© Copyright HiTechy 2008. All Rights Reserved.
This document contains information about the product HiTechy SnipClip. It has been produced to act as a guide to the software and provides important information when installing and using the product. If you find that the information within this guide cannot help you with an existing issue, please feel free to contact our technical support advisors through our website. The information held within this help file will be updated on occasion to provide existing users with new information and features, as they are made available.
HiTechy is an Internet business which specialises in the production of software and services for website designers and developers and was formed in 2007 to represent the change from producing free small utilities for various services to become a professional publisher of high quality commercial software. Before HiTechy was founded, AD2K-Ware Studio's was the group name we released free software and utilities through. This group ran from 1998 - 2007 where it was then closed and re-opened as HiTechy.
HiTechy SnipClip is a code snippet manager. This means that it allows you to store and remember chunks of code or text. You may ask why you would want the software rather than just using text files or the clipboard. Well SnipClip can manage and organise your code snippets and has additional functionality developers will find useful in maintaining and creating code libraries. Not only this but it fully integrates with Windows to make accessing and using your snippets quick and easy.
Programming is hard work and often repetitive. Sometimes huge chunks of code you have produced can be reused from one project to another. But the question is how do you make it easy to manage and insert code when you need to? This is why HiTechy SnipClip exists. Its aim is to make coding easier and quicker than ever before. It saves your snippets of code into a single database which has tools to help maintain, fix and enhance your websites. It is editor independent so you can use your favorite text editor or IDE using drag and drop, to import, export and share snippets.
This section of the documentation will give you a general introduction to the programs functionality. You will learn exactly what the program can and cannot do so that you know what makes this software better than others you can find on the Internet. Also this information will act as a guide to allow you to determine if our product will allow you to achieve your goals and requirements.
Please visit the HiTechy website at http://www.hitechy.com for product news, information and details of future releases.
The below section of this documentation contains detailed information on how to purchase, download and install HiTechy SnipClip. It will guide you through all of the steps required to get your copy of the program and have it up and ready to run on your computer system or network. If you are looking to troubleshoot your installation, please use the support section further in this document.
If you are ready to buy a licensed version of our product rather than use a trial (if available), visit our website and select the product from our list of available software. From there you will be able to find more information about the product and there will be a link to purchase the product. This link will redirect you to our payment processor (PayPal) who will manage your payment details. You will be required to enter credit card details (Or a payment method offered by PayPal) for the purchase to take place.
The price listed on the website will be the price you pay for the product; there are no hidden charges or subscriptions for using our services. Once payment has been received you will be redirected back to our homepage where a license key will be generated and emailed to you. Remember to keep the details safe as you will be required to use it each time you activate the product.
Downloading a copy of our products is very simple. If you have just purchased the product a download link will be provided in the e-mail sent to you. However new and existing users can visit our website and download the product from its information pages. You can now download a copy of the software to test out using the demo mode before purchasing a license, further details are mentioned below.
To install HiTechy SnipClip, open the Setup file which you downloaded from our website. If you are using Microsoft Windows Vista, UAC will ask your permission to install the product, you need to select Allow to be able to continue. If you are missing the .NET framework you will be presented with an error, to continue you must download and install the required framework from the Microsoft website. The first page you will be presented with is a welcome page, to continue click the next button. The next dialog contains our License Agreement (Also included further in this documentation). You must agree to the terms of usage to be able to continue.
Next is the components section. You can select what you would like the product to install, such as this documentation and program shortcuts. Next you can select where you would like to install the product and following that, where (or if any) shortcuts should be placed in your start menu. Once you press install the files will be copied to your hard drive and any associations or shortcuts will be made. Finally you can either select if you want the product to launch when setup closes, and press Finish to complete the installation.
Because this product uses an open XML format to record non general settings under each user / machines name, you can install this product to a network server and run the program from there. However as user specific settings for the program itself are saved into the Windows Registry, you will be required to adjust these settings and reactivate your copy on a per machine basis.
Also if you wish to use the product as a portable application, copying the required files to a portable USB drive will work correctly, but you will need to adjust your personal settings on a per machine basis. Product activation will also need to reoccur for each machine. Remember that under the terms of the license you can only activate the amount of copies you are licensed to use.
Upgrading a copy of the product is very simple, all you need to do is run the Setup program and install the product over the top of the existing application. Remember that you will NOT lose any existing changes you have made to your settings or any information contained within the products XML databases. It may however for the purposes of safe practice, be worthwhile backing up your XML data files from time to time or before upgrading / repairing an installation in case an error occurs to prevent data loss.
To repair the product, either run the Setup.exe file contained in the programs folder, or Go to your Programs Installed section of the control panel. For Windows 2000 or XP users this is located under Add/Remove Programs, in Windows Vista its under Program Features. When you launch this control panel applet you will be provided with a list of software you currently have installed.
Search down the list for HiTechy SnipClip and by selecting it there will be an option to change / repair the product. Select this option and follow the Installation instructions to repair the installation. However the repair wizard will not fix issues with either the registry settings or any manual editing you have done to the XML databases. If either of these have been corrupted we recommend going to a previous backup, debugging the code manually or reinstalling the program.
Sometimes you may wish to remove the program completely, if you wish to remove the product it can be done in two ways. Either run the Uninst.exe file contained in the programs folder, or Go to your Programs Installed section of the control panel. For Windows 2000 or XP users this is located under Add/Remove Programs, in Windows Vista its under Program Features. When you launch this control panel applet you will be provided with a list of software you have installed.
Search down the list for HiTechy SnipClip and by selecting it there will be an option to uninstall the product. Select this option and the program removal wizard will begin. If you are using Microsoft Windows Vista, UAC will ask your permission to remove the product, you need to select Continue to be able to continue. Once this step has been completed a message box will appear asking you to confirm if you really want to remove the product. If you select No, the wizard will exit upon confirmation through a message box.
If you select Yes, the product and ALL of its settings, user created files and XML databases will be erased permanently. If you do not wish to lose this information, make a backup before you begin as everything you created will be destroyed. If there was a specific reason why you removed the product due to it lacking a feature or issues you had with the software, please contact technical support to help resolve the issues and make the product better for future versions.
Below is the getting started guide in this documentation. You will find general information which will help you to get the program running, activated and working with the general desktop environment. This part of the help file will explain how the application integrates into Microsoft Windows through the system tray, the desktop widget and using system hotkeys to show the programs control panel.
Once the program has been installed, you can launch the product in many ways. The most common is through the start menu which unless specified otherwise will be listed within the HiTechy SnipClip folder. In Vista you can also search for 'SnipClip' using the Vista start menu search function. Also you may also be able to launch the program from the desktop or the quick launch bar if icons were created. Additionally you can launch the program directly from its program folder which will be listed as 'SnipClip.exe'.
When you first launch the product you will be required to activate HiTechy SnipClip. Reactivation must also occur if you format and reinstall Windows or if you change the machine in which the software is installed upon. The details of your activation will have been provided in the original e-mail you received when you first purchased the product. If you have lost these details you can request the information to be sent to you again from our website by providing the e-mail address you used to register the product.
If you do not want to purchase a license but rather try out the product before you decide if you want to buy a copy of the product, all you need to do is select the demo button on the activation window. Remember that the demonstration mode is only a working model of how the program will function; certain elements will be disabled including the ability for the program to save any snippets added into the program. After each session the program will return to the default state, ready to activate or run the demo again.
You will be required to enter the product key and then the e-mail address you used. You can only use the license information for the version of the product you have purchased otherwise you will be required to purchase an upgrade to the new version. If you have any problems activating the product, please check further in the document in the technical support section as there will be common answers to why activation fails. If however none of those options works for you, please contact technical support for assistance.
When the product has been activated, HiTechy SnipClip will appear in the system tray. If you do not wish to see the icon it can be hidden through the start menu notification area or you can remove the icon completely within the program settings. The program is disabled if a grey icon rather than the default program icon is displayed. The software can be enabled and disabled using the system trays context menu or through the program settings. Left clicking on the system tray icon will launch the programs control panel pop-up, and clicking again will hide it. Right clicking the icon will launch a context menu with a list of the most commonly used functions.
By default HiTechy SnipClip has a single set of keyboard shortcuts. By pressing this combination of keys while the program is running you will find that the control panel for the software will pop-up on your desktop next to the system clock. The default key combination to launch the pop-up will be Ctrl, Alt and Ins unless configured otherwise through the program settings dialog.
This section of the program is a desktop widget which floats either in the background or always on top of your system. It allows you to drag and drop any source code, text or compatible files so that SnipClip can attempt to identify the language using filters and store the code or file into a database for later usage. Essentially the Widget is a floating clipboard to push and place your snippets. If you have lost the location of the DropZone widget and it is set to display always on top, click on the button located in the top right hand corner of the title bar. You can relocate the DropZone widget by simply dragging and dropping it in a location of your choice.
Below extends the getting started guide by providing some advanced information in reference to getting the software up and running. You will find an advanced guide to each of the modules of the product which will detail the user interface as well as how to quickly accomplish tasks. Also you will find a detailed guide to all of the things you can configure using the program settings dialog.
The control panel is the first thing you will see when launching the pop-up window for HiTechy SnipClip unless you have the option in the settings dialog set to remember the last used module you accessed. Inside the control panel you will find a series of icons which will each have a specific purpose or function for the program. Each of their functions will be explicitly explained both above (in the Program Features section) and below (advanced usage guide). To use a function of the program, simply click on its icon or right click and select its individual menu item and the pop-up window will automatically readjust its size to meet the requirements of the module. When a module is opened you can return to the control panel by selecting the icon in the top left hand corner of the title bar.
When you load the Snippet manager, you will be presented with a dialog containing a dropdown menu with a list of programming languages. By changing the language, the list of folders and snippets will readjust for what exists under the container of that language. Below the dropdown will be a tree containing folders (which are containers for groups of snippets) and snippets which are stored under that folder (filtered by category) which can be right clicked. And below the list of folders and snippets is a checkbox which contains the option to show or hide publically accessible snippets (which can be edited by any user). This makes up the interface of the module.
You can navigate the snippet manager by filtering all of the available snippets by selecting the language and folder (category) the snippet has been stored under. This makes finding the snippet you wish to use much easier than if it was a universal list. The filter by language allows for around 35,000 snippets per individual syntax language. Folders exist to allow categorization of the snippets which exist for each language. Also publically available snippets can be hidden if the snippet you wish to use is only available to you.
Right clicking on an item will bring up a series of editing commands such as adding, editing or deleting a new folder or snippet. Also commands such as moving a snippet between folders, editing source code, printing, previewing your work and e-mailing a snippet are available to help you work with your snippets more effectively. Keyboard shortcuts such as Del can be used to remove a folder or snippet and F2 can rename a snippet or folder. To export one of the items so that it can be quickly inserted into another application, drag and drop the selected snippet by the filename. You can also drag and drop snippets from one folder to another to move the code.
When you drag and drop code to the desktop widget the Wizard will load. This Screen will display two options to import or export the snippet. Export will show a dialog to save the snippet to a file. Import will show the edit source section of the wizard. This section allows you to edit the snippet, cut and paste code and even drag and drop (import) existing files and code into the window. Next you will be presented with a save snippet page. You can choose a filename, folder (create, edit, delete), public or private location and the language you wish it to be filed under. When you are done, press finish and the wizard will exit and your data will be saved.
In further reference to the above information for snippet creation or editing: If you are creating a new snippet of code from within the product, all of the above sections will apply to the wizard, with exception of the initial import / export page being shown. However if you are simply using View Source to edit your existing code, you will only see the edit source page of the wizard.
Welcome to the developer's area, this section of the document contains everything you will need to edit the databases. HiTechy SnipClip uses an open XML syntax format to store the core product content, which has been produced to make it quick and easy for other programs to use and edit the information. Remember that the program will not work, returning syntax errors or may even crash if the code is incorrectly formatted so make frequent backups of the databases if editing the XML source code.
| Character | Equivalent | <-- | Open comment (<-- ) |
|---|---|---|
| --> | Close comment ( -->) | |
| < | Open tag (<) | |
| > | Close tag (>) | |
| & | Ampersand (&) | |
| ' | Apostrophe (') | |
| " | Quotation mark (") | |
The first database you can edit is 'Filter.xml' which contains the filters that determine what kind of code you are importing and try to place it within the right category of snippets. The code validates as XML version 1.0 specification but uses a specially designed layout to work for the program. If you are going to edit the file, please make a backup beforehand as syntax errors can cause the program to behave unexpectedly, return error messages or even crash if it is formatted incorrectly as the parser attempts to interpret the data.
Warning: Tag elements and attributes are case sensitve as listed below. Using invalid case sensitivity for tags and elements may result in issues in the programs rendering of your databases and may cause unseen errors within the software.
The first step of the process is the declaration that the document is XML.
<?xml version="1.0"?>
Note: Declaring the document as valid XML is always good practice but is not required by the parser.
The opening and closing tags for the document are shown as an Index.
<Index></Index>
Note: These tags are not optional; they are required for the program to determine they are a database.
The below is an example of a language profile which requires attributes of ID, Name and Extensions as none of the three are optional components. The first attribute must match the language being used to declare the filters (In this case: HTML). The Name must be the second attribute and should contain the full name of the language being used (In this case: Hypertext Markup Language). And finally the extensions attribute should be placed which should contain the file extensions the language uses, separated by the | character (In this case: *.html|*.xhtml). The below example can be adapted for your needs to add further languages.
<Lang id="HTML" name="Hypertext Markup Language" extensions="*.html|*.xhtml"></Lang>
Warning: All three of the attributes contained in the above example (ID, Name and Extensions) are required for the program to use each code snippet, failure to include any element may result in critical errors in how the program functions.
The below is an example of a filter, you can have an unlimited amount of filters for each syntax language and the program will count the number of instances of the filter and assign it a value to the language to determine which language is the predominant environment. Each filter must have an opening and closing tag and must contain characters which comply with XML validation. The character guide noted above shows the XML equivalents of the ASCII characters to avoid syntax errors which you must abide by. If you add a snippet within the program, it will be automatically converted to and from the noted characters required.
<Filter><p></Filter>
Note: You can use standard XML characters without using the replacements. If you have a lot of code you don't want to translate you can simply enclose them in comment tags which are also listed within the above character guide.
The below self closing tag is required at the end of the file before the closing index tag. This simply exists so that if the snippet of code that has been imported cannot be detected by any of the existing filters it will automatically associate it as plain text.
<Lang id="Text" name="Plain Text Format" extensions="*.txt" />
Warning: If required, you can edit any element of this 'failsafe' tag, for example to encompass additional file extensions. However this tag must not be removed otherwise undetermined code may not be accepted by the product.
The second database you can edit is 'Snippets.xml' which contains the complete list of code snippets you have imported or created from within the product. The code validates as XML version 1.0 specification but uses a specially designed layout to work for the program. If you are going to edit the file, please make a backup beforehand as syntax errors can cause the program to behave unexpectedly, return error messages or even crash if it is formatted incorrectly as the parser attempts to interpret the data.
The first step of the process is the declaration that the document is XML.
<?xml version="1.0"?>
Note: Declaring the document as valid XML is always good practice but is not required by the parser.
The opening and closing tags for the document are shown as an Index.
<Index></Index>
Note: These tags are not optional; they are required for the program to determine they are a database.
The next section of this process declares the users who have snippets located on your computer or network. The name attribute should have a value which matches the computer name, succeeded with the name of the user on that machine (In this case: PC\Admin). The purpose of this tag is to separate each users snippets so they remain relatively private to their individual users.
<User name="PC\Admin"></User>
Warning: A required user name of 'All Users' exists (And must not be removed) as a location for globally shared snippets. Any pieces of code placed there are available for use and can be edited by every user who has access to the program.
Next, you will find a tag for every single language contained in the 'Filter.xml' file. The below example has an ID value of HTML which of course represents Hypertext Markup Language. You can define lang tags for any language such as RSS, CSS and PHP, however the tags must exist both in 'Filter.xml' as well as 'Snippets.xml'. Also, if you make a change in the syntax language filter the product will automatically add the missing syntax language reference to every user as it is required. However it will not remove redundant values.
<Lang id="HTML"></Lang>
Warning: Not only must the tags synchronise with those in 'Filter.xml', the tag must exist for every single user listed in the XML database (Including the 'All Users' section) or syntax errors and crashes may occur when trying to access corrupted / missing sections.
The next section of the XML database contains the folders which exist for each syntax language. Folders must contain a name which represents the snippets held inside most appropriately. If a folder is empty it can have a self closing tag rather than a full closing tag.
<Folder name="My Snippets"></Folder>
Warning: Two folders come preinstalled with the program as template folders and should not be edited or removed. 'Public Snippet Library' and 'My Snippets' are required program folders and should not be removed or renamed in the database.
Finally, you will reach the section of the XML database for the code snippet. Each snippet alike to a folder must contain a name which represents the code held inside most appropriately. Each snippet must have an opening and closing tag and must contain characters which comply with XML validation (See the character guide above for equivalent characters alike to adding filters into the XML database). If you add a snippet within the program, it will be automatically converted to and from the noted characters required.
<Snippet name="Demo"><p>Demo</p></Snippet>
Note: You can use standard XML characters without using the replacements. If you have a lot of code you don't want to translate you can simply enclose them in comment tags which are also listed within the above character guide.
The below contains information you will require for getting technical support for your product beyond this help documentation. You will find a troubleshooting guide for common error messages, frequently asked questions; a list of what is new with this version of the product and a list of changes through the software's version history, Internet resources and details on how to contact us online.
Version: 1.3
Version: 1.2
Version: 1.1
Version: 1.0
Below is a list of error messages you may receive while using the program and how they can be resolved. This includes issues with running the program, using product activation to register your copy and checking for online updates.
If you need to contact our technical support team because you have found a bug or issue, or are having problems using the product, please visit our website as we have a series of documents and contact forms for you to use. The first port of call for your problems should always be this help file and our online documents as these will answer many general enquiries. From there if your issue is still unresolved or if you need to get in contact with HiTechy itself in regards to billing, business or press information, use our contact forms.
The below index contains general information which you may find useful or interesting. There is a list of terminology used within SnipClip to help you understand what definitions certain words refer too. Also there is a list of acknowledgements and credits for individuals and groups who contributed to the product through either licensed / paid for services or free voluntary assistance.