QuickPaste

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Introducing ClipMate 7 > Basic Operation > Pasting > QuickPaste

QuickPaste lets you easily paste clips into just about any application simply by double-clicking on a clip or selecting it and pressing the ENTER key.

In prior versions of ClipMate, QuickPaste was a special "mode", where you activated a hotkey from within the application in which you wished to paste (known as the "target application"), and then you could double-click on a clip to paste it.  But with ClipMate 7, the hotkey is no longer necessary.  QuickPaste is "always on", and available both within ClipMate Classic, ClipMate Explorer, and the special configuration of ClipMate Classic that rises up from the ClipBar when you click the drop-down arrow. We call this "Universal QuickPaste".

Universal QuickPaste - Any ClipList, including the one in ClipMate Explorer, can now paste a clip into the "target application" when  you double-click or select a clip and press ENTER.  But how does it know what the target application is?  This is accomplished with Auto-Targeting.

Auto-Targeting is how ClipMate knows where you want to paste data.  Whenever ClipMate comes to the foreground, either by calling it up from a hotkey, by clicking on one of ClipMate's windows, clicking on the systray icon or the ClipBar, the auto-targeting process is activated.  Upon gaining focus, the auto-targeting looks to see which application was most recently active.  This "top window" is analyzed for reasonability (throwing out unwanted targets such as the windows taskbar, and other "bogus" targets) and if it passes, it is marked as the "target application", and appears in the QuickPaste Toolbar.

Occasionally, QuickPaste "locks on" to applications that you don't want to use, or it picks the wrong window of an application.  You can "fine tune" the targeting, to make better choices.

QuickPaste Toolbar

The QuickPaste Toolbar, which is visible at the bottom of both Classic and Explorer, shows the name of the current "target", and shows 4 buttons: The "GoBack" button, the Tab and ENTER buttons, and the Target button.

The QuickPaste Toolbar, showing Internet Explorer as the current target.

The QuickPaste Toolbar, showing Internet Explorer as the current target.

GoBack Button - toggles on/off to dictate whether focus stays with the target application, or shifts back to ClipMate, after pasting.
Tab Button - Sends a TAB keystroke to the target application.
ENTER Button - Sends an ENTER keystroke to the target application.
Target Button - toggles the "target lock". Click and a green check mark appears, which turns off the auto-targeting, leaving the target "locked" onto the current target.  If un-checked (the default), auto-targeting will continuously re-target every time ClipMate gains focus.

 

In addition to the toolbar, these commands are all available from the pop-up menu of the ClipList. Just right-click on any clip, and the pop-up menu contains a QuickPaste section.  Visually-impaired users with screen readers should use this menu, rather than the QuickPaste toolbar.

Legacy QuickPaste

In prior versions, you needed to invoke QuickPaste with the QuickPaste hotkey of Ctrl+Shift+Q.  While this isn't necessary, it still works, and has the additional effect of "locking" the target onto the application where  you were when you pressed the hotkey.  You WILL need to click the targeting button to un-lock the targeting, if you wish to return to auto-targeting.  Targeting resets upon application restart.

 

See:

Basic QuickPaste
Advanced QuickPaste
Fine-Tuning the Targeting
Using QuickPaste Format Strings
Lesson 4: QuickPaste... (tutorial)