cuatroes...
Install was effortless.
When launched after install, it opened in the background,
behind other open windows. A way to get it to open on top
would be preferable.
The downloads folder is created as C:\downloads_folder by
default. First, my main system is on the D:\ drive, and it
would be preferable if the program were able to determine
this and place it there accordingly. Second, many users
object to programs installing a folder like this under
the main drive - especially download folders, since many
programs create other download folders in other locations,
which the user may prefer to use for this application, as
well. A more appropriate location for the default download
folder would, perhaps, be a sub-directory of the program's
main folder. I see that the folder can be easily reset, so
mentioning this in a readme.txt which can be opened at the
end of install would be good.
The default downloads folder is also not deleted when
a different location is selected, producing an orphaned
folder, which isn't good, even if it's removed by an
uninstall.
An icon on the taskbar tab would be helpful (when the
program is open, it shows a tab on the taskbar). Or, since
it minimizes to the system tray (which I like), and can be
restored from there easily, the taskbar tab could actually
be eliminated altogether.
When I entered a URL with no .html or .gif extension into
a tcd file [ http://www.tcd.com ], e.g., and clicked on it
(while having an instance of the tcd program already open,
it opened a second instance of the program, rather than
reverting to the window already opened. Of course, it didn't
download anything, since I hadn't entered any extensions,
like .html or .jpg. When I clicked the Stop button, the
button greyed out, but nothing changed. When I closed this
second instance, both instances closed (reverting to the
system tray). The first instance had TcD.in in the title
bar the second instance had the filename in the title bar.
Clicking on the trash can didn't remove the filename from
the title bar. The file count did change to 0, but it
might be good to remove the filename from the titlebar,
as well, for further confirmation.
When I entered a URL with an .html extension, and clicked
on the .tcd file, it estimated total size and then stopped,
without downloading anything. Ah! It wasn't immediately
obvious to me that I needed to click on the download icon
to begin the download. I thought that double-clicking the
file or selecting one from the 'Open a TCD file' navigation
would begin the download automatically. Part of my confusion
was from where you said, "A line with just the word 'get'
should automatically start downloading all listed URLs".
Perhaps you leave that step in to allow the user to cancel
if the total estimated size of the download is prohibitive.
When I downloaded some image files and clicked on the
magnifying glass, per the useful prompt, it opened
Explorer to the download directory. Good.
Icons are intuitive enough, and Tool Tip prompts add the
finishing touch.
The hardest part was creating and editing the .tcd files,
and I have an advantage over most users, in that I can
"Send To" the .tcd file to Notepad, without having to rename
it to a .txt extension. The other hard part is acquiring
the URLs for the target images. You indicated that you're
working on a site which will make that process easier.
Aside from that, it would be helpful, in terms of acquiring
images from directories, if one could list the main URL in
which the images are contained, followed by the list of image
filenames, as in:
http://www.tcd.com/images/
anchor.gif
banner.gif
title.jpg
etc.gif
And, of course,
http://www.tcd.com/images/*.gif
http://www.tcd.com/images/*.jpg
would be even easier.
All in all, a very good Beta. It sounds like it's meant to
work in conjunction with a site which will make the
acquisition of URLs for the .tcd files, or the .tcd files,
themselves, easier. Then it should be just great!
Please do not rate this answer until you are satisfied that
the answer cannot be improved upon by way of a dialog
established through the "Request for Clarification" process.
A user's guide on this topic is on skermit-ga's site, here:
http://www.christopherwu.net/google_answers/answer_guide.html#how_clarify
sublime1-ga |
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
02 May 2005 15:55 PDT
cuatroes...
Sorry about the confusion - I was writing as it happened, so
the writing reflects the confusion I was experiencing. You're
right in that simply entering the URL, with no extension, will
download the index.html (though it names it 'www.google.com',
and it would be nice if it changed it to an .html extension,
so someone doesn't click on it and get a Command error).
When I wrote that it downloaded nothing, it was because I
was expecting it to download automatically, as I noted, and
hadn't learned that I needed to click on the download button
to activate the actual download. Thinking the download had
failed because I didn't include any extensions, I clicked
the stop button and gave up on that idea. Subsequent to your
Clarification, I now see that it works fine.
What's also interesting is that you wrote the command:
://www.google.com
get
I'd been using:
get
://www.google.com
It works fine, either way... : )
A separate issue was that, prior to clicking on the .tcd
file, I already had an instance of your program open.
That is, there was already a window up, waiting for, say,
input from the "Open a TcD file" dialog. So, when I went
into Windows Explorer and clicked on the .tcd file I'd
created, instead of shifting focus to the program window
that was already opened, it opened a separate instance,
with a separate icon in the system tray.
This actually confused me into believing that clicking
the X at the top-right, to close the program, merely
minimized it to the system tray, as is the case with
some other programs. I thought this because I didn't
initially see the two icons in the system tray, so
when I closed one instance and still had an icon in
tray from the other instance, I didn't realize it
was from the other instance, and not the one I'd just
closed.
And, to elaborate on what I wrote before:
The first instance (which I'd opened from the Start menu)
had TcD.in in the title bar. The second instance (that I
opened by clicking on the .tcd file) had the filename in
the title bar. Clicking on the trash can didn't remove
the filename from the title bar (after I completed the
download process). The file count did change to 0, but
it might be good to remove the filename from the titlebar
(or revert it to TcD.in), as well, for further confirmation.
Having the program shift to the already-open instance,
if there is one, would resolve this confusing behavior.
Otherwise, every time you click on a .tcd file (even the
same file), you get a new instance of the program, and
a new icon in the system tray.
I hope that clarifies everything. If not, please feel free
to ask more questions.
sublime1-ga
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