Archive for July, 2006

FindeXer Nightly Development Update #3

Wednesday, July 26th, 2006

Well, Finally – after days of rigorous testing I’m Uploading Build #3 for you downloading pleasure 😉
This brings us closer to Final Version 1.1 which should have most (if not all) of the V1.0 bugs ironed out, as well as a few features added.
This latest Nightly adds VERY BASIC ToolTips. Which means (for those who can’t read subtext) – Don’t Feature Request regarding the ToolTips – they are still in development.

I`m also pretty excited about the rest of the features added and the bugs fixed and Final V1.1 should bring with it even more Usability and Customizability while remaining easy to operate.

Changelog :

  • BugFix, When using “Explore” action (with the Folders Pane) it assumes FindeXer’s width.
  • Bugfix, the font preview in the “Item Appearance” tab of “FindeXer Options” does not show the Item Color selected.
  • BugFix, the Item is not Highlighted when the Right-Click Menu is invoked.
  • BugFix, the Item selected is not re-highlighted after the Menu Selection is done (when not using hot-tracking).
  • BugFix, even though “Item Lock (external)” is enabled, items can still be dropped on the edge of the list (as last item).
  • BugFix, when “Item Lock (external)” is selected, the last item is highlighted whenever the item dragged is outside of FindeXer boundaries.
  • BugFix, FindeXer does not save the Close Button state (Hidden/Shown) when closed and reopened.
  • New Feature : Internal “Locking” – when it is enabled you will not be able to move items around or drag them out (Can be found in the Item Appearance tab of FindeXer Option).
  • New Feature : ToolTips. Very basic implementation for this version, more to follow in next versions. ToolTips will only display when you are in “Show Image” mode (not showing the item text).
  • Improved UI : Item Height now reflects the size of the Icon/Image set and not the Final size of the Item. i.e – an Item Size of 48 will result in an Icon/Image that is 48 pixels in size.
  • Improved UI : Drag Detection is now based on the System Driver Settings.

As you can see a lot of hard work is going into this, so don’t be ashamed to press the Donation button on the side, I am also starting to think of ways to reward my donors.
So go get downloading and enjoy testing out the new features…

This is a development version and as such could contain bugs. Some Features may also be incomplete or not fully implemented – please do not post notifying about them.

Download FindeXer

FindeXer Nightly Development Update #2

Monday, July 17th, 2006

Well, “the moment you have all been waiting for…” etc, etc… 🙂
I`m pretty excited about this. Over the last 2 days i have been dedicating every spare minute to implementing a way of getting FindeXer to display by default.
I have ditched the .reg Hack and am doing it programmitaclly. Which means, that YOU will be able to control wether FindeXer is loaded by default or not.
On first install it is set to come one by default, but you can change that by going into “FindeXer Options” (via the Right-Click Menu) and choosing the “General Appearance” Tab. You`ll see a CheckBox labeled “Load FindeXer in Every Explorer Window by Default” – use that to determine what you like.

Please Note : on EVERY RE-INSTALL of FindeXer this option is reset, as it is stored in Windows Registry and not in a File.

Changelog :

  • Bugfix, Executing Applications using FindeXer leads to a security alert.
  • New Feature : FindeXer Default Loader added. It is now even more tightly integrated into explorer!
  • New Feature : Item Drag-In Lock. While the “lock” is on you will not be able to drag items “into” FindeXer, only on items already in it. You are however able to drag internal items for repositioning and deletion of items.
  • New Feature : Added a “Close Bar” item to the Main Context Menu (Right-Click).
  • Some Improvements and safer checks added to the Drag & Drop on Item.
  • Safer way for getting the instance of Explorer now implemented in both the Context Menu and Browsing.

So go get downloading and enjoy testing out the new features…

This is a development version and as such could contain bugs. Some Features may also be incomplete or not fully implemented – please do not post notifying about them.

Download FindeXer

FindeXer Nightly Development Update #1

Sunday, July 16th, 2006

After taking some time to fix the few bugs discovered in V1.0, work has began on V1.1 with Build #1 being posted. New builds will mainly concentrate implementing Features from the queue listed here.

Changelog :

  • Bugfix, Dragging through FindeXer sometimes left a “shadow” of the item dragged.
  • New Feature : Drag & Drop on Objects now added – you can drop Files from explorer on FindeXer folders and they will copy/move. you can drop items from explorer on copies of .exe files in FindeXer and they will open automatically.
  • New Feature : Default Item Context Menu added as a SubMenu. just right click on an item.
  • New Feature : Highlighting is used to determine where an item will be dropped when dragged.
  • Improved Usability : Item Transparency when dragged from within the FindeXer window was increased.
  • Recode : Menu Handling. But lost the ability to display the “Close Bar” item.
  • Recode : Custom Icon drawing – if you use the “Item Edit” dialog to add a custom .ico image, you will now get a VERY high quality image.

Please Note : I am working VERY HARD and exploring all possibilities in order to make the option of having FindeXer as the default view for Explorer come true. Don`t bug me about it!

So go get downloading and enjoy testing out the new features…

This is a development version and as such could contain bugs. Some Features may also be incomplete or not fully implemented – please do not post notifying about them.

Download FindeXer

FindeXer V1.0 Released

Wednesday, July 12th, 2006
Following the initial Test Release, some fixes and improvements were made.
Now that all known bugs are hopefully “squashed”, development commences on the new features.

Download FindeXer

Version History :

    V1.0 :

    • Bugfix, The titlebar would show if FindeXer was hidden and shown again using the Close button or the context menu.
    • Added the ability to save the Titlebar Caption while in “Titlebar`d Mode”. Please Note – that in order for the Caption to appear, you will need to close and then re-open the Explorer window.
    • Bugfix, When resizing the Explorer window – FindeXer would stay the same size.
    • Bugfix, When selecting “Load Last Saved Config” from the context menu – items would add to the list instead of replacing.
    • Typo fix, “Defualt Color” instead of “Default Color”

    V1.0 TR Build #2 :

    • Fixed a GDI leak when .ico files were loaded as custom images (using the “Item Edit” dialog).
    • Some improvements in the drawing code, mainly preparing for future features.

    V1.0 TR Build #1 :

    • First Version Posted on the site. Full functionality.

Click here to learn more about FindeXer.
Click Here to Download V1.0

FindeXer 1.0.0.0 Test Build Released

Friday, July 7th, 2006

A Sanpshot of FindeXer in Action

Download FindeXer

Click Here to Download the Test Build

The LessClix Suite of Software Applications, meant to ease your use of the Windows XP – has been Created. Starting with the Highly anticipated FindeXer.

FindeXer is an Explorer Bar targeted at replacing the Folders/Info Pane with a much more customizable one. You are able to drag in (for addition) and out (for removal) ANY file or folder – including special folders such as “My Computer”, “My Documents” or “My Network Places”.
Files dragged in and selected, will be opened up by the default Associated application, while Folders will be opened up by the Explorer Window.

FindeXer was created with the purpose of Customization in mind – giving YOU the power to determine it`s looks – if you prefer to only show Icons, Text, Change the Item`s Font or it`s Color – all can easily be achieved by using the Options Dialog.
A long time “waited for” feature of FindeXer – is it`s ability to “get rid” of the Grey Titlebar, Enforced by Explorer on all sidebars. Just select the appropriate option in the General Appearance tab of the Options Dialog, and Poof – it`s gone.

Features coming in the next Versions of FindeXer :

  • FindeXer Default View for Explorer Reg. file.
  • Animations (Drag out “Poof” for example).
  • Item Info mini-display.
  • Customizable Info Tooltips.
  • Drive Mounting Detection.
  • Detection of an Item`s Relocation.
  • Item Sensitivity Slider.
  • Drop on item Adds to Folder or Executes if it`s a file.
  • Bar tabs.
  • Language/Color/Animation Customizing.
  • And much more (well, I have to leave some surprises for later…)

So Enjoy this Test release build, and stay tuned for Nightly builds and other releases from the LessClix Suite.

[edit] : Those of you using Test Build #1 (check the About Dialog), please Update to build #2 by downloading again. I`ve improved the drawing code a bit and corrected a memory leak that occurred when .ico files were loaded as a custom image (using the Item Edit Dialog).