10/10/2011 Topic: Why my Extension Manager doesn't work? Gianluca Administrator	A friend of mine asked for some clarifications about the way SyMenu Extension Manager works and why it seems not working in certain situations. Let's make a comparison with one other program that temporally maps some extensions to portable programs. I'm speaking about PortableFileAssociator (http://portableapps.com/node/15583). Certainly PFA works better than SyMenu Extension Manager but the reason is that it plays hard with your system. It adds the extension associations in your registry during its startup and then it restores the old associations when you quit it. The question is what does it happen if PFA crash? Have I to rerun it hoping that on quit it repair my extensions? Anyway this kind of programs are not literally portable because they change your system registry even if temporarily. SyMenu Extension manager (ExM) works poorly than PFA because it doesn't modify your system at all (no registry modifications, no file system modifications). SyMenu ExM works in an indirect way monitoring every new process in Windows. Let's make an example. If I double click C:\test.txt file in my PC, Windows, trough its extension association, passes test.txt file to notepad.exe that starts with that file opened. SyMenu ExM analyzes this new process and realizes that it was started by a file (SyMenu succeeded to get the file name because it's one of the argument of the process). Then it checks if this argument file has an extension managed by my SyMenu ExM (naturally it depends on my custom configuration). Just in case SyMenu quits the former process (notepad) and start the SyItem that manages the extension passing to it the file test.txt as argument. It's a very complicated process but sometimes it works :-) There are some processes that don't expose the opening file among their arguments. Office applications are in this group, Windows Media Player is another. One other case in which ExM can do nothing is when you open a file through open file menu... the process in this case is already active and SyMenu can't understand that you are opening something. Well miracles are difficult to do. Gianluca
11/10/2011 Topic: Why my Extension Manager doesn't work? Gianluca Administrator	Hello PoWi. I don't agree at all. A portable program can't alter your system even if the alteration is temporary. The registry is a fundamental part of a Windows system and the file association lies on a common part of the registry whereby your proposal is evil in my opinion Well I describe how PFA works to let you know why SyMenu ExM is not so powerful and to let you know a tool (PFA) that you can use to replace ExM if you don't care about the alteration of your system. Gianluca
02/12/2011 Topic: New 1.13 version is finally out Gianluca Administrator	Hello SyMan. Maybe you are a bit late. Yesterday I released the new version of SyMenu (1.14) and, as promised, I removed the ads from this new version.
02/12/2011 Topic: New version 1.14 released Gianluca Administrator	Hello to every SyMenu user. The 1.14 version is out and these are the SyMenu new features: Customizable recent items list New customizable elements added to SyProgram: Home page and Version Enhanced the flexibility in using the mouse on the configuration form tree New splash screen​ And only for the eyes of SyMenu lovers, here are some technical details: New zipping library (Ionic.Zip.dll) The item's guid (is a sort of identifier that SyMenu creates for every SyItem) is stored on the configuration file Configuration files are moved into the Config folder and are now compressed to increase performances ​The last news is very important because it become impossible to downgrade to a lower SyMenu version without losing the configurations. Well the configuration formats are not changed but now the file are zipped. So if someone wants to downgrade to 1.13 or lower preserving his configurations, he has to downgrade the program, unzip the configuration files and move them to the SyMenu root folder. The configuration files are now zipped because in some slow portable devices, the time lost to read and write these files represented a big problem. Zipping the files, the read/write operations become faster even if the program has to make some expensive operation in memory (unzip/zip data). If someone of you wants help with some manual benchmark (or personal sensations) please let me know. Enjoy. <em>edited by Gianluca on 12/2/2011</em>
12/12/2011 Topic: New version 1.14 released Gianluca Administrator	Hello Coastie. The reason for which the config files are zipped is not that they are big but that they are often read and written. In other words these files are accessed whenever you open the configuration form, when you change the SyMenu options and even when you starts applications because of the "recent" features. I don't want to create delays in all these moments. Accessing a light file instead of one heavier affects performances in slower system such as pen drives. The app icons are read only during startup because they are stored in memory during execution (it is one of the reasons for which SyMenu weight so much when you check it in Task Manager but it's the same reason because it is so fast in opening itself when you call the menu). Zipping the app icons in one single file could be a good idea but it is necessary to do some benchmarks to verify the performance in different system (slow access pen drive, fast portable HD, local HD and so on) because the only benefit is that you do a single access and not multiple accesses (zipping an ico file that weight few bytes doesn't affect its dimensions so much). I promise that I check this for future version and eventually I'll implement it. P.s. What do you think about a thread in this forum or a new page on ugmfree web site where we post the list of our personal SyMenu program collection? Is it interesting for you? My SyMenu contains 119 programs and I'm curious to discover new portable good programs and the list of SyMenu users could be useful to know it.
12/02/2012 Topic: version 1.15 Gianluca Administrator	Hi PoWi. The project is going on very well. The new version is a minor one (only some new labels and bug fixes) because the new feature I'm developing is very challenging. Indeed I'm implementing customizable mouse gesture for popping up SyMenu and any SyItem. Stay tune for 1.16 version. Gianluca
28/03/2012 Topic: Feature request - more compact menu Gianluca Administrator	Hi Olivier. I could implement a new option to choose among the normal view and the compat one but I need to study the problem before. Anyway the implementation could be included in 1.17 version because 1.16 will be released in a few days. Thank for your suggestion.
29/03/2012 Topic: Feature request - more compact menu Gianluca Administrator	Hi PoWi. The hot key you mentioned already exists... Go to the options in configuration form, tab "Hot keys", enable "Shortcut manager" and check the flag on "Set focus on search bar". I already thought to make the search sensible to any string even the ones inside the name, but it generates too much mess. I can create a custom option for this so if you can choose the behavior of the search. <em>edited by Gianluca on 3/29/2012</em>
29/03/2012 Topic: Feature request - more compact menu Gianluca Administrator	Ok now I understand. I add this on my (giant) TODO list
29/03/2012 Topic: Feature request - more compact menu Gianluca Administrator	You only say this because you haven't seen the new version yet!!!!!
10/04/2012 Topic: Thanks for 1.16 Gianluca Administrator	Hi Coastie. You're welcome. I hope that the new features are appreciated by all users.
13/04/2012 Topic: Better Search Feature Gianluca Administrator	Hi. I already set in my TODO list an entry to implement a new option to let you choose the searching system (the current one or your proposed one). I can't replace at all the current search mode with a search-inside-title mode because for some users (for me too) it creates too much noise in the result list. Regarding the reposition on the search bar when you type another letter I can try to work on it, but I don't know if it is possible to solve the problem because the component I used to create that menu works in that way... I don't know why. Anyway I promise that I will try to workaround the problem in some way.
13/04/2012 Topic: Easier SyMenuItem.xml access Gianluca Administrator	If I understand well you have a lot of programs configured in SyMenu and, in this situation, if you have the item configuration file unzipped SyMenu will load slower. One year ago the configuration files were unzipped and people told me that there was the speed problem. Now the loading speed is quite good so I fear that you'll have to unzip the file for a direct editing. Well, don't tell me that it is an heavy task
16/04/2012 Topic: Feature Request - Use Shortcut Name when Dragging Gianluca Administrator	Hi JC. You are right. I'll implement your suggestion in the next version.
16/04/2012 Topic: Easier SyMenuItem.xml access Gianluca Administrator	Hi guys. Since some time I'm thinking about a new layer of options. Currently SyMenu has a "core options layer" (SyMenuConfig.zip) that contains the customization you can set on Advanced - Options menu and an "items options layer" (SyMenuItem.zip) that contains the configuration for every SyItems. There are some occasion in which I would like to have a third layer for particular reasons. Think about a Firefox safe mode to understand what I mean. For example in the past I needed this further layer to activate debug (in debug mode SyMenu writes a log of its activities). Today if I want to activate the debug mode I have to recompile SyMenu and to use this different version. What a great thing if the third layer could be use to activate and deactivate the debug mode, or to force SyMenu to maintain its files unzipped. I thought that the third configuration layer could be based on the presence of some particular files inside the config folder. For example if I want to maintain my config file unzipped I have to add an empty file called NOZIP. If I want to activate the debug mode I have to add a file called DEBUG. When I want to deactivate this particular mode I have to delete the correspondent file. We can call them "Configuration flag files". Every configuration flag file could be documented in the manual and will be available only for expert users. This system is extensible with new idea and with new "alternative execution mode". What do you think about that?
16/04/2012 Topic: A Few More SyMenu Concerns Gianluca Administrator	Hi ineedh3lp. I would like to thank you very much for your suggestions. SyMenu lives thanks to its community collaboration and renews itself at every release thanks to the users' suggestions. This is the reason for which your participation is fundamental. So that don't apologize for your posts!!! Here my replies. 1 - Dragging a SyItem among two containers It's a really difficult feature to implement. I could try to solve it but I can't assure you that it will be implemented. 2 - Renaming separators If you think that it could be useful I can implemented it easily. 3 - Multiple item selection Well it is againsts the nature of a treeview. The problem is not the multiple selection inside the same node but the multiple selection inside more than a node. Windows itself doesn't allow the multiple selection inside the explorer treeview and I think that it is too difficult to implement in SyMenu. Anyway it is already possible to move an entire folder even with the current SyMenu version. 4 - Icon unique name You are right. Wait the next version for this. 5 - SyContainer description A description for containers could be really useful but I can't realize for which reason a container should have an url too. Next version for the folder description. 6 - Longer name for SyItem You are right. Current length limitation (35 char) is not due to xml limits but for other two reasons: - a RAM economy because every SyItem resides into your PC memory during SyMenu execution; - a graphical need because the SyItem names forces the contextual menu to be draw with a certain lenght. I can create an option to let you decide the max length but inside the contextual menu the long name should be cut the same to avoid oversized menu. I put this feature in my TODO list but with low priority 7a - Copy SyItem with drag and drop The copy of items with a simple drag is a great idea. Maybe I'll be able to insert it directly in the next version. 7b - Introducing a link relation between SyItems Well a copy is a copy. A link is a link. If I understand well you would like to have a copy that stay automatically updated for some elements (I imagine they should be the path, the icon...) and that could be loose with other elements such as the program arguments, the home page, the name... You want me dead, don't you?
16/04/2012 Topic: Feature Request - "Tools" item Placement Gianluca Administrator	Hi. Well in one of the next version I'll implement a new option for a "compact" menu mode. The default will always be "full" but if someone wants to work only with his items the compact view allows to group all menu options inside a single item, even the exit entry. This should be useful for you JC. The idea to entirely reconfigure the location of every single item in SyMenu (WOW!!! It should be great!) it is really really challenging for me.... If I should have more time.... Well more hotkeys is already planned: one for contextual and one for search.
17/04/2012 Topic: Feature Request - Drag shortcut to add program. Gianluca Administrator	Hi JC. This feature is already availble in SyMenu since 2010.
30/04/2012 Topic: Bug with 1.16 and mouse gestures. Gianluca Administrator	Hello nicedreams. The bug you report is very strange because I avoid to implement mouse gestures linked to left mouse button. The reason is exactly the one you describe. In Windows the left mouse button is actually used in a way that could collide with a mouse gesture management. The file dragging operation is one perfect example. SyMenu monitors only the gesture on the right mouse button (or the center button/mouse wheel if you configure it in that way). I can't understand why you have the problem with the left button instead. How is SyMenu gesture configured in your case? Right or center button? What happened if you change your SyMenu gesture button setting? Incidentally you have the mouse buttons switched? (it's a Windows setting for left handed person) Can you try to temporary disable the Logitech software and check if that solves the bug? If you can't workaround in any way your problem, you can disable SyMenu gesture at all.
01/05/2012 Topic: Bug with 1.16 and mouse gestures. Gianluca Administrator	I don't think that shutting down all the Logitech processes could change something because I think that interface with a multi button mouse needs a special driver instead. And you can't see a driver on the task manager. Anyway try to upgrade again to SyMenu 1.16 and configure the gesture manager with the middle button or disable this feature at all. If you discover some new detail please let me know.

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