A tip - if you want to use digits in searches..

[mouser]

The default setting of F&R is that you type a digit key to launch the app corresponding to the # of the item to run.
This can cause issues if you want to search for things with numbers in them.

You can specify digits in your search by typing a \ before them.

i.e. type "notebook\2" to search for "notebook2"

this is fine if you rarely use digits, but recently i've found myself needing to type digits in my searches more, so i thought i'd just go over some options.

the first thing is to tell F&R *not* to launch items when you hit the digit keys, it's the first option on config page 1.

now you have some choices:


you can use function keys F1-F9.

you can use ctrl+# or alt+# (see configuration pages to customize what these do, whether its normal launch or other options).

you can hit Tab and then then digit key once you are in the results window (this actually might be a good habbit to get into).

you can hit Enter and then the digit key (see options for other possibilities on pressing enter).

you can of course double click.

--
if anyone has any other ideas for clever ways to add to launch items let me know and may be i can add it.

[mouser]

1.07.07 uploaded - it was ignoring alt and control modifiers if the "launch with digit keys" was unchecked.

ps.
i have now switched off my launch with digits setting, and configured alt+# to do my launching, and ctrl+# to do launch and stay open.
i'd be interested to hear what others have configured, and waht people thing should be the default setting.

[Carol Haynes]

Good grief this is being a constructive week ...

all these downloads are going to eat up my bandwidth allowance - I only have 30Gb a month .... 

[mouser]

yeah, maybe i should hold off on uploading so frequently.
my best advice to people is if you see me uploading a beta and you aren't the kind that likes to install new beta every couple days, just ignore these betas until i stabilize

[Carol Haynes]

What and spoil the fun .... 

[kfitting]

I like to launch using one key... I kind of hate pressing shift more often than i have to.  I have changed over to the function keys so that I can type numbers easier (now I take longer to search cause I keep on entering things like "opera11111"!!)  and leave the alt/ctrl stuff for the context menu etc.  I like having all the options though.  Definitely makes the program more user friendly!

Kevin

[nontroppo]

mouser: why are we limited to F9 for the function keys for launching - why not go up to F12?

And as I mention here, digit escaping using "\" seems to break the groups from functioning (well it does for the NirCmd group I use anyway).

[mouser]

i broke the \ digits on my last release, i just confirmed.
am fixing and will upload new version in a couple minutes.

i also noticed that a bug in group alias editing meant that first time you create a group it throws away any regexp info you provide; only when you edit a group does it stay.  i had experienced this before but just thought it was my imagination, maybe you too

as for f12, let me check.

and i am checking for launching apps in system path as well - see if can't fix that also with the new release.

[mouser]

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

Version 1.07.09 - Sep 10, 2005
 · [feature] you could now be able to launch files that are in system path without specifying directory 
 · [bugfix] escaping digits \# was broken on last release 
 · [bugfix] regular expressions were not being saved the first time you created a particular alias group.   

[nontroppo]

i also noticed that a bug in group alias editing meant that first time you create a group it throws away any regexp info you provide; only when you edit a group does it stay.  i had experienced this before but just thought it was my imagination, maybe you too

-mouser (September 10, 2005, 11:19 AM)

yes, I thought it was me too!

ok all fixes seem to work as advertised!

BTW, do you think it is any faster to specify the path explicitly? I suppose I could use FileMon (sysinternals) to time it...

[mouser]

could be a tiny bit faster, but probably not significantly.

[Centauri27]

I find that F&R does such a good job in identifying what I want, that my target app is almost always the first or second item in the list. I then simply move my finger to the Down Arrow, press once or twice, back to Enter and my app is launched!

I find select an app this way to be quicker and more instinctive than looking down to find an F-key, or some other keystroke combination. But if my target app is located further down the list, I agree that pressing a number key is faster.

As a compromise solution, maybe use a combination of both? Say you've disabled the "digit key launches" feature so that you can search using numbers. How about pressing the Down Arrow key (or any arrow key for that matter) re-enables the digit key launch? That ought to be pretty fast and instinctive.

Carl

[mouser]

i think it already works this way-
once you press down arrow to go into results list, the digit keys work, even if you have them disabled at startup.
tab has same effect as down arrow btw.

another advantage of your approach is that the down arrow (tab key) stops the search, which prevents what kevin has pointed out, the problem of search returning results while you are reaching for the digit key.