Messages

126

Circle Dock / Re: Version 1.5 stops my keyboard from working

« on: February 24, 2010, 11:27 PM »

Hello,

I have same problem since I've installed v.1.5.4 (before I use v0.9), some keys stop working on the keyboard (never the same), when I left click it select all as if I pressed the shift key and double click do nothing.

OS : Windows 7 64-bit
key combination : SHIFT+CTRL+ALT+O
Keyboard : Logitech diNovo Cordless
Mouse : MX Revolution
mouse button : secondary wheel

-Goofjuzo (February 23, 2010, 10:39 PM)

I've tracked that fault and fixed it for the next release. Circle Dock needs to monitor the keyboard and is specifically looking for presses on the Shift, Ctrl, Alt and Windows keys since these are used as "mouse modifiers". Due to an oversight on my part, should such a key be pressed, CD was swallowing it rather than simply monitoring it and passing that info on.


Mark

127

Circle Dock / Re: UAC Issues - Vista/Windows 7, 32 & 64-bit

« on: February 24, 2010, 11:20 PM »

F0dder,

Thank you for your helpful comments! The SS2 ini file is the only external file to be written to, both by CD and the SS2 program, and by default its permissions do not allow for this by normal users (CD's own config files are unaffected as they're not subject to UAC protection). What seems a bit strange to me is that ini files are normally created through OS calls (eg: WritePrivateProfileString()) and yet the OS doesn't automatically set the correct ACL flags on ini files it creates!

Fortunately the installer can set the correct permissions when it installs this file and this is the route I will take. And that, incidentally, is another good reason not to distribute CD in Zip files as some proponents of Portable Applications would have me do!

As for 64-bit OS's my experience is somewhat limited - to less than one week. What I can say is that I'm unable to use Visual Studio 2008 on that platform to actively develop CD as should I try to load the Main Settings dialog, Visual Studio crashes with an "out of memory" fault (and that's on a 4GiB machine). Instead I use a 2GiB 32-bit machine and that same dialog loads faultlessly (and with oodles of memory to spare). So, from my experience, running 32-bit applications on a 64-bit platform is not ideal hence my decision to release a 64-bit version of CD.

As for 64-bit applications requiring more memory, you're probably correct however the extra amount of memory CD-64 requires (over CD-32) is negligible but CD-64 does seem considerably more responsive than CD-32 on either a 32-bit or 64-bit platform (assuming the CPUs are of equivalent speed).


Mark

128

Circle Dock / Re: UAC Issues - Vista/Windows 7, 32 & 64-bit

« on: February 23, 2010, 11:30 PM »

Now, I still firmly believe that UAC trouble = bug in the code somewhere, and the top priority should be chasing down the bugs. That said, if your proposed stop-gap solution is to make people run in elevated mode (ugh!), there's another radical (but far less radical) solution: setting the NTFS ACL permissions for the CircleDock install folder so that non-elevated users can write there. Assuming that the code bug involves trying to write to this folder, and not registry or something else, this will be a stopgap that's far better than running elevated.

-f0dder (February 23, 2010, 05:52 PM)

If we ignore, for the moment, StandaloneStacks, there are just two files that Circle Dock writes to in order to store configuration data and the placement of these files depends on where Circle Dock is installed. If it is installed to a UAC-protected area, then the configuration files are stored in %APPDATA% (ie: "C:\{username}\AppData\Local\CircleDock"); but if Circle Dock is not installed to a UAC-protected area - such as a USB memory stick - then those configuration files are stored in Circle Dock's "System\Settings" folder. All Circle Dock's configuration data file I/O is contained within two fairly small modules and I'm 100% confident they are working correctly.

Unfortunately, the same can not be said for the add-in program, StandaloneStacks. This insists on having its configuration data file in the same folder as itself and this will be a potential cause of UAC protection errors. To try to overcome this problem, there are three options:

• Do nothing and hope the problem goes away and/or doesn't affect too many people. I think you will agree that this is not really an option!
• Strip-out all internal support for StandaloneStacks. This option was favoured by both the Sarge and myself and, in fact, the Sarge has a tutorial almost completed which tells users how to add StandaloneStacks to Circle Dock as an add-in. Upon reflection, I don't really like this having spent the best part of a week adding support for SS in the first place.
• Move the add-in to a non UAC-protected location, for example "C:\CircleDock Add-ins".

The Sarge and I had a lengthy chat last night (my time) and it's quite clear to us that UAC-related issues don't affect all PCs running the self-same operating system in the same way. Some PCs are affected, others aren't. I have two Windows 7 machines, one has a 32-bit OS (with UAC disabled), the other has a 64-bit OS (with UAC fully-enabled); my wife uses a Windows 7 (32-bit) laptop (with UAC fully-enabled). I use the 32-bit machine to do most of the development of Circle Dock and have turned-off UAC as it has the potential of getting in the way. Circle Dock is tested on all three machines before anyone else sees it, including my testers. I don't expect to get any UAC-related issues on the development machine but I would expect to see them on the laptop and Win-64 machines. The problem is, I don't. At all. Ever. The Sarge, on the other hand, also running an Athlon-based 64-bit PC does see UAC type issues.

I welcome your further comments



Mark

129

Circle Dock / UAC Issues - Vista/Windows 7, 32 & 64-bit

« on: February 23, 2010, 04:41 AM »

It seems that a number of users are experiencing problems with Circle Dock which we have identified as being allied to the use of User-Access Control ("UAC") protection in these two operating systems. As you probably know, Microsoft reacted to pressure to make its operating systems more secure, particularly from malware, by introducing us to the joys of UAC with the launch of Windows Vista.

UAC comes into play whenever you install a program into "C:\Program Files" or "C:\Program Files (x86)" and that program (attempts to) modify its own configuration files which, say Microsoft, should ideally be placed in the %APPDATA% folder which Circle Dock does. If Circle Dock is not run by a user with full administrator privileges, it will either crash or a UAC warning dialog will appear - depending on the operating system and UAC level you've selected.

There are several ways we can overcome this:

• We could simply tell users to modify Circle Dock's properties so that it is run as if the user is an administrator; however inexperienced PC users may not be too comfortable with having to do that.
• We could instruct users not to install Circle Dock in either "C:\Program Files" or "C:\Program Files (x86)". Whilst that undoubtedly works, it does cause problems for the Installer and (fact of life) users rarely read documentation!
• We could do what Microsoft themselves do when they need elevated privileges which is to test the current privilege level and if the user is not an administrator, restart the program using a particular keyword in the start-up information block; TaskManager is an example of such a program which works in this way. The problem with that is that it will likely interfere with the multiple-instance and command-line handling.
• The fourth way is, in effect, an automated version of the first which is achieved by "marking" the executable with a special manifest that tells Windows that it is a trusted application and is to be run as administrator.

In future releases we will be using the fourth option (trusted application manifest) and this should ensure that Circle Dock runs unhindered and can update its configuration files without triggering a UAC exception.



Mark

130

Circle Dock / Re: Requests / Suggestions thread

« on: February 22, 2010, 11:55 AM »

The very fact that Circle Dock is a free-floating dock that can appear anywhere on the screen is one reason why it can not act as a Taskbar - ie: you can't minimise application windows to it. Not my rules, Microsoft's.

I cover this in the Help but I'll do so again here. Rocket Dock and Object Dock can both host minimised applications but Circle Dock can't. Why? Both RD and OD are fixed to a screen edge - it doesn't matter which edge provided it doesn't interfere with an existing "minimise target dock" which includes the Taskbar. Circle Dock is not fixed to a screen edge so does not qualify as a Taskbar replacement. The fact that the dock is rotatable is another reason Windows won't accept it.

Also, consider what would happen if the dock also contained Dock Folders and you navigated to a lower level. You'd lose the Dock Items representing the minimised apps so a decision would have to be made as to what to do with them - restore their windows or close the minimised apps? You can't magically tell the Taskbar to accept that item.

Sorry folks, it can't be done.



Mark

131

Circle Dock / Re: Requests / Suggestions thread

« on: February 22, 2010, 02:38 AM »

Seems nobody bothers to read the help pages... where there's an entire topic devoted to this.

Further to that, I am not going to include a feature that is specific to an operating system such as Vista or Windows 7. As most of the downloads are onto XP PCs any new feature must work on that platform.

So no "superbars" and no "AeroPeek". Sorry




Mark

132

Circle Dock / Re: Deleted folder afther uninstall

« on: February 21, 2010, 03:34 AM »

And, of course, an issue that would not have arisen at all with a portable version.

-Dormouse (February 19, 2010, 08:07 AM)

Not even remotely true! This user unfortunately encountered this problem.


Mark

133

Circle Dock / Re: Requests / Suggestions thread

« on: February 21, 2010, 03:17 AM »

Request: eclipse shape tilt option so you can have cat's eye shape or galaxy shape.

-Rigel (February 20, 2010, 05:03 AM)

Adding a Z axis would increase the time taken to paint the dock quite considerably and the maths involved is very complex. There's also a likelihood that orbit rings would collide or overlap. I'll bear this request in mind but it's unlikely to be a forthcoming feature.

Bug o request: if I check option to add windows menu some options as "Explore item's folder" disappear.

That's by design.

Bug: if I explore item's folder of this link C:\Program Files (x86)\Square Soft, Inc\Final Fantasy VII\ficedula\ff7music.exe CD opens Document folder I think is the comma in "Square Soft, Inc".

Ensure the link is enclosed in double-quotes - "C:\Program Files (x86)\Square Soft, Inc\Final Fantasy VII\ficedula\ff7music.exe".

Mega-request, Alpha-background: Users can chose any image and an other image with transparent or black area as alpha channel so all the area matching trasparent or black area are deleted from main image.

As you can do this in any half-decent image processing program - such as "The Gimp" or "Photoshop" - does Circle Dock really need to do this for you?

Or am I missing something?



Mark

Thanks
[/quote]

134

Circle Dock / Re: 64-bit Version now available

« on: February 21, 2010, 02:59 AM »

The -show command worked sometimes, but only then on a true 32-bit platform. I've now fixed it (for the next release) and it is working reliably (for me!).

On a 64-bit platform the 64-bit version should be faster as there's no 32-bit emulation involved.



Mark

135

Circle Dock / 64-bit Version now available

« on: February 20, 2010, 03:36 AM »

I have now released a version of Circle Dock that is specific to 64-bit Intel/AMD platforms.


Read this carefully before downloading and installing

This version is very much a test version and should be treated with caution. The code-base used to create this release is identical to that for the (32-bit) v1.54 which I released the other day so should work the same. However, those of you who have experienced problems with the Mouse Toggling when running under 64-bit Windows 7 should notice an improvement; I have had a 64-bit version running here almost all day, with varying lengths of "hidden" time, and mouse toggling is certainly working for me.

Certain things may NOT work, for example, there may be a problem with Folder Stacks - so, be warned!

After installing Circle Dock, you should right-click on its entry in the Start Menu and select "Properties" and from the "Compatibility" Tab, check "Run as Administrator", then click on "Apply" and then "OK". This will prevent any UAC issues.

Please report any issues with this release as replies to this topic.

The download link is contained within this topic.


Mark

136

Circle Dock / Version 1.54 released

« on: February 19, 2010, 01:23 AM »

I've just released version 1.54 which clears a couple of issues with v1.53 and adds some new options to control when the Dock Items Properties dialog is shown for items just added to the Dock. By default, that dialog will always be shown when adding Files, Folders etc., but now you can select its showing for Dock Folders and items that are dragged to and dropped on the dock.

NB: The Sarge is away until the end of the weekend so the web site will continue to show the current version as 1.53 pending his return. The download, however, will be v1.54.



Mark

137

Circle Dock / Re: V 1.5.1.1 Problems with Dock Settings and Item settings screen

« on: February 18, 2010, 08:56 PM »

Now that's really strange. The Sarge reported a similar problem with earlier versions (1.51 & 1.52) with the mouse. In 1.53 I added a simple timer which would, after 5 minutes, reconnect all the mouse interrupt handlers with the external DLL whilst the Dock is invisible. Since making that addition, he's confirmed to me that he's not encountered that scenario again.

Now you're telling me the opposite!

In v1.54 there will be a new checkbox on the Visibility Page, "Keep Mouse Interfaces Alive", which will be checked (ie enabled). If you disable this new option, you'll revert to pre-v1.53 behaviour as far as mouse handling is concerned.



Mark

138

Circle Dock / Re: Minor Glitches

« on: February 17, 2010, 01:31 AM »

I am wondering if this is another 64-bit only issue. 32-bit programs running on a 64-bit OS are running in an emulator ("WOW" or "Windows On Windows") and there could be an issue there.

I need to get a true 64-bit version done.



Mark

139

Circle Dock / Re: Minor Glitches

« on: February 16, 2010, 10:37 PM »

You will generally only see this effect when adding a new Dock Item using the context menu's "Add File, Folder or Special Item". The program is, at that point, in a bit of a "chicken and egg" situation. It can't place the dock item without some form of valid image and the dock item isn't added - and the dock redrawn - until that dialog is dismissed. This form of behaviour has been in all versions of the program and is down to the way the Net Framework works.

I have not witnessed the behaviour you mention and no-one else has mentioned it either, so I'm not yet convinced that there's a problem with Circle Dock in that regard. It is conceivable that an image has got "stuck" some how and if that's the case, select the dock and do something that will cause it to reposition its items on screen - such as move it or rotate the items. That should clear the effect.



Mark

140

Circle Dock / Re: Version 1.53 (Full Version) and Update v1.5x to v1.53 is now available

« on: February 14, 2010, 10:53 AM »

This could be partly my fault - the help page doesn't explain that flag setting too clearly. In the main settings dialog, "Hide Dock after opening file/folder" is a default setting and it does not affect any Dock Items you have previously established. Each Dock Item's settings dialog has, towards the bottom of the dialog, a similar check box which will be set according to whatever the default setting was when that Dock Item was created.


Mark

141

Circle Dock / Re: Requests / Suggestions thread

« on: February 14, 2010, 12:58 AM »

The "-show" parameter has been fixed for the next release.



Mark

142

Circle Dock / Re: Requests / Suggestions thread

« on: February 13, 2010, 10:47 AM »

Hi,
  Please, Mark,  can you solve the -show problem? https://www.donation....msg195125#msg195125

-Rigel (February 13, 2010, 05:55 AM)

That has now been fixed.

and can you add the "-show x y" option to show CD in a x/y position or if showen to move to x,y position?

I'll consider that for a future version but I have to say it is unlikely as it has very little practical value.

Instead of -show option it's possible to handle winmaximize,winminimize to show/hide CD?

No. Circle Dock is not a normal Windows application and doesn't respond to Windows "Show" commands in the way that other applications do. Since Circle Dock doesn't have a Taskbar button, how would you issue such commands anyway?

Next one, can tou add to item menu an option to export/import anitem?

Centre-Button or Background context menus have Add Item and each Dock Item's context menu has options to Create Links. As well as drag-and-drop to the dock, those are Circle Dock's equivalents to import and export.


Mark

143

Circle Dock / Re: Requests / Suggestions thread

« on: February 12, 2010, 11:29 AM »

Read the Help pages and apply some lateral thinking ...



Mark

144

Circle Dock / Re: Requests / Suggestions thread

« on: February 12, 2010, 10:33 AM »

Maybe an option to show a ring that is able to toggle other individual instances of cd?

-Archon of Fate (February 12, 2010, 09:57 AM)

A ring, or orbit, is not an object therefore it can't do anything.


Mark

145

Circle Dock / Re: Requests / Suggestions thread

« on: February 12, 2010, 10:32 AM »

Can you make it so I can select how many icons I want to show on each ring separately?
I don't want to select, for example, 5 icons on every ring, nor the maximum number on every ring, I want to be able to select an individual value for every ring.

Can you make that? It would be super...

Thank you.

-XXL007 (February 12, 2010, 09:37 AM)

I have already answered this elsewhere.

Mark

146

Circle Dock / Re: Anyone find more capabilities of Circle dock?

« on: February 12, 2010, 09:26 AM »

What you said gave me an idea:
 - can you program Circle Dock to show only the icons on the desktop ( I mean without folder stacks, just when i summon circle dock I would have all my desktop icons on there )
 - it's like the first thing you see in circle dock is only the contents of the desktop folder

-XXL007 (February 12, 2010, 08:44 AM)

You can do that already, drag-and-drop.

- can i organize my icons like this:
 - - on the first ring i want to have 5 icons
 - - on the second 8
 - - on the third 10 ... etc
 - I mean I don't want to choose an exact amount of icons per ring, and I don't want to choose the maximum amount for the rings. I want to say: ring 1 has 3 icons, ring 2 has 5 icons, ring 3 has 10 icons etc.

I'll bear your suggestion in mind.


Mark

147

Circle Dock / Re: v 1.5 problems - freezes and crashes

« on: February 11, 2010, 10:16 PM »

I have a similar but different crash to that decribed by joiwind with v1.523 and now v1.53. Version 1.0 did not have this problem. In my case with CD open every time I click on Dock Settings in the context menu and exit (not when it opens) CD crashes and I get a sequence of three error messages (which I too can't make head or tail of), one after the other on clicking Abort or Retry and I kill the process.

I am running CD on Windows 7 64-bit, am not getting any mis-behaviour on anything else, and otherwise CD works brilliantly (with just a couple of minor niggles that I will write about separately).

-NigelRBrown (February 11, 2010, 04:20 PM)

Actually your issue occurs when you close the Folder Stack Properties dialog. Circle Dock is unable to write to a configuration file as it is protected by User-Access Control (UAC). You'll need to reduce the UAC setting so that it allows this operation or, in extremis, turn-off UAC completely.


Mark

148

Circle Dock / Re: Requests / Suggestions thread

« on: February 11, 2010, 11:31 AM »

What you want is a "locked-down", read-only Circle Dock, right?

It's called "Kiosk Mode" and can be set in the main settings dialog on the General --> Kiosk Mode page.



Mark

Dang! He beat me to it!

149

Circle Dock / Re: v 1.5 problems - freezes and crashes

« on: February 11, 2010, 10:29 AM »

Do you have other .NET applications running on your PC?

I have a feeling you may need to install XP Service Pack 3.



Mark

150

Circle Dock / Re: Version 1.53 (Full Version) and Update v1.5x to v1.53 is now available

« on: February 11, 2010, 10:06 AM »

1.53 now available.