Rainmeter 0.1

[moshi]

i just translated the default skin for Rainmeter 0.1 in the current skin format:

Code: Select all

[Rainmeter]
Background=background.png
BackgroundMode=0

[Metadata]
Author=Rainy (Kimmo Pekkola)
Name=Vintage Rainmeter 0.1
Information=default skin for Rainmeter 0.1
Version=1.0
License=

[MeasureCPU]
Measure=CPU

[MeasureMemory]
Measure=Memory

[Meter]
Meter=Histogram
X=12
Y=6
W=154
H=37
MeasureName=MeasureCPU
MeasureName2=MeasureMemory
PrimaryColor=138,144,152
SecondaryColor=202,144,152
BothColor=178,228,166

Background.png

here's the readme:

Rainmeter 0.1 for litestep

This is a simple CPU/MEM Meter plugin for Litestep. It is a LoadModule plugin and not a Wharf module as most of the others. This one works only in Windows 2000 (and maybe in NT4). Win9x is not supported.

The configuration is done in the Rainmeter.ini file. The settings should be quite clear, so I'm not going to explain them here. I might implement equivalent step.rc settings later (as well as better documentation).

If you want to get rid of one of the meters (e.g. the MEM), just set its color to pink (255,0,255).

There are also two bangs you can use:
!RainmeterShow
!RainmeterHide

The example configuration's graphics are from the excellent Kgnome3 theme by KanedA.

Kimmo 'Rainy' Pekkola
rainy@iki.fi

that's how it was almost 13 years ago. of course there already have been other LiteStep modules to display system stats. the main point of Rainmeter was that it could be displayed anywhere on the desktop and did not need to be part of the wharf.

[moshi]

Rainmeter 0.2 changed the skin format completely and was able to measure a little more than just cpu and total memory use:

Code: Select all

[Rainmeter]
Background=meter.png
BackgroundMode=0

[Metadata]
Author=Rainy (Kimmo Pekkola)
Name=Vintage Rainmeter 0.2
Information=default skin for Rainmeter 0.2
Version=1.0
License=

[MeasureCPU]
Measure=CPU

[MeasurePhysMemory]
Measure=PhysicalMemory

[MeasureSwapMemory]
Measure=SwapMemory

[MeasureNetIn]
Measure=NetIn

[MeasureNetOut]
Measure=NetOut

[MeterCPU]
Meter=Histogram
X=7
Y=7
W=97
H=25
MeasureName=MeasureCPU
PrimaryColor=38,144,52

[MeterMem]
Meter=Histogram
X=7
Y=46
W=97
H=25
MeasureName=MeasurePhysMemory
MeasureName2=MeasureSwapMemory
BothColor=78,228,66
SecondaryColor=102,144,52
PrimaryColor=38,144,52

[MeterNet]
Meter=Histogram
X=7
Y=85
W=97
H=25
MeasureName=MeasureNetOut
MeasureName2=MeasureNetIn
BothColor=78,228,66
SecondaryColor=102,144,52
PrimaryColor=38,144,52
AutoScale=1

Meter.png

and from this point on Rainmeter could be used as a standalone application without LiteStep. though nobody did that at this time.

from the documentation:

Rainmeter is a customizable resource meter that can display your CPU load and the amount of allocated memory. Rainmeter can also display how much data is sent and received through the network interface. The values are displayed with a histogram meter.
The application is a Litestep LoadModule plugin, but it can be used without the Litestep as well. You can use it even with the normal Explorer-shell if you like. Rainmeter is developed and tested on Win2k, but it should work on Win9x also. But Win9x is not officially supported.

And no, Rainmeter does not measure how much it rained last night (at least not yet

[jsmorley]

Here is Tranquil, when you get to that point in your narrative...

Tranquil.zip

10-30-2013 1-31-03 PM.jpg

It should be noted that the fact that I could just load that and take a screenshot without ever even looking at the code is a testament to our efforts at backwards compatibility over the years...

[moshi]

theoretically skins should be backwards compatible down to version 0.5, that's when the split between measures and meters happened.
that Tranquil weather skin needs a new RegExp though.

[jsmorley]

rm_logo.png

rm_banner.png

[moshi]

rm_logo.png

rm_banner.png

you are rushing it, the Rainmeter icon wasn't exactly great in it's infancy:

1031.png

103.png

[moshi]

Rainmeter 0.3 brought new measures as disk space and perfmon. it also introduced a second meter type: strings.

it came with two default skins. one was the same as in 0.2, the other one featured string meters:

Code: Select all

[Rainmeter]
Background="meterplain.png"
BackgroundMode=0
AccurateText=1

[Metadata]
Author=Rainy (Kimmo Pekkola)
Name=Vintage Rainmeter 0.3
Information=default skin for Rainmeter 0.3
Version=1.0
License=

[MeasureCPU]
Measure=CPU

[MeasureMemory]
Measure=Memory

[MeasurePhysMemory]
Measure=PhysicalMemory

[MeasureSwapMemory]
Measure=SwapMemory

[MeasureNetIn]
Measure=NetIn

[MeasureNetOut]
Measure=NetOut

[MeasureSkinFolder]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=FolderInfo
Folder="#SKINSPATH#"
InfoType=FolderSize
IncludeSubFolders=1

[MeasureDriveC]
Measure=FreeDiskSpace
Drive=C:

[MeasureDriveD]
Measure=FreeDiskSpace
Drive=D:

[MeasureDriveE]
Measure=FreeDiskSpace
Drive=E:

[MeasureDriveF]
Measure=FreeDiskSpace
Drive=F:

[MeasurePerfmon]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=PerfMon
PerfMonObject=Processor
PerfMonCounter="% Processor Time"
PerfMonInstance=_Total
MaxValue=10000000
PerfMonDifference=1
InvertMeasure=1

[MeasurePerfmon2]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=PerfMon
PerfMonObject=PhysicalDisk
PerfMonCounter="Disk Read Bytes/sec"
PerfMonInstance=_Total

[MeterTextStyle]
Meter=STRING
X=11
Y=10r
FontColor=78,228,66
FontSize=6
Antialias=1
FontFace=Small Fonts

[TextNetInMeter]
Meter=STRING
Y=9
MeterStyle=MeterTextStyle
MeasureName=MeasureNetIn
AutoScale=1
Postfix="Bps"
Prefix="In: "

[TextNetOutMeter]
Meter=STRING
MeterStyle=MeterTextStyle
MeasureName=MeasureNetOut
AutoScale=1
Postfix="Bps"
Prefix="Out: "

[TextCpuMeter]
Meter=STRING
MeterStyle=MeterTextStyle
MeasureName=MeasureCPU
Postfix="%"
Prefix="CPU: "

[TextMemMeter]
Meter=STRING
MeterStyle=MeterTextStyle
MeasureName=MeasureMemory
AutoScale=1
Postfix="B"
Prefix="MEM: "

[TextSwapMemMeter]
Meter=STRING
MeterStyle=MeterTextStyle
MeasureName=MeasureSwapMemory
AutoScale=1
Postfix="B"
Prefix="Swap: "

[TextPhysMemMeter]
Meter=STRING
MeterStyle=MeterTextStyle
MeasureName=MeasurePhysMemory
AutoScale=1
Postfix="B"
Prefix="Phys: "

[TextFolderMeter]
Meter=STRING
MeterStyle=MeterTextStyle
MeasureName=MeasureSkinFolder
AutoScale=1
Postfix="B"
Prefix="Skin Folder: "

[TextDiskCMeter]
Meter=STRING
MeterStyle=MeterTextStyle
MeasureName=MeasureDriveC
AutoScale=1
Postfix="B"
Prefix="C: "

[TextDiskDMeter]
Meter=STRING
MeterStyle=MeterTextStyle
MeasureName=MeasureDriveD
AutoScale=1
Postfix="B"
Prefix="D: "

[TextDiskEMeter]
Meter=STRING
MeterStyle=MeterTextStyle
MeasureName=MeasureDriveE
AutoScale=1
Postfix="B"
Prefix="E: "

[TextDiskFMeter]
Meter=STRING
MeterStyle=MeterTextStyle
MeasureName=MeasureDriveF
AutoScale=1
Postfix="B"
Prefix="F: "

[PerfMon]
Meter=STRING
MeterStyle=MeterTextStyle
MeasureName=MeasurePerfmon
AutoScale=0
Postfix=" %"
Prefix="CPU: "
Scale=100000.0

[PerfMon2]
Meter=STRING
MeterStyle=MeterTextStyle
MeasureName=MeasurePerfmon2
Postfix="Bps"
Prefix="Disk: "
AutoScale=1

MeterPlain.png

it should be noted that the concept of different skins did not really exist back then, you had to replace one Rainmeter.ini with the other.
this made sense as it was as far as i know exclusively used as a LS module. one Rainmeter instance was enough, as there were also plenty other modules to display system stats and many things we do today with Rainmeter had (and still have) better equivalents.

the title of the documentation was "Rainmation Manual", a left-over from an other module by Rainy. with Rainmation one could do per-pixel alpha-transparent animation. this was very rare in the Windows 2000, 9x days.

[Mordasius]

This is getting to be a little like the "The Archers Omnibus": something we really don't need to listen to but can't help wanting to tune in to catch up on the story once you've got us started. It would be neat if you could add dates to the releases of Rainmeter 0.2, 0.3 etc.

The main part of the story I'm missing so far is an explanation of why "Rainmeter". Why not "Sysmeter" or "SysMonitor" or something along those lines?

Is there a hint in "Author=Rainy (Kimmo Pekkola)"?

[moshi]

It would be neat if you could add dates to the releases of Rainmeter 0.2, 0.3 etc.

sure:
0.1 was released on February 22nd 2001
0.2 was released on July 19th 2001
0.3 was released on August 19th 2001

The main part of the story I'm missing so far is an explanation of why "Rainmeter". Why not "Sysmeter" or "SysMonitor" or something along those lines?

Is there a hint in "Author=Rainy (Kimmo Pekkola)"?

indeed, "Rainy" is Kimmo's nickname and he named all his LiteStep modules like that. there were Rainmation (one of the very first ways to put alpha-blended animations on your desktop), Rainminder (displayed notifications on predefined times or events like a Winamp song change), Rainmeter and Rainlendar.
a link to Rainlendar wont hurt, just in case somebody has never heard of it: http://rainlendar.net/cms/index.php (everyone should get it, it is pretty awesome)

as Rainmeter was not one of the first LiteStep modules, i'd guess the most generic names had already been taken.
but considering there were LiteStep developers with nicknames like demigod, DeViLBOi or rabidCOW it could have been much, much worse

[moshi]

on September 1st 2001 Rainmeter 0.4 was released. it got new measures, a context menu (it didn't do much, but now it was possible to close the standalone version of Rainmeter). it also got mouse actions, those worked globally for the whole Rainmeter window.
additionally it got two new meters: bars and bitmaps, plus it became possible to use images for histograms.

so it got a new default skin called "Gray" which featured these new meters:

gray.jpg

i have attached an RMSKIN at the bottom, if you feel nostalgic enough to give it a try.

and look at this gem in found in the documentation:

Here is some features which may be included in the future:
More things to measure (any suggestions?)
Properly autoscaling histogram
GUI config (yeah right