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List:       kde-look
Subject:    Re: Suggestions on Multiple Desktops and Copy/Paste from a Mac
From:       Mark Stosberg <mark () summersault ! com>
Date:       2001-10-28 22:05:19
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On Sat, 27 Oct 2001, Dave Leigh wrote:

> Every new Unix user has an issue wtih Copy/Paste. After a little use, the
> benefits become evident. I realized it was much better when I found myself
> trying to use it when I went back to Windows, and being frustrated when it
> wasn't there. It's a lot faster, for instance when editing text, and when
> you're filling in web forms that require you to enter a field, then re-enter
> the same data in another field (often happens when webforms request e-mail
> addresses, for example). In Unix you simply highlight the address you
> previously entered, point, and click the middle mouse button.

I have a feeling I'm participating in a conversation that's happened before, but I'll contribute
my two cents any way. :) I'm a very keyboard-oriented person. I like to use keystrokes whenever
possible so I can save the time of a trip to the mouse, and stay in the flow of typing. So not
having a standard keystroke to paste bugs me and feels slower. (Although I don't doubt there is
a way to  bind a keystroke to pressing the middle mouse button).
>
> I'd suggest you familiarize yourself with Klipper to address your other
> concerns.  Instead of maintaining a single copy buffer, Klipper lets you
> access the last *several* selections that you made, which is extremely useful
> when you want to keep a piece of text to be pasted in several times, and
> incidentally have to cut and paste in the meantime.  With Klipper, you don't
> have to go back and re-select the original text. I find myself using it quite
> a bit when coding, for example.  Also, Klipper can have actions associated
> with copied text that matches a regular expression.  This allows you to do
> things like simply highlight a URL in a text document and open it in a web
> browser, WITHOUT having to copy the URL and paste it back into Mozilla. It's
> actually easier than what you're currently doing!  I think it's clear that
> the benefits of Unix's copy method far outweigh the minimal learning curve.

I have discovered Klipper and like it a lot. It is in fact how I solve the "paste into Mozilla"
problem. I have a couple minor issues related to it:
 * I removed it's icon from the tray at some point and I can't figure out how to get it back.
However, since I can access it via the keyboard shortcut still (my prefered method), I don't
worry too much about being able to see it in the tray.
 * I like that it tries to be smart about helping me to open URLs. However, I was disappointed
to see that it was slower to use this then to copy and paste the URL into Konqueror, because
Klipper seems to launch a new copy of Konqueror  instead of talking to an existing one. (I seem
to remember this is a known issue that is being addressed with threads vs processes).

For those of you familiar with the Mac, you may know of the CopyPaste utility. It's a bit like
Klipper on steriods. In addition to remembering recent clipboard contents, you can also copy
and paste into specific clipboards (for example, Cmd-C 1 goes into clipboard 1, Cmd-V 1 Pastes
from Clipboard 1, etc. This is very nice when doing something like copying the name,address and
phone number fields from one place to another. It also has several functions to work on
highlighted text, including removing 2+ spaces, removing 2+ carriage returns, and more. Having
this little toolkit available across all applications is very nice.  I think Mac OS X has the
same spirit with it's "Services" menu, but I haven't explored that much yet. In summary: I
think Klipper is great and hope it continues to grow.

More info on CopyPaste is here:
 http://www.scriptsoftware.com/copypaste/

> > CLOCK IN TOOLBAR
>
> The only problem I have with this is that it "bastardizes" the toolbar a bit.
> Metaphors shouldn't be mixed like this. I'd suggest that if you want a clock
> in the upper-left corner, then you should simply use the Autostart folder to
> start a clock app that's always on top and positioned in the upper left
> corner (floating above the toolbar). You could use "xclock -digital -brief"
> or something like it to do the job.

Ah, nice idea. Thanks.

       -mark
http://mark.stosberg.com/

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