Request: Simple, Full Screen Picture Viewer

[A man]

Irfanview is great.

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[John Corliss]

John Corliss wrote:




I use KeyTweak, a tool that uses a new feature in Windows 2K/XP, which
lets you remap keys with a registry hack.
KeyTWeak's documentation says: "due to the mode of implementation, the
Pause/Break key cannot be remapped or remapped to."
I take this to mean that it could be done, but not in the way this tool
works and/or it does not want to let you remap the Pause key.
ZDKeyMap and its updated version TradeKeys work on another level in
Win9x (and need to load a device driver to modify scan codes), but they
do not let you remap PrintScrn/SysRq and Pause/Break "since those keys
are reserved for special purposes."
I guess that the Pause key can be remapped in every Windows version, but
that *in general* tools will not permit you to do that.
There may well be *some* tool that lets you do it but I wouldn't know
about them. Maybe a new thread with the question in the subject?

Alternatively, a tool like Windows PowerPro may be of help.
I always run PowerPro, which is a very versatile tool.
One of its features is a sort of hotkey manager, which also lets you
send user defined messages, like key presses, to the system.
(I guess this is yet another level.)
I checked if it would let me use the Pause key as if it were e.g. the
Tab key and that worked. You may want to check that out.
If you could use help, how to do this, just let me know.
Or if you just want me to check if it lets you use the Pause key to
simulate pressing some specific key.

Of course, but I need not telling you, your MS Keyboard should work in
the first place. All the above are just work arounds for what should be
repaired at the root. But I take it that you already unsuccessfully
tried that route.

Sietse, thanks for replying.
The problem I'm having is the darned "F Lock" key. With it activated,
the keyboard function keys act like they used to, with the exception
of the "Pause" and "PrtScn" keys. To use them normally, you have to
turn the "F Lock" key *off*. What they've done is to combine the
PrtScn key with the Insert key and the Pause key with the Scroll Lock
key. The position of the F Lock key determines which happens on the
new combined keys. They should have completely left the function keys
alone. My advice to everybody is to avoid these "Microsoft Multimedia
keyboards" like the plague.

 

[John Corliss]

I use the MS Kernel Toys.

Bob,
However, those only are recommended for W95. Do you know of a
workaround to get them to work with ME?

 

[John Corliss]

I use the MS Kernel Toys.

Bob,
However, those only are recommended for W95. Do you know of a
workaround to get them to work with ME?

 

[Bob Adkins]

However, those only are recommended for W95. Do you know of a
workaround to get them to work with ME?

John,

It worked with ME for me.

I have just the INF and DLL files for keyboard re-mapping. If you wish, I
can up them to ABF or e-mail them to you.

Bob

 

[John]

But, Bob, c'mon, that's not a bug.
Pepi has done the incredible: here's a programmer who
actually remembers why there's an "ESC" key on the keyboard!

When was the last time you used software that used the
keyboard intelligently?
My big beef with most programmers is that they don't know
how to type!! And they design software that's agony for good
typists to use.

I prefer a trackball to a mouse, and a touchpad to a
trackball. Mice give me shoulder pain. The best advice I can
give a person about a mouse is to stomp on it. But a
well-designed program makes as little use of a mouse as
possible, unless it is for a good reason, such as drawing.

Anyway, that's my 2c. Let's hear it for the poor, forgotten
Escape key!

Richard




return button.


the pictures,


the program. It


and the finger


backward. Pressing esc

You can also accomplish the same movement in Irfanview with the scroll
wheel, and using the Esacape key once has always been enough for me, of
course my keyboard is only two years old. <gr>

John

 

[John Corliss]

John,
It worked with ME for me.
I have just the INF and DLL files for keyboard re-mapping. If you wish, I
can up them to ABF or e-mail them to you.

Not a problem, Bob. They can be downloaded here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/contents/wutoys/w95kerneltoy/default.asp

I'll check it out. Thanks for reminding me about the keyboard toy.

 

[Sietse Fliege]

Sietse Fliege wrote:

I misunderstood. Your keyboard works properly. According to MS, that is.
At least, all keys do work in both modes.

The problem I'm having is the darned "F Lock" key. With it activated,
the keyboard function keys act like they used to, with the exception
of the "Pause" and "PrtScn" keys. To use them normally, you have to
turn the "F Lock" key *off*. What they've done is to combine the
PrtScn key with the Insert key and the Pause key with the Scroll Lock
key. The position of the F Lock key determines which happens on the
new combined keys. They should have completely left the function keys
alone. My advice to everybody is to avoid these "Microsoft Multimedia
keyboards" like the plague.

Now I understand what it is about : I agree, the layout stinks.

Their big idea of course was to lose some keys (rather than enlarging
the keyboard), in order to make room for the new keys.
I also realized: a conventional keyboard has two Insert keys, one of
which actually taking up the room of two normal sized keys.
I wonder if the big Insert key, or at least the small one, has been
dropped.
Which would leave only one Insert key, now combined with the PrtScn key.
If that is true that will be part of your problem:

For me and I guess many others, the rating by use of the keys would be:

"F Lock" key : On "F Lock" key : Off

Scroll Lock : never used Pause : used in Dos box (mostly)
Insert : more often used PrtScn : more often used

Unfortunately, in neither one of the two modes of the "F lock" key, are
the two most used keys (Insert and PrtScn) both available.
If they did not drop the extra Insert key, I guess many will not have
too much trouble, in the "F Lock" key's Off mode.
But if they indeed dropped it, it will be missed.

In that case you would like two swap either the Scroll Lock with the
PrtScr key, or the Pause with the Insert key.
I guess it will be hard to find remap tools that let you do that,
especially also as these now are combined keys.

In case you don't find one: I tried if PowerPro can do it.
I was surprised to find out that it had so much trouble with it.

It lets you simulate pressing the Insert key when you really are
pressing the Pause key. But not the other way around.
And the swap between the other two keys did not work at all.
But what it lets you do might just be enough.

Of course, the above is how I look at it. YMMV.

Considering that in WinXP you might be able to do it with a registry
hack, and that in Win9x remapping with a ZdKeyMap-like tool would
require few resources, using PowerPro (although resources friendly) only
for this, may not be worth it.
Then again, you may consider using this versatile tool anyway.
Or maybe some other smaller tool that lets you do the same or better.

HTH

 

[John Corliss]

I misunderstood. Your keyboard works properly. According to MS, that is.
At least, all keys do work in both modes.




Now I understand what it is about : I agree, the layout stinks.

Their big idea of course was to lose some keys (rather than enlarging
the keyboard), in order to make room for the new keys.
I also realized: a conventional keyboard has two Insert keys, one of
which actually taking up the room of two normal sized keys.
I wonder if the big Insert key, or at least the small one, has been
dropped.

The small one was combined with the "PrtScn" key, but the larger one
on the keypad remains.

Which would leave only one Insert key, now combined with the PrtScn key.
If that is true that will be part of your problem:

For me and I guess many others, the rating by use of the keys would be:

"F Lock" key : On "F Lock" key : Off

Scroll Lock : never used Pause : used in Dos box (mostly)

I use this key in games and when viewing multimedia, far more than the
insert key which I only used rarely when running a word processing
program.

Insert : more often used PrtScn : more often used

Unfortunately, in neither one of the two modes of the "F lock" key, are
the two most used keys (Insert and PrtScn) both available.
If they did not drop the extra Insert key, I guess many will not have
too much trouble, in the "F Lock" key's Off mode.
But if they indeed dropped it, it will be missed.

They didn't. But their newer versions of Microsoft Office just
coincidentally happen to like the new function key settings (the ones
with the "F Lock" key off). This is a subtle example of monopolistic
behavior on their part IMO. Now all the competing products will have
to change to accomodate the new function key settings because people
won't like having to press the "F Lock" key every time they reboot
their system in order to have the function keys behave the way they
have been since they first were created.

In that case you would like two swap either the Scroll Lock with the
PrtScr key, or the Pause with the Insert key.

Yep, this is exactly what I want to do.

I guess it will be hard to find remap tools that let you do that,
especially also as these now are combined keys.

Right. Not only that, but they send the message to the controller card
differently than other keys. Kind of a "hard wired" kind of thing. At
least, that's what MS claims as the reason that they can't be remapped
(forget where I read it.)

In case you don't find one: I tried if PowerPro can do it.
I was surprised to find out that it had so much trouble with it.

It lets you simulate pressing the Insert key when you really are
pressing the Pause key. But not the other way around.
And the swap between the other two keys did not work at all.
But what it lets you do might just be enough.

'Fraid not. I wanted the Pause key to work as it used to. The "not the
other way around" bit rules that out.

Of course, the above is how I look at it. YMMV.
Considering that in WinXP you might be able to do it with a registry
hack, and that in Win9x remapping with a ZdKeyMap-like tool would
require few resources, using PowerPro (although resources friendly) only
for this, may not be worth it.
Then again, you may consider using this versatile tool anyway.
Or maybe some other smaller tool that lets you do the same or better.

HTH

It did, Sietse, in that I've now ruled out another possibility that
won't work. I'll keep looking. Thanks for trying though.
By the way, I have another keyboard which even has an "F Lock" key,
but has an otherwise normal layout and works like a normal keyboard if
the Intellitype software isn't installed. The only problem with it is
that the typematic rate is WAY too slow and the Control Panel module
can't change it. This is most likely a fault with the default keyboard
driver (which, surprise, Microsoft wrote.)

 

[Sietse Fliege]

It did, Sietse, in that I've now ruled out another possibility that
won't work. I'll keep looking. Thanks for trying though.

I also had a look at AutoIt, but I thought it could not do it either.
Today I saw a post by larrydalooza, which made me look at it again.
It turns out that the newest beta version 3 now has this functionality.
Whether it will work is yet another question.

Even better, today I had a look at the AutoIt Yahoo Forum.
There I saw that some guy made a program called AutoHotkey.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AutoItList/message/21107

"an open-source clone of AutoIt with an enhanced command set and
built-in support for keyboard and mouse hotkeys"

It seems to be even more promising w.r.t. your problem.

http://www.autohotkey.com/

You may want to e-mail the author about your sitution to find out if it
could work for you.

HTH

 

[John Corliss]

John Corliss wrote:




I also had a look at AutoIt, but I thought it could not do it either.
Today I saw a post by larrydalooza, which made me look at it again.
It turns out that the newest beta version 3 now has this functionality.
Whether it will work is yet another question.

Even better, today I had a look at the AutoIt Yahoo Forum.
There I saw that some guy made a program called AutoHotkey.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AutoItList/message/21107

"an open-source clone of AutoIt with an enhanced command set and
built-in support for keyboard and mouse hotkeys"

It seems to be even more promising w.r.t. your problem.

http://www.autohotkey.com/

You may want to e-mail the author about your sitution to find out if it
could work for you.

HTH

Thanks Sietse, but I've decided to live with the keyboard's
limitations for the time being. Besides, about the time I got this MS
Multimedia keyboard, I also bought another cheap keyboard from
Walmart. It didn't seem acceptable to me because the typmatic rate was
so slow and couldn't be adjusted the normal way. However, in reading
the *box* (there was no included documentation) I notice that the
typmatic rate can be set via a combo keystroke unique to that
keyboard. At some point in the future, I may give it another try. In
the mean time, I'm becoming increasingly used to this MS Multimedia
keyboard and it's idiocies.

 

[WD]

Does anyone have a pet, full screen picture viewer that's quick to load,
toggle through pics, and exit?

I have a bazillion large family pictures I took with my digital cameras, and
need something FAST.

I like to use the Windows Explorer to file my pics in folders by the
approximate date they were shot.

I like to click on a file in the Explorer and have it pop up instantly, full
screen, and be able to browse with the space bar like ACDSee Classic.

I'm not happy with Irfan, Slowview, or XNView. They are not bad, but have
one or more nagging problems I can't live with.

The only Freeware viewer I have found that behaves as I like (and isn't
buggy) is Cam2PC, but it's severely bloated and has unnecessary features.

Guess what? The new viewer that comes with WinXP SP1 *nearly fits the bill!


Bob

http://mrmills.arsware.org/HardView/

HardView

First, the link to download: HardView

http://mrmills.arsware.org/HardView/HardView.zip

What is HardView?
HardView (Hardware Viewer) is a directory-based image viewer. It's not
a thumbnail viewer, and it's not intended to make housekeeping easier.
It's strictly for viewing images one at a time.

I have plenty of image viewers. I can easily use Windows Explorer for
this. Why should I download HardView?
Short answer: Because it's only 350KB to download, and because MrMills
wants YOU to beta test it for him.

Long answer: Because it does bilinear interpolation, aspect ratio
correction, dynamic speculative preloading, keyboard remapping ... all
of which I have not seen on other similar programs.

Bilinear interpolation: Each image is scaled up using a bilinear
filter, giving the displayed image better image quality than ordinary
pixellated methods.

Aspect ratio correction: For those of you stuck at 1280x1024 or
working from a widescreen monitor, or any resolution where your pixels
aren't square, HardView will compensate so your bitmaps display as
they were originally intended to.

Dynamic speculative preloading: Most programs jump the instant you
tell them to. HardView goes a step further: it loads all the images
you're most likely to load next while you're staring at the current
one. So when you say jump, it's likely got the next picture all ready
to go.

Keyboard remapping: All available commands can be assigned to almost
any key combination. So if you want to browse with WASD, you're
welcome to. Or if you use some other wacky key config, go for it.

What file formats does it support?
JPEG and GIF.

OK, you've convinced me! How do I install it?
Well, MrMills is lazy, so he didn't make the program into its own
installer like he did for PeerGenius. Yet, anyway.

The zip file has an executable and a DLL in it. Unzip it into a
directory (say, a new directory under Program Files) and create a
shortcut to it on your desktop. Drag an image to it. That's all there
is to it. In the program there's an option to add HardView to your
image files' shell menus.

How do I get options?
Right-click on your image, then choose Options. Use the Keyboard tab
to remap your keyboard; the default configuration allows control by
arrow keys and WASD.

Does this take lots of memory?
Yes; it does need a cache to store images in. You can set the size of
this cache, and HardView will typically use about 10 MB more. The size
of cache needed is proportional to the size of your screen. But who
cares, right? RAM is cheap. You all have lots. Stop whining.

What known bugs are there?
Well, it doesn't like it if you delete files from the given directory
while it's running. And it will probably look odd if you change
resolutions while running it. And it doesn't support TIFF files.
(Sorry, PeterB!) It's hard to map keys like Enter, Tab, and Esc
because they mean something to the dialog box. There are probably
more; I didn't get paid to write this, and you get what you pay for,
etc., etc.

Tell me, does this program suck?
You have a very dirty mind.

-WD

 

[Bob Adkins]

Tell me, does this program suck?
You have a very dirty mind.

-WD

Woa...FINALLY! Exactly what I was looking for! It's truly a "pure picture
viewer" without all the bloated editing and movie junk.

Too bad it uses a DLL, and it is a tad buggy. I would like it to read all
common files, especially JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF, and TIF in order of importance.
Most people convert outlaw files to one of these formats anyway.

I absolutely love the keyboard re-mapping, no icons or menus showing, and
quick escape.

More mouse support would be great! Scroll wheel for zoom, left click for
next, middle click for previous, right button remains for menu.

File association in the menu would be great too, as would be an option to
"Stretch only large pics".

WD, thanks for a very promising program. Please post updates! If you would
like, I can file bug reports.

Bob