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File-Ex Version 3 Known Issues and Solutions
Specific program configuration issues and problems that have been reported with File-Ex are noted here, with suggested work-arounds.
Contents:
- Specific program conflict/configuration issues
- General File-Ex issues and tech notes
- Also check the Tips for getting started page
Specific program conflict/configuration issues:
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Microsoft Office XP: File-Ex training must be "tweaked" for Office XP applications (Word, Excel, Access, Powerpoint, etc.).
Specifically, the "Match Dialog Title" setting of each dialog configuration must be changed to be just the first letter of the dialog title.
If you're using the English version of Office, simply use "Import" on the Trained Dialogs tab (in the File-Ex Configuration dialog), and import the pre-trained Office XP template. The templates are already adjusted. If you're using another language, you can import the template but must change the "Match Dialog Title" setting of each dialog configuration to match the first letter of the dialog title. For instance, in German you must change the "O" to "Ö" for the Open (Öffnen) dialog. |
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Microsoft Office 97/2000, changing for non-English versions: File-Ex training must be re-done for Office applications
in other languages.
We suggest that you import the English version template ("Office 97.fxt", etc.) to use as a guide. Train File-Ex for each of the dialogs (for the applications you use), and then try to match the configuration settings to the ones in the template. Then delete the original English one. If you get a message "I already know this..." when training, then you may be able to just Cancel the training and instead just change the "Match Dialog Title" to the appropriate text for your language (set it to what you see in the dialog title). |
| Word Perfect 6.1: The Import Data function seems to have a small filename buffer, and cannot handle long file paths (as a 16-bit application, this is to be expected on occasion). This can cause a program crash if File-Ex is used, so File-Ex should be disabled for this dialog. |
| Other applications: Some of the applications that had difficulties in File-Ex 98 may still have problems in File-Ex 3 due to their unique design, but we haven't received reported whether they are OK or not. If you're using any of the applications in the File-Ex 98 known problems list, please let us know whether the problem still exists with File-Ex 3! |
General File-Ex Issues and Solutions
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If File-Ex doesn't enhance the dialogs -- There are a few possible reasons you might see this.
The most obvious would be if it's disabled. If you see the File-Ex icon in the task bar tray, and there isn't a red line through it, then it's enabled. Otherwise check the configuration to re-enable it. (Obviously if you don't see the File-Ex icon at all, then it may not be running.) You might also be disabling File-Ex temporarily by accident, by holding the Shift and/or Control key down. If this is the case, see the Disabled Dialogs section of the configuration to change these settings. Another possibility is that you're using an application that doesn't use the "common" dialogs. The most common are MS Office and most Corel applications. Pre-trained templates are available for most MS Office applications (use the Import button on the Trained Dialogs configuration screen). Others can be easily trained -- see the Help file for more information. Finally, File-Ex can be effectively disabled by a bug in another program -- there are several programs that use the same hook technology that File-Ex uses, but due to a bug in their program they end up disabling File-Ex (or any other software using hooks). This is usually caused by some other "enhancement" utility, such as mouse or keyboard enhancers, macro programs, shell enhancements, etc. To figure out which one is causing it, you'll need to close/disable anything you suspect, then close/restart File-Ex. If it works now, then restart other programs and test File-Ex after each one. |
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Installing for multiple users -- To set up the data folders and registry settings properly, you should install File-Ex 3 separately
for each user. If you don't, then File-Ex report an error that it's not installed properly for the other users -- this is because it doesn't find the registry
settings in the "current user" path.
File-Ex can be installed to the same program folder for each user, since only the non-changing program files are placed there. However, each user will have a separate data folder by default (which defaults during installation to something like c:\Documents and Settings\[user]\Application Data\File-Ex), which will separate the config settings, file & folder history, favorites, and trained dialogs. If you want to share the same data folder for each user, you can specify a common data folder location when installing File-Ex. If you're up to it, you can also set/modify the registry directly to tell File-Ex where to look for the files. The entries are at: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Cottonwood Software\File-Ex\ The keys needing changed are pretty obvious: - Program Path - Data Path - Regkey Path (normally the same as the Data Path) |
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If the message "...not responding to the Enter key..." appears often when trying to save large files or files over a network,
you may want to increase the File-Ex warning delay (the amount of time File-Ex waits to see if the dialog is responding).
To do this, add this line to the end of the file FILEEX.INI (in the File-Ex data folder):
Close Delay=10000 The value is in milliseconds (seconds x 1000), so 10000 = 10 seconds. The default is 5 seconds (5000). |
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If a dialog disappears immediately: If a dialog does not have a file edit box, or is not
designed for selecting files (for instance Browse dialogs), the dialog may vanish immediately after opening
when File-Ex tries to change its starting folder.
To correct this, you need to disable the "Open to the last folder used" function for that dialog. See the topic "Disabling File-Ex for a Specific Program" in the help file for details. |
