A few questions about DX...

from Stardock Forums

Hello there people. Been silently buzzing around these forums for a while now, but never had any reason to post, until now. Just have some questions, about some scripting, and about buying DX.

 

First the easy stuff. My brother bought DX a while ago, and I've been messing around with it on his computer. I want to buy my own, but I was just wondering exactly what to get. Basically I just want to know what version of DX you get if you buy Object Desktop. I was also wondering about the license. It says with Object Desktop you get a 1-year subscription. Does that mean after the one year, you no longer receive updates? Or does it mean you no longer get updates AND the software you already have expires(assuming you don't renew for another year). SOrry if this stuff has been asled before, but I didn't see it anywhere, or maybe the search isn't being very nice to me.

And on the the technical stuff. I've been working on a desktop on my brothers comp, and I've ru into two problem that I can't seem to fix. In the wallpaper there is an anime character. I had to save it as a seperate .png, and add it as a layer in order to place it partially over another object. I figured that since it was now a seperate image anyways, I might as well throw together a small script to cycle through different anime characters when you click on it(might add selection through a right-click menu later). The object has an initial appearence of 0.png. When you click on it, it changes to 1.png, and then 2.png, etcetera, and when it reaches the last one, starts over from 0.

So my problem is, at any given time, this object is only using one of these image, and makes no reference to the other when not in use. So if I try to save the desktop, reload the desktop, or whatever, those images not currently in use are automatically deleted from the "CurrentTheme" folder, and when the desktop is reloaded, the object disappears when clicked on, since obviously it's images are missing.

Now obviously this is usually a nice feature, since it keeps any unused stuff out of the final .desktop, but not such a good thing in this case. Is there any way I can prevent this from happening? Maybe there is a way to reference these files within the script so that DX knows not to delete them. I'm not exactly the best scripter, and only just now started trying VB(and only because I wanted to try DX).

The other problem I'm having with this object is keeping it in place. I have several diffent objects overlapping, so when you click on one, it is pulled to the top of the pile. They are all set to Desktop level since that's where I want them, but I want to be able to click each one without it being pulled ontop of the other. I suppose most people wouldn't really care, but I like all of my projects to be visually appealing, and I hate when I can't get each and every piece right where I want it.

 

Anyways, I think that's about it for now. Thanks in advance for any help you guys can provide. Hopefully I can buy my own DX soon, so I can have more time to play with it, and make some cool desktops.

 

Zhono

 

*EDIT*

Okay, I don't know how I missed the "Custom Files" button on the Summary tab in object properties, but I guess I solved my own problem.

Still need to fix that other issue though.

desktopx
3,488 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Basically I just want to know what version of DX you get if you buy Object Desktop. I was also wondering about the license. It says with Object Desktop you get a 1-year subscription. Does that mean after the one year, you no longer receive updates? Or does it mean you no longer get updates AND the software you already have expires(assuming you don't renew for another year).
End of quote

DesktopX 3 release and DesktopX 4 Beta are currently available. With an Object Desktop subscription, you are entitled to any updates released within a year of your subscription start. You are perfectly able to continue using what you have purchased, but you will want to keep archives of everything (right click and choose the "Download and archive" option within Impulse to generate an archive).

...Is there any way I can prevent this from happening?
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Yes, all you'd have to do is reference these images somewhere. Using "Custom files" like you mentioned, would work just fine. You can also create various "states" within an object (call the states whatever you want) and reference each of the images that way.

The other problem I'm having with this object is keeping it in place. I have several diffent objects overlapping, so when you click on one, it is pulled to the top of the pile.
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You could try using the Movement: Locked feature. Are you saying that when you activate something that's on the desktop level by clicking it, it will overlap a window that's in front of it? I'd think this might be a bug, even.


Mike

Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top

It is my experience that whichever object you click comes to the top. It would require a script to get the object to stay "under" another object when clicked. I recently had such a problem and had to get a script to fix it.

Secondly, an object can have several states, using several images. When the desktop is "saved as" in DesktopX Builder mode, it should retain all the images. In other words, if you are saving the modified desktop, it should retain all those images if they are used as "states". If they are used as an animation, make a bitstrip animation for it, and either loop it, or give it states.

Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

First off. thanks for the quick response. It's appreciated.

 

You could try using the Movement: Locked feature. Are you saying that when you activate something that's on the desktop level by clicking it, it will overlap a window that's in front of it? I'd think this might be a bug, even.
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All objects are currently set to locked, since i don't want them to be dragged around anyways. What I have is this:

http://zhonomedia.com/normal.jpg  (Apparently I can't post links, and it's a big image, so I didn't want to insert it.)

Each of those flowers is an object, set as layer. Right now all they do is spin on mouseover, but eventually I'll set them up to be menus/shortcuts/whatever is usefull. If you look at the two in the middle. the smaller one is on top of the bigger one. But, if you click the big one, it gets pulled above the small one, like this:

http://zhonomedia.com/when-clicked.jpg

It then stays on top until you click the small one again. Now, I want to be able to click on it(for any future functions it might perform, but I want it to stay underneath, where it belongs.

As I said, maybe not such a big deal in this case, but when I start to build more complicated designs, it'd be good if I could keep this from happening. Hopefully someone has an idea about how to do it, if it's even possible.

 

*EDIT*

Heh. You posted while I was writing this post. I kind of had a feeling it might require an additional script.