An Update for Android

The second test of ArsClip Mini for Android is available. This update includes clipboard history and a functional popup. This has taken a huge amount of hours to develop, but the outcome seems worth it.

The program can't automatically detect text boxes, but can get the name of the controls. This means that a list of controls will have to be created and managed. Apps that use the standard edit control are fully compatible.

ACM can sometimes detect clicks on input boxes in some browsers, but it uses a dirty trick to do so. These controls don't support pasting, but it does show the popup button. The address bars seem to be fully compatible.

features still missing or likely to be researched:
- Edit Clips (and older clips)
- Permanent Groups (and likely a name change)
- support for Androids "Share" feature
- more popup window features
- dynamic popup button, context sensitive
- detect highlighted URLs


To help with the design flow, a set of rules has been created for adding features to ACMini.
1- clipboard HELPER, not copy/paste automation
2- fast, easy, intutive popup
3- minimal options, advanced data editor
4- no-clutter popup button
5- no log ins

The first rule defines what the purpose of the program. Only newer versions of Android support auto-pasting, so a full automation util isn't possible. Creating a custom keyboard just to simulate "CTRL+V" is a bad idea.

The second rule defines the job of the popup. It must make tasks damn easy to perform, and "long presses" are terrible.

The third rule will help keep the program simple, but also keep options from being "hard coded". A database of settings is used for how the program works, so tweaking on-the-fly will be possible.

The forth rule will make sure the popup button doesn't become bloated. Anything added to it must be done so in an intuitive and intelligent way. For example, it might make sense to show a "paste" button also for a few seconds after a popup item was clicked. This will be researched.

The fifth rule is just a repeat of the first rule. There are great options for this already available and being in the "security" business isn't a goal.

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Feedback, I'll need it. There is only a small amount of users that read this page and are Android users,

First Prototype

ArsClip Mini for Android

Only the most basic features have been implemented. Clipboard history and the actual popup will be implemented next. The current upload is mostly a compatibility test. The app has been tested on a virtual Android and a physical 4.4 Kitkat tablet. Last years donations and ads helped pay for this tablet.

Design Decisions

Only a few features from ArsClip for Windows will be included. Some things just don't make sense on an Android OS designed for consuming data, and not producing it. ACMini will not be a copy/paste automation tool, but instead will be a clipboard helper. Like all other programs, a set of rules will define the scope of the program.

Only Android 4.3 and above will be able to support automatic pasting.

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One of the unfortunate choices was to include an ad in this app when downloaded, for free, from the Play store. This goes against my general philosophy, even though it is rarely seen and non-intrusive.

To counter this, an ad free version will be offered at no cost, likely directly from this website.

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The popup button had to be made static. It can be dragged and moved, but the OS did not reliably report the position of the of the text box. To ease clutter issues, the button only lasts a few seconds and is partially transparent.

Some options for the popup button are planned for later, like button size and a time "easy paste" feature after a copy operation.

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Cloud support is planned but not researched. The idea is to be able to look at data from other devices, but each install's data would be separated. Maybe some permanent clip groups could be made global.

The Bad News

The good news is I may have something unique for Android. The bad news is there's tons of work left.

The current prototype app does nothing.

In the above screen capture, the app globally detects a click on a text box and shows the AC popup button. It can either be clicked to activate or dragged to dismiss. The placement is an issue, since there are several cases where the text box can shift or report a position that's different from what's seen on screen.

The "easy" fix is to use a static position on the screen to show the popup button. If the button is dragged to reposition, this solves many problems.

There's just one architecture thing left to research. The rest of the research will all be just decisions for starting features, like if it should support the "cloud" for multiple devices. Only a small subset of ArsClip features will belong in an Android environment, so the blueprint will be easy to create. The Android only features may take some time to discover.

Still Slow Research

There's been quite a bit of success, but Android testing is extremely slow. At this point, only a clickable glyph is shown when a text box is clicked in the current App. That's it, but it took many hours and many tricks to accomplish.

Android version support will be an issue. Only 4.0 and above will work, but there are some features the program could really use that only exist in higher versions. Features like automatic pasting is an example. Supporting 4.0 as a minimum includes about 90% of all devices, but most run on 4.4, 4.2, and 4.1.

Finally, the prototype made only serves one purpose: to compare against other methods. Copy and Paste needs on a consumer device are way different than on a producer device, like a PC.

Slow Research

Research for the possibility a mini-ArsClip for Android is extremely slow. The architecture is closed for security reasons, so the idea of creating a global utility is very foreign. It's challenging finding ways to work without requiring root access.

Nothing may ever be officially released. The goal is to create something unique or much better than already exists. Plenty of clip programs exist for Android already, so it would be difficult to catch up to the more mature clip managers. The litmus test is probably to create something unique.

Unless an intuitive and creative way can be found to trigger a "popup", it doesn't seem reasonable to continue. Piggy-backing onto the Android Text Selection mechanic makes the most sense, but requires some trickery to get working. This is where the research currently is being done.

Status for 2015

While bug fixes are still being handled, personal issues have prevented full development. Work on new features should begin soon.

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Why no 64-Bit versions or support for OS X, Linux, Android, and etc. versions?

This question gets asked a lot for RM and AC. The short answer is: "no money and time". The cost to upgrade my compiler, and buy devices, would take years of donations/ads to afford. I, also, don't have the audience type to crowd-fund this, since most users visit the website once. The other issue is that the programs would almost have to be 100% re-written to work on another operating system.

That being said, I do plan on researching App creation on Android. There is a terrible, but free, development environment for Android that I've been trying to use. I'd like to create an "ArsClip Light" for Android, but security restrictions will determine what is possible to implement.

Rename Variables 3

A recent request was made to describe what all those "?n02? things are in a help file. Help files are a crutch for bad program interfaces. Placing "help" directly in the interactive program is much more useful. The real problem, however, is that meta-variables aren't handled well in the program.

If done well, the user shouldn't have to know anything about those variables. The current Public Beta gets another step close to this goal. Variables are now displayed using friendly names. Variables still use the same syntax behind the scenes, so backwards compatibility is maintained with existing scripts. But, the program hides the details better. The process is now the opposite of what was done in the previous beta: a tooltip hint on hover now shows the old data and the formatting and the textbox shows the friendly name.

To complete the illusion, variables now require using prompts to format the output of the metadata represented. This means that the prompts and windows used need to be polished up. Many of these windows haven't been updated in a very long time. For example, the program has to advertise better how to find filetype specific variable tags. The Filelist improves this process by showing when a clicked file can contains tags that are usable by the program. The Advanced Insert window now gives a help message for a better way deal with file specific tags. By default, these old pages on the Advaned Insert window are now hidden under help prompts, but clicking a 'Show' button reveals the previous interface. The old settings remains accessible just to help in the transition process.

Rename Variables 2

The current Public Beta of Rename Master contains the changes mentioned in the post below.

Meta-variables are now very visually distinct by using a background color, an underline, and a different font. The underline helps cue that the item can be clicked and might make it easy to discover the new hover mechanic. When hovered, a friendly name is shown using a tooltip hint. When clicked, a variable is automatically highlighted and a context menu is shown for editing.

Textboxes now will automatically grow and shrink when dealing with a long text. This should help with overall readability and editing, for those dealing with multiple variables or long strings.

These "simple" changes took a lot of work, but the improvement in usability was worth it. Ultimately, the user should need to know very little about meta-variables. This goal requires that the program do all the work for inserting, rendering, and editing variables. This version is closer to that goal.