• Google Calendar support
• Allow for normal GMail and Google Apps GMail support at once

Second one won’t be as hard as it sounds, I did most of the work already.  Just need to redo the options page which will be most of the work.

I am quite elated to have the #24 most popular Google Chrome extension, edging out StumbleUpon and a really cool dev tool by Google!  Thanks!

Changelog after the break, and lots more releases, though none Google Chrome related…

Changelog:

1.2 R3

• Fixed small bug in googlewave.js parser.
• Work around a bug in chrome.tabs.onUpdated never sending the url of the tab to callback.

1.2 R2

• Moved the changelog and bugs into background.html, my description was getting too long on chrome.google.com/extensions.
• Turned off console logging.  Might help memory “leak”?

1.2

• Rewote classes to better use .prototype
• Counts will no longer be updated each time you navigate in a supported service, only when you navigate away or close the tab.
• Updated permissions, Google Wave Apps Domain and “Check all items” should really work now, if they didn’t before.
• Uses proper APIs for opening tabs now.  Extenions should work in pages now and tabs will not be under the One Number process and will be properly sandboxed against crashing from each other as designed by the Chrome team.
• Added compose link for GMail.
• Now when you choose to show all unread messages, not just those in the inbox, opening the service will also show all messages.
• Option added to make clicking on the toolbar button open services with unread items immediately, at the cost of not having a popup when there are unread items.
• You can open just the services shown, or also services you’ve hidden from the toolbar button.
• Option added to use HTTP instead of HTTPS.
• Option added to open services in a new window.
• Options added to reuse existing tabs when opening service, as well as a level of agressiveness (by default it won’t reuse a tab when it doesn’t know what you’re doing with it, such as composing a new e-mail).
• Tweaked options page so clicking anywhere on a header expands/collapses a section.
• Fixed bug with garbage in color strings.
• Options added to control whether or not error or logged out status is reflected in the toolbar button.
• If XMLHTTPRequest returns a HTTP status of 0 it is now treated as an error.  Previously the unread count would simply not be changed.

Couple new known bugs come with all this, unfortunately:

Once I got some sleep, today I finished updating EasyScreenshot.NET to 2.0 and in celebration I also released a bunch of other apps in my “release queue”, also known as the “Dan is lazy queue” but I don’t like to call it that personally.  Download here.

ES.NET 2.0 changelog:

• - Fixed copyright year
• - Fixed bug in PortableApps mode
• + When setting the image to the clipboard, “PNG” data type will be set if the image format used for saving/uploading is PNG.
• - Fixed bug where successful FTP upload would ont show a balloon tip.
• + Added timeout to FTP uploads
• + Added plugin support for saving/uploading images and moved Saving, FTP, and Clipboard support into plugins.
• - Fixed a bug where multiple hotkeys could fire at once causing various race condition problems.
• - Made the PrintScreen code more robust.
• - Fixed bug where selection was incorrectly drawn on overlay when you held the mouse button down before it appeared.
• + Added SFTP/SCP support using hacked up SharpSSH 1.1.1.13
  • + Hacked in support for uploading a MemorySteam to a remote file.
• + Added autoupdate feature.  Can be triggered from About, and will also run automatically 15 seconds after startup if you don’t do anything.
• + Added date/time templates to options dialog.
• - Fixed bug where the progress bar and button on the notification may not be erased properly in all cases (RichTextBox doesn’t redraw properly on resize!).
• - Fixed overlay crash bug.
• - Removed alpha channel support from PrintWindow since it doesn’t seem to allow for alpha channel…
• + Added more debug information to crash dialogs so you have more information to report, making it easier for me to fix the crash!
• + Right click on the overlay cancels the capture.
• + Number of screenshots taken appears on about screen.  Removed the ability to change this number from the UI.
• + Settings are now stored in your user profile directory when not running from a portable device.
• - Fixed crash if a misbehaving application is preventing the clipboard from working. In this case now the error is ignored.
• - Removed ability to close balloon tooltip to cancel upload, doesn’t work as I expected.
• + Notifications will now respect system settings by default for sliding and fading.
• - PrintScreen will now disable hotkeys while it presses the key to prevent accidental hotkey triggers.
• - You may no longer use PrintWindow with the desktop window.  It’s funky and doesn’t work.
• + Added Capture Application mode to capture all windows belonging to one application at once.
• + Data is stored in AppData instead of LocalAppData for roaming profiles.
• + A window is now focused when captured.
• + Installer!

And a new glitch to go with all of this:

• The SFTP/SCP plugin cannot remove partially uploaded files when cancelled due to limitations of the SharpSSH library I am using.  If you know of a better SFTP/SCP library please let me know!

Also I’ve had AppCompactor 1.2 sitting on the back burner for a while, time for release!

• - Fixed version number… forgot to update it since 0.9.2… oops.
• - Closing the window or cancelling now prompts for confirmation if compacting is in progress.
• - Cancel button now properly disabled when compacting is finished.
• - Added possible protection against crash if files are deleted while AppCompactor is working with them.
• + Added parameters: -start and -close.  Causes AppCompactor to automatically start compacting or close when done without user input.
• + Added parameter: -details, shows details view during compacting by default.
• + Tweaked appearance of Details view seen during compacting.
  • + Details view will autoscroll.
  • + Details view can be hidden.
  • + Item/Subitem columns are merged
• + Added close when finished checkbox to the progress page which causes the program to automatically clean up temporary files and close when finished.
• - Added handler to display more error information on a fatal error.
• + Redid compacting backend to use BackgroundWorker API.
  • + More granularity for progress bar… is updated per-directory now instead of per-item.
• + Added “Only use UPX on Windows binaries” option to keep from trying UPX on every file.
• + Added tooltip text to ListViews with paths so you can see the entire path even when the ListView isn’t wide enough.
• + Made the window resizable.

I also made a small bug fix change to SVNExplorer, though I totally forget what it was.

Also I released a few apps into a semi-pubic beta a while back.  I figure I might as well finally post the download links publicly… check the Projects page link at the top of this blog, I also posted some stuff I never linked to on my downloads subdomain, such as Dark Frontend, an old frontend I made for Dark Forces.

I also made a fix to WiimoteScript, one of the semi-public betas.  Again, no clue what I fixed!

So yeah go check out my Projects page, lots of new additions today.

I’ve been working on other stuff too, really!  Just trying to get the bugs that people report to me out of the way…

Biggest change is the Portable Passwords feature.  It’s opt-in so you’ll need to use the INI to enable it since it creates a bit of a hassle (you need to enter a master password on startup, to keep your passwords safe).

More details in help.html.

• Stable (3.0.195.33)
• Beta (4.0.223.16)
• Dev (4.0.249.11)

Downloads: Stable/Beta | Dev

Fixed a particularly nasty bug where RunLocally and CacheInTemp were always forced on.  Also themes now work properly between sessions.

[Edit: Updated Dev download with the latest Chrome Dev build released today.]

[Edit: Update downloads to remove nsexec which some av products falsely label as malware.]

[Edit: Updated Dev build to *.223.11 which fixes a crash bug with RSS feed extensions.]

These changes are of particular note:

• Added Capture Monitor and Color Picker modes.
• Added PrintScreen simulation option for capturing transparent windows.
• Many changes and bug fixes to clipboard code.
• Tweaks to the overlay, especially to the overlay text.
• Misc bug fixes.

[Edit: Updated to 1.7.1: Potentially fixed a bug where crashes could occur when opening the Options dialog or using the Capture Monitor menu item.  The person who reported the bug to me hasn't been available to test the fix but I'm confident I fixed the right thing.]

Downloads: Stable, Beta, Dev.

http://www.mzzt.net/tf2/

One of these days I’ll style it.

First let’s start with the updated programs:

EasyScreenshot.NET has been updated to 1.6.

Changes since 1.5:

• EasyScreenshot.NET can now only have one instance running at once.
• EasyScreenshot.NET now properly loads/saves options and screenshots regardless of the wrong working directory it is run from.
• “Capture Clipboard After Timer” is a bit pointless and so was removed.
• “Capture Clipboard Now” will be unavailable if there is no image data on the clipboard that ES.NET understands.
• When uploading an image, the image and url is available on the clipboard immediately for pasting before the upload completes.
• Hotkeys work now.
• If an upload fails it will be reattempted up to 3 times.
• Overlay has been replaced with a much simpler, static overlay.  This should fix most problems people have with it.  The new overlay has a new option: by default, when you select an area or window, that area will be cut from the static overlay as-is.  If you want to capture the area/window at the moment of time when you click it (old behavior), there’s a new toggle in the options dialog.
• Notification boxes are now clickable.  URLs now show up as clickable links.
• You can now cancel uploads by clicking a Cancel button in the notification box or closing the balloon tip.

AppCompactor has been updated to version 1.1:

Changes since 1.0:

• Tweaks to the interface for adding/removing files and folders.
• More silk icon goodness!
• Workaround for .NET semi-bug which could occur if you use search indexing or real-time malware monitoring software and it tries to access temporary files as AppCompactor is trying to delete them.
• Fixed temporary directory not being completely cleaned up when it could be.

Google Chrome Portable has been updated to use PortableApps.com Format.  In accordance with PortableApps.com guidelines I am making “Development Test” versions available for testing prior to a final release of this version.  Previews of releases 2.0.172.33 and 3.0.190.4 are available.

Changelog for this release as well as release notes etc is available here.  One important note is that the installer will delete plugins and dictionaries, so if you want to keep them back them up first.

Now a new release!

(Click any images for unsquished versions.)

Main SVN Explorer window

SVN Explorer is a program I made for browsing SVN repositories that do not have a web-based interface for browsing.  Or even those that do.  This program uses Cygwin svn.exe (or compatible) as a helper process to actually do all the dirty work that I don’t know how to do.  I could have used a library or something but I really wanted to hone my skills with using helper processes like this.

SVN Explorer only implements read-only operations, and only operations that don’t don’t involve mass-downloading (no checkout or update, sorry).  What you CAN do is browse the tree at any revision number/date, download individual files, view files in an internal or external viewer, view properties for any file or folder including revision log info, repository information, file data, and misc properties on a file or folder.

Note that this program is probably a bit rougher around the edges than most of my programs.  This was sorta intended to be a proof-of-concept thing and sorta ballooned.

You must have svn.exe in your system path or in the working directory of this program in order to use it.  The version of svn.exe I used can be installed with Cygwin, and there are also probably compatible native ports too.

Now for the sneak previews of programs that are almost done.

Main WiimoteScript window

WiimoteScript with helper panes open

A few of my programs have been attempts to copy programs that are good ideas but that are broken, buggy, or just no longer updated.  GlovePIE sadly feel into this category… it seems very picky about which bluetooth stacks it works with, and when I reinstalled XP once it stopped working entirely.  I felt the need to make a replacement program that would be more compatible.  When I found WiiDeviceLibrary, a .NET library that boasted compatibility with the Microsoft bluetooth stack, I knew I had my opportunity.

WiimoteScript is my attempt to create a GlovePIE clone that focuses on Wii devices while building on the base of WiiDeviceLibrary.  Leveraging the .NET framework’s built-in compilers, I was able to implement a scripting language.  You can read and simulate input on the Mouse and Keyboard, as well as simulate input on PPJoy joysticks.  But mostly you will want to read data from Wii devices connected to your system and then simulate input on those other devices, which games and other programs can read as real input.

I tried to keep things simple whenever possible.  Any time while the program is running, you can pair your Wiimote (press 1+2) or other Wii device and it will automatically be detected and connected.  You then load a script and run it.  If you make your own scripts, there is a quick reference feature to get you started, although knowledge about the .NET framework, at least language syntax, is considered a prerequesite.

Note that I also support C# in addition to VB.NET, don’t worry.

I also included a thorough Wii device testing tool that you can use to verify if there’s a bug in your script, my code, WiiDeviceLibrary, or if your Wii device is just acting wonky.

All I have left to do is really get a good collection of simple scripts together to make it easy to use (just load a script and go) as well as provide samples for the basis of user-made scripts.

Although I won’t do it for this release, I could use some help making the code completion not suck (you can turn it off if you find it sucks bad enough, press Ctrl+E and click on the button enough).  Anyone who has any experience with SharpDevelop’s source code, especially the editor and code completion portions, please drop me an e-mail (resume has my address) or tweet (@mzzt) and let me know.

Taskbar and Start Menu, browsing a place.

Taskbar with All Programs. No Icons because I'm not testing from my portable drive.

Options menu

Portable Taskbar was the result of my looking at PortableApps.com Menu and realizing it would be so much more awesome with some more customization ability and a taskbar.  Unfortunately it seemed noone made anything like that, so again, I stepped in!

First, I based the concepts all around the built-in Vista/7 Start Menu.  We have built-in searching of programs, and it can even show folder contents if you give it an absolute path.  Places on the right can be used to navigate common folders and it defaults to PortableApps.com’s own directory structure on your drive.  Internet and E-mail can optionally be pinned to the Start Menu (no others, sorry…) and recent programs appear too (not shown).  Then we have integration with USB Disk Ejector to power the eject button.

In All Programs, you can quickly add a bunch of programs at once, rename them, change their icons and paths, add parameters, reorder them, whatever!

Any program windows run from your portable drive appear in your portable taskbar, so it is the central hub for your portable drive.  If you don’t like the taskbar you can turn it off and be left with a tray icon, a la PortableApps.com Menu.  The taskbar also allows programs to be pinned to it, and has a nice “always on top” orb.

I’m hoping to get some “Windows 7″-like taskbar effects in, such as mixing quick launch and process buttons, task grouping, large icons…  However these are not implemented yet.

Lastly I implemented some flexible themeing.  Themes are defined via XML files and image files and I tried to make images work closely to how I know Windows themeing works.  Unfortunately I could not get native themeing in thanks to the fact that applications can’t use taskbar themeing in XP, just Vista and above.

The obvious choice for a default theme was my inspiration, PortableApps.com.  I still have to get permission though before I release I suppose… >_>

Bonus for reading all of this:

Once I saw this a friend of mine commented that it should be the intro movie to TF2.  I made that a reality.  Go here and download both files (they are different files, stupid thing just hides the extensions) and extract the larger one to get both files out of it.  Put them in Steam\SteamApps\<username>\Team Fortress 2\tf\media and you’re good to go.

Had to transcode it TWICE because RADTools and possibly DirectShow hate me so I had to transcode it to XViD and then use RADTools to make a usable BNK file but the quality is OK except in a couple of frames where the names appear on the screen but I blame the Bink codec for that.

Mine is here.  The biggest change is I’ve gone for the look of the new Windows 7 Content view for files and folders … I like it very much.

In addition I have removed most of the excess whitespace, added hover effects, and added tooltip info to images.  In addition there are custom icons for some different filetypes, and it’s easy to change those.

There are also a couple interesting statistics at the bottom.

Download the source here (requires 7zip or a tool that can extract .7z files to use).

Shockingly IE8RC1 renders it correctly without requiring any hacks.  I did not test it with IE7 (I’m scared to, given the semi-hackish way I got the folder/file lists working without tables).  The latest versions of Gecko, Webkit, and Opera all handle it fine… and of course Gecko and Webkit get fancy rounded borders too.

For the future I might add some javascript in to allow for custom sorting and maybe different views for files/folders… who knows.  But that would require coding a lot of the template over in JavaScript.

Updates are minor, except for one new feature: The disk cache will now always be stored on the user’s hard drive, thanks to a new Chrome command switch.  However it will only work with 2.0.162.0 and onward… earlier versions won’t benefit any from it.  It should significantly speed up Chrome usage when not run locally.  You can set the INI setting CacheInTemp  to false to turn this new feature off if you want.

Oh yeah, and Aero Glass is finally not broken if you use custom border/title bar sizes.  Hooray.

Download

Windows 7 introduces a new feature which allows you to add search engines right to Windows Explorer.  It’s not as convenient as in a web browser (the search engine is represented by a file somewhere on your computer that you download) but it works.

It uses the standard OpenSearch spec (with their own Microsoft twist, of course!) to query search engines which already conform to this standard.  Basically you can pass a script your search terms and get them back in an RSS or Atom feed which Explorer or any OpenSearch compatible client can parse and display how they like.

Google doesn’t offer any such feed.  So I made a PHP script to parse the HTML output Google feeds web browsers (using this library) and spit out an OpenSearch RSS feed.  Works pretty good.

Had a few annoying problems along the way… a big one was I couldn’t always get Explorer to parse it and it doesn’t tell you why.  For some reason I didn’t think to try to view the feed in Internet Explorer to get a more detailed error report.  Turns out Google pages use a different encoding than what I was marking the XML file with, and that was causing feeds with smart quotes to annoy Explorer.

Anyways it’s working now.  You can try it out with this.  Download and double click to have Explorer open a search window.  This DOES proxy the results through my server so don’t use that if you plan on using it regularly… here’s the source code.  Go put it on your own server.  Just remember to change the urls in all the files to point to your server instead of mine.

There’s an extra file, opendescription.xml.  AFAIK it’s not NEEDED for Explorer but it’s part of the OpenSearch spec so there it is.  This should be compliant with the spec, so not just Explorer can use it.