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Last post Author Topic: v1.07.02 beta - with regular expression commands  (Read 30455 times)

mouser

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v1.07.02 beta - with regular expression commands
« on: September 06, 2005, 03:41 PM »
ok, this is kind of a big deal.

an early beta of F&R with support for regular expression commands in aliases is now available for testing.  expect it to not work perfectly :)
i'd love to hear if anyone configures anything nice.

https://www.donation.../FindAndRunRobot.exe


heres an example of how you might use such a thing.  i set up an alias to do web searches of either google or google groups, as i choose:


« Last Edit: September 07, 2005, 05:32 AM by mouser »

mouser

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Re: v1.07.01 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2005, 03:49 PM »
note, i know the help files of F&R and Screenshot Captor are starting to really need updating, i'll try to get around to it soon.
youll notice that in addition to regular expression matching you can now use a | in alias result entries to specify the "nice" label that gets displayed in results.  you can do this whether you use regular expressions or not.

in the results view you can also single click to see that actual url or exe command before launching.

i also added the following shortcut key combinations:
Ctrl+# (show shell context menu)
Alt+# (show f&r right-click menu)
Ctrl+Alt+# (launch and stay open) 

kfitting

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Re: v1.07.01 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #2 on: September 06, 2005, 04:31 PM »
Just downloaded to start testing... two real quick "bugs" (nothing to do with regex!):

- Despite your screenshot, the OK and Cancel buttons are slightly cut off in the version I downloaded.
- Secondly, if I open FindRun by hitting the pause break key, then put the focus on another window, I have to hit the pause/break key twice.  Alt-Tab does not bring FindRun up while its in the limbo state.  (I have focus control set to regain focus only after launching apps)

Will try to test and see if anything else jumps out.

Kevin

kfitting

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Re: v1.07.01 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #3 on: September 06, 2005, 04:46 PM »
Is there a command to specify folders implemented yet?  If so how would one use it?  If not, no worries!

Kevin

mouser

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Re: v1.07.01 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #4 on: September 06, 2005, 08:19 PM »
you mean if you want a result to be just a folder that when selected opens up file explorer to that directory location?
you can't do it yet but i'd be happy to add it, let's say if it sees a \ at end of entry it means a folder?

kfitting

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Re: v1.07.01 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #5 on: September 06, 2005, 08:57 PM »
Well, actually I meant constrain searches within certain folders.  This way, by typing an alias, I could constrain my search to all excel files in C:\Windows (or lower). 

As far as searching for folder names, it's not a bad idea... except you are already using \ for numbers... how is that going to work?

Kevin

mouser

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Re: v1.07.01 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #6 on: September 06, 2005, 09:13 PM »
different issues here.

"modifiers": where you will type a word and have it restrict searching to certain folders or scores associated with that modifier word.
not implemented yet but coming very soon (as you can see i'm working my way through v2 features).

the \ i was alking about in this case the \ is in the alias results list not typed in search window.

but this still brings up yet the 3rd issue, specifying actual folder anem patterns in the search field as you type,
either for searching *for* folders, or restricting matches to files in certain named folders.

we still need to solve this issue.

as you say we use the \ currently for digits.

one solution would be to have an optional "expandable" panel, like currently there is just the one edit line for typing in search.  we could put an arrow next to it (and hotkey) that would let it drop down and expand the search panel a couple of lines where there would be a field for Folder restriction keywords and maybe other stuff.

another solution would be keep just 1 search edit and use \ for folder restrictions and figure out something else for digits..

the drop down panel has lots of advantages in terms of adding stuff in the future, but seems somewhat counter the general approach of f&r.

mouser

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Re: v1.07.01 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #7 on: September 06, 2005, 11:10 PM »
regarding the focus issue - do you use the system tray helper to run f&r or the main application mode or do you launch the program manually each time?

nontroppo

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Re: v1.07.01 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #8 on: September 07, 2005, 12:53 AM »
I tested my quick / full regex and it works fine:

g(oogle|) (.+)

this means you can type either "g test words" or "google test words" if you are lazy or not! Great mouser!

Also <enter> for single item lists (which regex aliases can end up) works, though I'd still rather allow <enter> the option of triggering the first item in the list regardless of list number.

I can't get <ALT+#> to work, though <CTRL+#> works fine, and key triggered context menu's really are great!

I can confirm kfitting's focus behaviour, though to me it seems an offshoot of wanted behaviour. I want to be able to press <pause> then if I change my mind press <pause> again to close FARR quickly without moving over to <esc>. This means when FARR loses focus but not state it will first close, then open again thus requiring two presses. Maybe this behaviour can depend on whether it has focus or not?

A small point to mouser: when run as full mode in the tray, there is no task button in taskbar, though when you press <pause> a task button appears briefly only to disappear again; can you make this task button never appear to stop this flash?
FARR Wishes: Performance TweaksTask ControlAdaptive History
[url=http://opera.com/]

nontroppo

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Re: v1.07.01 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #9 on: September 07, 2005, 12:58 AM »
Also, a small feature request: how about some way to export and import these new fancy alias groups, that would make sharing our searches much easier...
FARR Wishes: Performance TweaksTask ControlAdaptive History
[url=http://opera.com/]

mouser

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Re: v1.07.01 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #10 on: September 07, 2005, 01:16 AM »
very good idea about import and export, especially if we intend to share there.  i will add it.

i was having an isse with alt+# as well but assumed it was because i use a virtual desktop that uses those hotkeys. ill look into it.

i see the flash in taskbar, i will try to remove it.

i think i see kfittings point - the break(pause) key currentl toggle display of window, so first time you hit it, it shows, secondly time you hit it, it hides (whether it is focused or not).

kfitting is your suggestions that what should happen is break key should bring focus to window if its on screen but not currently focused? that seems reasonable to me.

option for enter to launch first item no matter what seems reasonable i will add it.

mouser

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Re: v1.07.01 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #11 on: September 07, 2005, 03:59 AM »
1.07.02 available, same url:

Version 1.07.02 - Sep 06, 2005
Hotkey now restores focus rather than minimizes if pressed while in another window.
Configuration backup files now saved.
Configuration safety save - prevents corruption of configuration files if system crashes during save.
Custom file explorer can be specified in options for launching folders (use \ at end of alias entry for folders).
Added option for lanching first result on enter no matter what.
You can now customize columns displayed in report view of results.
Fixes Alt+# hotkey (show f&r right-click menu).

mouser

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Re: v1.07.02 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #12 on: September 07, 2005, 05:39 AM »
i'd really like to get some alias commands from people, to do things like web searches, etc.

i expect people will need some special functions from me to transform the input parameters.
and im open to special commands like maybe commands for pasting back into the application that was active before f&r was triggered maybe.

some other example of some kind of stuff that might be fun to do:
if you look at a tool like nircmd:http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/nircmd.html
it is a commandline tool with tons of functions, for example here are some for volume manipulation:
Increase the system volume by 2000 units (out of 65535)  nircmd.exe changesysvolume 2000 
Decrease the system volume by 5000 units (out of 65535)  nircmd.exe changesysvolume -5000 
Set the volume to the highest value  nircmd.exe setsysvolume 65535 
Mute the system volume  nircmd.exe mutesysvolume 1 
Unmute the system volume  nircmd.exe mutesysvolume 0 
Switch the system volume between the mute and normal state.  nircmd.exe mutesysvolume 2 


so one alias could be like
nirvolume
with alias results of:
Increase the system volume by 2000 units (out of 65535)  | Helpers\nircmd.exe changesysvolume 2000 
Decrease the system volume by 5000 units (out of 65535) | Helpers\nircmd.exe changesysvolume -5000 
Set the volume to the highest value | Helpers\nircmd.exe setsysvolume 65535 
Mute the system volume | Helpers\nircmd.exe mutesysvolume 1 
Unmute the system volume | Helpers\nircmd.exe mutesysvolume 0 
Switch the system volume between the mute and normal | state.  Helpers\nircmd.exe mutesysvolume 2


you get the idea, this is well designed for making menus of commandline executions.

or another approach
alias regex of
volume (.*)
with result:
change volume | Helpers\nircmd.exe changesysvolume $$1

so that you can type stuff like
volume +100
or volume -5000

etc.

mouser

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Re: v1.07.02 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #13 on: September 07, 2005, 05:40 AM »
maybe we can have some kind of prize for best / most creative set of alias commands?

kfitting

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Re: v1.07.02 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #14 on: September 07, 2005, 05:51 AM »
Ok, let me try to condense my thoughts into something mildly coherent.  

- Regarding the focus issue.  My main concern is that once FindRun loses focus, behind another window, the only way to get it back is to hit pause twice.  I'll admit I was mildly confused the first time this happened.  The fact that FindRun is not listed in the alt-tab list adds further confusion (where DID FindRun go??).  I run in full tray mode (as opposed to lite tray mode).  It just seems kind of awkward as it stands currently.  I think having Pause give focus to FindRun if it does not have focus is a great idea and would solve the problem completely... though I retain the right to change my mind for no reason (you'd think I'm female, but I'm not ;) )


- Regarding regex commands.  Anyone have some commands that I can kind of copy from?  I've admitted before I'm not real good with regex and I need some starting ideas for FindRun...

- Regarding folder constraints.  I dont know if putting this information into a textbox would be the most beneficial... at least not for entering.  Drag 'n drop and the browse dialogue would probably be better ideas for adding folders.  Maybe a listbox would allow the user to see which folders have been selected better than an edit control.  I'm concerned with entering/using large numbers of "constraining" folders.  There should be an easy way to add folders and an easy way to see what is currently there.  I dont know how hard this will be to add, but I see folder constraints as extremely important.  They would allow my to make aliases based on project and file type to limit my results.

I think that's all for now.... I will be testing the newest version today.  Once again, if anyone gets ANY regex commands together could you please post them?  I prefer non url type since the computer I use FindRun on does not connect to the internet!  I just need something to start from.  Thanks,

Kevin

mouser

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Re: v1.07.02 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #15 on: September 07, 2005, 06:06 AM »
ive already added the functionality that if you hit pause/break when f&r is onscreen but not focused, it will focus it rather than close it, so you shouldnt have to do the double key tap thing again.

regular expression tutorial and home of RegexBuddy, a nice helper tool:
http://www.regular-expressions.info/

(note there is a test area in the alias dialog where you can try out the regular expression as you are working on it, but it can't compare to a tool like RegexBuddy for helping you formulate expressions; also see another thread on this forum discussing other tools).


Carol Haynes

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Re: v1.07.02 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #16 on: September 07, 2005, 06:30 AM »
Here is an initial set of search engines to cut and paste:

Google $$1 |http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=$$1
GoogleUK $$1 |http://www.google.co.uk/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=
GoogleGroups $$1 |http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&q$$1&qt_s=Search
Mamma $$1 |http://www.mamma.com/Mamma?qtype=0&query=$$1
AllTheWeb $$1 |http://www.alltheweb.com/search?cs=utf-8&q=$$!
A9 $$1 |http://a9.com/$$!
Ask $$1 |http://web.ask.com/web?q=$$1
AltaVista $$1 |http://www.altavista.com/web/results?q=$$1
Dictionary $$1 |http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=$$1
eBay $$1 |http://search.ebay.com/$$1
eBayUK $$1 |http://search.ebay.co.uk/$$1
HappyHunterDVD $$1 |http://www.happyhunter.co.uk/$$1
DvdPacific $$1 |http://www.dvdpacific.com/search.asp?title=$$1
PlayUSA $$1 |http://www.playusa.com/playusa.asp?searchtype=r1title&page=search&searchstring=$$1
Play $$1 |http://www.play.com/play247.asp?pa=search&searchtype=allproducts&page=search&Go.x=50&Go.y=9&searchstring=$$1
MusicRoom $$1 |http://www.musicroom.com/gmsearch.aspx?searchtype=mr_products&searchtext=$$1
ABEbooks $$1 |http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?bx=off&sts=t&ds=30&bi=0&sortby=2&kn=$$1
ABEbooksUK $$1 |http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?bx=off&sts=t&ds=30&bi=0&n=200000169&sortby=2&kn=$$1
Amazon $$1 |http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/external-search?mode=blended&keyword=$$1
AmazonUK $$1 |http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/external-search?mode=blended&keyword=$$1
MSN $$1 |http://search.msn.com/results.asp?q=$$1
YahooNews $$1 |http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?ei=UTF-8&p=$$1
Yahoo $$1 |http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=robo&ei=UTF-8&p=$$1
GoogleNews $$1 |http://news.google.com/news?q=$$1
BBCNews $$1 |http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?tab=news&go=homepage&q=$$1
BBC $$1 |http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?tab=allbbc&go=homepage&q=$$1

kfitting

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Re: v1.07.02 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #17 on: September 07, 2005, 06:55 AM »
Ahhhhh... that is very helpfull.  Now I have a better understanding of how the expressions are used within FindRun.. Much obliged Carol!

Kevin

mouser

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Re: v1.07.02 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #18 on: September 07, 2005, 06:57 AM »
wow, excellent! thanks carol!

might be nice to break those down into a couple of groups with 9 or less results.

id love to collect more dictionary search url links, and then maybe we could divide up info search, music search, news?

keep em coming and ill build a nice big collection for when version 2 is released


---

kevin, keep in mind she hasnt specified any regular expression stuff here, so presumably all of these could be under regex settings that look something like

go (.*)


see nontroppo's example for a regular expression of slightly greater complexity.

mouser

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Re: v1.07.02 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #19 on: September 07, 2005, 06:59 AM »
ps i added a %fardir% variable that can be used
so for example if you put nircmd.exe inside your find and run directory, in subdir Helpers/nircmd/
you could do like:
Volume $$1 | C:\windows\nircmd.exe %fardir%\Helpers\nircmd\nircmd.exe setsysvolume $$1

kfitting

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Re: v1.07.02 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #20 on: September 07, 2005, 07:32 AM »
Isnt the $$1 expression partially regex?  I was more confused about how the FindRun syntax worked than regex.. those I can look up, as you suggested.  I was more confused about how to implement them into FindRun. But, what good is confusion without more confusion!!

Kevin

mouser

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Re: v1.07.02 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #21 on: September 07, 2005, 07:59 AM »
the $$1 says grab the first subexpression from the matching regular expression.

thats the part in the first () part.

mouser

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Re: v1.07.02 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #22 on: September 07, 2005, 08:01 AM »
define (.*)

Meriam Webster - $$1 |http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=$$1
Dictionary dot com - $$1 | http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=$$1
Thesaurus dot com - $$1 | http://thesaurus.reference.com/search?q=$$1
Reference dot com - $$1 | http://www.reference.com/search?q=$$1
OED - $$1 | http://www.askoxford.com/results/?view=dict&freesearch=$$1&branch=13842570&textsearchtype=exact
Dict dot org - $$1 | http://www.dict.org/bin/Dict?Form=Dict2&Database=*&Query=$$1
American Heritage - $$1 | http://www.bartleby.com/cgi-bin/texis/webinator/ahdsearch?search_type=enty&query=$$1&db=ahd&Submit=Search

Carol Haynes

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Re: v1.07.02 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #23 on: September 07, 2005, 08:07 AM »
Now all we need is a scripting file - with import facility ....

mouser

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Re: v1.07.02 beta - with regular expression commands
« Reply #24 on: September 07, 2005, 08:13 AM »
new version uploaded, minor fixes plus options to not hide f&r after normal numkey launch,
plus you can now configure what you want to happen when you use ctrl+alt keys and press numkeys.
you can also use F1-F9 assuming you are not using them for other hotkeys on your system.