NANY 2016 Release: SysTrayIconsManage

[Ath]

NANY 2016 Entry Information

Application Name	SysTrayIconsManage
Version	0.7.0.0
Short Description	'Manage' new hidden SysTray Icons
Supported OSes	Windows Vista and up (.NET 4.5+)
Web Page	TODO
Download Link	For now: Attached to this post
System Requirements	Windows Vista SP2 (Untested yet) Windows 7 SP1 (Untested yet) Windows 8 (Untested) Windows 10 (tested) .NET Framework 4.5 (may be lowered to 4.0 after testing on Windows XP)
Version History	v0.7.0.0 2016-01-06 Fixed the icon-visibility issue, removed the Settings menu, now toggles 'Enabled' on Dbl-Click v0.6.0.0 2016-01-05 Updated some textual errors, added Settings menu to select Dbl-Click behavior v0.5.0.0 2015-12-31 Initial release for NANY 2016
Author	Ath

Description
From mousers idea in the NANY 2016 idea thread:

One of the truly TERRIBLE ideas in recent versions of windows is that icons in the system tray are BY DEFAULT set to hide unless they produce a message.
This can frequently (for me at least) lead to me having programs running in the background that I didn't realize were still running.
The option to hide icons is great.  The default behavior is not.

It might be nice to have a program that changed the system setting to always show icons for newly discovered apps.  That is, the utility would run in the background, and the first time it encounters a new exe running, it would check registry for an entry saying to hide the icon, and change that to say to show the icon.  If the user goes so system tray options and chooses to hide it in the future, there will be no effect, as this app is only modifying the setting the first time an app is seen.

This app sits in the System Tray, and tries to detect* (see: Known Issues) newly installed applications that put an icon in the system tray. When detected, it sets that to always show, stores the application name in a list, and waits for the next application to be added.

Features
Handles the annoying fact that Windows hides new System Tray icons from view after ca. 15 seconds.

Planned Features

• Bugfixes
• Find a better icon (more contrast o a white background)
• Create the corresponding webpage on my dcmembers site
• Lots of improvements...

Screenshots
TODO

Usage
Installation/Update

• Download the .zip file
• If SysTrayIconsManage is running, close it from the right-click menu
• Unpack into it's own directory
• If portable use is desired, rename settings_portable.xml to settings.xml
• Start SysTrayIconManage.exe

Using the Application
Initially, all known (that's usually many more than visible!) SysTrayIcons will be added to the 'known icons' list.
From then on, new applications will, when detected (see: Known Issues), be set to Show Always.
Right-click the SysTrayIconsManage icon to enable "Restart Explorer to activate", or else you won't see the icon getting visibility. WARNING: This option will close ALL instances of Windows Explorer!

Uninstallation
When used portable:

• Stop SysTrayIconsManage (Double-click the icon or Right-Click and selectr Close)
• Delete the files

When used non-portable:

• Stop SysTrayIconsManage (Double-click the icon or Right-Click and selectr Close)
• Delete the executable file
• Delete directory %APPDATA%\SysTrayIconsManage

Tips
Delete a line from section ExePaths in settings.xml to set that application to visible (may take up to 15 seconds to detect)

Known Issues

• New applications may not be detected directly, it may take the user to Logoff/Logon or system restart to be recognized
• All Windows Explorer instances that are open will be closed when 'Restart Explorer to activate' is enabled.
  This is (unfortunately) the only known way to reload the System Tray setting

[mouser]

Wow.
I have to say i looked into this at some point as a potential NANY and gave up because it seemed too difficult 

Can't wait to try it.

[tomos]

Sounds great, downloaded
Happy new year! (I think Ath is my timezone)

[Ath]

Happy new year! (I think Ath is my timezone)

Happy new year too, and yup, I'm in NL, next to DE

[TaoPhoenix]

Wow, another use for a Nany - to confirm that certain new things are NOT my imagination to be annoying!

I'm coming up on some kind of "culture clash" very soon moving from Win XP to Win 10 so if this is a "thing", I am trying to learn how to handle frustration better and knowing this issue exists is the first part!

[dr_andus]

Thanks for the app!

One (very minor) issue: the app doesn't have an icon in the "Notification Area Icons" window, when setting the behaviours. Or maybe it's there but because it's white, it can't be seen against the white background.

[Ath]

maybe it's there but because it's white, it can't be seen against the white background

Hm, I've developed and tested it on Windows 10, using the default black system-tray, so I'll put that on the TODO list.

[Ath]

Updated SysTrayIconsManage to 0.6.0.0, fixing some textual issues, and added a Settings menu to allow switching the double-click action between Close and toggle Enabled.

[dr_andus]

Hm, I've developed and tested it on Windows 10, using the default black system-tray, so I'll put that on the TODO list.

Oh, yeah, sorry, forgot to mention that I'm on Win7 with Aero switched off.

[mouser]

Trying it now.
Just a note that the "settings" submenu explanation i find confusing. and the idea of a double-click EXITING the application is doubly confusing.

[Ath]

Just a note that the "settings" submenu explanation i find confusing. and the idea of a double-click EXITING the application is doubly confusing.

I fully agree. I tried to come up with an appropriate wording for the setting, but obviously failed .
The original double-click action was Close, but I'll remove that option entirely, and go for just the 'toggle Enabled' action. Will be in the next update

[mouser]

but I'll remove that option entirely, and go for just the 'toggle Enabled' action.

i think that makes the most sense 

[Ath]

I've updated SysTrayIconsManage to v0.7.0.0, removing the Settings menu, now a Double-Click toggles the Enabled setting, and replaced the tray icon with a more contrasting one (white with a round, blueish background).

[cranioscopical]

Thanks for fixing the icon  There is a sufficiency of mystery in my life.

[Ath]

This request was sent to me by pm.

Would you entertain a request for an enhancement to SysTrayIconsManager?

On my system there always have been some icons that reset themselves to hidden. Needless to say, I can't recall specific culprits right now but I do recall the irritation that it causes.

Now that I've seen SysTrayIconsManager at work, I wonder if it would be possible for it to maintain a list of user-specified icons that should always be forced back into being shown?

I think that's a really good idea/feature, and I'll start work on it asap. It'll require a UI to be added beyond the trayicon context menu, so it will take a little more time then the last updates

(thanks Chris!)

[mouser]

On my system there always have been some icons that reset themselves to hidden. Needless to say, I can't recall specific culprits right now but I do recall the irritation that it causes.

i have noticed this behavior in the past too and i believe it's a bug in the OS causing it..

[cyberdiva]

On my system there always have been some icons that reset themselves to hidden. Needless to say, I can't recall specific culprits right now but I do recall the irritation that it causes.

i have noticed this behavior in the past too and i believe it's a bug in the OS causing it..

Same here, which is a major reason I'm interested in SysTrayIconsManage.  I'm hoping that Ath can indeed find a way to deal with this problem.

[dr_andus]

I'm not even sure I fully understand what SysTrayIconsManage is supposed to be doing, but I've never seen so many icons in my systray before, so whatever it does, I like it. 



P.S. In the meantime 3 more icons have been added. What's the maximum number that can get displayed? I have 7 columns and 7 rows, with 46 icons at the moment.

[dr_andus]

Thanks for fixing the icon  There is a sufficiency of mystery in my life.

Yes, thanks for fixing that.

[dr_andus]

Ath - what do "Silent" and "Show last message" actually do?

[Ath]

Silent - shortens the message when a tray-application is un-hidden from default 15 to 3 seconds
Show last message - repeats the last message that was shown, when starting up or hiding tray-applications

[MilesAhead]

I haven't tried the utility yet.  What I have found on OS behavior ever since Vista is even if you check the box that says "always show icons and notifications for all" or whatever the wording is, unless I uncheck that option and manually set each an every icon to show both the icon and notifications, then recheck the box, the ones that were not manually set will not be shown.  It is like the check box is a placebo.

Have you run into anything like that or is it just on my machines? 

[dr_andus]

Silent - shortens the message when a tray-application is un-hidden from default 15 to 3 seconds
Show last message - repeats the last message that was shown, when starting up or hiding tray-applications

Thanks.

[dr_andus]

What I have found on OS behavior ever since Vista is even if you check the box that says "always show icons and notifications for all" or whatever the wording is, unless I uncheck that option and manually set each an every icon to show both the icon and notifications, then recheck the box, the ones that were not manually set will not be shown.  It is like the check box is a placebo.

Have you run into anything like that or is it just on my machines? 

I'm not sure if I ran into the exact same thing, but basically the behaviour has been erratic.

I would make a distinction between two problems: 1) whether the icons that were set to show both icon and notifications show up as visible in the same row as the toolbar and 2) whether icons of apps that are running and are supposed to show up in the hidden area of the system tray show up at all.

For me it's the 2nd problem that SysTrayIconsManage solves, which has bugged me for a long time.

But I'm not sure from the original description whether it was designed to fix problem 1 or 2. I've been hoping for a solution to problem 2 for years, so I'm very grateful to Ath for having created this.

[mouser]

i like the new icon.
i think it should add itself automatically to the list at first run.