I think I'm just going to do a write up on your whole site. Going to take a lil reading and writing, but I'll try to get it up tommorrow. I haven't been home much. Freinds have a vacation house, and I keep getting invited down to visit.

sounds good red. whenever you get around to it is totally fine by me i'd be hanging out at a vacation house as well if i could!

Here is the article that I'm about to syndicate:

xBar - The Taskbar Splicer


xBar is a versatile program designed to simply run, do its thing, and exit. It does not run in the background. It can hide parts of your Taskbar & Desktop, launch programs with more control (eg set to on-top), manipulate your clipboard, and more. Read on for details and links...


xBar is a versatile utility. It can do a lot, and all while taking up virtually no resources. It does this by simply running, doing what you tell it to, and exiting. Most changes stay even after it exits and is completely out of memory.

It's most notable feature is that is can hide the start button, task, systray, clock, desktop icons, and even the whole taskbar. It can also set most of these items to show again. It can also set desktop icon text to transparent. Other programs that do similare or identical functions have to stay in memory, while xBar doesn't need to. It can be used to give your system a more minimal look and feel, or to regain space from things you don't use.

Various parts of windows can be set to show or be hidden. That's something simply built into windows. This is how xBar can do so much without using any extra resources. This method has it's limitations, but much can be done with it.

It's usage is command line based. Arguments from the command line (line in a shortcut or run box) tell it what to do. The ReadMe.txt has a complete list of them. For example, if you wan to hide the desktop icons and the entire taskbar, you would run it like this:
Drive:\path\xBar.exe /hd /hb

To show them again you would use these parameters:
Drive:\path\xBar.exe /sd /sb

Most of the commands are version independent, but be careful to make sure commands work with your version of windows. For example, currently the systray hide works in ME, 2000, and with a special command in XP. Hiding it in 98 is still in the works. It will not hurt anything, but it will not do what you wanted either.

Complete list of features:
* Change the appearance and function of the Windows Taskbar and Desktop.
* Make the Desktop Icon text transparent
* Open programs, files or websites maximized, minimized, or normal
* Launch programs with full control over window size and position
* Launch programs with AlwaysOnTop status
* shutdown, reboot or put your computer into standby mode.
* Management console - set windows to On-Top, Hide/Show, Terminate tasks, etc.
* Clipboard functions - run, search, lookup, or clear

Changes:
07/23/03 - v. 1.3.0
* Added /clip switch; when run it brings up clipboard window
* Added Settings.ini file to the zip; contains settings for the clipboard function.
* Added /spy switch; when run it brings up a spy / management console, which can be used to set existing windows on top, terminate tasks, change captions, etc.
* Cleaned up switch code somewhat, /? now works properly.
* Fixed errors in readme - the switches to force opening always on top were wrong
* Designated program to no longer be in 'beta' stage!!

xBar: http://methodik.pixelarmy.org/
Download: http://methodik.pixelarmy.org/downloads/xBarV13.zip

[xBar|Download]

red - excellent work! my breath is taken away - can i hire you to write my readme's from now on?

if i could suggest one minor thing - i feel that just as equal to it's purpose as a taskbar / desktop configuration tool, is it's ability to launch programs with specified attributes. ( having a shortcut that starts up calculator as example, always on top and in the same place every time, is a sweet thing. ) would it be possible to add a short paragraph about that sort of ability perhaps?

if not, don't worry about it. if you're planning on writing up all my apps like that you've got some work ahead of you!

i was also wondering read if you'd had a chance to look at Crosscuts yet as in is it what you were after there awhile back in a shortcut creator? there's lots i can do with it, and i could improve it with feedback.

How about in the next release of it I highlight that instead? I'd like to do that instead. Would that work for you? The article is already long, and posted everywhere. An edit is hard to do at this stage of things. Id o agree with you that i's an important thing though.

As for crosscuts, I'll try it out tonight. I actually got the thing working. I'll try out your app too though.

And ya, I plan to keep doing write-ups. xRun is my next target. I need to try it out again though. I haven't tried the latest version.

As for readme files you do fine, man. I don't think you need any help. You can take stuff from my article if you want (quotes can be nice). If there is a section you are having trouble with I can see what I can do. You can even post the paragraph here and we can all have a say. Readme files are something that ppl kinda figure out on their own. Maybe we can exchange ideas. Eventually write a tutorial on them possibly. What do you think?

oops, there i go, confused again.

" As for crosscuts, I'll try it out tonight. I actually got the thing working. I'll try out your app too though. "

?? did crosscuts not work for you at first? did you have another app you were trying? i'm just wondering if i've went and confused everyone because i released an app without a 'x' prefix...

oh, and i don't know if i've made this clear enough yet red, but i really appreciate all the work you're putting into these articles. they look absolutely amazing

thing = what I was trying to do that gave you the idea for crosscuts. ;

Btw, the 'x' thing works for me. If you renamed it "xCuts" that would be cool by me, man. I dig it.

I thought I only wrote one? Oh, wait one for xCap to. I forgot about that one. Ya, it's no prob man. It seems like the community needed a news poster, and I happen to have a nack for it. Glad I can help.

Now what did you think of my readme ideas?

i think a tut on readme files would be great...

i never really have troubles, it's just that sometimes i find myself losing the point of what i was trying to explain. sometimes it can be very hard to put yourself in the shoes of someone who may of just d/l'ed and unzipped your file.

i guess maybe one gets a little too close to your own programs, and knowing all the intricate details of how they work leads one to believe that everyone else does too.

That deffinately happens. I know what you mean. What is obvious to you is a mystery to someone else. Perhaps a prerelease hear and some feedback would do the trick. Ask ppl to have a look at the read me and see if it's clear. Just an idea.

I was just trying to think of where the readme tut could go, and I think skinnables wouldn't be a bad place. What do you think?

probably as good a place as any.

although, one could and would probably want to create a news item about it too, just to spread the word that it was available there.

i definately have a few ideas on readme's - anytime you want to get the ball rolling on this, let me know.

In about a week would be good for me. TR has a release soon, so as you may imagine things are hecktic for me.

fine by me, as it happens, i've started to recode my site anyways and so have been busy with that - and on a sadder note, have to leave town for a little while on family matters so i'll be gone for a bit.

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