Shortcut launcher question revisited.

[fitwell]

how many sessions (on average) do you open at any one time??

If it's a lot, eg more than say 7 or 8, a simple solution may be to write a
batch that opens ALL your instances of Agent (in one go), then just close
the ones you don't want....

That didn't work. One of the solutions was to try that but that's
when things get really sticky.

A menu that just lists the 12 so that I can click on the particular
combination is what would do the job.

The 2 instances that are for email I rarely access, for example, and
the one for the Lotus apps hardly ever, so you see the problems.
Batch file coding for every possible selection really becomes
problematic, as you can imagine.

while this obviously isn't the answer to your original request, it may get
someone thinking in a different direction...

Yes, but it's a question of been-there, done-that. I've been using
Agent/Free Agent for 4 years now and haven't come up with anything
that works this well, the only difficulty lies in having to manually
go to start menu for each instance I launch.

hope this helps (I'll be interested in any 'final' solution you come up
with)

Me, too!! <vbg>

 

[Blinky the Shark]

John, just need a system that lists the 12 shortcuts to launch.
That's it. By clicking on radio buttons (or, if a DOS menu, being
able to just type in the numbers of the ngs to access at that time)
that will launch any combination at any given time would solve this
problem.

How about the combination: the 12 batch files, with a shortcut to each
in a dedicated window, with the smallest icons you can get, in there
(aren't there two sizes in WinExp?), or even just the filenames
displayed. (I'm trying to minimize the size of the window.) Stick that
directory (with the shortcuts) into your QuickStart menu.

 

[fitwell]

How about the combination: the 12 batch files, with a shortcut to each
in a dedicated window, with the smallest icons you can get, in there
(aren't there two sizes in WinExp?), or even just the filenames
displayed. (I'm trying to minimize the size of the window.) Stick that
directory (with the shortcuts) into your QuickStart menu.

I think you lost me. I don't gain anything over the shortcuts already
in the start menu and my QuickLaunch bar is also overflowing.

Also, with 12 options to choose from, there are an infinite number of
combinations to be made, therefore, way more than 12 batch files to be
created. Which brings us right back to square one.

The # of files to be created out of a combination of 12 options is
astronomical. Best to just find a multiple choice menu option that
allows any of the 12 to be selected and be done with it.

I've just spent this insomniac time doing a search and nothing yet.

With bat files, it still seems that the standard is single choice
rather than multiple choice selection. And I just don't have the
skills to write the complex coding for the multiple choice menu
option.

With the DOS menu builders that I've tried in last 2 hours, they've
all been just beyond my capabilities and also don't seem to support
multiple menu selection.

Also, what would be easiest is for a menu builder that runs off of a
text file, just like my Lanimilbus Multirunner program launcher does.
I came close with one menu builder that did require simple editing of
this kind but ran into the brick wall that it also only allows for
single choice input.

But, I'm not giving up. The applications for this type of thing are
endless. I am really surprised no-one has come up with a solution for
this user input multiple choice app/folder/etc., launching. When we
need to access a group of apps, we don't necessarily have to access
each and every one all at once each and every time. All the program
launchers I tried in the Pricelessware list also seemed to assume this
would be the case. Not one of any of the launchers I've tried worked
outside of the premise that a SINGLE group of apps was what was needed
to be launched AT ONCE. No room for choosing WHICH apps to launch at
once instead of just ALL at once.

 

[Blinky the Shark]

On 23 Sep 2003 06:47:16 GMT, Blinky the Shark <[email protected]>
wrote:

I think you lost me. I don't gain anything over the shortcuts already
in the start menu and my QuickLaunch bar is also overflowing.

Okay. I haven't been on the thread from the beginning...

Also, with 12 options to choose from, there are an infinite number of
combinations to be made, therefore, way more than 12 batch files to be
created. Which brings us right back to square one.

....so I thought there were just a dozen ways you were trying to start.

 

[bambam]

Yes: quoting a bit for context is a good thing. Thought I expressed
that.

You did, obviously you are just to subtle these days.

 

[Blinky the Shark]

You did, obviously you are just to subtle these days.

I don't get accused of subtlety very often.

 

[fitwell]

On 23 Sep 2003 06:47:16 GMT, Blinky the Shark <[email protected]>
wrote:

[snip]

Also, with 12 options to choose from, there are an infinite number of
combinations to be made, therefore, way more than 12 batch files to be
created. Which brings us right back to square one.

...so I thought there were just a dozen ways you were trying to start.

No, think about it for a second. If you have a menu with 12 buttons
to choose from, how many combinations of those 12 can you make?? I'm
not a statistician or mathematician, or whatever branch of mathematics
is involved when making a calculation like that, but the choice is
limitless. I could ask for 1 and 2 one session, 1 and 5 another; 1,
3, 6 and 7; then 1, 2, 4, and 5; 1 by itself; 2, 7, 9; 10, 12; it's
almost limitless. You get the drift? I tried by making a batch file
for the most common combinations but that got old really fast.

Much, much easier to just have a menu with 12 buttons or choices that
I can choose so that I launch what is pertinent to update at any given
time.

 

[Blinky the Shark]

On 23 Sep 2003 09:07:54 GMT, Blinky the Shark <[email protected]>
wrote:

fitwell wrote:

[snip]

Also, with 12 options to choose from, there are an infinite number
of combinations to be made, therefore, way more than 12 batch files
to be created. Which brings us right back to square one.

...so I thought there were just a dozen ways you were trying to start.

No, think about it for a second. If you have a menu with 12 buttons
to choose from, how many combinations of those 12 can you make?? I'm

I didn't know this was that kind of issue. As I explained, I thought
you were just trying to efficiently select between 12 options. Not
combinations of them. Like I said. See?

not a statistician or mathematician, or whatever branch of mathematics
is involved when making a calculation like that, but the choice is
limitless. I could ask for 1 and 2 one session, 1 and 5 another; 1,

No, it's not limitless. It's huge, but the choices aren't actually
infinite in number, because 12 isn't infinite, and that's the number of
options you're combining.

But, as I think I've said, I didn't realize that that's what you were
trying to do.

 

[Simon]

I don't get accused of subtlety very often.

and probably shouldn't have been this time either...

 

[Simon]

I think you lost me. I don't gain anything over the shortcuts already
in the start menu and my QuickLaunch bar is also overflowing.

</snip>

A menu that just lists the 12 so that I can click on the particular
combination is what would do the job.

</snip>

Fitwell

OK, I'm not sure if what you're trying to achieve is going to save you
anything (opening a launcher app, then selecting the relevant items, then
'launching' them will always take more mouse clicks than just clicking on
the respective shortcuts on a quicklauch bar).

You are aware that you can create new quick lauch toolbars (apologies if
this sounds a bit condescending but I have no idea about your level of
knowledge)?? Once created they can be displayed or hidden from the toolbar
context menu (right click). They can be created from a folder that
contains your Agent shortcuts which makes them easy to maintain
(everythings done in the folder). Once displayed, you're only one click
from launching each shortcut....

if thats no good, then let's try a different tack...

I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that batch files and/or DOS menu
programs on their own are not going to do what you want, however I ran
across this little doohickey sometime back and had forgotten about it till
just now....

it's called the Wizards Apprentice (http://wizapp.sf.net) and it's an add-
in for batch files that enables interaction with a batch file via a
(customisable) GUI. I haven't used it, but I've had a look through the
help file and it offers a choice of check or radio buttons (limited to 10
items, although multiple calls may allow more) as well as a combobox (for
more than 10 items). There are other options but these are the one's that
will be of interest

While you'll need to know a bit about batch files (there appears to be some
useful links in the help file), the helpfile looks fairly good and using it
looks to be pretty straight forward (the program, not the helpfile)

worth a look. See if it'll do what you want (then report back)

S

 

[Blinky the Shark]

and probably shouldn't have been this time either...

It was a nice change, though.

 

[Bob Adams]

In

No, think about it for a second. If you have a menu with 12 buttons
to choose from, how many combinations of those 12 can you make?? I'm
not a statistician or mathematician, or whatever branch of mathematics
is involved when making a calculation like that, but the choice is
limitless. I could ask for 1 and 2 one session, 1 and 5 another; 1,
3, 6 and 7; then 1, 2, 4, and 5; 1 by itself; 2, 7, 9; 10, 12; it's
almost limitless. You get the drift? I tried by making a batch file
for the most common combinations but that got old really fast.

Much, much easier to just have a menu with 12 buttons or choices that
I can choose so that I launch what is pertinent to update at any given
time.

Hi Fitwell.

Maybe one of these will help:
(I've only tried multiapp and found it kinda handy)

Multiapp Version 2 opens up to 60 programs (up to 6 programs on each
button). Multiapp helps keep your Desk Top cleaned up. Put Multiapp as a
link on the left side of the Task Bar so it is handy with the applications
you want to open in a hurry. The Multiapp exe file is 1.03 MB, the zip file
is only 669 KB so it downloads fast. Multiapp is FREEWARE not SHAREWARE. You
can make the color of Multiapp any color you want. Multiapp has a Sleep
feature that puts a program to sleep until you tell it when to wake-up.
Multiapp opens exe, com, bat, html, lnk, URL's, Mailto:, avi, wav, mp3, doc,
tex files and more. Multiapp is Drag & Drop, just drag a program or file
onto a button and drop it to setup the button. Multiapp has a lot of
features built into it.
You can rename Multiapp and run as many applications of it you want, each
application can have different programs on the buttons. And you can set it
up so all the Multiapp's open at the same time. Multiapp should work fine in
Windows 95/98/2000/XP.
http://www.kissysoftware.com/asp/multiapp.asp

Open My Apps Version 9 opens up to 100 programs. Helps keep your Desk Top
cleaned up. Put Open My Apps as a link on the left side of the Task Bar so
it is handy with the applications you want to open in a hurry.
The Open My Apps exe file is 2.08 MB, the zip file is only 1.00 MB so it
downloads fast.
Open My Apps is FREEWARE not SHAREWARE.
You can make the color of Open My Apps any color you want.
Open My Apps has an Extract Icons utility built into it, which extracts
icons out of exe and dll files.
Open My Apps opens exe, com, bat, html, lnk, URL's, Mailto:, avi, wav, doc
and tex files.
Open My Apps should work fine in Windows 95/98/2000 and XP.
http://www.kissysoftware.com/asp/openmyapps.asp

Open Thousands of Apps is a drag and drop application launcher, just drag a
file onto Open Thousands of Apps and drop it.
Open Thousands of Apps is the world's largest capacity application launcher
Open Thousands of Apps exe file is 793 KB, the zip file is only 696 KB so it
downloads fast.
Open Thousands of Apps is FREEWARE not SHAREWARE.
Open Thousands of Apps should work fine in Windows 95/98/2000 and XP.
http://www.kissysoftware.com/asp/opentapp.asp

You should be able to find some combination of the above to make life
easier.
--
regards,
bob

The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't being
said. - Anonymous

 

[Simon]

It was a nice change, though.

you need to get out more <vbg>

 

[tlshell]

I tried the obvious way of creating batch files to run combinations,
but that just didn't work as in that case would need a ton as you say.
Whereas just having a menu with the 12 instances listed and my being
able to choose what I need each time would do the job.

I think you can probably consolidate some of those "instances" wrt
multiple servers by using Hamster Classic. That way, you can have
specialized instances according to purpose without regard to servers.
I realize this answers only part of your question, but hopefully this
suggestion is helpful to you.

 

[tlshell]

A menu that just lists the 12 so that I can click on the particular
combination is what would do the job.

I suppose this is too easy, but did you try putting them as shortcuts
into a folder in your start menu? You can name them whatever will help
you to remember them.

 

[tlshell]

the only difficulty lies in having to manually
go to start menu for each instance I launch.

Ooops, sorry. I guess you did try that...

 

[Blinky the Shark]

you need to get out more <vbg>

I dunno, Simon. It's pretty Big out there.

 

[John Fitzsimons]

On Tue, 23 Sep 2003 12:20:22 +1000, John Fitzsimons

Nope. Not a "national" secret at all. I have different servers I
access (i.e., MS, WP and my ISPs) and I have 2 email ones, one for
personal use and one for the business that use different email
accounts since I only use Outlook 2000 strictly for friends/family.
Lastly, a couple have different user namers or handles to make web
searches easier and I've grouped the ngs within those to be pertinent
to such searches. This is because I'm constantly doing back searches
as these ngs go back to the very beginning and I don't bother keeping
copies of the messages all the time.

Hamster can easily be setup to handle multiple news servers and
multiple mail servers and multiple user names.

All at once if one likes. Sometimes I have over a hundred tasks being
processed/queued in Hamster together.

The instances are a combination of all three of the above that have
evolved over 4 years of usenet usage. There is NO other way around
this, that's all, so is not pertinent to this problem. If Agent could
handle all the differences that would be great.

A single copy of Agent CAN handle all of that. Very easily. If you
don't want to use both then so will Dialog. I have multiple news
servers and multiple mail servers using multiple user names all in
one copy of dialog.

This also cuts down
on what I update and what I just "bring up to date" without dl headers
for. It's an efficient system.

I have multiple "combinations" of news servers and email servers that
I can update individually, in combination or in full via Hamster.

The instance I use the most is this
one with this ng and this server, so I access it the most and run all
the "important" ngs from this one that I update all the time without
fail. Some of the other instances (i.e., the one dealing only with
Lotus apps, for example) I run only once every few weeks as there is
little activity and only when I have a job in the govt that has Lotus
as the standard.

I have a very similar system. I prefer Hamster to download daily the
newsgroups that have hundreds of posts in AND those that might only
have one or two posts.

See what I mean about this going off on a tangent into something not
relevant to the problem?

It is totally relevant. You can do everything you want using commonly
used methods.

Yes, I do, and not refusing to say, just irritated that I'd have to
justify using multiple instances when that isn't part of the problem.

You don't have to justify anything. If you want help then it helps
people if they understand what you are trying to achieve. In case
there is a better/faster way of doing what you want than the method
you were thinking of.

Explained above to a certain degree and, yes, still need the 12
shortcuts.

Er. No. You don't need 12 shortcuts. Two is fine. One to Hamster and
one to Agent. Or only one shortcut if you use Dialog.

I prefer 1 shortcut to 12. Your difficulty getting an answer is
possibly due to many other people having the same preference as
myself.

< snip >

Regards, John.

--
****************************************************
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[John Fitzsimons]

On Tue, 23 Sep 2003 12:20:22 +1000, John Fitzsimons
<[email protected]> took a very strange color crayon and
scribbled:

I downloaded Hamster Classic this morning, but I'm not sure what it
can do. I really downloaded it to try to filter out the Swen viruses
et al that are swamping me, because (for example) during the time I
was at work today, my e-mail account received 997 e-mails, most of
which were viruses, and time consuming to download/delete. I'd like to
be able to filter them directly on my ISP's mail server without doing
any downloading (similar to a shell account if possible).

Hamster can do just about anything you want to do due to having a
VERY extensive scripting option.

I also would
not mind being able to use several servers with Agent, so that's a
plus.

Definitely. Sometimes I have had DOZENS of different servers feeding
news posts into a single copy of Agent. Adding new servers only takes
a couple of minutes. Deleting them takes seconds.

These are public news servers and private news servers.

These are password protected servers and non password protected
servers.

These are SSL servers and non SSL servers.

These are binary servers and non binary servers.

These are high retention servers and low retention servers.

These are high volume servers and low volume servers.

These are servers at my ISP and servers not at my ISP.

These are public servers and test/beta servers.

Where can I read a step-by-step explanation of how to use
Hamster Classic?

I get confused with the terminology. There are two main versions being
done by two main people. The one I use is 2.0.0.1 .

The web page did not seem to lead to such resources.

There is a mailing list for Hamster and newsgroups. The mailing list
info is ;

http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/ehamster

English Newsgroups are :

hamster.en.config
hamster.en.misc
hamster.en.scripts

I've never used a server before, so I'm sure there will be some
terminology that I'm unfamiliar with.

Certainly, but if you have ever tried anything like Proxomitron then
you are a fair way along in understanding.

My suggestion is to setup JUST your "news" OR "mail" settings first.
When you are happy that that works then do the other if you want to.

Though these pages are somewhat out of date my page at ;

http://clients.net2000.com.au/~johnf/hamster2.htm

should be of some help to you. IMO the first big hurdle is the
concept. Understand that and everything else becomes easier.

Will Hamster Classic give me the
capabilities that I need, or should I go for something like Mailwasher
instead?

For Swen ? You could use Hamster BUT if you are new to it then I
wouldn't bother. Use Mailwasher. You can still use Hamster for your
news and anything not deleted by mailwasher.

One can use Proxo, Hamster, Mailwasher, K9 and Popfile all on one
computer without any problems IF one knows what one is doing.

Regards, John.

--
****************************************************
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/ Oz \ John Fitzsimons - Melbourne, Australia.
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[John Fitzsimons]

Hi Fitwell,

Tried Hamster on 3 different occasions over last 4 years. Like
AutoIt, there are just some things I can't seem to wrap my brain
around.

I had exactly the same situation the first time I tried to use it.
Because so many people were recommending it I decided to persevere.
I just made a note of every error I got and asked what it meant. I was
then told how to fix things.

I didn't make things any easier for myself by not understanding the
concepts and by changing some of the "default" settings.

Like Proxo, the best advice I can give is to use either/both as close
to "out of the box" install/settings as possible.

Nothing I can do about that, some things just are. Maybe one
day I'll try it again and something will click, or maybe a later
version will code things in such a way that understanding will dawn.
At present using this roundabout way, John. It works for me except in
the launching part.

I have about 150 ngs or my I access at different times and at
different frequencies. One day things might be more efficient, but
this works so I'm happy.

I have much the same number of active/semi active newsgroups.
I update every one of them daily. There is no reason not to. It only
takes a single "click". No idea why anyone would do differently.

Though I must admit that having to click anything got to be too much
work so I have the computer get my newsgroups without me clicking
anything at all now.

Regards, John.

--
****************************************************
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