Advanced fun with EboBar
I want more!!
So now you've gotten a hang at EboBar and know how it works. You're now launching applications and documents with unmatched speed and are proud of it. But "there's gotta me more", you think? You bet there is!
Are you using all the built-in features?
As you know, you can scan every directory, not just your Start Menu and My Documents folder. Check out the configuration. I guess you did this already.
You might also want to create your own scan definition to access only the pictures of a particular directory or to ignore all sounds.
"Get out of my face, file!"
When using EboBar, you might encounter lots of files you'll never need. Why not just hide them? Highlight them and press F12 (or use the context menu). They'll be given a very bad score and only pop up when there's absolutely no other matching item.
"Now what file are YOU?!"
If you stumble over a file you have no clue what it is, right-click it! The context menu will reveal its real file name and location. If you still have no idea, choose "Properties" from the context menu. Or press F9 after highlighting it if you already sold your mouse to the gypsies.
"I want access email addresses with EboBar and send mails with it!"
Sure! Let me introduce you to one of your best friends: The shortcut. Using shortcuts, you can do a lot of wild stuff with EboBar - including sending mails.
Create a shortcut in your My Documents folder (choose New -> Shortcut from the Explorer's context menu). Windows will now ask you for "the name of the object" or something obscure like that. Now type "mailto:", followed by the email address. Like "mailto:joe.schmuck@hotmail.com".
Next, Windows asks you for the name of the shortcut. Now simply enter the name of the individual. Like "Joe Schmuck" or "James T. Kirk". That's it.
Now "James T. Kirk" is an official entry that may be accessed using EboBar, say, by typing "JTK". Upon selecting the entry, your default mail program (like Outlook Express) will start up and set everything up so all you have to do is type the mail itself.
See, I told you EboBar is your trusty pal!
"I want to use EboBar to control my computer or perform special operations!"
Go ahead. Let me repeat: Shortcuts are really good friends of yours. Look at the paragraph above to learn how to create shortcuts. Now instead of using "mailto" to create an email shortcut, you might try something more innovative. Let's get even more technical.
You might have some executables on your hard disk that accept command line parameters. You know, something like "systeminfo.exe /s foobar". You can configure shortcuts just to do that - execute programs with parameters. After creating the shortcut, check out its properties. There's a lot you can do.
You could even get totally technical and use the RUNDLL executable. Using this, you can create shortcuts that shutdown Windows! Just locate the program (it's usually something like "c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe") and pass it some parameters. On some OSes, "Rundll Shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx 2" for example will shut down Windows. This will not work for Windows XP, but then again, Windows XP has a shutdown command that you can create a shortcut to. There's a lot you can do if you dare to go down this far. Check out the Internet for more interesting shortcut tricks you could pull. Here's just one more example: "rundll32 shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL Sysdm.cpl" displays the system configuration page.
NOTE that this is really "low-level" indeed. Use extreme caution when fiddling with DLLs and system components. Don't do this if you're not familiar with all this technical stuff.