Messages

401

Circle Dock / Re: Windows 7's Taskbar....Err.....Circle Dock for the DC Programming Contest

« on: August 17, 2008, 09:34 PM »

Crashes in the same way (and location?) as previous build, but the new version doesn't render any icons, only the main dock background.

-f0dder (August 17, 2008, 09:27 PM)

Okay, thanks. I purposely removed the dock icons from that one to minimize the sources of error. If it worked, you could have dragged and dropped icons onto it.

I will create a source-forge account to host the code since the whole solution is now around 40 megs with the icons I use for testing. I can't host this on wikidot because of file size limitations. I'll post a message when I get the source-forge account set up.

Now I'm curious if a 64-bit Vista user will have the same problem...... Hmm. I'll have to wait and see.

402

Circle Dock / Re: Windows 7's Taskbar....Err.....Circle Dock for the DC Programming Contest

« on: August 17, 2008, 09:31 PM »

Tried this. The Windows icon disappeared to be replaced by the original circle centre icon. No attempt to change the icon to anything else in the Icon folder worked.

Added a Dock Folder. It added an icon; when I tried to change that icon (can't remember what it was now), all the CircleDock icons originally loaded (but not connected to any programs/folders) disappeared to be replaced by questionmarks. No further attempt to change those icons worked. Actually, when I exited and restarted the program the new icons appeared.

-Dormouse (August 17, 2008, 09:23 PM)

Noted, I will try Circle Dock 0.9.2 on other computers I have access to and see if I can replicate the problem.

As a last resort, try http://circledock.wi...ck/CD0.9.2Alpha4.zip. It has the added exception handler and I cleared the dock items so you can try dragging and dropping fresh items onto the dock.

403

Circle Dock / Re: Windows 7's Taskbar....Err.....Circle Dock for the DC Programming Contest

« on: August 17, 2008, 09:15 PM »

@mouser and f0dder or others that want to try: http://circledock.wi...ck/CD0.9.2Alpha4.zip

This version just adds an exception handler to the part where it actually draws the dock and pops up an error message if there is a problem. See if it works. This link is not on my download page.

404

Circle Dock / Re: Windows 7's Taskbar....Err.....Circle Dock for the DC Programming Contest

« on: August 17, 2008, 09:10 PM »

Rotating your middle mouse buttons rotates the dock, as it should. If you click with your middle mouse button (wheel, press it down), it will toggle the visibility of the dock.

-VideoInPicture (August 17, 2008, 08:54 PM)

Clicking the middle mouse button has no effect on the dock at all.

-Dormouse (August 17, 2008, 09:07 PM)

Hmm, it might be another program on your computer is hooking the middle mouse button so Circle Dock doesn't have access to it.

Alternatively, press the F1 keyboard button or click on the tray icon to toggle the visibility.

405

Circle Dock / Re: Windows 7's Taskbar....Err.....Circle Dock for the DC Programming Contest

« on: August 17, 2008, 09:08 PM »

An unhandled exception of type 'System.BadImageFormatException' occurred in CircleDock.exe

Additional information: An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007000B)

Happens in CircleDock.MainForm..ctor, after the third-last call instruction (happens at address 0000042C , but dunno how useful that is to you, since you're on 32bit and the JITer has JITed for 64bit).

-f0dder (August 17, 2008, 08:55 PM)

Argh! I wish I had access to a virtual machine with all versions of Windows on it. It's just not possible for me to test the thing on all versions. I'll upload the source code in a bit so that you can debug it with Visual C# Express.

Right now, I'm uploading a modified version with one more exception handling to see if it'll fix the problem. Stay tuned.

Just like mouser, I get the crash after the main form has been painted. XP64/SP2, running with admin privileges, framework v3.5 installed.

406

Circle Dock / Re: Windows 7's Taskbar....Err.....Circle Dock for the DC Programming Contest

« on: August 17, 2008, 08:54 PM »

Old crashing bug when adding new programs etc has gone.  
Lots of juddering when Location and Toggling opens and closes.  
My middle button seems to rotate the dock rather than toggle visibility.

Very pretty. I have an ObjectDock addin clock which I would choose as the centre button if I could.

-Dormouse (August 17, 2008, 08:47 PM)

Good to hear one of those mysterious crashing bugs in 0.9.1 is gone.

I think your juddering comment refers to the settings panel. Don't worry about the performance of the settings panel. I realized that the one in the Alpha 2 is not a good one and I have a better one to pop into it's place. This was what was keeping me from releasing the Alpha 2 sooner.

Rotating your middle mouse buttons rotates the dock, as it should. If you click with your middle mouse button (wheel, press it down), it will toggle the visibility of the dock.

You can change the centre button by right-click on it and selecting "Change Icon".

407

Circle Dock / Re: Windows 7's Taskbar....Err.....Circle Dock for the DC Programming Contest

« on: August 17, 2008, 08:42 PM »

Ok just tried the new version, it looks beautiful but i did get an error on startup after it displays. Image attached.
(I have winxp pro 64, and i think i have the latest dotnet but im not positive).

-mouser (August 17, 2008, 08:28 PM)

That is a weird problem, all the items in the dock have been rendered and then it gets an error. Maybe it's a 64-bit issue. I'll wait and see what happens with other people. Is there anymore information for that error if you click on the "details" link in that error message?

If it shows, "The bitmap must be 32ppp with alpha-channel.", then I might know what might be wrong.

408

Circle Dock / Alpha Testers Required for Circle Dock 0.9.2

« on: August 17, 2008, 07:49 PM »

Hello,
I have just released a new Alpha version of Circle Dock 0.9.2 (Alpha Preview 2) at http://circledock.wi...download-circle-dock and I need alpha testers to see if there are any show stoppers/major bugs. This is not a complete version but I want to know that it works on other people's Windows XP and Vista computers before I move on.

This new version is a total rewrite of the original program and there are many differences. I will list them briefly below:
-Completely different program architecture for better performance, memory usage, and modularity.
-At idle, the program uses under 1 meg of ram
-Animated rotation of the dock for a smoother rotation
-Animated fade in/fade out
-Direct capability to use your mouse buttons to toggle the dock
-Different background rendering
-Ability to show Explorer context menus directly
-Ability to show the Start Menu over the dock
-Dock folders to group your icons together
-There is now a tray icon to toggle the visibility of the dock

Note that:
-Portability mode is not yet completed
-The default hotkey to toggle the visibility of the dock is F1. You can change it in the settings area.
-You can directly use your middle mouse button to toggle the visibility of the dock without extra software. Try it out! You will be able to change this in the final version.
-You cannot change the shape of the dock yet and you cannot change the background image in the settings area yet.


Here are some screenshots:

1
2
3
4


Please try the new version out and tell me if it works on your computer or what major bugs you encounter. Please include:
-Your operating system and whether it is 32 bit or 64 bit
-Your .Net Framework version if known
-Your operating system language (ex: English, French, Spanish, etc.)
-Whether you are logged in as an Administrator, Power User or Guest


Thanks for helping out,

Eric Wong

409

Official Announcements / Re: DonationCoder/Veign Programming Contest Results Posted

« on: August 17, 2008, 06:56 PM »

Some new screenshots of Circle Dock 0.9.2 on a different background:

1
2
3
4
5
6

410

Official Announcements / Re: DonationCoder/Veign Programming Contest Results Posted

« on: August 17, 2008, 06:39 PM »

Darn it, I was a bit late in releasing AlphaPreview2 of Circle Dock 0.9.2. This could have addressed many of the comments from the LifeHacker link.

http://circledock.wi....2_AlphaPreview2.zip

This is a new version of Circle Dock I'm working on. I have read many comments and have gotten lots of feedback from people who have tried out the first version of Circle Dock and have had problems with it. This version addresses many of the problems, such as memory usage, performance, and stability. If you are having problems with Circle Dock 0.9.1, please try this Alpha version out. It is incomplete in features but the core code is there. I'm releasing this version out early since many people were asking about it and now people on LifeHacker are talking about it.

Please bear in mind that the first version of Circle Dock was only coded in two weeks so there was bound to be some bugs. This new version is a complete rewrite and at idle, it now uses under 1 meg of ram.

Please provide feedback at https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=14039.0 and I will answer your questions.

411

General Software Discussion / Re: New Linux Distro specifically designed for programmers

« on: August 13, 2008, 04:49 PM »

This might just be the thing that gets me to install linux on my computer. All the tools a developer needs in one install. If I can dual boot with it, then I'll try some linux development since it has the new distro comes with Mono which is an open source .Net Framework.

412

Official Announcements / Re: DonationCoder/Veign Programming Contest Results Posted

« on: August 12, 2008, 03:57 PM »

1

I've figured out how to show the Explorer right-click menus when you click on one of the Circle Dock 0.9.2 items. Screenshot above. This is coming along nicely.

413

Official Announcements / Re: DonationCoder/Veign Programming Contest Results Posted

« on: August 11, 2008, 11:16 PM »

1

2

3

Here a few new screen shots of Circle Dock 0.9.2 (still in development, a code snapshot will be released in a few days). http://circledock.wikidot.com

I've made it look almost exactly like one of those Windows 7 taskbar screenshots I've seen somewhere. I really like the look of this theme. At the home level, the middle button now opens up the windows start menu. In the first screenshot, you can see a couple of dock folders. If you click on those, they repopulate the dock with the items associated with that dock folder.

414

Post New Requests Here / Re: [R3qu3st] Very Simple Request regarding DetachVideo

« on: August 11, 2008, 07:49 PM »

If you have Vista, you could try my Video in Picture program that serves a similar purpose to DetachVideo: http://videoinpicture.wikidot.com/ (Example videos and program on the website. It's not open source yet because the code is messy). It will allow you to minimize, resize, and crop.

415

Official Announcements / Re: DonationCoder/Veign Programming Contest Results Posted

« on: August 09, 2008, 12:34 AM »

Now it's Eric's turn -- his apps were featured on cybernet news today:
http://cybernetnews....oncoder-competition/

Congratulations Eric 

-mouser (August 08, 2008, 08:33 PM)

Cool! I've been working on the next version of Circle Dock and will upload another coder preview in the next few days. There is current coder preview up on the Source Code section of my website, but this next coder preview will have a complete set of comments in the code and will allow you to rotate the dock. The keyboard shortcut to toggle the visibility of the dock will be implemented and the ability to use a button on your mouse to toggle the visibility of the dock has been directly integrated into the program.

One thing that I can't seem to figure out is how Magic Formation, Rocket Dock, Object Dock, etc... get all their dock items to move/animate simultaneously. Each of their dock items is a separte child window of the program so you would assume that you would have to tell each dock item to move/animate separately. However, this leads to some jerky/delayed motion. Does anyone have a clue how this is done?

416

Circle Dock / Re: Windows 7's Taskbar....Err.....Circle Dock for the DC Programming Contest

« on: August 06, 2008, 05:00 PM »

I know just a tiny bit of C#, so I can't comment on the code, but I do very much so like the folder navigation system. Very interesting and easy to use. I like the new tray icon, too!

-wreckedcarzz (August 06, 2008, 11:52 AM)

C# is quite similar to Visual Basic once you get the hang of the syntax changes.

417

Circle Dock / Re: Windows 7's Taskbar....Err.....Circle Dock for the DC Programming Contest

« on: August 02, 2008, 02:58 AM »

Hello Everyone,
I thought I would post the current build of the new version of Circle Dock (0.9.2) so that the programmers can check it out and play with it. You can get the Preview1 Source Code for Circle Dock 0.9.2 at http://circledock.wi...idot.com/source-code

1
2

Note that Circle Dock 0.9.2 is now written in Microsoft Visual C# Express 2008 instead of Visual Basic like in the first version. It is NOT feature complete or anywhere close. I'm just delayed on get everything to move and animate smoothly. The rest of the project will be pretty straight forward since it will consist of writing functions to calculate the positions of where every item should be and adding in a settings panel, global mouse hook, etc...

If you need an explanation of what is going on in the code right now, just post here.

From my source code page:

Circle Dock 0.9.2 is being re-developed in Microsoft Visual C# Express 2008 (.Net). Some of the code is commented and some of it is not. This build is just to show some of the core code. If you run this version, you can add and remove icons as well as as dock folders. You are also able to change the dock item icons.

The current hold up in the project is getting everything to animate at one time and efficiently for resize, rotations, and other movements. This may take some time to sort out but the rest of the project will be pretty straight forward after that. The current build allows you to move the dock around but it is just a rudimentary method of doing it that will likely change.

As a note, the way Circle Dock operates is now very similar to the major docks out their, such as Object Dock and Rocket Dock. In Object Dock and Rocket Dock, each item in the dock is actually a separate window that has the styles WS_EX_LAYERED, WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW, and WS_CHILD set. The background is the parent window of each of the child windows that host the dock objects. Circle Dock 0.9.2 is now structured like this.

The way Circle Dock is now structured is as follows:
Main Form (Invisible) -> Background Object -> Centre Object -> Dock Items

The Main Form is invisible and it exists to coordinate the general movement of the dock, creation of items, initialization, etc. The Background Object is just a window to display the background. The Centre Object shows which dock folder you are currently in and allows you to move the dock around. The Dock Items are your icons, dock folders, and in the future, docklets.

Eric

418

Living Room / Re: Flash game : Fantastic contraption

« on: July 24, 2008, 07:19 PM »

Here's my solution to Level 15, the one with a lot of balls: http://FantasticCont....com/?designId=54699

419

Living Room / Re: Flash game : Fantastic contraption

« on: July 24, 2008, 07:00 PM »

The "Four balls" challenge was HARD, http://FantasticCont....com/?designId=62569 this is how I did it.

-p3lb0x (July 24, 2008, 01:20 PM)

Here's a more elegant solution for the "Four Balls": http://FantasticCont....com/?designId=60811


Edit: Fixed Link

420

Official Announcements / Re: DonationCoder/Veign Programming Contest Results Posted

« on: July 23, 2008, 09:41 PM »

Congrats Eric. How does Circle Dock compare to Magic Formation?

-PhilB66 (July 23, 2008, 08:10 PM)

Wow, impressive. Wonder why I didn't find this on google before? The idea between Magic Formation and Circle Dock is very similar. Magic Formation is a much more complete program right now than Circle Dock 0.9.1 and is very similar to what I'm coding for the new version of Circle Dock. If you want a circular dock program right now, I would recommend Magic Formation. But, I would use the new version of Circle Dock when it comes out in a bit because it will be more flexible and more fully featured.

There are some notable differences:
(1) Circle Dock is open source whereas Magic Formation is closed source so you can't change it to how you like it or add new features yourself.
(2) In Circle Dock, you have better control over how fast the dock scrolls whereas Magic Formation only allows 1 degree or 10 degrees at a time.
(3) Circle Dock allows a circle or spiral shaped dock whereas Magic Formation allows a circle, linear, or manual formation. In the new version of Circle Dock, there is an option for an oval shaped dock, which is great for wide screen monitors. I can also add a linear option without too much trouble.
(4) Magic Formation currently has better animation than Circle Dock but I'll be able to match it with the new version.
(5) Circle Dock is able to dynamically synchronize it's dock items with those files/folders/shortcuts at a specified location. Magic Formation does not support this.
(6) Circle Dock allows you to display multiple concentric circles of icons whereas Magic Formation only allows one circle.
(7) Circle Dock is able to support background images. Magic Formation does not.
(8) Circle Dock currently does not have an option to show what programs are running on your computer but the new version does.
(9) Magic Formation looks to be more stable than Circle Dock currently.
(10) The new version of Circle Dock supports the creation of virtual dock folders so that you can group your icons together and access them by clicking on a dock icon. Magic Formation does grouping but it leaves something to be desired because you have to access the groups through the right click menu on a grid of unidentified squares.

I believe the developer of Magic Formation are Japanese and that is probably one of the reasons why I haven't heard about this program sooner. I guess it will be an arms race between us two.  :D

421

General Software Discussion / Re: Need Virtual Desktop software recommendations

« on: July 23, 2008, 07:04 PM »

I just tried 360desktop out and there is nothing wrong with it except that it doesn't move my windows like it's supposed to.

422

Official Announcements / Re: DonationCoder/Veign Programming Contest Results Posted

« on: July 23, 2008, 06:29 PM »

PC World has listed Circle Dock on their download pages and has it's own mini-review: http://www.pcworld.c...e,1/description.html

423

Official Announcements / Re: DonationCoder/Veign Programming Contest Results Posted

« on: July 23, 2008, 10:45 AM »

WOW, that webcam signature program is super awesome! I wish I had a webcam so I could use it Great Idea anyway 

-housetier (July 22, 2008, 05:21 PM)

Thanks. I actually have a new version of Webcam Signature on my computer that utilizes the YUV color space instead of the RGB color space to give it greater robustness but I have to finish the rough edges and I'm focusing my efforts to rewrite Circle Dock so it may not get out for a month or two.

As for the other guys in the competition, great work! Also, think you guys could write up some articles on how the code behind your programs work?

424

Circle Dock / Re: Windows 7's Taskbar....Err.....Circle Dock for the DC Programming Contest

« on: July 22, 2008, 05:10 PM »

I'm not having any problems with it.

-Dormouse (July 14, 2008, 03:09 AM)

Spoke too soon. Still often crashes when I add a program/link. Sometimes will work 2+ times in a row without crashing, sometimes crashes 2+ times without adding a link, but usually crashes the first time I try to add a link but works fine when I restart and add the same link again. Mildly irritating, but I can add all the links I want.

And I use it all the time, having switched one of my mouse buttons to hiding/unhiding it. So thanks.

-Dormouse (July 22, 2008, 02:55 PM)

Those mysterious crashes are will remain a mystery to me until someone with the problem can download the source code and debug it on their system with Visual Basic Express. However, that won't be important for too much longer because....

I'm half way done the rewrite of the new version of Circle Dock. The architecture is now much more modular and efficent. There will be an SDK in the future so that you can write docklets for it. Performance in the new version of Circle Dock is greatly improved and moving things around is much smoother. The new version will also allow you to translate it to various languages with a simple text file. Other features I'm coding include:

*Make the shape of the dock into an oval shape (great for wide screen monitors).
*Direct capablity to map one of your mouse buttons to activate the program.
*Option to make the dock always appear at a certain location.
*Place the dock topmost, normal, or bottom most in the z-order.
*Create virtual folders in the dock to group your icons together.
*Thumbnail previews of capable icons.
*A feature to show what programs are running on your computer within the dock.
*If I have time: Create a button that makes the Windows start menu pop up where you click, like in Object Dock.
*If I have time: Tray icon support.

One feature that is on the backburner is the spiral shape support because I'm working out all the bugs for the circle/ellipse shapes first. However, I hope to add this back in.


I'm testing the program as I go and I'm not getting anything unexpected. I will also be testing it on a multimonitor setup to make sure it works with multimonitor systems. I will release it as soon as it is feature complete. I will be needing some people with 64-bit Windows to tell me if it still works in 64-bit OS's.

425

General Software Discussion / Re: Anyone Know of a Multi-Monitor Simulator for Software Testing?

« on: July 14, 2008, 10:32 AM »

Wow, good finds. I'll have to try one out.