New Release: KaosGen

[jgpaiva]

Here's my Coding Snack submission for March 2011 Fundraiser!
It's a response to this coding snack request

Application Name	KaosGen
Version	1.2
Short Description	Adds some randomness to your life
Supported OSes	Windows (any?)
Web Page	This one
Download Link (.exe)	KaosGen.exe (797.9 KB)
Download Link (.ahk)	KaosGen.ahk (6.7 KB)
Version History	1.2 1.1 1.0
Author	jgpaiva

Description
This program allows you to make a random sequence from either a number range or a file with several entries.
(Read the original request for more detail)

Features
The program works in 2 ways:

• If you run it by double-clicking:

It creates a random sequence of numbers, within the boundaries you select.
You can also choose in how many columns the output should be formated, if it should have a space to "tick" options and to what file the output should be saved.

• If you run it by drag-dropping a file on to it:

It creates a random sequence from the lines of the file.

Planned Features
Adding support for calendar days?

Screenshots




Usage
Installation
None, download and run

Using the Application
- Double-click the application for use #1, select "General" tab and click "Let's Go!".
- Drag&Drop a text file on to the executable to get a sequence of entries from the file.

Uninstallation
Delete the executable and the config file (KaosGen.ini)

Known Issues
None that I know of

Changelog
v1.2
when canceled due to file existing, return to the main gui

v1.1
added several usability features:
The program should not quit automatically after it finished generation. What if I need several random files?
Please, don't include file extension in the filename field and make the field larger. It is ok to add ".txt" to all names automatically.
If I drag-and-drop a file, the default number of columns should be 1, makes more sense.
The window asking for overwrite sometimes appears behind others. Can you make it stay always on top?
Would be nice if last used settings were saved.
The program does not have any indication of what it does. Try to use words like "random" and "sequence" on the General application page.

fixed bug:
The range of generated numbers is incorrect, lower border (default is 0) is not included in result.


v1.0
Initial release

[nemees]

Thanks

[tomos]

thanks jgpaiva

I wasnt sure what the idea was till I read the original request:

I would like to have a program that brings some randomness to my life. It seems rather simple and useful for others too.
This application helps to do something in random order like watching episodes of a film, reading periodical comic strips or accomplishing a to-do-list of actions.

What it should do:

1. Preferable output format is a text file with meaningful name chosen by the user. The file is saved in the application folder. Application should ask for overwriting the file.
Minimum: it contains random numbers, each on the new line.
Maximum: it can contain random numbers in several aligned columns (for convenience, number of columns chosen by user)

2. The program should produce randomness in several formats with range entered by user.
Minimum:
- completely random (integer numbers from A to B)
- random sequence (integer numbers from A to B in mixed order, including all numbers from A to B, no duplicates)
Maximum:
- random date sequence (days from A to B in mixed order, including all days from A to B, no duplicates)
- random date sequence with days of week filter (for example, only Mondays and Wednesdays)

3. There should be an option to leave space for completion marks at the left of the random numbers. I think a nice variant will be a space between square braces:
[X] 27
[X] 4
[ ] 14
[ ] 12

[antonov2754]

Sorry, but the current version has uncomfortable issues...
1. The range of generated numbers is incorrect, lower border (default is 0) is not included in result.
2. The program should not quit automatically after it finished generation. What if I need several random files?
3. Please, don't include file extension in the filename field and make the field larger. It is ok to add ".txt" to all names automatically.
4. If I drag-and-drop a file, the default number of columns should be 1, makes more sense.
5. The window asking for overwrite sometimes appears behind others. Can you make it stay always on top?
6. Would be nice if last used settings were saved.
7. The program does not have any indication of what it does. Try to use words like "random" and "sequence" on the General application page.

Good issue: it understands even zero columns.

[jgpaiva]

Thank you for your suggestions, antonov2754! I'll look into it today

[jgpaiva]

Now that looks much better

If you find something wrong, please tell me!

[antonov2754]

Yes, thanks. It is much better now and I can use it.
One small bug left - program always quits if I answer Cancel in rewrite file dialog.

[jgpaiva]

One small bug left - program always quits if I answer Cancel in rewrite file dialog.

Actually, that was intentional. But now that I think about it, you're right, it makes more sense to return to the gui so that you may change that option.

[jgpaiva]

done, new version uploaded