Celestial Software

Just downloaded the new tabbed version, and I am liking it already, but I did have one thought right away - I would like to be able to have tabs AND new windows (yes I am greedy).

I administer a lot of servers, and try to get some development done at the same time, so I have all kinds of different things going on, all at the same time, I more or less have kept myself sane with virtual desktops, but being able to have multiple ssh connection windows each with the potential for multipe tabs would be supremely useful for me.

So - I want my cake and want to eat it too :)

This is how firefox works, where ctrl+n is a new window, and ctrl+t is a new tab. Most of the time I only need one window with a pile of tabs, but sometimes it is great to have both.

An example of where I really find this kind of behavior important is keeping tail's of certain logs running throughout the day, I can keep that connection open in it's own virtual desktop and just page over to it to take a look at how things are looking really easily and hop back to the project I am working on.

My thirst for ssh connections knows few bounds and I easily spike up over 12 different connections between two different computers throughout the day, if absolute telnet could do both tabbing and new window functionality I would be on cloud 9.

(If it already does this, and I'm just missing it, feel free to mock away, and I'll try to take my beating gracefully)

Thanks for all you do Brian!
Neil

There's no menu item to do it, but you can always start a new instance of AbsoluteTelnet from the start->Programs menu.

Perhaps I could add another option on the File->New menu so you can have both File->New->Tab and File->New->Window.

It's something to think about anyway.

Thanks for the feedback!

Brian

The workaround certainly does the trick - thanks for passing that on!

As for a longer term solution, I think you are on the right track, something like what you describe as an additional file menu option would be fantastic.

Would potentially eliminate the need to ask the question on install of whether you want 'classic' or 'tabbed', it would let the user decide as they ran it - if only one window it could act like classic, if you add a tab, flip modes. (I look to firefox for all my UI inspiration :) )

Brian,

Brilliant work.. but i do have one request.

Is it possible to have 'live' versions of tabbed sessions, on the first tab, rather than just a snapshot?

This feature would be great when monitoring multiple scripts.

Regards
Tony

[ October 18, 2006, 07:11 PM: Message edited by: RoadRunner ]

I could probably add a timer to refresh it every second or so. This would give the illusion of being 'live' but it would still be read-only snapshots(no interactivity).

Brian

Yes, timer would be great.

Cheers.

I'm a long-time AT user, and like the new tabbed interface - a lot. I strongly agree that a Firefox-like way to either open a new tab or open a new window is needed.

I just saw a write-up on a tool called Ponderosa, a terminal program for Cygwin. It also features a tabbed interface, but allows users to split the window into multiple panes so they can be seen all at once. I think this would be a fantastic addition to AT.

Lifehacker write-up of Ponderosa

i tried for the first time using tabs in one AT (v5.06) window. i use AT for connecting to NetApp filer serial consoles (using a USB to serial converter) from my notebook. i also log the session to a text file.
when i opened two tabs and connected to COM6 and COM7, i could only use one console. the 2nd session would stop responding. i had to then revert to using AT the v4 way by opening two AT sessions and connecting each session to a respective COM port.
Any reason why this is the case ?

Also, I agree with RoadRunner - a timer for the tabbed sessions page would be great (as long as I can get multiple COM port console connections working :D

[ October 25, 2006, 11:57 PM: Message edited by: bashir ]

Can you open both a serial and a non-serial connection at the same time? In other words, is the problem strictly isolated to opening two serial connctions at once?

Thanks for the report!

Brian

Hello,
I also like this new TAB feature a lot, but I wonder if someone managed to change from tab to tab using the keyboard (not the mouse) ?
The usual CTRL-TAB key combination remains unsuccessful...

Originally posted by Brian T. Pence:
Can you open both a serial and a non-serial connection at the same time? In other words, is the problem strictly isolated to opening two serial connctions at once?

Thanks for the report!

BrianBrian,

I will have to try this next week as I am currently on leave. Will post a reply with results on Tuesday (Aus time)

Thanks for the quick response.

Bashir.

Originally posted by Brian T. Pence:
Can you open both a serial and a non-serial connection at the same time? In other words, is the problem strictly isolated to opening two serial connctions at once?

Thanks for the report!

BrianHi Brian,

I have completed the test you requested.
If I have one COM port opened and a telnet or SSH session, it all works fine in tabbed views.
If I have two COM port connections, then I get the issues.
So it does look like it only affects when trying to access two serial connections at once.
I even created new connection files (instead of using the v4 connections files i had previously created for the serial ports) and the issue was still there.

I'll stick to just open two sessions of AT until a fix is available.

Thanks again,
Bashir.

[ October 30, 2006, 08:09 PM: Message edited by: bashir ]

I've been working on this. Can you try this version:

http://www.celestialsoftware.net/telnet/AbsoluteTelnet5.07.exe

Just to clarify what's new in 5.07..

I added the file->New window, as per Neil's request

I added a 1-second refresh to the preview tab as per RoadRunner's request

Fixed the serial problem (I think)

added control-tab and shift-control-tab to navigate the tabs.

Modified several other tab related thingies not mentioned in this post.

I have just started using the tabbed interface and I must say it's a step in the right direction to tidying up the loads of AT windows I normally have.

However I also agree that some degree of distinction between what is tabbed and what is not is required. I always start AT by using the excellent Launchy to select a .tnt file by name so I don't go through the File->New menu at all. What I would _really_ like is a configuration option to let you choose between the following 3 options

1) All new connections in their own window
2) All new connections in their own window if not existing instance of that connection exists, otherwise in a new tab
3) All new connections as a tab in the last AT window

This would let me choose (2) and thus every time I connect to host A it would group it with the other connections to that host, and likewise for host B. So I would end up with as many AT windows as hosts I am connecting to, but in each window there may be several connections to that host. At the moment I just have gone from loads of AT windows to loads of AT tabs and it isn't really any more organised.

Thanks for reading,

Phil

Philip,

Did you try the version 5.07 I just posted in this thread? I made some changes you might be interested in.

First off, there's a new option when you launch a .tnt file. If you right-click it instead of double-clicking, you'll see a new option for 'open in a new window'. This will give you the opportunity to do what you're talking about in (2). Also, if you want to open a new tab to an existing host, you can use the 'new tab' button and easily open multiple tabs to the same host in the same telnet window.

Give 5.07 a try and see if that's a step in the right direction

Thanks,

Brian

Thanks, I will give it a try.

With Launchy (launchy.net/) and similar you never need to go near any icons or file managers or menus etc. Just type the hotkey sequence and the name of the host and it will 'open' that file. So if you have a AT file called abc.tnt, you type 'alt+space abc <cr>' (as a maximum) and that's it. So you don't get the opportunity to right click on the icon I'm afraid.

My usual startup routine consists of about 10 seconds of typing these sequences to open up 6-10 AT windows and if I could get them automagically grouped it would be neat.

Hi Brian,

Having reread your message a bit more closely, I think 5.0.7 might almost enable me to do what I need. However the default 'open' action on a .tnt file should be to open a new window and then I can use the ctrl shortcut to create additional tabs to the same host. So provided I can change the default action to new window, I should be able to get by with that.

Thanks,

Phil

Does Launchy give you an option to do something other than the default action?

if I could get them automagically grouped it would be neat. The next major version will include what I'm calling 'tab groups' which I think will do what you're asking. You'll be able to save your set of open tabs as a group, then close Absolute, restart, and open the same group of tabs again. This feature is still in the conceptual phase because I'm just trying to 'tweak out' the current 5 release with minor bug fixes and enhancements.

I too would very much like the option to open a new window rather than a tab. Very often, I have two windows side-by-side doing compares, etc.

Also, I was able to open a second window by going through programs->absolute telent, BUT when I add another tab in the first window, it opens one in the second window. This happens for every new tab in any window. (Basically, a new tab always appears in the last opened window.)

I'm trying to get use to this, but I'm having a really hard time. Is there any way, I can re-install the previous version? I tried and can't figure a way to do this. Do you have the previous version available for download?

brewdoger,

The issues you mention here have been addressed and resolved in the 5.07 release I posted just last night (this morning, really).

http://www.celestialsoftware.net/telnet/AbsoluteTelnet5.07.exe

Still, if you decide you don't like the tabs at all, you can run the installer again and choose the 'Classic' interface. This will revert the interface to the 4.xx non-tabbed interface but still retain the other new features of 5.xx.

Let me know what you think.

Brian

Thanks Brian. I've downloaded 5.07 and it works a lot better for me. The only thing I'm now noticing is that when I right-click on a previously saved profile (*.tnt) file on my desktop, I get a popup from Windows Explorer that says it has encountered a problem and must close and goes on asking if I'd like to send the error report to MS. It runs AT just fine when I double-click on it. Is anyone else experiencing this problem?

Kelly

My bad. Fixed now.

http://www.celestialsoftware.net/telnet/AbsoluteTelnet5.08.exe

Brian

Thanks again for your immediate reply and fix. One minor thing that you might (or not) be interested in: after the installation, my PC was rebooted forcefully, i.e., I didn't get a message asking me to reboot or a message telling me it was going to reboot; it just rebooted. Again, not a big deal, but I thought I would let you know.

Kellyu

Are you sure you didn't just click through the reboot question? It really shouldn't reboot without asking first.

I'm positive. I thought I might have done that the first time or so, but by the third time, I realized that I wasn't given the option ( or maybe I did, but by the time I had a chance to see it, things were already going down). I wouldn't worry if you have it in place, and it doesn't happen to you. It could be my PC setup or something.

Kelly

I can confirm this. There was no reboot question as far as I can recall, everything just started closing down as soon as the installation had completed.

Phil

I'm giving the tabbed interface a try - but 5.08
is critical, so I can open separate windows,
hard to do side-by-side code comparisons...

Question or request - when I have a window open
on one .tnt, the File>>open: menu item makes me
go through a dialog then opens a whole new
window. Is there a way to open a new tab on the
same .tnt file?

There are a couple of different ways to do this...

"New Tab" button on the toolbar (second from left)

File->New Tab

File->MRU list

Hi Brian,

I downloaded AT5.08 as you suggested in your email and you're a LEGEND ! :D :D :D

Regards,
Bashir.

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