Module suggestion - clipboard management

Suggestions, feature requests and bug reports.
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nth
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Joined: May 9th, ’14, 18:35

Post by nth » Feb 19th, ’14, 15:53

I really like the concept of FastKeys. An additional module that I'd find extremely handy would be clipboard management. There are some good AHK clipboard scripts floating around that could provide a good framework.
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Marko
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Post by Marko » Feb 19th, ’14, 18:55

Thanks for a good suggestion. I like the idea very much and will certainly look at it. I don't think of it being a module itself but could certainly be added as additional handy function. For the beginning it could keep a clipboard history and offer a handy menu for selecting the one to paste.
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Marko
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Post by Marko » Apr 9th, ’14, 21:36

Clipboard manager was implemented in version 2.11. By pressing Ctrl-Alt-V you can choose any of recent items from the history.

There are new user preferences under General/Functions and General/Appearance.
nth
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Post by nth » Apr 10th, ’14, 16:23

Thanks Marko for the clipboard management feature!

Fastkeys is now a little closer to replacing another tool! I currently use http://ditto-cp.sourceforge.net/. Here are several of the features I use very often in ditto and would like to see added to the clipboard management: (ditto implements these features very well too)

- More clipboard history depth (currently it looks like 12 is the most in V 2.11).
- Clipboard search - in ditto, once the clipboard window is activated, I can just start typing and it will search the history for matches.
- A more compact clipboard window. Showing just the last 10 clips and then only the first 10 - 20 characters of each clip is enough to see what I need to but not have the window stretch across the screen on long clips.
- Clipboard history hotkeys - once the clipboard is activated, having the first 10 clips available for immediate selection just by pressing keys 1-10 is very handy.
- Clipboard history multi-select - in ditto I can hold down the shift key and multi-select several clips and then hit enter. It then pastes all the selected clips.
- Clipboard history paste with or without formatting. I know Fastkeys has a separate hotkey to paste without formatting, but it would be nice to have this available in the history window too. Ditto does this by having the shift key held down when pasting the clip.

If adding a bunch of clipboard management features maybe it's best to separate them out into a new module instead of implementing under the preferences?

Anyway, thanks for adding the clipboard! Can't wait to see it develop further!
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Marko
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Post by Marko » Apr 10th, ’14, 23:10

Thanks nth for great suggestions. The first idea of clipboard history function was to be a nice complementary addition to main FastKeys functions. There are of course many specialized clipboard management software available which can do more.

Having said that, some of your suggestions can be easily implemented:
- more history items - no problem but have to set a max,
- clipboard search - one idea would be to add clipboards to Auto Complete list,
- window size - max height and width settings can be added,
- clipboard hotkeys - possible...
- multiple paste - not sure if this is really useful...
- paste without formatting - possible, any idea how to set this? Additional shortcut?
- new module - all modules are following the same logic - they all run/execute commands using different methods. Not sure how clipboard fits here. Having a separate preference screen?

Thanks again for your input. Very much appreciated.
Guest
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Joined: Mar 18th, ’14, 08:46

Post by Guest » Apr 16th, ’14, 22:40

On the multiple paste: I find myself using this quite a bit in working with lots of spreadsheets and text files. It allows me to arbitrarily select and copy a bunch of text (In Excel for example, data from columns 2, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11) and then turn right around and "multi-paste" all of them into a different app or window. Or in working with log files or XML files. Copying out values from different lines and then pasting them all at once into a different file is really handy and saves lots of toggling back and forth between windows.

On past without formatting: the way I've seen it implemented in apps like ditto is a "modifier" key. So when I select an item from the clipboard history and hit enter, I get the formatted clip. But if I selected it and hold down the shift key and hit enter, I get the unformatted clip. Ideally this would be configurable.

I guess I'm used to thinking about clipboard management as a separate app that's why I suggested it to have it's own "module". Especially if it ends up having a bunch of different options available for it. (Rather than have those options spread out in different sections of the software.)

You're right that clipboard history is a nice addition. I'm squarely in the "power user" category, though, when it comes to the clipboard so maybe it's best to continue using a specialized app. (Though I see that Fastkeys is really close to being able to do most of what I use in a specialized app - hence the suggestions. :) )

Thanks again Marko.

nth
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Marko
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Post by Marko » Apr 23rd, ’14, 20:48

New Clipboard management functions have been added in version 2.12:

- more history items (max 30),
- modifier key for pasting without formatting (Ctrl),
- clipboard items can be added to Auto Complete list,
- application/window limitations,
- triggering the item by pressing number keys (1-9),
- popup width limitation.

New preferences can be found under Clipboard Manager and General/Appearance.

I hope the additions will be useful. Keep the suggestions coming.
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Ennovy
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Post by Ennovy » Apr 24th, ’14, 08:19

Marko wrote:

New Clipboard management functions have been added in version 2.12:

- triggering the item by pressing number keys (1-9),

I hope the additions will be useful. Keep the suggestions coming.
Is it possible to show this number in the list in front of the clips? Makes it easier to choose.

It would be nice if this list appears where the mouse cursor is
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Marko
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Post by Marko » Apr 24th, ’14, 08:36

yes, enable the option General/Appearance/Show shortcut numbers.

The popups should appear at the mouse cursor except in some browsers (IE, Chrome...).
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Ennovy
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Post by Ennovy » Apr 24th, ’14, 08:43

Marko wrote:

yes, enable the option General/Appearance/Show shortcut numbers.

The popups should appear at the mouse cursor except in some browsers (IE, Chrome...).
Thanks Marko, and I should have seen this setting :oops:
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