Tag: Applications type

What are favorites advanced settings?

Advanced Settings give more control on how favorites are launched.

  • Launch with this application: Normally, folders and FTP sites are opened with Windows Explorer (or your custom file manager), documents are open with their default application and links are accessed with your default browser. With the advanced setting Launch with this application, you can choose to launch your favorite with another application. See Placeholders, below.
 
 
  • Start in: This advanced setting available for Application favorites allows to set the default working directory for the application. Take note that not all applications will comply with this Windows setting. See Placeholders, below.
 
  • Auto-open sub folder: When you open a favorite folder, you can ask QAP to automatically open the most recently created sub folder in this favorite folder. QAP could also open the most anciently created, or the most recently/anciently modified or accessed sub folder. More info here: What are the advanced options for favorite folders?
 
  • Encode FTP URL: When you specify a user name and a password for a FTP favorite, these values are added to the URL and sent to the FTP server. When enabled, this options make sure login name and password are properly encoded. Some application (like Total Commander) may prefer the values to be sent without encoding. For these apps, uncheck the option.Take note that this encoding is not encrypting. It does not prevent the password from being saved in the settings file and sent on Internet in clear text. Be cautious if your password protects sensitive data!
 
  • Sound played when launching the application: Set the file name or the codes of the sound to play. The sound is played immediately after the favorite is launched or the group is executed. You can play a sound file, a system sound or your own custom sound sequence. See also: Can I play a sound when I launch a favorite?
 
Placeholders and User variables

You can use placeholders and user variables in Launch with this application, Parameters and Start In fields. These placeholders can be replaced with:

  • the location or part of the full path and file name of the favorite’s location;
  • the folder where the QAP menu was opened;
  • the file selected when the menu was opened;
  • the content of the Windows Clipboard;
  • user input;
  • parts of the current date or time.

For all the details, see:

4) Customizing menu , , , , ,

What is the “Current Windows” menu and how is it built?

The Current Windows menu is built in two sections. This first part shows the folders already open in the Explorer windows and, if you use this file manager, the Directory Opus listers.

The second part lists the applications running on your system (starting with the most recently activated window). Only applications having “visible” windows are listed. System-hidden windows and zero-width/height windows are excluded. Most of the apps in the System Tray could not be listed unless their window is already visible in the task bar.

When you select an item in this menu, its window is automatically activated (bring to the “front”). This menu is refreshed every time you open the QAP menu.

By default, the Current Windows feature is found under the In the Works menu (before v9.2, it was names Switch and located under the My QAP Essentials menu). You can add it to your menu by adding a favorite of type QAP Feature and select Current Windows under the Dynamic Menus section.

Application exclusions

There may be some applications that you do not want to see in the Current Windows menu. Option the Various Advanced Options tab in the Options dialog box. In the text box, enter a list applications that you want to exclude.

Enter any part of the window title of the application to exclude (the window title is what appears in the top horizontal bar of the window). You can enter multiple exclusions, one per line. For example, to exclude windows of applications Sticky and GhostWindows, enter these lines as shown below:

AStickies:
GhostWindows

 

You can also exclude windows by their class name or process name (EXE file name). You can find more help on these advanced techniques on last parts of the page Can I block the QAP menu trigger (middle mouse button) if it interfere with one of my other apps?

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Can I create a favorite for an internal command (also called DOS commands) like DIR or XCOPY?

Yes. But creating an application favorite for a Windows/DOS built-in command (like dir, copy, rd, start, etc.) is a bit tricky. You have to create an Application favorite and insert as the application path:

%COMSPEC%

This is an environment variable containing the path to the Console (or CMD) executable. Then, in the Advanced Settings tab, enter the following Parameters:

/k command param1 "param 2"
or
/c command param1 "param 2"

With “/k” the Console window remain open after the command is executed. With “/c”, it will be closed. “command” is the command you want to launch (“DIR” in the following example). And “param1” (etc.) are the parameters for the command. Enclose each of them in double-quotes if they include spaces.

In the following example, the DIR command is called to list the .EXE files in the current folder (“{cur_loc}” is replaced with the path of the folder on which you middle-clicked to open the QAP popup menu):

 

5) Launching favorites ,

Can I create favorites on network drives?

Yes. Quick Access Popup menu can include favorites from network drives using UNC locations (like \\MyPortablePC\c\SomeFolder\…), a network drive letter (like N:\SomeFolder) and WebDAV locations (like https://sharepoint.server.com/SomeFolder). However, you have to pay attention to some situations that can occur when using network drives with QAP.

Network drives online or offline

In IT environments, corporate servers are normally always online. But in other environments, it can happen that network drives are temporarily offline. For example, if you attach your portable PC drive to your desktop PC, this network resource can be offline if the portable is on the road or just turned off.

When you use folders or files on a network drive, Windows remembers them in its Recent Items system folder. QAP reads this folder to add these resources to its Frequent and Recent menus. When QAP refreshes these menus, it normally accesses the resource’s drive (to check if a file exists or to read a menu icon, for example). If QAP was not protected against offline drives, accessing a network resources when a QAP background task refreshes its menus could cause a long delay before the menu is displayed (see: Why does QAP sometimes look frozen or takes time to show its popup menu?).

Starting with v11.0.7, QAP adds more robust protection against offline drives and add new options in Options, Menus Advanced Options.

If network drives can sometimes be OFFLINE

Keep the checkbox Network drives (“\\” or with drive letters) can sometimes be offline selected. QAP will avoid actions that could cause unexpected delays when refreshing its menus.

If you use drive letters to attach your network drives, enter the letters of these drives in the Drive letters for network drives text box. For example, enter “NSW” for if drives N:, S: and W: are sometimes offline (in fact, you could also enter “N: S: W:” if you prefer since non-letters characters in this field are ignored). Resources on these drives will be treated as network resources.

Of course, if you try to launch a favorite from a network drive when it is offline, expect a delay (that could be as long as 20-60 seconds) during which QAP will be not responding as it waits for a response from Windows.

Also, avoid using Shared menus and Live folders on network drives that could be offline.

Note about USB drives and USB keys

USB drives and USB keys assigned to drive letters do *not* cause a delay when QAP refreshes its menu. This is because Windows “knows” rapidly when these resources are unplugged and does not cause a delay when accessed by QAP. For this reason, these drives letters for these USB resources do not need a special treatment and do not have to be considered in this option.

If network drives are always ONLINE

If your network servers are normally always online, uncheck the checkbox Network drives (“\\” or with drive letters) can sometimes be offline (you do not need to specify network drive letters). In this case, QAP will check if files or folders exist before including them in its Recent and Frequent menus, retrieve custom icon folder and display the network drive’s label and free space in the Drives QAP feature (under My QAP Essentials).

Various notes

Password protection

If a network location is password protected, you may need to be logged in manually *before* navigating to it using Quick Access Popup.

HTTP locations

HTTP locations (URL format) will be automatically transformed to network path (UNC format) for compatibility with Windows Explorer. For example, http://abc.server.com/folder/subfolder/My Name.doc will be replaced by \\abc.server.com\folder\subfolder\My%20Name.doc.

A) Harnessing Windows , , , ,

Can I use system environment variables in favorite settings?

Yes. Tech support, sysadmin and other power users love it!

In any file path (folder, document or application), the system environment variables like %appdata%, %public%, %temp% or %userprofile% (etc.) are supported in favorite location (for example: “%appdata%\Microsoft\Templates” will take you to the folder “C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates”).

System variables can also be inserted in favorite advanced settings Parameters, Launch with this application and Start in. See What are favorites advanced settings?

You can also enter a location without path. In this case, the file is searched in the PATH environment variable directories or in app paths in the Windows registry. See Can I use relative paths in favorite settings?.

Finally, you can enter environment variables in favorites name. For example, a favorite name could be “Docs of %username%”.

A) Harnessing Windows , , , , ,

Can I use relative paths in favorite settings?

Yes. You can enter path such using the .. (parent directory) and \ (root directory) symbols in favorite locations or advanced settings. Relative paths are “expanded” based on the current QAP working directory (see What’s the QAP working directory?).

In the following table, the relative paths are expanded as if the working directory was “M:\MyTools\QAP\”.

Relative path Expanded path
..\Editor\MyNotepad.exe M:\MyTools\Editor\MyNotepad.exe
..\..\setup.ini M:\setup.ini
\MyTools\MyDocs M:\MyTools\MyDocs

That way, a user having to run various tools on a host PC can carry a set of apps on a USB drive or key and use Quick Access Popup to easily launch these tools regardless of the drive letter assigned to the USB device by the host system. Combined with the use of system environment variables and special folders to easily access host PC’s system folders and user’s data, this make QAP the perfect tool for tech support users.

Relative paths can be used in favorite locations,  advanced settings Parameters, Launch with this application and Start in. It can also be used for icons with the Edit icon resource link in the Menu Options tab of the Add/Edit favorite dialog box.

For favorites of types Application and Document, you can also enter a location without path. In this case, the file is searched in the PATH environment variable directories or in app paths in the Windows registry. In these examples, the folders in the resolved path column are assumed to be in the PATH variable. If you enter a location without a file extension, it is searched with all executable extensions in the PATHEXT variable: .COM; .EXE; .BAT; .CMD; .VBS; etc.

File without path Resolved path
Shell32.dll C:\Windows\System32\Shell32.dll
Notepad.exe C:\Windows\Notepad.exe
Notepad C:\Windows\Notepad.exe
System.ini C:\Windows\System.ini

 

A) Harnessing Windows , , , ,

Can QAP launch an application with administrator privileges?

Yes. If QAP is running with administrator permission, all applications it will launch will automatically inherit the admin level. Is it a good idea to launch QAP as Administrator? This could allow the launched applications to do changes on your system without prompting you. From a system security point of view, this may put your system at risk. In other words, you have to know what you are doing.

If QAP is running with normal user privileges, you can launch only some favorite applications with elevated privileges. Check the option Elevate application with administration privileges in the Advanced Settings of the Edit Favorite dialog box. Of course, before launching the application, Windows will display the usual approval dialog box or ask for the admin password.

See more information about Windows ACL (Access Control List) and QAP.

A) Harnessing Windows , ,

What are the different types of favorites?

Types of favorites proposed when you click the Add button

An example menu with one favorite of each type

In your Quick Access Popup menu, you can add favorites of any of these twelve types:

  • Folder: Add your most frequently used local or network directories to reach them in a snap in a Windows Explorer, a file dialog box or a custom file manager, or turn them into a Live Folder.
  • Special Folder: Add Windows system folders from a list of more than 50 special folders, for example: Libraries, Recent items, Recycle Bin, Startup folder, History, Favorites, Quick Launch, Downloads, Cookies, Temporary files, etc.
  • Document: Insert your day-to-day documents in you menu and launch them in their native application from any window.
  • Application: Add your favorite applications and get full control on their execution (with command line parameters and working directory).
  • Link (URL): Add your preferred web pages and open them in your default browser at any time or in a specific browser if specified in advanced settings. Links are open in a new browser tab by default or in the current tab if you select it in Options, Various Advanced Options. 
  • FTP Site: Open FTP sites in Explorer, Directory Opus or Total Commander, with login name and password inserted in site address (take note that the password is not encrypted, is saved in the settings file and sent on Internet in clear text – be cautious if your password protects sensitive data!).
  • Snippet: Insert sequences of characters that can be typed in a flash when you need to insert them in any application using an hotstring, a shortcut or the menu (snippets help).
  • QAP Feature: Insert Quick Access Popup features like Current Windows, Reopen a Folder, Drives, Add Active Folder or Web page, etc. in any submenu and assign them the shortcuts and icons of you choice.
  • Submenu: Gather related favorites in a submenu; submenus can be nested at will and each of them can be assigned shortcuts or icons.
  • Shared Menu: Manage the content of a submenu in an external file that can be saved on a network drive or a cloud drive (like Dropbox) and used on different PCs. Shared menu can be used in three flavors:
    • Personal shared menu;
    • Collaborative shared menu for team or workgroup;
    • Centralized shared menu.
    • See shared menus help.
  • Group: Launch a group of favorites of any type in one click or one shortcut; the menu label shows the number of items in the group.
  • Text Separator: Insert a text menu separator at the current menu position.

To add these types of favorites, see How do I add a favorite to my menu?

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How do I add an application or script to my menu?

QAP can launch applications (.EXE or .COM) files, scripts (like .BAT batch files, .VBS or .AHK scripts, etc.). To add a favorite application or script, as for documents and folders, you can click the Browse button in the Basic Settings tab to select the application file. But, if the target application is already running, it is much easier to select it in the drop down list of running applications.

When you choose the application, the Short name for menu is automatically filled if it is not already entered.

Still in the Basic Settings tab, you can click the checkbox If the application is already running, activate it instead of launching. This will avoid launching multiple instances of the same application.

Advanced Parameters

In the Advanced Settings tab, you can run the application “as Administrator” by clicking the checkbox Elevate application with administration privileges. When launching this favorite, you may be prompted with the elevation alert or asked for the administrator password.

Also in the Advanced Settings tab, in the Start in zone, you can set the default directory for the application.

In this example, the ExamDiff application will open its Select file dialog boxes in the Music Docs folder. Take note that, unfortunately, not all application comply with the Windows Start in setting when launched.

Also in the Advanced Settings tab, the Parameters text box allows to pass additional information to the launched application. In the following example, the application Windows Explorer is launched with the /e parameter that opens Windows Explorer in multipane view (the parameter /n opens Windows Explorer in single-pane view).

3) Adding Favorites ,

How do I add Windows Apps (also called “Windows Store”, “Universal” or “Metro” apps) to my menu?

QAP supports these apps known as: Windows Apps (under Windows 10), Universal Applications, Metro Apps (under Windows 8) or Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps. This new Windows application type doesn’t use the traditional executable (.exe) files anymore. These apps are pre-installed in Windows 8 and 10 or downloaded from Windows Store.

This family of applications has the advantage of being available in a very similar way under various Microsoft devices. But, technically, their architecture and behavior differs in many ways from regular applications. This is why a specific favorite type is required to configure and launch them.

Default “My Windows Apps”

The “My Windows Apps” submenu

The first time you run QAP with Windows 10, QAP creates automatically a new sub menu named My Widows Apps at the bottom of your main menu. This menu contains a sample of the most common Windows Apps normally installed with Windows 10. You can edit, move or remove this menu as for other submenus.

Adding a Windows App to your menu

Click the Add button and select the favorite type Windows Apps. In the Basic Settings tab, see the dropdown list of Windows Apps installed on your system. You can click the Refresh button to add the freshly installed Windows Apps to the list (to have the list refreshed each time QAP is launched, enable this options in Options, Launch Advanced Options).

Select a Windows App in the list. This list is built with Windows App “code names” as they are registered in Windows. Some of these names a unfriendly codes but, at this time, QAP could not retrieve more friendly or localized names from Windows (still doing research on this). When you select an app in the list, its name is loaded in the Short name for menu text box. Also, QAP could not currently retrieve the default icon for a Windows App. Fortunately, you can change the app’s name for a more user friendly name and select your preferred icon in the Menu Options tab.

If whenever you need to add an app not in the list, you can select the Custom Windows App identifier (Application User Model ID – AUMID) entry at the end of the list. However, you will have to fill the Application User Model ID (AUMID or Windows Apps identifiers) code for this app (for example “Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge” for Microsoft Edge).

Finally, when you will install Windows updates, it may happen that the Windows App ID for a given app changes. If whenever this happens, you will only have to select the Windows App again in the list and save your favorite.

3) Adding Favorites ,

[Tips] Pass the current folder as parameter to an application launched with QAP

In this tutorial, you will see how to launch an Application favorite with its working directory set to the current folder open in Windows Explorer. You will see that this can be done in two ways:

  • you can pass this folder as the Start In folder (take note that not all applications will use this setting);
  • or you can pass the current folder (or any part of it) as a command-line parameter.

Read more

Experienced