ArsClip Pending Release

The last change for this version of ArsClip has been made. The current beta is now Release Candidate 1. This is a small release that mostly targets scripting changes and fixes.

The last update changes how plaintext is retrieved from the clipboard. If a File clip is detected, it will extract the text and return it; otherwise, it will query the clipboard just for plain text. This mostly only effects scripting areas of the program.

MouseWrangler 2.0 - Fourth Test

Behind the scenes, the code for detecting mouse gestures was reworked. This solved a lot of issues and limitations, but it also bound to introduce new issues. This fourth test fixed a few of those issues as well as issues caused from newly added features.

Two small new features were added. The Welcome screen was updated to include an example gesture. This will create a simple gesture that will show the Configuration screen. The Configuration load speed was improved when showing the Per-Program list.

A fifth test is needed to address more issues. There are two small program additions already planned for this test, but no more features will be added after this.

There are planned changes scheduled for version 2.1, but these will require significant changes. The idea is to rework how gestures are displayed in list form to make them easier to understand and visualize.


EDIT: Public Beta 5 was release and now the program is in feature freeze. All ideas for changes are scheduled for a future release. Only bugs and minor tweaks are being addressed.

MouseWrangler 2.0 - Third Test

All major planned features have been added in the current Public Beta test version. The Configuration and Gesture Wizard have been reworked. Support for monitor position specific gestures has been added. A new Welcome screen has been added.

A fourth test version will likely be needed to perform tweaks to the existing features.

MouseWrangler 2.0 - Second Test

This version adds mouse chording (optional, on by default) to toggle enabled/disabled gestures for the current program. So, you don't have to exit the current program to change this setting.

The next test will include: a revamped Configuration window, a new Welcome window. If there's time, the Edit Gesture Wizard will be revamped and support for monitor edge gestures will be added.

For example, the keystrokes window could have a dropdown of some common keystroke shortcuts. A common example would be closing the current tab in a browser (CTRL+W).

I'm also thinking about adding some new default gestures to do things like show the Configuration window or show the Edit Gestures window with the current foreground program already highlighted.

In total, there should be about 3 or 4 test versions before all planned features are implemented.

MouseWrangler 2.0 - First Test

The new Public Beta of Mouse Wrangler has uploaded. This first version reworks the Edit Gestures window to make is less confusing. Gestures are now split into two sections: Global and Per-Program.

The Global gestures can be triggered no matter the current foreground program. The Per-Program gestures are specific to the current foreground program, but there is an option to disable all Gestures (including Global) for the selected program.


Next Test Version

I'll be testing ways to activate the "Disable All" feature without having to manually open the Edit Gestures window. Maybe when the gesture drawing is active, a small hint text will appear at the top/bottom of the screen. This text would instruct how to disable for the current program. Maybe by performing an action like double clicking SHIFT while while gesture drawing is active.

This task needs to be easy to discover and and to perform. It also needs to be difficult to perform on accident. By default, gestures are disabled when the foreground program is running full screen. This catches the most common case, like when a game is running.

Mouse Wrangler

Mouse Wrangler is getting some updates and a new 2.0 version number.

The Edit Gestures window is getting a re-vamp. Settings are getting divided into "Global" and "Per-Program". The Global gestures operate no matter the current foreground window. The Per-Program only operate when the target program is in the foreground. The goal is to make the process much less confusing. These changes will be included in the first Public Beta.

A quality of life feature will be researched. There needs to be a way to quickly disable all gestures for the current foreground window. For example, if you're running a game that requires right-clicking and moving the mouse, there needs to be a way to stop that doesn't require exiting fullscreen. There is a Scroll Lock method to disable all gestures for all programs, but many new keyboards don't have a Scroll Lock key and require a hidden key combination to activate.

Next, the New/Edit Gesture window needs a few tweaks. The gesture directions will be visualized on the window.

Lastly, a new type of Gesture is setting planned. This ability will add swiping from the top/bottom/left/right of the screen. This will mimic the functionality of mobile devices that can swipe from the sides of the screen.

AC and JavaScript

I'm currently working some fixes and workarounds for dealing with scripting. The first is a simple fix. if you click in just the right spot in an empty line in the Edit Permanent Clip window, it will cause and exception. This was a long existing issue that has now been fixed. It was just hard to track down.

The second issue is a tough one. A long running JavaScript clip can freeze the program's interface indefinitely. As a workaround, I've created a new arsclip.ini hidden variable for defining a timeout: JavaScriptTimeoutMS. By default, it is zero and will not timeout a script. When set, an external watcher will query the script status and will interrupt the script if it runs too long. In the Edit Permanent Clips window, when testing a script, you'll see a timeout error in the results section.

Ideally, I'd like a user interaction to be able to cancel the frozen script. Since the GUI thread is frozen, this isn't possible - even with a global hotkey. Running the script in a separate thread does not seem possible by design. I've found now way to use or configure IActiveScript to work in a thread.

I'm testing the workaround now and need to finish documenting the setting in the program. This should be available as a Public Beta soon.

RM Performance and Current Status

The latest Public Beta includes the final changes for improving the loading speed of the program and renaming scripts. On slower systems, the changes from last version and this version combined is a significant speed improvement: 60 to 80% faster. One optional final manual optimization is to use a blank Default.rmscr file. This will save a few seconds of loading time.

This update also includes some updates to better support form scaling. This is still a hidden setting in the rm.ini text file - since it's a feature that still has some display issues. The address bar and the folder list drop downs now scale with this setting. System created Popup menus (aka Context Menus) are not compatible. Currently, the File List only uses the Configuration Setting for the font size. I'm unsure if this should be changed or not.

Lastly, I'm still compiling a list of JavaScript examples to show of the new features. One example is a script to remove leading zeros from numbers. Another is script to add/subtract from all numbers in the name. Yet another is a way to rename files using a subcounter (like File X Part Y). The biggest request is a way to conditionally add/replace/remove from a name. This feature, however, doesn't have a general use case. The condition is just to arbitrary. I can make a specify example, like "Add to name if the name can contains X", but this wouldn't be very flexible.