Open Dev Thread for Task Bar Functionality..

[gschoppe]

Some of you may know that one of my biggest personal goals with Rainmeter, is adding taskbar, tray, and start menu functionality. I would like to eventually be theoretically able to set my shell to Rainmeter, and let it deal with everything else.

WHY? - because Rainmeter is simple, low resource, and logically laid out (by and large), also, I like the idea having just one customization app running, and only polling the system for information when it needs to update.

WHAT IS THIS THREAD ABOUT? - I'm looking for ideas, mainly... API documentation, feature recommendations, listings of Open Source software that already support these features, and help analyzing existing code... I'm also looking to track my own progress in a logical and easily referenced manner... Feel free to step in and help out, or just heckle.

-=TASKS TO ACCOMPLISH=-
-enumerate running windows/tasks with handle, name, and description
-enumerate system tray items with handle, name, and description
-get icons for the above items
-provide bangs to trigger focus and the standard context menu for each of the above
-provide a bang to kill processes
-provide a bang to open the start menu

-=PROGRESS TO DATE=-
-received start menu trigger code (and usage permission) from Chris Salmon of ChrisNSoft, reworked to place in plugin
-began researching emergeTasks and emergeTray of emergeDesktop, for possible code integration.

------
p.s. I know this is not the dev forum, but I wanted it to be open to public input..

[jsmorley]

Are you going to support the new Windows 7 taskbar features like "pinning" items to the taskbar, the "jumplists" feature and the live previews of open applications when you hover over a running icon along with having it make all other windows on your desktop transparent when you hover over the preview? Drag and drop to reorder running icons on the taskbar?

Getting a task bar replacement to work like XP is one thing, but the Windows 7 taskbar is a whole new animal in a lot of ways and one of the biggest selling points of the new OS. Certainly don't mean to discourage, but I hope you don't build something that is obsolete before you can release it.

Consider this a "heckle"

[gschoppe]

I plan to start out with simply enumerating running programs and trays... remember things like pinning and drag reorder would rely on other plugins and be implemented mainly on a skin level... I might make a reorder bang to allow for reordering if the occasion arises, but immediately, I'd like to see ANY functionality in this direction.

note to self:
REORDER BANG

2nd note to self:
never invite heckling when jsmorley is around...

[jsmorley]

Or my brother Jeckle...

[Chewtoy]

Well. For starters. You could take a look at blackbox. More specifically bbLean. http://bb4win.sourceforge.net/bblean/

I'm using bbLean 1.16 as a replacement for explorer.exe and I got to say it's very nice.
It is open source of course. Don't know how much of it you want, but it's something at least.

[sgtevmckay]

Well. For starters. You could take a look at blackbox. More specifically bbLean. http://bb4win.sourceforge.net/bblean/

I'm using bbLean 1.16 as a replacement for explorer.exe and I got to say it's very nice.
It is open source of course. Don't know how much of it you want, but it's something at least.

A most excellent tool, and being worked on, albeit slowly, but very few bugs, so it is stable at almost every release

[thadarklord]

You could also check out emerge desktop http://emergedesktop.org/, it's another open source shell replacement.
P.S. If/when You succeed in adding this functionality to rainmeter You'll be my personal hero

[redblack]

-=TASKS TO ACCOMPLISH=-
-enumerate running windows/tasks with handle, name, and description
-enumerate system tray items with handle, name, and description
-get icons for the above items
-provide bangs to trigger focus and the standard context menu for each of the above
-provide a bang to kill processes
-provide a bang to open the start menu

If you can get ANY of this happening gschoppe, you will be my personal hero! Freeing myself from the windows XP taskbar/systray has been a lifelong ambition . . . which may or may not make me less than 8 years old!?

I hope you don't build something that is obsolete before you can release it.

As a music producer and audio engineer, I'm firmly trapped in 32-bit XP world :[ Denied the joy and possibilities of superbars and other such magical sounding objects . . . If gschoppe can offer me an alternative to the windows XP lamebar, and one that I might even have some element of control over . . well, I'd be a very happy man :]

[plaid]

i dont know if this will help you or not, but here is a list of rundll32 commands that can be incorporated into rainmeter so you dont have to fool around with the control panel and such. currently, i have them as aliases in my irc scripts, but i can see that they might be added as buttons, text buttons or whatever in rainmeter.

spoiler to conserve space.

Add/Remove Programs
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL appwiz.cpl,,0

Content Advisor
RunDll32.exe msrating.dll,RatingSetupUI

Control Panel
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL

Delete Temporary Internet Files:
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 8

Delete Cookies:
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 2

Delete History:
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 1

Delete Form Data:
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 16

Delete Passwords:
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 32

Delete All:
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 255

Delete All + files and settings stored by Add-ons:
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 4351

Date and Time Properties
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL timedate.cpl

Display Settings
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL access.cpl,,3

Device Manager
RunDll32.exe devmgr.dll DeviceManager_Execute

Folder Options - General
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 0

Folder Options - File Types
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_Options 2

Folder Options - Search
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 2

Folder Options - View
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 7

Forgotten Password Wizard
RunDll32.exe keymgr.dll,PRShowSaveWizardExW

Hibernate
RunDll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState

Internet Explorer’s Internet Properties dialog box.
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,ConBring up trol_RunDLL Inetcpl.cpl,,6

Keyboard Properties
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL main.cpl @1

Lock Screen
RunDll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

Mouse Button - Swap left button to function as right
Rundll32 User32.dll,SwapMouseButton

Mouse Properties Dialog Box
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL main.cpl @0,0

Map Network Drive Wizard
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,SHHelpShortcuts_RunDLL Connect

Network Connections
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL ncpa.cpl

Organize IE Favourites
Rundll32.exe shdocvw.dll,DoOrganizeFavDlg

Open With Dialog Box
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,OpenAs_RunDLL Any_File-name.ext

Printer User Interface
Rundll32 Printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /?

Printer Management Folder.
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,SHHelpShortcuts_RunDLL PrintersFolder

Power Options
RunDll32.exe Shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL powercfg.cpl

Process Idle Tasks
rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks

Regional and Language Options
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL Intl.cpl,,0

Stored Usernames and Passwords
RunDll32.exe keymgr.dll,KRShowKeyMgr

Safely Remove Hardware Dialog Box
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL HotPlug.dll

Sound Properties Dialog Box
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL Mmsys.cpl,,0

System Properties Box
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL Sysdm.cpl,,3

System Properties - Advanced
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL sysdm.cpl,,4

System Properties: Automatic Updates
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL sysdm.cpl,,5

Taskbar Properties
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 1

User Accounts
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL nusrmgr.cpl

Unplug/Eject Hardware
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll

Windows Security Center
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL wscui.cpl

Windows - About
RunDll32.exe SHELL32.DLL,ShellAboutW

Windows Fonts Installation Folder
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,SHHelpShortcuts_RunDLL FontsFolder

Windows Firewall
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL firewall.cpl

Wireless Network Setup
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL NetSetup.cpl,@0,WNSW

also, though irc scripting is not anything like rainmeter, some of the irc guys i know have been making strides in finding and killing certain PID's. the following script might point you in the right direction.

http://www.mirc.net/projects.php?go=1228850349

[nvme]

Rainmeter definitely needs a tray replacement feature, so that users dont have to resort to the ugly windows taskbar. But I don't think replacing the whole explorer shell is a good idea, since a lot of users seem to be wary of doing that.