Neuon's Merlin

[WolfUK]

I'm hoping that we have one or two Merlin users here (brianh?) since I have a couple of questions ...

1. Is there a way to get the toolbar to auto-hide? I know that I can use a Hotkey to do this but auto-hiding would be great.

2. Is there a way to prevent Merlin from closing down during a backup? This is not a major issue but it would be useful.

On the whole this looks like a good macro launcher and seems to be a lot neater than a full screen of icons. However, are there any known problems with it?

Thanks.

[brianh]

WolfUK-

First of all, I praise you for considering Merlin. It is truly one of the most sophisticated and clever apps for EPOC!

In answer to your questions:

1) Auto-hiding is somewhat a feature of Merlin. In the preferences, you can set it to auto-hide for the 'Open Files/Apps Dialog' and for the Extras bar.

The user can also set the option for Global Visibility which allows the toolbar to take on the state (expanded or collapsed) of the last used toolbar. An example would be if I am in Sheet and I have a user-defined toolbar for Sheet and it is collapsed, when I close Sheet and return to System, its toolbar will be collapsed.

As for using hotkeys, I only use them for calling toolbars associated with apps other than the one that I am using at the time. An example would be if I am in system with a toolbar allocated to System, and I want to use a macro on the Word toolbar, I can enter its hotkey (user-defined) and it will bring it to the foreground with focus. You may simply tap the end of the toolbar (lock icon for stationary toolbar, arrow for floating toolbar) to collapse/expand it.

2. Merlin doesn't have a feature to keep it on during backups (I may be wrong as I don't backup except by using RMRFile and then IR to a CF card on my Osaris.

As for bugs, overall Merlin is a very stable app. The only problems that I have encountered with it is if you use it to launch a troublesome macro that fails to run properly, you have to restart Merlin to access the macro launching feature again. This really isn't a problem if you use reliable macros or are competent in using OPL.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I also suggest going to Neuon's website and downloading the .pdf file on it - it has a great deal of info on it and good graphics (it is EPOC compatible).

Hope this helps.

[WolfUK]

Thanks for the reply Brian. As I hinted at in my original message I had a feeling that you'd be the guy to help me out. :)

I've found the Auto-Hide for the Extras Bar but I cannot find an option for the Files/Apps Dialog. Cpuld you expand on this further please (no pun intended!). Also, I was really thinking of a timer-based system so that after, say, ten seconds, the toolbar would minimise.

I've got the PDF instruction manual and I have been playing around with Merlin a bit more since yesterday and the more I experiment the more I like it. It's a shame that it seems to have been developed as far as it is likely to but it's very good for a version 1.00 application.

[brianh]

Simon-

To the best of my knowledge, Merlin will automatically auto-hide for the 'Open Files Dialog' automatically. I am unsure if it is due to the hide for Extras bar option being set or not.

The idea of a timer would be interesting. As far as I know, development on Merlin has stopped (tried emailing the author but no reply). Merlin doesn't allow you to send key presses to itself (to the best of my knowledge), but it would be interesting to try by running an OPL macro. I may fool around with it over Christmas break (teacher) and see what can be done. I will let you know of any success.

If you need any further help or have problems registering, please let me know as I would be glad to provide assistance.

Hope this helps.

[WolfUK]

To the best of my knowledge, Merlin will automatically auto-hide for the 'Open Files Dialog' automatically.It does.

The idea of a timer would be interesting. As far as I know, development on Merlin has stopped (tried emailing the author but no reply). Merlin doesn't allow you to send key presses to itself (to the best of my knowledge), but it would be interesting to try by running an OPL macro. I may fool around with it over Christmas break (teacher) and see what can be done. I will let you know of any success.That would be great. I'm going to play around with it (and macros in general) much more in the next few days so I will also post any findings here that I think might be useful.

If you need any further help or have problems registering, please let me know as I would be glad to provide assistance.Thanks, it's great to know that there is at least one other Merlin fan here!

[netBookBabe]

Originally posted by WolfUK
Thanks, it's great to know that there is at least one other Merlin fan here! Maybe one more here, Simon - evaluating at the moment. :)

Julie

[brianh]

Julie,

Great choice. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have. If you have any questions, let me know.

[The Paul Bt]

As another Merlin fan (18 Apps, 10 Docs).

Have you tried setting the advanced option for a button, so that it minimises the toolbar?

Cheers
Paul

[WolfUK]

Hi Paul and welcome to the forums.

I'm guessing that you mean using the Advanced option to hide the toolbar after I choose a button. I'll probably use this for most of my custom toolbar items but originally I was really thinking of a situation where I could display a toolbar for a few seconds to see details such as whether caps lock is enabled, the link is active, etc. Having played around with Merlin a bit more I can now see that this area of functionality would be pretty limited compared to the overal picture of what Merlin can do.

I'm still playing around but the more I experiment the more I like this application. :)

[brianh]

Hello-

Two things that have entered my mind:

1) I don't recall seeing the feature to set the toolbar to hide after tapping a button. Can someone please point me in the right direction?

2) After brainstorming on what it would take to write a custom OPL module to autohide Merlin, I believe that it is entirely complex and would waste precious memory and processer power. NOTE- I may be totally wrong!

[The Paul Bt]

brianh,

To set the collapse after a button press, go to:
Merlin,
select a tool bar,
Double click or press Toolbar button to modify,
Select a button,
click or press Edit button to modify,
In the Configure Item menu select the Advanced tab,
Choose the Minimise toolbar option for the Special action.
Then exit out.

Cheers
Paul

[brianh]

Paul -

Thanks. I overlooked that feature.

To any Merlin user:

Have you been able to use Scribble 2000 (handwriting recognition freeware www.epocsoftware.com) in conjunction with Merlin? It is my observance that the keypresses sent to the app by Scribble 2000 are lost in confusion.

Thanks for any/all of the help.