Using cLaunch

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My first thread, so here goes.

This guide was available in the General section under the 'How to make your xda look like an iphone' thread but a seperate thread on using cLaunch seemed sensible.

I also wanted to distance myself from the iPhone thread in light of such posts as this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...le#post1100271 as I had posted some ecreen shots myself which I have since removed

cLaunch is a fantastic piece of freeware. I thought I should put together a quick user guide. It is the perfect piece of software to create a custom today screen. I like it because it allows me to create custom links from my today screen using custom icons. I have added some screen shots at the bottom of the post. You can see my photo contacts at the bottom of the page as I have removed the 'contacts/calendar' softkeys using dcinobar.

Where do I get it?

Download cLaunch from here: http://www.pdagold.com/software/detail.asp?s=300

. . . and check the website here: http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~welic/claunch.html
(There are also some great example screen shots on this site - I will try and upload some example screen shots myself shortly.)

Install the cLaunch cab file by copying to your device (eg: \program files\) and then execute by tapping on it.

Activating cLaunch

The plug-in can be activated by going to Start>Settings>Personal>Today>Items and check 'cLaunch'.

Exit the personal today settings and return to your today screen where you should be able to now see cLaunch tabs and a portion of the today screen with a border around it.

Press and hold the stylus on the portion of the screen occupied by cLaunch. This will take you into the cLaunch settings (Screen shot 1). You may also access the settings via the today items menu (Start>Settings>Personal>Today>Items, highlight cLaunch and tap OPTIONS).

Options

Once in the settings select 'Options'. Options allows you to change how cLaunch appears on the today screen. It's settings affect all the individual tabs in the same manner. It is used to set the height of cLaunch within the today screen and the number of tabs in use. These are the tabs you will see:

About - Ver12.03 is the most recent version. Cai Systems 2003.

Language - English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Chinese GB

Main - Select which Tabs you wish to appear within cLaunch. You may use up to 8 selecting them by placing a tick in the box. You may also overtype the titles and change the tab names as required. (Screen shot 2)

System - Here you may set the height of cLaunch. This dictates how much of the today screen it occupies. It may take some trial and error in order to adjust the height and get the desired affect. 'Menu bar enable' makes the tabs you have selected visible on the screen. You can also tap 'Menu bar at bottom' which will shift the tabs below the cLaunch window instead of being located at the top. 'Settings icon enable' creates a small system access icon at the right hand side of your tabs. This is for quick access to the cLaunch settings. 'Arrow icons enable' adds small arrows within cLaunch in the event that you have more items added to the today screen than can be displayed at once. This icon enables you to scroll through the selected tab. You may also select 'Tap empty spaace advance to next group' which allows you to toggle through your tabs by just tapping the screen. (Screen shot 3)


Tab - These settings all relate to your chosen tabs within cLaunch. Increase tab width if the titles of your tabs are lengthy. You may also select to have a border around the plug-in if desired. The options will place a border around the whole plug-in and and around the tabs. There is also an option for 'Tab border 3D'.

Settings icon - This allows you to skin the settings icon if it was selected within the system settings.You may import your own icon using the file path field. Icon should be 18x18 bitmap.

Help - cLaunch quick tips.

Press the tick in the top right hand corner to exit Options and go back to the main cLaunch tabs page. If you have changed the names of any of the tabs you will be able to see the tabs at the top of the screen. You will see all the tabs even though you may have only selected one or two within Options/Main.

Adding items to cLaunch

In order to add items to cLaunch select 'Add'.

Click on the ... next to File Path and browse to the link of the application you wish to ad to cLaunch. Use the .lnk files within your start menu and sub menus. EG windows\start menu\programs\calculator.lnk (select OK) - to add the calculator.

If you wish to use a custom icon select 'Change icon'.Browse to the location of your icons. Store them within windows or within the storage card. You may also use icons from an .exe or .dll or .cpl. Use the appropriate icon handle or browse by tapping 'next'. You will be able to see the icon on the screen at this point. (select OK)

Repeat to add all of the require applications and documents. You can create shortcuts to .lnk, .exe as well as to documents and folders.

If you wish to create a link to your storage card use the following file path: \storage card
This will open the root directory of your storage card using the native file explorer.

Settings

The 'Options' relate to the cLaunch settings as a whole, but each tab may also be configured seperately. Make sure that the tab you wish to personalise is selected and tap 'Settings' (Screen shot 5). These settings relate only to this tab. Here you can set the icon size for the tab, enable or disable the icon name and the height of the text. The 'Margin' tab allows you to organise the icons within the tab. (Screen shot 4)
'Skin' allows you to skin the tab. Note that the skin must be a bitmap and of the correct size. cLaunch will stretch the background if it is too small. 'Skin2' allows you to skin the icons for the arrows.
'Import' allows you to import an entire menu into the selected tab. For example you can import everything from \windows\start menu\programs\. This will save time over adding each item individually.

Once you are happy with your settings you may wish to make some last minute changes to the order of the items within the tab. The main cLaunch page has the options to organise the shortcuts you have added.

Add - Used to add the link to cLaunch.
Edit - Highlight an existing shortcut and select Edit to change the file path or icon.
Delete - Highlight and select delete to remove an shortcut.
Cut - Highlight and select cut to cut a shortcut to the clip board.
Copy - Copy any selected shortcut from desired tab.
Paste - Paste the shortcut you have copied/cut.
Select All - Selects all shortcuts on the visible tab.
Up - Used to arrange the order. Highlight your shortcut and then select Up to move it up the list of shortcuts.
Down - Used to arrange the order. Highlight your shortcut and then select Down to move it down the list of shortcuts.

Select mulitple - Allows you to highlight and pick several shortcuts and deal with them together once selected.

For additonal information on creating shortcuts search http://forum.xda-developers.com/search.php using the key word 'completeness' and enter vijay555 in the username field.

Additonal Information and links . . .

Here is some further information which I shall try and elaborate on further when I have time.

Sometimes when you are using a theme with a bright colour the icon background will also display this colour when pressed. To change the colour of the background when you touch an icon use 'Base Hue Express' available on the following site:
http://www.greatbal.blogspot.com/
[Full instructions and the .zip file]
If you wish to use greyscale enter the program and select 'Menu' and the 'Use Greyscale'.

Themes:
http://www.pocketpcthemes.com/
Or make your own: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=275907

Check the cLaunch homepage. There are 5 examples of user screen shots inclding some icons . . .

Icon packs:
cLaunch Home: http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~welic/claunch.html
Available icons: http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~weli...s_screen3.html
. . . and http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~weli...s_screen4.html

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cLaunch is agreat piece of freeware and very customisable. I have found that most of my knowledge of this program has been as a result of trial and error. And if you don't like it go into the cLaunch settings select 'Options' and on the main About page there is a tab to uninstall!

Wiki-ised!

http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index...e=ClaunchGuide

V

cLaunch

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Any idea why I get "cLaunch is not a valid Pocket PC application" when I try to install on Cingular 8525?

Originally Posted by sdw443

Any idea why I get "cLaunch is not a valid Pocket PC application" when I try to install on Cingular 8525?

Download the cab file from http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~welic/claunch.html and copy it to your device, for example place it in \windows\program files\ and then browse to that folder using your file explorer and tap on the file. It will then ask you where you wish to install. Select 'Device'.

If you have downloaded an .exe you can run it on your pc without the device connected and then simply extract the cab file from within your pc's activesync folders and then copy it to the device.

I guess you are getting that error as you are attempting to run an .exe file intended to be run on a pc desktop.

HOw to make all icon display on the screen ?

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I can only see 4 icons at a time , how can i make it displayed all ? Thanks

Did you read the first post? Just change icon size/spacing/caption size/spacing.

V

The problem I have is that the icons I use appear incorrectly. The odd pixel is missing and the number of missing pixels depends on the icon. They display fine in the Change Icon screen and in the Windows photo viewer, but not on the Today screen.

Edit: OK, it seems that these pixels are turning up as transparent. All of the ready-made cLaunch icons which have transparency have that pink colour. Maybe some of the colours in the icons are too close to that pink. Any way to turn transparency off?

What icons are they? Just edit them and remove transparency.

V

Does this program work for the IPAQ b/c I cannot only see the add, edit and delete buttons on the bottom.

Icon Display

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Vijay555 ,

Thanks for that reply, i got it down and the only thing i am trying to do now is getting the bottom portion of the icons. I have phoneAlarm , what do i do? i played around and couldn't come up with any luck.