Desktop subclassing with VB. An icon uber-tweaker. FINAL CUT barring bugs. Per-Icon color & caption settings transforms a blah desktop to something pretty nice. Other options and tools are included with the project.
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This project put together to highlight the flexibility of VB. The effects are accomplished by subclassing the desktop. The DLL used to subclass the desktop is created in VB, the DLL used for injection into the desktop (global hooking) is the same DLL.
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Well, I can't upload compiled DLLs on PSC, you will have to compile the hybrid DLL yourself. I have included instructions on 2 ways to accomplish this: an easy way & the hard way (my way). Unzip the file using "Use Folders" option because this is 3 projects in one.
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Updates: 15May05::Fix issues reported by Steve and others; DLL was not coloring text & was result of DLL typo. 17May05::added save/restore/un-restore icon positions, tweaked GUI, & enabled removal of injected DLL. 17May05::found/fixed bug that can crash when items sent to recycle bin. InstallDLL function now does version check before install. Fixed losing saved icon positions on startup & ability to toggle AutoArrange on NT & 9x. 20May05::Reworked RebuildListView to prevent NT icons from unrestoring in some cases, added more options, tweaked GUI. 24May05:: Fixed auto-icon restore after display res change & a couple minor bugs.
======================= Always destroy your previous version of this project & run the TxtToBin to create compiled DLLs or compile them yourself. As of this upload, the frmDTop will have the required DLL version nr to help reduce any confusion. This version & any future updates will have 2 DLLs. One is simply used to remove the injected DLL. Read comments in Declaration section of frmDTop & also the HowToSetup.rtf file.
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What O/S version? Not tested with multiple desktops. If others are having problems, please post or email me. I'm not sure I want to "finish" this project; just wanted to prove I could subclass a different process using only VB. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Oh and if you skipped thru my remarks in the description above, you are undoubtedly receiving errors. Open and read the HowToSetUp.RTF file. It will explain exactly how to compile the DLL. When I repost updates, I'll fix that ubber to an uber so LiTe doesn't get on my case ;) (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Oops! Same problem here (Windows XP). However, the problem starts on retrieving ListView handle (0). This can be solved by changing '""' by 'vbNullString' (GetDeskTopIconColors->FindWindowEx...). Unfortunately, I can't get this working on XP. If you want, I can perform some particular tests, checks. Please, let me know. (By the moment, I'm not receiving any message at zWndProc1). (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Anyway, this is really cool! If this correctly works on W9x systems, a nice implementation could be 'emulate' a XP feature that allows 'snap to grid' icons. Also it would be interesting that were possible to 'memorize' some 'icon-position' layouts... (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Thanx guys. vbNullString (slamming forehead!!) Carles thanx for offering & I'll take you up on it. If the hListView handle is zero, that explains a lot! P.S. FindWindowEx is also used in the DLL & I needed to fix that too. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
This is really cool, have not seen anything done like this before. Would be fun to expand on it. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Carles thanx for helping troubleshoot. For all others, the save/restore icon positions isn't included cause I havent' finished writing those routines yet. I want it to do more than just that. Will update this post as more errors are noted and/or I get more options tested. Curious if anyone can test this on a multi-desktop system and let us know if it works. If it doesn't we can work together to make it so. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
"LaVolpe Desktop Icon Tweaks" is a risky title, if I hadn't seen that you were the author I would never have looked. "Subclassed Desktop" would attract more attention?
Anyway, despite that - great idea and well executed.
-az1d (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Evil Genious, ensure DLL is in system folder. That is the only way I know of to get that specific error. Feel free to remove the On Error statement in the Form Load and step through the code. You should get DLL not found error then. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Note: If re-downloading, ensure you recompile the DLL; it has changed and the main app not compatible with prev vesion of DLL and vice versa. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Ghetto Warrior. Use taskmanager to kill Explorer and restart it. Now, did you run the TxtToBin project to recompile the DLL and remember to put it in your system folder? If not, that could explain why. I just downloaded this zip & ran it from scratch; no flickering. Recommend deleting any previous version you may still have & try again. Sorry for the inconvenience. If you still have the same problem, please email me the DLL and 2 .TXT files so I can test it out too. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
I can see the right click add-in menu on desktop.But doesn't see any appearence effect at all on my XP (English) SP2. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Still no results for me on XP SP2. Icons are listed in the listbox, but changing the text color doesn't work. I notice that the icons flicker when I reset all to system colors, but can't see any other effect. :( (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Interesting idea, Keith, and I look forward to seeing it in action. Unfortuantely, I have the same experience as Zhu & Steve. Am running XP-sp2 as well. Your app does change captions, but not colors. When I try to "apply" color changes, selected icon flickers briefly, but no caption change. BTW, I used the "easy TXTtoDLL" method, and followed your intructions (copied DLL without registering it to WINDOWS\SYSTEM32), copied TLB. Regards. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
John thanx for the feedback & help. Although I think is should work, your dropshadow settings may have an effect. Will follow up more. For all other, troubleshooting a compiled DLL is extremely difficult, bear with me. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Sorry, Keith - still no luck, even with the latest version. No colour change, just a short flickering of the icons on XP SP2. Am definitely using the latest version. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Keith: yes, you are right. This only works on XP when in 'System Properties' >>> 'Visual Effects' the 'Transparent Background for Desktopicon texts' is **NOT** enabled. Otherwise is has no effect. :) (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Great! Now to concentrate on updates. Appears I figured out how to remove DLL from injected process when no longer needed, just about finished the save/restore icon positions, making minor GUI mods and will post in a couple of days. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Found a bug (can crash when compiled & sending icons to recycle bin); fixed as of this date/time. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
And another bug found: command to toggle AutoArrange desktop works in 9x but not NT; trying alternatives. Stored icon positions may be ignored when read from INI; will patch that too. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
I can't believe I didn't think of the autohide desktop idea. It's one of those things that changes your daily computer use for the better.
I only slightly modified the main program so that it runs "invisibly" by default, and doesn't have a system tray icon (I have plenty there as it is). I used some activate PrevInstance code so that I can access the configuration by running the exe a second time.
I hope you continue to work on this project, as even though it was meant to be a subclassing example, this project will probably become part of my base install for windows.
-az1d (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
az1d, I will continue to patch new bugs but not sure how far I want to take this. XP for example has some niffty new settings that override anything we do via subclassing. In fact some of the XP settings conflict as reported in MSDN. Keep this in mind before you add it to your base installs. The desktop is very iffy. Trial & Error is how I found when I can modify & when I cannot in order to prevent crashes. I am now tweaking some really minor issues and will repost them this weekend unless a bug shows up prompting a sooner post. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Restoring icons to new screen ratio when screen resolution changes is broke again. Will work that tomorrow & reupload patched project. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
I'm getting uncomfortable commenting out if statements and blocks of code that reference the system tray, just so that I can run the program invisibly.
Any chance of better support for an "invisible mode" that doesn't use a system tray icon? -az1d (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Sebastian, un-restore is meant to move icons back to previous position just before you hit the restore button. az1d, zWndProc1 is heavily used and the others will stay. Should I want to revisit this in a year or so, and want to add/change functionality, I want Paul Caton's thunk code (all of it) at my disposal vs worrying about version issues a year later. As always feel free to tweak & modify to suit your needs. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Very nice indeed. Just a quick point though - you don't have to create a standard dll for shell injection - if you have a public class that implements IObjectWithSite (simple TLB) you can load it in the shell process with SHLoadInProc(). Unloading it might be a problem though... (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
grigri, you are absolutely correct. However, the real intent of this project was to show dll injection can be accomplished with just VB and this is one way to show usability. P.S. For everyone, I fixed the screen resolution change icon restoration, but have come across another strange anomoly, in some cases, causing VB to report screen.width = screen.height even though they really aren't the same. Troubleshooting that before I post with the latest updates. P.S. Until I update posting, ensure each .FindItem in RebuildListView routine uses the Index param set to iOffset (one of the calls do not). If Recycle Bin icon changes, can cause routine to infinite loop. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
All known bugs addressed. Maybe it is good to go, if not, only minor mods should be needed. Enjoy. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
this one is just great! (as always) 2 "bugs": after i ran the texttobin i receive this error message when i start vb: Error -2147467259 - Method '~' of object '~' failed
not sure if it is a bug or a "feature" whenever i click on "Flash" an icon is added to the list syncronous with the flashing (with the same name) and removed when the flash is gone (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
rly good code friend! you are the best in VB (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
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5/12/2006 5:34:30 AM: 
