Classic Shell: Forum

Hello.
I have tested your software and i can say working great. Just few remarks:
1. the initial start is a bit slow but after that it works ok (maybe indexing something)
2. executables that require admin rights (UAC prompt) are not marked with shield like in win 7 menu
3. when searching through the start menu and the returned list is very large even if i expand the arrows in from of the groups there is no scrollbar show up nor i can navigate to all results.

And finally i'd like to ask you....
Since i am making software like you http://better-explorer.com/
I'd like to add an option "Pin to StartMenu" that to work with your startmenu in win 8. Can you give me guidelines how to implement this so to work with your menu? (i am using c# and WPF)
Thank you!

Greetings,
Dimitar Tsenev

actually the latest beta already supports 'pin to start menu' in the right click context, If you would like to participate message user Ivo

Also just installed your program, gonna spend a bit more time with it, but it seems pretty good (though currently i use clover)

Im curious if you coded the entire thing and have full control, or are using parts of windows built in explorer?

1. Yes, it is doing some initial scanning. It is needed for features like MFU or for highlighting new programs.

2. I had this feature at some point a year ago but it was quite slow so I abandoned it.

3. That's how the Windows 7 menu works. There is no scrollbar. You can click on a button to see all results in Explorer though (if you are using the latest build).

4. As Jcee says, there is already Pin shell extension.

3. Although a scroll bar would be nice when results are expanded. Like how it already shows a scrollbar when browsing the file system:


4. Pin shell extension of Classic Start Menu is limited to EXE and LNK. It can't be reg edited to expand it to folders or other files. Pin to Start in Windows 8 can be reg edited to enable it for ANY file type.

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

No, that's wrong. The search in the start menu is to find what you need so you can launch it. Ideally it should show a single result - the one you are looking for. Everything else is noise.

This is not a file browser intended to show multiple results to select them, copy, delete, etc. There are tools better suited or that. Like, I don't know, Explorer for example.

But the Classic style search results are scrollable. Only the Windows 7 style's results are not. For the exact same search term.

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

If you don't behave I can just as easily make them not scrollable!

Hi. I did sent Ivo's a message. Also about my program. Basically is still in beta stage so there could be problems on some systems. And the latest source have many fixes about this.
My program uses parts of windows but all that parts are heavily hooked (plus some fixes that Microsoft didn't fix ) so i have 70% control over everything in it. Almost all needed is under my control.

About the pin to start menu function i'd like to add a button in the ribbon in my explorer thats why i need more info how to do that.

1. OK i understand
2. umm is there no way that to be speeded up? Its good if we have shields
3. I think we should not exactly copy the win 7 menu. Scrollbar will be useful there. (anyway it enumerates all items from the search query)
4. I need to add a butoon in the ribbon of my explorer (my software). So i need info how to integrate my explorer with classic shell menu

Thanks!

2. if he had a reasonable way, i'm sure he would include it.. , but im sure he will take your request into consideration...
3. personally i would have to agree that a scrollbar should not be necessary (though if done right, it could solve another problem where the indexed results push the start menu results out of the way)
Though i think thats a minor issue..

Hey Ivo, have you thought about including regex support/wildcards in the search (if its not already)

I am using the built-in OS capabilities for searching the files (ISearchQueryHelper). It does a lot of the work for me, but is not very configurable. There are no options for regex or wildcards. Keep in mind that the underlying technology is a SQL database, and for faster searches you have to limit the query to what is indexed.

actually just tested and wildcards do work with the latest beta, and with windows search... you can type c*t and see all results matching, cat, cot, captain, Ect..

(for some reason when i tested yesterday i had 0 results, I must have put in something rather peculiar... and legitly had 0 matches

Try t*c and see if you get the same results. It might just be searching for both "c" and "t"

Nope i'm fairly certain wild cards are working 'properly'

although there are some minor issues, like the fact that its including the filepath in the search; IE C*T returns anything on my C drive, with a T in its name or path

I should note that the + and - modifiers work in windows search, but does not work in classic shell

In Windows the sample: "C*t*r - crash" yields all files matching C*T*R, except those with the text 'crash' (in this case crash team racing isn't shown, and CTR CIRCUIT is)
In Windows the sample: "C*t*r" yields all files matching C*T*R(in this case crash team racing and CTR CIRCUIT are shown)

In Classic shell only "C*t*r" displays properly



This last part isn't a big deal, but it would be nice if you could sort outputs by relevance. (Show the shortest results matching the query first, and in the case of wildcards, try to match the number of asterix to the characters between, a)


Tales of a jedi knight learn about the forCe.mp3 will appear at the top of the list, when the user is more likely looking for Toc.mp3, or Tick.mp3, or TC.mp3

Wild card relevance sorting of the above 3 files;
Searching T*C, would result in Toc.mp3 displaying first followed by Tick.mp3, followed by Tales of a..... .mp3, and lastly Tc.mp3
Searching T**C, would result in Tick.mp3 displaying first followed by Toc.mp3, followed by Tales of a..... .mp3, and lastly Tc.mp3
Searching T****************C, would result in Tales of a..... .mp3 displaying first followed by Tick.mp3, followed by Toc.mp3, and lastly Tc.mp3

The reason i would suggest sending null wild cards to the end of the list is because there is no point in typing the wildcard if theres nothing between the characters (still you should display the result as windows does, just at the bottom of the list)

You can then sort any files with matching 'relevance' alphabetically..

Well, potentially, there is the entire AQS to support in the future. But of course, it doesn't necessary HAVE to support it. Current is good enough. But Explorer search box supports this and autocompletes its values:


email:
******
hasattachment:no/yes
is:attachment
attachment:
importance:high/normal/low
from:
to:
cc:
bcc:
isdeleted:no/yes
title:
hasflag:no/yes
isread:read/unread

before:MM/dd/yyyy
after:MM/dd/yyyy
dragging by date range
date:today, yesterday, thisweek, lastweek, thismonth, lastmonth, thisyear, lastyear
date:Sunday
date:January
modified:last week
created:
accessed:
date range separator ..

operators:
*********
NOT -:
OR for results matching x OR y
AND for both

documents:
***********
author: or authors:
title:
subject:
lastsavedby:
comments:
slides:
lastprinted:
CharacterCount:
lastsaved:
LineCount:
Pages:
ParagraphCount:
WordCount:
Protected:No/Yes

generic:
*******
size:empty,tiny,small,medium,large,huge,gigantic
size:>=100MB
size:>=

kind:contacts, email, im, docs, music, song, playlist, pics, pictures, videos, movie, folders, tasks, notes, calendar, programs, link, tv, journal, feed
type:
contenttype:
ext:
folder:
folderpath:
keywords:
tags:
attributes:
owner:
EncryptionStatus:Encrypted/Unencrypted
IsEncrypted:Encrypted/Unencrypted
url:

store:file, csc, mapi, oneindex15

music:
*******
album:
genre:
bitrate:>128kbps
duration:0:00
length:
year:>1977
track:10
lyrics:
rating:
composer:
conductor:

contacts:
**********
birthday:tomorrow
anniversary:yesterday

photos:
********
orientation:landscape
cameramake:nikon
datetaken:MM/dd/yyyy
dimensions:8x10
width:1600
height:1200
Bitdepth:
Compression:
HorizontalResolution:
VerticalResolution:
Aperture:
MaxAperture:
CameraModel:
DigitalZoom:
FlashMode:
ExposureTime:
ExposureBias:
Lightsource:
FocalLength:
ISOSpeed:
MeteringMode:
PeopleTags:
ShutterSpeed:
WhiteBalance:
ExposureProgram:
F-Stop:
ProgramMode:
Saturation:

video:
******
EncodedBy:
Video Compression:
Director:
DataRate:
FourCC:
Frameheight:
Framewidth:
framerate:
TotalBitrate:

programs:
***********
Program:
company:
copyright:
programname:
linktarget:

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Again i want to ask for a help for pin to start menu function of classic shell since i didnt got any answer. Is it possible to pin something in classic shell menu from an external software(by command link or by so api or registry or something)????

You have to create a shortcut either in the Start Menu folder or in the %APPDATA%\ClassicShell\Pinned folder.
Which of the two? It's hard to tell. It depends on multiple factors. The code is still in development so I can't tell you the exact algorithm at the moment.

I see. so normal shortcut will work? ok if that seems easy. thanks. i will add it later to my software as well.

@DimitarCC, sorry we took the conversation offtopic. Yes, a regular shortcut will work. But note that if using the Classic single column style or Classic with two columns style, the default is %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu and if using the Windows 7 style, the default is %appdata%\ClassicShell\Pinned. The registry key to determine the currently in-use style is: HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings : MenuStyle (string value).

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

thanks. i will keep it in mind. well is not so offtopic since this is experimental function in the beta version and is good if it works correct from every application.