Clipboard manager
Encyclopedia
A clipboard manager is a computer program
that adds functionality to basic clipboard
usage.
All existing window managers (2011) provide only one buffer, overwritten by each new clipping.
The main task of a clipboard manager is to store data copied to clipboard in a facility that permits richer use of the "clipped" data.
The basic function of copy and paste is enhanced with one of more of the following features:
Some of the available tools create new buffers for every cut or copy operation thus forming a clipping history.
Tools that provide only this function would perhaps be better called clipboard loggers.
Some applications only provide the user with ability to move the current clipping buffer to long term storage, thus creating an archive, but do nothing automatically.
Tools that provide only this function should perhaps be better called archive managers or clipbooks'.
One such is textBEAST, which leaves it to the user to save desired items rather than collecting every item that passes through the Windows clipboard.
Some keep a clipping history by automatically making a new buffer for each new cut or copy operation.
There is normally a limit on the number of buffers kept, or on the memory (possibly disk space) allowed for the purpose.
Some applications have an internal copy history feature. This internal copy history, though, is lost after the host application is closed. This has been a standard feature in UNIX
editors like vi
and emacs
for some time. Recent versions of Microsoft Office
(at least from Office 2003) have included the "Office Clipboard", a built-in clipboard manager, which operates as long as one of the Office suite applications is open.
clipboard manager enables pasting the copied data, even after an application is closed, by maintaining the clip buffer itself.
Its copying and pasting operations are very versatile in what they permit to be transferred between applications.
A range of cells clipped from an Excel sheet can be pasted as a table into MS Word, or OpenOffice.org.
Formatted text clipped from a web page will become cells in an Excel sheet, a table in MS Word, or plain text in Text Edit.
Windows does not offer a copy history feature.
Users wanting this function use a third-party clipboard manager that replaces the default clipboard.
also has a host of third-party options for clipboard management.
Ten of them are presented in a 2009 review article.
From this list are:
Clipboard managers for Mac OS X use the Dock, status bar or Dashboard to integrate with the Mac Look and Feel
.
Clipboard Manager specification describes a protocol layered on top of the ICCCM clipboard spec for client applications.
A daemon process is responsible for storing clipboard contents.
This daemon clipboard manager must be provided by the window manager running in the user's X session.
The client-side specification has native support in a number of toolkits, including GTK+
.
ships with Klipper
.
GNOME
provides a basic clipboard manager function as part of the gnome-control-center (accessed via the gnome-settings-daemon), that supports the freedesktop.org Clipboard Manager Specification.
It is also possible to run other clipboard managers in GNOME, such as Klipper, Glipper
, Parcellite or ACM.
Computer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
that adds functionality to basic clipboard
Clipboard (software)
The clipboard is a software facility that can be used for short-term data storage and/or data transfer between documents or applications, via copy and paste operations...
usage.
All existing window managers (2011) provide only one buffer, overwritten by each new clipping.
The main task of a clipboard manager is to store data copied to clipboard in a facility that permits richer use of the "clipped" data.
The basic function of copy and paste is enhanced with one of more of the following features:
- provide multiple buffers and the ability to merge, split, and edit their contents
- select which buffer following cut or copy operations should store into
- select from which buffer(s) following paste operation should take from.
- ability to handle more than just plain text
- formatted textFormatted textFormatted text, styled text or rich text, as opposed to plain text, has styling information beyond the minimum of semantic elements: colours, styles , sizes and special features .-Terminology:...
(like rich text (RTFRTFRTF may stand for:* Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française, France's national public broadcasting organization between 1949 and 1964* Reader talks first, in RFID, the situation where the interrogator or reader initiates the session with the RFID tag...
), htmlHTMLHyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
, or word processor formats (MS Word, OpenOffice etc) - tabular data, like spreadsheet cells
- data objects like vCards, calendar events and todos
- media content like images
- URLs (as bookmarks and/or text)
- move a selected clipping(s) to long term storage, thus making a "snippets library" or "clipbook"
- provide indexing, tagging, and/or storage groups (folders) of clipped data
- designate a number of buffers to form groups, which may additionally have an order, to be pasted together
- automatically classifying clippings by tagging or making them into members of a storage group according to given rules
- clippings search function
Some of the available tools create new buffers for every cut or copy operation thus forming a clipping history.
Tools that provide only this function would perhaps be better called clipboard loggers.
Some applications only provide the user with ability to move the current clipping buffer to long term storage, thus creating an archive, but do nothing automatically.
Tools that provide only this function should perhaps be better called archive managers or clipbooks'.
One such is textBEAST, which leaves it to the user to save desired items rather than collecting every item that passes through the Windows clipboard.
Copy history
Most clipboard managers allow the user to keep multiple clipped objects, available for later use.Some keep a clipping history by automatically making a new buffer for each new cut or copy operation.
There is normally a limit on the number of buffers kept, or on the memory (possibly disk space) allowed for the purpose.
Some applications have an internal copy history feature. This internal copy history, though, is lost after the host application is closed. This has been a standard feature in UNIX
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
editors like vi
Vi
vi is a screen-oriented text editor originally created for the Unix operating system. The portable subset of the behavior of vi and programs based on it, and the ex editor language supported within these programs, is described by the Single Unix Specification and POSIX.The original code for vi...
and emacs
Emacs
Emacs is a class of text editors, usually characterized by their extensibility. GNU Emacs has over 1,000 commands. It also allows the user to combine these commands into macros to automate work.Development began in the mid-1970s and continues actively...
for some time. Recent versions of Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
(at least from Office 2003) have included the "Office Clipboard", a built-in clipboard manager, which operates as long as one of the Office suite applications is open.
Windows
The default Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
clipboard manager enables pasting the copied data, even after an application is closed, by maintaining the clip buffer itself.
Its copying and pasting operations are very versatile in what they permit to be transferred between applications.
A range of cells clipped from an Excel sheet can be pasted as a table into MS Word, or OpenOffice.org.
Formatted text clipped from a web page will become cells in an Excel sheet, a table in MS Word, or plain text in Text Edit.
Windows does not offer a copy history feature.
Users wanting this function use a third-party clipboard manager that replaces the default clipboard.
Mac OS X
Mac OS XMac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
also has a host of third-party options for clipboard management.
Ten of them are presented in a 2009 review article.
From this list are:
- ClipMenu free?
- Clipper - dead link March 2011
- Clyppan (commercial)
- JumpCut free
- PTHPasteboard (commercial)
- Savvy Clipboard (commercial)
- iClip - product withdrawn from the market
- Clipboard Evolved (commercial)
- Cute Clips (commercial)
- Stuf (commercial)
Clipboard managers for Mac OS X use the Dock, status bar or Dashboard to integrate with the Mac Look and Feel
Look and feel
In software design, look and feel is a term used in respect of a graphical user interface and comprises aspects of its design, including elements such as colors, shapes, layout, and typefaces , as well as the behavior of dynamic elements such as buttons, boxes, and menus...
.
freedesktop.org
The freedesktop.orgFreedesktop.org
freedesktop.org is a project to work on interoperability and shared base technology for free software desktop environments for the X Window System on Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. It was founded by Havoc Pennington from Red Hat in March 2000.The organisation focuses on the user....
Clipboard Manager specification describes a protocol layered on top of the ICCCM clipboard spec for client applications.
A daemon process is responsible for storing clipboard contents.
This daemon clipboard manager must be provided by the window manager running in the user's X session.
The client-side specification has native support in a number of toolkits, including GTK+
GTK+
GTK+ is a cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces. It is licensed under the terms of the GNU LGPL, allowing both free and proprietary software to use it. It is one of the most popular toolkits for the X Window System, along with Qt.The name GTK+ originates from GTK;...
.
X Window System
The UNIX desktop environment KDEKDE
KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
ships with Klipper
Klipper
Klipper is a clipboard manager for the KDE interface. It allows users of Unix-like operating systems running the KDE desktop environment to access a history of X Selections, any item of which can be reselected for pasting. It can also be used to react automatically if a certain text is selected...
.
GNOME
GNOME
GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
provides a basic clipboard manager function as part of the gnome-control-center (accessed via the gnome-settings-daemon), that supports the freedesktop.org Clipboard Manager Specification.
It is also possible to run other clipboard managers in GNOME, such as Klipper, Glipper
Glipper
Glipper is a clipboard utility for the GNOME panel. It allows users of Unix-like operating systems to access a history of X Selections, any item of which can be reselected for pasting. Glipper is often described as the GNOME counterpart to KDE's Klipper...
, Parcellite or ACM.
See also
- Clipboard (software)Clipboard (software)The clipboard is a software facility that can be used for short-term data storage and/or data transfer between documents or applications, via copy and paste operations...
- ClipXClipXClipX is a tiny clipboard history manager for Windows. ClipX is fairly easy to use and it's offered free of charge, but it doesn't offer the clip-management features found in similar applications.-Features:...
- ShapeshifterShapeshifter (Software)Shapeshifter is a freeware clipboard history manager made by Flamefusion. It allows you to have several items in your Windows clipboard, which is normally limited to one single item....
- KlipperKlipperKlipper is a clipboard manager for the KDE interface. It allows users of Unix-like operating systems running the KDE desktop environment to access a history of X Selections, any item of which can be reselected for pasting. It can also be used to react automatically if a certain text is selected...
- GlipperGlipperGlipper is a clipboard utility for the GNOME panel. It allows users of Unix-like operating systems to access a history of X Selections, any item of which can be reselected for pasting. Glipper is often described as the GNOME counterpart to KDE's Klipper...