Roadmap

ArsClip

I'll be waiting a few days to address any important bugs before beginning on more new features. There were too many features for the Clipboard Bar for a single release. These features will be implemented first in the next Public Beta.

Rename Master

I'm planning on releasing the current small beta as a maintenance release soon. The plans for this program are currently sparse.

ArsClip Status

I was planning on releasing v4.13 last week. I've one last issue that I need to address before that happens. There's a bug in Windows where an always-on-top window stops working after showing a full screen program a few time. I was able to finally replicate his behavior using Task Manager and showing a Youtube video full screen 3 times, so even MS programs are affected.

I've had more Clipboard Bar feedback in the last 2 weeks than I've had in years. The only problem is that there's too much to fit into a single release.

More Format Stuff

Storing the icon in the clip file proved to be more efficient and less complicated than the current icon cache system. So, it's now officially part of the format.

Unicode clips (plaintext clips) now use less resources with the new format. The old format always had two versions of every clip, even when the plaintext version was identical to the original clip. The new format allows for getting rid of this duplication in file and in memory.

I've not made up my mind about compressing in-memory large clips. With the default settings, most users won't trigger the code. Those working in large clips (graphics editors and office type programs) and change the settings aren't likely running on a system that's starved for memory. It's a very small group of users that would benefit for the setting. The code also has some unresolved issues, so I'll likely be delaying this feature for the next version.

This beta version will soon enter feature freeze.

Dogfooding 5

Using the Clipboard Bar as a popup trigger, I've been running into an old problem: submenus near the edge of the screen. When the popup shifts make room for the submenu, it's basically impossible to keep the submenu open when moving the mouse. I've updated this behavior so that doesn't happen by using a small dead space on the submenu.

At this point, this is the last of the planned changes for the Clipboard Bar. The only thing left on my list is to redo some of the icons on the toolbar.

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I've been putting it off for a long time, but the file format for saving clips needed a complete rework. Adding features to the file over the years made it complicated and scattered. The newer format makes it easier to cache extra data and optionally load only the most important data. This means the program has to do less work to prepare a clip to display on the popup. The net result is much less file access required.

The problem with this change is that it effects 3 parts of the program. The Popup Clips, Removed Clips, and some Permanent Clips use this format. To make things invisible, the program will load the old data and then save it in the new format. Currently, the Permanent Clips are not converted but do use the new format for newly added. This will likely be changed in the next beta. I'm not a fan of such large-scale changes, but the benefits are worth it in this case.

The new clip format also has reserved spots for icons. I've not made up my mind if I'm going to replace the icon cache scheme in place. The current scheme works well and is nicely optimized for efficiency. I'll surely test the idea out before I make any final decision.

Dogfooding 4

There are 4 button on the new toolbar of the Clipboard bar. Three are grouped together to signify that they all show dropdown lists. I should probably change the icons to use standard cues (like arrows), but these icons are currently just place-holders. Each button will trigger a hint tooltip when hovered.

The first quick button is Edit. This triggers the routine that edits the current clip in an associated editor (notepad, paint, wordpad, etc.).

The "Alter Clip" dropdown menu on the is the second unique feature for the Clipboard Bar. It basically executes commands found in a Permanent Clip that edit the contents of the clipboard. The "Make Permanenent" dropdown menu is just another place were you can save a clip to a Permanent Group. The "System Menu" is the odd-ball. It doesn't have anything to do with the clip on the clipboard and is just a utility menu.

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One feature that I'm using frequently really doesn't fit the purpose of the Clipboard Bar. That feature is the ability to show the popup when clicked. It's, however, too nice a feature to remove so I make this an optional feature.

Dogfooding 3

The current toolbar prototype shown above.

I'm replacing the right-click action so that it toggles the toolbar on the Clipboard Bar. The spirit of the right-click context is still preserved, but it much more flexible than a single popup menu.

Dogfooding 2

In the latest beta, I've added drop support to the Clipboard Bar. This is first unique feature of the Clipboard Bar, the ability to quickly paste the contents of a file to the clipboard. The supported files type list is currently rather limited, but that can be changed if there's interest.

I had an idea for expanding the usage of the Clipboard Bar, but I've not got passed the design phase. The idea is to dynamically add to the interface as needed. In this case, when the bar is hovered or maybe clicked, a small horizontal toolbar with small buttons would appear. This still keeps the goal of a minimal and compact window, but allows for more functionality.

What I'm currently stuck on is what functions to place on this new toolbar. The obvious choices are things to do with the current clipboard - similar to the Clip Menu. The secondary choices would be utility features, like showing the popup or system tray menu.

Dogfooding

I normally don't show the bar on my system, so I'm dogfooding the Clipboard Bar for ideas. In the latest Public Beta, I'm testing out drag support (as requested by a user).

Dragging fits under the pattern of a heavy mouse user. Unlike right-clicking in a program and selecting paste, the drag can be performed almost mindlessly. There's no mental navigation of a list of items required. The action is more like a gesture and fits well in a touch-screen scenario.

The problem with drag is it's an advanced feature and less commonly used in Windows. One major issue with Windows is that there's usually no visual cue to let you know that something can be dragged. The only thing I could think of was to show a tooltip that just says "Click - Right Click - Drag".

Drag results in one of two results. The target program still decides what to do with the clip, but the usual result is the clip is pasted. The second result is to create a new file in an Explorer type program. Drag and Drop is very similar to how the clipboard works. The target program looks at a list of formats and picks the format that it wants or supports.