SeaMonkey 2.53.16 update and Lightning/Lightbird calendar

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raj_bhaskar
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Re: SeaMonkey 2.53.16 update and Lightning/Lightbird calenda

Post by raj_bhaskar »

v_v: that looks like it worked, thanks! Although I did take the opportunity to move from Win32 to Win64 so I can't guarantee that that wasn't the cause. I uninstalled my 2.53.16 Win32 instance, installed 2.53.15 Win64, checked that all was well and then used the Check for Updates menu item to upgrade to 2.53.16 and Calendar is still working.

Now, any ideas how to make Calendar show by default when I launch MailNews?
v_v
Posts: 157
Joined: September 18th, 2021, 8:57 am

Re: SeaMonkey 2.53.16 update and Lightning/Lightbird calenda

Post by v_v »

raj_bhaskar,
Now, any ideas how to make Calendar show by default when I launch MailNews?
Sigh, no, none at all. I do not use the Mail & Newsgroups component. This sort of thing is exactly what Lightbird supplied! It made the Calendar a 'top level' component and thereby allowed us to work with it directly without having to go deeply into the Mail & Newsgroups component.

In my case I had the Calendar set to load automatically at computer boot-up, so that I did not have to go into the browser at all, unless I wanted to. Now with version 2.53.16 that does not seem possible.

I would be really happy if someone knew enough to devise a script for this but I am not that person. (Sigh)

So for now until I can come up with a better idea and adjustment, I am sticking with SeaMonkey 2.53.15, Lightning 5.8.15, and Lightbird 0.7.1.

v_v
v_v
Posts: 157
Joined: September 18th, 2021, 8:57 am

Re: SeaMonkey 2.53.16 update and Lightning/Lightbird calenda

Post by v_v »

To anyone who might know better than I about how everything in SeaMonkey works together, especially in terms of profiles, extensions, and program folders.

I am currently still using SeaMonkey 2.53.15 - 64 bit.

In relation to the SeaMonkey 2.53.16 update and the Lightning/Lightbird calendar issue:


1. What would be the effect of trying to install both a 64 bit and a 32 bit SeaMonkey?

2. For instance, what if I installed a 32 bit version of SeaMonkey 2.53.15 and then also updated the current 64 bit SeaMonkey to the 2.53.16 version?

Of course what I would be trying to do is to maintain the viability of the Lightning/Lightbird calendar in the 32 bit 2.53.15 version, while also keeping the 64 bit version up to date.

3. Any thoughts and suggestions along these lines?

4. Another line of thought/approach would be how might running a portable version of SeaMonkey---perhaps installing it to a local drive somewhere---possibly be used to keep the Lightning/Lightbird calendar extension functioning?
frg
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Joined: December 15th, 2015, 1:20 pm

Re: SeaMonkey 2.53.16 update and Lightning/Lightbird calenda

Post by frg »

> Of course what I would be trying to do is to maintain the viability of the Lightning/Lightbird calendar in the 32 bit 2.53.15 version, while also keeping the 64 bit version up to date.

Will corrupt your profile over time as the gap between releases widen. In Windows one version will also win when it comes the the registered binaries so e.g. if you use mail send to from Explorer will work or not.

FRG
v_v
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Joined: September 18th, 2021, 8:57 am

Re: SeaMonkey 2.53.16 update and Lightning/Lightbird calenda

Post by v_v »

Thanks for your answer, frg.

v_v
v_v
Posts: 157
Joined: September 18th, 2021, 8:57 am

Re: SeaMonkey 2.53.16 update and Lightning/Lightbird calenda

Post by v_v »

I am seeking assistance with devising a script, macro, batch file, or whatever these automated steps are called, and then also setting this script up as a "short cut" on the desktop. This would be for SeaMonkey 2.53.16 and Lightning 5.8.16.

Basically the purpose of this script would be to run SeaMonkey (64 bit) at Windows startup first, then go through the succeeding steps as listed below to launch the Lightning calendar tab immediately within the "Mail & Newsgroup" window.

------------------------------

run seamonkey.exe -- at windows startup
ctrl 2
tab
tab
enter
enter
alt n
down arrow
down arrow
enter

------------------------------

I have traced out the steps and they seem to work. On my computer I could not use the "alt c" command after "alt n" because "alt c" is being used by another program. So I have used the two manual "down arrow" and "enter" steps instead.

All of this looks fairly simple to do and I used to create macros in WordPerfect decades ago by recording such steps. So now I am trying to do the same in Windows 10.

Can anyone assist or come up with a better solution?

[Or is there a startup switch for Lightning that I am not aware of?]

v_v
v_v
Posts: 157
Joined: September 18th, 2021, 8:57 am

Re: SeaMonkey 2.53.16 update and Lightning/Lightbird calenda

Post by v_v »

Some progress:

Using the macro recorder Tinytask 1.77 I actually managed to create a macro to run SeaMonkey Mail and then go directly to the Lightning calendar tab. Then I set the macro as an ".exe" file and sent a shortcut for the file to my desktop. The macro was set using the following steps:

Code: Select all

Press:			Windows + r
Type:			 "C:\Program Files\SeaMonkey\seamonkey.exe" -mail
tab:
enter:

[SeaMonkey Mail opens at this point]

Press:			alt + n
down arrow:
down arrow:
enter:

[The Lightning calendar tab opens at this point.]
But there are some problems. It took 42 seconds to actually record the macro and thus it takes 42 seconds to run the ".exe" that reproduces the steps. It works but one has to just wait for all the steps to complete themselves before doing any other activity on the computer. Any activity done during the execution of the macro seems to interfere with it leading to unpredictable results. Tinytask had an option to speed up the macro by 100x which would be ideal but when I tried this option [or any other speed besides 1x] the speeded up macro that was created produced unpredictable results and failed. Because of the execution time and unpredictability during the 42 seconds of execution it does not seem to be a good idea to run the executable ".exe" file at Windows startup. The ".exe" file could also be run manually after Windows startup but given the slow speed of the macro that is pointless; one could much more quickly start SeaMonkey Mail and then go to the Calendar tab.

Maybe a better and more efficient way to accomplish the purpose would be to create a batch file (or a script?) instead. But those possibilities are beyond my knowledge and capabilities at present.

Any comments, suggestions, or assistance?

v_v
v_v
Posts: 157
Joined: September 18th, 2021, 8:57 am

Re: SeaMonkey 2.53.16 update and Lightning/Lightbird calenda

Post by v_v »

SOLUTION FOUND ----- BUT IT IS SOMEWHAT OVERKILL


I have finally found a workable solution for the fact that the SeaMonkey 2.53.16 update destroys the workability of the Lightbird 0.7.1 calendar.

In a few words --- I simply downloaded a copy of SeaMonkey Portable 2.53.15 (from " https://sourceforge.net/projects/portab ... 0Portable/ "), installed it on a local drive, ran it, installed the Lightbird 0.7.1 extension, [having previously exported my calendar data from my installed SeaMonkey 2.53.15 to a file] I then imported this file into the Lightbird component of SeaMonkey Portable 2.53.15. Then for my purposes I set up a desktop shortcut for Lightbird ("E:\SeaMonkey Portable\SeaMonkeyPortable.exe" -calendar) which gives me direct access to the calendar without having to run the SeaMonkey Portable browser, and I also set that shortcut to load at Windows startup. PROBLEM SOLVED!

I do not intend to use SeaMonkey Portable for browsing or anything else, but only to be able to use the Lightbird calendar---so I have not customized or done anything else to SeaMonkey Portable. So the OVERKILL aspect is that I have downloaded and set up this additional program just to be able to continue using the Lightbird calendar extension 0.7.1 in the manner that I have become accustomed to.

The drawback to this situation is that while I can continue to use the Lightning 5.8.15 and Lightbird 0.7.1 combo calendar as part of SeaMonkey Portable 2.53.15 it will be frozen in that status. Any improvements to Lightning beyond version 5.8.15 will never be implemented or usable. Lightbird itself is frozen at version 0.7.1 since the developer has apparently abandoned the project as mentioned in my "Posted April 1st, 2023, 3:55 pm" post above. But that combo has worked well for me as it is so I am not that concerned about any improvements. The major concern would seem to be that in some future version of Windows the program may not work, but if so that would seem to be far in the future.

I will say that I downgraded from my installed SeaMonkey 2.53.16 to 2.53.15 before I did all of the above and then after I verified that everything worked I updated the installed version back to 2.53.16.

In the installed SeaMonkey 2.53.16 the Lightning calendar (version 5.8.16) still works just fine and if need be it can always be used by launching and burrowing into the Mail component, etc. But Lightbird provided/provides the ability to use the calendar component as a standalone component thus avoiding having to launch and burrow into the Mail component. A good fix for this in the future if someone knows how to do it would be to set up a 'switch' like "seamonkey.exe -calendar" that would enable direct access to the Lightning calendar portion of the Mail component. But such a fix is beyond my capabilities and this is exactly what Lightbird provided/provides.

One minor drawback to this arrangement is that seemingly the installed version of SeaMonkey will not run when SeaMonkey Portable is running and vice versa. So one or the other must be closed before the other one will run. In my case because I have the Lightbird calendar set to run at Windows startup, the installed version of SeaMonkey cannot be run until Lightbird is closed. So if there are any portions of both the installed SeaMonkey and SeaMonkey Portable set to run at Windows startup these two would conflict with one another and whichever one loads first will block the other one from running. (Like for instance if someone has set the installed SeaMonkey Mail (or any other component of the browser suite) to run at Windows startup, this would prevent the portable version of Lightbird (or any part of SeaMonkey Portable) from running at Windows startup, and/or vice versa.)

Beyond the thoughts mentioned above SeaMonkey Portable does not seem to affect the installed SeaMonkey profiles (which I had backed up before doing any of the above) --- the profile for the portable version is kept in whatever folder the portable version is installed to. In addition because SeaMonkey Portable is not formally installed in Windows there is no Windows uninstaller connection. So it seems that the simplest and maybe SAFEST way to uninstall the portable program is to just delete the entire folder---which I did as a test and then reinstalled. It would seem possible to save the portable 'profile' folder (by making a copy to another location, to be used in a reinstall) if one wanted to save whatever customizations that one has made but I did not test this---since the only thing that I wanted to do was to install the Lightbird 0.7.1 extension!

At any rate it may be OVERKILL but I am satisied with this solution. I am now able to continue keeping up with the updates to the installed SeaMonkey and by using SeaMonkey Portable 2.53.15 I am able to continue using the Lightning 5.8.15/Lightbird 0.7.1 combo.

v_v
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QuietRobe
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Re: SeaMonkey 2.53.16 update and Lightning/Lightbird calenda

Post by QuietRobe »

v_v wrote: June 2nd, 2023, 2:54 pm SOLUTION FOUND ----- BUT IT IS SOMEWHAT OVERKILL

I have finally found a workable solution for the fact that the SeaMonkey 2.53.16 update destroys the workability of the Lightbird 0.7.1 calendar.

In a few words --- I simply downloaded a copy of SeaMonkey Portable 2.53.15

<redacted for brievity>

I do not intend to use SeaMonkey Portable for browsing or anything else, but only to be able to use the Lightbird calendar---so I have not customized or done anything else to SeaMonkey Portable. So the OVERKILL aspect is that I have downloaded and set up this additional program just to be able to continue using the Lightbird calendar extension 0.7.1 in the manner that I have become accustomed to.

<redacted for brievity>

At any rate it may be OVERKILL but I am satisied with this solution. I am now able to continue keeping up with the updates to the installed SeaMonkey and by using SeaMonkey Portable 2.53.15 I am able to continue using the Lightning 5.8.15/Lightbird 0.7.1 combo.

v_v
I am sorry that I am late "to the party". I've been looking at this thread rarely over time ever since the problem was introduced. I was reminded of it today and I registered to offer my two cents to assist with this as I happen to have some knowledge to do this from dealing with basic automation in other applications. I, too, use my computer startup with many things to check automatically for me. Calendar is one of them, I find it essential to look at the start of my computer. I've been trying to accomodate for this issue as well, but gave up at using the heavy thunderbird (which I have been avoiding and using SeaMonkey instead) as it supports "-calendar" commandline but comes with its own quirks. I thought of going the portable way with 2.53.15 but it did feel like an overkill and I got worried it will work for a some (long? hopefully) time before I need to solve this "issue" so went with thunderbird, not as happy as before, but at least with a calendar. (There are far too few lightweight calendar applications for windows in general and SeaMonkey was the best in my opinion).

Either way, I am here to share a bit of my skills and knowledge as an end user of these amazing products or at least what I know.

I'll handle about PortableApps.com thing. I am using portable browsers too, but primary I use multiple profiles. I know the two useful command line switches are "-p" and "-no-remote". For example running "firefox.exe -p MyProfile -no-remote" will allow you to use multiple profiles with the same firefox window with a bit of limitations (links won't be sent to that window for example). Using the same installation. This is true for SeaMonkey and even Thunderbird. Without "-no-remote" the installations will both use the same profile or find out that you have an instance of the browser open.

So using this old knowledge of mine and this handy information at PortableApps Forum about firefox. I think I devised a path to have both SeaMonkey and SeaMonkey portable working independently.
  1. Go to the SeaMonkeyPortable's folder
  2. Go to "Other\Source"
  3. Find file named "SeaMonkeyPortable.ini"
  4. Copy it next to SeaMonkeyPortable.exe at start
Now the file list should look something like this:

Code: Select all

App
Data
Other
help.html
SeaMonkeyPortable.exe
SeaMonkeyPortable.ini
Next, open the ini file and edit the lines "AdditionalParameters" to "-no-remote"and "AllowMultipleInstances" to "true" basically, the file has to look like this to work:

Code: Select all

[SeaMonkeyPortable]
SeaMonkeyDirectory=App\SeaMonkey
ProfileDirectory=Data\profile
SettingsDirectory=Data\settings
PluginsDirectory=Data\plugins
SeaMonkeyExecutable=SeaMonkey.exe
AdditionalParameters=-no-remote
LocalHomepage=
DisableSplashScreen=false
AllowMultipleInstances=true
DisableIntelligentStart=false
SkipCompregFix=false
RunLocally=false

# The above options are explained in the included readme.txt
# This INI file is an example only and is not used unless it is placed as described in the included readme.txt
Save it and start SeaMonkeyPortable.exe when SeaMonkey.exe is running, now you should have your two instances running whenever you want. If you run into some troubles, you can try starting the installed SeaMonkey.exe with -no-remote as well, but only the Portable one should suffice.

===========================

Now my second attempt to contribute:
v_v wrote: May 31st, 2023, 3:16 pm
But there are some problems. It took 42 seconds to actually record the macro and thus it takes 42 seconds to run the ".exe" that reproduces the steps. It works but one has to just wait for all the steps to complete themselves before doing any other activity on the computer. Any activity done during the execution of the macro seems to interfere with it leading to unpredictable results. Tinytask had an option to speed up the macro by 100x which would be ideal but when I tried this option [or any other speed besides 1x] the speeded up macro that was created produced unpredictable results and failed. Because of the execution time and unpredictability during the 42 seconds of execution it does not seem to be a good idea to run the executable ".exe" file at Windows startup. The ".exe" file could also be run manually after Windows startup but given the slow speed of the macro that is pointless; one could much more quickly start SeaMonkey Mail and then go to the Calendar tab.

Maybe a better and more efficient way to accomplish the purpose would be to create a batch file (or a script?) instead. But those possibilities are beyond my knowledge and capabilities at present.

Any comments, suggestions, or assistance?

v_v
I've mentioned I am doing certain automations for myself. I went for a different approach because I didn't want to bother much in the end. However I did make a reminder to check this specific thread one day and the time has come. I had no idea that some of the skills I possessed were needed here. So I offer my two cents at making an AutoHotKey script that should start the latest version of SeaMonkey and browse automatically to Calendar within 4 seconds without needing to be active window then the script exits itself. (Note that sometimes scripts like these are prone to "mistakes" as in may not always open it and I have no capability to test it more than it works on my end + my knowledge of using similar things for other applications). So here is the AutoHotKey v1 script based on the instructions you wrote in this thread.

Code: Select all

;
; AutoHotkey Version: 1.x
; Language:       English
; Platform:       Win9x/NT
; Author:         A.N.Other <myemail@nowhere.com>
;
; Script Function:
;	Template script (you can customize this template by editing "ShellNew\Template.ahk" in your Windows folder)
;

#NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.

PIDSend(what)
{
global SEAPID
ControlSend, , %what%, ahk_pid %SEAPID%
}

PIDClick(x,y)
{
global SEAPID
ControlClick, x%x% y%y%, ahk_pid %SEAPID%
}

wait = 100 ; superfluous sleep for 50 miliseconds. on slower system this may be increased.

run, "C:\Program Files\SeaMonkey\seamonkey.exe" -mail, "C:\Program Files\SeaMonkey\", , SEAPID
WinWait, ahk_pid %SEAPID%


sleep % wait * 25 ; Longer sleep so that the GUI loads in this time. 2.5 seconds (100 x 25).
SetTimer, KillCheck, 1000

; superfluous sleeps that improve reliability.
;PIDSend("^2")
;sleep %wait%
;PIDSend("{tab 2}")
;sleep %wait%
;PIDSend("{enter 2}")
sleep %wait%
PIDSend("!n")
sleep %wait%
PIDSend("c")


ExitApp
return
KillCheck:
win := "ahk_pid " . SEAPID
If (WinExist(win) = "")
    ExitApp
return
Note: I commented out the "Ctrl + 2", "tab x 2" and "enter x 2" because I found them unnecessary if I start SeaMonkey with -mail and I have 1 email at least loaded. The script simply starts SeaMonkey at mail client, waits for it to load, waits 2 seconds and then simply presses "alt + n" and then followed by a "c" to bring the calendar (no need to hold "alt" here to activate the menu, hense down down enter is not needed). It works on my system with SeaMonkey 2.53.17 (latest), while it should work on other places too I cannot gurantee it.

How to use it?

Download AutoHotKey. Make sure you get version 1.1 (deprecated) and not the new 2.0 (I have yet to learn it). I recommend you just use this direct link to the portable/zipped version of autohotkey.

After that follow these steps:
  1. Extract "AutoHotkey_1.1.37.01.zip" anywhere
  2. Copy one of the exe files, such as "AutoHotkeyU32.exe" anywhere you like, rename it anything you like, I'll use "SeaMonkeyCalendarScriptAHK.exe"
  3. Create a new txt file with notepad. Put my code in it. Save it as ""SeaMonkeyCalendarScriptAHK.ahk" next to the exe. I believe you are knowledgable enough to save it as ".ahk" and not ".ahk.txt"
  4. Now you can start "SeaMonkeyCalendarScriptAHK.exe" and it should load the script with the same name
  5. SeaMonkey should start up and Calendar should be summoned within 5 seconds.
This is all I have to say. I apologies if I made mistakes or something is wrong with this. It is very late, I am tired and I didn't think I'd write a reply here.

I wish you good luck! Thank you for opening this issue and helping other people who may suffer from it as well. I hope I was able to give you insights to find a better solution for SeaMonkey Calendar. Have a nice week!
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