launcher tool

[mouser]

one of the tools i've been wanting to write for a while is a launch bar.

ie like quicklaunch bar, or True Launch Bar, or Advanced Launcher.

i'm not much on fancy mac osx dock bar looking things, so it would be kinda plain looking..

anyone here use a launch bar and find themselves wishing it had some features it doesnt?

[tenseiken]

I can't help with this one.  GeoShell's bars are everything I can even imagine myself using, and then some.  Though, I imagine that this would be useful for someone who doesn't use GeoShell.

[nudone]

it's a tough one - can't really think of what hasn't already been done elsewhere several times over.

i've tried a few of these quick launcher and replacement menu type things but have found you can customise the xp task bar enough to do most of what these extra utils do.

one thing springs to mind that i don't think i've seen functional elsewhere; the ability to drag and drop a file onto one of the program shortcuts contained in the quick launcher bar, thereby opening the program up with the file open and ready for action inside it - just as you can do with your normal icons scattered around your system. stick a recycle bin button on it and this could work like a floating bin - drag the file(s) onto it to delete and 'scrunch', gone.

another nice feature might be something that would provide buttons for common tasks. say, a button to create a new folder on the desktop (i know right click and all that - sorry, it's too much for me).

[mouser]

well good drag and drop support is one of the things i want to do.
drag new app onto empty space on bar, it adds it.
drag doc onto button, it launches with button.

i think true launch bar can do this, and even the quick launch bar that comes with windows can do this i think.

the main feature i rely on is easy ability to design a nested hierarchy of buttons with submenus; thats the main thing lacking in quick launch bar.

[JeffK]

FWIW for years I have been using Quickrun. 

www.partridgesoft.com

Jeff

[nudone]

yep, all the drag and drop features work with the windows quick launch bar.

on the point of nested menus - this can be done with the standard windows tray also.

it probably isn't that widely known but you can create your own little quick launch nested menu type helper thingy just by making a folder with some shortcuts dropped into it. all you need do then, is create a new toolbar to this folder (right click on the taskbar > toolbars > new toolbar) and then position it wherever you want.

if you place folders within this first folder and shortcuts within these secondary folders you can create your system of menus that will appear in the toolbar that relates to it.

note: this won't work as a floating toolbar - it needs to be part of the main windows tray bar. if you position it so that only the title to this bar is visible, all icons within it are forced into a menu structure that can be accessed through the little >> symbol.

(hope that made some kind of sense.)

[tenseiken]

Quickrun... that's a blast from the past for me.  I used that until windows' toolbar features were up to par, and then  I basically did exactly what nudone mentioned--using the little >> to make my menu.  I still use the same directory for my GeoShell MenuLaunch plugin that I used for my old windows bar.  In fact, the text on it says 'Apps>>' just as it always did.

Well, that was completely off-topic.   

[Ozzy1]

This has been done so many times...
Even Microsoft gave it a shot with Quickstart

I've never been a "Quickstart" kind of guy, I rather use a couple of minutes everytime I install something changing the Start-program-bar so that the newly installed program gets in the right place and delete all the other icons installed (like how to's, faq, links, and such...)

Start-bar can actually be your Quickstarter if you keep it clean..