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Fed up with Notepad? Try NovaNotes!

Community Forums/Showcase/Fed up with Notepad? Try NovaNotes!

Adam Novagen(Posted 2008) [#1]
Okay, most Windows hacks know some of the basic merits of Notepad. It provides a clean, simple, quick-loading interface, and is perfect for writing anything that you DON'T want in Rich Text Formatting (RTF). After all, web pages are always just plain text files at heart, and let's face it; MS Word can be a bit... overcomplicated... for simplistic tasks.

Thing is, Notepad is sometimes a little TOO simplistic, to the point of frustrating. What if you want to change the color of the font or background? Or open multiple files? And gawd help anyone who wants to insert a special character... Who has time to remember all 255+ of those Alt + xxxx codes?

There's an easy answer... NovaNotes!!!

Clean and Simple.
NovaNotes has just about as many features as you need, and no more. It has customizability, but doesn't need 100 options & 250MB of valuable drive space to achieve it!

Designed for multitasking.
NovaNotes lets you have literally thousands of files open at once... Like you'd ever need that many.

A web designer's companion.
NovaNotes was built with HTML programming in mind. Eleven shortcut keys will insert the most common HTML tags, and the F5 key will quickly open a preview of your web page, right in NovaNotes! Plus, the Open/Save commands will recognize .htm and .html files as well as standard .txt files!

Use QuickText to boost your productivity.
NovaNotes has a special feature: QuickText. QuickText is a collection of ten "blocks" of text, which you can edit AND insert into your file, all at the push of a button! Imagine being able to fill in your own base template for an HTML webpage with a single keypress!

More compact than a black hole.
NovaNotes' source code has been optimized to the limit, and doesn't contain one single variable more than necessary. It's also designed to have the smallest memory footprint possible for its power. Basically, it should run on practically ANY old computer with Windows or Mac OS!

All this and more in NovaNotes, the one-month wonder project by Adam Novagen of Gigahertz Games! Plus two more reasons to try it...

It's right here... And it's FREE!!!




Adam Novagen(Posted 2008) [#2]
Hey, could someone send me a Windows EXE for this? 'Cause like I said before, I've only got the B+ demo, I can't afford the full version, and I could really use this program these days! My email's in my profile information; just click my username.


puki(Posted 2008) [#3]
Thing is, Notepad is sometimes a little TOO simplistic, to the point of frustrating. What if you want to change the color of the font or background? Or open multiple files? And gawd help anyone who wants to insert a special character... Who has time to remember all 255+ of those Alt + xxxx codes?

Isn't this what WordPad is for? I thought Microsoft bundled both of them for this reason?


Rob Farley(Posted 2008) [#4]
Programmers Notepad 2... But we're sliding off topic!


GfK(Posted 2008) [#5]
Hey, could someone send me a Windows EXE for this? 'Cause like I said before, I've only got the B+ demo, I can't afford the full version
o.O

What would you say if I asked you to send me Photoshop CS3 because I can't afford the full version?


Adam Novagen(Posted 2008) [#6]
What would you say if I asked you to send me Photoshop CS3 because I can't afford the full version?

I meant an EXE of NOVANOTES, not B+. XP


GfK(Posted 2008) [#7]
I know what you meant.


Sauer(Posted 2008) [#8]
Ok I tried to compile it and create a new file, and I got a debug error.

Object does not exist:
ActivateGadget Notefile/TextArea



Adam Novagen(Posted 2008) [#9]
Where did the error come from? That is, what line did it show up on?

EDIT: Never mind, I found it. SOURCE CODE HAS BEEN UPDATED. Major DUH moment. *smacks forehead*


Gabriel(Posted 2008) [#10]
Hey, could someone send me a Windows EXE for this?

I'm not sure if that would be contravening the letter of the license, but it would certainly be contravening the spirit of the license. If you want to compile, you buy the compiler, that's how it works.

As I say, it may or may not be permitted by the letter of the license, but you're essentially asking someone to help you "get around" the restrictions which BRL have placed upon their software in order to defend their IP rights.


Sauer(Posted 2008) [#11]
Ok so I tried it again, and I really like it. This will be a huge help for updating my website.

Great work!


Bremer(Posted 2008) [#12]
[qoute]I can't afford the full version[/qoute]

The full version of BlitzPlus is $60 and a trip to BurgerKing is probably about $5, so thats 12 less trips to BurgerKing and you got money for the license. I don't know if you ever go to BurgerKing, but it was just an example of how one might gather the money needed by not spending it on something one might not need anyways.

I am with Gabriel and Gfk on this one, its a way around the license and its not really fair to ask someone else to compile your code. If you really cannot afford to purchase the tool, then look for freeware languages, there are a good handful of them out there.

If you do decide one day to buy a blitz product, then I can highly recomend BlitzMax instead, its way better than BlitzPlus but its $20 more, although well worth it.

A suggestion for your application is that if would be great to have the opened textfiles shown as tabs instead of having to go through the menu because you can instantly see what files are opened.


LineOf7s(Posted 2008) [#13]
...or, of course, you could recode (and compile) this program into whichever BRL product entitled you to post in these forums in the first place. Unless it was Maplet, of course. Actually, if you could do that, it'd be worth seeing.


Ked(Posted 2008) [#14]
...or, of course, you could recode (and compile) this program into whichever BRL product entitled you to post in these forums in the first place. Unless it was Maplet, of course. Actually, if you could do that, it'd be worth seeing.

!i!i!LOL!i!i!

I, personally, don't see anything too terribly wrong with giving him one EXE of a small, little program he has made. But if it's against the rules in the license, it's against the rules in the license.


plash(Posted 2008) [#15]
it should run on practically ANY old computer with Windows or Mac OS!
Uhh ya.. about blitzplus being windows only.. *slaps Novagen with a rather large trout*


Adam Novagen(Posted 2008) [#16]
*slaps Novagen with a rather large trout*

Aww... Couldn't you have used a salmon instead? I like salmon. ^_^
Seriously Plash, nice gotcha.


andy_mc(Posted 2008) [#17]
a trip to BurgerKing is probably about $5


Really??? Damn we're getting screwed in the UK, a trip to burgerking here costs about £4.50, which is about $9. That's for something like a Whopper meal with a coke, not sure if that's large or regular though.

I don't even care though cause I never go there. Or McD's either.

Anyway, another programmers notepad can never hurt, good effort and I hope you keep going and producing even larger projects in Blitz in the future.


Damien Sturdy(Posted 2008) [#18]

Really??? Damn we're getting screwed in the UK, a trip to burgerking here costs about £4.50, which is about $9. That's for something like a Whopper meal with a coke, not sure if that's large or regular though.



Really??? Damn we're getting screwed here in Birmingham!, a trip to burgerking here cost me £5.20, which is about $10.40. That's for a Whopper meal with a coke, not sure if that's large or regular though.

(lol, I don't do fast food but was forced to just yesterday, Horrible!)


GaryV(Posted 2008) [#19]
trip to BurgerKing is probably about $5
Close to $10 here in the USA. I usually spend close to $20 for just myself, but I am a big eater.


Adam Novagen(Posted 2008) [#20]
Hi all,

Okay, I've been doing some good, hard thinking about this EXE issue, and I've finally sorted out the ramifications in my head.

I can understand why you would refuse to compile this code into an EXE for me: after all, if people did that sort of thing all the time, Blitz Research Ltd would soon go out of business. Also, it's morally wrong for me to expect to get a money-maker for free, when it's not supposed to be free.

That's the thing though: NovaNotes isn't a money-maker in any way, shape or form. See, with NovaNotes finished, I don't intend to use B+ again for a long time, if at all. The only reason I used it now was to create NovaNotes, and that's all.

So basically, you're telling me to pay $60 to use my own program, which I wouldn't pay $5 for; that's why I'm sharing it here for free. I'm not going to get any money out of NovaNotes. I can't use it to make games, or even media for games. I'm not going to sell any stories I write on it, just post them free on the web like everything else. So telling me to pay $60 to use a program of my own design that's technically freeware is a bit... Goofy.

BUT. There is one other side to this issue. Like I said earlier, Blitz would soon go bankrupt if no one had to bother buying their products anymore. And if I can get people to compile my programs for free, where's it going to stop? All it would take is a good con artist's story, and bam! Unlicensed Blitz APPs start popping up everywhere.

So, bottom line, I think we're all right; morally (and financially) speaking, I don't think there's anything wrong with me getting an EXE of NovaNotes. Practically speaking, however, if one person breaks (or even bends) the rules, more will follow. I will not be that one. Therefore, I won't ask for any more EXEs. If I decide to make more Blitz stuff in future, I'll buy it myself; until then, I'll live with the demo, while it lasts. I'd like to thank you all for your mature, well thought out responses; I respect you more all the time.

Thanks everyone!

Oh, and glad it helps, Sauer! Enjoy!


tonyg(Posted 2008) [#21]
... but you've been using B+ for more than a year. That's what you would be paying the $60 for and not the compilation to a single .exe.
In addition, whether you're creating things to be sold for profit is irrelevant to the cost of B+. I don't expect to be able to use BRL products for free because I don't sell anything.


Who was John Galt?(Posted 2008) [#22]
So basically, you're telling me to pay $60 to use my own program
Not at all. You can use it whenever you like from within Blitz.


Adam Novagen(Posted 2008) [#23]
Yeah, but I've only got 20 runs left... Otherwise there'd be no problem. T_T


D4NM4N(Posted 2008) [#24]
:O Wheres the community spirit going?!?

Sorry but im with adam on this, seeing as his source is offered free to the community its not much to ask in return. He must have bought a blitz product to be here, so why the self-righteous flame? If a friend or family member gives you a text file (they wrote) to spice up and print for them is that wrong & would you say;
"No!! go buy your own copy of word and a printer!" ? (or.. would you?)

(Although if they did it "too much" then I probably would :)

There would be absolutely NOTHING against the license of bb legally (or morally) for someone to compile some freely available source (or any source with permission) and release the resulting EXE for everyones benefit. We do it all the time each time we release a product, if that were the case then all our customers would need to buy the compiler too. Its not as if he is trying to make a sneaky exe of a private closed source product which would be a moral grey area (weather for sale or not)

Once again a mountain out of a molehill.


tonyg(Posted 2008) [#25]
It's not self-righteous flaming, it is people's opinion
<edit> ... and moral judgement.


xmlspy(Posted 2008) [#26]
You have some really good features in that program. I might exchange notepad for it. Notepad has always been the No. 1 program I use for quick notes.


Adam Novagen(Posted 2008) [#27]
Hey, thanks xmlspy! Glad to hear you like it!


_33(Posted 2008) [#28]
Is there an EXE of this around so I can try?


Ked(Posted 2008) [#29]
Is there an EXE of this around so I can try?

!i!i!LOL!i!i!


TaskMaster(Posted 2008) [#30]
LOL

Yes, I want an EXE of it too. I use BlitzMax, not Plus.

Someone post an EXE, and Adam, promise not to download it. ;)


Who was John Galt?(Posted 2008) [#31]
I'm telling Mark!!! :)


D4NM4N(Posted 2008) [#32]
Ill have a copy too if someone can "release their own binary" of this "open source" program.


(tu) sinu(Posted 2008) [#33]
what the hell? So if i created a paint app in blitz3d posted an exe and gave it out free, even to non-blitz3D owners, that creates a problem? Don't think so!


Yahfree(Posted 2008) [#34]
Hey Adam, what blitz product DID you buy? Because there's plenty of win32 GUI libs around:

Blitzplus - built in
Blitz3D - WinB3D
BlitzMax - wxMax


Adam Novagen(Posted 2008) [#35]
Oh, SWEET! I didn't realize there was a GUI Lib for B3D! (My purchase.) I'll look for that right away!

Thanks Yahfree!


markcw(Posted 2008) [#36]
Here you go Adam. Let me know if that's okay.

Edit: removed.


tonyg(Posted 2008) [#37]
So if i created a paint app in blitz3d posted an exe and gave it out free, even to non-blitz3D owners, that creates a problem?

Nope but that's not the situation here.
The demo is restricted in that it can't create an exe. To create an exe the full product needs to be purchased.
Using the demo and getting somebody else to create the exe is akin to putting the PC clock back to get over a 30 day demo limit.
I think this is out of order but others don't.


TaskMaster(Posted 2008) [#38]
I guess it is hard to come up with an analogy for this debate. Since BRL is the sole owners of Blitz compilers. You can't really compare this to writing C++ code and having someone compile it on MS VC...

But, what about VB code. Would it be illegal for me to write VB code and ask someone who owned VB to compile it for me? I am not trying to be contrary, just wanting to discuss the issue here at hand. What about any other language where there is no free compilers. Delphi maybe?

I guess it is a tough issue to debate. I understand the idea that purchasing the compiler give you the right to compile the apps, and it is pretty much the only thing you get for the purchase, but is it really illegal (or morally wrong) to write code for the compiler if you do not own it?

Hmmm, this is a tough one...


tonyg(Posted 2008) [#39]
I guess it'd need BRL to say whether they're happy for somebody to compile for a demo user.
Disclaimer : None of the below is referring to Adam's particular situation.
It seems a short step from either somebody offering a compile service or a team ganging together to buy one license and use it between them to create executables.
OK, there might be a slight delay getting the .exe back but so what. It's only another short-step for that team to think 'Hold on, why don't we just all install the purchased copy and then we don't need to fanny about!" .


TaskMaster(Posted 2008) [#40]
Actually, it is probably better that they don't say. If they don't chime in here and say STOP, then it is better that they just ignore it.

That way, they have not cemented themselves with a decision, so if somebody does come along and do something they don't like, they CAN say stop.

No one can say, but you said it was OK. We saw your post that said we could have someone else compile for us.


markcw(Posted 2008) [#41]
Adam, I just added a public domain license statement to your code. Should clear up any confusion.


Snarkbait(Posted 2008) [#42]
Needs tabbers for the open files.

No edit menu?


Yahfree(Posted 2008) [#43]
http://www.whitegatesoftware.com/winblitz3d.zip

WB3D download if you didn't find it.


Hambone(Posted 2008) [#44]
Notepad++ is the best. And open source. Google is your friend :)


_33(Posted 2008) [#45]
So, winblitz3d is an add-on that permits running Blitz+ programs such as this one on Blitz3d as per windows, buttons and menu widgets are concerned? I might try it out later then.


Adam Novagen(Posted 2008) [#46]
markcw, thank you so much for that EXE. Hey, I made a small update to the source code recently to allow NovaNotes to open files from its command line at startup; feel free to update the EXE.

Yahfree, thanks SO MUCH for that WinB3D link; that is going to be a huge help to me. Cheers mate!

NOVANOTES SOURCE CODE HAS BEEN UPDATED!


Yahfree(Posted 2008) [#47]
>So, winblitz3d is an add-on that permits running Blitz+ programs such as this one on Blitz3d as per windows, buttons and menu widgets are concerned? I might try it out later then.

It has similar functionality to blitzplus' built in win32 gui, but different syntax, so it wouldnt run blitzplus code right off the bat..


danielos(Posted 2008) [#48]
Thanks for uploading the code, Adam!
I got an error message when I run the program for the first time ("Array index out of bounds...")
But after that, it worked just fine...
And there is one little thing I noticed:
When you want to exit and are asked whether you would like to save changes, the program closes, even though you click the "Chancel"-Button. I think this behaviour is unusual, you may want to fix that...
Nice program!


Pineapple(Posted 2008) [#49]
NovaNotes 1.02 compiled:
http://www.freewebs.com/grasshopperinteractive/OtherFiles/NovaNotes.rar



I got an error message when I run the program for the first time ("Array index out of bounds...")

Same here.


Ginger Tea(Posted 2008) [#50]
gha i hate rar files cos i had to install a trail of it for one bloody file and then got nagged for a bit about registering it
i only wanted it for one file (windows handles zips nativly so why not use that? its not as if b+ exes work on linux or mac os to warrant rar)

and as this is an old thread mostly about the morals of exe making for someone else
as its posted in this thread (perhaps even the code archive?) in its entirety giving any b+ user the ability to compile to exe it wouldnt surprise me if it ends up on some website or other credited to adam or not

and unless you are on pocket money or giro skint its not a biggie on the wallet (even if you have to save a fiver here and there)


Ked(Posted 2008) [#51]
Just get 7zip. It's better than WinRAR.


Pineapple(Posted 2008) [#52]
Sorry 'bout that. Hadn't realized the rest of the posts were 4 months old.


Mortiis(Posted 2008) [#53]
Get IZArc for all the compressed files. It's free fast and opens almost every file.

http://www.izarc.org/