Author Topic: CFDButton - GOE Challenge 2007 Entry (Read 63,920 times)

ChalkTrauma · « **on:** November 27, 2007, 03:45 PM »

I've got a little app I have been working on over the course of November, how do I go about entering into the contest.. I've seen other apps that do some of the same things, but have some limitations that I think I have addressed. It mainly adds some functionality to the windows common file dialog, like favorites, history, and custom file filters. I found other solutions didn't get the file filtering quite right so I wrote my own.. Small app, coded in C++, portable, so it runs on a usb thumb drive.. Comments and suggestions welcomed..

Anyone interested can have a look here:

http://dreamcycle.net/cfdbutton/

~Cheers

Anyone having a problem launching the app should download the Visuall C++ SP1 runtime from the same download page..

mouser · « **Reply #1 on:** November 27, 2007, 04:37 PM »

very nice

Quote

how do I go about entering into the contest

hehehe... basically you just did

we'll be making a list of the programs "entered" eventually so i'll contact you then

Perry Mowbray · « **Reply #2 on:** December 05, 2007, 12:29 PM »

After install when trying to run the programme I get:

Reinstalling doesn't fix the problem

I've tried both the portable and the non-portable...

ChalkTrauma · « **Reply #3 on:** December 05, 2007, 03:19 PM »

I'm wondering if you don't have the latest Visual C++ runtime installed, they are up to SP1 now..

You can get it here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=200B2FD9-AE1A-4A14-984D-389C36F85647&displaylang=en

There is always a link to the latest VC++ runtime on the app page http://dreamcycle.net/cfdbutton/

PhilB66 · « **Reply #4 on:** December 06, 2007, 05:58 AM »

Quote from: ChalkTrauma on December 05, 2007, 03:19 PM

I'm wondering if you don't have the latest Visual C++ runtime installed, they are up to SP1 now..

You can get it here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=200B2FD9-AE1A-4A14-984D-389C36F85647&displaylang=en

There is always a link to the latest VC++ runtime on the app page http://dreamcycle.net/cfdbutton/

That should sort you out Perry Mowbray.

BTW, CFDButton was mentioned on Shell Extension City. Here comes the traffic...

[attach]

lanux128 · « **Reply #5 on:** December 06, 2007, 06:20 AM »

ChalkTrauma: super-cool app!

saw this on the filebox thread and i'm going to give it a try. btw, the link to the portable edition says "CFDButton_portable_setup.exe", does that mean i have to install 1st then copy into the thumb drive?

PhilB66 · « **Reply #6 on:** December 06, 2007, 08:47 AM »

... and a very good review on FreewareGenius

Perry Mowbray · « **Reply #7 on:** December 06, 2007, 12:45 PM »

Quote from: ChalkTrauma on December 05, 2007, 03:19 PM

I'm wondering if you don't have the latest Visual C++ runtime installed, they are up to SP1 now..

You were absolutely right!

Odd, I just assumed that my XP & .Net was up to date

Perry Mowbray · « **Reply #8 on:** December 06, 2007, 01:01 PM »

ChalkTrauma: after playing... I gotta say it is a great application!! Thanks.

What do you think about adding the Favourites to a menu in your system tray icon? If they're favourites for saving/opening, then they may also be favourites for browsing to as well??

BTW: Did you recently add that note about the C++ Library?? Or did I just miss it??

ChalkTrauma · « **Reply #9 on:** December 06, 2007, 03:28 PM »

Thanks for all the praise and the comments...

@lanux128: the CFDButton_portable_setup.exe is just a self extracting archive, just extract it to the directory of your choice and run it from there, no install needed

@PhilB66: You aren't kidding, downloads went off the chart overnight, and continue to go up

@Perry Mowbray: I added it after you had problems, crashing on starting an app for the first time leaves a bad taste with people, figured I'd try to head it off early, thanks. I'll look into the browsing favorites menu item.

Freewaregenius.com had some very good points about memory usage and task tray icon hiding that I will be looking at in the next version, so keep you suggestions coming and thanks for trying it out..

lanux128 · « **Reply #10 on:** December 07, 2007, 01:47 AM »

Quote from: ChalkTrauma on December 06, 2007, 03:28 PM

@lanux128: the CFDButton_portable_setup.exe is just a self extracting archive, just extract it to the directory of your choice and run it from there, no install needed

great! got it..

zzynx · « **Reply #11 on:** December 07, 2007, 03:46 PM »

[1]
I'd like to see three separate icons: one for Favorites and one for Recent and one for Filter
(the way FileBox eXtender does it)
[and then add the menu items that lead to the GUI/settings of CFDButton to each - if useful]

[2]
I'd like to be able to define submenu's (like I am in FileBox eXtender)

zzynx · « **Reply #12 on:** December 07, 2007, 03:50 PM »

btw, where does CFD in CFDButton stand for?

PhilB66 · « **Reply #13 on:** December 07, 2007, 04:27 PM »

Quote from: zzynx on December 07, 2007, 03:50 PM

btw, where does CFD in CFDButton stand for?

Common File Dialog would make sense, would it not?

Dr-Leech · « **Reply #14 on:** December 07, 2007, 04:57 PM »

Awesome! I now can replace DM2 that interferes with ScreamerRadio. Because lately I just was using DM2 for this reason.

Can you please add the ability to give a name to Favs instead of long route?

ChalkTrauma · « **Reply #15 on:** December 07, 2007, 05:35 PM »

@zzynx: I'll look into adding the option for multiple icons. How would you use the submenu functionality? and CFD does stand for Common File Dialog

@Dr-Leech: Giving favs a name is an interesting idea, I'll add it to the list of feature requests for the next release.

yksyks · « **Reply #16 on:** December 07, 2007, 05:38 PM »

How does CFDButton compare to FlashFolder? The latter seems to me more convenient. Are there any extra features?

Perry Mowbray · « **Reply #17 on:** December 08, 2007, 01:48 AM »

Quote from: ChalkTrauma on December 07, 2007, 05:35 PM

I'll look into adding the option for multiple icons. How would you use the submenu functionality?

@Dr-Leech: Giving favs a name is an interesting idea, I'll add it to the list of feature requests for the next release.

If it was me, I'd like to be able have my Favourites like so:

<favs>
<item Name="" Path="" Icon="" />
<folder Name="" Icon="">
<item Name="" Path="" Icon="" />
<item Name="" Path="" Icon="" />
<folder Name="" Icon="">
<item Name="" Path="" Icon="" />
</folder>
</folder>
</favs>
If you kept the number of times a Favourite has been clicked you could also have the option to sort by NumberOfAccesses $:-\$ So, for example, you've got a Recent menu with most recent on top, you could also have a History menu with most accessed on top

Perry Mowbray · « **Reply #18 on:** December 08, 2007, 01:55 AM »

Just a thought... Being portable, would it be sensible to include the computer with the path?

Also, When used on a portable solution (generally a USB Drive), I wonder if the path was to a file on the USB Drive that that should be indicated, as the Drive letter will most probably change when moving from computer to computer. Or maybe it should be saved as a relative path (to the programme?) if possible?

Or are you already handling these issues some other way (that I have not discovered)??

ChalkTrauma · « **Reply #19 on:** December 08, 2007, 02:39 AM »

I see.. so you basically want to manage the menu in a folder tree structure.. I would have to re-work the way you manage the favs list, but it is do-able, and I think the feature makes sense.. I'll add it to the wishlist for the next release.. Lots of good suggestions have been made.

I have not really addressed the portable issues yet. Most of my favs are to truecrypt volumes that go with me so the drive letters never change. I could use UNC paths to pick up the computer name, but I'm not sure what can be done to handle paths on USB drives, relative paths to the program may work, like you say.. I'll add this to the list of features also..

Thanks...

Perry Mowbray · « **Reply #20 on:** December 08, 2007, 02:59 AM »

Quote from: ChalkTrauma on December 08, 2007, 02:39 AM

I see.. so you basically want to manage the menu in a folder tree structure.. I would have to re-work the way you manage the favs list, but it is do-able, and I think the feature makes sense.. I'll add it to the wishlist for the next release.. Lots of good suggestions have been made.

I agree, it's adding a lot to the way the list is managed, reordering, drag and drop from FileSystem?; but it would help make the favourites more ordered.

Quote from: ChalkTrauma on December 08, 2007, 02:39 AM

I have not really addressed the portable issues yet. Most of my favs are to truecrypt volumes that go with me so the drive letters never change. I could use UNC paths to pick up the computer name, but I'm not sure what can be done to handle paths on USB drives, relative paths to the program may work, like you say.. I'll add this to the list of features also..

It was just a thought I wondered about... as I was thinking of putting it on my USB but then my work situation is different to home. Having the entries filter by computer name may also be a solution as all the non-USB file locations wont be applicable in the different situations. It's not an easy scenario.

I also wondered about keeping the history separate from the menu/recent list? That way you can keep your history list quite large (eg larger than what you'd want displayed on screen), but the recent and/or most used lists are taken from it. Therefore changing the number of Recent to Show to a higher number would instantly be populated. That may be overkill though $:-\$

Perry Mowbray · « **Reply #21 on:** December 09, 2007, 01:24 PM »

Nice changes to your website!!

Adding version history is a good idea.

Perry Mowbray · « **Reply #22 on:** December 10, 2007, 12:32 PM »

Quote from: ChalkTrauma on December 08, 2007, 02:39 AM

I have not really addressed the portable issues yet.

Another wee issue I bumped into today... when trying to run the programme from my USB Drive at work, my computer required the C++ Runtimes, but I lack the privileges to install them.

True portability will be hindered by this requirement

ChalkTrauma · « **Reply #23 on:** December 10, 2007, 03:18 PM »

I really don't consider that a portability issue because eventually everyone will have the runtime as products move to newer versions of visual C++, Visual C++ 2008 is already out. I could package the runtime with the app and make it a alternative download, but that could cause a problems with SxS installs. I'll look into it, I seem to remember a way to put the runtime in a directory under the install, but it had some problems..

ChalkTrauma · « **Reply #24 on:** December 10, 2007, 04:12 PM »

@Perry Mowbray: I was able to make the runtime work locally by including the manifest in the install, so if you download the portable install now, it should work without needing to install the runtime.

I also created a new install for people who want the runtime local to the app and not installed SxS in system32, as MS would have you do it

Let me know if you see any problems...