How to show MRU Most Recently Used Documents on Start Menu?

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musher0
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#81 Post by musher0 »

I just updated/edited the post above. BFN.
musher0
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"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

musher0
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#82 Post by musher0 »

Hello gang!

This is version 0.9.3, I consider this one good enough to be a beta version
("betas" are the versions just before official publication).

That's why I'm going to ask you to try to run this script into the ground, to
give it a rough time, to have it cough up all it's got. Be nasty, please, in
your use of this version. :twisted: And report the bugs of course. Only
way this thing is going to be near-perfect for final publication.

What's new:
  • -- a few more Color Schemes (now 11 in all)

    -- you can now define the font size for the menu titles (these two features
    made available to us thanks to vovchik's new aemenu-pango)

    -- access to Chromium and Vivaldi browsers' histories, in addition to those
    of the MZ browsers and the old opera 12.16. If you have an sqlite app on
    board, the histories will be accessed off line through your sqlite utility;
    otherwise, you'll be able to do it on line, from within the browser.

    -- your sqlite application can be defined as a one-liner in file
    /usr/local/share/MRUF/SqlitE. The default is the sqlitemanager from the
    Mozilla galaxy; you know, the one that can be added to firefox, Pale Moon
    or seamonkey. There are other very good sqlite utilities available of
    course, and you can specify the one you prefer/are using in that little file.

    -- back-up option offered for the history files, not just erase

    -- a great many number of silly dev details were remembered, and typos
    corrected: things no user of sane mind wants to hear about! :)

    -- option to launch less, console, defaultimageeditor, defaultimageviewer,
    defaulttexteditor, defaulttextviewer, the four browsers above (if you have
    them installed), in short: any app related to a session's history.
If the above sounds redundant, it's because it is. In short, the main
theme of this version edit was "add some redundancy". like you add oil to
a motor, to make it run more smoothly.

As communication theory goes, remove any and all redundancy from a
text or a speech, and nobody will be able to understand it. It's a bit of the
same with a menu script, if you view it as implementing (communicating)
an idea about doing this or that on your computer.

So some options in this script will appear to be offered twice, but it's only
an appearance, the contexts are different, and it's intentional to the point
of giving this menu script enough "oil", so the user feels comfortable with
it and enjoys using it.

Part of the redundancy is because I asked myself: "What would the user
think logical to go at such and such a place in this menu?" Hopefully I
provided the right answers. If not, talk to me: I'm all ears!

In conclusion, this is a menu for Puppyists and Linuxians who take
managing their apps' histories seriously, who know that managing their
apps' histories properly may save them much time and frustration during
their computer sessions. Additionally, good control of your browser
history does increase your computing safety.

BFN.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note -- No pics this time, I'm letting you discover! :)
Attachments
MRUF-lst-0.9.3.pet
(202.98 KiB) Downloaded 205 times
musher0
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LazY Puppy
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#83 Post by LazY Puppy »

Since version later 0.9.1 (2?) it doesn't "work" anymore over here.

Most entries coming with <span>... in front of the name.

Looks bad.
RSH

"you only wanted to work your Puppies in German", "you are a separatist in that you want Germany to secede from Europe" (musher0) :lol:

No, but I gave my old drum kit away for free to a music store collecting instruments for refugees! :wink:

musher0
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#84 Post by musher0 »

LazY Puppy wrote:Since version later 0.9.1 (2?) it doesn't "work" anymore over here.

Most entries coming with <span>... in front of the name.

Looks bad.
Hello Lazy Puppy.

Sounds like you are not using vovchik's "aemenu-pango", but the old
original aemenu. But vovchik's verson is included in all my MRUF pets,
I just checked...

Do you use other menus with the plain old aemenu executable? Or you
have both and it is a precedence problem?

Anyway, thanks: from now on, I will indicate < aemenu-pango > on the
last line of the script to eliminate any possibility of confusion.

TWYL.
musher0
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#85 Post by LazY Puppy »

I'm using this from .sfs file, so I did NOT overwrite the original existing aemenu files inside of the extracted and then rebuilt .sfs file.

Missed that information about the new aemenu somehow...

Thanks
RSH

"you only wanted to work your Puppies in German", "you are a separatist in that you want Germany to secede from Europe" (musher0) :lol:

No, but I gave my old drum kit away for free to a music store collecting instruments for refugees! :wink:

musher0
Posts: 14629
Joined: Mon 05 Jan 2009, 00:54
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#86 Post by musher0 »

@Lazy Puppy: No problem. Thanks for the thanks.

@all: Please find attached MRUF version 0.9.4.

This will probably be the last version, since I ran out of ideas on how to
optimize the code!!! :) That said, constructive ideas from young and / or
rested brains ;) on how to improve this menu script are still welcome!

I used as many tricks of the trade as I could master or remember to
make this version a fat 20 Kb, but still this side of 21 Kb!!!

In particular,
-- the backup and the find routines for each sub-menu have been made
into internal functions. This has saved a lot of lines.

-- I generally reduced to one instance as many repeats as I could find.


Visible to the user:
  • -- the "accordeon" effect has been improved. It follows the principle: no
    app, no sub-menu. It is now mentioned in the Help section as well.

    For example:
    -- if you don't have Chromium on your Puppy at this time, the Chromium
    sub-menu will not show. If later you load peebee's sfs for Chromium-44,
    refresh the menu, and the Chromium sub-menu will show automatically.

    -- A line in the parameters sub-menu has been added to indicate when
    you last updated your MRUF list. Please see attached screen capture.

    One could sort of use this as an unofficial session timer, I suppose, but
    it's meant for the Recent Documents menu primarily. Check this "time
    line" once in a while to see if you need to refresh your MRUF menu.

    -- A new transparent icon is included. (Again, thanks to Puppus Dogfellow
    for the original icon.)

    -- The reduced size of the pet is due to the fact that I replaced the big
    OpenSans font that was previously included with the smaller Peignot font.

    To change the font manually, please find Mike Walsh's post at the top of
    page 5
    in this thread on how to do it. It's really simple to do.

    For those of you who also use my DefaultMenu script: you can change the
    font in this script from the "Dress-up/Font" section in the DefaultMenu
    script. (Explanation: the MRUF script can pick up the font variable set by
    the DefaultMenu script.)
~~~~~~~~~~
Before you post a new question below, please read my posts above to
make sure your subject hasn't been already answered: a lot of ground
related to this MRUF/MRUD menu has been covered in previous posts.

I guess that's it for now. Enjoy! :D

~~~~~~~~~~~
P.S. Attachment removed. Please use version 0.9.5
from post further down on page 7. Thanks.
Attachments
MRUF-lst-0.9.4_Last-Update_2016-09-16(1).jpg
(24.58 KiB) Downloaded 185 times
Last edited by musher0 on Sat 17 Sep 2016, 19:58, edited 2 times in total.
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LazY Puppy
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#87 Post by LazY Puppy »

What about less?

is it still needed?
Last edited by LazY Puppy on Sat 17 Sep 2016, 01:42, edited 1 time in total.
RSH

"you only wanted to work your Puppies in German", "you are a separatist in that you want Germany to secede from Europe" (musher0) :lol:

No, but I gave my old drum kit away for free to a music store collecting instruments for refugees! :wink:

User avatar
LazY Puppy
Posts: 1934
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Location: Germany

#88 Post by LazY Puppy »

Ok.

I'd just done a usual installation of the .pet package, to check this out.

Menu background is very light in color plus white text.

This is really an ugly interface to start for a new user testing this program out.

No way to find the menu to change the design to make it look like in the your screenshot.

Preferred themes/designs should NOT annoy the user and it should NOT make the user stop using the program.

Sorry, but white text on almost white backgrounds may be useful for canadians - though, it's not for the Germans! :lol:
RSH

"you only wanted to work your Puppies in German", "you are a separatist in that you want Germany to secede from Europe" (musher0) :lol:

No, but I gave my old drum kit away for free to a music store collecting instruments for refugees! :wink:

musher0
Posts: 14629
Joined: Mon 05 Jan 2009, 00:54
Location: Gatineau (Qc), Canada

#89 Post by musher0 »

LazY Puppy wrote:Ok.

I'd just done a usual installation of the .pet package, to check this out.

Menu background is very light in color plus white text.

This is really an ugly interface to start for a new user testing this program out.

No way to find the menu to change the design to make it look like in the your screenshot.

Preferred themes/designs should NOT annoy the user and it should NOT make the user stop using the program.

Sorry, but white text on almost white backgrounds may be useful for canadians - though, it's not for the Germans! :lol:
Hello Lazy Puppy.

Can Mr. German ;) please provide a screen capture of his problem? :)
Mr. Canadian ;) will try to solve it! :lol:

All jokes aside:
-- the second entry from the bottom of the main menu is called "Param."
___ Click on that?
-- the top entry of that sub-menu is called "Dress-up".
___ Click on that?
-- the top entry of that sub-sub-menu is called "Color Schemes": there you
have a choice of 24 combinations of colors. Choose one that presents good
contrast with your GTK theme?

There's an old screen capture here:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... &id=101867

Please find attached a current (version 0.9.4.) screen capture of the
Color Schemes choices now available.

I hope this helps. BFN.
Attachments
MRUF-lst-0.9.4_Choice-of-Color-Schemes_2016-09-16.jpg
(51.29 KiB) Downloaded 158 times
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#90 Post by LazY Puppy »

Sorry for reverse description of text color and background color in previous post.
Attachments
Screenshot-2016-09-17-03-57-03.jpg
(32.34 KiB) Downloaded 136 times
RSH

"you only wanted to work your Puppies in German", "you are a separatist in that you want Germany to secede from Europe" (musher0) :lol:

No, but I gave my old drum kit away for free to a music store collecting instruments for refugees! :wink:

musher0
Posts: 14629
Joined: Mon 05 Jan 2009, 00:54
Location: Gatineau (Qc), Canada

#91 Post by musher0 »

Hi Lazy Puppy.

My sympathies for white on white... I'm really sorry. Puppus Dogfellow
had a similar comment somewhere above, IIRC.

What Gtk theme is that, in your screen capture? What I mean is:

If we look in /root/.gtkrc-2.0, on the 2nd line, we see what Gtk theme
is active.

Now a programming question:

Do you think it would be possible to go to line 5 of the gtkrc file of the
theme (for example: /usr/share/themes/Rusty_Sand-mod/gtk-2.0/gtkrc)

-- extract the first two parameters (fg and bg)

-- find a Color Scheme approximately contrasted to those colors

-- reverse them

-- store them in the Color file at /usr/local/share/MRUF/Color and

-- then the menu script uses those colors?

Hopefully, the result could be a MRUF menu script with proper contrasting
colors every time. Plus it would match the current GTK theme.

Is that the solution?

BFN.
musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

ASD

#92 Post by ASD »

Having just tried v 0.9.4

* The initial window showed (joke) as yellow text on a light background

* After fixing the colours Help did not show (pun) v 0.9.4

* All my ROX Speed Dials had been blanked out (i.e. reset and not funny).

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#93 Post by musher0 »

@ASD:
I'm sorry I forgot to announce it, I was tired and it escaped me. Sorry
about that, ASD, but one should always make back-ups of important files
like those...

@all:
-- I spent the night working on the contrast issue that Lazy Puppy has
brought up (and Puppus Dogfellow before him).

The solution I came up with (please see attached zip file) won't always
work, because about only 2/3'rds of GTK themes are structured for an
easy query. With some themes of the remaining 1/3rd, the letters will
have "natural" contrast and be readable anyway.

All in all, it's not that big an issue, I think. It may mean some poking and
probing with the suggested color schemes, but with some perseverance
and 2-3 minutes of patience, you'll certainly find a satisfying solution. If
you think all else has failed, follow the instructions in my reply to Lazy
Puppy above?

Please remember that this pango evolution by vovchik is as new to me as
it is to you. I may be ahead of the pack a bit, but I'm still poking and
probing myself with the aemenu-pango colors.

As an aside, it may be worth your while to download vovchik's work on
this and try his many examples of the pango color and font mark-up. Just
look for thread "Hacked aemenu" in the forum search engine, with
vovchik as author.

If you're really frustrated, try typing in console:

Code: Select all

echo -e "red\nyellow" > /usr/local/share/MRUF/Color
or the reverse, or

Code: Select all

echo -e "green\norange" > /usr/local/share/MRUF/Color
or some other contrasting colors, and then click on REFRESH in the
menu (this REFRESH is important).

~~~~~~~~~~
Anyway, a new version, 0.9.4.1, is attached. It incorporates:
-- a contrast fix test (see explanation in paragraph above) in response to
the complaints.

-- most of the variables are now "sourced" from their own file. It keeps
the main script skinny!

-- The "-daystart" setting in the < find > lines was more of a hindrance
than a helper, so I removed it.

As the name implies it's meant to include today in the search. Except that
at five past midnight it's useless, if you see what I mean. At that time of
day it actually prevents any finding. It starts to make sense and produce
results when you use it later in the day, say late afternoon or early
evening. So bye-bye "-daystart" parm.

-- 4 new color schemes, with really good contrast, I think. One combo has
very dark green and a tinted white, the other one has "midnight blue" and
"alice blue". There are now 30 color schemes to choose from for this
script, 15 "straight" and 15 "reverse".

This is a sign-off for me. It's been a long night. Luckily no work tomorrow.

TWYL.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P.S. Attachment removed.
Please use version 0.9.5 from post further down.
Thanks.
Attachments
Get-Gtk-Theme.sh.zip
The contrast fix test.
(837 Bytes) Downloaded 172 times
Last edited by musher0 on Sat 17 Sep 2016, 19:59, edited 2 times in total.
musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

ASD

#94 Post by ASD »

My comments on v 0.9.4.1 are exactly as they were for v 0.9.4:

The display is unfixed; however, as you have added a footnote which does show - why not just forget the colours altogether.

The version number is still not updated.

All ROX Speed Dials are, yet again, reset. You still didn't announce that fact, but if you had announced it I would not have tried v 0.9.4.1

musher0
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#95 Post by musher0 »

ASD wrote:My comments on v 0.9.4.1 are exactly as they were for v 0.9.4:

The display is unfixed; however, as you have added a footnote which does show - why not just forget the colours altogether.

The version number is still not updated.

All ROX Speed Dials are, yet again, reset. You still didn't announce that fact, but if you had announced it I would not have tried v 0.9.4.1
Hey, ASD.

You don't like it? Don't use it. Or please spend two full weeks of your
time without pay creating your own history menu instead of shooting
down this one with so-so arguments.

This is a work in the making, ASD. AFAIK, no menu script like this --
independent of any window manager AND of any file manager -- exists
as of yet on Puppy to display the history of what the user has done
during his previous computer sessions. Even more so, considering this
menu is using an absolutely new mark-up system invented by still
another Puppy-ist. When other testers and I have properly finished with
this history system, it will be unique to Puppy.

I'm no Steve Jobs and no Nolan Bushnell to provide users with an
absolutely perfect product from the word go. (Actually, they didn't. In
fact they themselves issued countless versions before they thought their
apps were satisfactory.)

You don't like my including a pristine "groups.xml" in the pet archive?
There, I'm putting it out of the way. Again sorry for any inconvenience.
I had included one because many users -- unlike you -- do not know
how to create one. And because it can be considered a part of
the user's sessions history.

And I am certainly no deviner to know: "Ah, ASD is using this particular
GTK theme. Therefore I will provide him with a personalized pet archive
containing a pre-configured menu script that starts off with Color
Scheme X. That color scheme should go nicely with ASD's chosen GTK
theme. And then ASD won't give me a mouthful."

So the pango colors stay. It is your personal decision whether to invest
-- or not -- one or two minutes of your time in learning how to adapt
this menu to the GTK theme on your Puppy. As such your personal
decision is only that, a personal decision, and it is irrelevant to the
continuation of development.

Best regards.
musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

musher0
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#96 Post by musher0 »

Hello all.

Here is pet archive 0.9.4.1a -- amended in reply to remarks above.
I have decided that this would actually be the real 0.9.4.1 version:
the letter a is only there to avoid confusion and archive squishing.


The disputed pristine < Groups.xml > file is still there, but as file
< xml.Groups >. Rename it to its proper name if you need it. A little
note is included about it.

I've also hidden again the plain text entry at the bottom of the menu
-- that I use for debugging.

I apologize for any previous inconvenience.

BFN.
~~~~~~~~~
P.S. Attachment removed.
Please use version 0.9.5 from post further down.
Thanks.
Last edited by musher0 on Sat 17 Sep 2016, 20:00, edited 3 times in total.
musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

ASD

#97 Post by ASD »

I shall leave it to MochiMoppel, should he wish to comment on your adaptation of his excellent work on ROX Speed Dials.
Attachments
version.png
(23 KiB) Downloaded 355 times

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#98 Post by musher0 »

ASD wrote:I shall leave it to MochiMoppel, should he wish to comment on
your adaptation of his excellent work on ROX Speed Dials.
Hello ASD.

As you can see, your attempt at hiding the words "your adaptation of"
in white type over white background has failed. That was a bit foxy of
you, wasn't it? :lol:

FYI: It is NOT my adaptation. It is his earlier version, here, which I
prefer for the purposes of this aemenu-pango menu script.

I prefer it over his final version
-- because of the wider format and
-- because you can edit it directly and introduce decimals for fine-tuning
and grouping of your sub-directories. The ROX-Filer < Groups.xml > file
does support decimal numbering, but MochiMoppei shuns it as "goofing".
IMO, his final version maims the decimal capacity and the capacity for
direct editing (the latter IIRC).
-- because I am presenting in this menu a different way of accessing the
GTK bookmarks, and I wish those to stay consistent with the presentation
of the other data. IMO, using MochiMoppei's final version would be out of
style in the context of this menu.

I have not altered this earlier script of MochiMoppei in any way. Please
check for yourself if you do not believe me.


FYI: In that previous version, MochiMoppei does not mention his author-
ship, nor his copyright, nor any publication licence. I mention his author-
ship because I know it is his work and it is simply the right thing to do.
Would have I done that if I had intended to steal his work from him?
** Be very careful with your innuendos, ASD. **

FYI: AFAIK, MochiMoppei has never forbidden the use of his earlier
version to anyone. It has been in public view for over two years (at the
time of this writing) on the thread above, available for anyone to copy,
paste and use during that time. Should he forbid it now, I am ready to
provide my own solution to display the directories in < Groups.xml > and
remove any mention of his talent in this script -- if that's what he wants.

Come to think of it, I may decide to remove any reference to Mochi-
Moppei's work in this script anyway because of the bad fuss people like
you are creating about it.

Best regards.
musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

musher0
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Joined: Mon 05 Jan 2009, 00:54
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#99 Post by musher0 »

Hello all.

Hopefully, I have removed from this 0.9.5 version any cause for pettiness
or trolling. Because I have better things to do, I have no time for it.

The people who'll use this new version will, also hopefully, appreciate the
compliment and generosity that represents the use of another dev's work in
yours and the rightful mention of his/her talent and authorship.

Sincerely,

musher0
Attachments
MRUF-lst-0.9.5_ROX-Groups_2016-09-17.jpg
(47.19 KiB) Downloaded 272 times
MRUF-lst-0.9.5.pet
The codename of this version is &quot;Anti-Pettiness&quot;. If you need to refer to it
in a post or elsewhere, that is how I'd like the users to call it. Thanks.
(106.98 KiB) Downloaded 210 times
musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

ASD

#100 Post by ASD »

Indubitably this will be seen as yet another petty comment, but v 0.9.5 displays an error and does not install here.

So that MochiMoppel and/or others may form an opinion of the previous two versions (with particular regard to ROX Speed Dials) those withdrawn attachments are reinstated below.
Attachments
MRUF-lst-0.9.4.1a.pet
(124.67 KiB) Downloaded 181 times
MRUF-lst-0.9.4.1.pet
(124.59 KiB) Downloaded 166 times

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