What is CapsCake.

CapsCake is a free text executer. Its main role is to make the everyday use of the computer faster and easier. CapsCake brings the free text interface that is widely used in Internet search to the “Command and Control” of the computer. All you have to do it type your request in natural language, without being restricted by a rigid command format. From launching a program to searching the net simply write what you want and CapsCake will do the rest for you.

Many efforts were done in order to make CapsCake small and fast. In order to do so, we used only basic graphics. No cool bitmaps, splash screens or sophisticated user interface.

How To Use Free Text

When using free text commands all that is needed is to type your request in natural language. For example if we want to send email to John, it is possible to type “email John” or “mail to John” or “Compose mail to John” and get the same result. There is no need to know the exact format of the command. During typing, CapsCake fills the list with possible options including the locations where arguments are needed.

The needed arguments are marked with <ARG> and should be replaced with the expected data. For example in the option “what is <ARG>”, the <ARG> should be replaced with what you want to know, for example “global warming”.

Using CapsCake

It is highly recommended to look at the tutorial video in the following link

http://www.capscake.com/eng/video.html

To activate CapsCake simply double click on the “Caps Lock” key and the CapsCake dialog will be display. In the first operation a configuration screen will be displayed. (Look at the configuration section).

Type the command you want and CapsCake will display the list of the possible options. CapsCake will execute free text commands and launch every command or file that are located in the startup menu, desktop, your path variable and in the recently used list.

In order to add your own commands you can place them on the desktop or you can insert links or batch files in the “My Documents\CapsCake” directory.

Note: nothing will be displayed after the first character is typed. This is done in order to make the option list short and meaningful.

To display the list of the last used commands press the down arrow key. Use the up and down arrows to select from the history of your last commands.

After the history list is displayed, it can be filtered by typing the first letters of the desired command.

The clipboard

CapsCake looks for needed data on the clipboard. When a new command is issued, CapsCake analyzes the content of the clipboard and acts accordingly. For example, in the following image, after typing driving the user is given several options, for example look at the difference between “driving from <arg>” and “driving from <arg> to <arg>” in the second option the user has to type the address of the starting point and destination while in the first, CapsCake will try to get the destination address from the clipboard.

Additional clipboard examples:

The user selects several files and types “mail to John”. These files are sent as an attachment.
The user copies text to the clipboard and asks for translation. The text itself is sent for translation. In case that the user copies an Internet address (URL) and asks for translation, the whole page is translated.

The Selection Screen

When the user needs to select one option, a small screen with a selection list is displayed. For example when selection from several possible contacts is needed, a list with the relevant data is displayed.

The Output Screen

If the command result is several lines long, the following screen is displayed.

The Menu Options

Pressing the right mouse button on the CapsCake Icon located in the status bar, displays the following menu:

About – displays the about screen.
Help – displays this manual.
Buy Now – for purchasing CapsCake
Configure - opens the Configuration screen.
Check for Updates- checks for CapsCake updates. This operation is done automatically once a day.
Renew Data – renew the CapsCake internal database. This operation is done automatically several times a day. This operation usually take less than a second.
Open CapsCake – opens the CapsCake screen. Has the same effect as double click on the “Caps Lock” key.
Exit – exit from CapsCake.

Features

This is the list of the current supported features. This list and the lexical analysis will be added to and improved.

Launching applications. Consol application will be launch inside CMD shell.
Email (Currently supports Outlook, Outlook express and Vista windows mail).

Send email with or without attachments.
Set a meeting (Outlook only).
Set a reminder (Outlook only).
Get contact person data.
Edit / Modify contact person (Outlook only).
Add Task (Outlook only).

Search – Search the Internet.
Define – Get a definition from the Internet.
Map – Map of a location.
Driving Directions – Driving directions from one point to another.
Time at location
Weather at Location.
Translate text or URL.
Location based orders (for example “Hotels near the office”).
Calculator – Just type the needed calculation.
CMD shell commands (cd , dir, etc).
Wikipedia
Browser – launch your browser
Send text messages - SMS
URL launching.
Lyrics
Direct browsing – just type the URL.
Find a video clip.
Find a picture.
Send twitter status.

How to send text messages

Activate CapsCake
Type SMS to <XXXXX> or text to <XXXXX> message <YOUR MESSAGE>. XXXXX can be a phone number or a contact person whose mobile number is set.
If this is the first time you are sending a message to this phone, CapsCake will look for the mobile carrier on the Internet. In case of failure, CapsCake will open a Carrier list. Select the desired carrier from the list.

The next time a message is sent to the same phone, CapsCake will automatically use the same Carrier.
If the SMS delivery failed, most of the carriers will send an error Email in case they do not support the requested phone number. This usually happens when the mobile phone holder has changed his mobile carrier. In case the wrong Carrier is selected, there are two options to edit the Carrier list.

Activate CapsCake and ask to modify the phone list. (For example type “Modify mobile phone carrier” or “Modify mobile phone carrier XXXX”). CapsCake will direct you how to modify the carrier. In you didn’t enter a phone number CapsCake will open a phone selection list.
Open the Configuration screen and press the “Edit SMS Phone List” button. The list will be opened in Notepad. Remove or edit the wrong entry.

The first time you send a text message CapsCake will ask for your mobile phone number. This number will be part of the out going message. CapsCake will not continue the sending process if the phone number is not entered.

Configuration

In the initial operation of the software or when selected from the menu, the following configuration screen is displayed.

The following screens can be configured.

Report Unsuccessful Command Parsing – In case of CapsCake failing to understand your request, CapsCake will send the command to the CapsCake team. Checking this option will help us to improve our service. Note the first time an Unsuccessful command occurs CapsCake will ask for confirmation before sending the report.
Send Usage Statistics – If checked’ will send the usage statistics once a day to the CapsCake team. It will help us to focus on the most used features.
Auto Update – CapsCake will check daily for updates.
Home and Office address – This will help you to activate location based features. For example typing “pizza near home” will display the list of pizza restaurants near your home.
Twitter user and password are required for sending tweets.
Mobile Phone – Your mobile phone is required for sending text messages (SMS).
Edit SMS Phone List – use to delete and edit entries in the Mobile Carrier phone list.

Performance and Memory Usage

CapsCake is designed to be a fast and relatively small application. One of the methods that is used to achieve this goal is “Lazy Initiation”. When the user asks for a feature for the first time, this feature is initiated. At the end of the task the feature is not removed so that the next call to the same feature is faster. A drawback of this approach is that the memory usage of CapsCake is a bit larger.