch to the correct window, then bring up the ClipMate Classic window again.)

You can also double click on an entry shown in the ClipMate Classic window.

I use Ctrl+Shift+C to open the ClipMate Explorer window, but I can't remember if that's the default (and it doesn't matter--you can change it to whatever you want).  ClipMate Explorer doesn't have the "quick paste" feature; you have to select an entry, and then manually paste the data into the target application.  This is how I happen to use ClipMate the vast majority of the time.

[nudone]

it sounds like clipmate might have the hotkey or keyboard navigation options i'd want if i was going to replace clipcache.

just one question: using the keyboard, can you navigate through the different categories you have created when in the classic window or are you restricted to the default/current section that the 'tree' is set to?

[Scott]

Thought I mentioned that in my blathering above...  You'd use F6 to change categories in ClipMate, in both the "classic" and the "explorer" window.  (I don't think that particular hotkey is configurable.)  And you can mark any individual category as a "Favorite" (or not) to determine whether or not it is one of the ones selected by that hotkey.

For example, say you have these ClipMate categories:

Inbox
Personal Info
Black Hole

Then you right click the "Inbox" and "Black Hole" categories in the ClipMate "explorer" window, select Properties, and check the "Favorite" option for each.  You do the same for "Personal Info", except that you leave "Favorite" unchecked.  What will happen, then, is that if you open a ClipMate window and press F6, it will alternate between "Inbox" and "Black Hole", but ignore "Personal Info".

Edit:  It may help to note that, in both the "classic" and "explorer" windows, the title bar changes to relect the name of the currently-selected category.

[nudone]

ah right, yes, sorry Scott, i see you did mention it earlier. looks like clipmate wins again.

[Scott]

No problem.  And the Favorites option isn't very obvious, so I think it was worth mentioning.

Anyone who tried ClipMate some time ago (soon after it hit version 6) may have been turned off by it.  There were some really nasty, and annoying, bugs.  For some reason, I kept it around, and kept reporting its bugs.  The serious bugs (that I know of) are long gone now.  So I'd encourage anyone who tried an earlier version of ClipMate to try the latest.

[REDONDOS]

I didn't expect so many helpful replies, thanks a lot guys! I liked ClipCache better first because it is lighter, and seems to run faster; but then I figured that it doesn't have some of the options that make ClipMate so unique (such as the Safe). Some other things are just better in ClipMate (such as searching for clips). I think I'll stick to this one.

Thanks again.

[Scott]

There are also forums available for ClipMate:

http://www.thornsoft...com/phpBB2/index.php

[nudone]

  i'm back to using clipcache already. i just prefer the way it auto minimises out of the way and i still think the little menu thing that it pops up is the nicer to work.

[Scott]

I can't remember what ClipCache does to be described as "auto minimizing out of the way", but ClipMate has an option where you can have the window hide whenever it loses focus.  This mainly works for the ClipMate Explorer window.

I'm not trying to change your mind.  What suits you depends on how you use it.  I tend to copy and paste a lot of text, often formatted text, and ClipMate is really the only option for that.

[nudone]

er, yeah, i think i meant have the window hide whenever it loses focus.

i suspected clipmate would do it but probably didn't give it long enough to find out.

looks like i'll be trying out clipmate again. oh well, bye bye clipcache for the moment.

the truth is i probably don't do enough with either of these programs for it to matter which one i use - hence the eternal swapping around.

[REDONDOS]

the truth is i probably don't do enough with either of these programs for it to matter which one i use - hence the eternal swapping around.

-nudone (July 11, 2005, 06:00 PM)

That's exactly why I didn't know which one to use at first, but then I stayed with ClipMate just because I read a little tutorial found in the help file, so I know some commands that I don't for ClipCache. But they seem very similar to me. 

[MentholMoose]

i'd love to hear some recommendations for free clipboard tool.

-mouser (July 09, 2005, 01:05 PM)

I personnally use Kana Clip, a very good freeware clipboard manager.  The beta version (version 2) is stable and got more features.

http://www.kana.home...p.net/index.php?i=27

[AbteriX]

Yes, KanaClip is nice.

I like the "insert date/time" feature with the possibility to
create permanent clips wich also insert the current date.
e.g.
"In Germany now it's Saturday, Aug.27  @ 01:33  o'clock am."

I like the little pop-up window.

I like the text formating tools.

I use CLCL
how have the better hotkey for me (press Shift 2times)
and the better handling of current and permanent clips (one window for both and drag and drop support)
and the possibility to include plugins with DLLs (ok, KanaClip have this features includet without plugins  ).

Mouser has also coded an very promising Clipboard tool >here< 

[rjbull]

so if you are like me you might want to just look for a freeware tool, but look for one written by an author with some experience with reliable connections to clipboard bility to search for text would be nice.

-mouser (July 09, 2005, 01:05 PM)

You could try the last free version of ClipCache, available at

"Freeware programs that either went commercial after these versions or were discontinued, or are hard to find or just plain good: "

http://www.woundedmo.../win32_freeware.html

or

321Download.com's Last Free Version page for freeware that later went shareware/payware.

http://www.321download.com/index.html

Includes, e.g., ClipCache, PrintKey, Total Uninstall, etc.

--
Robert Bull

[mouser]

wow - GREAT LINKS 

also, from lifehacker:
http://www.oldversion.com/