WB / Office 07 / Aero issue

from Stardock Forums
hi all

I am running WB6 on Vista Ultimate with the following version details:

Wblind.dll 2007/08/28 15:49:20
Wbsrv.dll 2007/08/02 11:25:02
Wbconfig.exe 2007/08/27 11:54:35
Wbload.exe 2007/07/30 13:14:11

Here's the problem: I have a third party application which features the Office 2007 UI - but it mostly doesn't play nicely with WB (it's called WorkCentrics from www.workcentrics.com).

In trying out a million and one custom WB settings to modify the appearance of this application, I noticed that sometimes Office 2007 apps (e.g. Word, Outlook) are skinned and sometimes they are not. It appears to be quite random.

The other discovery I made is that when Office is *not* skinned (i.e. default Vista/Office controls are displayed), my third party app also does not have skinning, and works perfectly with default controls. Conversely, when Office apps are skinned, WorkCentrics' title bar doesn't work or simply doesn't appear.

One of the many custom settings I've tried for WorkCentrics and Office apps is "disable titlebar skinning" - but this just gives me a "classic" titlebar whose controls don't work.

Despite many tests, I can't find any settings that will reliably cause Office apps to be skinned or not - it appears to be completely random.

At first I thought that the problem was in WorkCentrics, but when I noticed the random skinning / not skinning of Office apps I started wondering whether it might be a WB issue.

And in case it's of any help, here are a couple of other observations:

1. WB5 exhibited exactly the same problem.

2. If I disable Aero functionality, Office apps and WorkCentrics are not skinned, and everything works fine.

3. If I select the "Windows Aero" skin in WB (even with Aero functionality enabled), Office apps and WorkCentrics are not skinned, and everything works fine.

All of which makes me think that there is some peculiarity in WB's handling of Office apps by WB when Aero is enabled.

I would be very grateful for any suggestions for disabling WB skinning for Office apps, which would reliably allow the default Vista/Office controls to appear (i.e.not the classic controls, cos when they appear, they don't work). Once I know how to do this, I'm pretty sure that it will work for this 3rd party app as well. Obviously, it would be nice to have Aero running if possible.

I hope this is enough information to spark one or two brilliant ideas.

Thanks & regards

Neil
windowblinds
1,724 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
Well, as far as the office UI and the other app's UI are concerned they should act similarly due to the similarities they have both at functionality code and UI code but hey report this as WB6 is still at beta stages and they need our feedback! gg
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
As well as that, the software (WorkCentrics) is skinned by a company called TMS Software, who are known to be good, but not that good. I had another program called OrgScheduler Pro, which is also skinned Office 2007 style by TMS software ... and WB messed around with it.

So the Office 2007 skinning system is obviously a mimic (a very good one, better then the other app I had (OrgSheduler)) that does not support forced skinning.

Have you tried putting WorkCentrics in the Exclusion list?
ObjectDock - Access shortcuts and frequently used applications from an animated dock.
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
Red - thanks for your reply. Yup, I have tried putting it in the Exclusion list, but then I get either no title bar or a Classic style one whose controls doesn't work. My uneducated response to this is that it indicates a problem with WB, but I'm not too technical.

Interesting re: TMS - I have occasional contact with the guy who wrote WorkCentrics & will let him know about this. But if it's just mimicking the Office 07 UI, why is it that the Office 07 appearance changes for no particular reason (as per my original post)?

Anyway, I've kinda got used to running without Aero now, so I might just leave this for a while so I can go and do some work

Thanks again

Neil
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Sorry, I didn't quite catch the part about Office 2007 ...

I would then think that there might be a glitch on your particular PC.

Just to give you an idea of how the Office 2007 skinning system works - I hope you can picture this...

The title bar of the Main window has not been dumped but has been 'edited', so to speak. The orb menu was added on to it. Designed similarly to IE7, where they extended the title bar down to include the address bar etc (that's why the Aero in IE7 and explorer is bigger towards the top).

This sort of editing may not be so great for certain skinning apps, because they interfere with the original instructions. I know Stardock try to account for this, but there will always be a glitch here or there - nothing is perfect ...

I don't know how bad it has turned out on your computer, but I can sort of picture it.

Maybe you should contact Stardock.