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Here are some of the most Frequently Asked Questions
about eGems Collector Pro.
For additional tips and tricks, please also review the online tutorial
that is included with eGems Collector Pro.
Behavioral Issues
Drag and Drop Issues
FAQ (Revised for version 2.6)
eGems Behavior Issues
Q.
Why is the eGems window blocking everything from view?
A. To get the best
use out of eGems Collector Pro, you must be able to access its features
from anywhere on your computer. For this reason, it is designed to float
on top of your other programs.
If you find that the eGems window is getting in
the way, try collapsing the Gem View by clicking the upward pointing arrow
button in the Gem View caption area. To reduce the program to a floating
eGems Logo, double click the eGems Logo on the left side of the toolbar.
eGems can also be minimized to the task bar.
Q.
Why can't I maximize the eGems window?
A. Because eGems
stays on top of other applications, maximizing the window would hide all
other applications. If needed, you can resize the window to a large size,
and it will return to that size, even if you stop and restart the program.
Q.
When I select a block of text and images from a web site, the resulting
'gem' is an unreadable jumble. I'm using Internet Explorer and I thought
I could do this, what's wrong?
A. The gem editor
does not implement every possible formatting option supported by modern
web browsers. Java scripts, DHTML and deeply nested tables will all cause
this problem. Simply select less 'extraneous' data. For example if you
are creating a gem out of an article, select just the article, and avoid
any headers, tables-of-contents and other navigational structures that
may appear with it on the page. You'll get superior results and have a
more usable gem.
Q.
Why does it take so long to create a gem?
A. Several things
will impact the speed of eGems Collector. The quantity and type of data
collected, as well as the speed of your Internet connection. Keep in mind
that IE users may create gems containing lots of formatted text and images,
eGems will faithfully rebuild that data in a gem, transferring images
and other data over your Internet connection as needed. This problem can
be avoided by selecting only the data you're interested in and not extraneous
image data, navigational structures or banners.
Q.
Why doesn't eGems capture the URLs in the text from a web site?
A. This information
is not always available to eGems, depending on which browser you use.
The product team is working on perfecting this feature. For
now, only users of MS IE 4.x or above and users of Netscape 6.1 enjoy
this feature.
Q. Why
do I get multiple copies of the eGems icon when I move it around on top
of other applications?
A. Some applications
do not redraw themselves correctly when an icon like the eGems icon is
dragged across them. Try slightly resizing the application. This will
cause it to redraw itself and should clear up the problem. In some cases,
you may have to minimize and then restore the application.
Q. Can
you create/capture tabular data in eGems, then paste it into Excel?
A. The short answer
is yes, it is possible to move tabular gem data into an Excel spreadsheet.
The process, however, is not quite as intuitive as most of eGems drag
and drop features. Currently Excel does not properly interpret gems dragged
directly from Gem View, so copy and paste instead:
- Create a gem from tabular data - make sure you have
captured tabular data by previewing it in the Gem Properties dialog.
- If it's not already open, open the desired gem to display
it in the Gem editor window.
- Use the mouse to highlight the table within the gem
that you want to move to Excel. This can be all or part of a table.
- Right click the selected area and select the 'Copy
Selection' menu item (note: the 'Copy Entire Gem' option does NOT work
for this purpose).
- Go to the desired Excel spreadsheet and select a single
cell that will be the upper left cell of the copied table. Then select
'Paste' from Excel's menu, or by pressing CTRL-V.
Drag and Drop Issues
Q.
I can't drag anything to eGems from the program I am using.
A. eGems Collector
Pro fully supports drag and drop for standard formats. For drag and drop
to work, both applications must support it, and both must agree on the
formats of the exchanged data. If the program you're using doesn't seem
to support it, try to copy and paste instead.
Q.
I'm trying to capture an image from a web site with drag and drop, but
I'm getting a URL link gem instead, why?
A. Many images have
an associated URL so when you click on the image you will go to a new
web page. The browsers automatically think you're attempting to drag and
drop the link and not the image. The workaround is to select the image,
copy it with the Copy command, and then paste it into eGems.
Q.
When I try to drag or even copy text from Netscape, sometimes it works
and sometimes it doesn't. What's going on?
A. Netscape does
not always allow blocks of text to be selected. Several different widely
used styles for formatting web pages are responsible for this behavior.
Currently, there is no workaround other than to select the View Source
command from the View menu and copy the desired text directly from the
HTML source.
Q.
When I try to drag text from Microsoft Word, the text highlight moves
around, but I can't drag the text. I thought Word supported drag and drop?
A. Word allows
you to configure the behavior when dragging text. Select the Options menu
item from the Tools menu, on the Edit tab of the Options dialog, making
sure drag and drop text editing is checked.
Q.
When I attempt to drag a picture from Microsoft Word or Microsoft PowerPoint
onto the eGems logo, the picture won't drop on the logo. It looks like
it is still on the Word or PowerPoint document behind it. What is happening?
A. There are two
workarounds for this behavior. First, make sure the eGems logo is positioned
off of the editing area of Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. When this is
done, Word or PowerPoint will recognize that you want to drag the picture
to it.
You can also select the picture and press the CTRL-C
key or select the Copy command from the Edit menu in Word and then create
a gem from the Windows clipboard.
Q.
Why can't I drop a gem into MS PhotoDraw?
A. PhotoDraw has
trouble selecting the correct data from the drag and drop action. Try
right-clicking on the gem and copying it to the clipboard and then pasting
it into PhotoDraw.
Q.
I can't get an image from eGems into my graphics application. Why not?
A. All gems contain
a core document that is based on HTML, a combination of text and image
'references' not understood by most graphics applications. Simply open
the desired gem in the gem editor window, click the 'Edit' tab, select
the image, and use copy and paste to insert it into your graphics project.
Q.
I'm dragging an image gem onto PowerPoint, but after I drop it, it looks
like the first few pixels along the entire left edge are clipped and pasted
onto the right side of the image. When I view the image in eGems, it looks
fine. What is happening?
A. This appears
to happen on some hardware/software combinations and may be related to
video drivers on the affected machine. If you notice this problem when
dropping on an application, try to copy and paste instead.
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