Category: autoConvert

autoConvert Select – pounds, stones and currency conversion trial

~ Adi
lbst-1
I’m over 10Kg above target weight 😥

Two changes in this update – a minor tweak for pound/stone-using users, and announcing first currency conversion trial.

Convert mass to both stones and pounds

Some countries measure weight in pounds, others prefer stones. In the old extension there was a setting to decide which unit to use. In autoConvert Select, both values are now shown. Simple.

Currency conversion trial

Currency conversion is now available in autoConvert select. However, it’s currently in trial mode, and available only to a small (randomly selected) fraction of users.

I am not very comfortable about the durability of the exchange rates source I am using. So, I have restricted this feature to a small number of users. Exchange rates are also fetched only twice a day.

When currency conversion is available, an option to enable it, and to select your home currency will be available in options.

That’s all, folks!

Please share your feedback, including suggestions and any bugs you find using this link.

v. 2018.918.0.16
Continue reading “autoConvert Select – pounds, stones and currency conversion trial” →

autoConvert – New extension, and currency conversion removed

~ Adi

New extension: autoConvert Select

autoConvert does not work well with many modern websites that use technologies like react, vue or angular. It also tends to slow down some websites ocassionally.

autoConvert Select has been designed to work smoothly with modern web technologies. Being request based, it does not impact website performance either. autoConvert Select even converts time zones! It will be the main extension developed going forward.

autoConvert Select is available on both Chrome and Firefox, and may soon come to Android as well.

Currency conversion

Currency conversion feature has been removed from autoConvert.

The previous (free) source for currency exchange rates was removed by the provider. I have been unable to find another free source, so the feature had to be removed.

I intend to bring the feature back in the new extension – autoConvert Select at some time in the future.

autoConvert deprecation

The old autoConvert extension will be deprecated near the end of 2018.

Unit conversion in autoConvert will continue to function normally as long as you have the extension installed. But there won’t be any new development on the extension.

autoConvert Select is the place to go for that, and more!

v. 2018.912.2.20

autoConvert Select – Convert any text with extension window

~ Adi

Type or paste text from other apps
See instant conversion of units and times in pasted text

v. 2018.911.0.11

Convert text from other apps using autoConvert Select

Copy the text in the other app (say, from an email in Outlook), click on the autoConvert Select button in Chrome, and paste the text in the text box. autoConvert will instantly convert all units and times found in the text.

Convert more than 6 items from a web page

Convert as many units as you want in one go
Convert as many units as you want in one go

The limit of 6 conversions at a time does not apply to conversions done using the autoConvert Select window. Copy all the text from a webpage and paste into the text box. All conversions found in the text will be displayed1

Offline conversions of units and times

Google provides a handy converter for units and time zones. autoConvert Select makes it one better by providing similar functionality even without an internet connection. Like before, open Chrome, open the autoConvert Select window, and type in whatever you want coverted. It’s done, pronto.

Other updates

Updated icon - autoConvert Select
Updated icon – autoConvert Select

Made a minor tweak to the app icon, just enough to marginally differentiate from the now-deprecated autoConvert extension.

That’s all, folks!

Please share your feedback, including suggestions and any bugs you find using this link. Continue reading “autoConvert Select – Convert any text with extension window” →

autoConvert Select – v 2018.907.0.9

~ Adi

Convert time zones with dates

AutoConvert Select reads the dates provided with times when converting time zones. As usual, just select the date and time with the time zone, and the conversion appears. When the extension is unable to parse the date, the time zone is converted assuming today’s date.

The date formats currently parsed are:

  • ‘YYYY-MM-DD‘ (e.g. 2018-09-23, 2018.09.23, 2018/09/23)
  • ‘DD-MM-YYYY‘ (e.g. 23-09-2018, 23.09.2018, 23/09/2018)
  • ‘DD-MMM-YYYY‘ (e.g. 23 Sep 2018, 23 September 2018)
  • ‘DD-MMM-YY‘ (e.g. 23 Sep 18, 23 September 18)
  • ‘DD-MMM‘ (e.g. 23 Sep, 23 September) – in this case the current year is assumed

Some minor variations are also parsed, e.g.: ‘23rd September 2018‘

Other updates

  • Convert time zone when zone may be in brackets (e.g. ‘5 PM (PDT)‘)
  • Correctly parse full ISO format – ‘Z‘ time zone was not being parsed earlier
  • Correctly handle parsing pace units (e.g.  ‘8:00 min/mile‘) and time zones
  • Enforce text size and font for the conversion box

That’s all, folks!

Please share your feedback, including suggestions and any bugs you find using this link. Continue reading “autoConvert Select – v 2018.907.0.9” →

autoConvert Select: Convert time zones, automagically!

~ Adi
acs_time_conversion.png
Time with zone in selected text converted to my time zone (on the right)

Convert time from different zones

autoConvert Select now converts time zones from a variety of formats. Just select the text containing a time with a different time zone, and it will be automatically converted to your time zone.

autoConvert Select recognises these core time zone versions:

  • The standard version: ‘2 P.M. Europe/London‘,
  • Most abbreviations: ‘14:00 BST‘, and
  • Many city and area names: ‘1400 London time‘

I will continue adding support for more formats, so please share with me any text you think it isn’t converting properly.

Trigger key for only converting selectively

autoConvert Select now includes an option to only convert text when a trigger key is pressed. This may be set on the options/preferences page.

This option is disabled by default. Trigger keys may be any of: ‘alt‘, ‘shift‘, ‘control‘(not on MacOS), and ‘Command‘ (on MacOS).

That’s all, folks! Continue reading “autoConvert Select: Convert time zones, automagically!” →

autoConvert Select – Convert multiple values in a single selection

~ Adi

ac_multi_conversions.png
v. 2018.830.0.4

Updates

Convert multiple values in selected text

autoConvert Select now converts up to six values in a single selection.

Dark and light theme for conversion box

Conversion box may be themed in a lighter or darker shade. Change in extension options.

The conversion box’s position may also be changed in options.

That’s all, folks! Continue reading “autoConvert Select – Convert multiple values in a single selection” →

New: autoConvert Select for Chrome & Firefox

~ Adi
acSelect.png
Automattic unit conversion

For the wanderers, the readers, the chefs and bakers, the measuring, tinkering DIYers, and for anyone else who struggles to convert feet to cm, or ºC to ºF, or wonders how many grams is it when the recipe says a cup of sugar in the cake.

With autoConvert Select, just select the text you convert, and the conversion is right there in the corner of the browser. No clicking, no searching. Right there… automagically.

Select a value in metric units, say 16 km, and the conversion will be imperial (10 miles). Select a value in the old, imperial units, say 22ºF, and the conversion will be into metric (-5.6ºC).

That’s all, folks!

Get it here on Chrome and Firefox.

Please share your feedback, including suggestions and any bugs you find using this link.

Notes:

  1. autoConvert Select only converts units. Unlike the older autoConvert for Chrome, it does not convert currencies yet. I am still looking for a free source for currency rates before I can provide currency conversion.
  2. autoConvert Select converts the first six values in a selection. You may have to select multiple times to see more conversion.
  3. autoConvert Select supports all websites – including the newer React based websites that the older extension used to hang on.

Currency conversion in autoConvert

~ Adi ~ 2 Comments

Currency conversion in autoConvert seems to have stopped working.

It appears that the (free) API that the extension uses to fetch currency rates was removed. This has broken currency conversion.

I’ll try and look for a new (free) currency rates API tomorrow (Monday, 22 January). If one is available, I’ll update the extension with it. If I can’t find one, I may have to remove currency conversion entirely.

I’ll update here on the blog on the progress.

Cheers!

autoConvert for Chrome – v. 2017.516.2.16

~ Adi

Workaround for pages hanging due to react.js, and other updates

  • To reduce incidences of pages hanging on websites using react:
    • Extension detects and skips website sections that use react. Still hangs on facebook, though 😦
    • Added a 2 sec delay before conversion is started on the page, to ensure most dynamic elements are loaded
  • Updated badge background colour for better visibility
  • Increased minimum supported Chrome version to 49 (from 23)
    • This helps me use newer Chrome & javascript features that older versions don’t support
    • About 3% of current users will not be able to use the extension if they don’t upgrade their browser
  • Added prompts for support by donations – helps me keep the system running, and get new treats for my dog – Chewie
  • Bug fix: Extension was affecting the layout of Google’s Inbox

autoConvert Perfomance – Facebook issues

~ Adi

Update: The issue is caused by pages that use a technology called react – it was first developed by Facebook.

Due to the way react works, I’m unable to convert text on parts of web pages that use react. However, on websites which only use react for some parts of the functionality, autoConvert will continue to operate as normal on the rest of it.

Still doesn’t work on Facebook, though 😦

I’ve finally been able to diagnose the source of the problem – the Facebook’s BigPipe pagelets.

The BigPipe architecture is designed to load different parts of the webpage (called pagelets) in parallel. The HTML for them is pushed onto the page once both the CSS and the content, for that pagelet have been downloaded. Once all the pagelets have been downloaded, the javascript files for each pagelet is finally downloaded, and executed.

While Facebook is still waiting to receive, loading and dynamically populate the pagelet divs, Chrome declares the page loaded, and fires up autoConvert. This results in autoConvert working with nodes that wouldn’t be there when the conversion happens (BigPipe will replace them with actual, delayed content).

When that happens, Chrome/autoConvert/Facebook go in a lockup, and everything hangs.

That’s the issue.

Now to figure out a solution.