tjhrulz wrote: ↑March 13th, 2021, 4:35 am
So I started looking at this and while I have not been able to start probing it within Rainmeter (I reinstalled Windows a while back due to a Windows issue and since then have not managed to get ilmerge & our dllexporter to play nice again since then and I would need ilmerge in order to use their .dll inside a Rainmeter plugin) I did look through the codebase and read their limited documentation.
From what I saw there is no mention of requiring the base program for that library, and the program itself is based on that library. AKA the library they have is not a library to interface with their program and requires the original program to run, but that that library is a standalone version of the program so all the functionality can be embedded inside another program.
So while yes I could write a plugin to interface with this that likely would as you say put Rainmeter to at least admin level access, if not maybe even driver level access. As for maybe trying the webserver route that appears to be using json for the data but it seems to be coming from a minified library I am not familiar with so I am not sure how the data is getting updated on the webpage (It may be that the program is modifying the page directly), we could maybe explore building a headless browser into a plugin and then skins could scrape the webpage that way but that then lacks the simplicity of what I would think we would want to go for (And if we thought the rampage of users wondering why their weather skin is broken again was bad with GET it will be only worse with a headless browser).
PS. You really missed an opportunity for a good LOTR reference in your message to me, you should have said "Rainmeter calls for aid"
I think we will need an approach similar to how HWiNFO and CoreTemp work now. Where the user manually runs (or has it run on startup) the "application", which can and must have high security access. That application should then somehow "expose", using an approach like the Shared Memory functionality in HWiNFO, the values to a Rainmeter plugin, which won't need any particular access level.
We shouldn't even consider trying to "bake-in" any functionality that requires access to a ring0 driver to work. I think it is a bad idea to encourage running Rainmeter with that level of security.
I actually think the application that comes with it now should be fine, just needs some work to "expose" the values to the plugin.
As far as a WebParser approach, I'm not entirely opposed to that, pending some research on resources and performance. The application that comes with it already supports a web-based interface to the data, but it would need to be changed to output in raw XML or some such, rather than the client-side Javascript it is using now for output.
The hwinfo64 dev wrote at the links below that he is working with the rainmeter team on how to continue providing support for just rainmeter without limitations or a fee. Might be worth it if everyone just stays on hwinfo64 6.42 for awhile to see if something ends up changing with all of this.
Personally, I wouldn't have minded paying to support the development of hwinfo64 since I use quite a bit, but I was a bit turned off by the pro license only providing support for one year of updates before you had to pay to continue getting any further updates.
We have been in discussions with Martin, the author of HWiNFO, and have come up with a solution that I think will please everyone.
Stay tuned, as there will be a new beta version of HWiNFO coming out on their site sometime this coming week. I will alert you when it is available.
This change is going to require re-writing skins that use HWiNFO, but I think you will find that it will be much less complicated going forward to access the sensor data in your skins. No plugin at all will be required! I will be creating a new "How to" post once the new version is available.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. - Arthur C. Clarke
Arbitria wrote: ↑March 14th, 2021, 1:31 pm
An agreement is the best move in this situation! Monetize your products easily and don’t hack the shoulders of ordinary users.
I also ask for detailed recommendations for setting up the new version for non-technical users.
We stay tuned, thanks
Martin at HWiNFO is a good guy, who is only trying to allow HWiNFO to pay for the enormous amount of work that goes into it on an ongoing basis. Keeping up with all the changes to hardware is just a crazy amount of effort. The Shared Memory support was just being abused by commercial entities who wanted all the power of HWiNFO in their applications, but didn't want to provide any support for the project. The impact on the Rainmeter plugin was an unintended, but unavoidable consequence of addressing that.
I think you will find that the new approach is FAR less complicated to setup than it was before with the old plugin. There is still some effort that will be required by the end-user of your skin(s) to configure things, but much, much less than before. No plugin at all will be required going forward. As I said though, you will indeed need to revise/rewrite all of the skins that currently use HWiNFO.
To be honest, this is going to be so much less complicated to use that I actually welcome the change Martin made. There will be some kerfuffle while everyone adjusts to the new approach, but the end result is going to be really good.
I will be posting a very detailed and hopefully clear explanation of how to set things up and use HWiNFO in your skins as soon as the new version of HWiNFO that supports this is available on their site. Martin hopes to have that done as a new beta version in the coming days.
Yes, not all screen users know programming languages, so clear step-by-step instructions are very helpful for non-technical users.
And yet, I think monetizing any software product is the right strategy. Martin is the right developer. I hope you think about it too.
The question is different, this should be done with a light hand and, above all, think about ordinary users! And not start thinking only about money from commercial lines. And to pay for Rainmeter or its separate ensembles of screens 2-5 dollars a year is quite friendly then. This is the future. You cannot avoid it.
HWInfo has been free, and consistently maintained for years. In all honesty I support Martin's decision, my only concern was what would happen to my beloved Rainmeter and it's ability to use HWInfo.
In most cases I despise the subscription model, but in this instance $25 US for a year is a pittance for the product for and all the work that goes into it on a daily basis.
I wish he would offer a lifetime license, I could more easily get behind that.
Rainmeter team and the galaxy brains working behind the scenes on our gadgets and skins, I salute you. I would gladly donate some of my limited pension to you, just for this alone.
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Once up a time there was a now playing signature here. Now it is no more. Maybe someone can make a now playing sig gen for Last.fm?
y0himba wrote: ↑March 14th, 2021, 2:45 pm
... $25 US for a year ...
It's expensive for poor countries! India, Vietnam, Russia, South Africa and many others do you know how much 1 US dollar costs there ?! I'll say right away: it's expensive!
Only a balanced sales policy, the right ambassador by country.
If the developers had not agreed, I would have been looking for another code to take readings from my devices ...
Paying for Rainmeter and its screenshots is really possible, grab my last shirt!
jsmorley wrote: ↑March 14th, 2021, 12:48 pm
We have been in discussions with Martin, the author of HWiNFO, and have come up with a solution that I think will please everyone.
Stay tuned, as there will be a new beta version of HWiNFO coming out on their site sometime this coming week. I will alert you when it is available.
This change is going to require re-writing skins that use HWiNFO, but I think you will find that it will be much less complicated going forward to access the sensor data in your skins. No plugin at all will be required! I will be creating a new "How to" post once the new version is available.
Great news! As you say, Martin is a good guy who I think is getting beat up on a little too hard for his change. He really had no other option due to the abuse/misuse from commercial vendors, though I think $25/year is kind of high for what the Rainmeter community needs. I'm looking forward to seeing what he comes up with!
@Morley
Excellent news! I also was about to ask Martin for some "exception" for Rainmeter users, but your voice is by all means stronger as to that. Even if it would stay as it is, removing the limit is an outstanding move, let alone making the things simpler for both sides, especially for the users.
I guess writing sensor values to the registries like AIDA64 does could be implemented, but we will see.
