New plugin?

March 12, 2004

I have had a good look around, and i'm trying to find a plugin, or instructions to adapt a plugin to perform the following:-

I would like to design and build a homescreen with a simple concept, but difficult to create. It involves creating a 3 by 3 grid of icons on the screen i.e.

XXX XXX XXX

And using them as shortcuts, much like nokia have with their interface. And i believe Palm OS is the same, but it uses a stylus to select the different programs.

I had a thought that perhaps the E200's Orange plugin could do something like this, with some clever masking or something... but i'm not technically profficient enough to try it for myself.

Any ideas anyone?

Mort

March 12, 2004

So essentially, all you need is a plugin that will launch an application (eg. Inbox, call history, Explorer etc.)?

If you've got an Orange phone, you should be able to do it with the Shortcut plugin.

Failing that, try RemyJ's shortcut plugin.

Either of them should do the job.

March 12, 2004

Yeah that is what i want essentially... but with a twist.

I would like to be able to select the shortcuts to use the up, down, left, right on my joystick.

Not the left or right selection of the standard shortcut menu.

Also, I don't want to be able to "scroll" along the shortcuts when I reach the far left or right of the plugin.

Its hard to explain, can anyone offer any help?

March 12, 2004

Yeah this has been done before, not got link tho, sorry you'll have look for your self.

As scott2eyes said, all you have to use the shortcut plugin (and i dont mean the MRU), obviously you limit it to 3 per instance. The only draw back of this is that when you move down a column it will go to the first shortcut on the next row.

March 12, 2004

You could use RJShortcut and create 9 plugins of 3 icons each. Up/Down will move between rows, left/right between columns.

I can easily add a feature to prohibit the left/right auto recycle.

I could probably also add one to synchronize selection between plugins (maybe). This way if you're on column 3 and press down, you'll stay in column 3. Right now each plugin instance remembers it's own column.

Give me a few hours.

March 12, 2004

IF you have an E200 the fucntionality is there already,

just use the group attribute of the shortcut to group columns together.

March 13, 2004

A new version of RJShortcut is now available that allows you to create groups of shortcut bars. Give it a try...

http://smartphone.peakin.com

March 15, 2004

Excellent work Remy, i have my 3x3 grid with the shortcuts... and it works like a charm.

just wondering whether there was something else you could do?

1. Is it possible to have the appname appear underneath the shortcut when you highlight it? (the normal appname only appears in one place for each plugin, and thats no use on this grid format)

2. Can a plugin sit side-by-side? not one after the other? I would like to achieve the following...

XXX XXX XXX

XXX 000 XXX

XXX XXX XXX

The XXX blocks are shortcuts in the RJPlugin... the 000 is the standard clock plugin. Basically you have a clock in the middle of the screen, and shortcuts all around it... browsable with the thumbstick.

I'm probably asking for the world here, just let me know if its possible?

Thanks again!

March 15, 2004

just wondering whether there was something else you could do?

1. Is it possible to have the appname appear underneath the shortcut when you highlight it? (the normal appname only appears in one place for each plugin and thats no use on this grid format)

Wouldn't this take up quite a bit of space that wold be mostly blank? Maybe I'm not understanding. Can you do a quick mock up for me?

2. Can a plugin sit side-by-side? not one after the other? I would like to achieve the following...

I'd like the same thing! Unfortunately, the homescreen process reads the XML file top to bottom and there's no facility for plugins to share the same horizontal line. Having said that, I'm toying with the idea of a master plugin that wraps the others and would allow you to mix Shortcut, Time and Task elements together in the same space. It's a fair amount of work though. We'll see.

March 17, 2004

I've achieved pretty much what i've wanted.

Is there a way to change the highlight color when I highlight a shortcut? Black kinda sucks...

Thanks for all your help!

Screen.jpg

March 17, 2004

Is there a way to change the highlight color when I highlight a shortcut?

Sure. The background color defaults to COLOR_HOMEHIGHLIGHT from either the section of the homescreen XML if you use the default color scheme, or COLOR_HOMEHIGHLIGHT from the alternate color scheme. You can override this either for the entire homescreen, or just for the plugin...

For the entire homescreen (probably NOT what you want but)...

<default ...


   <format state="selected" bgcolor="#ffff00"/>


</default>

Or just for the specific plugin...

<plugin...>


   <background...>


      <format state="selected" bgcolor="#ffff00"/>


   </background>


   <shortcutbar...>


   </shortcutbar>


</plugin>

March 18, 2004

Forgive me for the stupid questions Remy... I'm having trouble with the speed of it now...

Each plugin is working with the new color (see pic), but when i'm navigating, its taking twice as long to highlight a new shortcut.

I hope you dont mind having a look at what I have so far... Any help would be very much appreciated. :)

By the way... this xml file is available to anyone who wants it... once i've ironed out the bugs, i'll be posting it on the forum.

 <?xml version="1.0" ?>


  <home>


  <author>Mort</author>


  <title lang="0x0409">mortv1</title>


  <version>1.0</version>


  <default font-face="Arial Narrow" font-size="12" font-weight="normal" padding-left="4" padding-right="4" padding-top="2">


	<format state="selected" bgcolor="#ffff00"/>


  </default>




  <plugin clsid="{837FC251-FE69-43ad-84E0-EBCEDEBA0884}" name="iconbar" height="00">


 	 <iconbar bgcolor="COLOR_TRAYGRADLEFT" y="0" x="-2"/>


	<background bgcolor="#7777DD"/>


  </plugin>




  <plugin clsid="{E09043DF-510E-4841-B652-388316977A7A}" name="carrier" height="26">


	<background bgcolor="#666699"/>


	<clock>


  <time font-size="26" y="-6" x="0" halign="center" fgcolor="#FFFFFF" mode="24" font-face="Installer" font-weight="normal"/>


  <date font-size="10" y="14" x="0" halign="center" fgcolor="#DDDDDD" mode="long" font-face="nina" font-weight="normal"/>


	</clock>


  </plugin>




  <plugin clsid="{F3750050-8E30-4c61-A864-4301F5D7C065}" name="1st ROW" height="42">


	<format padding-left="8" padding-top="5" padding-bottom="0"/>


	<background bgcolor="#7777DD"> 


  <format state="selected" bgcolor="#666699"/> 


	</background> 


	<format padding-left="8" padding-top="5" padding-bottom="0"/>	


  <shortcutbar halign="center" icon-spacing="16" icon-size="large" syncsel="yes" wrapsel="no">


 	 <shortcut target="StorageWindowsStart MenuInbox.lnk"/>


 	 <shortcut target="StoragewindowsStart MenuExplorer.lnk"/>


 	 <shortcut target="StoragewindowsStart MenuControl PanelSettings.lnk"/>


  </shortcutbar>


  </plugin>




  <plugin clsid="{F3750050-8E30-4c61-A864-4301F5D7C065}" name="2nd ROW" height="42">


	<format padding-left="8" padding-top="5" padding-bottom="0"/>


	<background bgcolor="#7777DD"> 


  <format state="selected" bgcolor="#666699"/> 


	</background> 


  <shortcutbar halign="center" icon-spacing="16" icon-size="large" syncsel="yes" wrapsel="no">


 	 <shortcut target="StoragewindowsStart MenuAccessoriesInternetInternet Explorer.lnk"/>


 	 <shortcut target="StoragewindowsStart MenuTelephonyCall History.lnk"/>


 	 <shortcut target="StoragewindowsStart MenuAccessoriesCalculator.lnk"/>


  </shortcutbar>


  </plugin>




  <plugin clsid="{F3750050-8E30-4c61-A864-4301F5D7C065}" name="3rd ROW" height="42">


	<format padding-left="8" padding-top="5" padding-bottom="0"/>


	<background bgcolor="#7777DD"> 


  <format state="selected" bgcolor="#666699"/> 


	</background> 


	<format padding-left="8" padding-top="5" padding-bottom="0"/>


  <shortcutbar halign="center" icon-spacing="16" icon-size="large" syncsel="yes" wrapsel="no">


 	 <shortcut target="StorageWindowsStart MenuMediaCamera.lnk"/>


 	 <shortcut target="StoragewindowsStart MenuAccessoriesInternetMSN Messenger.lnk"/>


 	 <shortcut target="StoragewindowsStart MenuMediaMultimedia Album.lnk"/>


  </shortcutbar>


  </plugin>




  <plugin clsid="{865A354A-4A96-4687-B001-C155DC0DBE76}" name="calendar" height="28"> 


	<background bgcolor="#666699" b-border-width="0"> 


  <format state="selected" bgcolor="#444477"/>


	</background>


	<label >


  <text y="0" x="0" fgcolor="#FFFFFF"><time/> (<location/>)</text>


        </label> 


	<label >


  <text y="12" x="0" fgcolor="#FFFFFF"><subject/></text>


        </label> 


  </plugin> 




</home>

Screen.jpg

March 18, 2004

Hmmm. I don't see anything wrong. I'll try the XML on my phone and see what happens. Just FYI... My test homescreen has 77 shortcuts in it and it navigates without delay.

Does the delay get better, worse or remain constant over time after the phone boots?

Also, check "StorageApplication DataHome" for any *.hif files and delete them. They're cached version of homescreens and they can cause problems sometimes.

March 18, 2004

A reboot of the phone seemed to fix the drastic reduction in speed... I think the normally inherent slowness is due to the icon size, and the fact that its switching between plugins.

Its workable, and makes the phone completely different in terms of a GUI. So i'm happy.

It doesn't seem to be a very popular format for a homescreen layout, but it's what I want :)

Can you do anything funky with the shortcuts as you highlight them? like having a shadow behind them, and the shortcut shift x+2 and Y+2 when you highlight it? It would add quite a nice "push" effect, which would eliminate the need for the bgcolor.

Here's v1.0

Screen.jpg

March 18, 2004

A reboot of the phone seemed to fix the drastic reduction in speed... I think the normally inherent slowness is due to the icon size, and the fact that its switching between plugins.

Its workable, and makes the phone completely different in terms of a GUI. So i'm happy.

It doesn't seem to be a very popular format for a homescreen layout, but it's what I want :)

Hey, it's your phone. What works for you is what counts!

Can you do anything funky with the shortcuts as you highlight them? like having a shadow behind them, and the shortcut shift x+2 and Y+2 when you highlight it? It would add quite a nice "push" effect, which would eliminate the need for the bgcolor.

Interesting idea. I'll have to think about it for a while.

March 19, 2004

well done! can i do this in start menu?

March 19, 2004

well done! can i do this in start menu?

The plugin is specifically for homescreens so I don't see how it would work in the Start menu.

March 21, 2004

Can you do anything funky with the shortcuts as you highlight them? like having a shadow behind them, and the shortcut shift x+2 and Y+2 when you highlight it? It would add quite a nice "push" effect, which would eliminate the need for the bgcolor.

you mean like having the picture animate or something? it seems nice, you know, like if icons can animate, like a gif...

March 21, 2004

The e200 plugin allows for a "chicon" attribute, which menas you can select 2 icons for each shortcut, 1 for selected & 1 for unselected, removing the need for background colours (see my Cobalt/windows desktop themes)! :wink:

It'd be nice if Remy could implement something like that, eh? :)

March 21, 2004

*cough* 8)

March 21, 2004

OK, I get it. :)

I've got another commitment I have to complete first though so maybe towards the end of the week.

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