Launchy

Hi all, Time for a new beta. I'm happy to say that OS X has been folded into the list of supported platforms. Not much else has changed, please grab the appropriate beta for you and let us know what you think! http://www.launchy.net/25Beta2/ Josh & Simon

I should mention that there are Debian/Ubuntu Linux packages available as well at that site.

Woohoo! Thank you!

it seems that browsing directories "tab" doesn't work on selected item. It worked on beta1 (os: win xp)

Yay!

Unfortunately you appear to be right. Tab on browsing the file system doesn't work.

Hi, I'm glad that development of my mostly used app is still ongoing :) Now to my (partially fixed with this beta) problem: Some 64 bit apps would not show icons or launch in version 2.1, although they were indexed in this beta (2.5) they launch, but they still miss icons (You can try with speed commander 64 bit free trial, or adobe photoshop 64bit) And a request: could you make launchy somehow index control panel, or windows 7 options? like if i were to type: "add remove" launchy would suggest "add remove programs" etc if you were to incorporate this into lauchny, i think it would be the most perfect launcher :) I would also appreciate if someone knows of a plugin that does just that. Thank you ! :)

Yes, i forgot to mention I'm using windows 7, 64 bit, sorry for double posting

Doesn't Controly index the control panel for you? I suppose it might not work as well on 64 bit as it does on 32 bit.

Just checked with vmware image, windows xp, 32bit... it works... dispalys "add remove programs" and all of the other control panel items. It works for SOME windows 7 64 bit control panel items, but not all... most notably "uninstall programs" is missing :( will there bi a fix for that?

Hi, when I use the default search on web-thing (i.e. I write some search term in launchy, and since launchy can't find the program, it searches google instead) it always searches for %1, so something is wrong here.. It does this for all search engines. If i first type google and hit tab to search on google, it works however

miloskaurin, on my Win7 64-bit, it's no longer called "Add/Remove Programs"; it's "Programs and Features", and Launchy has no problem with it.

jledv, Thank you! I did not know the exact name of "Programs and Features" because windows 7 has aliases when you try to search via start menu. It would be awesome if controly plugin knew those aliases. Do you have the same problem with 64bit program icons not showing? (at least they launch - they dident launch in ver 2.1) And does anyone know how to set aliases for controly plugin?

moloskaurin, there are two ways to make aliases for Launchy: 1. Use the Runner plugin (which could use a better gui - typing into those tiny, non-expanding fields is not very user-friendly) 2 Or, you can just create shortcuts in a location that Launchy indexes. You can put them in the Utilities folder in Launchy's install directory (which may be a pain due to UAC protections on program folders), you can make a folder in your start menu, or you can make a folder anywhere and tell Launchy to index it. Then, just drag-and-drop items from the control panel and rename the resulting shortcuts to anything your heart desires. I guess I do see the problem with 64-bit program icons. It's never bothered me because I don't pay attention to the icons and I don't have many 64-bit programs. Cheers. Joe

jledv, you are right about the icons. I usually see the launchy window maybe 0.5 seconds per program activation :) Thanks for the tip. I will add some control panel shortcuts!

I’m very happy to see that development is picking up, and performance does seem generally improved. Good job, and thanks. However, there are a lot of problems with this beta. Here are 4 that I just confirmed: 1. There’s a problem with the suggest code in Weby that causes Launchy to crash randomly when you type too fast. Steps to reproduce: type Google or something and hit tab, then hold down a letter for a while. Then hold backspace for a while. Repeat as needed. This method crashes me every time. Commenting out the line “suggest.run(suggestUrl, text);” appears to fix the problem. The crash looks like a buffer overflow somewhere, but it’s tough to tell where. 2. Regression of functionality: Weby can no longer visit base sites. For instance, if I type “YouTube” without pushing tab and push enter, I expect to be taken to the YouTube homepage. Instead it just searches for “%1”. This feature, while existent in previous versions, was actually broken in the last build. Some kind soul created a patch to fix it though. I’m very disappointed to see that it has been *removed* rather than fixed. This issue alone would prevent me from upgrading. 3. Still can’t open files or folders on network shares. I submitted a patch for this ages ago, and updated it when I saw it was still not fixed in beta 1. It’s a super simple fix. *PLEASE* implement it. https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&aid=2037151&group_id=132975&atid=725841 4. Still can’t launch certain 64-bit apps. Again, some kind soul compiled a 64-bit version of the last build; why is the beta still 32-bit only? If you need something to test with to demonstrate the necessity of this, try the program “Snipping Tool” which is included in Vista and 7 in the Accessories folder in the Start menu. Launchy will not launch it on 64-bit installations.

And this is exactly why we release betas ;-) There are so many ways you can use Launchy, it's difficult for 2 guys to spot all the bugs in their spare time. Keep the bug reports coming. In answer. 1. We disabled suggest by default for 2.5, but if you've been running your own build at any point, your Launchy.ini will contain suggest URLs and as a result Launchy will be unstable. Just remove the suggest= values to stabilise it. If you could submit a patch that fixes the crashes - the suggest feature is fundamentally flawed as Launchy doesn't like getting results asynchronously - we'd be very grateful. 2. Good spot, it's not been removed intentionally. Pity Sourceforge doesn't notify me via email when patches are submitted... 3. Haha, I fixed this earlier in response to a frustrated post in the other beta thread. Didn't realise there was a patch for this already (see 2). Where is the patch? 4. Can't answer that one I'm afraid, I'm 32 bit only.

The link in my previous post is the patch for #3.

@simonca I see your comment that you fixed the problem where network folders cannot be opened. I am very grateful that you took care of this, and I look forward to the next beta (or RC) to enjoy its implementation. Please pardon my frustration from my previous post. Keep up the excellent progress - I will continue to test betas and promote Launchy. Truth be told, I could not work without Launchy, it must provide at least a 30% productivity boost for me.

Launchy 2.5 Beta works incorrectly in portably mode. The .db file in Launchy folder are created only in first time and no more have later saves, when exiting Launchy. Program wants to continue to work with old /userprofile/Launchy/ folder, which was created by setup. If delete this folder, new “portable” files is ignored anyway, and after restart catalog data is lost, always I need rebuild catalog. Sorry, my English not so good.

Okay, I see in the runProgram function that there is code which tries to solve the 64-bit shortcuts problem. Unfortunately, this only works for programs that happen to be in Program Files. It's also the cause of your icon woes. This is a bandaid on the real problem of not having a real x64 build. I've confirmed that Launchy has absolutely no problems compiling as x64. The only thing you need to do is compile Qt using Visual Studio's x64 command prompt. I've compiled it myself (with the bandaid code removed) if anyone wants to try it: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=24QBKUPQ Just extract it to the beta installation directory, overwriting the existing files.

Icons working with this 64bit build, thanks!

Thanks!

Bugs fixed for the next release Weby %1 search bug Portable mode being unsticky Also updated my skins page with 2.5 skins and a new one with massive icons for Vista/Win7 users.

Thanks for the skins link, i love Mercury Vista! Will there be any official 64bit builds when 2.5 comes out of beta? masamunexgp's 64bit build has resolved the icon and launching of 64bit apps issue, that is why I'm asking