The Download	This Issues Review	The Web Site
	CLCL by Nakashima Tomoaki
This utility is very handy, especially if you're working on projects in programs where you do lots of copy and paste procedures. CLCL is a small clipboard utility that's saves previous clipboard additions and allows you to access them right from the Windows taskbar. Here's the info: Platform and Requirements......... CLCL will run on any Windows 32 bit system. The Website... This web site is super plain with only text left justified on an html page. Links for the program in .zip and .exe format, source code as well as plugins. There are links to pages in the Russian and Japanese. Help Files.... There is basically nothing available for help with this program. Let me say though that once installed, the usage of this clipboard utility is straight forward and the options pretty well explain themselves, though the English version has some spelling errors in it. Download, Installation and Uninstall... This site gives you a choice between a compressed .zip file or a self install .exe file that is only 180k in size. That's a breeze even on a 56k! There are also some plugins available for the program which I suggest you download. The installation engine of CLCL is a bit different than the usual install engines used in programs today. Once the .exe file is engaged, you will be getting a small window asking you which directory to install the program files to. Of course, it gives you a suggestion in it's window, mainly a directory called 'clcl' off of your program files directory. Clicking ok gives another small window letting you know that this directory doesn't exist and should the installer create it. Clicking yes creates this directory, installs the files, and opens up a window with the icons for the program. Now, just reboot your computer and when the dust settles, you'll notice a small paper clip in your taskbar.  To uninstall, just delete the directory. Now for the plugins. Open up the downloaded .zip files with your favorite freeware compression utility and drop them into the directory where CLCL was installed into. The plugins are setup via the options menu in the taskbar which we will hit on in a bit. Interface and Features..... That paper clip is where all of the action occurs in CLCL. Now, each time you reboot your system this paper clip will position itself according. Now, go ahead and start working. Copy some names, how about some link addys, maybe a photo or two from your collection to copy to your e-mail messages. Each and every time you copy something to the clipboard, CLCL saves it and gives you access to all of these clips through the paper clip. What I love about this program is that CLCL shows your photos and cliparts as miniature bitmaps in the menu list off of the paper clip. I've found this super handy when working with multiple pics for reviews, e-mails and such. Here's a couple of pics to show you what the paper clip contains after working on my computer for a while. The program takes care of text clips, clipart, photos, web links, and more. The menu also contains a Template where some of your most often used clipboard contents can be saved, even after flushing everything out. The viewer give you a larger prospective of your clipboard contents, and the options menu item opens a multi-tabbed windows with numerous options for CLCL. Here's a few pics of some of the many settings that you can obtain for this program: The 'History' tab sets the maximum number of item (lots and lots!), whether the history is saved on exit, checking duplication in the history etc. The 'Menu' tab gives you the settings for the display including if you show pics in the paper clip, icon size, tool tips and hot keys. Make sure you have 'Click menu on right, to show tools' so that after you have installed the plugins, you can get them from the menu. The 'Viewer' adjusts the settings for the built in viewer in CLCL.   The 'Tool' tab is where you install the plugins that you downloaded with your install file for CLCL. Above I explained how to place the files contained in the .zips into the appropriate area. Now when this tab is opened, hit the add button and this window will pop up:  From here, click the browse button and show the program the .dll file that was enclosed in the plugin.  This will bring up a smaller window for your choice of tools to install. You can go back and install each one including clear history, clear clipboard, play music on copy etc. The options for each can also be adjusted from the 'Edit' button on the Tools tab. Once the tools are installed, you can access them from the paper clip menu by right  clicking. Left clicking on the paper clip opens up the viewer where you can see your clips in a larger size. Here's a pic of the viewer in action: Clicking on each item in the tree menu to the left will show the image or the hex for that particular selection. You can also drag each item to the template which will save it for future use, even when you clear the history or the clipboard. Problems.... So far so good! I've had neither a memory or speed problem with this utility. I've found that I turned off the 'sound' as this was becoming a pain in the butt, especially when working on documents such as this with many reasons for cut, copy and paste. The install of the plugins takes a bit of patience and it would be nice if they were included in the original installation of CLCL however, I believe this program is worth the effort.    Conclusion.... For it's size, I'd say that this assembly of code is well worth the download and installation. There's not too much to overwhelm a user like calenders and such, but it's powerful enough to do exactly what it is suppose to do, store your clipboard and give you an easy way to access it. I'd like to suggest giving it a try and see if you can find some use for it! Cheers! Buzzy :)