Recent Posts

201

Circle Dock / A New Kiosk Version of Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 8 Has Been Released

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 17, 2008, 12:37 AM »

http://circledock.wi...download-circle-dock

• This is an executable that operates in read only mode and has all of it's menus disabled. It is meant for use on public computers where you do not want changes made to the dock and you want to lock down the system files.
• The Kiosk Version requires that you change the dock settings and items using the regular version of Circle Dock and then replace the regular Circle Dock exe file with the Kiosk Version executable.

To close the Kiosk Version of Circle Dock, you have to do it through the Windows Task Manager. The source code has also been uploaded for the Kiosk Version and is the same as the regular version except for the parts commented out to disable operations that can result in changes of the dock. You can safely make the Circle Dock directory read only and the dock will easily work.

202

Circle Dock / Re: Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 8 is Officially Released!

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 15, 2008, 05:59 PM »

thanks for your fast replies   (locking the dock position without going in the menus would be cool )


x²/w²  + y²/e²  =  1/4

where w= elipse's FULL width
         e = elipse's FULL height

(FULL because at school we generaly learn the half width and height so that the equation ends with " = 1" ^^)


HO !!! I nearly forgot : tried to install visual C# 2008 sp1 on vista 64 home premium (to read source)(which installed a lot of things like .net framework 3.5 sp1), and it messed up CD quite a lot : when loading CD the mouse was becoming unresponsive (but not the keyboard) and it displayed strange dark frames ... uninstalled vc# (and additionnal stuff) and everithing was back to normal when loading CD (no mouse freeze)... don't know what happens but it's not really cool. any idea ?

-terminou (September 15, 2008, 05:26 PM)

I think it may be possible to put the lock option on one of the right-click menus. I'll think about it and see if it's a good place for it.

Thanks for the ellipse equation. I think I'm just going to program in the ellipse function for fun and see how it looks. Now that I think about it, I don't think it's possible to express the equation of an ellipse as just a function of one variable so I'll use the equation you gave. The one thing I'm concerned about is that the icons may bunch up at the pointed ends of the ellipse but I'll see how it looks.

As for the problem with Visual C# 2008 SP1, I installed downloaded that or .Net 3.5 SP1 on my computer since they just came out last month. I do have the download on my computer though but I can't explain why it would freeze up on you like that running the code.

I assume you are using the Express version of C#. When you opened the source code for Circle Dock, did Visual C# tell you that it needs to convert it to a new file format? It might have changed the instruction to compile the code as an x64 instead of as x86, which would cause it to crash on a 64-bit machine. The Express editions of Visual Studio don't make it clear that they do that by default and it can mess up a lot of programs.

203

Circle Dock / Re: Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 8 is Officially Released!

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 15, 2008, 04:58 PM »

i've found a bug though: when the opacity of the center button is set as a low value, but then you click the center button to bring up the start menu, the center button loses all transparency on-screen. In the settings the value does not change. If you fiddle with the opacity slider the center button corrects itself again. However, this is kind of annoying since I have the opacity set to 1 on one of my docks so that I don't see the center button but can still bring up the start menu.

Also, I was wondering if you still had any plans on allowing an elliptical form for the dock (say, in Alpha 9). It would be cool to have the permadock a bit elongated so it does not penetrate towards the center of the window too much.

Again, great job with the update 

-Rostam (September 15, 2008, 04:06 PM)

Bug noted, I'll make the transparency a minimum of 1 for the change in transparency when it is not 0.

As for the elliptical form, I need to get an equation for the points around the circumference of an ellipse given it's height and width and using a rotation value as the changing variable in the equation. If I can get this, I can easily program it in since it will just be a few lines of code. Can someone mathematically talented help?

204

Circle Dock / Re: Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 8 is Officially Released!

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 15, 2008, 02:06 PM »

- on my mouse (logitech mx 500) / vista 64 with no mouseware (I.E. using microsoft regular drivers), CD thinks that buttons Xbutton1 and Xbutton2 are the same (whereas firefox doesn't)

- under "normal" window behavior, toggling visibility (for exemple moving the mouse to the edge) does NOT show CD if it is under other windows, you have to go to the border a second time to show CD above the other windows ... could it possibly bring the window to front if it is not, the first time I toggle visibility ? (I set CD not to disappear when a file is clicked)

- could there be an option to lock CD content ? it would prevent accidental drag'n'drop to the center of the dock

....
edit : is that just on my system, or CD does not remember the positition where it was shut off ?

-terminou (September 15, 2008, 12:25 PM)

For the x-mouse buttons, there is a problem with the C++ dll hook that I'm using from the Orbit Dock project. I have to recode that to fix the x-mouse button issue and sometimes the issue of not giving Circle Dock focus when it activates it.

For the "normal" window behavior, yes, I have to do some polishing on it and the "Always on Bottom" modes.

For an option to lock the dock contents, that can be added in a future release.

As for the Circle Dock position, you can lock the position of the dock to a specific point by going to Settings -> Location and selecting the second option.

205

Circle Dock / Re: Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 8 is Officially Released!

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 15, 2008, 02:02 PM »

Sweet!  This is the best pop launcher I've ever seen!  Keep up the great work.  I would like the option to keep the program/folder names visible though...

Oh, noob question: How do you get two rings of icons?

-Mugwamp (September 15, 2008, 12:22 PM)

Hello, Welcome!

It is possible for me to allow all the program names to be shown but when I tried that out during coding, it looked very messy in a dock so I left the option to always make the labels visible out.

You will automatically get concentric rings of icons if you have lots of icons on the dock. To set the number of icons per circle, go to Settings -> Dock Shape. The backgrounds for the double rings are in the Circle Dock folder under System -> Background.

206

Circle Dock / Re: Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 8 is Officially Released!

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 15, 2008, 01:59 PM »

Could sombody please help with telling me how (and where they are) I put the 'target' into the icon settings options please, so that when I click the icon, it opens up the program, website etc., that I want to use? I have used ObjectDock a couple of times and think that was easier to get the target as you just had to copy and paste the target for wherever it was into the ObjectDock Icon settings. I can see that in the 'target' settings, it has numbers and dashes (0- 19- ex) but as a total divvy, I am afraid I don't know or understand what this means? Again, sorry to be the proverbial pain but if you don't ask, you will never find out - apparently? Thanks in advance for any assistance.

-mickelmass (September 15, 2008, 01:26 PM)

Hello, welcome to Donation Coder. Based on the fact that you see numbers in the "Target" field of the item settings panel, it means that you have right-clicked on a dock folder which is special and you cannot modify the target of a dock folder your self. You can add items to the dock  by drag and dropping their icons onto it (virtual folders like My Computer, My Documents need Windows shortcuts created first). The other way is to right click on the dock and go Add -> Blank Icon and then you can edit the target field or click the browse buttons.

207

Circle Dock / Re: Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 8 is Officially Released!

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 15, 2008, 02:02 AM »

http://circledock.wi.../CD_0_9_2_Alpha8.zip

Above is a second link for downloading Alpha 8.

208

Circle Dock / Re: Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 8 is Officially Released!

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 15, 2008, 01:51 AM »

That is weird, I'm getting a sustained download speed of 260 kb/sec on my end, which is quite fast. I'm using both IE and Google Chrome. Maybe you should wait until tomorrow for Wikidot's servers to propagate the files through their system so it's closer to your location.

Anyone else having download problems?

209

Circle Dock / Re: Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 8 is Officially Released!

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 15, 2008, 01:42 AM »

terrible!only this link :
http://circledock.wd..._OfficialRelease.zip
works for me.what happened?

-stockgod (September 15, 2008, 01:29 AM)

What are you using for a browser and downloading? The screenshot doesn't show a standard Firefox browser.

210

Circle Dock / Re: Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 8 is Officially Released!

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 15, 2008, 01:40 AM »

Excellent job Eric! Great new Circle Dock Alpha 8 

Now I have one question is, how to link the target to Windows Special Links like "My Computer", "My Document", "Control Panel" & etc?

-Boba-Fett (September 15, 2008, 01:11 AM)

Those are referenced by CSLID's which I cannot figure out how to get from a drag and drop operation. The recommended method for these types of links is to create an actual Windows shortcut to them and then add these shortcuts to Circle Dock.

211

Circle Dock / Re: Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 8 is Officially Released!

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 14, 2008, 11:54 PM »

There isn't any ring grouping that can be done right now. However, you can move the icons from spot to spot by dragging and dropping them over each other. Right now, the circle shape is designed to fill the centre first and then go outwards.

212

Circle Dock / Re: Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 8 is Officially Released!

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 14, 2008, 11:38 PM »

Try: http://circledock.wi..._OfficialRelease.zip for the direct link. Also, to carry over your current settings, copy over your System -> Settings folder into the new Circle Dock directory.

213

Circle Dock / Re: Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 8 is Officially Released!

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 14, 2008, 10:30 PM »

The links are all working for me. Maybe it's your internet service provider or firewall blocking it?

214

Circle Dock / Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 8 is Officially Released!

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 14, 2008, 09:57 PM »

1
2

http://circledock.wikidot.com

I recommend all Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 7 users to upgrade to Alpha 8 because of all the bug fixes and some new features added. Alpha 8 includes some new language files and backgrounds thanks to the people listed on http://circledock.wi...idot.com/credit-list. Visit the Circle Dock homepage to see examples of the new backgrounds: http://circledock.wikidot.com

Please note that there is a new recommended way of upgrading from Alpha 7 to Alpha 8. Please see the information at http://circledock.wi...t.com/how-to-upgrade. It is important you follow the instructions listed there or the program may not start properly and give you an error message.

Note that some language files are not up to date. They will still load but you will get "?????" in place of missing translations.

From the Change Log:

September 14th, 2008

• Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 8 Official Release is made available.
• Many bug fixes and some new features added.
• There is a new recommended way of upgrading to Alpha 8 - see How to Upgrade
• Added the ability to run multiple docks at the same time by allowing multiple Circle Dock instances to run from separate folders.
• Circle Dock will now seek the target file for shortcuts dropped onto the dock.
• Added ability to lock the dock at a specific position (Settings Panel -> Location).
• The .ini file reader for Circle Dock is now unicode compatible with non-western script characters. This solves the problem of garbled language files.
• There are new language files included, such as Chinese, Indonesian, and Hungarian. Some language files have not been updated. Missing translations will show up in Circle Dock as "?????".
• New circular backgrounds are included.
• Added an "Item Properties" panel for each dock item to allow you to edit the link properties.
• Added an option in the right-click menu for the centre object, background, and the tray icon to temporarily pause the mouse toggling for gamers or other people that need it.
• The screen edge toggling has been improved. Circle Dock won't toggle the visibility if you are holding a mouse button down near the screen edges. There is also a new option for the dwell time required.
• The "Toggling" and "File -> Icon Associations" panels in the "Settings Panel" have been simplified.
• Added ability to turn off labels.
• Added a new format to the circle shape option in Settings Panel - Dock Shape (maximum number of items that can be fit on a circle without overlap).
• Added option to use the same rotation angle for all dock folders under Settings Panel -> General.
• Added a numeric box to finely adjust the rotation angle of the dock under Settings Panel -> General.
• Added a "Portability Mode" option to Settings Panel -> General. With this option selected, Circle Dock will automatically try to find the links of the dock item by using the drive letter of the Circle Dock directory. This is meant for USB thumbdrive usage where the drive letters may change but you want Circle Dock to self-reference files.
• Added a "Always on Bottom" option to Settings Panel -> General. Note that this mode is not fully completed since there are a few bugs to be worked out. Mostly there is a flickering issue. It is recommended to use the "Topmost" or "Normal" modes for the z-level.

215

Circle Dock / Re: Bug [?] - Help

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 14, 2008, 03:57 PM »

There are some problems with the "Always on Bottom" mode that I need to fix. If you set the dock to "Normal" or "Topmost" then it shouldn't have that problem.

216

Circle Dock / Re: Bug [?] - Help

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 14, 2008, 03:54 PM »

Do you have the dock set to "Always on Bottom"?

217

Developer's Corner / Re: XULRunner - XUL & JS For Desktop Applications

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 14, 2008, 01:49 PM »

I'll have to check this out when I get more time. I'll have to see how easy it is to code with.

I'm currently re-learning Java development so I'm wondering what advantages XULRunner would have over Java since they are both cross-platform.

218

Circle Dock / Re: CD leads to wrong page

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 14, 2008, 04:14 AM »

Yes, you can import all your current settings by copying over your System -> Settings folder into Alpha 8.

219

Circle Dock / Re: Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 8 is Released for Translation

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 14, 2008, 04:04 AM »

Cool! I just hope the Circle Dock zip file doesn't go over 10 megs with all the new backgrounds or I'll have to delete some of the icon images to make room. 

220

Circle Dock / Re: CD leads to wrong page

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 14, 2008, 04:02 AM »

Multiple users could be the reason. I'm using Process.Start(..) to execute the links through Windows so it is what ever Windows has as the default. If you want to start Firefox with another page, just wait for the Alpha 8 release later on today. In the updated "Item Properties" panel, there will be an "Arguments" box that you can type the website address into and it will pass that to Firefox when it runs.

221

Circle Dock / Re: [New Bug] Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha Release 8

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 14, 2008, 03:57 AM »

Oh, now I remember. I fixed the bug for when a dock link is clicked and held down while the dock is hidden but I didn't apply that code to the centre object or the background. Should be an easy fix.

222

Circle Dock / Re: [New Bug] Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha Release 8

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 14, 2008, 03:55 AM »

I've already noticed that and it's been fixed on the version on my computer.

223

Circle Dock / Re: [New Bug] Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha Release 8

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 14, 2008, 03:52 AM »

Ok, thanks for catching that bug. I can replicate it on my computer. I'll see if I can fix it before I post the official Alpha 8 release on the Circle Dock website. I thought I fixed it but I guess, I didn't do it for the case where the dock gets moved when it is still clicked and then goes hidden.

BTW, how did you notice this bug? I don't think many people click the dock and then try hiding it, do they? 

224

Circle Dock / Re: Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 8 is Released for Translation

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 14, 2008, 03:27 AM »

Thanks for the translation!

225

Circle Dock / Re: [Translate File] Simplified Chinese

« Last post by VideoInPicture on September 14, 2008, 03:27 AM »

Thanks for the offer to translate. The other programs listed in my signature don't have the same easy to translate .ini language files Circle Dock has. You would need to use Microsoft Visual C# Express to edit the source code so that you can change the text. The source code for Easy Unicode Paster and Webcam Signature are available on their websites and you can try messing around with those if you like. I recommend you try to modify Easy Unicode Paster since it is pretty much complete and the source code is easy to understand.

I would really like to spread the word for Video In Picture but the source code for that is not up on the website and it doesn't use language files. I think Video In Picture is the most useful application I have coded because I use it all the time to watch Youtube and other online videos so I can crop out and resize the videos. I'll try to find some time to update Video In Picture and maybe release the code for it. It is also written in C# but the code needs to be cleaned up since it is pretty messy right now compared to my other programs.

I'll give you a heads up when I work on Video In Picture.