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Messages - Rich Walsh

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61
Comments, Suggestions & Questions / Re: os2world website script problem?
« on: December 07, 2023, 05:11:41 pm »
O.T....

Pete, where does that CPU meter in your screenshots come from? Is it a 3rd-party replacement or is it just so old I don't recognize it? (I rewrote "Pulse" 4 years ago in XWP 1.0.13.)

62
Programming / Re: Bigicons
« on: December 05, 2023, 05:25:12 am »
I found out that the bigicons.txt has a size limit before it destabilizes the entire wpshell.

I'd certainly be interested in looking at a copy of 'bigicons.txt' that was too big. I checked for obvious stuff (file buffer too small, memory allocated but not freed, etc) but nothing jumped out at me.

63
Programming / Re: Bigicons
« on: December 02, 2023, 06:06:38 pm »
Opening the Properties of an object involved in system hangs eg  "Refresh Removable Media" and selecting the Icon tab results in an incomplete display of that page, Current icon image and text missing and yet another system hang - this occurs with icon size set as Normal as well as 56x56 and other sizes.
[...]
If Dynamic Icons works without the above problems for other people I can only guess it is something on my system causing the problems. Not sure what to check though...

In this case, the problem is not operator error or a bad install - it's just broken. I can reliably lock up my system by using D&D to copy a program object to a folder that's open in Icon view. You might think that I would have noticed this before but I use Xview almost exclusively and only have 2 folders that use Icon view (one of them being the Desktop).

Since I still have the source code, I added some debugging messages to follow the path it takes coming up with an icon. For program objects, I can only describe it as "extraordinary". I also found out why datafiles don't get the default icon based on their WPS class: it gets that icon then throws it away and tries to find an icon based on name or association.

Another thing I learned: I had actually made multiple updates to Dynamic Icons over the years but totally forgot about them (e.g. getting the Trashcan to show the proper empty/full icon). Senior moment?

64
Programming / Re: Bigicons
« on: November 30, 2023, 10:00:14 pm »
Opening the Drives folder results in a system hang, Drives folder status bar shows "Collecting objects...", mouse moves but cannot click on anything, C-A-D works to get me to the option of WPS Reset which only delivers a black screen, [...] only the system box Off button works.
[...]
Rebooted, reset icon size to Normal for Icon View and can now open Drives folder.

Sorry, Pete, this one got lost in the shuffle... My best _guess_ is that something other than one of the Drive objects is causing the problem. "Refresh Removable Media" is a likely suspect. Move it and any other non-drive objects to another folder, close the window, then restart the Desktop and retry.

Before doing any of that, you may want to open the Drives folder's Properties to the 'Include' tab and delete any filters so you can see everything in there (also, do a Sort or Arrange to ensure everything is in view).

Quote
Prior to the Drives folder problem I noticed that some folders opened in icon view did not use the icon size 56 but were displayed at Normal size.

I've found a few like that - I don't remember setting these folders to "Normal" but apparently they thought I did. Once you manually set them back to the current default, they'll change when the default changes.

65
Applications / Re: Re: XWP v1.0.16
« on: November 30, 2023, 09:23:34 pm »
Try this msg file, had to zip it to post.
Replace the current X:\SYS\apps\DSSaver\Lang\ss_en.msg with the one in the zip and test. Note that this is only for the properties and I simply commented out the hard coded 9.Warpsans,

Thank you, Dave!!  The DSS pages were a concern when getting XWP "Text Size" going - I'm glad to see the fix is so easy. Now, can we get together and rearrange a few things so those pages aren't so crazy-big?

66
Programming / Re: Bigicons
« on: November 30, 2023, 07:04:07 pm »
David, under the [CLASS] heading, the line for WPFolder needs to be updated to point at your icons. Currently, it shows:
    "WPFolder"               "folder.png", "folder-open.png"
It should be:
    "WPFolder"               "folder_closed.png", "folder_open.png"

Also the top lines are mangled. Currently, it shows:
    "templaPOPUPte"         "view-pim-notes.png"
It should be:
    [SYSTEM]
    "template"             "view-pim-notes.png"

Final note: if you don't have a PNG for something, remove its entry. It's just clutter that slows down the lookup process.

67
Programming / Re: Bigicons
« on: November 30, 2023, 05:31:53 am »
Rich, is there a way in the bigicons.txt file to use one icon file for all icons to use that are not assigned an icon.

For unassigned txt files, is there a setting for the system to look at? The same for URL text files. For unassigned folders. I noticed these keep the Original OS/2 icon.

Sorry for the delay in responding but I needed to do some testing.

First, though, a comment: when AN licensed Dynamic Icons (a.k.a. Sunny Icons), it was in a pretty sorry state (IMHO). With the initial release of AOS 5.0 just weeks away. I started trying to fix things. Fortunately (for me), the release was delayed so I was able to get it from "lousy" to "minimally acceptable" - the state you see it in today. Since then, nothing meaningful has been done to it. Since then there have been incremental changes but nothing to fix some basic design errors.  I no longer work for AN so I'm not in a position to give it the TLC it clearly needs. I can tell you how it _should_ work but sadly, there's nothing I can do to fix it.

Anyway... if a file can't be given an icon based on its type, its extension, its Object ID, or its associated app, it should get an icon based on its WPS class (e.g. WPDataFile). Sometimes it does, sometimes, it doesn't (sometimes both). The only one that works consistently is WPFolder because I worked on that.

As a test, I opened a folder containing one of my programming projects. Files whose extensions are listed in bigicons.txt had the right icon. The rest had the stock WPS datafile icon. When I opened one of these files' Properties, the object suddenly got the right icon.

Next, I opened a different folder in Xview first, then opened it in Icon View. Almost all of the miscellaneous files had the correct icon. This suggests these failures are due to timing issues: if it can't come up with the right icon quickly enough the first time the folder opens, it uses what's available (i.e. the stock icon). The next time, with all of the objects already in place, it has the time to find the right icon (mostly).

For my final test I had a "bright idea". At the very end of the list of files and extensions I put "*" and associated it with the MIDI icon. After a restart, most of the miscellaneous files had the MIDI icon - but so did every Program Object that didn't have a custom icon. Pretty lame...

I've gone into all this detail (sorry for the length) to confirm what you already know: some parts of Dynamic Icons just don't work correctly and won't no matter what you do. For the foreseeable future, only icons that target specific files, extensions, IDs, etc. will work reliably. You can establish default icons for various WPS classes but don't expect a lot and you won't be disappointed :)

68
Programming / Re: Bigicons
« on: November 29, 2023, 06:21:51 pm »
On the next reboot I did not see any change to the icons. [...]
Are the icons supposedly to be automatically changed on the next reboot, or I missed up something on the thread?

On the last tab in the "Workplace Shell" object ('Icon size'), there's a checkbox labelled "Use custom icons". That must be on.

Precisely because this option is so well hidden, I've started work on a companion page for "Text Size" called (yes!) "Icon Size" :)  It has a simplified UI for enabling Dynamic Icons (including custom icons) as well as an option to have XCenter use either Full-sized or Mini icons. I believe Roderick Klein will be displaying some screenshots of it in his Warpstock presentation.

BTW... this new page will not replace the existing D.I. pages - it will just be easier to find...

69
Programming / Re: Bigicons
« on: November 29, 2023, 03:56:40 pm »
I tried this and everything worked OK - except for SET BIGICONS=<path>. The reason is simple: it's WRONG! It should be SET BIGICONSPATH=<path>. Give that a try...
Does it means that  "SET BIGICONS=" is always wrong, or that it is also possible to use "SET BIGICONSPATH=" ?
Is there a difference between both that you know about?

The difference between the two is that "SET BIGICONSPATH=" is correct (i.e. that's what the code looks for) while "SET BIGICONS=" is incorrect (i.e. the code doesn't look for this). The fact that AN has been putting the wrong entry in config.sys for the last 6 years doesn't change things. My only question is why it took someone 6 years to notice the error.

FWIW... I was the one who transformed "Sunny Icons" into "Dynamic Icons", so maybe I was the one who gave them the wrong info. If so, I apologize for the error.

70
Programming / Re: Bigicons
« on: November 28, 2023, 05:25:11 pm »
I have attached some of the icons including an update bigicons.txt which corrects a lot of the mistakes I made.

I tried this and everything worked OK - except for SET BIGICONS=<path>. The reason is simple: it's WRONG! It should be SET BIGICONSPATH=<path>. Give that a try...

71
Programming / Re: Bigicons
« on: November 27, 2023, 06:12:36 pm »
I then selected Use custom icons and and Dynamic setting it to 56, closed and rebooted.
Nothing changed. The text was still named bigicons.txt.

The filename must not be changed.

Quote
I was wonder if this feature was ever tested.

Yes, both at the time of its inclusion in AOS 5.0, and within the last week in response to your postings. WFM.

I replaced my copy of 'bigicons.txt' with yours, then restarted the WPS. Entries that you hadn't changed, such as folders, font palette, and color palette, all came up with the appropriate PNG icon.

It occurs to me that you had previously been replacing icons manually on an object-by-object basis. Doing so would override any changes you've made to the defaults. Have you tried pressing the "Reset icon" button that's displayed when 'png' is selected? Also, the "Browse" button should bring up a file selection dialog that points at the currently active 'bigicons' directory. Does it point at the correct directory?

If problems persist, perhaps you could post a representative sample of your icons (10-20) for objects I'm likely to have, such as stuff in System Setup. This would let me do more comprehensive testing.

72
a) If I click on Quattro Pro's icon, it starts up normally in a full-screen DOS session.  But trying to open the "Icon" page in its Properties still freezes the system and it's CAD Time.

While there may be an issue with QP's icon, I'd suggest trying something else first.

In 'c:\os2\install' you'll find a file named 'database.txt'. Rename it. This is a listing of known DOS & Win3 apps along with the specialized DOS/WinOS2 session settings for each. When you create a new program object for one of these apps, the system automatically imports the associated settings (or at least, it used to). In the past this was known to cause problems sometimes, so it's best to eliminate it as a suspect (you can always open it in Text Editor and manually apply these settings - both WS and QP are listed).

Quote
Trash Can's Properties do not seem to offer any way to change the icon.  Is this a Sinister Indicator?

Unlike other folders, Trash Can's icons show Empty/Full rather than Closed/Open. I guess the original author didn't want you screwing up his handiwork.

Quote
d)  How do I configure the Drives to open in icon mode by clicking on them, not on the "Open As..." menu option?  Believe me, I have searched for a setting that stays put.

In addition to the Menu page in its notebook (which has been there since 1992), there's also what may be XWP's single-best enhancement: Select 'Open as', then shift-click on the view you want as the default. Drive objects can be "difficult" and may require you to do this twice.

Quote
And Drive names also seem immune to the normal name-changing procedures (such as that page in Properties).

Drive objects are recreated at each restart and assigned a name formulaically. You can select a different "formula" by opening the Drives' notebook to the misnamed 'Drive icons' page and selecting one of the alternatives. All changes are live, so have the Drives folder open to see the effects.

73
The question is: is it UEFI capable, and is it enabled properly?

FWIW... the easiest / fastest way to determine if you're in UEFI or CSM mode is to go to the System Setup->Screen object. At the top of the first page (possibly out of sight unless you make the window taller), a UEFI boot will show:

Card name:  UEFI VESA Emulator v1.0
Card vendor: Arca Noae, LLC

74
Making entries in the script for system objects that were not included along with new PNGs..  Still working on the text structure to something more easier to work with.  Renaming icons so a person can know what icon it affects.
[...]I was wondering, if problems occur after testing, can I boot up and replace with an earlier WPShell backup before testing with another script? Can one add comments to the text like one does with rexx scripts?

First, a terminology thing: if you're referring to 'bigicons.txt', then we're talking about a type of text-based INI file and *not* a script (i.e. it doesn't do anything on its own). AFAIK, there's nothing you could do to it to blow up the system, so don't worry about system backups and the like. The worst that could happen is that you won't get the PNG you wanted.

Next... the basic structure of the file ([application] entries followed by "key / value" pairs) must be preserved. And, the names of the applications (e.g. "CLASS", "TYPE") must remain unchanged because they're hard-coded. Beyond that, you can rearrange the applications and reorder the individual key/value pairs.

The file gets read once at WPS startup, so if you make changes to it, restart the Desktop to put them into effect. To enter a comment or comment-out a line, put a semicolon at the very beginning of the line.

75
I noticed all the icons listed are not in the bigicons folder.

That figures - it was always a mess. (Don't blame me :) I worked on the code, someone else handled the icons). I see it has been cleaned up a bit but still needs work.

Basically, don't worry about what's in the BIGICONS folder or in 'bigicons.txt'. Consider it a blank slate you can use to do whatever you want. Make a copy then delete stuff you don't want to support and add stuff you do - not just programs but WPS classes and file types too. It's your choice, not "theirs"...

To make things easier, open 'config.sys' and locate "SET BIGICONS=", then change the path to point at your icons folder. While your folder can be anywhere, the final product (say, 'DGicons') should probably go in 'x:\sys\icons' for consistency.

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