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Page 2 Stage : decent free, open-source app that's almost portable

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eyenot
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Page 2 Stage : decent free, open-source app that's almost portable

I recently started writing a screenplay and, having little experience in the field, needed something to help me make it easier on myself.

Enter: Page 2 Stage. It was recently released as freeware by its former maintainers, and they even released the source code.

This seems like a prime candidate for being made totally portable:

* The registered version is free for download from the former producer and they even provide their corporate username and registration key so everyone can register for free.

* It already works from a flash drive, although it doesn't have any self identity any time I take it to a new computer.

* It runs okay from shortcuts or batch files that use relative directories to call it.

There are some problems:

* It doesn't accept relative directories in its settings or filenames. This would really need to be fixed for it to run from a thumbdrive that might not always have the same drivename, or for it to run inside a folder you might temporarily drop onto a desktop for faster performance.

* It obviously still uses some kind of registry information (or maybe it's storing configs on local C: drive for instance, I dunno, haven't taken a good look) to keep up with things like whether you've turned tips on or off, whether you've registered the software, etc.

It would be really great to see this app working in a fully "self-contained" fashion, using some locally stored config files and readily accepting relative paths and filenames.

eyenot
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Page 2 Stage homepage

http://www.page2stage.com/

"Page 2 Stage is now free. We no longer sell Page 2 Stage. However, you must still enter a username and password to unlock Page 2 Stage. Please enter the below username and password before you create any scripts, otherwise the scripts you create in demo mode will always be marked demo."

"The source code for Page 2 Stage is now available here. "
http://www.enemynations.com/downloads/Page2Stage_source.rar

John T. Haller
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Not Quite Open

While the source is open, it is not released under an open source license. It actually has specific restrictions in the readme. In addition, not all the source is available. The spellchecker is a commercial product and isn't included. Thus, while some source is available, it's really only available for academic purposes, not for anyone to build or further work on the project. Therefor, it's freeware and will need permission from the publisher to repackage.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

eyenot
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Alright

I am in correspondence with the publisher and will be right back.

eyenot
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Alright

I am in correspondence with Windward Reports and Wintertree Software, and have presented possible work-arounds to the licensing issue (a), (b), and (c) (let's hope for "C", please) and will be back with an end-result whenever it arrives in my inbox.

eyenot
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Permission

I have permission from the Publisher, Windward Reports, to "do whatever we want" with the source.

However, since they did not have permission to distribute certain libraries with that source, I am still waiting for the response from Wintertree Software concerning the libraries involved. I offered three possible (obvious) scenarios that would allow Portableapps, Windward, and Wintertree to make this happen without too much cost, though without breaking any details, only one scenario offers a totally free solution whereas the other two require one or the other companies to take either some cost or some liability onto their shoulders.

richardwhl
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eyenot, this is brilliant

eyenot, this is brilliant news. I have been using Page 2 Stage since it was a paid-for product, and I have to say it is excellent.
If it could now be made into an app for android it would be a true godsend.

All the best, Richard

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