Extra drive in "New, Shortcut"

[ChrisGreaves]

Win7P.
I've been creating shortcuts on the desktop since I started creating shortcuts on the desktop, which was about 24 hours after I started de-cluttering my desktop.

Last night I right-clicked my desktop, chose "New", then "Shortcut", and then pasted in a Fullname of a Document, the fullname having been pasted into, then copied from Notepad.
(I use Notepad as a filter to remove all sorts of weird stuff)

Untitled2.png

I checked an re-checked my Notepad file.
There was no sign of that "C:" prefix.
Stunned, I rebooted and then followed the same steps: Loaded my Word document, ran my own "Create link from active document" macro, opened notepad, pasted in, selected all and copied to clipboard. New, Shortcut pasted in and Bingo! Same result.,

I cannot recall (which means little nowadays!) ever having seen a shortcut go crazy like this, since Win3.1 days, since you ask.

This is not a critical issue. I'm just curious, is all.
While those of you who are waiting for the raine [to stop] are waiting, I'd be interested to hear if anyone can duplicate this error.

Paste a full name into Notepad, select all, copy back to clipboard; new, Shortcut (on the desktop) and paste in.

Cheers
Chris

[HansV]

I can't reproduce the problem. But then, it's not raining here, and I'm using Windows 10 instead of Windows 7.

[viking33]

I don't know if I'm reading this properly but do you have that file location somewhere and actually searcjhed for it to verify that it is indeed at that spot? Why did you you put it into Notepad at all? Why not type the actual filename location into the shortcut directly and skip Notepad?

[HansV]

Bob, Bob, Bob...

It's Chris who is asking!

[viking33]

Bob, Bob, Bob...

It's Chris who is asking!

But the questions may be the answer.

[Argus]

I can't reproduce the problem. It has been raining quite a lot; I'm using Windows 7 when doing this test, but then I don't have a "Create link from active document" macro.

Sir,
You should ask yourself:
Has it worked before? What have I changed?
What's going on in my macro?


(I have no problem with the Notepad bit, even if in this case an extra step; I've used it at times to get rid of formatting.)

[ChrisGreaves]

I don't know if I'm reading this properly but do you have that file location somewhere and actually searched

Bob.png

for it to verify that it is indeed at that spot? Why did you you put it into Notepad at all? Why not type the actual filename location into the shortcut directly and skip Notepad?

Hi Bob.
I have a macro that copies the full name of the active document into the clipboard. Since all my web pages are hyperlinked, I can so easily (1) paste the fullname into another document and then (2) Ctrl-K to paste the name into the hyperlink.

To create a desktop shortcut, I used the macro to copy the name into the clipboard, returned to the desktop, right-cliock, New, Shortcut, and then used Ctrl-V to paste the name into the text box.

This gave me my first occurrence of "C:T:", so I thought, "That's odd", and started from scratch. Went back Into the word document, macro to copy the fullname to the clipboard, ... same result.

For my third attempt I pasted the name into a fresh Notepad.exe document, thinking in this way to strip any weird (but not seen by me) stuff and generate a pure-text string.
From notepad I used Ctrl-A to selectAll, re-copied with Ctrl-C, and again pasted (Ctrl-V) into a new shortcut. Same result.

For my fourth attempt I repeated the third shot after rebooting the machine - and hence re-opening the MSWord doc.


I should state at this point that the macro "MakeDocumentLinkFromActiveDocument" has been in frequent used for at least two years. I estimate I use it on average three times a day/365.. I have a reasonable degree of confidence in its ability to deleiver a full name. There has to be a full name for the ActiveDocument, unless it is a new document that has not been saved.

Of course my four or five shots at resolving the link cost me way more time than to use the Browse button, but computers means that we never have to do boring and repetitive work again, and given that the computer (in this case MSWord) already knows the path to the document, i don't see why i should spend time twlling the computer where the document is.

I hope that this makes sense.

Noone seems to have duplicated the anomaly, for anomaly it is.

To answer your next question: Yes, I use this method of creating a desktop shortcut from a MSWord document about once a fortnight.

(signed) "I'll test again with another document before the weekend" of Toronto.

[ChrisGreaves]

But the questions may be the answer.

Hans and Bob: Quite correct.
Some of you may not realize that I am human and, occasionally (about once a week) overlook the glaringly obvious.
I always welcome these questions that focus my attention, limited as it is, on the nature of the problem.

As stated in my earlier reply, this "Create desktop shortcut" is a technique I use often, and the MakeDocumentLink macro is used whenever i am building a web page. ( I just checked and found 4,283 HTML files in my "W:" (web) drive)

I used "anomaly" because this apparent error caught me quite by surprise; I anticipate anomalies when I do something new, or different; not when I am doing a regular task. That I have a MakeDocumentLink macro tells you that some time ago i was tried of BROWSEing and sought to reduce my boring and repetitive workload.

I can add that I have been using this "new" system since July 7th, and I know I've done this shortcut-paste trick over the past two months.

Anyway, PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT: I am always deserving of having my questions questioned. Always.

Cheers
Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

as it worked before? What have I changed? What's going on in my macro?

Hi Argus.
Programmers always like to react with "I haven't changed anything", but truly, I've been using the macro on this system since July7th.
I maintain a WhatFAQ.doc for each project, and my WhatFAQ.doc for WbWrd (which holds the macro) shows no changed logged by me.
I would swear that the macro hasn't been changed since the day it was written and tested.

Code: Select all

2016/06/21	CG	9006: Made three macros to build a link from a source document: “MakeLinkFromActiveDocument”, “MakeLinkFromSelection” and “MakeLinkFromLink”	520

(I have no problem with the Notepad bit, even if in this case an extra step; I've used it at times to get rid of formatting.)

Thanks for the confirmation. IMNSHO Notepad is one of the most useful tools in Windows for string-processing people.

Cheers
Chris

[Argus]

Chris,
I should have asked in my other post, is T a mapped drive or a partition? (I recall you have used mapped drives earlier.)

Doesn't explain this sudden change; guess if it had been Windows 10 all sorts of things could have happened with a small update.

[ChrisGreaves]

Chris, I should have asked in my other post, is T a mapped drive or a partition? (I recall you have used mapped drives earlier.)
Doesn't explain this sudden change; guess if it had been Windows 10 all sorts of things could have happened with a small update.

T: is a partition of the sole hard drive, as in

Code: Select all

if not exist T: "C:\Program Files\TrueCrypt\TrueCrypt.exe" /q /lT  /v\Device\Harddisk0\Partition2

W: is one of my SUBStitute drives, as in

Code: Select all

set Drive=T:
(snip)
subst W: "%Drive%\Greaves\Admin\Domains"

At risk of sounding boring, the code has been running well for two years, even across my transition to this new-to-me laptop July7th (at which time I leaped from Win7HP to Win7P !!!)

I am going to test this trick again, once I get home and have had a cuppa.

Cheers
Chris