How to call up the Descript.ion dialog from the command line

I would like to be able to call up the enter Descript.ion dialog from the command line.

I am using a Folder monitoring utility so that when I download a file say into E:\downloads, it will pop up the Set Descript.ion dialog.

This Folder monitoring utility can

  1. detect that I have downloaded say a file called Thebestutility.exe
  2. execute a command Dopus (?????) Thebestutility.exe

What I simply need to know whether there is commandline switch (?????) to call up the Set Descript.ion dialog for Thebestutility.exe

Similarly, is there a commandline command to call up a dialog to enter comments into Comments field (ie Advanced Data Stream available in NTFS partitions.) of this Thebestutility.exe

Thanks

The DOpus command to edit the descript.ion information is "SetAttr DESCRIPTION". However, it is not supported from the external command utility (dopusrt.exe /cmd ). Moreover, it only operates on a file selected in a DOpus lister.

There is no DOpus command to edit the Comments field. DOpus merely allows you to select the File Properties context menu item (provided by the Windows operating system), and edit the File Comments from that dialog.

[quote="kenalcock"]The DOpus command to edit the descript.ion information is "SetAttr DESCRIPTION". However, it is not supported from the external command utility (dopusrt.exe /cmd ). Moreover, it only operates on a file selected in a DOpus lister.

There is no DOpus command to edit the Comments field. DOpus merely allows you to select the File Properties context menu item (provided by the Windows operating system), and edit the File Comments from that dialog.[/quote]

Just today, I came across a utility that may make life a little easier. Basically, instead of Right Clicking a file to get the Context menu, then looking for the Properties command, clicking the Summary Tab, then clicking the Comments Dialog box, this nifty little utility opens up a new Command on the ContextMenu and a single line dialog box and on hitting Enter, it places the what ever comments entered in the Comments field.

Basically it's a shortcut.

Now if only I can access this new command via a Hotkey from Dopus !!

HobComment Explorer Extension v1.07 beta download page
"What is HobComment ?

It's a little extension for your Microsoft Explorer. It permits to add/edit comments for each one of your directories.

On your NTFS partitions, you can add/edit comments for each files too."
dr-hoiby.com/CommentExt/index.php


And if I also apply HobComment XP Shell Extension, I also get to access the File/Folder comments Column in DOpus

Funny, I just noticed that Comments and File/Folder Comments display the same things in DOpus. So maybe HobComment XP Shell Extension is not necessary.

"What is HobComment XP Shell Extension ?

It's a little extension for your Microsoft Explorer. It permits you to add a new column displaying the comments for each one of your files and directories. (This feature is already contained in Windows 2000 but not in Windows XP anymore)."
dr-hoiby.com/CommentExtXP/index.php

You can use the ContextMenu command in Opus to create toolbar buttons or hotkeys which run context menu items.

The exact syntax will vary depending on how the other program adds its context menu items but it should be possible.

Thanks for the tip.

I could call up all the commands available with

ContextMenu SHOWCMDS.

However, I could not find the new command that is available through the RightClick on the file - the new contextmenu command is Add Comments. But when I execute

ContextMenu SHOWCMDS

I notice that the DOpus a Dialog Box which say Available context menu commands are :

But the command I'm looking for "Add Comment" is missing from this Available contextmenu commands Dialog Box.

I have attached two screen shots when the Right Click and ContextMenu SHOWCMDS are executed on the same file in DOpus



Some context menu handlers add themselves in a way which means they're not accessible via the ContextMenu command.

Do you just want to be able to type a comment into a text box and have that set as an NTFS attribute? I could probably write a small command-line program to let you do that in Opus without spending too much time.

Yes, basically, I want to be able to call up the Comment text box (by assigning a hotkey) and enter some comments into the text box and then subsequently be able to see the Comments appear in the comment column in a lister.

I'm not sure what you mean by "and have that set as an NTFS attribute?"

And it would be nice if later on, I could search for some comments that I entered in the Comments to locate a file that I "commented" some months ago, that would be really neat.

What you see in the Comments column is stored using NTFS Alternate Data Streams.

I can't help directly there since it requires changes to Opus itself.