Author Topic: Windows 7's Taskbar....Err.....Circle Dock for the DC Programming Contest (Read 196841 times)

VideoInPicture · « **Reply #100 on:** August 21, 2008, 05:40 AM »

I don't know if someone has already reported these issues, please apologize me if that is the case.

- I'm running Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha Preview 6 on Windows Server 2008 x64 and the icon rotation (with the mouse scroll wheel or cursor key) don't always work.
Sometimes is necessary to click on CircleDock center in order to make it work.

- One other thing that would be nice to have is the option to hide the CircleDock after we open a link (that way we wouldn't need to hit the mouse center button again).

- I can't find an option for renaming a DockFolder - probably it's an issue with this Alpha Preview - I had to rename it on the .ini file

Please keep on this amazing work! Has it some kind of relation with the future Windows 7 release (or is it just a "wish to have toolbar")?

(Added: Some Icon highlight on mouseover would be nice too...)
-sealight (August 21, 2008, 05:22 AM)

For #1 - That has happened to me too sometimes. Although it may be fixed right now because I'm not having that issue with the code I have right now and I think it was something that required me to bring my background object to the front before showing the other objects.

For #2/3 - They will be addressed with this weekend's Alpha 7.

Circle Dock was started because of https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=14169.0 but I think it is a nice interface to use for frequently launched programs.

ma5t3rw1tt · « **Reply #101 on:** August 21, 2008, 07:56 AM »

Hello guys. Here are the mockups I had sent "VideoInPicture" and he said that he is thinking on using these ideas. Tell me what you think. I used photoshop to make these and just pretty much dragged icons to fit what I had to represent.

------------------------------------------------
Suggestion 1: Media Control Playback

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/kylewitt/circledock_suggestion1.jpg

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

Ever have a media player open and wanted to control it but did not want to open the program up just to do all the controls? Well I thought that if you hold your mouse over the icon, a menu would pop out with controls and you could control your music. Now I have most laptops now have some sort of media functions on them, but not all do. I thought this would be pretty sweet.
-------------------------------------------------

Suggestion 2: Widgets Or Docklets

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/kylewitt/circledock_suggestion2.jpg

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

Like RocketDock & Object Dock, they both have widgets or docklets. I thought it would be cool to have something like that running. You could have a quick glance at information. Yeah I know Windows Vista has the sidebar and Mac OS X has its dashboard, so I thought something like this would be awsome.
-------------------------------------------------

Suggestion 3: Minimize & Stacks

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/kylewitt/circledock_suggestion3.jpg

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

Personally, I love the Mac OS X dock. Ever since I used the Mac the first time, that was something I instantly fell for. I find it easier to work with.
This image shows where you could minimize your open windows into the dock and you could rotate the dock to get to your minimized windows if you so choose. I also like how the new version of Mac OS X Leopard has Stacks, a way of organizing your content on the dock. So I thought that this dock should have something like that. I am a very organized person on my computer, everything is organized nicely and I know where everything is at, and so having something like this I think would make organization easier for those who are organized on their computers.
--------------------------------------------------

There you go guys have it, my suggestions that I had sent in. He said that once he gets a stable release, that he was thinking on using these ideas. If these ideas do get used, I have found my new favorite program. This would be my all in one launcher for my programs.
Anyway, keep up the good work Eric (VideoInPicture)

VideoInPicture · « **Reply #102 on:** August 21, 2008, 03:29 PM »

I've created the ideas/mockups page on the Circle Dock website: http://circledock.wi...ot.com/ideas-mockups

ma5t3rw1tt · « **Reply #103 on:** August 21, 2008, 07:24 PM »

I've created the ideas/mockups page on the Circle Dock website: http://circledock.wi...ot.com/ideas-mockups
-VideoInPicture (August 21, 2008, 03:29 PM)

Thanks.
I have those images hosted on Photobucket, so I am not sure if the bandwidth will be drained but if so, you might wanna save em and upload them elsewhere. But yeah, those images are yours if you want them, just mockups anyway. Nothing to fancy about em except for idea purposes.

rikgierman · « **Reply #104 on:** August 24, 2008, 09:51 PM »

Hellow My name is Rik and i use Circel Dock 0.9.2 Beta Also

But i have an erro to report maybe you can see to it
When i click the windows orb in the middle the menu start pop'sup, that's all fine, but when i close the menu start there the outline stays on my screen,

I have to terminate the program to get the outline of the menu start to disapeare

I am looking forward to th efinal release of circel dock so i would like to help you resolve problems, but now i am a hapy tester of th eprogram

Laters Rik

sealight · « **Reply #105 on:** August 25, 2008, 03:59 AM »

[Me] is anxiously waiting for Alpha Preview 7 of CD.

VideoInPicture · « **Reply #106 on:** August 25, 2008, 05:27 AM »

I'm updating the Circle Dock website right now......There's some pretty useful stuff in this release. It doesn't have everything I want for version 0.9.2 but now, I would highly recommend using 0.9.2 Alpha 7 over 0.9.1.

Dormouse · « **Reply #107 on:** August 25, 2008, 05:42 AM »

I'm updating the Circle Dock website right now..
-VideoInPicture (August 25, 2008, 05:27 AM)

So, just a few more minutes to wait

VideoInPicture · « **Reply #108 on:** August 25, 2008, 06:36 AM »

I'm updating the Circle Dock website right now..
-VideoInPicture (August 25, 2008, 05:27 AM)

So, just a few more minutes to wait
-Dormouse (August 25, 2008, 05:42 AM)

More like half an hour, I'm uploading new screenshots and some text to tell people what is new.

sealight · « **Reply #109 on:** August 25, 2008, 12:48 PM »

Great release!

fsieber · « **Reply #110 on:** August 25, 2008, 06:26 PM »

After I "fill" up the first concentric circle, it won't take any more additions drag and drop. Is this correct for this version, or am I missing something. Great concept.

VideoInPicture · « **Reply #111 on:** August 25, 2008, 06:35 PM »

After I "fill" up the first concentric circle, it won't take any more additions drag and drop. Is this correct for this version, or am I missing something. Great concept.
-fsieber (August 25, 2008, 06:26 PM)

There isn't a limit to the number of icons that you can put on the dock. It should generate more concentric circles as you fill up. Maybe what you are trying to do is drag a virtual folder/link onto the dock, which Circle Dock does not support yet. Virtual links include the Recycle Bin icon and My Computer icon on your desktop. If there isn't an actual harddrive address for the file/folder, Circle Dock won't be able to find it. Try dragging some other items onto it.

J-Mac · « **Reply #112 on:** August 25, 2008, 09:13 PM »

Hi Eric. I have the previous alpha installed on my XP desktop; I'll install the latest when I'm back at that machine. I did want to ask, though, about the rotating or spinning function. My installation on XP didn't rotate anytime I had it open. What is supposed to make it rotate? Or perhaps I had it setup incorrectly.

Thanks!

Jim

VideoInPicture · « **Reply #113 on:** August 25, 2008, 09:21 PM »

Hi Eric. I have the previous alpha installed on my XP desktop; I'll install the latest when I'm back at that machine. I did want to ask, though, about the rotating or spinning function. My installation on XP didn't rotate anytime I had it open. What is supposed to make it rotate? Or perhaps I had it setup incorrectly.

Thanks!

Jim
-J-Mac (August 25, 2008, 09:13 PM)

All versions of Circle Dock have the ability to rotate by using your arrow keys or your mouse wheel. It may be that you turned off the rotation option in the settings panel under General. Try the new version out since it already has the rotation option turned on.

To upgrade from one of the previous Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha versions, you can do this to transfer your old dock items over:

You can upgrade without losing the icons you have placed on the dock in previous versions by going into the Circle Dock directory and System -> Settings, where you see a file called DockItemData.ini. Just copy this file over into the new Circle Dock directory location under System -> Settings.

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #114 on:** August 25, 2008, 10:33 PM »

I like the new options dialog, but the lag to open it (I had a total computer freeze for about 3 seconds) and the modal form is kind of a takeaway. Have yet to tinker with any of the actual options, but it looks like a tweakers dream.

One other problem: I can not drag the Internet off the start menu onto the dock. It just won't take it. The drag/shortcut cursor appears, but nothing happens when I release it (on the circle, or the Orb).

Other than that, I am impressed

EDIT: Also, almost no one will notice this, but with a Logitech G9 mouse, if you change the scroll mode from click to constant, and you start spinning the dock icons... lets just say, it has been spinning for over 2 minutes NOT as the active "window" so far. Not really a bug, and kind of cool IMO, but thought I would point it out. (Constant meaning, until it runs out of kinetic energy and slows to a halt - ~~and its been 5 minutes now~~ about 8 minutes total until it stopped!)

EDIT 2: Another thought: Combine the Show and Hide options in the tray menu (or hide one when it is not relevant).

VideoInPicture · « **Reply #115 on:** August 25, 2008, 11:17 PM »

I like the new options dialog, but the lag to open it (I had a total computer freeze for about 3 seconds) and the modal form is kind of a takeaway. Have yet to tinker with any of the actual options, but it looks like a tweakers dream.

When I open the Settings Panel, it doesn't take very long to open and I don't get any computer freeze. However, the settings panel does have to adjust all the controls to display what is in your settings files and it uses the language from the languages file so maybe it is lagging a bit there but I think it's still pretty speedy. As for the modal thing, I can always just make it a regular form.

One other problem: I can not drag the Internet off the start menu onto the dock. It just won't take it. The drag/shortcut cursor appears, but nothing happens when I release it (on the circle, or the Orb).

The problem is that some files/folders/links on the computer don't actually physically exist. They are virtual files/folders/links and they are called up by the CSLID's. I can't seem to extract the CSLID from a drag and drop operation even though Circle Dock can execute CSLID's. I have searched but I haven't seen a way to extract CSLID's from drag and drop. Can someone help here? I know it can be done since Object Dock does it.

EDIT 2: Another thought: Combine the Show and Hide options in the tray menu (or hide one when it is not relevant).

Some people don't keep the dock always on top. Instead, the make it a normal z-level window and don't hide it. The show and hide options are convenient in these situations.

J-Mac · « **Reply #116 on:** August 25, 2008, 11:49 PM »

Very nice update! Just a few comments:

The hotkey toggle settings screen wasn't fully working here last version; it did not tell me if it was a valid hotkey combo. Now it does, but it isn't picking up all existing hotkeys. E.g., for some combos I tried to setup it said Invalid. For others it said Valid but then when I used it another app opened instead! I found a valid one through trial and error. Finding unused hotkeys programmatically is impossible, IMO!
The hidden Dock is pre-configured for Left Edge and Right Edge. When I tried to close another program using the "X" at the top right corner I couldn't. Circle Dock appeared instead preventing a click on the X. I reset it to Left Edge only.
When I move my mouse to the left edge to activate CD, half the dock appears with the other half off-screen. That's OK as I just drag it elsewhere. But the dock stays open without clicking on it. If I scroll over it again it disappears. Yet the dock suddenly appears elsewhere unexpectedly about 10 to 15 seconds later. Not sure what caused this but I find myself having to close the dock a lot when it opens uninvited.

Looks and works great. Very nice design, Eric! CD should compete well against all other visual launchers out there!

Thanks!

Jim

VideoInPicture · « **Reply #117 on:** August 26, 2008, 12:32 AM »

The hotkey toggle settings screen wasn't fully working here last version; it did not tell me if it was a valid hotkey combo. Now it does, but it isn't picking up all existing hotkeys. E.g., for some combos I tried to setup it said Invalid. For others it said Valid but then when I used it another app opened instead! I found a valid one through trial and error. Finding unused hotkeys programmatically is impossible, IMO!

That is weird, I've just tried changing the hotkey combinations on my computer to other ones and they all seem to work and the Invalid/Valid message seems pretty accurate. What hotkey combinations did you try to use? Maybe there is another program on your computer that is hooking the keyboard? Circle Dock registers the hotkey with Windows itself and Windows tells it if it is valid or not.

The hidden Dock is pre-configured for Left Edge and Right Edge. When I tried to close another program using the "X" at the top right corner I couldn't. Circle Dock appeared instead preventing a click on the X. I reset it to Left Edge only.

I'm planning to add in an option to specify that only the middle of the screen edge toggles the visibility and you can define the height and width of this edge.

When I move my mouse to the left edge to activate CD, half the dock appears with the other half off-screen. That's OK as I just drag it elsewhere. But the dock stays open without clicking on it. If I scroll over it again it disappears. Yet the dock suddenly appears elsewhere unexpectedly about 10 to 15 seconds later. Not sure what caused this but I find myself having to close the dock a lot when it opens uninvited.

You can always turn off the follow the mouse option in Settings -> Location and the dock won't follow your mouse around anymore. With the dock off screen, I was expecting people would use their scroll wheel or arrow keys to rotate the dock. In a future Alpha, I'll put in an option to always keep the dock on screen even when following the mouse.

If you move over to the screen edge when the dock is visible and the settings are turned on, it will become invisible.

I'm not sure what is causing your dock to appear unexpectedly, but maybe your mouse is just hitting the screen edge every so often or maybe you clicked the middle mouse button that is set by default to open the dock? I think you should try to turn off all the screen edge visibility toggling and see if that is the true cause. I have my dock to appear/disappear when I move the mouse to the top of the screen and it works quite well for me.

Looks and works great. Very nice design, Eric! CD should compete well against all other visual launchers out there!

I'll need to perfect the animation techniques for the architecture of Circle Dock first so that I can compete with their visual effects.

J-Mac · « **Reply #118 on:** August 26, 2008, 02:05 AM »

Eric,

Yes the conflicting hotkeys are for other applications. I understand that it is impossible to programmatically discover what other hotkeys are assigned - that is why I said that in my post above. However Windows assigned hotkeys or not, when you say that a hotkey is valid, many users will assume that CD has confirmed that it now owns that hotkey, when in fact it cannot do so. Other programs already having that key hooked appearing when a user thinks that it was definitely grabbed by CD will probably cause confusion.

I personally have tried to find a way to map out all hotkeys assigned, hooked, or otherwise "taken" by either Windows or other applications. It simply is not possible to do that except by opening every application on your computer and looking in their respective settings/options dialogs, and then listing them all one by one. I would think that if it were possible at all to gather this information any other way - like through the registry or something like that - that someone would have a utility for sale that does it. But there is no such utility available, so I would say that it cannot be done.

Thanks!

Jim

VideoInPicture · « **Reply #119 on:** August 26, 2008, 02:20 AM »

Eric,

Yes the conflicting hotkeys are for other applications. I understand that it is impossible to programmatically discover what other hotkeys are assigned - that is why I said that in my post above. However Windows assigned hotkeys or not, when you say that a hotkey is valid, many users will assume that CD has confirmed that it now owns that hotkey, when in fact it cannot do so. Other programs already having that key hooked appearing when a user thinks that it was definitely grabbed by CD will probably cause confusion.

I personally have tried to find a way to map out all hotkeys assigned, hooked, or otherwise "taken" by either Windows or other applications. It simply is not possible to do that except by opening every application on your computer and looking in their respective settings/options dialogs, and then listing them all one by one. I would think that if it were possible at all to gather this information any other way - like through the registry or something like that - that someone would have a utility for sale that does it. But there is no such utility available, so I would say that it cannot be done.

Thanks!

Jim
-J-Mac (August 26, 2008, 02:05 AM)

I think for hotkeys, there should be a very good reason a program has to resort to hooks to implement them when Windows will do it for you and can help to avoid conflicting hotkeys. What types of programs are you using that need to hook the keyboard?

ma5t3rw1tt · « **Reply #120 on:** August 26, 2008, 10:48 PM »

Hellow My name is Rik and i use Circel Dock 0.9.2 Beta Also

But i have an erro to report maybe you can see to it
When i click the windows orb in the middle the menu start pop'sup, that's all fine, but when i close the menu start there the outline stays on my screen,

I have to terminate the program to get the outline of the menu start to disapeare

I am looking forward to th efinal release of circel dock so i would like to help you resolve problems, but now i am a hapy tester of th eprogram

Laters Rik
-rikgierman (August 24, 2008, 09:51 PM)

Yes I can second that to. Eric you need to fix this if you have not already. When you click the middle (you know the big circle) it shows the start menu. When you click away it shows the outline. I have been meaning to ask about this but since this person here beat me to it, it looks like I am not the only one with this problem.

VideoInPicture · « **Reply #121 on:** August 26, 2008, 11:04 PM »

Yes I can second that to. Eric you need to fix this if you have not already. When you click the middle (you know the big circle) it shows the start menu. When you click away it shows the outline. I have been meaning to ask about this but since this person here beat me to it, it looks like I am not the only one with this problem.
-ma5t3rw1tt (August 26, 2008, 10:48 PM)

The problem is know: https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=14478.0 and you can solve it by turning off the "Show shadows under menus" option in your Windows visual styles settings. By default, all the new Circle Dock builds come with the start menu option disabled and there is a warning message under the option to enable it.

I haven't been able to find a solution yet and have asked others but they don't know either. I know that the Object Dock docklets can open up the start menu without problems but none of them are open source so I'm not getting much luck.

ma5t3rw1tt · « **Reply #122 on:** August 27, 2008, 10:41 AM »

Yes I can second that to. Eric you need to fix this if you have not already. When you click the middle (you know the big circle) it shows the start menu. When you click away it shows the outline. I have been meaning to ask about this but since this person here beat me to it, it looks like I am not the only one with this problem.
-ma5t3rw1tt (August 26, 2008, 10:48 PM)

The problem is know: https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=14478.0 and you can solve it by turning off the "Show shadows under menus" option in your Windows visual styles settings. By default, all the new Circle Dock builds come with the start menu option disabled and there is a warning message under the option to enable it.

I haven't been able to find a solution yet and have asked others but they don't know either. I know that the Object Dock docklets can open up the start menu without problems but none of them are open source so I'm not getting much luck.
-VideoInPicture (August 26, 2008, 11:04 PM)

--
I am sure you will find the problem eventually and fix it. Anyway thank you for the tip on turning it off. Those damn shadows are a bit annoying somethings, so I think I'll turn em off.

ma5t3rw1tt · « **Reply #123 on:** September 03, 2008, 10:06 AM »

Whoa man,
the updates are always coming out which shows your squashing those bugs and making things easier to use. OMG your dock is getting better and better. Great great job man!

williamgeorge · « **Reply #124 on:** September 03, 2008, 10:02 PM »

I also think what you are getting at is that you have other windows that do not take up the whole screen on your computer and you want Circle Dock to stay behind those when not in use.
--------------------
williamgeorge
WideCircles