editor2 portable: 2 problems...

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TsunamiZ
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editor2 portable: 2 problems...

Post by TsunamiZ »

i have editor2 portable on my other windows 7 x64 pc.  but i notice 2 problems...

- i cant set editor2 portable as my default program for opening text files
- when editor2 portable is pinned to the windows 7 taskbar, right clicking on it doesn't show recently opened files

is there any way to fix this?  perhaps by adding some registry data to make it thinks it's installed?

btw: i'm using version 2.9.0.4 UC.
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nikos
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Post by nikos »

editor2 can't do these things by itself, use your standard windows mechanisms (e.g. folder options) to assign associations

it won't show recent files in the context menu
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Post by TsunamiZ »

nikos wrote:editor2 can't do these things by itself, use your standard windows mechanisms (e.g. folder options) to assign associations

it won't show recent files in the context menu
ive tried those but they still dont work.  

is there some registry info i can add or a .reg file i can use to trick my pc to think that editor2 is installed?  maybe that would help get these items to work?
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Post by Kilmatead »

Use the free utility FileTypesMan to manually edit the associations or the context menu items (Open/Edit) for '.TXT' types and/or others as desired.

This is a little trickier than using Windows to do it, but much more powerful.  Even if you are comfortable editing the registry, the usual caveat applies and I suggest making a backup first as playing with these associations can and will mess with other filetypes than the one you're currently editing, as is the nature of 'perceived-types'.

The jumplists should work fine as long as ed2 is pinned to the taskbar - installation and/or association is not a prerequisite.
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Post by TsunamiZ »

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Use the free utility FileTypesMan to manually edit the associations or the context menu items (Open/Edit) for '.TXT' types and/or others as desired. 
i only need to do this once for editor2 so i prefer to not use another program to do it.  as long as it is possible with manually adding info to the registry.

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The jumplists should work fine as long as ed2 is pinned to the taskbar - installation and/or association is not a prerequisite.
i have already tried this and it doesn't work.
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Post by Kilmatead »

If the normal means of windows file association "Open With..." doesn't work for you, you may have to resort to other methods.  FileTypesMan does not require installation and is all of 175KB in size.

Jump lists are finicky things, they don't always work - I just tried it and ed2 worked fine, as long as the actual .exe itself was selected for pinning and not simply the shortcut.  No guarantees on this sort of thing though - sometimes it's in how the file was opened, be it dragged onto the icon, opened in context, etc.  One of those Win7 things that doesn't always play nice with applications not designed for it.
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Post by TsunamiZ »

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Jump lists are finicky things, they don't always work - I just tried it and ed2 worked fine, as long as the actual .exe itself was selected for pinning and not simply the shortcut.  No guarantees on this sort of thing though - sometimes it's in how the file was opened, be it dragged onto the icon, opened in context, etc.  One of those Win7 things that doesn't always play nice with applications not designed for it.
if you already have x2 e2 installed, then it will work.  but i dont have them installed and im trying to get it to work with e2 portable.  i pinned the .exe--which i put in the program files (x86) folder.  im on win7 x64 and trying it with e2 UC.

it seems if there is a way to make the system think e2 is installed, it would fix these issues.
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Post by Kilmatead »

When x2 is installed it only includes the ed2 executable as an extra - it doesn't "install" it or change any associations so it's no different than what you're trying.  Any .EXE can be pinned.

I don't know if using editor2_64 or x86 on an x64 system should make any real difference.
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Post by TsunamiZ »

the pinning works.  but the recent items in the right click menu doesn't work.  and setting e2 as default editor for .txt doesn't work.

if i installed x2, there wouldn't be any problems getting those to work.  but i dont have x2 installed on this computer.  so im hoping there is a way to make them work with e2 as a portable.
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Post by Kilmatead »

TsunamiZ wrote:if i installed x2, there wouldn't be any problems getting those to work.  but i dont have x2 installed on this computer.  so im hoping there is a way to make them work with e2 as a portable.
First of all you're placing too much faith in the magic of "installation" - it doesn't do anything special unless the application calls for it, which neither x2 nor ed2 do (as vanilla).

The file-association for .txt (and others) can be changed, and has nothing to do with installation.  You just didn't like my suggestion.  I have no idea why the usual "Open With" dialogue doesn't work for you (UAC?), but again, it has nothing to do with installation as any .exe can be used, regardless where it came from - officially installed or not.

I have some "installed" applications where jumplists don't work - which is why I consider the Win7 implementation of it to be flakey and inherently unreliable, but that's me, so again "installation" is irrelevant.
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Post by TsunamiZ »

you say it works for you--but do you have them installed?  because it works for me when i have it installed, too.  just not working trying to run portable when not installed.  so from my issues, it seems it has something to do with installation.

any official word from you, nikos?
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Post by Kilmatead »

TsunamiZ wrote:you say it works for you--but do you have them installed?
Just in case I was missing something, and to have some fun, I just did your little experiment: I uninstalled x2, ed2, manually removed all registry keys, etc., and copied out ed2 and its manifest to a given folder.  As I never had text files associated with ed2 in the first place (I use Notepad++) there was no prior registry association to fall back on.  End result?  It worked fine, as expected - though ed2 was a little unhappy about the lack of settings in the registry, which I ignored.  All associations worked via the windows "Open With" default routines - I didn't even need to play with the registry.  Jumplists worked as well, apparently just to spite your mystical Installation God. :wink:  Win7 x64.

As nikos pointed out in your initial foray into this, ed2 is basically an independent entity - give it its manifest, and registry settings, and that's it.  It does not register any dll's, bake any cookies, link any services or otherwise "install" itself.

Your issues with file association are again, a quirk of windows... this issue has been seen before (in relation to ed2 here and here) and there's no real cause other than Windows having a bad hair day; the solution is to modify the registry yourself, which is all the aforementioned application helps you do.

Unless Nikos pipes up to say everything I just said was wrong, but empirical evidence speaks for itself. :D
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Post by TsunamiZ »

did you try it with the x64 or UC e2--and what version?  also, what folder did you copy the .exe and manifest to?
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Post by TsunamiZ »

i finally gave FileTypesMan a try and now both the issues are fixed! :D  thanks a lot for the suggestion.  

currently the address i'm using for it is...

"C:\Program Files (x86)\editor2 [portable]\editor2_UC.exe" "%1"

i just edited the old address.  but do you know what the extra "%1" at the end is for, and if i need it for anything?
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Post by Kilmatead »

TsunamiZ wrote:but do you know what the extra "%1" at the end is for, and if i need it for anything?
It's the same as passing arguments/parameters to batch files, when invoking the command (either by default or with the context menu directly) the "%1" is the name(s) of the selected file(s) you want to open with it.  If you leave it off it will only open the application - selected files would be ignored.
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