XY does not show the Carbonite right-click menu option

[j_c_hallgren]

It's always possible to find an analogy to support whatever your position is. Now whether that analogy carries any weight with the user community is another matter entirely.

I was simply trying that as way of explaining why it's unfair to expect something that is apparently custom coded to work only on WE to also work on other products...

XY is billed as a WE replacement. I think most users would expect that it would do everything that WE does, but better.

Yes, it's billed as a replacement as Open Office is known as a replacement for Office but there are things that OO can't do either which Office does...I think XY does at least 98% of what WE does -- and -- if we insisted XY do everything WE does, then XY couldn't even have main menu options that didn't 100% match WE.

Carbonite is one of the leading, if not THE leading, providers of online backup.

They are at least one of the most advertised but may not be the best.

The right-click menu is an integral part of that product. XY will find a way to make it work or provide a usable workaround or they will not. Analogies and excuses are not likely to be worth much. It works or it doesn't. Right now, it doesn't.

You do realize there really isn't a "they" with XY, right? It's 99.99% a "he" as in Don...and he is limited by what the external Windows API's provide...if Carbonite has hooked into WE internals as it may have based on what little we know, there is nothing Don can do to match that...

I'll leave with this analogy: I can't expect an attachment specifically made for a Black&Decker tool to also work on a Makita tool unless that attachment is made to fit things common to all brands of tools of that type.

[mwb1100]

XY will find a way to make it work or provide a usable workaround or they will not.

I think this is right and based on the information from Carbonite's KB article, I think that only Don will be able to answer whether or not it is something that can be supported.

[Cynthia Moore]

I've checked with several other file managers. It looks like none of them are able to get the Carbonite right-click menu extensions to work. So it appears that Carbonite is either intentionally making this only work with WE or they have inept programmers and just don't give a damn. Based on a number of "features" in their UI, I'm voting for the latter.

If I get up the energy, I might send a complaint to Carbonite, but they have not been responsive in the past and their UI has been getting worse and worse for several years.

It looks like I have a few options:

• Give up and stay with WE. My least favorite option.
• Switch to XY (or some other alternative) and use WE just when I need the Carbonite right-click menu options. This is the simplest, at least in the short run.
• Find a way to invoke WE from XY for the active folder. This may be fairly easy to do. Any suggestions on how to do that? Can I add an option to the right-click menu?

[RalphM]

In order to open WE with the current folder you can put the following scripting command wherever scripting commands fit within XY (e.g. toolbar button, user defined command with shortcut, catalog, ...) but in its current form it's meant to be pasted into the address bar: (the syntax is slightly different in other places)

Code: Select all

::run "c:\windows\EXPLORER.EXE /n, /e, <curpath>"

But maybe there's even a better way.
I'm not familiar at all with Carbonite but if it can be started with command line options it might even be possible to create your own toolbar button with all the functions you need from Carbonite within XY.

[Cynthia Moore]

In order to open WE with the current folder you can put the following scripting command wherever scripting commands fit within XY (e.g. toolbar button, user defined command with shortcut, catalog, ...) but in its current form it's meant to be pasted into the address bar: (the syntax is slightly different in other places)

Code: Select all

::run "c:\windows\EXPLORER.EXE /n, /e, <curpath>"

But maybe there's even a better way.

That works perfectly from the Address Bar. After I finish learning how to use the basic XY functions, I'll look into scripting or some other way to get that to happen with a keyboard shortcut or toolbar button. Thanks.

I'm not familiar at all with Carbonite but if it can be started with command line options it might even be possible to create your own toolbar button with all the functions you need from Carbonite within XY.

I don't think Carbonite has a command line -- at least I've never used it that way. It's running all the time doing backups in the background. If I modify a file, it gets backed up immediately. It has an applet in the taskbar for general settings, but for operations on individual files, it uses the right-click menu.

The feature I use the most is "Restore previous version". Carbonite keeps a few previous versions of each data file on my hard disk in its cloud database. If I delete or modify a file by mistake or want to go back to a previous version, I just have to right-click on that file and select "Restore previous version". I get a little dialog with a list of the saved versions. I click on the one I want and within a minute or two, it reappears in that folder. That feature has saved my butt too many times to count. I couldn't live without it.

[highend]

Can I add an option to the right-click menu?

To the general context menu (this is not limited to XY): http://www.tucows.com/preview/375525/Fast-Explorer

It isn't developed any more but it still works flawlessly even on Win 8.1 x64. I use it >8 years to put my editors & other stuff into it.

[Cynthia Moore]

Can I add an option to the right-click menu?

To the general context menu (this is not limited to XY): http://www.tucows.com/preview/375525/Fast-Explorer

It isn't developed any more but it still works flawlessly even on Win 8.1 x64. I use it >8 years to put my editors & other stuff into it.

For it to work with your editors, they need to have a command line option, no? You add a menu option that calls the editor and passes it the name of the file to edit. Is that right?

I don't think this will work for Carbonite as it doesn't offer a command line, as far as I can tell. Otherwise, it would be a great solution.

[highend]

For it to work with your editors, they need to have a command line option, no?

Not a "command line option" but at least they must accept a file / files as a parameter when you call the program (which is not the same).
If carbonite doesn't allow to use a specific function of it (e.g. restore a file / backup a file) when called from an external program / shell extension / command line you are (ofc) out of luck. Although it still may be possible to control it with e.g. Autohotkey (but I don't use carbonite so I didn't test that).

[Cynthia Moore]

For it to work with your editors, they need to have a command line option, no?

Not a "command line option" but at least they must accept a file / files as a parameter when you call the program (which is not the same).

You don't "call" Carbonite. When you install it, it sets itself up to run on start-up. It is running all the time in the background monitoring the file system. When it notices that a file has changed, it schedules it for backup. When all files are backed up, it goes back to sleep.

If Carbonite doesn't allow to use a specific function of it (e.g. restore a file / backup a file) when called from an external program / shell extension / command line you are (ofc) out of luck. Although it still may be possible to control it with e.g. Autohotkey (but I don't use Carbonite so I didn't test that).

I have been meaning to look into a scripting language for several repetitive tasks. But I don't think they would solve this problem. Carbonite does put a little applet icon in the taskbar, but it is mainly for changing program settings such a pausing the backup, accessing the online help, and renewing my subscription. It does offer a "Restore" function, but it requires tedious navigation using the Carbonite UI, which is even worse than Explorer. Besides, I am right there on the file I want to restore. I shouldn't have to go looking for it somewhere else.

Is there a way to launch Explorer from the XY right-click menu and have it open the active folder and select the active file? If so, I could use the Explorer right-click menu options to access Carbonite. I'd try it myself, but my trial period expired.

It does annoy me that this well-known "problem" is not mentioned anywhere that a prospective user would be likely to see it. Carbonite is one of the most widely-used online backup programs. The user-friendly and responsible thing to do is tell prospective customers about any major incompatibilities, just like informing them that it won't work with some OS versions. On the Product tab, there's a line that says:

Dependencies: None that's not part of Windows anyways.

This statement is at least misleading. It implies that XY does everything that can normally be done in Windows, which isn't strictly true. There are several things that Explorer can do that XY cannot. These are the result of crappy programming by Microsoft and Carbonite and not the fault of XY, but they are limitations nonetheless. They ought to be listed prominently. XY is an Explorer replacement. Any features that it cannot replace should be disclosed. Anything else is at least misleading. Customers will find out eventually, and will then feel deceived.

There is another benefit to disclosing all limitations. It encourages solutions so the list can be eliminated. If there is a way to have XY launch Explorer so that I can then use it to launch Carbonite, that procedure can be disclosed as a work-around. If that had been on the website when I was researching XY, we would not be having this discussion and I would already be a customer.

[highend]

Is there a way to launch Explorer from the XY right-click menu and have it open the active folder and select the active file?

No, you can't edit XYplorers context menu in that way. But ofc you can use a keyboard shortcut, custom toolbar button, catalog entry to do so. But only as a pro user, scripting doesn't work in the free version.

E.g.:

Code: Select all

$option = (exists("<curitem>") != 0) ? "/select, <curitem>" : "<curpath>";
    run """explorer.exe"" $option";

Don' get me (personally) wrong, but everyone who is backing up things into "the cloud" (especially in the USA / GB) must be completely insane :/ For anyone who cares about his personal data "the cloud way" is the wrong way. But it's only me who thinks so. 99,9% of the users don't care about their data (anymore).

[TheQwerty]

Dependencies: None that's not part of Windows anyways.

This statement is at least misleading. It implies that XY does everything that can normally be done in Windows, which isn't strictly true.

That statement says nothing of the sort. It is not talking about what XY is capable of doing only about what XY requires to function.

XY depends on certain external pieces. However, these pieces are all a part of Windows already, and the only operating systems that XY supports are Windows, so those dependencies should already be present as part of the OS.


It is not feasible for XY to list all of the programs that attempt to extend Windows but do a pathetic, lazy attempt of it or have built such delicate software that they must restrict it to Windows Explorer only.


Between the trial and the free edition XY is doing more than enough to ensure customers can evaluate the product and make an informed decision before purchasing.

[Cynthia Moore]

Is there a way to launch Explorer from the XY right-click menu and have it open the active folder and select the active file?

No, you can't edit XYplorers context menu in that way. But ofc you can use a keyboard shortcut, custom toolbar button, catalog entry to do so. But only as a pro user, scripting doesn't work in the free version.

E.g.:

Code: Select all

$option = (exists("<curitem>") != 0) ? "/select, <curitem>" : "<curpath>";
    run """explorer.exe"" $option";

If that works, then I suggest it be tested, confirmed, and added to the [new] Workaround section of the Products tab.

Don't get me (personally) wrong, but everyone who is backing up things into "the cloud" (especially in the USA / GB) must be completely insane :/

Whoa... "Especially in the USA/GB"?

For anyone who cares about his personal data "the cloud way" is the wrong way.

And a better, more secure alternative is...?

But it's only me who thinks so.

Not at all. It's a large group. There are the Area 51 folks, the Grassy Knoll folks, the Creation Science folks, the followers of Michelle Bachmann who believe the HPV vaccine causes mental retardation, and any number of other enlightened groups.

99,9% of the users don't care about their data (anymore).

Did you take a poll?

[Cynthia Moore]

It is not feasible for XY to list all of the programs that attempt to extend Windows but do a pathetic, lazy attempt of it or have built such delicate software that they must restrict it to Windows Explorer only.

XY is an Explorer replacement. Any part of Explorer that it cannot replace should be listed. Otherwise, it's misleading.

Between the trial and the free edition XY is doing more than enough to ensure customers can evaluate the product and make an informed decision before purchasing.

That sounds like "caveat emptor". We know there are some things that it cannot do, but we aren't going to tell you. We even know about some decent workarounds, but we aren't going to tell you about those, either. What we will do is give you 30 days to discover them for yourself. Knock yourself out.

XY seems like a really good product and I may well end up buying it. But it could do a much better job of pre-sales information.

[highend]

And a better, more secure alternative is...?

Software wise? There are tons of good backup / sync software. Use something that stores revisions of backed up files as well (e.g. SyncBackSE). I for myself keep my data where it belongs: local. 1 x ARM device with a 2TB drive, 1 internal 2 TB drive, 1 external 2 TB. 3 different backup schemes (time wise). I've never lost a file in the last >20 years. Ofc all drives are encrypted (no, not with closed source software). Paranoid? Not at all...

If you need any data anywhere else, put it on a encrypted stick / drive and take it with you.

That's all too much and not as easy as a cloud service? That may be the case but I know one thing for sure: My personal data (and all the data that I preserve for my customers) won't fall into somebody's else hands.

Did you take a poll?

I don't need to.

I don't think that's the right place to discuss this thing in detail...

[Cynthia Moore]

I don't think this is the right place to discuss this thing in detail...

Well, at least we agree on one thing. But you started it.