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Here we are going to a couple of objects that replicate some of the standard fuctionality within Windows, namely the Start Menu and the Shutdown menu. First of all we'll deal with the Shutdown menu. Create an object and set it's class to 'System'. From here you can choose from a range of standard functions. You can immediately 'Logoff', 'Shutdown Windows' or 'Restart Windows' but I prefer the flexibility of 'Shutdown Options', so this is what 'll use. Download the graphic here: |
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You can then create a graphic that is animated on 'Mouse over' giving a zoom effect, and runs in reverse on 'Mouse away'. You don't need to loop this animation, and it's 8 frames so these are the settings you use. Once you've done this you should have an object which launches the stutdown dialogue, which you can move into place. Remember to give it a name and set it's parent to 'Tree - Bottom'.
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Now for the start menu. Here I will show you two different ways to do this using different plugins. You may wonder why, but there are 2 reasons:
1) Sometimes plugins don't work perfectly across different operating systems. You may think 'it's all Windows', but unfortunately features aren't always implemented the same way across 98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP. This is something you need to bear in mind.
2) Each time you add a plugin you bulk up the size of the theme. Sometimes separate plugins for separate functions are not the most economical way to do things. Some plugins can do many different things so it may actually be better to have one instance of a plugin even if it is larger in size.
Whichever plugin you use, you will need this source graphic.
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DX Start The first plugin is one that just provides the start menu functionality. I have problems with this working on XP, so this isn't the one I'll be using going forward but I explain it here so it's up to you. Download this blank object containing the plugin to get you started. It's a simple to configure object. All that has been done in this object is to choose the plugin in the same way you did for the mail plugin, but there are no configurations to make. Then, all you need to do is use the source graphic to create a zoom as you did for the shutdown menu. |
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DXToys
DXToys is Yoran's highly flexible plugin which just gets better and better with every evolution. Download this object containing the plugin the configured plugin and I'll explain what it all means.
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You will see that this object has 'Custom class' as it's class. This is because this setting allows you to pass extra information to a plugin to tell it precisely what to do. If you look at the Configuration options you will notice that there are 2 parameters you can pass, but how do you know what to enter here. If you click the button which allows you to 'Configure' th plugin you will see a screen which may scare the hell out of you to start with, but once you understand it allows you to access the full power of DXToys. |
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There are 4 main sections of the configuration highlighting the 4 key areas of DXToys functionality. On computers with a more modern keyboard you can call up the start menu by pressing the Windows key. The way we are going to get a start menu here is by replacating the efect of pressing this key. To do this, we need to go to the commands section which you can do by clicking the Commads button on the right hand side. When you
have done this, you will see that there are 4 sections accessible via
tabs at the bottom. If you enter the section for miscellaneous commands
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You can now see the command you need, Sendkey. If you double click this it will automatically populate the parameters above with the format you need.
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You now know the structure of the parameters to enter. Parameter 1 needs to be 'Misc' to reflect the fact that you are in the Miscellaneous section, and Parameter 2 needs to be Sendkey plus the key you are trying to replicate. If you enter this information, you will find that the object now causes the Start menu to appear when clicked. You can use the image provided above to replicate the animated style of the shutdown menu. Time for another download if you need it. |
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), you will be looking at a screen similar to that which you see above.