BrandonTools

It's been a long time since I've released an update to Start++.  Since then I've been working sporadically on a major overhaul to Start++, which will likely be released as version 2.0.  However, due to time constraints imposed by my real job, and the fact that I have lots of ideas and no PMs to tell me which ones are actually worth implementing - it will likely take a while longer for that to see the light of day.

So in the meantime, I decided to backport several of the fixes I have made in the 2.0 branch.  This does not address all of the known issues with the last update, but I think it provides several worthwhile enhancements.  These include:

• Better responsiveness to queries for Start Gadgets
• Fewer intermediate Gadget updates while you're typing, no longer a chance of "lost characters"
• Better keyboard and mouse interaction with Start Gadgets
• Fixed the default Dictionary gadget to have an OnSubmit handler as it was meant to
• Fixed the calculator gadget (and problems with any gadgets that use OnSubmit but have SubmitNewWindow set to false)
• Small UI clean-up for gadget rendering
• Fixed tab ordering for most of the configuration UI
• Fixed focus of UAC prompts when using commands like "sudo" from the start menu if the Secure Desktop switch is disabled

That last one is tricky, but this fix seems to work well.  Unfortunately, I discovered today that it only works if the Secure Desktop switch is disabled (as you might guess, that's how I run most of my systems).  This is unfortunate, but hopefully something I can fix in a future update.

Also, the installer is back to its leaner size of 1.2MB or so.  This coincides with a change to ensure the hook installation issue from the past never returns.  The installer no longer includes the merge modules for the 32-bit and 640bit C++ runtimes as the hook DLL now statically links the CRT.

As always, your feedback is appreciated.

The second tool to join the BrandonTools.com collection is a new Windows Vista Sidebar Gadget for monitoring and controlling the Windows Search indexer.

Click here for more information.

More fixes today:

• Start Gadgets now work when themes are disabled ("Windows Standard" or "Windows Classic" visual styles). 
• Start Gadgets now go away when you click the "clear" button in the search box.
• The ZoomFactor property on Start Gadgets should now be serialized correctly when your system locale is one that uses commas instead of periods as the decimal delimiter. 

0.7.5 includes the following changed from 0.7.4:

• Fixed a problem with Import / Export of gadgets introduced in 0.7.2.
• Added mousewheel support for gadgets.

0.7.4 includes the following changed from 0.7.3:

• The necessary C++ runtime libraries will now be installed automatically if you need them (this is why the installer is now 2.5MB or so).  This should get rid of the error messages about the hook failing to install on machines without these libraries already installed by some other app (ie. Visual Studio).
• Fix to gadgets like "calc" (or any that were submit-only) that would not work properly because of a bug introduced in 0.7.2.

0.7.3 includes the following changes from 0.7.2:

• Some users reported an error message shown when Start++ fails to find an included DLL.  This update includes an attempt to address that, as well as a more verbose error message to help troubleshoot the issue. 

0.7.2 includes the following changes from 0.7.1:

• Fixed a crash when using the context menu of the Start Gadget browser window
• Added some additional Gadget properties for Gadget authors, largely targetted at Twitter support:
• The user can now specify a username / password which will be used for HTTP Basic Authentication when connecting to the server.  The password is saved on the disk in an AES encrypted format.
• OnActivate and OnSubmit now support providing HTTP POST parameters.
• When exporting a Gadget, the username and password fields will be blanked out.

Known issues:

• Passwords are not masked when displayed on the screen in the Start++ UI.  I plan to fix this, but as far as I can tell it's not something the Property Grid control supports natively.
• Installing Gadgets is supposed to launch a second copy of Start++ momentarily, but sometimes it seems to hang.
• For now, a reboot or log-off/log-on is recommended after upgrading Start++ 0.7 and later.  It shouldn't be necessary, but in certain upgrade scenarios it seems to be.  Still working out exactly why that is.

This version includes the following major changes from 0.6:

• Users can now install or create custom Start Gadgets which wrap web pages and services, including many iPhone apps that happen to fit quite well in the Start Menu.
• The mechanism by which the Start Menu is hooked has been rewritten.  It should no longer be possible for it to "lose track" of the Start Menu.
• Start++ no longer uses Automation/Accessibility APIs for anything, so no longer will provoke non-hotfixed versions of IE 7 to crash (due to an IE 7 bug).
• Fixed many potential memory / resource leaks.
• New UI for building basic Start Gadgets, which can be shared on BrandonTools.com just like any other Startlets.

Download Here

Hot on the heels of 0.5 comes 0.6, which is mainly bug fixes.  But a bunch of them!

Download here

Changes since 0.5

• The included "play" scripts were broken for most people, they are now fixed.
• Start++ no longer attempts to hook the Start Menu UI on non-English versions of Windows (support for other language versions will come eventually).
• Fixed focus issues when launching commands.  Still issues with getting the elevation prompt focused for "sudo" command, maybe the next version.
• Running a Startlet from the Start Menu no longer starts a new shortlived Start++ process to execute it in, if Start++ is running in the background.
• The embedded Start Menu UI shouldn't jump around anymore the first time it's shown.
• The "mail" and "play" scripts now show friendly error messages if no results are found.
• Script authors can now get at the parameters the user typed in as well as the full search query
• Added "Donation / License" tab.
• Other misc fixes.

So it's been a while since I've made a Start++ update.  But don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it!

This weekend I'll be posting version 0.5.  What's new?  Well, I fixed some common bugs (certain characters like double-quotes could get mangled in commands, etc), and have made improvements to the UI hook for those who run Start++ in the background.

There's also a new feature:  script supported for Search Startlets.  What does that mean?  Well, previously when creating a Search Startlet you could only choose from two specific "actions" - Open Results and Play Media.  Now in 0.5, there's a third option.  JavaScript.

How is this useful?  Well, here's how you could write your own version of the Play Media action.

//System.ItemUrl
var fs = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject");
var pList = fs.CreateTextFile(StartPath + "\\playlist1.m3u", true);
pList.WriteLine("#EXTM3U");
for(i = 0; i < ResultCount; i++)
{
    var file = SYSTEM_ITEMURL;
    pList.WriteLine(file.slice(5));
}
pList.Close();

var WshShell = new ActiveXObject("WScript.Shell");
WshShell.Run("wmplayer.exe \"" + StartPath + \\playlist1.m3u\");

Neat huh?

Just as before, you can export your Startlet to a file that you can share with others or submit to the gallery on BrandonTools.com.  The Startlet file will include your script, basically turning them into light-weight "plug-ins."