> They would, but by keeping track of the ARB script's last > modified timestamp it is possible to impose a rebuild of > the cache when the script has been modified. This can > happen automatically the next time ARB is invoked after an > edit.
I like this solution a lot - hadn't even occurred to me to use the file timestamp. > That's truly amazing! Here was I feeling bogged down and > considering weeding out the unused of my 52 aliases. Do > you find that you use them all still? I'm sure I only use less than 10% of them regularly, but the performance penalty of having many aliases is negligible (a slightly larger alias vector, and a slighlty longer rebuild when edited). The other 90% are there because it's usually faster to do something via ARB than it is otherwise (locate and run a program on my start menu for example). It's of paramount importance that the most used aliases get autocompleted first (you don't want to be hitting the down arrow too many times, or have to type many characters), and I achieve this with strategically placed underscores or numbers. > I'm guessing that you use ARB to simulate PowerPro's macro > capability to an extent. To some extent, yes. I make an alias for most repetitive tasks. Most executables on my system have an alias (if it sounds like overkill, it only took about 5 mins to create them all). I'll give you an insight into how I use aliases, although this should probably be a separate message similar to the OnMultiClick example thread. I use &(BrowserURL) a lot to grab links for emailing, tinyurl, whois, bugmenot, google cache, wayback machine, translations, view current page in some other browser, etc etc. This is usually more efficient and flexible than browser plugins and the like. Aliases for performing various web searches, dictionaries, encyclopedia, pp help, gmail (saved searches), yahoogroups, gmane, acronyms, movies, tv listings, forums etc. etc. Aliases to launch very common URLS. Faster than using browser favourites. Most of my alias favourites go to a site and also login. (I use "roboform -l" for this rather than PP.) Currency conversion, copying certain blocks of text to the clipboard, performing searches in programs on my computer (faster than activating said program and then entering text). Aliases can do just about anything PP can. > This brings up an issue that I hadn't contemplated -- how > long does it take for you to rebuild your alias cache? A couple seconds. A little longer on my older computer, but now I barely notice. > Do you modify your aliases often? You might find that > imposed auto-refreshes would hinder you if modifying your > ARB script is a frequent pastime. No not at all. I think the smart-rebuild is a good thing. > If I were to continue parsing aliases from a single file then > no difference would be made to the caching mechanism that's > currently in place. On the other hand, if I were to read a > directory for a list of alias scripts then I most likely > wouldn't need to cache them if things move quickly enough. I guess a test is the only way to know for sure. I'm assuming the file listing would be held in some sort of disk cache and a disk access wouldn't be necessary every time. > Correct, the history will still be written to and read from a > user- definable file. Excellent - history is one of the most valuable features of ARB. > After some further thought it seems that I can pass that > choice to the users anyway. I can give them a variable asking > for the prefix that signifies an ARB alias and if they enter > a slash somewhere, we're talking about a subfolder. Too simple. True, so that issue is closed then. > I'm 99.46% confident that no functionality would change as a > result of any potential change to the way ARB handles its > aliases -- the only planned difference is the removal of the > option to manually rebuild the cache since it will no longer > be needed. It sounds like you have everything well thought out Alex, and I'm sure the upgrade will go smoothly! As an aside, I'll probably not upgrade if individual files are used for aliases, but don't let that hinder you from going along that route - there are clear advantages for users with only a moderate number of scripts. -- Ravi (http://shell-shocked.org) Attention: PowerPro's Web site has moved: http://www.ppro.org Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/power-pro/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
