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A word to the over-eager

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    #46
    Well, then I guess Irfan will have to reconsider his choice...

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      #47
      Reconsider what? to associate TXT files with IrfanView? which is expressly what I was talking against.

      No matter what size file you open, be it many lined, or very wide single lines, the text will probably be too small to view without zooming. And if you do zoom then you will need to scroll up/down or left/right or both!! to view as something readable. And even if it were readable, it won't be editable unless you open in some text editor. So what's the point?

      Just associate TXT or as-text file (IE .CSV or .PS or .BAT or .LST or .INI, etc.) with a text editor and you will be more satisfied with what happens.
      I wish to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather.
      Not like those passengers, in his car, when he drove over that cliff.

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        #48
        Originally posted by ChuckE View Post
        Reconsider what? to associate TXT files with IrfanView? which is expressly what I was talking against.
        ..but you are the only one who is talking about associating TXT files with Irfanview, ChuckE. I certainly don't want to do that and the original poster on this thread, Ibdude, who raised the subject and so upset you, did not ask for it either.

        I usually associate a file type with the program that can produce and edit it. So file types like .pdf are not associated with Irfanview. Many of your objections to Ascii format files are equally true about pdf files, but clearly from the letters on this forum a lot of people do choose to open them with Irfanview.

        Since I Browse using Fit to window, a text file does usually display too small to read, but you do immediately see the size and shape of the contents, unlike a text editor or word processor. It shows up where there are long lines and how many there are. That is useful to know and does let me decide whether to press Ctrl+H to read the contents, or to send it elsewhere.

        Since Skippybox has pointed out the File..Open as..Ascii file option let me restate my proposal as;
        "An option to specify a list of file types to be automatically opened when passed to Irfanview using File Open as Ascii instead of File Open"

        Someone else may want to argue a case for Open as Raw and Open as Hex too.

        Comment


          #49
          First off, I am not "so upset" Good grief! can't someone express an opinion without being taken as being upset? If I was upset there would be no doubt of it, and anything I have said in this thread yet has not shown me to be upset. Don't be so sensitive as to mistake an opinion, other than your own, to be so exaggerated.

          Second, the original poster to this 26June2007 thread was actually matera and that person titled this thread as "A word to the over-eager" and was about adding more and more features, creeping "feature-itis" for want of a name. The thread got quiet for over a year, when it was resurrected in August of 2008. Then it got quiet again for months to be once again brought up by lbdude in July2009.

          Thirdly, it was lbdude who suggested that IrfanView performed "the basic reading of various text formats like e.g. csv, csl and gedcom."
          I do like the idea that certain defined file types could be defined to open as text, as you said in msg#40, and then have a "Treat as TXT" option to be added to the Browsing/Editing area. That would be a good compromise if one really needed to see the text data inside of those file types. I just did not want the click-to-open association made.

          But even if those files get allowed to be viewed as text within IrfanView, there is so very little that can be done with a text type file when viewing it as a graphic. You can't select, or edit it at all - not as text, anyway.

          ---
          OK, so here is what I suggest, as a compromise, and it works right now, within IrfanView:

          1st) add the filetype extensions to the Properties, Extensions, custom file types. In my case I added "CSV|INI|" Doing that will show all your desired files within the Thumbnail view. (Note, PS is already there.)
          2nd) Add the external editors of "Notepad" and "WordPad" to the Properties, Miscellaneous area. (You might use one or the other, but I added both.)

          Then when you see your text-type of file in the Thumbnails, just right-click that item, and select "Open with external editor" and your choice of text editor.

          Why do I have both text editors?
          The Notepad is great for a simple fast text editing job. But it gets messed up when there are not the expected line-ends in certain types of files, like PS (Postscript) files.
          Also, if a text-type of file is really, really large, or if the lines are really, really long before the next new line code, then the file will open up slowly in Notepad. WordPad is much faster in opening such files.

          Seems to work here. So, lbdude, see if that works for you. You could then open, and even edit, those text-type of files, all within the selection of IrfanView.
          I wish to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather.
          Not like those passengers, in his car, when he drove over that cliff.

          Comment


            #50
            I know that the OP for the thread was Matera. I described Ibdude as the "original poster" on the subject currently being discussed because I find "poster" on its own a rather confusing term.

            I agree entirely with what Matera said right back at the start and when I make Feature requests myself it is usually just a request for tidying up something that is already included in IrfanView and not a venture into a completely new area.

            IV does already have a text viewer and any (English) plain text file can be displayed using File Open as ASCII file from the menu. If you try to use File Open, or one of the many other supported ways of opening files, then IV cannot identify it as a text file from a header, nor from the file extension unless it knows that extension to be a text format. To rectify that by allowing users to specify those extensions falls into my definition of tidying up. Whether displaying any particular text file is useful or not comes within my definition of "water under the bridge" as far as IV is concerned.

            Comment


              #51
              Originally posted by ChuckE View Post
              I do like the idea that certain defined file types could be defined to open as text, as you said in msg#40, and then have a "Treat as TXT" option to be added to the Browsing/Editing area. That would be a good compromise if one really needed to see the text data inside of those file types. I just did not want the click-to-open association made.
              Why would it? IrfanView doesn't offer TXT as a choice to associate, so why would other similar formats be created as choices, that equally don't make sense as associations. Even so, you can't stop anyone from associating if they wanted to, since you can always add a custom association in Properties>Extensions or Windows. Sure, there is no real use to do so, but it can't be prevented. Anyway, since IrfanView always asks you, what you want to associate, I don't see a problem for you. Are you just concerned that people will make a text association, and complain about it later when they don't understand their "mistake"?

              But even if those files get allowed to be viewed as text within IrfanView, there is so very little that can be done with a text type file when viewing it as a graphic. You can't select, or edit it at all - not as text, anyway.
              That's not really a problem. IrfanView is a viewer and that's all anyone mostly wants to use it for, with regard to text formats. Nobody who is skimming wants to necessarily edit or edit in IrfanView. It is similar to viewing images. One's goal is not to do some advanced alpha channel editing, but to just take a look at some images in IrfanView.

              Sure, IrfanView has some editing capability and seems like a Swiss army knife, but that is not its primary focus. So, there should not be a realistic expectation that IrfanView could somehow edit your text when shown as a bitmap; it's not a universal viewer. Yes, some users are not fully aware of IrfanView's limitations, but I'm sure people don't use IrfanView alone, and they understand that a variety of other apps are necessary for managing their files to their full extent.

              Comment


                #52
                Right on..
                0.6180339887
                Rest In Peace, Sam!

                Comment


                  #53
                  I believe IrfanView's objectives are to be light, lightning fast, easy to use and rock-stable. Despite adding on Batch Conversion, basic image editing, Multimedia, e-Mail, Screen Capture, Scan, OCR, Multipage Images and other capabilities (did I miss anything out??), IrfanView remains true to all that.

                  Lite versions are for software that have a steep learning curve - like GIMP and PhotoShop. I am hard pressed to pick a software (not just image viewers, I mean ANY software!) that is as easy to use as IrfanView, so personally I do not think that a 'Lite' version will help!
                  Download IrfanView Help Manual from:
                  IrfanView Website - Here
                  Sam_Zen's Website - Here
                  Author's Website - Here

                  Comment


                    #54
                    i don't see a swiss knife in irfan view it's as bold as an ms-dos cmd window in my opinion

                    Comment


                      #55
                      Originally posted by Owyn View Post
                      i don't see a swiss knife in irfan view it's as bold as an ms-dos cmd window in my opinion
                      A Swiss Army Knife is a handy, easy-to-use toolkit to have around you. And IrfanView is that, in my opinion! For, you have all the basic image editing requirements plus a few nifty add-ons - like the e-Mail, Scan, Kadmos OCR, Multimedia and other Plug-ins!

                      These add-ons aren't available in packages like GIMP and PhotoShop, which are hundreds of times bigger (and more complex to use!) than IrfanView!

                      Not sure if I quite understand the bit about the Bold MS DOS window though...
                      Download IrfanView Help Manual from:
                      IrfanView Website - Here
                      Sam_Zen's Website - Here
                      Author's Website - Here

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