What’s new in Quick Access Popup v8.1, v8.2 and v8.3?

Version 8.3

This new QAP version (2017-07-20), thanks to a new search tool inside your favorites list, will greatly improve your efficiency while managing your QAP menu. This release also includes a complete rewrite of Shared menus file locking (reservation to avoid conflicting changes by simultaneous users). Users of Shared menu are strongly encouraged to upgrade to this new release (this has no impact on your existing Shared menu files). Users of Windows Explorer Context menus and Windows shortcuts will appreciate a new context menu entry that automatically imports a shortcut including its settings: working directory, icon, etc.

Search

  • add search text box to filter favorites in all submenus in Settings window
  • add an X button to empty the filter text box and restore the full favorites list
  • filtering is done based on the existence of the search string in the favorites name (only) in all menus and submenus
  • filtering is case insensitive
  • filtered favorites are displayed in the order they were found, starting from top main menu
  • in filtered favorites list, the Edit button, Enter key or double-click open the edit favorite dialog box with the selected favorite
  • double-clicking a menu favorite in filtered favorites list opens this menu unfiltered
  • after edition of a favorite, the regular favorites list is restored in the location of the edited favorite
  • the Remove button or Delete key removes a favorite from the filtered list (with confirmation before deleting a menu and its submenus); after deletion, the filtered list remains active
  • in filtered list, only single selection is available, allowing edition or deletion of only one favorite at a time
  • left columns buttons to move favorites or insert separator buttons (and their associated hotkeys) are disabled in filtered list
  • in filtered list, the Add button (and its associated hotkey Ctrl-N) adds a new favorite at the top of the main menu
  • changing menu using the dropdown list, using back or top arrows and closing and re-opening the Settings window restore the regular unfiltered list
  • in Settings window, the new shortcut Ctrl-F moves the cursor to search box
  • More info: Can I search inside my favorites?

Shared menus

  • complete rewrite of Shared menus file locking (reservation to avoid conflicting changes by simultaneous users)
  • when opening the add/edit favorite dialog box, QAP checks if the favorites belongs to a Shared menu and displays a message if the menu is read-only, locked (reserved) by another user or if it was changed since QAP was launched
  • when saving a favorite (or when moving a favorite using arrows in Settings, or when adding a separator or a column break), QAP checks if the favorites belongs to a Shared menu and, if yes, checks if the shared menu was locked or modified since the dialog box was opened and, if yes, displays a message
  • after a favorite in a shared menu is saved in QAP “internal” memory, QAP locks (reserves) the shared menu file until the changes in shared menu are actualy saved to the settings file QuickAccessPopup.ini, preventing other users from editing this shared menu
  • QAP display “Read-only” in the Settings window’s content column and prevent opening this menu in the Settings window if it is saved in a folder where the user has no write access and for shared menus of type “Centralized” where user does not have write-access for this menu
  • when creating a Shared menu of type “Centralized”, QAP automatically adds the current username to the write-access list (preventing the user to be locked out of its own new menu)
  • in “Centralized” Shared menus write-access list, names can also be separated by semicolon (in addition to comma)
  • a shared menu cannot be added under another shared menu
  • QAP now supports Shared menu file locking when changes are done using the “Manage icons” window
  • in Settings window column labeled “Content”, QAP now displays the Shared menu settings file location
  • More info: Can a submenu be shared on different PCs or by different users?

New Explorer Context menu for Windows shortcuts

  • add an Explorer context menu for Windows shortcuts file (.lnk files) labeled “Import Windows shortcut to Quick Access Popup menu” to import shortcut settings to QAP favorites
  • QAP imports the following settings from Windows shortcut: working directory (for application favorites), window state (for folder favorites) and icon settings (for any type of favorites)
  • note for user of portable version: the file ManageContextMenu.bat has been updated to include the new context menu “Import Windows shortcut to Quick Access Popup menu”
    More info: Which QAP commands are available using Explorer Context menus?

Various

  • add Settings shortcut F1 to open the Help window
  • add Settings shortcut Ctrl-H to display the Favorites Shortcuts Help window
  • update the Favorites Shortcuts Help window

Version 8.2

(2017-05-14)

Shared menus revamped

Note: If you use Quick Access Popup on multiple computers or if you want to share QAP favorites with your friends or colleagues, Shared menus are for you. This new implementation of Shared menus was introduced with v8.2. However, users of Shared menus are strongly encouraged to upgrade to v8.3 than greatly improved this feature.

  • Three type of Shared menus
    1. Personal: menu shared on different computers by the same user
    2. Collaborative: menu on a shared drive for a team or a workgroup (every member can edit the menu)
    3. Centralized: menu on a shared drive maintained by one or more menu administrator(s)
  • new “Shared menu” tab in shared menu favorites to select shared menu type (radio buttons), name and options
  • options for “Centralized” shared menus: list of users with right to edit the shared menu (coma separated list), message about shared menu access shown to users without access
  • Shared menu options are saved in the “[Global]” section of the share menu ini file, in variables “MenuName”, “WriteAccessUsers”, “WriteAccessMessage” and “MenuType”
  • in favorites list, display Shared menu name and display “Read-only” if current user does not have write access to the centralized menu
  • when adding a Shared menu, get the favorite name from the menu ini file if the variable “MenuName” exists
  • deprecate the option “Number of the first favorite” in shared menu files (now favorites always starting at 1 but starting number in old menu are still supported)
  • More info: Can a submenu be shared on different PCs or by different users?

Shared menus catalogue

  • new option in “General” tab to “Enable Shared Menu Catalogue” and select the “Catalogue root folder”
  • when user adds a Shared menu and when the catalogue is enabled, give user the option to select the Shared menu from a dialog box
  • new Shared menu dialog box containing the shared menu files under the catalogue root with menu names, paths and checkboxes to select menu(s) to add to QAP popup menu
  • in Shared menu dialog box, button “Add selected shared menu(s)” to add selected menu(s) from catalogue to the QAP menu at the current menu and position in favorites list
  • in Shared menu dialog box, button “Add another shared menu” to browse the file system for any Shared menu settings file and add it to current position in favorites list
  • in Shared menu dialog box, respond to double-click on a row by showing Shared menu info and a button to open the settings file in a text editor if it is not read-only
  • new “ExternalMenusCataloguePathReadOnly” variable (in QAP ini file only) to prevent user from changing the catalogue root folder when value is 1, and display an error message if user tries to change the root if read-only
  • add QAP feature to “Add a Shared menu from the catalogue”
  • add tip below Shared menu catalogue list about double-click on a line to view the shared menu info
  • More info: Can I create a catalogue of shared menus for my team or workgroup?

Shared menus multi-user edition (improved in v8.3)

  • alert message when user tries to edit an external menu that was modified by another user or on another computer, based on last modification date-time
  • reserve external menu when user loads a Shared menu in Settings or when user add or move favorites to a Shared menu, user and computer name are savec in the Shared menu variable “MenuReservedBy”
  • release Shared menu reservation when user saves or cancels settings changes or quits QAP
  • store and read last modified date in Shared menu ini file and update it only when favorites or external menu properties are changed, not when only reserved without changes
  • in “About” dialog box, display user name and computer name

Other changes

  • new Alternative menu QAP features “Open the Containing Folder in the Current Window” and “Open the Containing Folder in a New Window” to open the folder containing the selected document, application or folder favorite in the current window or in a new window
  • in Export file name, translate placeholder “%A_Now%” to current local date-time and “%A_NowUTC%” to current Coordinated Universal Time (based on computer time), using “YYYYMMDDHH24MISS” format
  • in “Import/Export Settings”, remember lats destination file in quickaccesspopup.ini when exporting and restore last used file name in when exporting settings
  • in “Live folders”, exclude folders with the Hidden (H) attribute (keeping those having System attribute without the Hidden attribute)
  • enlarge submenus dropdown lists to 500 px in “Add/Edit Favorite” dialog box
  • disable the popup menu during settings saving
  • In the Add Favorite dialog box, add info about Live Folder Options in Folder tip

Version 8.1

This new release v8.1 (2017-02-20) adds new features giving more flexibility with favorites shortcuts, exclusions list for apps dialog boxes, Run as administrator in Alternative menu, disabling favorites in groups, plus other improvements and bug fixes. Also, for users of portable version, a smarter batch file named ManageContextMenu.bat to enable or disable Windows Explorer context menus (thanks to Dogan Celik).

Shortcuts

  • display favorites shortcuts in a new column in the Settings
  • when creating a favorites shortcut, support left only or right only keyboard modifiers for Shift, Alt, Ctrl and Win keys
  • support different shortcuts for favorites with the same location (if they have different names), allowing them to have different options (in other words, favorite shortcuts are now linked to “name + location”)
  • update menu and dialog box labels to include menu shortcuts (underlined character, using the & special character)
  • More info: Can I launch my favorites with keyboard or mouse shortcuts?

Import/Export

  • in Import/Export Settings, save destination file to QuickAccessPopup.ini when exporting and restore last used file name in Export dialog dox
  • in Export file name, translate placeholder “%A_Now%” to current local date-time and “%A_NowUTC%” to current Coordinated Universal Time (based on computer time), using “YYYYMMDDHH24MISS” format
  • More info: Can I backup, import or export my favorites and settings?

Alternative menu

  • two new Alternative menu QAP features to open the folder containing the selected document, application or folder favorite 1) in the current window or 2) in a new window

Various

  • in QAP Mouse Hotkey exclusion list, also exclude hotkey in app’s dialog boxes when the app’s title or class name is prefix an asterisk (*)
  • add the QAP Features “Run as administrator” to the Alternative menu (Shift + Middle mouse button or Shift + Windows + W)
  • new batch file from Dogan Celik to install/uninstall Windows Explorer context menus registry keys, working as-is with portable version (see instructions in batch file)
  • group members can now be disabled (same as favorites being hidden in menu), change disable checkbox label for group members
  • renamed the icon file iconQAP.ico to QuickAccessPopup.ico using the same ico file name for context menu registry keys in app, setup and portable batch
  • in Live folders, exclude folders with the Hidden (H) attribute (keeping those having System attribute without the Hidden attribute)
  • split Options dialog box first tab “General” in two tabs (“General” and “Menu”) to make some room for future options
  • tooltip “Saving…” and disable “Cancel” button in Settings during saving

For more details about changes and bug fixes in each version, see the QAP Change log.

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