Great companion software for Atlantis

[andygrunt]

A few days ago I discovered and installed PhraseExpress (free for personal use).

On the face of it, it's just text replacement software (like a Windows version of TextExpander for the Mac, if you're familiar with that) but as I'm discovering, it's much more than that. You can easily create macros to automate tasks and speed up your workflow which brings me to its usefulness with Atlantis.

For example, for quite a while I've wanted a button or keyboard shortcut in Atlantis to instantly switch between my 'day' colour scheme and a 'night' set so I don't have to interrupt my flow when it gets dark. When I asked about this in the forum I was told it didn't exist and wasn't likely to. This made me wish (as I've done several times since) that Atlantis had some kind of macro recorder functionality to automate this kind of thing. Now, though, I can simply use PhraseExpress.

It takes a little effort to figure out the macro (and it needs a little refining once I get more familiar with it - anyone know how to select a particular tab in the settings/options dialogue using the keyboard?) but now I have the ability to instantly change colour schemes with the use of a keyboard shortcut.

I've also automated various other little, repetitive tasks in Atlantis (such as moving selected blocks of text to certain parts of my document) and suspect I'll be finding new uses for it for some time to come.

Anyway, worth a look if you have a need to automate tasks in Atlantis.

[Robert]

anyone know how to select a particular tab in the settings/options dialogue using the keyboard

Hi Andy,
If you press "Ctrl+Tab", you'll cycle through the various tabs in the Atlantis "Tools | Options..." dialog. This hot key applies to all such tabbed dialogs.
HTH.
Cheers,
Robert

[andygrunt]

Thanks for that. I actually just stumbled across it after a Google.

Unfortunately, I can't rely on it alone as I can't be sure which tab will be selected when the dialogue box opens - it seems to depend what was last used.

So, I need a way to either directly select, say, the fifth tab or a way to first reset the 'current' tab to the first one. I was hoping Ctrl+1 would work (as it does in Google Chrome) but it doesn't.

[Robert]

If you use the Tab key and cycle through the various controls on a tab, at some point you’ll end up selecting the tab caption itself (it then becomes framed with a dotted line). When the tab caption is so framed (i.e. selected), pressing the Home key selects the first tab (the End key selects the last tab).

Unfortunately, I could not find a way to automatically select a tab caption …
HTH.
Regards,
Robert

[andygrunt]

Nice find. I’d tried the Home and End keys but not while the tab had the focus. Not sure if it solves my problem yet but thanks.

[Robert]

For example, for quite a while I've wanted a button or keyboard shortcut in Atlantis to instantly switch between my 'day' colour scheme and a 'night' set so I don't have to interrupt my flow when it gets dark.

Hi Andy,
This is not exactly what you were after, but it might fit the bill for you.

Here is from http://www.stereopsis.com/flux/:

f.lux™ Better lighting...for your computer
Ever notice how people texting at night have that eerie blue glow?
Or wake up ready to write down the Next Great Idea, and get blinded by your computer screen?
During the day, computer screens look good—they're designed to look like the sun. But, at 9PM, 10PM, or 3AM, you probably shouldn't be looking at the sun.
F.lux fixes this: it makes the color of your computer's display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day.
It's even possible that you're staying up too late because of your computer. You could use f.lux because it makes you sleep better, or you could just use it just because it makes your computer look better.
f.lux makes your computer screen look like the room you're in, all the time. When the sun sets, it makes your computer look like your indoor lights. In the morning, it makes things look like sunlight again.
Tell f.lux what kind of lighting you have, and where you live. Then forget about it. F.lux will do the rest, automatically.

f.lux is a free utility. I thought you might be interested.
HTH.
Cheers,
Robert

[andygrunt]

Thanks Robert - that is of interest.

After a quick try, I think I'd prefer it to go a bit further/darker as it's quite subtle and also to lose the colour tint. I'll use it for a few days to see how it goes.

[Robert]

Hi everybody,
It seems I was too hasty posting about “f.lux”. I just installed it on my Windows XP SP3 system. It almost immediately created a complete video, then system freeze. I had to press the reset button to reboot, Ctrl+Alt+Del would not work. To complicate matters further, “f.lux” had installed itself to run automatically at Windows startup. I had a hard time switching it off when Windows had rebooted. I uninstalled it and noticed that it had left plenty of junk behind. I had to do a complete system restore and get rid of the junk manually.

So beware. It seems that “f.lux” needs modern systems with powerful video cards and plenty of graphic memory.

And maybe “f.lux” isn’t worth the trouble after all…

[andygrunt]

I have to say, even on my ancient (2002), low powered laptop running Windows XP SP3, it worked fine for me and not a hint of the problems you had.

Even so, after reading your experience I just uninstalled it - not worth the risk for the minimal benefit.

[Sentosa]

A few days ago I discovered and installed PhraseExpress (free for personal use).

Hi Andy, On your recommendation I downloaded PhraseExpress and tried it.

I'm left wondering what it does that AutoCorrect doesn't?

BTW - be warned, I've so far been unable to uninstall it from my Win7 PC.

[andygrunt]

The difference is you can create macros with it to automate and speed up various tasks.

Apart from the colour changing example I gave, I have a number of them to add in various chunks of text. I also have another to move the selected bit of text to a particular part of the document (via a bookmark). Then there’s automating other tasks outside of Atlantis (Windows and the other apps you use). Naturally, how you use it and how much depends on your individual needs and it does require a slight shift in your thinking to start to see the possibilities but once you do, I’ve found it extremely useful.

I’ve never tried to uninstall it but I don’t see why there’d be a problem.

[Sentosa]

The difference is you can create macros with it to automate and speed up various tasks.

In 49 years of using computers I've never need a macro, so probably unlikely to need one now.

I’ve never tried to uninstall it but I don’t see why there’d be a problem.

Problem might lie with my 64-bit Win7. Uninstall won't work with it; a specialised high-level uninstaller can't even find it; and Task Manager can't find it.
Guess I'll learn to live with it.

[andygrunt]

In 49 years of using computers I've never need a macro, so probably unlikely to need one now.

Fair enough - each to his own.

Problem might lie with my 64-bit Win7. Uninstall won't work with it; a specialised high-level uninstaller can't even find it; and Task Manager can't find it.

You might want to try their support forums