Ribbon is now Fluent

Microsoft Office Fluent User Interface is the new name for Ribbon according to 2007 Microsoft Office System Press Materials.

I have started to get quite familiar with Ribbon. It's pretty good and a name change is something I can live with.

Via Office 2007 Ribbon: Microsoft Office Fluent

Ribbon in other applications than Office 2007

Windows Vista support for Architectural Desktop and Building Systems

Windows Vista does not support Architectural Desktop or Building Systems. (or the other way around)

Even though it is possible to get ADT/ABS running on Vista you might run into so many problems so it's better to wait a few more months for the 2008 releases that most probably will be able to run on Vista without any problems.

A Quarter Century Ago Today - Autodesk

Twenty-five years ago today, January 30th, 1982, the initial meeting to organize what became Autodesk, Inc. was held...

A Quarter Century Ago Today - post by John Walker the Autodesk founder

Some other posts on the subject.

It was 25 years ago today...

A Quarter Century of Autodesk Today

AU 2005 handouts available

On AUGI the Autodesk University handouts for 2005 are available. If you select year 2005 and industry Plant Design you will find the two handouts for the courses I held.
Direct links to the handouts.

Multidiscipline CAD Usage at an EPC Company - - Here is a link to the PowerPoint presentation as a bonus. File size is 7.35 MB.
Plant Design Tips and Tricks - even some useful tips for non Plant Design usage. Dynamic Blocks, Block attribute extraction, dbConnect, CUI, 2D, 3D, etc.

Via AU 2005 class handouts now! available for download on AUGI.com

Screen capture software

If you don't think the "prt sc" button (or alt+prt sc for the active window) is enough to take screen captures here are some free alternatives.

Cropper 1.9 was released today. It also has a cool Animated Gif Plugin.

Window Clippings 1.5 was released yesterday.

Gadwin PrintScreen 3.5 is yet another alternative.

All of these works well in Windows Vista that you have started using or might start using now that it is released to the public.

FastStone Capture is free for non commercial use and is quite powerful.

Jing from those behind SnagIt

Screenshot Captor

This snapshot is taken in Windows Vista using SnagIt. Not free but the best.

Even though Autodesk DWF Viewer is not supported for Vista it does work. I have also got AutoCAD 2007 and ADT 2007 to work as well.

AutoCAD P&ID 2007 released

Here are the Features & Specifications for AutoCAD P&ID 2007. A free trial can also be downloaded.

"At this time we have engaged in a joint effort with Autodesk to develop a customized release of AutoCAD P&ID, forming part of AVEVA's suite of applications that will offer full interoperability with the AVEVA Plant Design Management System (PDMS)," - fro the press release

http://www.autodesk.com/autocadpid

Discussion group for AutoCAD P&ID

Instant Search in Outlook 2007

I like Outlook 2007 overall and would not want to go back to 2003. One of the better things are the Instant Search (WDS is required unless you have Vista where it is included as default). The search is still a bit slow when all mail items are searched. One thing that irritates me is that if I make a search that includes a recently sent email it takes a while to get it indexed before it is found with the search.

One thing I really wonder about is why I cannot find anything with a search like this: microsoft.com to find emails from for example Microsoft@newsletters.microsoft.com

This one works:   from:Microsoft@newsletters.microsoft.com

These ones does not work:   from:microsoft.com     or from:*microsoft.com

If you know how to solve this please comment on this post.

Update: Using Outlook 2007 on Windows Vista and I found that it works as expected. Another reason to upgrade. ;-)

As seen above the query builder can help with some basic criteria but there are more ways to search.

AQS is also used by Outlook 2007 and is worth taking a look at and memorize your favorites.

The Advanced Query Syntax (AQS) is used by Microsoft Windows Desktop Search (WDS) to help users and programmers better define and narrow their searches. Using AQS is an easy way to narrow searches and deliver better result sets. Searches can be narrowed by the following parameters:

• File kinds: folders, documents, presentations, pictures and so on.
• File stores: specific databases and locations.
• File properties: size, date, title and so on.
• File contents: keywords like "project deliverables," "AQS," "blue suede shoes," and so on.

Furthermore, search parameters can be combined using search operators. The remainder of this section explains the query syntax, the parameters and operators, and how they can be combined to offer targeted search results. The tables describe the syntax to use with WDS, as well as the properties that can be queried for each file kind displayed in the Windows Desktop Search results window.

Find large emails: size:>5 MB     or this can be used: messagesize:enormous

Find emails from jeff that are after the date specified: received:>1/20/2007 from:jeff

Find all emails with Power Point presentations: attachments:.ppt     or shorter: ext:.ppt

Complete documentation on AQS.

Some other old but still relevant links.

Link to Outlook 12 : Search in Outlook 12 - "It changes the way you work"

Instant Search - Part 3: The New User Interface

Instant Search - Part 4: The New Search Lexicon

This is from the help file:

Tips for narrowing your search using search query syntax in Outlook 2007

The following table shows examples of searches you might find useful. The search query syntax, available when the Instant Search feature is enabled, follows this basic form: keyword:your search criteria value.

For example, from:bobby

You can also use logical operators AND, NOT, OR, <, >, =, and so forth to refine your search, and these are noted in the table. Logical operators must be typed in uppercase letters.

 Note   The search query syntax is created automatically and displayed in the Instant Search box when you use the Query Builder described in the previous section.

Type this
To find this

bobby
Items containing bobby, BOBBY, BoBby, or any other combination of uppercase and lowercase letters. Instant Search is not case sensitive.

bobby moore
Items containing both bobby and moore, but not necessarily in that order.

bobby AND moore
Items containing both bobby and moore, but not necessarily in that order. Note that logical operators such as AND, NOT, and OR must be in uppercase letters.

bobby NOT moore
Items containing bobby, but not moore.

bobby OR moore
Items containing bobby, moore, or both.

"bobby moore"
Items containing the exact phrase bobby moore. Note the use of double quotes so that the search results match the exact phrase within the quotes.

from:"bobby moore"
Items sent from bobby moore. Note the use of double quotes so that the search results match the exact phrase within the quotes.

from:"bobby moore" about:”status report”
Items sent from bobby moore where status report appears in the subject line, body, and attachment contents. Note the use of double quotes so that the search results match the exact phrase within the quotes.

hasattachment:yes
Items that have attachments. You can also use hasattachment:true to get the same results.

attachments:presentation.pptx
Items that have attachments named presentation.pptx or if the attachment contains presentation.pptx within its contents.

subject:"bobby moore"
Items whose subject contains the phrase bobby moore.

subject:bobby moore
Items with bobby in the subject line and with moore anywhere else in the document.

cc:"bobby more"
Items in which the display name bobby moore is on the Cc line.

cc:bobbymoore@contoso.com
Items in which the e-mail address bobbymoore@contoso.com is on the Cc line.

bcc:bobby
Items in which bobby is on the Bcc line.

messagesize:<10 KB
Items whose size is less than 10 kilobytes. Note the use of the "less than" comparison operator (<).

messagesize:>5 MB
Items whose size is larger than 5 megabytes. Note the use of the "greater than" comparison operator (>).

received:=1/1/2006
Items that arrived on 1/1/2006. Note the use of the "equals" comparison operator (=).

received:yesterday
Items that arrived yesterday. Instant Search also recognizes the follow date values:

• Relative dates:  For example, today, tomorrow, yesterday
• Multi-word relative dates:  For example, this week, next month, last week, past month, coming year
• Days: Sunday, Monday ... Saturday
• Months: January, February ... December

received:last week
Items that arrived last week. Note that if you run this query again a month from now you will obtain different results because it is a time relative query.

due:last week
Items that are flagged for follow up a due date.

messagesize:tiny
Items whose size is less than 10 kilobytes

messagesize:small
Items whose size is between 10 and 25 kilobytes

messagesize:medium
Items whose size is between 25 and 100 kilobytes

messagesize:large
Items whose size is between 100 and 500 kilobytes

messagesize:verylarge
Items whose size is between 500 kilobytes and 1 megabyte

followupflag:follow up
Items that are flagged for follow up.

messagesize:enormous
Items whose size is larger than 5 megabytes

hasflag:true
Items that are flagged for follow up.

from:bobby (received:1/7/05 OR received:1/8/05)
Items from bobby that arrived on either 1/7/05 or 1/8/05. Note the use of parentheses to group the dates.

received:>=10/1/06 AND received:<=10/5/06
Items that arrived between 10/1/06 and 10/5/06.

received:>10/1/06 AND received:<10/5/06
Items that arrived after 10/1/06 but before 10/5/06.

sent: yesterday
Items that you sent yesterday.

to:bobby
Items that you sent to bobby when you are searching in the Sent Items folder.

read:no
Items that have not been read. You can also use read:false to get the same results.

subject:status received:May
Items received from anyone during the month of May (any year) where the subject contains status.

startdate:next week subject:status
Calendar items next week where the subject contains status.

is:recurring
Calendar items that are recurring.

organizer:bobby
Calendar items where bobby is the organizer.

category:business
Items that are categorized as business.

firstname:bobby
Contacts that contain bobby in the First Name field.

lastname:moore
Contacts that contain moore in the Last Name field.

nickname:bobby
Contacts that contain bobby in the Nickname field.

jobtitle:physician
Contacts that contain physician in the Job Title field.

pager:555-0100
Contacts that contain 555-0100 in the Pager field.

businessphone:555-0100
Contacts that contain 555-0100 in the Business Phone field.

homephone:555-0100
Contacts that contain 555-0100 in the Home Phone field.

mobilephone:555-0100
Contacts that contain 555-0100 in the Mobile Phone field.

carphone:555-0100
Contacts that contain 555-0100 in the Car Phone field.

businessfax:555-0100
Contacts that contain 555-0100 in the Business Fax field.

homefax:555-0100
Contacts that contain 555-0100 in the Home Fax field.

businessaddress:(4567 Main St., Buffalo, NY 98052)
Contacts that contain 4567 Main St., Buffalo, NY 98052 in the Business Address field. Note the use of parentheses to enclose the address.

homeaddress:(4567 Main St., Buffalo, NY 98052)
Contacts that contain 4567 Main St., Buffalo, NY 98052 in the Home Address field. Note the use of parentheses to enclose the address.

businesscity:buffalo
Contacts that contain buffalo in the Business City field.

businesspostalcode:98052
Contacts that contain 98052 in the Business Postal Code field.

street:(4567 Main St)
Contacts that contain 4567 Main St in the Business Address Street field. Note the use of parentheses to enclose the address.

homestreet:(4567 Main St)
Contacts that contain 4567 Main St in the Home Address Street field. Note the use of parentheses to enclose the address.

birthday:6/4/1960
Contacts that contain 6/4/1960 in the Birthday field.

webpage:www.contoso.com
Contacts that contain the URL www.contoso.com in the Web Page Address field.

Technorati tags: Outlook 2007

AutoHotkey to the rescue

As described in the post RSS Feeds in Outlook 2007 I ended up with hundreds of feeds in both Outlook, IE7 and Windows Live Mail desktop.

Since I could not find an easy way to delete all feeds from Windows Live Mail desktop and I did not want to delete them one by one even though I'm quick on the keyboard I made use of AutoHotkey.

I first found this location and though I could delete multiple feeds that way but somehow that was not enough: "[drive letter]:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail desktop\[email address]\Your Feeds

The solution. I used AutoScriptWriter (recorder) and recorded what I wanted to do. Then I made some changes to the script and ended up with this script that quickly deletes 100 feeds at a time.

WinWait, Your feeds - Windows Live Mail desktop, 
IfWinNotActive, Your feeds - Windows Live Mail desktop, , WinActivate, Your feeds - Windows Live Mail desktop, 
WinWaitActive, Your feeds - Windows Live Mail desktop, 
loop, 100
{
MouseClick, left,  68,  250
Sleep, 100
Send, {DEL}{ENTER}
}

According to the AutoHotkey website:

AutoHotkey is a free, open-source utility for Windows. With it, you can:

• Automate almost anything by sending keystrokes and mouse clicks. You can write a mouse or keyboard macro by hand or use the macro recorder.
• Create hotkeys for keyboard, joystick, and mouse. Virtually any key, button, or combination can become a hotkey.
• Expand abbreviations as you type them. For example, typing "btw" can automatically produce "by the way".
• Create custom data entry forms, user interfaces, and menu bars. See GUI for details.
• Remap keys and buttons on your keyboard, joystick, and mouse.
• Respond to signals from hand-held remote controls via the WinLIRC client script.
• Run existing AutoIt v2 scripts and enhance them with new capabilities.
• Convert any script into an EXE file that can be run on computers that don't have AutoHotkey installed.

Part 3 of 3

Technorati tags: Windows Live Mail desktop, AutoHotkey

ADT Window Style Type in a PSD

I noticed a question on the Architectural Desktop discussion group and wanted to share the solution here. The Window Type for a windows style is not available as an automatic property. So a bit of VBScript is needed.

Create a PSD (Property Set Definition) that applies to Windows styles and add the automatic property Handle. Then add the formula below in the Formula Property Definition. Notice that [Handle] in the formula must be selected from the "Insert Property Definitions" list.

In the code AecX.AecArchBaseApplication.5.0 refers to ADT 2007.

For other versions of ADT change it.

ADT 2004 - AecX.AecArchBaseApplication.4
ADT 2005 - AecX.AecArchBaseApplication.4.5
ADT 2006 - AecX.AecArchBaseApplication.4.7
ADT 2007 - AecX.AecArchBaseApplication.5.0
ACA 2008 - AecX.AecArchBaseApplication.5.5

On Error Resume Next
Set app = GetObject(, "AutoCAD.Application")
Set AecArchBaseApplication = app.GetInterfaceObject("AecX.AecArchBaseApplication.5.0")
Set doc = AecArchBaseApplication.ActiveDocument
Set WindowStyles = doc.WindowStyles
Set WindowObject = doc.HandleToObject("[Handle]")
Set WindowStyle = WindowStyles.Item(WindowObject.StyleName)
Select Case WindowStyle.Type
    Case 0
      RESULT = "Custom"
    Case 1
      RESULT = "Picture"
    Case 2
       RESULT = "Single Hung"
    Case 3
       RESULT = "Double Hung"
    Case 4
       RESULT = "Awning - Transom"
    Case 5
       RESULT = "Double Casement"
    Case 6
       RESULT = "Glider"
    Case 7
       RESULT = "Hopper - Transom"
    Case 8
       RESULT = "Pass Through"
    Case 9
       RESULT = "Single Casement"
    Case 10
       RESULT = "Single Hopper"
    Case 11
       RESULT = "Single Awning"
    Case 12
       RESULT = "Vertical Pivot"
    Case 13
       RESULT = "Horizontal Pivot"
    Case 14
       RESULT = "Uneven Single Hung"
    Case 15
       RESULT = "Uneven Double Hung"
End Select

Technorati tags: Architectural Desktop, ADT, VBScript

ASP.NET AJAX 1.0 Released

Having started to develop a little with ASP.NET using SOAP etc. I think it's time to look more at AJAX.

Link to ScottGu's Blog : ASP.NET AJAX 1.0 Released

http://ajax.asp.net

Technorati tags: ASP.NET, AJAX

RSS Bandit 1.5.x (Jubilee) Release Candidate Installer Available

Installed and still my main feed reader.

Items marked as read when viewed in the Newspaper

Source: RSS Bandit 1.5.x (Jubilee) Release Candidate Installer Available

Technorati tags: RSS Bandit

Delete all RSS Feeds folders in Outlook 2007

I made the mistake to import my OPML file into Microsoft Outlook 2007 and with several hundreds of feeds I found that there was no way to delete multiple feeds. (Outlook does not support OPML with folders.) So I used some of the sample code for Outlook as a starter and solved it quicker than having to delete them one by one. Here is how to remove them automatically saving the tedious work to remove them manually. Open the VBA IDE using Alt+F11 or Tools>Macro>Visual Basic Editor

In Project1>Microsoft Office Outlook Objects>ThisOutlookSession add this code and run the subroutine DeleteAllRssFeedsFolders (folder path might need to be changed). When deleted they end up in the Deleted Items folder where they easily can be permanently deleted.

Private Function GetFolder(ByVal FolderPath As String) As Outlook.folder
Dim TestFolder As Outlook.folder
Dim FoldersArray As Variant
Dim i As Integer

On Error GoTo GetFolder_Error
If Left(FolderPath, 2) = "\\" Then
FolderPath = Right(FolderPath, Len(FolderPath) - 2)
End If
'Convert folderpath to array
FoldersArray = Split(FolderPath, "\")
Set TestFolder = Application.Session.folders.Item(FoldersArray(0))
If Not TestFolder Is Nothing Then
For i = 1 To UBound(FoldersArray, 1)
Dim SubFolders As Outlook.folders
Set SubFolders = TestFolder.folders
Set TestFolder = SubFolders.Item(FoldersArray(i))
If TestFolder Is Nothing Then
Set GetFolder = Nothing
End If
Next
End If
'Return the TestFolder
Set GetFolder = TestFolder
Exit Function

GetFolder_Error:
Set GetFolder = Nothing
Exit Function
End Function

Private Sub DeleteFolders(ByVal oFolder As Outlook.folder)
Dim folders As Outlook.folders
Dim folder As Outlook.folder
Dim foldercount As Integer

On Error Resume Next
Set folders = oFolder.folders
foldercount = folders.Count
If foldercount Then
For Each folder In folders
folder.Delete
DeleteFolders folder
Next
End If
End Sub

Sub DeleteAllRssFeedsFolders()
Dim folder As Outlook.folder
Set folder = GetFolder("\\Personal Folders In\RSS Feeds")
If Not (folder Is Nothing) Then
DeleteFolders folder
End If
End Sub

Part 2 of 3

Technorati tags: Outlook 2007, VBA, RSS Feeds

RSS Feeds in Outlook 2007

Microsoft Outlook 2007 supports subscription of RSS Feeds. That is great! But is that useful? Not for me. If you only have a handful of feeds it can be useful. For now it seems like feeds where something thrown into Outlook without too much though or at least there was not enough time to get it really good.

Pros

• RSS Feeds are supported.
• There is an integration with Windows Internet Explorer 7. If you subscribe on a feed in IE7 it shows up in Outlook.
• It's good to be able to read feeds offline.

Cons

• I made the mistake to import my OPML file I exported from Bloglines and found that folder hierarchy where not supported. If you have more than 10+ feeds I'm pretty sure you started to organize them in folders.
• There is an synchronization of feeds with IE7 but doesn't work fully.
• Multiple RSS folders cannot be deleted.
• I'd like to separate new RSS posts from regular mail. Now all show up in Unread items.
• And many more.

Tips

• There is no way to select all or many feeds and for example delete them I thought until I found it possible via Tools>Account Settings>RSS Feeds. But that didn't delete the actual folders.
• If you want to delete multiple feeds in the Windows RSS platform that is used by IE7 look here: "[drive letter]:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Feeds\[your feeds and folders]"

References

• Introduction to RSS in Outlook 2007
• search.subscribe.share in outlook 2007 blog on RSS aggregation
• Add a collection of RSS Feeds
• Add an RSS Feed
• Cancel an RSS Feed
• Change settings for RSS Feeds
• Get our RSS Feeds for Training and Demos
• Read RSS Feeds
• Share or export RSS Feeds
• jkOnTheRun with an overview about RSS feeds in IE7 and Outlook 2007

Part 1 of 3

Technorati tags: Outlook 2007, RSS Feeds, IE7, Windows Live Mail desktop

ADT/ABS List Definition freeware tip

Here is a tip on practical usage of the newly released ADT/ABS List Definition freeware.

Say you have a List Definition and want to add some new items to the list. As you know they will not be sorted alphabetically when you select the list in the Properties palette.

1. Run ListDefinitionExport.
2. Open the AutoCAD Text Window (F2).
3. Look for the List Definition and its items.
4. Copy them to Excel.
5. Add the new items.
6. Use Find and Replace of four spaces to nothing to remove the first four spaces.
7. Sort the list.
8. Copy the list.
9. Start ListDefinitionImport and paste into the text box.

Or if the list is already sorted.

1. Run ListDefinitionExport.
2. Open the AutoCAD Text Window (F2).
3. Look for the List Definition and its items.
4. Copy the items to the clipboard.
5. Start ListDefinitionImport and paste into the text box. (No need to bother about the extra spaces in to the left. They will be automatically removed anyway since List Definition Values cannot start or end with a space character.)
6. Add the new items at the correct location.

Wish list items I have for future versions of ADT/ABS.

• List Definition Items and Classification Definition Items should allow all characters. I don't want this limitation. List/Classification Items should allow even <>/\":?*|,=`
• It should be possible to specify sort order and rearrange the items in a List Definition. Drag and drop of items in a Classification Definition could also be improved.
• API to support specifying what List Definitions should apply to. Now it's only possible to apply to all or none using AppliesToAll on Autodesk.Aec.DatabaseServices.ListDefinition.