Hi,
to put this question in a simple manner: Does anyone know how to use the Cairo widget class with WPS-Wizard 0.6b3 (the Rexx script is broken)? Maybe I should just wait for the next major release.
btw. I assembled a new Icon theme from several existing KDE icon themes which is quite suitable if used with an overall more OS-X/Aqua-like look and feel (but actually it's not an OS-X Icon theme).
Here's a screenshot: http://www.antrophos.de/shai/aqua_icons.jpg
It still needs a lot of work, though.
btw2: WPS-Wizard is really a fine piece of work. I admit I'm only using it because of the Icon addon - but - honestly - the OS/2 desktop could really use some more eye candy...
greetings,
Robin
Oh, in a related matter: I wonder if there's an WPS enhancement which adds the possibility to switch off system titlebars of WPS folders. I think a titlebar-less folder with big PNG icons, pseudo-transparency and drop shadows (NPSWPS would be handy yet alone to be able to move the folder without switching the titlebar on and off or using the XPager) would look incredibly cool...
Even if such an WPS class does not exist it should be quite easy to write. But I don't think I can find the time to do it (I would have to learn some basic things about WPS programming first) - I cannot even manage to improve or rewrite my existing projects...
I still havent managed to get it installed (get an error registering the classes - I am not sure if it's a conflict with Styler/2, xWP or an older version of WPSW)...
But that brings me to the answer to your question in the secod post... Styler/2 will allow you to hide the titlebar, as well as window rolling/etc... (putting the mouse on the top edge of the window will restore the titlebar - and re-hide it when you move the mouse away - until you re-click the tb hide button).
Screenshot attached.
(http://www.geocodeengine.com/Images/Captured001.gif)
NOTE:
- Some things, (namely Mozilla & MPTS) dont work properly with Styler/2. Mozilla isn't really a problem, it just doesnt properly respond to the message that it's screen real-estate has changed and leaves a second status bar at the bottom. MPTS has all sorts of issues apparently (but is DISABLED in the Styler/2 preferences by default and wont be modified by it... never un-disabled it, so I dont know what happens if you choose to)
- I am not sure if Styler/2 is compatible with eStyler or the other theming mechanisms in eCS. I run it exclusively on WSeB and Warp 4 (and *THINK* I ran it for a while on eCS 1.0 - but there were a lot of changes since then)
- My problems with installing the new WPSW *MAY* be due to Styler/2 being loaded... or who knows what other add-on that I have running... I *will* be trying WPSW *with* Styler/2 on a fresh install in the future and will post my results (I think it's just the order things are installed that may be causing the issue).
On another note... are those "real" (or real) folder transparencies in your screenshot?
-Robert
This is what a window can look like with Styler/2...
(http://www.geocodeengine.com/Images/Captured002.gif)
The Titlebar Graphic and buttons are custom (created by me for a semi Windows Vista/XP look - comes with a bunch, and can use any properly sized bitmap you can create). Unfortunately, I dont think it (Styler/2) is maintained anymore - though *updated* portions of it were used in at least one version of eCS (which is why it might not work with eStyler).
It added a lot of additional functionality I miss (for instance for VIO windows, sliding menus, mouse movement,changes the system font without causing clipping problems and more).
I am not sure if Alessandro is still working on components of it for eCS, but if so, I'd like to see a lot of those features added to eStyler (or even an updated Styler/2 as an upgrade... bought it once, found it worth it, would gladly buy a new version with the added features from eCS, and the old features from Styler/2).
-Robert
Unfortunately, it's only pseudotransparency (Candyfolder) - you cannot see it because they are directly on top of the desktop :-). WPS-Wizard adds a kind of (pseudo) real transparency to tooltips if you stay on an object with the mouse for some seconds. That's possible because it doesn't move, therefore the background isn't updated if something moves beneath the tooltip. Looks pretty cool anyway since a situation where you could actually see this is very rare. I was thinking about the possibility to use WarpOverlay to do a very dirty hack which would add that kind of transparency to all OS/2 popups and context menus, but since WO doesn't work with my current video hardware I cannot verify it.
Styler seems tempting - it can also restrict the size of maximized windows, a very useful feature if you are running a two monitor system like I do. I remember trying it once but it didn't work for some reason, maybe I try to install it again.
What differences are there between Styler/2 and eStyler Lite? I believe I use eStyler Lite that is included with eCS 2.0 RC2, and I love it. The roll up window is missing though :(
It has one big advantage over eStyler Lite. Styler/2 does not need a reboot for the new control buttons to take effect. It also contains one set of new buttons for roll up and down. This feature is also not contained in eStyler Lite. Styler/2 handles the control schemes differently. I preferred building schemes for eStyler Lite when I was doing these type schemes. Otherwise, they are similar.
To my knowledge, Styler/2 is no longer being developed. It was my understanding that Allesandros was going to release it under some kind of license. Howerver, that has never come to pass.
I believe he got tired of trying to overcome all the bugs or limitations that IBM refused to fix. With supporters like IBM, who needs enemies.
Quote from: Shai on 2007.10.22, 08:55:02
Unfortunately, it's only pseudotransparency (Candyfolder) - you cannot see it because they are directly on top of the desktop :-). WPS-Wizard adds a kind of (pseudo) real transparency to tooltips if you stay on an object with the mouse for some seconds. That's possible because it doesn't move, therefore the background isn't updated if something moves beneath the tooltip. Looks pretty cool anyway since a situation where you could actually see this is very rare. I was thinking about the possibility to use WarpOverlay to do a very dirty hack which would add that kind of transparency to all OS/2 popups and context menus, but since WO doesn't work with my current video hardware I cannot verify it.
Styler seems tempting - it can also restrict the size of maximized windows, a very useful feature if you are running a two monitor system like I do. I remember trying it once but it didn't work for some reason, maybe I try to install it again.
CandyFolder only works on screen sizes of 1024x768 or less, at least that is what my testing has revealed. Since the source code is freely available, my wish is that someone would fix this limitation. I have warp overlay and if you need a tester for transparency of popups and context menus, I volunteer if you ever decide to give it a try.
Could cairo (which is GPU neutral) produce the same results as WOOV for transparency, but with greater compatibility across the diverse systems that people use with eCS?
Quote from: Saijin_Naib on 2007.10.22, 11:56:10
Could cairo (which is GPU neutral) produce the same results as WOOV for transparency, but with greater compatibility across the diverse systems that people use with eCS?
As far as I know: no - except you rewrite the PM in Cairo which is similar to the goal the Voyager people have.
My idea was based on the assumption that it's possible to create an overlay image at all pixels of the screen with a certain color. You'd have to set the context menu color to a color seldomly seen in a desktop. A program or driver then - somehow - waits for the user to open any context menu, takes a screenshot before it is displayed, applies some filters or effects to the shot (sure we could get that milk glass...) and uses it as an overlay buffer. If the menu is finally displayed, its background would be the processed background instead of the special color.
It has - of course - a lot of downsides. One of them would be that you cannot watch a movie with WarpOverlay at the same time. Maybe, if you you can find out how big the menu is going to be before it is displayed, you could restrict the overlay size to the size of the menu and replace any color, let's say, a standard grey. So there would be definitely no "transparency" where it is not supposed to be.
Everything's speculation of course. I just observed the effect by trying to use the "Out to desktop" feature of WarpVision. I don't even know if an arbitrary color can be used as "overlay color" or only black . But even then, you could set the menu background to black and restrict the overlay size to the menu's size.... Mhh but what if you open a sub-menu - the restricted overlay size would make it difficult...
greetings,
Robin
Not directly WPS-Wizard related but may be interesting anyway.
I was thinking about flipping the screen to get to another desktop similar to what sysbench uses in the dive demo. It's not a cube like on Linux or Mac OS X but would still look great I think.
This could be an option for ePager moving from one virtual screen to the next (with an option to specify the speed).
The basic code of sysbench could be used, but I'm not sure how to get the screen content from the screen you are about to switch to. For someone with DIVE experience this might be quite easy.
That would be sooo sick. Shut those people up :) They say my eComStation is old!