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Not sure if this is even possible, so have to ask.

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Yincognito
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Re: Not sure if this is even possible, so have to ask.

Post by Yincognito »

Beuwolf wrote: March 25th, 2020, 9:16 pmMy idea was to have a smaller size with draggable guide lines to use as a measure reader when doing other skins, if needed to find out exact X and Y measures.
Eclectic tech already provided a very nice solution for this ... but I wonder why would one need to create a skin for this, since using something like [!Log #CURRENTCONFIGX#] on, say, a mouse click, would get that skin's X on the monitor (likewise, this can be done for individual meters, just by slightly modifying the bang).

Plus, there is also the MouseXY plugin that gets any hovered X or Y in "real time" (depnding on the update rate of the skin using the plugin).
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Re: Not sure if this is even possible, so have to ask.

Post by eclectic-tech »

Yincognito wrote: March 26th, 2020, 11:56 am Eclectic tech already provided a very nice solution for this ... but I wonder why would one need to create a skin for this, since using something like [!Log #CURRENTCONFIGX#] on, say, a mouse click, would get that skin's X on the monitor (likewise, this can be done for individual meters, just by slightly modifying the bang).

Plus, there is also the MouseXY plugin that gets any hovered X or Y in "real time" (depnding on the update rate of the skin using the plugin).
Reason #1: OCD :D

Yes, I use the MouseXY plugin when I design skins and want to know the exact screen position of the mouse cursor.
I find both tools help with designing and arranging desktop appearances. :thumbup:
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Re: Not sure if this is even possible, so have to ask.

Post by Beuwolf »

Yincognito wrote: March 26th, 2020, 11:56 am Eclectic tech already provided a very nice solution for this ...
So it does, but even if I did stumble on his skin before I posted the above it was only full screen mode, just like the other skin I originally posted about. Later when he posted his updated version it was more in line with what I'm looking for.
Yincognito wrote: March 26th, 2020, 11:56 am... but I wonder why would one need to create a skin for this, since using something like [!Log #CURRENTCONFIGX#] on, say, a mouse click, would get that skin's X on the monitor (likewise, this can be done for individual meters, just by slightly modifying the bang).
I was not aware of that. On the other hand, I am pretty sure there is a lot of things I have not yet found out about Rainmeter ! :p Then again, it wouldn't exactly do what I was looking for though.

My thought was having a 'ruler dashboard' (so to speak) with 2 movable X-axis lines and 2 Y-axis lines, plop the skin I am working on ontop of it. Then using the moveable axis lines to find out exact positions between items to get it all looking somewhat aligned and such. This relating to the new Icon Dock I'm working on, which will have drop down menu's and, for now, giving me a bit of a headache as I'm stumbling my way through it to get it to work the way I want it to.

I know I can just use rough guidelines until I get things right but we all work differently. And I'm stubborn, so unless I get totally stuck, wont be posting and asking for help. This did seem to be something that wasn't possible (the way I was thinking) to do though, hence why I posted and asking about it, and it turns out to be right, so saved me some headache. ;-)
Yincognito wrote: March 26th, 2020, 11:56 amPlus, there is also the MouseXY plugin that gets any hovered X or Y in "real time" (depnding on the update rate of the skin using the plugin).
Found out about that plugin yesterday as well (it's being used by the Rulers and Guides mod I posted in the first post), not had time to look into it yet though.

And seeing what eclectic_tech wrote while I was typing this. Yes, OCD has a small part of it as well I guess ! :oops: :p

----

Another thought. I tried one skin some time ago (can't recall which one it was though) where I could not move the skin/dock above a certain height on my desktop, so guessing limits can be set as to where you can put the skins ?? Would it be possible to do a 'box' at a certain place on the desktop where the 'ruler dashboard' is placed, and can't be moved, then use the same box measurement's to lock in the 4 'sliders' as well ? If that makes sense ?
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Re: Not sure if this is even possible, so have to ask.

Post by Yincognito »

eclectic-tech wrote: March 26th, 2020, 12:25 pm Reason #1: OCD :D

Yes, I use the MouseXY plugin when I design skins and want to know the exact screen position of the mouse cursor.
I find both tools help with designing and arranging desktop appearances. :thumbup:
Oh, yep - the OCD. :D Me doesn't believe in that thing - I'm an adept of the mind's dictatorship over itself and the body... :twisted:
I can understand the behavior though. In such scenarios, I use my eyes mainly, and if my eyes aren't enough, I just take a screenshot and analyze everything using Photoshop's info panel. Oh and Rainmeter's layouts (which I do use) make the whole thing a non-issue, since you can align skin positions any way you like.

Just sharing my view on it, that's all. But I guess everybody likes a certain convenience when doing some things, and skins doing what is more or less manually done above are the most convenient option one has (if you don't take the development period and effort into consideration, that is).
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Re: Not sure if this is even possible, so have to ask.

Post by Yincognito »

Beuwolf wrote: March 26th, 2020, 12:39 pmAnd I'm stubborn, so unless I get totally stuck, wont be posting and asking for help. This did seem to be something that wasn't possible (the way I was thinking) to do though, hence why I posted and asking about it, and it turns out to be right, so saved me some headache. ;-)
Haha, me too, I'm like that. :lol: However, on the "is not possible" thing, I'm on the "it IS possible camp" - eclectic tech knows. :D Nothing is impossible if one really wants something.
Beuwolf wrote: March 26th, 2020, 12:39 pmAnother thought. I tried one skin some time ago (can't recall which one it was though) where I could not move the skin/dock above a certain height on my desktop, so guessing limits can be set as to where you can put the skins ?? Would it be possible to do a 'box' at a certain place on the desktop where the 'ruler dashboard' is placed, and can't be moved, then use the same box measurement's to lock in the 4 'sliders' as well ? If that makes sense ?
Are you sure that moving limits on the skin you tried were not just Keep on screen being set on the skin (that had a larger size that what you could visually be aware of)? I don't think there's a reliable way to make a skin "static" in terms of positioning through "regular" code (i.e. through moving to the desired position on every update), without some flickering when you attempt to move it (and it jumps back within its limits, for example). Although...if I think about it, one can [!Move ...] the skin to the desired position and then (temporarily or not) [!Draggable ...] or [!ClickThrough ...]to make it impossible to drag or move, in effect making it positionally static at the desired coordinates...
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Re: Not sure if this is even possible, so have to ask.

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Yincognito wrote: March 26th, 2020, 1:05 pm Nothing is impossible if one really wants something.
Well, I have to argue with this. Impossible things do exist.
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Re: Not sure if this is even possible, so have to ask.

Post by Yincognito »

balala wrote: March 26th, 2020, 1:17 pm Well, I have to argue with this. Impossible things do exist.
As I said, one's mind (which tells him that "impossible things do exist", for example) is the only thing that makes something 'impossible' (and not the practical impossibility, given the right tools and approach). It's a vicious circle, caused by the limitations we cause on ourselves.
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Re: Not sure if this is even possible, so have to ask.

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Yincognito wrote: March 26th, 2020, 1:05 pm Are you sure that moving limits on the skin you tried were not just Keep on screen being set on the skin (that had a larger size that what you could visually be aware of)?
Have no clue to be honest, this was quiet a while ago, around the time I started learning about Rainmeter. All I do remember it was a 'smaller' dock (maybe like a HDD/CPU/RAM etc dock) and it wouldn't let me put it at the top of my screen, was like there was an invisible boarder along the top part, maybe 400 pixels or so below the top part of my screen. The screen is a 43'' 3840x2160 so it might been 'set' for a 1920x1080 monitor and hence limited where I could move the dock ?? Although, can't remember if it did the same side ways too though.
Yincognito wrote: March 26th, 2020, 1:05 pmI don't think there's a reliable way to make a skin "static" in terms of positioning through "regular" code (i.e. through moving to the desired position on every update), without some flickering when you attempt to move it (and it jumps back within its limits, for example). Although...if I think about it, one can [!Move ...] the skin to the desired position and then (temporarily or not) [!Draggable ...] or [!ClickThrough ...]to make it impossible to drag or move, in effect making it positionally static at the desired coordinates...
Yeah, I did try the Draggable option, works fine on the main 'dash board' but the 'sliders' would been stuck. Although, thinking about it... Yeah, that would work.

I can use the Draggable option to freeze the 'dash board' in location, then use the Top most option on the 'sliders', that way it would work roughly as I want it. An accidental click on the 'dash board' would not make the 'pre view' dock drop under it, and having the small sliders being Topmost wont matter, since they so thin they wont be away if ending up over the browser or anything else on the screen. Then having the 'Snap to edges' option on, would make it "almost" as if it all was locked together as one skin.. almost.. :p

The downside being that I have to have that part of the desktop free, so can't be working on a ini file, then pull the 'dock' over it to check measure, then continue working. Have to flip away the ini document instead.. or in my case, several of them when I get into it ! :oops: :rolmfao:

So that would sort that I guess ! :thumbup:
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Re: Not sure if this is even possible, so have to ask.

Post by Yincognito »

Beuwolf wrote: March 26th, 2020, 1:47 pmThe downside being that I have to have that part of the desktop free, so can't be working on a ini file, then pull the 'dock' over it to check measure, then continue working. Have to flip away the ini document instead.. or in my case, several of them when I get into it ! :oops: :rolmfao:

So that would sort that I guess ! :thumbup:
I think I might have another way of doing this, that doesn't require multiple skins as draggable guidelines - but I'm not sure if that would cover all your requirements. One can easily make a "crosshand" skin showing its center coordinates, and such a skin can be moved around anywhere on the screen (will have to be always topmost in order to show itself above any other skin you "measure"). Or, just as easily, one can make a "frame" skin that shows the X/Y/W/H of the frame lines or frame span, and that increases its width/height or both (by 2 pixels on each scroll, one for each "side" of the frame) on mouse scroll (and maybe even move by 1px to the left/right/top/bottom on some other mouse action, to cover for the pixel imprecision of manually dragging it).

If that covers your needs, I think it might be one of the simplest solutions there is. After all, in most cases, one is not interested in the coordinates over the whole screen, but just in the 1 to 4 coordinates that make up the "corners" of a rectangle, plus another 2 in its width and height - so 6 in total.
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Re: Not sure if this is even possible, so have to ask.

Post by Beuwolf »

Yincognito wrote: March 26th, 2020, 2:21 pm I think I might have another way of doing this, that doesn't require multiple skins as draggable guidelines - but I'm not sure if that would cover all your requirements. One can easily make a "crosshand" skin showing its center coordinates, and such a skin can be moved around anywhere on the screen (will have to be always topmost in order to show itself above any other skin you "measure"). Or, just as easily, one can make a "frame" skin that shows the X/Y/W/H of the frame lines or frame span, and that increases its width/height or both (by 2 pixels on each scroll, one for each "side" of the frame) on mouse scroll (and maybe even move by 1px to the left/right/top/bottom on some other mouse action, to cover for the pixel imprecision of manually dragging it).

If that covers your needs, I think it might be one of the simplest solutions there is. After all, in most cases, one is not interested in the coordinates over the whole screen, but just in the 1 to 4 coordinates that make up the "corners" of a rectangle, plus another 2 in its width and height - so 6 in total.
Yeah, no interest in the coordinates of the screen, just space between items in a dock etc.

So you mean something like the below picture, but able to move the 'sliders' with either the mouse scroll wheel, or maybe even keyboard ? Example Horizontal Slider 1 with Up and Down arrow, Horizontal Slider 2 with CTRL + Up or Down arrow ? Then the vertical sliders with the side arrows ? (Forget about the red squares, they just 'handles' I put on the 'sliders', and the skin would be much lighter so the skin underneath would show better.)

Image

Something like that would be great, if it is possible. What kind of stuff should I concentrate on reading up to for something like that then ??

I have seen skins using the scroll wheel to decrease or increase the size of them but so far not gone in and tried to figure it all out.
Last edited by Beuwolf on March 26th, 2020, 3:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.