[new release] VJTrayLaunch - tray icon launcher

[vijay555]

Guys,

This is just a simple Tray icon launcher. I recommend you use the one in PHM tools, but if you've had any troubles with that one, try this.

It's just a spin off from the VJBigPhone project, so it's yours to use!

Basically install the cab. It will install two example shortcuts in your startmenu.
Usage is just by making a shortcut to VJTrayLaunch, copying the path and name of the program you want to launch, and appending that to vjtraylaunch.exe, eg
"\program files\vijay555\vjtraylaunch\VJTrayLaunch.exe" \windows\notes.exe

Note, no speech marks required in the program you want to launch.
At this time you can't specify parameters for the launched program. However, if required, make a shortcut to the program, specify command parameters there, and then use VJTrayLaunch on that.

In this way, using VJPhoneTools for example, you can place a phonecall directly from the tray, or send your wife an SMS with one click.

http://www.vijay555.com/vj/Releases/VJTrayLaunch/screenshot.jpg

Check it out on my webpage.
http://www.vijay555.com/index.php?Releases:VJTrayLaunch

V

[clustered]

nice job vijay!!! special thanks to you!!!

[shanghaishah]

Thanks Vijay...Works a treat :)

[DocteurN]

VJ > Is this WM 5.0 compatible ?

Edit : Sorry I find the answer on your website "WM2003 and WM5 compatible." :wink:

[Conchas]

Hi,

is there a way to add an icon into Today Tray, for launching the "Programs" window?
I've tried the parameter "\Windows\Start Menu\Programs", without success.
It says doesn't find 'Programs'. I understand why, but maybe there is an alternative way!?

Also some added icons added at Tray, show the "notes" icon.
Why? Is possible to fix it somehow?


Thanks and best regards
Fernando Correia

[vijay555]

Conchas: I'm not really sure how to open the programs menu at a specified page. I've never looked into it, I guess we'll have to check out the hex to see what .exe is used and if it takes command line parameters.

No idea about the notes icon! Are you using the full path correctly? I had a quick look at the code but can't see why it would be using it. I know it sometimes displays some odd icons if you don't use the full path correctly, but it has no relation to notes.exe internally...

Anyone else having this problem? What exact command line are you using?

V

[Conchas]

Yes, I'm using the correct and complete path.
"\Program Files\vijay555\VJTrayLuanch\VJTrayLaunch.exe" "\Program Files\NoviiMedia\NR Deluxe\NR Deluxe.exe"
At least is completes succesfully and once taped the icon at Today Tray, the NoviiRemote is launched correctly.
Just the icon appears as if it was the "Notes" program.

[vijay555]

Conchas: does it work ok with other apps, eg calc.exe?
You shouldn't need speech marks on the app, eg
"\Program Files\vijay555\VJTrayLuanch\VJTrayLaunch.exe" \Program Files\NoviiMedia\NR Deluxe\NR Deluxe.exe

If you can, still have problems, send me NR Deluxe.exe so I can have a quick look at it.

Thanks!
V

[Xadaa]

This is great program
Thanks Vj

I m going to play around with this for a while, I'll let you know if theres any problem :D

[Conchas]

Great!

It was launching the application correctly anyway.
I used the speech marks because of the space inside the executable name.
After removing them as your sugestion it either launches the program as the icon displays correctly as well.

Can you yell where to tweak these tray icons (Registry!?)
I would like to configure the order they appear.

[vijay555]

conchas is the icon working ok now then?
i'm afraid it is not possible to change the order of the icons externally, just by loading vjtraylaunch in the order you want the apps displayed.

in time I will work on the "tabbed" version and that will permit precise control of icon position. :)

v

[Conchas]

Yes, icon it's workin properly now.

[huangyz]

i want to put the Settings-System-Memory icon on the tray, but don't know what .exe file should be run.

how could VJtraylaunch do this?

[vijay555]

Try this one:
http://www.vijay555.com/vj/Releases/VJTrayLaunch/memory.lnk

or just copy this text into notepad, save as memory.lnk, and use VJTrayLaunch
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,4?\windows\DIM.exe,0

let me know how it goes.

I'll update this app quite soon. Had some good ideas..

V

[huangyz]

Try this one:
http://www.vijay555.com/vj/Releases/VJTrayLaunch/memory.lnk

or just copy this text into notepad, save as memory.lnk, and use VJTrayLaunch
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,4?\windows\DIM.exe,0

let me know how it goes.

I'll update this app quite soon. Had some good ideas..

V
Didn't work. There's a error window popup. See attached bmp file for details. Also note that the shortcut icon next to it is different from others.

i have 2 files created:

1, memory.lnk, as you mentioned, contains the following texts and be placed under the \windows folder.
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,4?\windows\DIM.exe,0

2,VJTrayLaunch Mem.lnk, in the same start menu folder as other shortcuts,
73#"\Program Files\vijay555\VJTrayLuanch\VJTrayLaunch.exe" \windows\memory.lnk
p.s. i don't know what the leading "73#" means:-(
any idea?

[ZeBoxx]

73#"\Program Files\vijay555\VJTrayLuanch\VJTrayLaunch.exe" \windows\memory.lnk
p.s. i don't know what the leading "73#" means:-(

The 73 is supposed to be the number of characters following the "#". As far as I've ever been able to figure out, this is ignored entirely, though. I usually set my shortcuts to lead with 32 or 64 or something.. depends on the position of the planets I guess %)

[huangyz]

i make several try and found that this tray launcher can't launch any "shortcut of shortcut", that means only .exe files could be launched as a tray icon shortcut, not .lnk files.

anything wrong?

[FOSA]

Hi vijay555


Thank you very much. I've been looking for such a simple traylaunch program for a long time.

Just a request. Can this program be made just like any launcher program where it allows the user to specify the Target location of the program (in this case the exe file)? Well, command line input can be an option.

HandyLauncer, which I'm using, is a good example although it does not have traylaunch capability.

It would be so much simpler :D


Many thanks

[FOSA]

Ooooops.....found a problem


Apparently, after a soft reset the icons in the tray disappeared. I've to reactivate them in order for them to appear

Is this a bug?

I'm using QTEK9000 (aka Universal)


Thanks

[vijay555]

FOSA: if your place your shortcuts in the \windows\startup folder, they'll reappear I guess! They're only shown when you launch the VJTraylaunch configured .lnk files.

huangyz: I think I was probably trying to be too clever: I specified the dim.exe file to give you a nice icon. The file the icon comes from, \windows\DIM.exe should be in your windows folder. If it's not, that could be part of the problem.

Shortcuts to shortcuts do work in VJTrayLaunch, so you can specify a .lnk as the target. I've tried the memory.lnk I hosted on my website, here:
http://www.vijay555.com/vj/Releases/VJTrayLaunch/memory.lnk

If you right click on that and save it to your PC, then activesync it to your PDA, put in your VJTrayLaunch folder, then prepare your VJTrayLaunch shortcut. I find the best way to do this is click on the memory.lnk file in gsfinder, and then choose menu edit > copy path.

Then, create a shortcut to VJTrayLaunch, edit the properties of the shortcut, go to the end of
"\Program Files\vijay555\VJTrayLaunch\VJTrayLaunch.exe" and then do ctrl+v on your softkeyboard. This will paste the path to memory.lnk in for you.

Just FYI, in your example:
73#"\Program Files\vijay555\VJTrayLuanch\VJTrayLaunch.exe" \windows\memory.lnk you spelt VJTrayLaunch wrong - VJTrayLuanch. Is that the problem?

All: I will work on two major improvements to this very simple app shortly:
1. Dialog to browse for files and specify command lines.
2. Configuration files to permit multiple tray items.

Ridiculously, I haven't had time to learn how to input a text file and split it into lines. Split() in vb used to be a favourite of mine... but I'll do it shortly. If anyone's got any example code to input and output to xml or a text file, splitting into an array, I'd be grateful, it'd save me time writing from scratch.

V

[FOSA]

Hi vijay555

Quote

"FOSA: if your place your shortcuts in the \windows\startup folder, they'll reappear I guess! They're only shown when you launch the VJTraylaunch configured .lnk files. "

It works but the icons look like the Notes icon. It's not displaying the original icon

Any help?

Thanks

[FOSA]

Just to add


If I click on the shortcuts in the Startup folder the original icons appear. Its only after a soft reset that the icons fail to display its original self ie. they look like Notes icons

I guess that the shortcuts in the Startup folders are loaded up first before the programs because these shortcuts are linked to your Vijay555 folder in the Start Menu which in turn points to the concerned exe files. For these reasons they could not locate the programs icons immediately after a soft reset hence resulting in dispaying default Notes-like icons

:roll:

[vijay555]

Presumably these shortcuts look normal when launched normally (ie not in the \startup folder)?

Are they pointing to apps on your storage card?

V

[FOSA]

Yes, my shortcuts are pointing to the applications on the storage card because for WM5 there's a limited available storage memory, hence, many programs are loaded to the storage card.

Now, I've made the shortcuts in the StartUp folder to link to the lnk files in the StartMenu folder but still no avail

If I click on the shortcuts in the StartUp folder directly or in your VJTrayLaunch folder the original icons appear in the bottom tray.

[vijay555]

I suspect then that the problem is bootup timing from storage card. Basically, at least on WM2003, I find that the storage card is not entirely accessible during bootup, so some apps will refuse to load until a few seconds after you've completed a boot. If the same shortcuts work after boot, but don't work during boot (in your \startup folder), then this may be the issue.

I could investigate and consider putting in a time delay of say 30 seconds to work around this. But can you first check, click on the shortcuts in your \startup\ after bootup If you can see the icons fine then, but not after a normal softreset/boot, then this may be the issue.

V

[FOSA]

Yes, after soft reset the icons display fine if I'll to go to StatrUp folder and click on them

[huangyz]

yeah, I spell "Launch" wrong~~~ :oops:

now it works, but the tray icon show as tiny blank window, can't make any sense to "memory",hur hur..

i search my original ext-rom (which was backup before my reflash to eng. version) and fing a .cab file named "memory show", when i install it a file named "memoryshow.exe" will be created somewhere and can be executed to show the memory icon in tray. If i click it, the memory window popup and the default page was "running programs"! so cool, i now use it as my "official" program killer.

anyway, thanks V for your detailed reply. Great application, i can fill my desktop with interesting shortcut now!!

Good night here in China:-)

[huangyz]

P.S.

in case you can't find the memoryshow.exe after installation, i upload directly this .exe file here just for ease of use.

[vijay555]

huangyz: to quote Darth Vadar:
Noooooooooooooooooo!

Do not use VJTrayLaunch to fill your desktop with icons! Because of the stupid (or simple) way I wrote it, it should only be used for one or two icons right now (since each icon requires a seperate copy of VJTrayLaunch). The next version will not have this restriction. I will start working on this new version soon.

V

[ZeBoxx]

In the mean time, use PHM's TrayLaunch instead :)

My only complaint with it is that it's a bit difficult to set up ;) And knowing vijay's love of GUI's :x

[FOSA]

Hi ZeBoxx,

Where to get PHM TrayLaunch? Just the Tray Launch and NOT the POWER TOYS.

Thanks

[ZeBoxx]

Just extract it from the PHM PowerToys cab

[FOSA]

Hi ZeBoxx,

Thanks. I manage to get PHM TrayLaunch.

However, the problem remains the same as vijay555's VJTrayLaunch and that is after a soft reset the icons in the bottom tray does not appear in its original form. It has taken the form of a blank folder some sort like the Notes icon.


Any help?

Thanks again

[ZeBoxx]

no such problems here, sorry... and I have items to both .lnk files and .exe's, so.. :\

[vijay555]

Hopefully I'll be working on two solutions shortly. Just read something that got my mind wandering off on some interesting possibilities. L8r 8)

V

[FOSA]

ZeBoxx,

Are your applications on your SD card or in the man memory? Can you post the complete paths of the applications here?

Thanks

[FOSA]

ZeBoxx,

BTW, what PPC are you using? I'm using QTEK9000 (aka Universal). Here're my paths to the programs

\Windows\notes.exe
\Storage Card\Program Files\RDcalc\RDcalc.exe

[vijay555]

Fosa: this is no work of genius, but I've built in a 10 second delay on this version. It's not a long term replacement, just to test the idea that SD card loading delays may be the problem.

www.vijay555.com/vj/Releases/VJTrayLaunch/VJTrayLaunch.exe

I will try to build in a selectable delay. 10 seconds might be too short anyway I think...

V

[FOSA]

Hi vijay555

Tested but still the same problem i.e. the icons does not display its original self.

Can you have one with a 30s delay as a confirmation that its indeed a SD card issue?

Thanks

[vijay555]

Yes. After compiling it I thought that 10s would be too short. Particularly on WM5 where there's such a protracted boot up.

I'll do a quick bash out tonight. I've got another idea that would be useful for a couple of issues with the OS. I'll try to get that done as well ASAP. It would deal with this issue as well.

V

[ZeBoxx]

all my apps are in main storage, by the way - nothing on the card as of yet. That may very well be what you're running into, though, as... as vijay mentioned ...the storage card may not be immediately available upon bootup - so you'd need a delay.

[FOSA]

Hi vijay555


Any news of your progress?


Thanks

[vijay555]

Apologies FOSA. I should have recompiled but I wanted to try the other route that I have in mind, which would be more elegant and effective.

However that would require a couple of hours to code and test, and I was too busy getting the GUI together on the torch app. Hopefully I'll get this mini app out as well though, this weekend. Can't promise, but can you PM me over the weekend if I haven't recompiled a test version for you? I'm working on many things in parallel and I can lose my "thread" so to speak...

VJTrayLaunch is due an entire overhaul as soon as I can clear my plate.

V

[FOSA]

Hi vijay555


Thanks for the reply :D

[FOSA]

I'm really really missing something now :roll:

[vijay555]

FOSA: can't remember if I sent you the version with the extended delay, but when I was discussing a "more elegant solution", I was thinking - BeyondTheTech showed a simple technique to launch Skype from a shrunken executable containing just a small icon and the ability to launch skype. This could be used to decrease the delay in gather its icon (when launching from the start menu)

Now I was thinking of making a more generic solution. I like the name - VJBata'con. However, the app subsequently made no sense, since you can already create a shortcut to an exe on the Sd card. You can assign a custom icon to the shortcut. And you can keep the shortcuts away from the exe.

Thus, create a shortcut to your SD card located exe.
Edit the shortcut to have a custom icon ?\vijayiconlibrary.dll,1 etc
Save the shortcut on your phone eg storage, not sd card.
Then use the shortcuts in your launcher, and these will point to the SD card as and when inserted, and should be MUCH faster to load up on soft reset. Replace your whole start menu like this and your system will be uber schnell.

Whatcha think?

V

[FOSA]

Hi vijay555


I've not received anything from you except for what's being posted ie. the one with 10s delay - not working anyway

Quote

"Edit the shortcut to have a custom icon ?\vijayiconlibrary.dll,1 etc "

How to have a custom icon?

Do you think pointing to the exe program on the sd card would be slower than creating a shortcut with a custome icon?

[vijay555]

My opus on Custom icons:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?p=223602#223602

Use the app posted there to give you icon offsets, or just use a normal icon extractor like Microangelo to extract icons and save as .ico.
What you will NOT do is point the shortcut to the icon on the SD card.
The icon must be local. That will be much quicker and account for the SD card delay.

eg:
So get skype, rip the icon, save in \my documents\skype.ico
Point custom .lnk to \sd card\skype.exe?\my documents\skype.ico
and launch that.

That's very rough, just to give you the idea, I'm running all over the place at work, but have a read through the thread posted above.

V

[FOSA]

Hi vijay555


Sorry for not replying to this post as I'm not sure fo what you were trying to put across

I just tried your method but it doesn't work. Here's my path

\Storage Card\Program Files\RDCalc\RDCalc.exe?\My Documents\RDCalc.ico

I used freeware GetIcon to extract an ico file (32x32) out of RDCalc.exe. I noticed something in that the RDCalc ico copied over to my PPC does not display its original self (a Windows flag) although it does display properly on my PC as a calculator icon. Is this the root of the problem?

Here:-

http://www.dirfile.com/geticon.htm


However, I just found out something when I installed WM5torage a while ago

WM5torage creates a new folder, Accessories (1), under Start Menu\Programs. In it is the WM5torage shortcut lnk file

I managed to use PHM TrayLaunch to put an icon in my bottom task bar by pointing to the WM5torage lnk file. After a soft reset the original icon of WM5torage appears instead of "Notes-like" icon

Similarly, I tried Memmaid program which resides on my main memory and it works too.

Unfortunately, I was still unable to get the original icon of RDcalc program (which resides on my SD card) on the bottom task bar after each soft reset despite pointing to its lnk file.

But I'm one-step better in the sense that if I'll open PHM Tray Launch and close it the original icon of RDCalc would appear which previously I need to disable and enable PHM Tray Launch after opening it in order to get the original icon to be diaplayed.

[FOSA]

Hi vijay555,


Do you think I need to resize the extracted icon to 16x16 instead of 32x32?

If required, how to resize?


Thanks

[vijay555]

FOSA: I'm not sure about pointing towards extracted .ico files, but I just successfully tried this to test my theory:

I've got VJDeviceLock on my sd card.
I make a shortcut to it, then load the .lnk file into PHM notepad.
I edit the lnk thus:
63#"\storage card\vjdevicelock\vjdevicelock.exe"?\windows\pxl.exe,0
Then I moved this .lnk file to my documents.

Then I used claunch to point at this shortcut. Claunch display the excel icon, and on rebooting without the SD card in, the excel icon is still there. However, obviously trying to launch the icon results in a msg that the sd card isn't present.

So, what you will do is get the file you want to shortcut to, eg Skype.
On your PC use Microangelo or a resource editor, and extract its icon (you only need 32x32 and 16x16 in 256 colours).

Then, you make an icon dll - this is a dll containing only icons. PHM tools comes with one, or otherwise search around, I've posted my own somewhere on the board, otherwise I'll post it again.

Use Microangelo librarian, empty all the existing icons out, then insert the skype icon, and any other extracted icons you want into it. So you have a dll containing many icons for your orphaned apps.

Then, save this dll as VJIcons.dll (remember, I've posted an icon viewer here (http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?p=223602#223602) to see what icons are in a dll/exe) and save that library to your \my documents\

Now, install skype to SD card. Make shortcut to skype. Then edit .lnk thus:
69#"\storage card\skypedir\skype.exe"?\my documents\VJIcons.dll,1the 69 is there just because I'm kinky. Any number will do.

This .lnk will now show the second icon in the VJIcons.dll icon library.
Use this .lnk on claunch or VJTrayLaunch etc.
Remove sd card, reboot, hopefully see lovely skype icon and present Vijay555 with keys to your city :)

There's no reason I can think of why this wouldn't work. But let me know. If you get stuck I'll post an example .lnk.

V

[FOSA]

Hi vijay555

I just upgraded my QTEK 9000 ROM to the latest and using PHM Tray Launch ALL the icons appeared as originals even after a soft reset

My long time problem is finally solved.

Many thanks for your past efforts

:D