SOLVED: Insert Anywhere Date and Time utility

[CodeTRUCKER]

Hi,

I need a utility that will stay on the top of my windows where I can "click" and the date and/or time can be inserted.  I am involved in a perpetual project where the entering of Date/Time/Date & Time is necessary many times a day across multiple text-entry applications. 

PS - If this is already available, please post links.  Thank you.

Here is a list of requested features...

• "Always On Top" option
• Three Buttons.
  • Date
  • Time
  • Date and Time
    • The "Date and Time" button to include date, at least in this specific format, but others can be included... 
      "Nov 15, 2010 02:43 PM" (color only for reference, not needed in app.)
      Please ask me for other formats, if you want to include them?

.

• Optional Radiobuttons to select Date/Time formats *if* you have the time and inclination.  Thedat & Time format above,"Nov 15, 2010 02:43 PM," is my only immediate need.
  • "Date & Time"  Mmm DD, YYYY HH:MM AM (the same as the above exact example that is really the most important format.)
  • Another Date format MM/DD/YY (Example: 01/14/11)
  • Time format 1: HH:MM (24 Hr Clock)
  • Time format 2: HH:MM AM (12 Hr Clock)
  • YYYYMMDDHHSS  -  I use this to prefix file names as a simple date tagging system.

.

• It would be nice to be typing in a text editor and just click the "Insert Date" button and populate it in the document I am working on, but I can settle for sending it to the clipboard if that is all that can be done easily.

.

• Small footprint
  • Just big enough for the radiobuttons (for the format selections) and the three "Date," Time" and "Date & Time" insertion buttons.
  • Menu in Right-Click menu, if easier.

.

• Just a thought...If app is produced in AHK, I might be able to make any necessary mods myself (once I learn AHK, that is), but any usable exec would be great at this time.

.
I think that about wraps it up.  Does this sound doable?  Can you give me a "best guess" ETA on completion? 

Standing by...
Calvin

[timns]

Hi,

I need a utility that will stay on the top of my windows where I can "click" and the date and/or time can be inserted.  I am involved in a perpetual project where the entering of Date/Time/Date & Time is necessary many times a day across multiple text-entry applications.  

PS - If this is already available, please post links.  Thank you.

Here is a list of requested features...

• "Always On Top" option
• Three Buttons.
  • Date
  • Time
  • Date and Time
    • The "Date and Time" button to include date, at least in this specific format, but others can be included...  
      "Nov 15, 2010 02:43 PM" (color only for reference, not needed in app.)
      Please ask me for other formats, if you want to include them?

.

• Optional Radiobuttons to select Date/Time formats *if* you have the time and inclination.  Thedat & Time format above,"Nov 15, 2010 02:43 PM," is my only immediate need.
  • "Date & Time"  Mmm DD, YYYY HH:MM AM (the same as the above exact example that is really the most important format.)
  • Another Date format MM/DD/YY (Example: 01/14/11)
  • Time format 1: HH:MM (24 Hr Clock)
  • Time format 2: HH:MM AM (12 Hr Clock)
  • YYYYMMDDHHSS  -  I use this to prefix file names as a simple date tagging system.

.

• It would be nice to be typing in a text editor and just click the "Insert Date" button and populate it in the document I am working on, but I can settle for sending it to the clipboard if that is all that can be done easily.

.

• Small footprint
  • Just big enough for the radiobuttons (for the format selections) and the three "Date," Time" and "Date & Time" insertion buttons.
  • Menu in Right-Click menu, if easier.

.

• Just a thought...If app is produced in AHK, I might be able to make any necessary mods myself (once I learn AHK, that is), but any usable exec would be great at this time.

.
I think that about wraps it up.  Does this sound doable?  Can you give me a "best guess" ETA on completion?  

Standing by...
Calvin

You can actually use Auspex for this. It has pre-defined tokens for the date and time. Screenshots coming up...

[timns]

Inserts today's date when you type 'dt'



Inserts the date in a format you can control when you type 'dt1'



I can add AM/PM tokens or whatever else you'd like, if you find this program useful for what you want to do. Just let me know.

[CodeTRUCKER]

...
You can actually use Auspex for this. It has pre-defined tokens for the date and time. Screenshots coming up...

Ok, I'll check it out and report back.

FMI - How did you get the "(3109.2 KB - downloaded 445 times.)" appended to your download link?

Thanks,
Calvin

[timns]

FMI - How did you get the "(3109.2 KB - downloaded 445 times.)" appended to your download link?

I have no idea! I thought it was some standard feature of the board  

[CodeTRUCKER]

Inserts today's date when you type 'dt'
(see attachment in previous post)
Inserts the date in a format you can control when you type 'dt1'
(see attachment in previous post)
I can add AM/PM tokens or whatever else you'd like, if you find this program useful for what you want to do. Just let me know.

Ah!  So it runs in the background and intercepts keystroke aliases to convert the text on the fly?  Am I on track here?

[timns]

Ah!  So it runs in the background and intercepts keystroke aliases to convert the text on the fly?  Am I on track here?

Yes indeed senor. So I'd like to think it may have quite a lot of uses. There are a lot of other programs similar to this out in the wild, but I am not aware of another one that can do things like the date/time replacement, or on-the-fly calculatons...

[CodeTRUCKER]

FMI - How did you get the "(3109.2 KB - downloaded 445 times.)" appended to your download link?

I have no idea! I thought it was some standard feature of the board  

Hmmm... I've never noticed before.

@Mouser - Can you (or someone?) help with this?  TIA!

[CodeTRUCKER]

Ah!  So it runs in the background and intercepts keystroke aliases to convert the text on the fly?  Am I on track here?

Yes indeed senor. So I'd like to think it may have quite a lot of uses. There are a lot of other programs similar to this out in the wild, but I am not aware of another one that can do things like the date/time replacement, or on-the-fly calculatons...

Sounds great!  Give me some testing time and I'll report back here.

Thanks for the replies!
Calvin

[CodeTRUCKER]

Inserts today's date when you type 'dt'
(see attachment in previous post)
Inserts the date in a format you can control when you type 'dt1'
(see attachment in previous post)
I can add AM/PM tokens or whatever else you'd like, if you find this program useful for what you want to do. Just let me know.

Nice!  I can already see the potential!  If you can create the following format...

"Nov 15, 2010 02:43 PM"

...it would be great, perfect. I have to have this format to match existing conventions in my work.

Thanks!
Calvin

[timns]

Nice!  I can already see the potential!  If you can create the following format...

"Nov 15, 2010 02:43 PM"

...it would be great, perfect. I have to have this format to match existing conventions in my work.

Anything for a fellow DC-er... I'm planning an update this weekend anyway, so I'll make sure you're able to create that format with predefined tokens.

[Stoic Joker]

T-Clock has always done this - Okay it's a configurable option but none-the-less...



Left clicking on Clock auto-copies this to clipboard:
// Last Modified by Stoic Joker: Friday, 01/14/2011 @ 6:09:17pm

[rjbull]

Not quite what you asked for - but close, small, and free - Horst Schaeffer's Calendar.  You'd have to Alt-Tab but I think everything else is present.

The feature is also available in, amongst other things, my default clipboard enhancer, ArsClip; make it one of the permanent clips.  It's also in mouser's Clipboard Help+Spell.  Also in Typing Assistant, which is like Auspex.  Apart from the last, though, they'd probably all need one or two hotkeys, though shouldn't need more.  They all allow you to roll your own format using tokens.

[CodeTRUCKER]

Nice!  I can already see the potential!  If you can create the following format...

"Nov 15, 2010 02:43 PM"

...it would be great, perfect. I have to have this format to match existing conventions in my work.

Anything for a fellow DC-er... I'm planning an update this weekend anyway, so I'll make sure you're able to create that format with predefined tokens.

Aw shucks!  That was nice!  

If I may be so bold as to suggest improvements(?)...

• Change the label "Mnemonic" to Mneminic Trigger" as this will create an immediate association with the "Erase Trigger" checkbox below.
• Add a small "Insert" button below the drop-down box to insert the "predefined text" into the "Replacement Window"

The above is not mandatory, just my reflections of my first uses, BUT I did not read the help, so my confusion/disorientation was my oops!

FYI - After you mentioned other candidates out "there," I recollected a couple, but it is always good to have a direct line to the developer, especially one as  accommodating as you are being!

Great app!  

Thanks,
Calvin

[CodeTRUCKER]

@SJ and rjbull,

Thanks for the heads-up!  I was not aware all these were available. 

Thanks, for pointing them out. 
Calvin

I'm glad I posted this thread!  It's an adventure in discovering DC! 

[nudone]

i've got an autohotkey script that inserts time or date anywhere i type either...

qtime or qdate

i assume you could create any number of different date formats associated with a key word. you could even just have something like qt or qd if you wanted to keep it simple.

#IfWinActive
::qdate::
FormatTime, TimeString,,yyyy-MM-dd
   Send %TimeString%
Return

#IfWinActive
::qtime::
FormatTime, TimeString,,yyyy-MM-dd HH.mm
   Send %TimeString%
Return

[tomos]

Here's another that jgpaiva made based on a request of mine:
yyyy-MM-dd etc
and a hotkey:-
Alt+D

I havent used it in a while, not sure why but far as I know it works well

Following your indications, Tomos..
Here's PasteDate.ahk:

Code

; Author: jgpaiva
;
; Script Function:
;	Send the current date to the active window
;

#NoEnv ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
SendMode Input ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.

!D::
  FormatTime,CurrentTime,%A_Now%,yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss
  tempClipboard := clipboard
  clipboard := CurrentTime
  Send,^v
  clipboard := tempClipboard
  return

It's really simple to change the format, just change the stuff after the last comma on this line:

Code

FormatTime,CurrentTime,%A_Now%,yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss

and there's yet another one from Kartal at the bottom of the linked page

[CodeTRUCKER]

i've got an autohotkey script that inserts time or date anywhere i type either...

qtime or qdate

i assume you could create any number of different date formats associated with a key word. you could even just have something like qt or qd if you wanted to keep it simple.

#IfWinActive
::qdate::
FormatTime, TimeString,,yyyy-MM-dd
   Send %TimeString%
Return

#IfWinActive
::qtime::
FormatTime, TimeString,,yyyy-MM-dd HH.mm
   Send %TimeString%
Return

Can the results be formatted exactly like this? - Nov 15, 2010 02:43 PM

[tomos]

This section could help
http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/Variables.htm#YYYY

[lanux128]

Can the results be formatted exactly like this? - Nov 15, 2010 02:43 PM

this snippet should do it. just append it to nudone's script and type 'qdt' to get the date/time format as you wanted.

Code: (autohotkey)

#IfWinActive
::qdt::
   FormatTime, TimeString,,MMM dd, yyyy HH:mm tt
    Send %TimeString%
Return

[CodeTRUCKER]

Can the results be formatted exactly like this? - Nov 15, 2010 02:43 PM

this snippet should do it. just append it to nudone's script and type 'qdt' to get the date/time format as you wanted.

Code: (autohotkey)

#IfWinActive
::qdt::
   FormatTime, TimeString,,MMM dd, yyyy HH:mm tt
    Send %TimeString%
Return

Thanks, lanux128!  I'll check it out. 
Calvin

[bmms]

Hi CodeTrucker,

as you asked for date insertion with permanent menu on the desktop, you may want to check out PhraseExpress.

* It can insert the time and date, current day of the year or calendar week in any customizable format.

* The timestamp can optionally be shifted by minutes, hours, days, workdays (Mo-Fr/Sa), weeks, months or years.

* The time stamp can be rounded time by 1/4, 1/2 and full hours ("11:45" looks nicer than "11.41").

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJYdt7UrE4Y

Please find more information about the time stamp function in the manual.


The Pro Edition additionally offers floating menus that does what you want:

* Floating menus stay on top on your desktop and you can click phrases to insert them into the currently active application.

* Alternatively you can drag any item from the floating menu into any desired program.

Please find more information about floating menus in the manual.

Of course, you can also trigger the date/time stamp insertion by either hotkey or a text abbreviation (Autotext).

[Winkie]

The feature is also available in, amongst other things, my default clipboard enhancer, ArsClip; make it one of the permanent clips.  

How/where can you use this date/time feature? I can't find it...

[rjbull]

The feature is also available in, amongst other things, my default clipboard enhancer, ArsClip; make it one of the permanent clips. 

How/where can you use this date/time feature? I can't find it...

Bring up the clip menu with your hotkey (I use Shift+Control+Z).  Find All items, which will probably be near the bottom as in the first image, and click it.  Click on Edit permanent items.  You're probably going to be in the Default group of permanent clips.  Click New.  On the next screen, see second screenshot, make sure you click Use Keystrokes / Commands.  That gives you the "keyboard" with the list of special keys.  Click DATE and you will find the date entered in US format.  I can't see if Joe says anything about the date formats anywhere, but I found you can alter them, so that e.g. [DATE="yyyy-mm-dd"] (on some ArsClip screens it will show up as [KEYS][DATE="yyyy-mm-dd"])gets you ISO date instead.  After that, you should see your date clip appear in your popup clip menu, though if you have more than one group of permanent clips, you may have to change the group.  New clip "Date" shown in third screenshot.

In another thread, superboyac remarked that ArsClip's configuration was a mess.  Good though it is, I'm inclined agree.  You might expect this bit of configuration to appear on the Configuration screens, rather than get to it via the popup menu.

[Winkie]

In another thread, superboyac remarked that ArsClip's configuration was a mess.  Good though it is, I'm inclined agree.  You might expect this bit of configuration to appear on the Configuration screens, rather than get to it via the popup menu.

I agree. Thanks for pointing it out with screenshots.