A Novel Method For Making Cut-Copy-Paste Operations Using Clipboard

A Novel Method for Making Cut-Copy-Paste
Operations Using Clipboard
Mayur M Patil#1
, Akkamahadevi R Hanni%2
, Priyadarshini M Patil*3
#
Student (2015 Batch), Dept. of CSE, B.V.B. College of Engineering and Technology, Hubballi 580031, Karnataka, India
#
Student, Dept. of CSE, B.V.B. College of Engineering and Technology, Hubballi 580031, Karnataka, India
*
Assistant Professor, Dept. of ISE, B.V.B. College of Engineering and Technology, Hubballi 580031, Karnataka, India
Abstract— With the rise in browser usage and editors, it is
becoming essential to find an easy way to manipulate text
information that is used. The aim of this project was to create
a tool for text data, the main criteria being to provide the
options like multiple cut/copy/paste. We find ourselves in
situations where we may have to enter the same data
repeatedly. For this we have chosen java which has vectors
and with the use of the system clipboard we achieve multiple
cut/copy/paste. The application has a GUI which allows doing
the same.
Keywords— cut, copy, paste, vectors, java, clipboard.
I. INTRODUCTION
A clipboard manager is a computer program that is
used to add more functionality to the system clipboard.
Clipboards provide only one buffer, overwritten by each
new "copy/cut" operation. The main task of a clipboard
manager is to store data copied in the clipboard in a way
which allows user to use the data multiple times.
Clipboard manager allows the user to keep multiple
objects which have been previously used, available for later
use. This feature is beneficial in Form-filling, URL auto
fills and text editing and it also provides multiple cut-paste
operations that helps in making data transfer and editing
operations.
The main objective is to provide user a tool that can
facilitate in data handling by having options like multiple
cut , multiple copy, multiple paste.
.
II. SYSTEM STUDY
A. PROPOSED SYSTEM
Clipboard Manager is a tool that provides options like
Recently added, History, Skin chooser and Help that helps
the user to manipulate text.
The advantages of the proposed system being it can be
used to transfer text between applications and the
availability to perform multiple cut copy paste operations.
[1]
The limitation of the application at present being the
application handles only string datatype.
The application has been built on SuseLinux and shall
be available for Operating systems like Windows 7,
Suselinux, MacOS.
III. EXISTING APPLICATION STUDY
We look at few of the existing applications that perform
similar actions.
Among the available applications, we look at
1. CLCL
2. ClipMate
3. ArsClip
4. Ditto
A. CLCL
CLCL allows you to access your clipboard history with a
simple press of ALT+C or from the icon in the system tray.
Frequently used clippings can be saved to the Templates
category, and you can customize the paste hotkey based on
the program you're using. It stores the clippings you want,
retrieves them with a simple keystroke-summoned menu,
and is light on your system resources. [2]
Fig. 1 shows the GUI of the application.
Fig. 1 CLCL application
B. ClipMate
ClipMate view gives you a toolbar with drop down
options, the Explorer view—seen here—is the master
management panel where you can group and edit your
clippings. ClipMate is a non-freeware application. [2]
Mayur M Patil et al, / (IJCSIT) International Journal of Computer Science and Information Technologies, Vol. 7 (4) , 2016, 1932-1935
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Fig. 2 Clipmate application
C. ArsClip
ArsClip supports and stores pictures, formatted text,
Unicode, and HTML. ArsClip also supports files, allowing
you to store frequently used/pasted files right in ArsClip. [2]
Fig. 3 ArsClip application
D. Ditto
Ditto is a portable clipboard manager that supports plain
text, but it can also copy formatting and even images. You
can group together your clippings to keep things organized
by task or project, as well as assign hotkeys to frequently
used clippings. Ditto also has built-in hotkeys for entering,
searching, and retrieving your clippings [2]
Fig. 4 shows the GUI of the application
Fig. 4 Ditto application
IV. IMPLEMENTATION
The application has four main modules. They are the
following:
 Recently added module
History module
Skin chooser module
Help module
The application has various screens. The application can
be made to act like a widget thus allowing users to use other
applications with ease. The moment the focus is moved
away from the application, the screen becomes semi-
transparent and continues to run in the background. When
the application is launched the vectors are initialized.
Vectors are chosen for handling the data as there can
dynamically grow in size as and when its necessary. Fig. 5
shows the main screen of the application with Add, History,
Help and Skin chooser options.
Fig. 5 shows the main screen of the application
Fig. 5 main added screen
A. Recently added Module
The user chooses ‘select’ or ‘select all’ the items
which acts as the input.
The selected item(s) shall be written to the system
Clipboard ready to be pasted which is the output.
Pseudocode –
Select(int index)
{
Item= Vector_data_item(index);
Write_To_SysClip(Item);
}
Select_all()
{
Item[]= Vector_data_item();
While(Vector!=Null){
Write_To_SysClip(Item);
}
}
Fig. 6 shows the Recently added screen of the application
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Fig. 6 Recently added screen
B. History Module
The user chooses select and clear or clear all the
items which acts as the input.
The selected item(s) shall be cleared from the vector
Pseudocode –
Clear(Select (int index))
{
Delete_Vector_data_item(index);
}
Clear_all()
{
While(Vector!=Null){
Delete_ Vector_data_item();
}}
Fig. 7 shows the History screen of the application
Fig. 7 History screen
C. Skin Chooser Module
The user chooses select the color options or revert back
to the default option of the main panel and the buttons
which acts as the input.
The selected settings shall be applied to the tool after
showing a preview.
Pseudocode –
Apply_Color(Backround_color,Button_color)
{
Change_Panel_Settings(BgC,BtnC);
}
Preview_Apply_Colour(Backround_color,Button_
color)
{
Show_Panel_Settings(BgC,BtnC);
}
Apply_Color_Default(Backround_color,Button_co
lor)
{
Change_Panel_Settings(BgC_Def,BtnC_Def);
}
Fig. 8 shows the Skin chooser screen of the application
Fig. 8 Skin chooser screen
D. Help Module
The user chooses the watch tutorial option which acts as
the input.
The video showing the tutorial shall be played.
Pseudocode -
Watch_Tutorial()
{
Open_Tutorial_video(Path);
}
V. WORKING OF THE APPLICATION WITH MEMORY
CONSUMPTION DETAILS
The application can handle data in the form of string
datatype. When the user opens the application, the main
screen opens up. The four options available for the user are
Add, Help, Skin Chooser and History. When the user
selects add, the data which has been copied gets moved
into the vector and appears in the recently added section of
the application. The more the number of copy action
performed, the more are the number of items that appear
on the list. This happens as the application checks the
content of clipboard upon the event “CTRL+C“ or right
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click “Copy”. The content if present in the system
clipboard is of string datatype, it gets written on the vector.
[4] The Recently added section holds only the previous
fifteen items that have been copied. Refer Fig. 6 which
also has Select and Select all options allowing the user to
choose the ‘item(s)’ that has to be copied.
The next option is the History section which stores the
previous data items that have been copied. The previous
two hundred and fifty records are stored. This data is also
persisted by the use of files. All the items are listed in the
history section that also has the option to clear selected or
clear all the items that have been stored. Every time the
application is closed, the file contents are rewritten. Please
refer Table I for memory consumption changes without
this option.
The skin chooser section allows the user to choose
colours for the frames and the buttons of his choice. The
user also has the option to set the colours to default. The
user can preview changes before they make it permanent.
The file used to persist data is also used to store
configuration settings that allows user to keep the changes
permanently.
Fig. 9 shows the Configuration file contents of the
application that stores colour information and previously
copied items
Fig. 9 config file
The file content (items) Refer Fig. 9 are amended with
the format “$%%%%$” at the beginning and at the end to
avoid failure of capture of data or data being incorrectly
represented.
The other option available for the user is the help option
that has a hyperlink pointing to a video which shows the
user how to perform the actions in the application.
Whenever the user selects paste after they have selected
one or more items from either the recently added or the
history section, the item gets automatically written on the
system clipboard. The process of retrieval and writing
from and to the system clipboard is done using the
“getSystemClipboard()“ function and by importing
“ java.awt.datatransfer.* “ and “ java.awt.Toolkit”. [4]
The application produced is a portable application
which can run on Windows 7, SseLinux and MaC OS
operating systems. The application has a size of 346KB
and configuration file is created when the application is
invoked for the first time and persists itself. If the user
deliberately removes the configuration file, a new one is
created once the application is invoked again.
The application’s consumption of the memory has been
observed and it is found that the consumption of the
memory lies between 2.8 to 3.9 MB under standard
conditions with the data and configuration settings as
explained via Table I.
TABLE I
DATA AND MEMORY CONSUMPTION
Data
( characters /
item )
Memory Consumed
KB MB
Without Persisting
data ( history option
disabled ) MB
100 2892 2.8 2.3
400 2980 2.9 2.5
1000 3021 3.0 2.5
1600 3102 3.1 2.7
2900 4216 4.2 3.9
VI.CONCLUSIONS
The Application ClipBoardManager has the capability of
handing multiple cut copy paste operations using the system
clipboard and built using java. It has four main options Add,
history, Choose skin and Help with which the user can
manipulate string datatype. The application is portable and
works on Windows 7, SuseLinux and Mac OS operating
systems. The limitation of the application is the application
cannot handle media objects which can be the future scope
of the application.
REFERENCES
[1] Gerald Reif, Martin Morger and Harald Gall, “Semantic clipboard-
semantically enriched data exchange between desktop applications”,
Semantic Desktop and Social Semantic Collaboration Workshop at
the 5th International Semantic Web Conference ISWC06, Athens,
Geogria, USA, November 2006.
[2] Jason Fitzpatrick. (2009) five best clipboard managers page on
lifehacker. [Online]. Available: http://lifehacker.com/5298615/five-
best-clipboard-managers
[3] Robert C. Miller and Brad A. Myers, “Synchronizing Clipboards of
Multiple Computers”, Proceedings of the 12th annual ACM
symposium on User interface software and technology, p.65-66,
November 07-10, 1999
[4] Sun Microsystems, Inc. , Java Code Conventions, 1997.
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A Novel Method For Making Cut-Copy-Paste Operations Using Clipboard

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A Novel Method For Making Cut-Copy-Paste Operations Using Clipboard