Shandy's Blog

More updates to FTR

• 0.1.2.0: Updated text describing application in Splash/About screen.
• 0.1.2.1: Added option to disable disclaimer screen.
• 0.1.2.2: Allowed disclaimer screen to be loaded from main form menu.
• 0.1.2.3: Corrected problem where File Action entry was duplicated after editing and saving. MAJOR BUG FIX

The latest version of FTR is available as a zipped file: File Type Register

Just updated the FTR application with the following modifications:

• The vbCity About box now appears on the screen where the mouse cursor was when the menu entry was clicked.
• The File Extension text box has been replaced with a combo box that is populated with existing registered file extensions.

You can now download the latest version of FTR as a zipped file as File Type Register

What Is File Type Register?

File Type Register is an application that allows the user to maintain a list of applications associated with file types so that when you right click on a file in the windows explorer you get an entry on the shortcut menu.

Why File Type Register (FTR) & Why Beta 1?

The name may change once I get my imagination into gear and think up some witty name via acronyms ;-) I'm always one to jump onto a bandwagon and seeing as MS are going Beta mad I thought I'd release a Beta 1 of FTR too.

General Information

FTR started out as an idea I had whilst approving Russell Judge's FAQ, File Associations--The Hard Way. I had been looking for a project that I could develop my VB.NET (.NET 1.1) skills on and had been stumped to find a free application that allowed easy maintenance of entries in the windows explorer right click shortcut menu. Russell's FAQ gave me the knowledge I needed on how to go about this.

The Beta 1 is fully functional and tested on XP Pro (SP1) but in theory should work on W95 upwards. My intention is to keep developing it to learn new aspects of VB.NET. Please note that this application does amnipulate the Windows registry so I always advise you to back your registry up first. I've been using it for a couple of months now and have had no issues but I know from experience there always the outside chance of something going wrong! . My intention is to get my own web site up and running again and I'll keep an area of it for this application so that the latest version is available for download. Once the product is at its first post Beta version I'll also post it at vbCity. In the meantime if anyone would like a copy they can email me, Shandy, and I'll email you a copy. The zipped file size is currently 172K

And yes, the application and source code are available for free. The only requirments are that if you re-distribute the application you include the source code with it, do not modify the source code and you do not make any money out of it.

Future Enhancements

• Add user options.
• Make the text box where you type the file extension in a drop down with the currently registered file types listed.
• Email me with any requests.

Yes, I'm off on holiday (or an Andrew as it is now called in the vbCity moderator's lounge after a rather unfortunate sequence of events saw me take 3 separate holidays taking up 4 weeks between the beginning of March & the middle of May) from Wednesday 6th October until Wednesday 20th October. Taking up the second of my two annual flights I am allowed back to the UK by the company I work for. My wife, Helen, is already back having flown back last week. It's been 7 months since I was last in the UK and I can't wait to get back. I've rented my house out whilst I am over here in Sri Lanka so I relying on the charity of friends and relatives to put us up ;-)

When I sat down and analysed it the things I am most looking forward to are:

• Seeing my father. I talk on the phone to him every week but its not quite the same and chatting over a bottle of wine.
• Seeing my friends. Our aversion to communicating via either email or telephone is legendary so I have only exchanged a dozen or so emails with them all since I was last back.
• Seeing my cat Widget (she is being looked after by our lodger).
• A beer. A good old fashioned English (or Welsh/Scottish) beer served at a temperature that doesn't cause ice particles to form on my teeth and is of a sensible strength (i.e. around 4%) so that it doesn't cause me to keel over after drinking a couple of pints ;-)
• Fish and chips. Proper battered fish and proper chips. Not those tasteless things called french fries but the ones made from real potatoes :-D
• Good old fashioned British farmhouse sausage. In Sri Lanka, for some reason, they seem to find it acceptable to make chicken sausages. IMHO There are many acceptable places for a chicken to be and in a sausage is not one of them!
• Driving my car. I have no vehicle over here and rely on lifts to get to and from work. It's the single most disappointing thing being over in Sri Lanka and the one that really ruins the experience for me :(
• Seeing the trees in Autumn.

And the things I am most not looking forward to

• The weather.
• The prices.
• Not being able to log onto vbCity.
• The flights.

Another month and another .NET Fella & Helper Of The Month (HOTM) award at vbCity.

NET Fella

Congratulations to Russell Judge on winning the .NET Fella title this month (with a unamimous vote I might add). Russell has provided some excellent answers to .NET questions over the last few months and his name has been mentioned as a posible winner for several months now. I have particular reason to thank Russell as his FAQ, File Associations--The Hard Way, has provided inspiration for my first fully blown VB.NET application.

For those of you not familiar with the .NET Fella award at vbCity it is awarded each month by the leaders at vbCity to the poster who we think has contributed the most to the .NET forums within the last calendar month. The winner gets some prizes and the prestege of winning the award. There is only pre-condition and that is tha the winner must have either posted an FAQ or Article at vbCity. The voting for the .NET Fella award follows some guidelines but there are no hard and fast rules. Generally non-leaders are given preference. Each vbCity leader gets a vote which they make based on their own preferences. I personally base my vote on quality of posts, number of posts, general contribution to vbCity (including posts to Lounge forum) & length of time posting at vbCity. During the course of the month we post some likely candidates in the leaders forum, Serge posts the posting stats for the top 20 posters in the .NET forums and towards the end of the month we take a vote. Ged, as master of ceremonies, counts up the votes and posts the winner announcement.

So if anyone reading this has some .NET experience, likes to help others and fancies winning some .NET goodies why not come over to vbCity and join in the fun?

HOTM

Congratulations to Dries Neyrinck on winning the HOTM award. Dries has rapidly become our Crystal Reports expert and is one of the few HOTM to win based almost largely on .NET posts.

For those of you not familiar with our HOTM award it is awarded each month to the poster with the highest score in the Users Rating table. The winner gets some VB related prizes as well as the prestege of winning the award. There are several ways of getting points at vbCity:

• Post an answer to a question (3 points)
• Post a question (1 point)
• Post a FAQ (10 points)
• Post a devCity newsletter article (20 points)

Points are allocated the moment you submit your post. Obviously the leaders at vbCity monitor the forums, removing duplicate posts, checking that point harvesting (Usually when a poster sets up 2 accounts and answers their own questions with posts on their other accounts) nor point grazing (When a poster posts answers that have no relevance to the question) happens. Generally the system works well and its rare that the vbCity leaders have to intervene. It's worth noting that the points total up from when you join and only get set to 0 once you have won the HOTM award. The award is not for the poster who gets the most points during the month of the award. Points are awarded for posts in any forum, both .NET & VB.Old forums as well as the non VB forums like the lounge. When a poster wins the award they are made a vbCity leader and have access to the vbCity leader forums and have additional powers like moving/editing/deleting posts, approving FAQs etc. After a month a leader may choose to return to the ranks and try for the HOTM award again. Although several leaders have given up their leader status since I have been a leader at vbCity, none have gone onto win the HOTM award again.

So if anyone reading this has a good knowledge of VB.Old or .NET come on over to vbCity, get posting and join in the fun.