Author Topic: V 1.5.1.1 Problems with Dock Settings and Item settings screen (Read 24,578 times)

worick · « **on:** February 09, 2010, 04:07 PM »

Win 7 64 bit OS Circle Dock V 1.5.1.1 This is an install over V1 that was an install over an older version etc.

I can open the Dock Settings and Item settings screens just fine. They appear to function correctly as well. However after I close them I can no longer use my middle mouse button to toggle CD. If I restart Circle Dock the middle button toggles CD again. Any changed settings are retained. Going to the Item settings screen does not always produce this effect, the Dock settings screen always does. In the failed state I used the taskbar icon to open CD up and went into the Dock Settings screen and it did show the middle mouse button set as the toggle. I tried closing the Settings screen and using the middle button to no avail. I also tried changing the toggle to a new function and back to middle button and it did not help.

I did notice that in the failed state if I change the toggle to something else like Right mouse + shift, and exit the settings screen the new hot-key does work without a restart. It does however ignore the need for the additional key. No matter what Keys I choose in addition to right click, a simple right click with no buttons pressed toggles the dock. Going back into the settings screen and choosing middle button does not restore functionality. Only restarting circle dock restores the middle button toggle.

Also when I use the Icon settings screen to change the label of an icon it truncates the first few letters off of several other Icon labels. There does not appear to be a hard limit like 8 chars. Some examples Downloads : loads
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 : soft Visual Studio 2008
Oblivion : livion
That is real annoying because if I go in to fix one, it truncates 3-4 more labels.

worick · « **Reply #1 on:** February 09, 2010, 04:21 PM »

I tried installing a fresh copy of V 1.5.1.1 in a new folder and it has the same issues. So, it doesn't appear to be related to any settings or files from older versions.

Markham · « **Reply #2 on:** February 09, 2010, 04:51 PM »

Quote from: worick on February 09, 2010, 04:07 PM

Win 7 64 bit OS Circle Dock V 1.5.1.1 This is an install over V1 that was an install over an older version etc.

I can open the Dock Settings and Item settings screens just fine. They appear to function correctly as well. However after I close them I can no longer use my middle mouse button to toggle CD. If I restart Circle Dock the middle button toggles CD again. Any changed settings are retained. Going to the Item settings screen does not always produce this effect, the Dock settings screen always does. In the failed state I used the taskbar icon to open CD up and went into the Dock Settings screen and it did show the middle mouse button set as the toggle. I tried closing the Settings screen and using the middle button to no avail. I also tried changing the toggle to a new function and back to middle button and it did not help.

I did notice that in the failed state if I change the toggle to something else like Right mouse + shift, and exit the settings screen the new hot-key does work without a restart. It does however ignore the need for the additional key. No matter what Keys I choose in addition to right click, a simple right click with no buttons pressed toggles the dock. Going back into the settings screen and choosing middle button does not restore functionality. Only restarting circle dock restores the middle button toggle.

Coincidentally the guy who's re-designing the Circle Dock website phoned me earlier with the same problem but he did not describe it quite as succinctly or accurately as you! I have fixed it for the next update.

But I'm having problems with this:

Quote

Also when I use the Icon settings screen to change the label of an icon it truncates the first few letters off of several other Icon labels. There does not appear to be a hard limit like 8 chars. Some examples Downloads : loads
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 : soft Visual Studio 2008
Oblivion : livion
That is real annoying because if I go in to fix one, it truncates 3-4 more labels.

I can not reproduce this at all - and I've tried three PCs with 3 different operating systems. It doesn't make sense either because when you edit a Dock Item's settings, Circle Dock has to retrieve that item's data record and the values are loaded into the dialog. Editing a Dock Item's name (the Label) is done in real time - as you key characters into the text box, the item's label changes. Each label is a separate window and the only linkage is between the Dock Item and its Label -- Labels aren't in linked-lists or anything like that.

Mark

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #3 on:** February 09, 2010, 05:24 PM »

I can verify this!

OS: Windows 7 64
Location of Software: C:/Program files (Alternative)/CircleDock
No UAC control of this file, only the CD process

Apparently this is an intermittent issue, but also one that appears after Circle Dock has not been utilized for some time.
I will open CD at startup. Use it start say: MS Word....I will write a document and then save....Approximately an hour and a half. Close all related programs...go to center click, and CD will not appear.
Attempts to un-click and re click the option in settings is to no effect.
If I switch functions (Hotkey the appearance), re-open settings and set Middle Click as an option, it will work again.

It is like CD is is in slow degradation in its line of communication to the OS, eventually I am left with hiding via the CD Context Menu and showing via the systray icon, after about 5 hours

Markham · « **Reply #4 on:** February 09, 2010, 05:59 PM »

That's a completely different issue, Sarge, and your issue is probably due to the way Windows Vista and 7 work. It seems that these two operating systems will unload unused DLLs after a while. There is a (Registry) fix for that, I believe. Since I'm developing the product, I don't have the luxury of having it loaded for more than a couple of minutes at a time!

It is also possible you ran a program that hooks keyboard and mouse for its own use and doesn't respect the fact that there may be other programs also hooking those events and therefore cuts the chains.

Maybe I'll include a "repair" function into the Tray Icon context menu which will re-invoke the keyboard and mouse event handlers.

Mark

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #5 on:** February 09, 2010, 06:10 PM »

Possible...I will investigate.

Current setup:
Logitech Mouse 7 button
Standard Laptop Keyboard

worick · « **Reply #6 on:** February 09, 2010, 06:20 PM »

Thanks for the fast response. I can add in a little more info that may be related to that second problem that you could not replicate.

I noticed when I change a label the text often gets set to a fixed location. Whatever the coordinates are when the label is changed, it stays in that exact location on the screen even when the dock is moved around, or hidden and unhidden. The label hides at the same time as the dock but when it reapers it is still in the location where it was changed, not where the dock is now. If I hover over the associated icon it fixes that issue.

This is probably a separate item but I thought it had a chance of being relevant.

Markham · « **Reply #7 on:** February 10, 2010, 03:58 AM »

Ah okay, I see what's happening. You have labels set to show on mouse-over only. When a Dock Item's properties are edited, it's label is shown but the label doesn't become hidden when you dismiss the dialog.

I've fixed that issue and will be releasing a minor update (1.52) later today.

Mark

Markham · « **Reply #8 on:** February 10, 2010, 04:54 AM »

Quote from: sgtevmckay on February 09, 2010, 05:24 PM

I will open CD at startup. Use it start say: MS Word....I will write a document and then save....Approximately an hour and a half. Close all related programs...go to center click, and CD will not appear.
Attempts to un-click and re click the option in settings is to no effect.
If I switch functions (Hotkey the appearance), re-open settings and set Middle Click as an option, it will work again.

It is like CD is is in slow degradation in its line of communication to the OS, eventually I am left with hiding via the CD Context Menu and showing via the systray icon, after about 5 hours

I've put in a couple of experimental fixes for this issue:

1. When Circle Dock is hidden, it will re-establish the linkages for the mouse visibility toggle every 5 minutes. As this addresses the global handler DLL directly, Windows shouldn't try to unload or swap the DLL out of memory.

2. I've added a new context menu item to the System Tray Icon ("Reconnect Mouse and Keystroke handlers") which does pretty much the same except that it will also show the dock.

Both methods will also ensure that Circle Dock's handlers are in the "chain" - as I mentioned in my earlier reply, some programs hook these triggers for their own purposes but forget there may be other "listeners" and therefore don't pass messages down the line. Or worse, they cause the unhooking of Circle Dock's listeners.

Please try the first method first. The second method is a "Plan B" scenario and will be removed if "Plan A" works consistently.

The update with this new code (v1.52) will be released later today.

Mark

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #9 on:** February 10, 2010, 07:41 AM »

Thanks Markham for all your efforts

worick · « **Reply #10 on:** February 10, 2010, 11:23 PM »

I loaded up V 1.5.2 Setup went flawlessly, I tested some links, then made some setup changes. Unfortunately I then lost middle mouse button toggle. I tried using the taskbar icon's "Reconnect mouse and keyboard handlers" link and it did not fix the issue.

I restarted Circle dock and tried going into the settings screen and back out... Oddly enough middle click DID work for toggling visibility. later I went back into the setup screen and middle button toggling stopped working... So I tried the "reconnect mouse..." menu item and it Worked! I was a little confused so, I went through more detailed testing to see what was happening. I also noticed I had checked the "return to top level" and it was now unchecked.

Note - all visibility toggles were by middle click unless otherwise stated.
test 1.
Launch CD. tested visibility toggle and it worked. Opened Dock Settings and exited without changing tabs or any settings. Visibility toggle failed. "Reconnect" menu item did not fix the issue. I let it sit for a few minutes and tried toggling again, no go. I used the taskbar icon to toggle visibility on then off again. I tried middle click and no toggle. I tried the "reconnect" menu item and it worked.

Test 2.
Thinking using the taskbar icon to toggle visibility before using the "reconnect" menu item may have something to do with it I did the following.
quite, and reloaded Circle dock. opened Settings screen and exited without changing tabs or settings. Visibility toggle did not work. Used Taskbar icon to toggle visibility off. used "reconnect" menu item. Middle click worked again.
Test 3
duplication of test 2. Same results.
Test 4
Without quit/restart repeat steeps of test 2. Different results. Middle click continued to work after exiting setup screen for about 1 min, then middle click stopped working. I had left the dock up during that time. I then used the taskbar to toggle visibility, and used the "reconnect" feature. It did not work. I tried waiting a few minutes and middle click did not recover, nor did "reconnect" fix the issue.
Test 5
duplicate test 2. Same results initially, then toggle failed after about 15 seconds.

At this point I realized there may be another factor. I run dual monitors. In my testing I had been moving back and forth between the two screens. I did not track when or what happened in association with which monitor CD was launched and running on.

Test 6
Repeat test 2. ONLY used primary monitor.
Mostly the same results except "reconnect" menu item ALWAYS worked. no need to use the task bar to toggle visibility first.
Test 7
Repeat test 6
middle toggle continued to work after exiting settings menu. Went back into settings menu and exited and middle button did not work. without using Taskbar icon to toggle I used the "reconnect" menu item and it worked.

I was AFK for about 5 min at this point and when I returned CD would not toggle on with middle button, and "reconnect" did not fix the issue. I used the taskbar icon to toggle visibility on and off, then tried the "reconnect" and it did not work.

I don't know if that 5 min afk may have been the other issue you were talking to SgtMcKay about or the issue I am having.

Test 8
quit/reload CD. open on monitor 2. open settings on monitor 2. Close settings. Middle toggle did not work. used reconnect button without toggling visibility and it worked.

Test 9
Repeat test 8
Middle button continued to work after exiting settings menu.

Test 10
without restarting I again entered the the settings menu with CD on monitor 2. Exited settings and middle button did not work. I used the "reconnect" button and it fixed the issue.

about 2 minutes later middle click stopped working. "reconnect" did not fix the issue.

So... It doesn't appear to be an issue with multiple monitors. I wonder if the issue of the hooks getting removed is being complicated by a background app running. There defiantly seems to be some tie in with the settings menu triggering it either directly or indirectly. I have several applications running in the background, but the only app open and on my screen was FireFox. This is on the same Win 7 X64 machine from my earlier posts.

worick · « **Reply #11 on:** February 10, 2010, 11:52 PM »

A couple other notes on the post above.

On quit/restart the settings for "always return to top level" is not saved. I tried several times. I tried a few other settings and those were remembered.

After exiting the settings menu, and verifying the middle button would not toggle the visibility, I trick choosing the menu item for pausing mouse toggle and received the invalid hook handle error in the attached image. I think this just verifies that CD is loosing its hook into the button. Or the name is changing...

Markham · « **Reply #12 on:** February 11, 2010, 03:35 AM »

Thank you for your detailed report. Which operating system are you using?

Mark

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #13 on:** February 11, 2010, 06:57 AM »

My money is on Windows 7
64 bit if I had to nail it down

worick · « **Reply #14 on:** February 11, 2010, 02:20 PM »

lol Sgtevmckay.

Yes. Windows 7 64bit.

I'll test the new version on a Windows 7 32bit today.

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #15 on:** February 11, 2010, 02:56 PM »

Ultimately I had this issue as well.

There seems to be, for what ever unknown reason, rare cases that Circle Dock can not be installed and run properly from the Program Files or Program Files (x86)......It works like a charm from the program files (x86) on my desktop, but not on my laptop.

My solution was to do a clean install to a new folder I labeled; Program Files (Alternative)
This has had a lot of benefits, but 2 in particular.
1.) It is outside the UAC, but when Circle Dock is run, it is still monitored by the UAC
2.) This has given me a great place to put my self contained programs (ie. Portable applications or non-install)

I created the above mention folder, then did the Circle Dock install to that directory
I have not had an major issues since.

As I have pointed out this seems to be an intermittent issue with windows 7 64, but I am unaware of it effecting any ealier versions of Windows OS, and again it does not happen all the time. We are actively looking into this, but it is harder when it does not happen to everyone in the same manner across the same OS

Try it, if you are comfortable with doing so, and I'd bet good money it will work

worick · « **Reply #16 on:** February 11, 2010, 04:34 PM »

Good idea. Unfortunately, I don't think that would fix my issue. I already have CD installed outside the x86 or program folder.

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #17 on:** February 11, 2010, 04:43 PM »

Okie Doke...This is good, but keep in mind that SP3 added additional .NET Framework handlers...your call...I know of many who refuse to update to SP3 for what ever reasons.

worick · « **Reply #18 on:** February 11, 2010, 05:07 PM »

?... I don't understand your last post. Was this a reply to the wrong thread? I have to admit I certainly have not upgraded to Win 7 SP3

Are you talking about .net 2 SP3? I do believe I am on .net SP3 on that machine. I do dev work with MS Visual studio on that machine and have mostly the latest version of each production version of .net on it. I have not loaded the .net 4 framework on that machine though. (MSDN sub)

I think you were suggesting I install CD in a folder outside of the Program files (x86) or the Program files folder. I was trying to say I already have CD installed out of those folders. I have CD in a folder named apps on Drive E. My Win7 install is on C drive as are the program (x86) and Program folders.

and yeah I have a lot of drives.

sgtevmckay · « **Reply #19 on:** February 11, 2010, 05:13 PM »

Oops...you are exactly right...My bad

Way too many conversations at the moment: IM, IRC, 2 Forums, and e-mail....
Ack!!!

Excess · « **Reply #20 on:** February 13, 2010, 01:32 AM »

Hi,

Im running Windows 7 x86 on a laptop with a USB mouse plugged in and wasn't able to toggle visibility with my middle-mouse click (a.k.a. "scrolling wheel click"). Tryed both middle-click alone and in conjunction with other keys, successless (I think I just invented a word =)

If I can help somehow to identify the problem or you need more specs, just ask ;)

worick · « **Reply #21 on:** February 18, 2010, 04:55 PM »

Since I moved to 1.53 on my 64 bit Windows 7 machine CD constantly looses the hook to the middle mouse button. I can't really test if it is still linked to the settings screen or not since it looses the middle button toggle so frequently no matter what I do, or don't do. It is pretty much unusable for me. I have had no problems with 1.53 on my Win 7 32 bit machine. I'll probably need to revert to version 1.5 or 1.51 for the 64 bit machine.

Besides just doing a regular uninstall is there anything else I need to do to completely remove CD from the 64 bit machine?

I do use a pretty old 3 button with scroll trackball on the 64 bit machine. Its a logitech, and they don't make software/drivers that support my trackball on Windows 7. So I am using the Microsoft drivers. If I had an extra button I would just change the toggle to it. I might look for some other 3rd party software to remap my middle click to a keyboard combo and try that route to fix toggling.

Markham · « **Reply #22 on:** February 19, 2010, 02:56 AM »

Now that's really strange. The Sarge reported a similar problem with earlier versions (1.51 & 1.52) with the mouse. In 1.53 I added a simple timer which would, after 5 minutes, reconnect all the mouse interrupt handlers with the external DLL whilst the Dock is invisible. Since making that addition, he's confirmed to me that he's not encountered that scenario again.

Now you're telling me the opposite!

In v1.54 there will be a new checkbox on the Visibility Page, "Keep Mouse Interfaces Alive", which will be checked (ie enabled). If you disable this new option, you'll revert to pre-v1.53 behaviour as far as mouse handling is concerned.

Mark

worick · « **Reply #23 on:** February 19, 2010, 02:56 PM »

I tried 1.5.4 and had the same results. I then tried using a couple different macro programs to remap Mbutton to a keyboard shortcut and they had problems also. I think my problem might be specific to the mouse/os I am using. As I mentioned in the last post I have an old trackball that is using the default Windows drivers not the OEMs.

I will try swapping out a newer mouse and see if that fixes the issue. I didn't suspect this earlier as the middle button hasn't given me issues earlier, and works in browsers, games, and other applications that use a middle click.

Surp · « **Reply #24 on:** February 23, 2010, 04:17 PM »

Hi,

I've just installed Circle Dock v1.5.4.6 on my Vista Ultimate SP2 (32-bit) system and I'm having the same problem. After a little while CD stops responding to my middle mouse button. When I quit and restart CD, everything works fine again... for awhile.

With CircleDock v0.9.2 Alpha 8.1 I had no problems at all and I used this program for more than a year.

Any suggestions, please?