Author Topic: Compact AutoRunner v1.0 - Small, compact, customizable cd autorun menu! (Read 26933 times)

hamradio · « **on:** July 09, 2007, 03:20 PM »

This program allows you to have a simple, compact, no frills autorun menu on your cd. It comes with a menu configuration builder that will help with creating the menu. You can have a total of 5 launch buttons to launch a file or a website. You should test the menu by running the exe before you burn it to disc as if it works before burnt it should work once burnt if you have your autorun.inf file configured properly. The config builder can create the autorun.inf for you along with a copy of the exe named the same as the config. You can also do manual editing of the configuration by opening a configuration in a text editor if you so choose. Play around and see what you can create! Here is a screenshot of the example included in the download of how it looks on Windows 2000. If you have another operating system and try it then it would be nice if you could post a screenshot here of the example or of your menu that you create.

Screenshot:

Should work on at least Win9X/ME/2000/XP/VISTA.

Go here to download: Compact AutoRunner v1.0

mouser · « **Reply #1 on:** July 09, 2007, 03:26 PM »

Congratulations carroll/hamradio

looks beautiful.

taichimaster · « **Reply #2 on:** July 09, 2007, 03:59 PM »

Way to go hamradio! Looks very nice.

Have you thought about an alternative approach where the AutoRunner is just a host for the built-in WebBrowser Control that ships with the OS? With .NET 2.0, it's very easy to do, and you can even access your own objects through JavaScript through the window.external interface. That way the UI/layout could be even more flexible/brandable (using html), and the EXE could be more compacter since it doesn't have to link with the jpg lib.

taichimaster · « **Reply #3 on:** July 09, 2007, 04:06 PM »

Another suggestion: A "Preview" button from the CompactAutoRunner_ConfigBuilder would be nice I think.

lanux128 · « **Reply #4 on:** July 09, 2007, 09:36 PM »

just fantastic, hamradio!

going to d/l & try out..

steeladept · « **Reply #5 on:** July 10, 2007, 04:01 AM »

Man, I could really have used this last year. I guess I will have to revive that project and give this a go.v

hamradio · « **Reply #6 on:** September 11, 2007, 04:39 PM »

I have did a very minor update to it which allows for you to launch a folder. So now you got 3 different launchtypes. Files, Websites, and Folders.

See first post for url.

Deozaan · « **Reply #7 on:** October 04, 2007, 11:23 AM »

Hi hamradio, I have a few suggestions:

Make it so that a photo isn't required. If I want a pure and simple (perhaps ugly) box with the options, that should be my choice.
Also support for png files would be nice.
Let me grab icons from .exe files instead of only .ico. Not every app I want to launch/run has a separate .ico file. Most are built right into the .exe.
Make it easier to find some documentation. I know it's important for the license information to be reviewed, but combining the license and readme files was a bad idea, in my opinion.
Get an installer and make this some official DC software. Not to take away from your personal achievement of making this cool program, but it would be nice to see it run/install similarly to other great DC apps I find here. Then again, maybe you don't want people to have to deal with the DC Donationware license issues. Still, an installer would be nice so that start menu shortcuts can be made and so that the DCAppdater could automatically grab and install newer versions.

Congrats on this awesome application!

hamradio · « **Reply #8 on:** October 04, 2007, 12:00 PM »

Hi hamradio, I have a few suggestions:

Make it so that a photo isn't required. If I want a pure and simple (perhaps ugly) box with the options, that should be my choice.
Let me grab icons from .exe files instead of only .ico. Not every app I want to launch/run has a separate .ico file. Most are built right into the .exe.
Make it easier to find some documentation. I know it's important for the license information to be reviewed, but combining the license and readme files was a bad idea, in my opinion.
Get an installer and make this some official DC software. Not to take away from your personal achievement of making this cool program, but it would be nice to see it run/install similarly to other great DC apps I find here. Then again, maybe you don't want people to have to deal with the DC Donationware license issues. Still, an installer would be nice so that start menu shortcuts can be made and so that the DCAppdater could automatically grab and install newer versions.

Congrats on this awesome application!
-Deozaan (October 04, 2007, 11:23 AM)

Maybe soon.
That has the potential to increase filesize which I am trying to keep small, so it means more room for your own data on the disc. Might be worth doing a different version at some point to include it though.
Maybe soon also.
I don't think that is the best way to go in this case. As for one it is in my opinion the easiest when you go ahead and create your own files in the Compact AutoRunner directory or extract Compact AutoRunner to the directory you will be working with and then configure the autorun and then leave off the files that should not be placed on disc like the license and readme, the configuration builder, and any others that wasnt used or are not needed.

Thanks!

Deozaan · « **Reply #9 on:** October 04, 2007, 12:46 PM »

Bug reports!

When I browse for the files for anything, photo, program, icon, etc. it uses <APP_PATH> but then uses the absolute/full path. So for instance, it looks like this:

[Select]

Photo.File=<APP_PATH>\C:\Folder\image.jpg

And then it still tells me the photo can't be found.

And it's not very helpful that I can't manually type/edit the path in those input fields. They're locked and the only way to edit them is through the Browse button, which populates incorrectly with the full path.

Also, when browsing for a file to run, it defaults to htm or html files, even though the Type is set to Filename. And how come it won't let me save it so I can do incremental testing? There's only Save As, which gets a little annoying since it creates the autorun.inf and copies CAR.exe over every time, asking me if I want to replace them.

Deozaan · « **Reply #10 on:** October 04, 2007, 01:08 PM »

It also seems like it would be a little more user friendly if you could toggle the buttons on and off from each button's config as well as the Icon/Form config area.

hamradio · « **Reply #11 on:** October 04, 2007, 01:50 PM »

Bug reports!

When I browse for the files for anything, photo, program, icon, etc. it uses <APP_PATH> but then uses the absolute/full path. So for instance, it looks like this:

[Select]
Photo.File=<APP_PATH>\C:\Folder\image.jpg

And then it still tells me the photo can't be found.

And it's not very helpful that I can't manually type/edit the path in those input fields. They're locked and the only way to edit them is through the Browse button, which populates incorrectly with the full path.

Also, when browsing for a file to run, it defaults to htm or html files, even though the Type is set to Filename. And how come it won't let me save it so I can do incremental testing? There's only Save As, which gets a little annoying since it creates the autorun.inf and copies CAR.exe over every time, asking me if I want to replace them.
-Deozaan (October 04, 2007, 12:46 PM)

For the first one what OS?

Tip: You can also manually edit the ini file also. You don't have to use the program to create a config.

As for copying over the program and autorun.inf everytime it is an option of Compact AutoRunner Configuration Builder that you will find on Step 1.

It also seems like it would be a little more user friendly if you could toggle the buttons on and off from each button's config as well as the Icon/Form config area.
-Deozaan (October 04, 2007, 01:08 PM)

~~I will see what I can do.~~ - Done but not uploaded yet.

Deozaan · « **Reply #12 on:** October 04, 2007, 02:57 PM »

For the first one what OS?

Tip: You can also manually edit the ini file also. You don't have to use the program to create a config.

As for copying over the program and autorun.inf everytime it is an option of Compact AutoRunner Configuration Builder that you will find on Step 1.
-hamradio (October 04, 2007, 01:50 PM)

Win XP SP2.

I had to resort to manually editing the .ini to correct the path issue, but after that I could just reload the ini into the CAR Config Builder and it worked properly.

My suggestion for not having to update the Step 1 settings to keep it from copying over those files each time is to have a Save button that just rewrites the ini. Maybe it could copy the other files over if they're missing from the ini directory.

It's very nice, and I've finished what I was doing with it. Now I'm only wondering why you can't have more than 5 buttons (not counting the Exit button). And for some reason I'm left with the feeling that I'd like music playing, too. Or at least a startup sound effect.

hamradio · « **Reply #13 on:** October 04, 2007, 03:10 PM »

Win XP SP2.
-Deozaan (October 04, 2007, 02:57 PM)

Wierd. Has anyone else had the paths show up like "<APP_PATH>\C:\Folder\image.jpg" to them?

Deozaan · « **Reply #14 on:** October 04, 2007, 05:04 PM »

Wierd. Has anyone else had the paths show up like "<APP_PATH>\C:\Folder\image.jpg" to them?
-hamradio (October 04, 2007, 03:10 PM)

I just tried it again on another computer and it wouldn't do it. But I think I figured out why it did it the way it did.

I have the CAR Config Builder installed on my P:\ drive but the files I was working with were on my C:\ drive. It probably built the path in relation to the Config Builder instead of the ini file I was working on.

Deozaan · « **Reply #15 on:** October 04, 2007, 05:06 PM »

And another possible feature I'd like as an option per button:

When you click the button to launch whatever application, it closes CAR.

Deozaan · « **Reply #16 on:** October 05, 2007, 03:41 AM »

Another suggestion: A "Preview" button from the CompactAutoRunner_ConfigBuilder would be nice I think.
-taichimaster (July 09, 2007, 04:06 PM)

I second this suggestion!

hamradio · « **Reply #17 on:** August 10, 2008, 08:06 PM »

Just a note to say the next version has been released and can be gotten from the product page on our website located here.

It includes a few new things like the Dynamic Positioning System for the form and the buttons in the configuration builder. You can resize the form and then resize the buttons and move them around to your however you want them using the DPS. You can now use a png image for the photo field (including ones that have transparency). Last but not least a few other changes in both the main executable and the configuration builder.

Enjoy!

Deozaan · « **Reply #18 on:** August 10, 2008, 08:08 PM »

Great job, hamradio!

I really like the look of it. I'll have to twiddle around with it a bit and see what it can do. Really useful app if you're making CDs/DVDs!

mouser · « **Reply #19 on:** August 11, 2008, 07:55 PM »

Congratulations ham, very cool stuff.

Seems like you are really having fun with that project.

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #20 on:** August 12, 2008, 06:14 PM »

Very cool. I used this last year when it was originally posted, but had no use for it. I have a spindle of DVD-RWs now...