Who else is a freeware "squirrel"?

[Ben Cooper]

Thanks for the links ... I'm checking it out.
BTW, I really hate your cursor trail script. Is it really necessary?
It makes my browser scroll erratically as I move the mouse across the
page (like trying to use the scroll bar).

Don't shoot the messenger!
It's not my site. I've never liked those types of scripts either.

 

[omega]

Re: AnnotX, File Annotator Shell Extension

Its copy/paste works fine here (w9x)....

Jim, I found a way to get paste to fail. This by selecting the full text
of the readme file to paste into the annotx property sheet tab. That was
evidently an amount of text in excess of its threshold, and the result was
not partial paste, but instead no paste. In case that is what's going on,
you might check paste operation on your system again -- but with just a few
lines of text ?

 

[Ben Cooper]

Hi Ben - I installed this since it sounded useful; however, it doesn't
appear to allow paste operations into the Annotation sheet in
Properties, which IMO makes it almost useless. I've emailed the
author, but perhaps I'm missing something in Duh! mode?

I've never had any problem pasting into the text field. CTRL-V always works
for me.

 

[Ben Cooper]

Anyone interested in this, first be advised it does not follow your
files on copy/move. That is, the dbs it keeps for your annotations
merely files a static record on an absolu file path when you enter an
annotation. Fine if you don't move files around. For instance Ben
must keep his download folder always in the same place. Or, perhaps
others use it to annotate things in the system directory, I might
think.

I wasn't aware of that. I see it stores the annotations in annotsx.odb in
the Windows folder.
Now that you mention it, I've only used it on files I've already burned to a
CD.
Maybe FileNote is a better solution, after all.

Thanks, Karen.

 

[Steve H]

I like using the 'Annotator' shell extension to keep descriptions of
everything I download.
It saves file or folder annotations in the properties page. Very useful for
image files, too.

I'm afraid I suffer from the same condition as the OP - but what makes
it slightly worse is that within my 'downloads' folder are a number of
freeware apps that annotate files. I've long since forgotten which
filename relates to which annotation program too, which is a
particularly piquant irony.

Regards,

 

[Bjorn Simonsen]

I like using the 'Annotator' shell extension to keep descriptions of
everything I download.

My "survival alternative" is InjectURL by Marek Jedlinski from
<http://www.tranglos.com/free/index.html>

When I download a program I usually also save the program web page
that contains a description, often the page I download from (and with
Opera I most often use "Frame - Save as" from the right-click menu).
Then use InjectURL to insert the URL into saved page. Thus I end up
with description page with URL embedded. Makes it easy to see what the
downloaded program is/does - and from where I got it.

Partial copy from: <http://www.tranglos.com/free/injecturl_main.html>

<quote>

InjectURL: Automatically "injects" URL address and last-visited date
into documents downloaded from the Web

This release of the program is frozen, and no longer supported. The
program is useful in its current state, but it is not being developed
and is unlikely to see any more updates.

InjectURL is a simple application designed to do only one task and do
it well: to help you keep a reference to the Web document you have
downloaded to your local computer.

What does it do?
You may find this program helpful if you often download articles from
the Internet (using a Web browser, such as Netscape or MS Internet
Explorer) and sometimes wish to return to online copies of those
documents later, when you may have already deleted or lost the URL
address. The task that InjectURL performs is automatically adding
("injecting") the URLs into HTML and plain-text documents you have
downloaded and saved, using the browser's "Save As..." feature. This
way you can always know where that particular document came from
without having to keep the URLs somewhere else or manually editing
the document.

</quote>

Two minor issues I've experienced with InjectURL:

1) First issue: It does not work in auto-mode with Opera. I solve it
this way: set it to monitor my download directory, copy the URL from
browser after saving the page, then right click the program icon in
task menu and select Inject URL Manually. So if the page was saved
as "somename.htm" and the URL is "http://someplace.com/somename.htm",
when i past the URL in the InjectURL window - it finds and suggests
the saved "somename.htm" page by it self. But sometimes the page name
in the URL does not match the saved file name, if so I simply open the
file dialog in InjectURL and type the first two or three letters of
the saved html file to quickly find it, select it and hit OK. Or - if
you please - name the html page your self when saving, say use same
name as downloaded program name, then copy the url from browser, then
chose Inject URL manually in Inject URL menu, past the URL into
InjectURL window, click browse for file name, type the first
characters of the filename to find it faster, select it, click OK -
OK.

Btw: I try to keep the download directory "tidy", that is simply move
everything to a another "holding" directory from time to time - to
avoid naming conflicts when saving pages and injecting URL. Also
notice that InjectURL can optionally rename the saved file when
Injecting, using the page title as a name, found inside the <TITLE>
</TITLE> tags in the page..

2) Second minor issue: It "crashes" on say 1 out of 25 pages. Probably
since program has not been updates in ages and thus can not
handle/parse some newer kinds of code/scripts. When this happens, the
program hangs during parsing/writing of html file, while html file
grows to several MB very fast - until you shout down the program. Not
a major issue (unless your are low on disk space) since it is always
obvious when this happens (program screen freeze instead of
disappearing after injecting url). What I do: Right click program tab
in taskbar and select close, Windows then pops up the end-it-now
dialog, OK. Delte "mangled" copy of html file and just skip this file
(or add the url to the original saved page "by hand" with text
editor).

Btw: Another "trick of the trade" I use is to name saved zip and
program files using my own "code". For instance, if I save a freeware
program "somename.zip" - in the browser save dialog I edit the
filename by appedending my code to the basename so that it reads
"somename_F.zip". The "_F" thus indicating "freeware".

The codes I use are:
_F for Freeware.
_FR for Freeware - requires registration.
-FF for free full "promo-version", otherwise not free
(like programs found on magazine CDs etc.)
_FFR as above but required registration to get key/password.
_S for Shareware
_SR for shareware I have registered/purchased.
_CD for Commercial software demo
_CR for Commercial software i have registered/purchased.

Happy saving!

All the best,
Bjorn Simonsen

 

[Jim Byrd]

OK, Omega - That's evidently it. Just have to limit it to something less
than its acceptable limit (whatever that is ) Thanks for the tip.

--
Please respond in the same thread.
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP



In

 

[Sietse Fliege]

Does this work with XP, it doesn't say so on the site, and before I
try it I would like to hear any successes or failures?

You have it already built-in, if you have the NTFS file system on XP
(maybe on other NTFS systems as well) :

+ Properties Page | Tab Summary | fill in the Comments field.
+ You can also make it visible directly in your Explorer's files pane :
View | Choose Details... | check Comments.
+ You can also enter the comment in the text field in Windows Find.
+ When you move a file the comment moves with it.

 

[Jaime Littlebeaver]

Tiger <[email protected]> schreef in


Only three???? I've got FIVE!!!! Na na nana na...

With kind regards,

How About 13(Lucky Number)

 

[Badger]

Well, I just looked at my saved downloads folder, and it contains over
340 unused files, most of which are freeware programs I have come
across at one time or another and which I had every intention of
trying out "when I had the time". There are several groups of similar
apps which perform the same function, because I am perpetually looking
for the "perfect" program for that particular job. There are multiple
versions (sometimes 3 or 4) of the same app, because I didn't get
around to installing it before newer versions came out. And there are
a whole bunch of little utility programs which just looked interesting
and worth a try. Thank goodness for long file names, at least when I
save them I can name them something that I will recognize later.
Still, there are times when I am rushed or lazy and end up with files
like "vwsetup2.6.2.exe", which I can't remember what the hell it is. I
can't seem to help myself; I think I have a freeware jones. For pity's
sake, stop me before I download again.

Isn't everyone? LOL
Badger

 

[tully]

You have it already built-in, if you have the NTFS file system on XP
(maybe on other NTFS systems as well) :

+ Properties Page | Tab Summary | fill in the Comments field.
+ You can also make it visible directly in your Explorer's files pane
: View | Choose Details... | check Comments.
+ You can also enter the comment in the text field in Windows Find.
+ When you move a file the comment moves with it.

your absolutely right, I wonder how I never noticed this before, thanks
alot.

 

[omega]

Re: AnnotX, File Annotator Shell Extension

OK, Omega - That's evidently it. Just have to limit it to something less
than its acceptable limit (whatever that is ) Thanks for the tip.

I tested just now, and the results show that the limit is that the pasted
text must fit visibly into the property sheet tab window. A single line more
and it refuses to accept the text.

On a different track (general rambling): property sheet extensions are
to me a nice relief. These in contrast to the six billion available
context-menu extensions, a group that can become collectively a big
excess, since you don't want to see an overloaded number of things on
a file right-click.

One thing that interests me is the inbuilt property sheet tabs that are
there for certain file types, like word docs, and sometimes types of
multimedia files, and a couple others that I'm forgetting. The part that
interests me is when you change the file extension -- and the correct
property sheet for that file lives on. I see this for example with word
doc filetypes. Whereas, it does not work the same way with various property
sheet addons (for instance the dependencywalker property extension only
comes up if it sees the extension it expects, eg dll, exe). I guess this
unusual situation of explorer independence from file extension must mean
such filetypes have their property sheets built into their files. I guess
I can sort of grasp that, yet it remains a weird sensation to me to for once
not have the *.xxx dictating the OS.

 

[omega]

You have it already built-in, if you have the NTFS file system on XP
(maybe on other NTFS systems as well) :

I thought I read that this was there for w2000 as well (although I'm
declaring that based only on ~memory).

+ Properties Page | Tab Summary | fill in the Comments field.
+ You can also make it visible directly in your Explorer's files pane :
View | Choose Details... | check Comments.
+ You can also enter the comment in the text field in Windows Find.
+ When you move a file the comment moves with it.

This is one of the features that makes me jealous. I do have a couple of
utilities for my w9x system that add this kind of feature to this OS, but
at current time do not have them loaded/hooked into explorer. I read with
interest a change in Neil Rubenking's Explorer Notes ver 2x. The first
version of his utility provided to w9x the extra explorer comments column.
He removed the feature from the second version, saying there were
compatibility problems. (This is main reason I don't have currently loaded
either of the other two utilities I have that include the extra column
feature to w9x; I've put them aside until I have spare attention to monitor
whether they can get along fully with my explorer version.)

 

[Jim Byrd]

Hi Karen - JFF, take a look at a .vbs file

--
Please respond in the same thread.
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP



In

 

[omega]

Hi Karen - JFF, take a look at a .vbs file

Way cool, agree.

Yet one thing. I rename .vbs to .x and that special tab goes away. As
expected. A text file can't keep property sheet stuff within itself. The
word .doc example, see how it doesn't matter when you rename it to .x --its
property tabs are still there. I wish I could recall now the couple other
types (not counting xls and other msoffice related filetypes) where I've
seen this independence.

 

[omega]

I wasn't aware of that.

IMO, the author should have included this in his readme file. Better in
this regard was the author of "Description Extension." He lets you know
about this kind of limit right off, both in his readme and on his webpage.
http://www.rbahr.de/

"LIMITATIONS

"DescExt does not hook into the copy, move or rename process of
the explorer. So if you have a description to a file, and copy,
move or rename the file with the explorer, the description will
not be moved or copied to the new file."

I see it stores the annotations in annotsx.odb in the Windows folder.

Looking at it in notepad, gives me the guess that in a desperate pinch, one
might be able to use something like TextExtract to retrieve data from that
file. But other than that, it doesn't look like any kind of standardized
dbs that can be worked with, for export or editing.

Now that you mention it, I've only used it on files I've already burned to a
CD.
Maybe FileNote is a better solution, after all.

With Moon software's Filenote, you'd just be copying filename.txt as part of
the group. Perhaps its desirability would lie in its simplicity. Essentially
it's just a faster step than launching notepad to drop a text file into a
directory.

As far as a more featured file annotator shell extension, do you have
PCMag's Explorer Notes somewhere in your download archives? This one does
hook copy/move, so might be suitable to see if it fits one's needs.

Thanks, Karen.

Quite welcome, Ben.

Actually, I have need along these lines as well, but haven't worked out what
way to go. One main situation for me is that lately I've been taking a lot
of screenshots, then typing what they pertain to as part of the filename
(often absurdly long), instead of as a note connected with the screenshot.
This isn't due to laziness in itself, really; it's that the screenshots are
just a one-click quick kind of routine, during which times my attention
needs to stay focused on whatever other task I'm on. So any annotation tool
I might take up would need to not take any serious extra steps.

I might use something that hooks into the Save As dialog box, like Jam
FileNotes. Or, since this situation is images, maybe I should look a bit
into what is intrinsically available for putting comments into graphics;
I've seen threads here that seem to pertain to this, but haven't yet got
around to looking into how that works.

 

[J44xm]

["Ben Cooper"; Fri, 17 Oct 2003 14:13:31 GMT]

I like using the 'Annotator' shell extension to keep descriptions of
everything I download.

I'm surprised that there is nothing newer. (This is from 1997.) I'm
curious, are annotations added to the contents of the actual file, or are
they stored externally in another file or other files?

 

[Hoser]

john p. wrote in

For pity's sake, stop me before I download again.

Try zip indexator, it is postcardware so I hope it's allowed here.
Description from the link site below:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It searches all zip files in any directory and looks for information about
each file in numerous files, such as file_id.diz, license.txt, readme.txt,
install.txt, etc. You can add any filename to search, but most I've ever seen
are already listed.

After extracting all info for each file it creates "index.html" wherever you
want it and opens IE to view the results (second photo below). You can use
any browser to view the index; the program is set to open IE.

Very attractive and exhaustive results for each zip are provided!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.woundedmoon.org/win32/zipindexator12.html

 

[BillR]

You have it already built-in, if you have the NTFS file system on XP
(maybe on other NTFS systems as well) :

+ Properties Page | Tab Summary | fill in the Comments field.
+ You can also make it visible directly in your Explorer's files pane :
View | Choose Details... | check Comments.
+ You can also enter the comment in the text field in Windows Find.
+ When you move a file the comment moves with it.

On W2k, NTFS, one can record comments. Comments (can) appear on
Explorer and do not appear on Find but are searchable via text. The
display window in Properties is rather small (both basic and
advanced).

Other fields (e.g., keywords and classification) can be recorded but
are not searchable AFAIK. I haven't taken the time to research them
beyond that. Does anyone use them? If so, how?

Thanks,
BillR

 

[Chris Lee]

Well, I just looked at my saved downloads folder, and it contains
over
340 unused files, most of which are freeware programs I have come
across at one time or another and which I had every intention of
trying out "when I had the time". There are several groups of
similar
apps which perform the same function, because I am perpetually
looking
for the "perfect" program for that particular job. There are
multiple
versions (sometimes 3 or 4) of the same app, because I didn't get
around to installing it before newer versions came out. And there
are
a whole bunch of little utility programs which just looked
interesting
and worth a try. Thank goodness for long file names, at least when I
save them I can name them something that I will recognize later.
Still, there are times when I am rushed or lazy and end up with
files
like "vwsetup2.6.2.exe", which I can't remember what the hell it is.
I
can't seem to help myself; I think I have a freeware jones. For
pity's
sake, stop me before I download again.

Shrug. Just burn the files to a cdrom,lable it as "Downloads-blah,blah,blah"
empty your folder, and quit worrying about it.