ID #1009

When I paste from ClipMate, the data isn't the same as it is when doing a straight copy/paste.

ClipMate is configured by default to look for the most common data formats, such as Text, Rich Text Format, Bitmap, HTML, and Metafile(Picture).  Sometimes applications have other formats that they prefer to work with, and are optimized to that application - these are known as "private formats".  Sometimes you can adjust ClipMate's Application Profile to handle these formats. 

"Fat Clip" Test:

  1. First, copy from the application in question.  Nothing too large though.
  2. In ClipMate, select Edit | Capture Special.
  3. Turn on ALL formats, and click OK.  
  4. Hopefully, you have a new clip with all possible formats.  Select Edit | Rename Title to change the title, and call it "fat clip".
  5. Press the PrintScreen key, to overwrite the clipboard and send a new item to ClipMate.  This ensures that when we put the fat clip back onto the clipoboard, the application sees ClipMate's version of it.
  6. Re-select "fat clip" from the cliplist.
  7. Paste into the target application.  Did it work?  If so, then there's hope. If not, then maybe this application cannot handle external clipboard data the same as internal data.  Perform the Format Viability Test (below) to confirm.
  8. Assuming that step 7 was ok, you can now experiment with the various formats of the clip to see what works and what doesn't.  Right-click on the clip, and select Properties.  Turn off/on formats to see what the effect is when you test.  Select another clip, and then go back to the "fat clip" before pasting, to ensure an accurate test.
  9. Adjust the Application Profile (found under Config | Application Profile) to set the new filtering rules for the application that you are copying from. You'll find it listed in the list of apps on the left, with formats on the right.

Format Viability Test

Sometimes applications just can't handle data coming back in from the clipboard, or they can, but the data isn't of the same quality as if you had just done a copy/paste within the app. That's what is known as "local clipboarding", where they don't put the "good stuff" onto the clipboard at all - they just manipulate memory within the app, and put lower-quality stuff onto the clipboard.  There isn't much that you can do about it, but here is how to find out if this is what is happening.  Click Here for the full writeup

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