ActualDoc: An Introduction

ActualDoc is Flexigensoft’s replacement for Windows Recent Documents. But it is more than a replacement since it actually enhances the way one works with the documents one creates or receives into one’s computer.

I work with a lot of documents: I take down a lot of notes and store them in my computer for use in a word processor later on. I also write webpages and create graphic files when needed for the websites I maintain. Then there are days when I download not only applications but also updates for the content management systems I am employing and applications I use in my computer. Sometimes Windows "recent documents" successfully keeps track of the files I’ve been working with. Most of the times it does not. You might say I do more than the Windows Recent Documents viewer can handle. This is why I find ActualDoc to be a great help. It keeps track of my recent documents in such an efficient manner that I am even sometimes surprised to find out that I created a particular file, at a particular date and stored it in a particular folder at a time when I have forgotten about it!

What ActualDoc Does

1. It keeps track of all created, updated and used documents in your computer. This includes not only those that you are aware of but also those that only your applications know about (e.g. the logs that your applications make)

This fact alone shows how powerful the software is. But there is more…

2. It allows you to tell it which kinds of documents to show you and which subdirectories in your computer you don’t want to know about.

This feature balances the first one. Just imagine what you would find in ActualDoc’s interface as your "recent document" without this second feature.

3. It records the date and the time when a document was used, created or updated in such a way that even if you have forgotten all about it, ActualDoc remembers it for you and can point it out to you with convenience.

4. It has a built in viewer that can display graphic files and web documents. For archives that the viewer cannot display, ActualDoc offers the option of opening it through the application with which it is associated.

5. ActualDoc is so versatile that you can also use it as a program launcher. Just go to "Commands –>Run–>Browse–>Open".

These features show that ActualDoc is more than a replacement for the Windows’ Recent Documents. It is actually a Recent Documents Manager PLUS.

Recent Documents Manager PLUS

The fact that ActualDoc is able to monitor all kinds of document changes in one’s computer can be frightening. Last night I did quite a few things with my computer:

1. I downloaded a program I wanted to try out
2. i finished an article for a tutorial I was doing and uploaded it to my server
3. All the while I was doing 1 and 2 I was playing some music through AccelMan
4. After downloading the program I installed it into my computer
5. I did a few things with the new program which was a screenshot utility

After these activities, I opened up ActualDoc to see that it has recorded the log files of my antivirus software and my FTP program, the documents created by my HTML editor and the graphic files I moved about during the course of editing the tutorial, the files created by the setup files of the new program and afterwards the JPGs I created with it, and finally, also the MP3 playlists I was listening to. ActualDoc Pro not only remembers these files, it also organizes them into

1. Documents
2. Internet
3. Documents
4. Drawings and Images
5. Multimedia
6. Applications

It is equipped with a command panel that allows one to see which files one has worked with in a session or a day.

Additional Features

Text Editor

One of the features I like about ActualDoc is that it allows me to edit text and html files at the last minute. Take this scenario: I have just finished typing a tutorial and I have already logged in with my FTP application into the server. But at the last minute, I remember that I have forgotten to put a link into the document. I have closed my HTML editor, so instead of reopening it, I just "awaken" ActualDoc which I have setup beforehand to show webpages as ASCII texts. I click the webpage which was showing in the "Recent Documents Panel" to view it as text and began adding the missing link. And ActualDoc provides syntax highlighting too! I saved it and it was ready for uploading. Convenient. ActualDoc can do this service for RTF files too.

Graphic Editor

ActualDoc’s Viewer also doubles as a Graphic Editor. Sure the graphic editor has very basic features. But it is convenient for resizing large pictures or for making simple modifications to a graphic file.

Customization

ActualDoc allows full customization. Through its "Options" tab, one can make it work according to one’s specifications. The possibilities are so many; here are just a few…

1. One can limit which documents ActualDoc should monitor and display
2. One can define what is "recent" whether up to a week ago or months ago…
3. One can set it to the language one wants (apart from English it supports eleven other languages, including Hungarian and Ukrainian)
4. One can set it to secure mode and nobody would be able to know what you have in your recent documents if they do not know the password
5. One can even change the way it looks, e.g. adding or subtracting toolbars and adding one’s own

And then the window frames of ActualDoc are resizable. This feature is most convenient when one would like to edit texts or graphics from within ActualDoc. Or for searching through a long list of recent docs.

Special Features

Shell Integration

One of the characteristics of FlexigenSoft’s applications is their complete shell integration with Windows. This is true with ActualDoc. One can, for example, edit texts and graphics using the programs they are associated with from within ActualDoc itself. One can right click on a playlist and open it with its player, copy and paste, explore folders… etc…

Categories/Bookmarks

One can add categories and bookmarks to ActualDoc. This is a feature that is convenient especially if one needs to go back to a file again and again. And this applies not only to text files but also to applications.

Drag and Drop

Managing files into bookmarks and categories is easy. One can just drag them from the recent documents panel and drop them to the desired bookmark folder.

Conclusion

Is ActualDoc Pro just a replacement for Windows Recent Documents? I think that this is an understatement. It is a Recent Documents Manager with a lot of extra features. If you would like to know this for yourself, try downloading the free version of ActualDoc (ActualDoc Standard) and you’ll find that it does the functions of a Manager of documents. It is crippleware compared to the Pro edition, but one would find that in its modesty, it does a fine job of keeping one’s documents manageable. And while you work with it, I’m quite sure you’d begin to wonder — as I did: "If this is crippleware, then what would the full version do?"

And you’ll find out that the answer is: "A lot."