Practicing the Black Art (9/00)
Understanding Windows Clipboard Viewer
by Vinny La Bash
Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.
Figure 1
The Windows Clipboard Viewer is a holding pen for information that you cut or copy from a Windows application, or a DOS box. Whenever you start Windows, the Clipboard is active and ready to store information. Any information you move to the Clipboard remains there until you "clear" it. You can "clear" the clipboard by doing any of the following:
* Copying something new into the Viewer.
* Shutting down the computer.
* Logging off so a new user can sign on, if you're on a Network or have User Profiles active.
* Opening the Clipboard Viewer from the Systems Tools menu and select Delete from the Edit menu as illustrated in Figure 1.
* Selecting the Paste option on the Recycle Bin.
Unfortunately, Windows Clipboard Viewer is not installed by default. If you can not find it in the Systems Tool menu, you need to install it. To install:
- Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
- In Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs.
- Click the Windows Setup tab.
- Click System Tools, and then click Details.
- Click the Clipboard Viewer check box to select it, and then click OK. (You may be asked to insert the Windows Installation Disk into the diskette drive at this point).
- Click OK.
To run Clipboard Viewer after you install it, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Clipboard Viewer. Now that you have the Clipboard installed and ready for use, what can you do with it? For starters, you can use Clipboard Viewer to view the contents of the Clipboard and you can transfer information among applications.
The Clipboard is a temporary storage area Windows uses to hold information. Information is selected and placed in the Clipboard from a Windows, DOS or other application. This information can then be transferred to other applications or saved to a disk file as illustrated in Figure 2.
Use the Clipboard to copy text between documents without re-keying the information. An inside address from a letter could be placed in a word processor or an email. A URL (Internet address) could be copied from a text file into Netscape's Open Location box. Reorganize a document by moving selected portions to the Clipboard and pasting elsewhere in the document.
Graphics may be placed in the Clipboard and pasted into most applications, such as a word processor or a drawing program such as Windows Paint, where graphics may be added, if needed. Windows screens may also be copied to the Clipboard, from a "snapshot" of an entire Desktop to a single active window.
Figure 2
This is how the screen shots were created for some of my articles and tutorials. Information remains in the Clipboard until cleared, overwritten by another selection, or Windows is exited. Since the information remains in the Clipboard, it may be pasted numerous times.
Clipboard holds only one "thing" at a time, whether a line of blocked text or a snapshot of the Windows Desktop. The next time the Clipboard receives new information, whether from pressing Print Screen or from an Edit, Copy command, the previous contents are destroyed, overwritten by the new information. Contents of the Clipboard may be written to a disk file for later use.
Information is selected by highlighting a block of text or a graphic. To highlight, move the cursor to the point where the highlighting should begin. Hold down the left mouse button and then drag the cursor (by moving the mouse) to the point where the highlighting should end. Release the mouse button. The area should be highlighted, or "blocked", to indicate it has been selected. This is usually shown by a change in the appearance, such as color for text or a border for an object. If the highlighted area is not correct, cancel by clicking any place in the document. Once the information has been selected, it may then be placed in the Clipboard.
If you're working in a DOS box there are two ways to select information, either with a mouse or the keyboard. The DOS box must be running in a window, not full screen. Press Alt+Enter to toggle to a window if running full screen. In the window, click on the Control menu box (the box with the minus sign in the upper left corner of the window) to open the Control menu. Choose Edit, Mark. Using the mouse, highlight the information. Press the right mouse button to copy the highlighted information to the Clipboard.
If you're going to use the keyboard to copy information to the Clipboard, as above, the DOS box must be running in a window, not full screen. Press Alt+Enter to toggle to a window if running full screen. In the window, press Alt+Spacebar to open the Control menu. Choose Edit, Mark. A flashing cursor should appear in the upper-left corner of the window. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor to the first character to select. Use Shift+Arrow keys to move the cursor and highlight the remainder of the information. Press Enter to copy the highlighted information to the Clipboard.
Once information has been selected, it needs to be placed in the Clipboard. There are two commands to accomplish this: Cut and Copy. Both have the same result, i.e., placing selected information in the Clipboard. The difference is in how the originating document, where you marked the text or graphic to place in the Clipboard, is treated.
Cut removes the selected information from the originating document. This would be useful in reorganizing a file by "cutting" information from one location and "pasting" it in another or in removing selected portions to another file. Cut is located in the Edit menu; the keyboard shortcut for Cut is Ctrl+X.
Copy preserves the originating document, placing the selected information in the Clipboard and leaving it in the originating document. Copy is located in the Edit menu; the keyboard shortcut for Copy is Ctrl+C.
Making a copy of the entire screen
Press Print Screen to place a "snapshot" of the entire desktop in the Clipboard.
To copy the current active window to the Clipboard, press Alt+Print Screen. A "snapshot" of the active window is placed onto the Clipboard. The active window is the one with the highlighted Title Bar.
Pasting Information from the Clipboard
If you need to verify the contents of the Clipboard, use the Clipboard Viewer. Start the receiving application and position the cursor where the contents of the Clipboard should begin. Choose Paste from the application's Edit menu or use the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+V.
Using the Clipboard Viewer
The Clipboard Viewer is used to view, save, retrieve and delete the contents of the Clipboard. By default it is located in the Systems Tools menu..
Viewing contents of the Clipboard
Open the Clipboard Viewer from the Systems Tools menu. The Clipboard accepts a number of text and graphics formats. When you transfer information from one application to another, the source application places the information in the Clipboard in a format Clipboard recognizes. The destination application then selects the most compatible format.
Viewing in a different format
Figure 3
The Clipboard stores information in several formats to allow different applications to use the same information. To see a list of formats available for the current information in the Clipboard, select View from the Display menu. Select one to view the information in that format. See Figure 3.
Saving contents to a file
The contents of the Clipboard may be saved in a file which can be opened and pasted into applications. You can easily view these files using the Clipboard Viewer. To save a copy of the contents of the Clipboard, open the Clipboard Viewer and select Save As from the File menu. The Save As dialog box appears. Type a filename for the contents of the Clipboard, then select a folder to store the information. The default extension for a Clipboard file is .CLP. Click on OK.
If you want Word to be able to use the file, you can save it with a .DOC extension, but you won't be able to open the file in the Clipboard Viewer anymore. Only files with a .CLP extension can be opened in the ClipboardViewer.
Clearing contents of the Clipboard
If the current contents of the Clipboard are needed, first save to a file. Then select Delete from the Clipboard Viewer File menu or press the Del key. Then click OK. Clearing the Clipboard is a good way to free system resources, especially when working with graphics. :
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Copyright 2000. This article is from the September 2000 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the publication the reprint appears in, please send to above address, Attn: Editor. For further information about our group, email: admin@spcug.org/ Web: http://www.spcug.org/
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