A new name so a new post. I thought PMenu was kinda dull so i renamed it to ViMenu.
Download link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/ec5vmj or http://www.mediafire.com/?4i723jtmubb
Screenshot: http://img265.imageshack.us/my.php?image=vimenufb2.jpg
Source code: http://www.sendspace.com/file/e1is3b or http://www.mediafire.com/?8vze2jwnbxb
A theme pack: (they can be found separately on the location below)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/836zg6
ViMenu requires the .NET Framework to be installed in order to run.
To Do:
- Fix 120 DPI bug
Allow for the button names and paths to be configurable.Allow for the program used to search to be configurable, as well as the address to which it searches.Option to disable the fade effect when minimizing to trayAlways show tray icon and never the taskbar itemAllow theming (background, mouseover pictures)- ".locale" support or anything alike
A manner of getting rid of the programs/documents location path and instead only showing the filename and icon in the listChange the PMenu icon (I'd be very grateful to anyone that is willing to make me or provide me one)Add eject script- Show folder structure instead of only files
- Create a Help file
Themes:
Themes can be downloaded from the ViStart Skin forum
Credit goes to the creators!
How to switch between themes:
- Download the skin pack of your choice
- Extract the downloaded pack
- Place the theme folder in the folder "Themes"
- Start ViMenu
- Click the little arrow next to the minimise button
- Select your preferred theme
- Close and restart ViMenu
Changelogs:
ViMenu 1.0.0.12 changelog:
*ViMenu will now store its settings in 2 ini files instead of using the registry
ViMenu 1.0.0.11 changelog:
*Added RSS Reader. ViMenu will show the Portable Apps News Feed by default. The feed can be changed in the Options though.
*Icons of files/programs are now shown in the list.
*You can now only have one ViMenu open at a time.
ViMenu 1.0.0.10 changelog:
*ViMenu is now COMPLETELY portable. It will leave no traces whatsoever and stores it settings in a registry file called "settings.reg" which will be imported when the program starts and exported and deleted when the program is closed. ViMenu will also cleanup the traces left by it's previous versions.
*Fixed error when opening the "Options" dialog
ViMenu 1.0.0.9 changelog:
*Added Buttons rollover effect
*ViMenu will now get the icon of the program for the Firefox Portable and Thunderbird Portable Buttons
ViMenu 1.0.0.8 changelog:
*Added Customizability for the Firefox Portable and Thunderbird Portable buttons
*Added Option to Autorun an app on ViMenu start
*Some small fixes and enhancements
ViMenu 1.0.0.7 changelog:
*Added Firefox Portable as default webbrowser
*Added Thunderbird Portable as default email program
*Easier Userimage switching (added this into the "Options")
*Fixed the "Buttons rollover"-bug
*The Search function will now use Firefox Portable as your default browser instead of the computers default
*Added the option to eject drive on close (it will show the "Safely remove hardware"-dialog)
*Fixed "Customize button 6"-problem
Older changelogs can be found here
Please post comments, suggestions and bugs.
PieterK
Although having Firefox and Thunderbird does create a problem. I like the idea, but I don't have Thunderbird so when it's clicked on it doesn't find it and then creates an error screen. So maybe make it so if it isn't found not to appear? However the only major hindrance left to me is that the portable apps button looks to far into the directory. Meaning PAM goes into X:\Portableapps\blah, Whereas your menu goes to X:\Portableapps\Blah\blah2. And if there's an .exe it shows up. That's kind of annoying with a program like 7-zip that has like 4 .exe's. The other thing is that when I add a button it never appears. When it asks for a picture I use the button .png in resources but it never shows. Lastly could you make it pop up when I click the icon so I don't have to minimize all of my windows to get to the menu? And the size bar still doesn't work I think it might be somewhere with the fact that my drive is a u3 Sandisk. Anyone else have a Sandisk u3? (yes for those of you that hate it; it isn't on the drive anymore so don't hassle me about it)
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Jacob Mastel
EDIT: Forgot to mention that when you were gone John mentioned that the "Video" folder will be changed to "Videos" in the next release.
Release Team Member
I fixed the Thunderbird issue like you proposed.
I'll have a look at that search issue.
When you add a custom button you should close and restart the app for the button to appear.
I'll take a look at that focus issue again.
The problem with the size bar is due to your usb stick imho. (you're the only one with this problem)
I know that John is planning to change the "video" folder into "videos" but the menu is still in beta stage so i won't change it until it's officially released. Thanks for noting though!
Any other suggestions/requests?
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
Would it be possible to add a program to the list like how Firefox and Thunderbird is siting there. Maybe add or just change? And what did you think of the Portable Apps button. I was thinking maybe you could still alow the menu to search every sub directery but just have a hid apps button. I would like to have an option to autorun an app on the menu's startup. Other than that the menu is great! It sure has come a long way since the first release.
--
Jacob Mastel
P.S. You havn't been on messenger in a while.
Release Team Member
I was thinking of this but haven't had time to try it out! I'll probably add the option to swap the Thunderbird and/or Firefox buttons with other apps. The problem with the Portable apps button is that i can only let it search in all subdirectories or only top level (so no subdirectories) of the Portable Apps folder. I could make the filter customizable for every button like with the customizable buttons.
Autorun an app on startup should be easy to implement.
P.S: Yes i know
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
Dear Sir,
I have loaded the soft as per Read me guide lines but when i run Vimenu.exe from portable menu desktop it sys
Vinenu.exe - Application Error
The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000135). Click on to terminate the application
Kindly explain at the earliest i want to use it
Parashar Dhirendra
Parashar Dhirendra
Do you have the .Net Framework installed on your computer? If not then try to install it and try ViMenu again.
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
New version (1.0.0.8 ) is out. Check the changelog above for more info.
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
still has the cut off problem thing lolz xD haha but i like the new features. u should remove those borders around the buttons. also if u can, change it so instead of displaying a just a white background behind the buttons when u put ur mouse over it, make it display another image instead. like in the theme folders there are the images for those buttons. in each image there's 3 images, the first it just the button, then the mouse-over image, then the 'pressed'image.
_________________________
"A $5000 Computer... and it can't do a task as simple as killing Flanders!" -Homer
_________________________
"A $5000 Computer... and it can't do a task as simple as killing Flanders!" -Homer
i can't change the position of those buttons cuz it will mess up the theming. (I don't even have this cut off problem)
I added rollover effect for the buttons as you asked.
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
hhmm.. nice, i like the rollover feature, thanks. haha mayb i'm the only one getting the stuupid cutoff thing, o well. hmm.. also, can u take out that white background that appears behind a button? cause since there's already the rollover feature. also removing the black frames around the exit ,minimize etc. would be good, those buttons don't seem to have to rollover effect tho.;) ViMenu is looking good, nice work~
_________________________
"A $5000 Computer... and it can't do a task as simple as killing Flanders!" -Homer
_________________________
"A $5000 Computer... and it can't do a task as simple as killing Flanders!" -Homer
I'll see what i can do
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
Is probably like my capcity bar. Something related to our drives. Try launching from a different drive.
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Jacob Mastel
Release Team Member
7z format?
--
As all of ya should know Microsoft is the Evil Empire, and Windows (a.k.a. Winblows or Windoze) is their greatest general, so please make a difference and install Linux or FreeBSD on yer Windows comp.
I'll mail it to you asap. I got a new version ready. I just need to pack and upload it.
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
Sent you a mail!
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
New version (1.0.0.9) is out. Check changelog above for changes!
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
1- It works in Windows XP Home Service Pack 3
2- Why did you decide to program this in .NET (Very little comps have it installed)
3- Why not make the search bar search for the names of .exe files
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As all of ya should know Microsoft is the Evil Empire, and Windows (a.k.a. Winblows or Windoze) is their greatest general, so please make a difference and install Linux or FreeBSD on yer Windows comp.
1) Good
2) Simple really... i only know Visual Basic :S. I'm not a real programmer (yet) (starting Computer Sciences at University in September). I learned a bit VBA at school so that's why i decided to learn VB.NET (also because it's relatively easy to learn)
I didn't know that .NET Framework has to be installed on the pc in order to run the app. But it turns out that this is a major problem for something like my menu
3) You mean like in the real Vista? The "Portable Apps"-button does that at the moment.
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
In the search bar if I were 2 enter t I would get all .exes with t in the file name.
--
As all of ya should know Microsoft is the Evil Empire, and Windows (a.k.a. Winblows or Windoze) is their greatest general, so please make a difference and install Linux or FreeBSD on yer Windows comp.
hmm i see. That *might* be an idea. I'll think about it.
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
Firstly, Service Pack 3 has not been released yet, except to a group of testers. As this is not publicly released yet, there is no need for it to work with SP3 and SP3 will probably change.
Secondly, as I very much doubt you are one of the official beta testers, you would have obtained it illegally. As such, please refrain from mentioning it here.
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Ryan McCue.
Blog.
So all that Airbus-delay trouble over here in Europe is because of YOU!
Simeon.
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
*uninstalls SP3* I SHALL NOT MENTION IT EVER AGAIN, UNTIL IT IS RELEASED OFFICIALLY.
Thanx for mentioning that Ryan.
--
As all of ya should know Micro$oft is the Evil Empire, and Windows (a.k.a. Winblows or Windoze) is their greatest general, so please make a difference and install Linux or FreeBSD on yer Windows comp.
I try to open the options, and I get the standerd error message. Saying the standered stuff, but under that: K:\icon2.bmp. However I click Continue and it still works fine. Also do you think that you could make all of ViMenu's stuff to be installed into a folder instead of the root of my drive. That way I would only have ViMenu.exe and the folder ViMenu. It would sertainly be cleaner rather than having the 8 objects in my root. I like the 2 favorite apps buttons though. What would you think of making them dissapear from the menu when you click on a button though? And leave those to for like a favorites screen. You could have those two buttons, and some URL's and Folders maybe? What do you think
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Jacob Mastel
Release Team Member
Yeah i know about that bug. I had the latest release all packed up when i noticed the bug but i was too lazy to repack it all. I'll talke to you on msn about new ideas.
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
New Version (1.0.0.10) is out. No new features were implemented but this is an important release nevertheless. (Check changelog above for details)
Suggestions and bug reports are, as always, welcome!
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
I (hopefully) fixed a bug showing up when closing ViMenu. Please let me know if more bugs occur.
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
New Version (1.0.0.11) is out!
1 new feature was implemented and 1 enhancement. Check the changelog above for details. Please post comments, suggestions and bugs!
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
can u please add a mirror or somthing? like one on mediafire and rapidshare or somthing?
_________________________
"A $5000 Computer... and it can't do a task as simple as killing Flanders!" -Homer
_________________________
"A $5000 Computer... and it can't do a task as simple as killing Flanders!" -Homer
added Mediafire mirror. (What's wrong with sendspace?)
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
thanks alot! well somehow i can't access it sometimes. haha my isp showed me how to fix it but i just can't be bothered haha
_________________________
"A $5000 Computer... and it can't do a task as simple as killing Flanders!" -Homer
_________________________
"A $5000 Computer... and it can't do a task as simple as killing Flanders!" -Homer
it crashes quite alot. it crashes when i press the exit button,it crashes sometimes when o right click a few times on the rss feeds,it crashes when i type the wrong rss feed link in the option thing.
can u make the firefox and firebird icons customizable too? that would be great. also the buttons arn't located equally apart. some of them overlap each other
edit: i found that it crashes when i press exit becuase it tries to export settings from the registry or somthing. and it doesn't work when i'm not running it under adim priveledge. i'm running vista btw.
_________________________
"A $5000 Computer... and it can't do a task as simple as killing Flanders!" -Homer
_________________________
"A $5000 Computer... and it can't do a task as simple as killing Flanders!" -Homer
Yeah your settings are imported into the registry when ViMenu starts and exported + deleted when you close it. I haven't had the chance to test it on Vista machines.
(It probably has something to do with the UAC thing on Vista(?))
I know this solution isn't the best but up to now i haven't found any other way of saving the settings. (Anyone else can tell me how i can do it with an .ini file?)
The firefox and thunderbird buttons are customizable. (Options > Customize)
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
but is there a way to change the icon? or does it change depending on the program i choose? and yeh it's becuase of UAC on vista
_________________________
"A $5000 Computer... and it can't do a task as simple as killing Flanders!" -Homer
_________________________
"A $5000 Computer... and it can't do a task as simple as killing Flanders!" -Homer
yeah normally it should change the icon when you select an app/file. It will first give you an error. Click "continue". The icon won't change. Select the app/file again. It will again give you the error. click "continue" again and select the app/file again. It shouldn't produce an error now. I haven't found a way of getting rid of this error. I'll see what i can do about that UAC problem but i can't promise anything.
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
What version of .NET are you coding with?
Chad
______________________________________________________________________________
"If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them." -Isaac Asimov
"If knowledge can create problems, is it not through ignorance that we can solve them." -Isaac Asimov
I'm using .NET framework 2.0
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
Support for Setting files is build into .NET 2.0
If you go to your project properties page you will find a tab for "Settings". In this pane you can setup any settings you like with their appropriate datatypes. When you compile your application the IDE then creates an XML settings file that you can read and write to during runtime. The setting files are a bit larger than your typical INI file, but there is no need for extra routines and data conversions to read and save your settings.
The settings file is saved in the same folder as the compiled app as [APP_NAME].exe.config
To access these settings in code you need to use the "My.Settings" namespace
Use the following to set a setting
My.Settings.[Setting_name] = "String Value"
My.Settings.Save
Use the following to read settings
dim str as string = My.settings.[Setting_Name]
Chad
______________________________________________________________________________
"If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them." -Isaac Asimov
"If knowledge can create problems, is it not through ignorance that we can solve them." -Isaac Asimov
Thanks for the reply but that was my previously used method to store settings. It worked perfectly but the trouble is that your app isn't portable if you use this. It stores your settings in the Local settings of the user and not in the folder where the app is situated.
Any other ideas?
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
Use XML. It can be a little tricky, but it works well. See the System.XML namespace.
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In a perfect world Wiis would be free.
In this world only wheees are free.
cowsay Moo
cowthink 'Dude, why are you staring at me.'
I tried to find a decent tutorial but those that i have found are imho too vague and are explained too difficult. Anyone can help me with this or found a decent, easy to follow tutorial?
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
If you change the "Scope" of the setting from "User" to "Application", the setting file is stored in the application directory not the user profile. This is the method that I use for programming.
Chad
______________________________________________________________________________
"If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them." -Isaac Asimov
"If knowledge can create problems, is it not through ignorance that we can solve them." -Isaac Asimov
If I change the scope to "Application" then the settings cannot be modified during runtime. (Only by manually opening and editing the .config file)
Or is there something i do not know? Please enlighten me if this is true!
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
You are correct, my apologies, this point slipped my mind. I have seen classes written for writing to the app.config file. I'll see if I can find one in my code library.
I can't believe I forgot that.
Chad
______________________________________________________________________________
"If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them." -Isaac Asimov
"If knowledge can create problems, is it not through ignorance that we can solve them." -Isaac Asimov
Too bad i was right
Thanks for all the effort!
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
Hey PieterK,
I did a little searching and found a project on SourceForge call Nini.
http://nini.sourceforge.net/
From the site:
I did a little playing with it and it seems fairly straight forward
to use and the dll is only 64kb in size.
Here is a list of the features:
* Multiple configuration types INI, XML, Registry, and command line
* Strong variable types String, int, float, etc. Eliminates casts
* Set and save Add, remove, edit, and save configs
* Lightweight and fast Small footprint, built for speed
* Merging Merge several configs into one
* 100% free Free and open source code
* Value aliases Add aliases for unclear variables
* Key value replacement Replaces values with other key values
* Cross platform Run on .NET/Mono Linux/Mac/Windows
* INI parser Contains a 100% managed INI parser
* Fully documented See the Nini manual and API reference
* Unlimited files/sources Loads an unlimited number of files
* Compact Framework Supports the .NET Compact Framework
* Command line application Has a command-line configuration editor
* Mature and stable Over 140 unit tests
And here is a simple example of usage in vb.net:
I hope you can find this of some use...
Chad
______________________________________________________________________________
"If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them." -Isaac Asimov
"If knowledge can create problems, is it not through ignorance that we can solve them." -Isaac Asimov
Wow it seems that this is EXACTLY what i was looking for!
Thank you very much for googling and notifying me!
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper
Chad
______________________________________________________________________________
"If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them." -Isaac Asimov
"If knowledge can create problems, is it not through ignorance that we can solve them." -Isaac Asimov
Version 1.0.0.12 is out. Settings are stored in 2 INI files. (Thanks Chad for the useful tool! )
Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper