Tool "Textify" - Summary (english)

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tuska
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Tool "Textify" - Summary (english)

Post by *tuska »

This tool offers many advantages, among others it supports - for example - me in creating forum posts.
Therefore I take the liberty of publishing this summary in this forum.
Tool "Textify"

Textify is a tool which allows to select and copy text from many places in Windows where it’s not possible otherwise.
This includes error messages, dialogs, lists, and even elements of the taskbar. ... integrating web services with Textify.
Textify could then be used for quick actions such as translating text, searching the web, looking up a word in a dictionary, ...
Here is a demonstration (.gif)
Main link of Textify: https://ramensoftware.com/textify


EXAMPLE --> The Windows version number should be extracted from the "Info" window and copied to the clipboard <--
The Windows version can be determined as follows (.. with winver.exe ..):
  1. Type in the command line of Total Commander winver, press <ENTER> key ........... -> "Info" window
  2. Press Windows logo key + R -> "Run" window appears, enter winver, press OK ........ -> "Info" window
    [corresponds to right click on start button, execute, ...]
Position the cursor in the "Info" window in the line with the version number(!) and press Ctrl + right mouse button [changeable]
--> copies the Windows version number to the clipboard.

Tip from Stefan2 - Forum "Total Commander (Deutsch)" -> <German>:
Alternatively, instead of using "winver" and "Textify", you can simply type in ver|clip into the command line of Total Commander
and press <enter>.

With Ctrl+V the content of the clipboard can then be output as text in a suitable place,
e.g. in Total Commander Forum when entering requests/bug reports, etc.

Example-1: "Textify" .... Version 2004 (Build 19041.572)
Example-2: "ver|clip" .. Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.18363.1139] oder Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19041.572]
Then you should add the Windows edition (Home, Pro,...).

In this way you can also with "Textify", e.g. copy a part of the title bar from the Total Commander window to the clipboard.


BUTTON in Total Commander

Code: Select all

TOTALCMD#BAR#DATA
%COMMANDER_PATH%\Tools\Textify\Textify.exe -hidewnd

%COMMANDER_PATH%\Tools\Textify\Textify.exe
Textify - Copy text [autom.] from dialog boxes|https://ramensoftware.com/textify|Textify.exe -hidewnd (Start -> Systray)|CTRL+right mouse button, [Mark text], again CTRL+right mouse button(!)|or 'ESC' inserts the marked area into the clipboard!


-1
TC-Button with command: %COMMANDER_PATH%\Tools\Textify\Textify.exe -hidewnd (adjust path if necessary)
starts Textify and the program icon is immediately displayed in the taskbar (vulgo System Tray)
if in the file Textify.ini in section [config] -> hide_tray_icon=0 is set.
If desired, you can create a shortcut with this parameter in the autostart folder by specifying the absolute path.

WITHOUT the parameter -hidewnd a Textify window and task is displayed in the taskbar after calling Textify.exe.
Only when you close the window with "X" the program icon is displayed in the System Tray.

Textify.ini

Code: Select all

; After editing this configuration file,
; Textify must be restarted to apply the changes.

; Mouse and keyboard key numbers can be found here:
; https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/inputdev/virtual-key-codes

[mouse]
key=2
ctrl=1
alt=0
shift=0

[keyboard]
key=84
ctrl=1
alt=1
shift=1

[config]
check_for_updates=1
auto_copy_selection=1
hide_tray_icon=0

; The following option causes empty Unicode symbol to be removed
; and various space symbols to be replaced with a regular space.
unicode_spaces_to_ascii=0

; Web buttons can be used with the keyboard shortcuts: Alt+1, Alt+2, etc.
; More web buttons can be added, and existing buttons can be removed.
; If desired, all of the web buttons can be removed.
;
; A command can be a URL or a program. It can contain the following:
; %s - will be replaced by the selected text, URL encoded.
; %cs - will be replaced by the selected text, with quote characters stripped.
; %rs - will be replaced by the selected text as is (use carefully).
;
; A command can start with popup-web!, followed by a URL.
; In this case, the page will be opened in a browser popup (browser auto-detected).
; You can be more specific by starting a command with one of the following:
; popup-chrome!, popup-firefox!, popup-ie-control!.

[web_button_1]
name=Google
icon=icons\google.ico
command=https://www.google.com/search?q=%s
;command=popup-web!https://www.google.com/search?q=%s
width=1200
height=900

[web_button_2]
name=DuckDuckGo
icon=icons\duckduckgo.ico
command=https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%s
width=1200
height=900

[web_button_3]
name=German - English
icon=icons\google_translate.ico
command=https://translate.google.de/translate#auto/en/%s
width=1200
height=900

[web_button_4]
name=English - German
icon=icons\google_translate.ico
command=https://translate.google.de/translate#auto/de/%s
width=1200
height=900

[web_button_5]
name=Wikipedia (english)
icon=icons\wikipedia.ico
command=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=%s
width=1200
height=900

[web_button_6]
name=Wikipedia (german)
icon=icons\wikipedia.ico
command=https://de.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=%s
width=1200
height=900

[web_button_7]
name=Everything
icon=icons\Everything.ico
command=es:%s
width=800
height=800

[web_button_8]
name=EmEditor
icon=icons\EmEditor.ico
command=EmEditor.exe /i
width=1200
height=900

[web_button_9]
name=Notepad3
icon=icons\Notepad3.ico
command=Notepad3.exe /c
width=1200
height=900
Textify.ini - Notes 1 of 2

Code: Select all

			If "Textify" is started/open, a click on the button "More settings" shows the used settings.
Section
[config]
check_for_updates=1	After starting the tool it checks for updates/upgrades
auto_copy_selection=1   Copies the (partially) marked text automatically to the clipboard, ESC = close window
			OR
			Press 2x CTRL + right mouse button (change of settings possible!) --> this corresponds to:
			-1x copy text to the clipboard (a partial selection can be made!),
			-1x Close window (like pressing ESC key)
			The content of the clipboard can then be pasted into an editor, etc. using Ctrl+V.
hide_tray_icon=0	Hides the program icon in the notification area of the taskbar (vulgo System Tray) --> ON
hide_tray_icon=1	Hides the program icon in the notification area of the taskbar (vulgo System Tray) --> OFF

Textify.ini - Notes 2 of 2

Code: Select all

Sections		Starts a Google search with the [selected] search term in a separate window
[web_button_1]		command=popup-web!https://www.google.com/search?q=%s --> currently annotated (;command=...)
			Starts a Google search with the [selected] search term in a separate tab in the standard browser
			command=https://www.google.com/search?q=%s
			name=NameOfYourTooltip  <- Textify v1.8.4 (September 17, 2021) https://ramensoftware.com/textify/comment-page-4#comment-12933
[web_button_2]		Starts a DuckDuckGo search with the [selected] search term in a separate tab in the standard browser
			name=NameOfYourTooltip  <- Textify v1.8.4 (September 17, 2021) https://ramensoftware.com/textify/comment-page-4#comment-12933
[web_button_3]		Starts Google Translate with the [selected] search term in a separate tab in the default browser
			Example: Left: GERMAN-RECOGNIZED | Right: ENGLISH
			name=NameOfYourTooltip  <- Textify v1.8.4 (September 17, 2021) https://ramensoftware.com/textify/comment-page-4#comment-12933
[web_button_4]		Starts Google Translate with the [selected] search term in a separate tab in the default browser
			Example: Left: ENGLISH-RECOGNIZED | Right: GERMAN
			name=NameOfYourTooltip  <- Textify v1.8.4 (September 17, 2021) https://ramensoftware.com/textify/comment-page-4#comment-12933
[web_button_5]		Starts a Wikipedia search with the [selected] search term in a separate tab in the standard browser (english)
			name=NameOfYourTooltip  <- Textify v1.8.4 (September 17, 2021) https://ramensoftware.com/textify/comment-page-4#comment-12933
[web_button_6]		Starts a Wikipedia search with the [selected] search term in a separate tab in the standard browser (german)
			name=NameOfYourTooltip  <- Textify v1.8.4 (September 17, 2021) https://ramensoftware.com/textify/comment-page-4#comment-12933
[web_button_7]		command=es:%s ... opens 'Everything' and automatically pastes the text from the clipboard into the search box
			name=NameOfYourTooltip  <- Textify v1.8.4 (September 17, 2021) https://ramensoftware.com/textify/comment-page-4#comment-12933
[web_button_8]		command=EmEditor.exe /i ... opens EmEditor and inserts the text from the clipboard automatically
			name=NameOfYourTooltip  <- Textify v1.8.4 (September 17, 2021) https://ramensoftware.com/textify/comment-page-4#comment-12933
[web_button_9]		command=Notepad3.exe /c ... opens Notepad3 and inserts the text from the clipboard automatically

Tip: In addition to the web-buttons, you can use the shortcuts Alt+1, Alt+2, etc. instead of clicking the buttons. --> Textify.ini!
WebApp.ini

Code: Select all

[Appearance]
StatusBar=1
AUTOSTART folder for shortcut: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\
Link example: Textify.exe.lnk --> Properties, Target: C:\Tools\Textify\Textify.exe -hidewnd
On [Auto]Start the program icon is immediately placed in the Systray and the pop-up window is omitted.


LINKS COLLECTION:
https://ramensoftware.com/textify
https://ramensoftware.com/downloads/textify_setup.exe?changelog
https://ramensoftware.com/textify-v1-6-meets-the-web
https://github.com/m417z/Textify
https://github.com/RaMMicHaeL/Textify/blob/master/Textify.cpp
https://ramensoftware.com/textify/comment-page-2#comment-8902
https://ramensoftware.com/textify/comment-page-2#comment-8459 ...
https://www.voidtools.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=24043#p24043 'Everything'-Icons (different colours)
https://ramensoftware.com/textify/comment-page-4#comment-12933 Tooltips for Buttons - v1.8.4 (September 17, 2021)
 

Code: Select all

[web_button_4]
name=Google
icon=icons\google.ico
url=cmd.exe
parameters=/k echo %s
external_browser=1
Capture2Text
Desktop Text Capture
Ditto Clipboard Manager
Easy Screen OCR
GetWindowText <-- Fla$her: ... direct alternative to Textify itself/it's of the same class as Textify ...
OneNote
QTranslate or Portable QTranslate
ShareX
Text Grab | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/text-extractor


INSTALLATION of a new version (using the example "textify_setup_1-8-2.exe"):
0) For program update/upgrade: For safety reasons, make a COPY of Textify.ini
    and WebApp.ini --> Backup!
1) execute .exe and select "portable" by dropdown possible
2) Copy path in TC, e.g: C:\Tools\Textify\
3) and put it in the Textify installation mask, OK
4) DONE and settings are preserved(!)

Textify v1.8.3 (July 30, 2021): Changed default installation folder to %LocalAppData%\Programs.
See also: https://ramensoftware.com/textify/comment-page-4#comment-11917
Installation in %APPDATA%, %PROGRAMFILES%; Silent installation...
https://nsis.sourceforge.io/Docs/Chapter4.html#silent Standard NSIS command line parameters


INSTALLATION Update/Upgrade
Example of an upgrade from Textify version 1.8.3 to 1.8.4:

Textify.ini

Code: Select all

[config]
check_for_updates=1
  • Start Textify 1.8.3
  • After a few seconds, the following message appears:

    Code: Select all

    Titel:   Textify Update
    Text :   A new version of Textify is available
             Current version: 1.8.3
             New Version: 1.8.4
    Buttons: Changelog | Update | Close
  • Clicking on the "Update" button starts the installation:
    • Textify.exe - Version 1.8.4 is installed in the same directory and overwrites version 1.8.3
    • Textify.exe - Version 1.8.4 is started automatically
    • The settings file: Textify.ini is NOT overwritten, i.e. the settings are retained!
      Nevertheless, for security reasons, a backup of this file and the file "WebApp.ini" should be created before an update.

Textify and Google Chrome
Information on this topic can be found on the Textify website.

 
Limitation of the number of characters:
RaMMicHaeL says: November 20, 2019 at 9:47 wrote:If you’re talking about the amount of characters Textify can grab, the limit is imposed by the target program, not Textify.
See the discussion here: https://ramensoftware.com/textify/comment-page-3#comment-8942
RaMMicHaeL says: November 20, 2019 at 2:49 pm wrote:... It’s up to the target program, Textify is not responsible for the limit and cannot remove it. ...
RaMMicHaeL says: May 28, 2021 at 1:29 pm wrote:https://ramensoftware.com/textify/comment-page-4#comment-12581 ... The limit is imposed by the target program, not Textify. ...
 

This topic is also available in German language.
Last edited by tuska on 2023-03-20, 19:28 UTC, edited 13 times in total.
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solid
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Re: Tool "Textify" - Summary (english)

Post by *solid »

2tuska
Thanks for pointing out. Really useful tool.
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tuska
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Re: Tool "Textify" - Summary (english)

Post by *tuska »

solid wrote: 2020-10-12, 11:14 UTC 2tuska
Thanks for pointing out. Really useful tool.
I am pleased that the information is well received. :)
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Re: Tool "Textify" - Summary (english)

Post by *solid »

2tuska
Long time ago there was a thread about useful tools like this one.
It was a great resource, shame it got abandoned.
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Re: Tool "Textify" - Summary (english)

Post by *tuska »

solid wrote: 2020-10-13, 19:21 UTC 2tuska
Long time ago there was a thread about useful tools like this one.
It was a great resource, shame it got abandoned.
There you will certainly still find interesting information.

I suspect, however, that due to its size (89 pages so far) it has become confusing at some point
and also because many topics were dealt with under a single title(!), there was no continuation.
Therefore I do not want to revive this thread.

Furthermore, in the first post there is a hint from the moderator Hacker that a WIKI page was opened
with exactly this topic: "Useful 3rd party tools to complement TC".

I am aware that this topic (-> Textify) will also fade into the background in the course of time.
If updates become known, I will announce them here.

For interested people I find this tool a valuable support, because who likes to type [longer texts],
if he can copy a text, e.g. from an information window to the clipboard using a shortcut instead of typing it?
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Re: Tool "Textify" - Summary (english)

Post by *tuska »

In the first post the [web_button_7] for Textify v1.8.2 was added -> see: Textify.ini.

Target:
After clicking the [web_button_7] in "Textify"(!) 'Everything' should be opened and the text extracted to the clipboard by "Textify"
be automatically pasted into the search box of 'Everything'.

Reference:
Pass clipboard contents to 'Everything' search field automatically via command line

Icons (Everything-Icons.zip):
'Everything'-Icons (different colours)

Thanks again at this point to NotNull.
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Re: Tool "Textify" - Summary (english)

Post by *tuska »

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Re: Tool "Textify" - Summary (english)

Post by *tuska »

Textify v1.8.4 (September 17, 2021)
Download
Textify.ini - with tooltips for the buttons
... and changed order to the buttons compared to the first post ...

Code: Select all

; After editing this configuration file,
; Textify must be restarted to apply the changes.

; Mouse and keyboard key numbers can be found here:
; https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/inputdev/virtual-key-codes

[mouse]
key=2
ctrl=1
alt=0
shift=0

[keyboard]
key=84
ctrl=1
alt=1
shift=1

[config]
check_for_updates=1
auto_copy_selection=1
hide_tray_icon=0

; The following option causes empty Unicode symbol to be removed
; and various space symbols to be replaced with a regular space.
unicode_spaces_to_ascii=0

; Web buttons can be used with the keyboard shortcuts: Alt+1, Alt+2, etc.
; More web buttons can be added, and existing buttons can be removed.
; If desired, all of the web buttons can be removed.
;
; A command can be a URL or a program. It can contain the following:
; %s - will be replaced by the selected text, URL encoded.
; %cs - will be replaced by the selected text, with quote characters stripped.
; %rs - will be replaced by the selected text as is (use carefully).
;
; A command can start with popup-web!, followed by a URL.
; In this case, the page will be opened in a browser popup (browser auto-detected).
; You can be more specific by starting a command with one of the following:
; popup-chrome!, popup-edge!, popup-firefox!, popup-ie-control!.

[web_button_1]
name=Everything
icon=icons\Everything.ico
command=es:%s
width=800
height=800

[web_button_2]
name=Google
icon=icons\google.ico
command=https://www.google.com/search?q=%s
;command=popup-web!https://www.google.com/search?q=%s
width=1200
height=900

[web_button_3]
name=DuckDuckGo
icon=icons\duckduckgo.ico
command=https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%s
;command=popup-web!https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%s
width=1200
height=900

[web_button_4]
name=German - English
icon=icons\google_translate.ico
command=https://translate.google.de/translate#auto/en/%s
;command=popup-web!https://translate.google.com/m/translate#auto/en/%s
width=1200
height=900

[web_button_5]
name=English - German
icon=icons\google_translate.ico
command=https://translate.google.de/translate#auto/de/%s
width=1200
height=900

[web_button_6]
name=Wikipedia (english)
icon=icons\wikipedia.ico
command=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=%s
;command=popup-web!https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=%s
width=1200
height=900

[web_button_7]
name=Wikipedia (german)
icon=icons\wikipedia.ico
command=https://de.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=%s
width=1200
height=900

[web_button_8]
name=EmEditor
icon=icons\EmEditor.ico
command=EmEditor.exe /i
width=1200
height=900
Summary ... in the first post, which was also updated.
Furthermore, the update process was described there in detail.
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Re: Tool "Textify" - Summary (english)

Post by *tuska »

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Re: Tool "Textify" - Summary (english)

Post by *emmarobbe »

Is there a way to make Textify only search for selected text (highlighted text) in the capture window? Thank you.
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Re: Tool "Textify" - Summary (english)

Post by *tuska »

emmarobbe wrote: 2021-10-13, 14:06 UTC Is there a way to make Textify only search for selected text (highlighted text) in the capture window?
Hi,

No, not that I know of.
With Textify, text can only be copied to the clipboard.
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Re: Tool "Textify" - Summary (english)

Post by *tuska »

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Re: Tool "Textify" - Summary (english)

Post by *tuska »

Textify v1.8.8 (November 29, 2021)
Download

In the first post, the [web_button_9] for Textify was added:
Notepad3 version 5.21.1129.1 - Nov. 29, 2021 in Textify.ini.

Example of a different toolbar: Image
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Re: Tool "Textify" - Summary (english)

Post by *NotNull »

emmarobbe wrote: 2021-10-13, 14:06 UTC Is there a way to make Textify only search for selected text (highlighted text) in the capture window? Thank you.
Yes, there is:
  • Press the keyboard shortcut to open Textify (SHIFT+middle-click here)
  • In the textbox select/highlight *only* the text you want to search for.
  • Press one of the web buttons
  • Done
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Re: Tool "Textify" - Summary (english)

Post by *tuska »

NotNull wrote: 2021-11-30, 17:03 UTC
emmarobbe wrote: 2021-10-13, 14:06 UTC Is there a way to make Textify only search for selected text (highlighted text) in the capture window? Thank you.
Yes, there is:
  • Press the keyboard shortcut to open Textify (SHIFT+middle-click here)
  • In the textbox select/highlight *only* the text you want to search for.
  • Press one of the web buttons
  • Done
Ah, thank you!
I had a different thought in mind at the time...

This topic might also be of interest:
12. Button in web browser (Firefox, EDGE) -> to make a search query in 'Everything' (text from the web)
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