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Cerberus
Netherlands
86 Posts |
 Posted - 01/15/2012 : 19:24:59
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| Thank you for making this program! During my (limited) testing on XP, it has been very stable and reliable, more so than Strokeit. I am in the process of making the switch from Strokeit to either Just Gestures or Strokes Plus. (That is, I am mentally preparing myself to do so, despite Strokeit's fantastic name.) Both programs seem to be turning out very well. I saw your "donations to date: $0" and I couldn't resist donating a few bucks (I'm a student, or I would...). I hope things will progress well! |
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Rob
USA
2615 Posts |
Posted - 01/15/2012 : 21:59:06
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Why thank you! Don't hesitate to post any questions in the forum if you run into any special circumstances or issues as you make the transition, I'm always around to assist or even update S+ to accommodate, if needed.
I intend to stick around and be responsive. Plus, I'll state right now, that should the day come if I decide to not properly care for this program or life pulls me away, I'll open source StrokesPlus so others can continue my work. However, it's my baby for now (and for as long as I can see) and I intend to make it the standard for mouse gesture programs! |
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Cerberus
Netherlands
86 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2012 : 14:25:07
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That is very good to hear! Jeff from Strokeit has semi-abandoned it several times for at least a year. That is of course understandable, but it would have been much better for everyone if he had released it into the public domain. He has been away for a year or so now. So what mouse-gesture program did you use before you made SP?
At this moment, the main thing tying me to Strokeit is this:
And this:
And one or two more pages. I suppose there is no feasible way of importing all gestures and actions from Strokeit's .cfg files into Sp.
If you'd like me to mention some other things that I'd really like to see in SP even though they aren't absolutely required for me, I'll post that in the feature-request section. |
Edited by - Cerberus on 01/24/2012 14:26:04 |
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Rob
USA
2615 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2012 : 14:54:13
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Yea, I had thought about an import function and will probably work on it here and there, though not something within the app due to the pain in the butt nature of working in C++ for something like this (and my expertise level in it). I'm likely going to make it a web-based function here on the site, but I haven't really thought through it much. Something like uploading the cfg (or copy/paste) and receive the output XML node. Like I said, haven't spent any time on it. Since this isn't commercial, I will admit it hasn't been the highest priority since you're likely in the minority of folks who actually will ever donate anything!
Either way, though, if you send me your cfg files (removing any stored passwords!) to rob-at-strokesplus-com, I can use them as a template to build conversion functions, or just convert them for you...I was actually toying with the idea of offering that as a paid service, and since you have paid =) If nothing else, I'm sure I'll start to build a foundation for converting the common functions which carry over easily.
By all means, please post feature requests all you want! I may or may not get to them all depending on what they entail, but I'd rather have them here for tracking and coming back to if nothing else.
Rob |
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Cerberus
Netherlands
86 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2012 : 17:01:45
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I totally understand, I wasn't hoping for an import function. Besides, I only donated: that means I don't expect anything in return—just to show my support. I thought I might convert it myself with Regex someday, but both settings files look daunting. I will gladly send you my files, and it would be cool if they could inspire some conversion function. And if you find the time to convert my actions/commands, I would be overjoyed! But it may be a horrible ordeal, so don't feel obliged in any way.
I'm still interested in what happy circumstance brought you to create this program: were you a dissatisfied Strokeit user? Or didn't you have much experience with mouse gestures before? |
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Rob
USA
2615 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2012 : 17:27:47
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Oh I know you didn't donate expecting any special treatment, but like I said, working your files will give me something to work with. I'm the type who works better with a purpose, rather than just making conversion scripts for the fun of it.
So anyway, I first came across StrokeIt in 2004, so i was no newbie to mouse gestures. I thought StrokeIt was about the best thing since sliced bread. There were some shortcomings which I really wanted, but nothing that was that big of a deal. The idea to make my own gesture program stemmed from not only my own wishes for additional functionality, but also in reading posts from other loyal, but sometimes frustrated SI users who, like me, were disappointed by the lack of responsiveness from Jeff. Now, I don't ever want to come across in any negative way towards Jeff, what he created was an amazing thing; it was just unfortunate that he wasn't able to keep up with the app and user requests.
I tinkered with various code snippets I found on the web to recognize gestures, but nothing was worth a damn..so while I made my own personal utility to add some of the functionality I was looking for, I still felt the urge to build my own SI like app, but without the gesture recognition, there was nothing to do.
A few years later in 2009, I came across High Sign on Codeplex (by Dylan Vester) which was the only legit gesture recognition engine/code I'd come across. I joined the project and contributed to the app for a month or two, but I felt strongly that an app like this needs to be lightweight, where High Sign required the .NET framework and thus was very heavy. Dylan wanted the app to continue, rightfully so, in the framework direction, but I branched off in my own direction of making a native app.
I ported the gesture recognition code (again, this recognition is solely the fantastic work of Dylan Vester) to C++ and started building S+. I was making decent progress until Jeff finally decided to pop his head up and update SI for Vista. With that, the steam for my app was lost and I shelved it.
Then, in December of 2011 I was browsing My Documents, looking through files and folders for the heck of it and I came across StrokesPlus. On a whim, I decided to see what I'd need to compile it and mess around, but many things were missing or methods which I was in the middle of trying to get working, but I wasn't happy with back then. So I started working through the code, removing chunks until I could get back to compiling and tinkered around.
And tinker I did! As the days passed, I realized I was in full swing and became determined to finish it this time around.
There you have it :-) |
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Cerberus
Netherlands
86 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2012 : 17:39:51
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Ah, that is good to know. I completely agree about Jeff. I'm very glad that you managed to finish Strokes Plus in such a short time! I think I tried High Sign once; I don't remember exactly why I stuck with Strokeit. I've been using Strokeit for a long time as well; could be 2004, but I really can't remember. I'm getting the impression that High Sign is no longer under development?
Strokes Plus may already be the current standard! Its sole competitor is probably Just Gestures, which I must say is also very good. |
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Rob
USA
2615 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2012 : 17:52:39
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I agree, Miroslav has done a wonderful job on Just Gestures.
Honestly, I see JG and S+ not as direct competitors. JG is geared towards an average PC user, lots of nice presentation and GUI elements. The price of this being the. NET framework is required which makes JG much heavier in terms of requirements and RAM usage.
StrokesPlus is aimed at advanced users. It's not going to hold your hand and walk you through a wizard to accomplish something. But it also provides an enormous amount of power and flexibility which I've yet to see any other program come close to touching.
If you compare them based on the defaults, they both present similar in what actions are available, but I think there hasn't been anyone who has truly flexed StrokesPlus' muscle...not even me, to be honest. I've only laid the foundation for incredibly granular control and functionality. The increment volume action is about the most complex action which isn't really anything extravagant at all.
So I'd say it's Just Gestures and StrokesPlus at the forefront, for different audiences. Which I think is good :-) |
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Cerberus
Netherlands
86 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2012 : 18:02:27
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| Right, that was my impression of the differences as well. As to flexibility, I have a confession to make: I have most gestures in Strokeit programmed to execute hotkeys, so that Autohotkey can pick them up and do the more complicated things. So I'm afraid I may not be using much of SP's Lua power <ducks thrown Lua manual>. I'm mainly looking for a quick, stable program with strong gesture recognition and an interface that provides a good overview of all my gestures and actions. I just don't know Lua at all, except the bit I tinkered with to try a few things in SP, and I have much of my stuff already in AHK. |
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Rob
USA
2615 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2012 : 18:09:45
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| Understood. Many folks love AHK and I don't blame them at all, it's a great app with a rich and active community, though I never really got into it myself. I added Lua because it's been an accepted and open scripting engine I could drop into StrokesPlus. |
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Good program!
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