To change the object type, click the 'Change' button next to where it says
'Type of object' in the ‘Object properties’ dialogue.
This will present you with a list of the other basic object types you can use
without having to even consider plugins or script.
Once a type is defined, the activity associated with that object type will occur
when an object is clicked, though the object's ‘Start with’ parameter can be
changed to alter when this occurs. Doing this is sensible as you can’t be sure
what the default activation action is defined by the user. More on this later.
We will go through each of these items in turn and explain how to use them. I
encourage you to try them out as you go and experiment with the functionality on
offer. This is the best way to learn.
Different object types will have a range of options. For a layer, you can choose
to make it 'Accept Drag & Drop'.
Layer
The default type of object created is a 'Layer'. A layer object doesn't
interact with the user in any way. There are several reasons why you may want
objects of this type. It may be a text label proving information to the user, or
it may just be a graphic enhancing the visual experience for the user.
Normally, you can drag files from applications (e.g. Explorer) onto the desktop
to create a DesktopX object which links to that file. If you select this option
for a layer, it means that if you drag a file on top of it, it becomes
‘Contained’ within that object and moves when the ‘Parent’ object moves.
Shortcut
A ‘Shortcut’ allows the object to link to a file or a folder on your machine.
If you choose a file (e.g. Notepad.exe) you can add arguments to that link. For
example, if the file shortcut was Notepad.exe, you could add the argument
‘c:\mydoc.txt’ which would launch Notepad and then open the file ‘mydoc.txt’.
You can also how that application will appear when launched (e.g. maximized).
In addition to the specific paths that you can enter, DesktopX provides several
variables that can be used to point to specific directories.
%exedir% - returns the executable directory.
%objectdir% - returns the object data directory (where custom files are stored).
%objectsdir% - returns the full \Objects directory.
%themesdir% - returns the full \Themes directory.
So, for example, if you wished to link to one of the default clock objects that
comes with DesktopX, you could link to this “%objectsdir%\Nicer Analog
clock.dxpack”
If you choose a 'Folder shortcut', you can either choose a system folder such as
the Control Panel, or you can choose to browse for any folder on your computer.
In either case, this will cause an Explorer window to open displaying the
contents of that file.
You can however, check the box below the dropdown menu to popup a menu of the
contents of that folder. You can then click an item on that menu to run that
item directly. You can even specify where the menu appears relative to either
the cursor or object itself.
What you should know is that these objects will function like the real target of
the shortcut. For example, if you drag the file c:\mydoc.txt to an object which
is a shortcut to Notepad.exe then that file will open up in Notepad. Dragging a
file to a folder shortcut will move or copy the file to that actual folder.
URL
A 'URL' object type is similar to the shortcut but it is dedicated to
launching web pages in your browser, so all you need to do is enter the web
address (e.g. www.wincustomize.com).
Object Controller
Objects can interact with other objects and this is a way to carry out some
of the most common of these interactions.
An individual object or groups of objects can be defined as 'popups', which
means that they can be shown on screen only when they are required. We will
define how to do this later, but at the moment it is enough to know that you can
select one of the first 2 options here to show or hide the object.
You can also choose to 'Destroy' an object. This might seem somewhat
destructive, but is sometimes useful. For example, when a theme is loaded you
may want to display a welcome message to the user. You don't want this after it
has been read though, so you may set it so it destroys itself when clicked.
Obviously these commands mean nothing without specifying which object is the
target of this action. You do this by selecting the object from the 'Target
object' dropdown list.
Taskbar
The 'Taskbar' object offers some immediate functionality. This transforms the
object into a display of the applications running on your machine.
Obviously there are a few configuration options to adjust how you want the
taskbar to look.
You can choose whether the taskbar runs horizontally or vertically, and at which
end of the taskbar new items are added, and the size of the icons used to
represent the items on the taskbar.
If you want, you can add labels which display the name of the application, and
choose the color of the text used dependant of whether the item is selected or
not.
The final 4 items really define the structure of the taskbar. The first item
lets you define how much space the maximum size of each item on the taskbar.
Essentially this defines how wide (in pixels) each item will be where 'Use
labels' is selected.
You also need to specify how much space there is between items. The final option
allows you to vertically offset the contents of the taskbar. This may be
important depending on the graphic used in your object. The graphic is defined
like any other except you get a customized 'Advanced' option which you need to
make good use of to customize the object. We will get onto this in the
appropriate section.
Normally, the taskbar just grows and shrinks depending on the number of items in
it, but the final option is a check box that allows you to lock the size of the
taskbar. When this option is set the size is defined by the height or width
option on the Object Properties 'Summary' tab (depending on the taskbar
orientation). This value can be an absolute number of pixels (e.g. 400), or a
percentage relative to the screen width (e.g. 80%).
System Tray
Once you have understood the taskbar type, the 'System Tray' class is easy,
as it uses a subset of these options that creates an object to display the icons
in your system tray.
System
The 'System' class allows you to access some of the other standard Windows
functionality.
Selecting this class provides you with a dropdown list of items from which you
can select. Each of these items has a corresponding Windows dialogue box that
will be displayed when the user interacts with the object.
DesktopX
The 'DesktopX' class provides you will a list of things to do that relate to
DesktopX and it’s user interface. Each of these items is fairly self
explanatory.
Widget
This class is useful if you are planning to export the widget as a stand
alone Executable file (or widget). You can use these to replicate the commands
that are available in Widgets – to close the widget, minimize it, or display the
About box. Widgets are explained in more detail in section 2.5.
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