OK, I hope I can explain this one though even if I can, it very well may turn out to be outside the scope of coding snacks.

My inspiration for this idea comes from two sources:
The Blackbox for Windows plugin - bbDeskMinimize and the freeware application - DM2's "Minimize to Floating Icon" feature.

In bbDeskMinimze, all minimized apps are rendered as icons on the desktop.  However, they are limited in style by the BB engine and look pretty block.  Also, the position is static, the only movement facilitated via the .rc file.

Here are some exaples of bbDeskMinimize:

bbLean with bbDeskMinimize - Firefox and Notepad windows both open


bbLean with bbDeskMinimize - Firefox minized to icon and Notepad open


bbLean with bbDeskMinimize - Firefox and Notepad Windows both minimized to Icons


DM2 minimizes app from a custom menu on the title bar of a window. The app is minimized to an opaque square without a caption.  Also you have little control over where they spawn or placement.  While it is more control that the bbLean plugin, it is still limiting.

Neither of these quite fites the bill as I am not using bbLean right now and the DM2 functionality doesn't quite do what I want and has a lot of quirky behavior that makes it less than desirable.

Here is an example of the DM2 functionality:

Screenshot from the about section of the DM2 website


What I would like is an app that allows you to choose between minimizing all windows to icons or selecting individual icons.  I would like the appearance and manipulation to be more like a native windows DT icon.  With a caption and the ability to drag the icons around the desktop.  Double clicking would open the application.

Extra points would be custom labels per shortcut and/or custom icons per shortcut.

Does that make sense?  If it would help, I could whip up some mock ups of the application to give a better idea of what I'm thinking.  Also, I have the source for the bbDeskMinimize plugin.  It's open source so I could upload it here for reference.

Thanks,
Kingsmob77

I think I need some help.  If anyone uses this app maybe you can tell what, if anything I am doing wrong.

I downloaded ShortCutter from Skrommel's page.  I'm running it, it's enabled and I set it up to send shortcuts to the desired location.  I think I have it all set up correctly yet, nothing seems to be happening.

I am monitoring a sub-directory in My Documents named /notes.  Within this folder are files for with a the Note application with a .note extension. 

Here are my rule settings:
Active (Checked)
Source (path to My Documents/Notes)
Target (path to Desktop folder)
Files (*.note)
Ignore (_NULL_)
Recruse? (Yes)

The main application options are:
Timer (20 Seconds)
Delay (5ms -default value)
Status | Show status in the tray (Checked)
Startup | Start enabled (Checked)

These are the logical values for these settings. At least they are logical to me.  I do find that sometimes, I run on a different definition of logical than the rest of the world.

I hope someone can help as this application is (I think) exactly what I need.

P.S.  Does Skrommel still hang at DC?  I noticed on his profile page it has been a while since his last visit.  Just curious.

Thanks,
Kingsmob77

As promised here are some screenshots of my DC package.  As of right now, it is pretty specific to my machine as I didn't use relative paths.  If people are interested, it wouldn't be too much trouble to make it generic enough for the DC community to use.

To be honest, not all of these are technically from the DC site.  Some are from the websites of specific developers for apps that may or may not be featured on DC.

Here are the screenies:

The categories I set up



A full screenshot of NirLauncher



And a couple of sample categories:

Data



Media



System Utilities



I like having all of my DC apps bundles like this.  It makes it very easy to remember what everything does (sometimes a bonus for the shear volume of skrommel apps) and thier basic function. The groups allow me to easily find the exact DC app I need for any given situation.

Besides it is a marriage of my favorite two developer sites, DonationCoder and NirSoft!

Cheers,
Kingsmob77