DesktopX Builder in its three variants (standard, pro, enterprise), let you
build widgets, gadgets and desktop from DesktopX objects.
An object is the most elementary block over which complex functionality is
built. Objects can be background images, text, buttons or ActiveX containers.
You can combine different objects together by setting up parent/children or
z-order rules to build DesktopX desktops or applications.
To start building DesktopX stuff, you have to use DesktopX Builder, that is
installed with the DesktopX Enhanced, Professional or Enterprise distributions.
When you start it, you won't notice an actual developement application. The
builder enviroment is right on your desktop! You can start adding or importing
new objects by accessing the main UI (double click the systray icon) or
right-click on the systray icon.
After you create objects, you can right click to access properties, or you
can use Object Navigator to view a list of all instantiated objects.
The DesktopX Builder dialog
So, let’s start by looking at the DesktopX Builder dialog:
Figure 3: DesktopX Builder Welcome Page
This first page gives you the option to import things to tinker with. So if you
want to mess around with things other people have made, this is how you do it. A
lot of people don’t realize that you can import in widgets and modify them as
well. Widgets may be .EXEs but they can still be imported in as a group of
objects.
This is the part where we say once again that in DesktopX,
everything’s an object. When we talk about widgets and desktops and the like,
that really only refers to how these objects were exported.
Figure 4: The Desktop page
The second page is the Desktop page. It lets you start modifying
your current desktop by adding objects to it.
Desktop Data Folder
Everything about your current desktop is stored in the “Desktop
Data Folder”. If you ever want to look inside there, you can press the “Open
desktop data folder”.
New Object
This button will create a new object on your desktop
Import
This button will import an existing object (or widget)
List
This button will list the current objects on your desktop
Hide desktop icons
This option will set your current desktop to have its desktop
icons hidden.
Hide windows taskbar
This option will hide the Start bar
Workarea
This option lets you control how much of the screen is reserved
for program windows.
Resolutions
This option allows you to set what resolutions your desktop is
designed to be used at.
Labels
This option allows you to determine how object labels (think
icon labels) will look.
Figure 5: The Preferences page
The last page allows you to set the preferences of the DesktopX
environment.
Make DesktopX Builder the default program for your content
This option will make DesktopX Builder, rather than the run-time
client, be loaded when you load an object or a builder. It is OFF by default.
Automatically copy new content into your DesktopX directories
This option will automatically move any downloaded content that
you use into the appropriate DesktopX directory. It is ON by default. You may
want to turn this off if you are finding your system getting full of DesktopX
objects, widgets, and desktops from trying so many things out.
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