LiteStep.net Forums

Hi there this is my first post here i have been using litestep for ~1 year now and have finally stared making my own theme, now i like minamalism in my GUI and i hope to have a small always ontop icon in the lowerleft (probably using hotspots) which when clicked resizes the screen area so that there is ~30 pixels at top and bottom i then want to bars to animate to fill these gaps bottom being taskbar clock and lsxcommand and top being systray and shortcut buttons. I am not sure which modules to use and how to handle the animation any ideas.
All help much apreciated.
Raptor Out.

jdesk-0.711
ckhotspots-2.3 load ckhotspots.dll
lsbox-2.95

I've only just started using lsbox, but it's ability to animate it's movement works really well. This thread already discusses animating movement - http://www.litestep.net/index.php?section=4&action=view&catId=3&id=2617

ok i cant quite grasp the concept of lsbox am i right in thinking that if i say loaded the taskbar3 module into the .box file and then called the .box file it would place the taskbar into a box wich could be moved animated ect?

most newer modules have lsboxhook-bang. u'll have to use that to load the module into a box. one important thing is that u have to load that module before it is being hooked to a box, that means if you're loading your boxes in step.rc (when litestep starts) then u have to load the module before loading lsbox.
basically u got it right, but remember, when a module is loaded into a box the 0,0 coordinates are in the top left corner of the box not in the corner of the screen ;)

thanks much appreciated is it possible to have multipule modules in one box or do you need to use multipule boxex and the docking feature?

You can use multiple modules in one box. Try downloading a theme to see how it's done.

ok am having problems with lsbox i gives me the error that it cant load the required .box file here is my code for that box file i cant see any errors?

LsBoxName Taskbar
LsboxX 0
LsBoxY 0
LsBoxBackground "$ImagesDir$lsboxback.bmp"
LSBoxBackgroundOffs 0 0 0 0
LsBoxStartHidden 0
LsboxNotsticky 0
LsBoxRemeberPosition 0
LsBoxZOrder NORMAL
LsboxUseFx 200 slide
;*ModuleHook !TasksBoxHook
;include $COnfigDir$tasks.rc

the two items at the bottom are edited out as i am not sure tha is the correct way to set it up?
please help.

are u using any "tabs" (made with the tab-key) in the file? lsbox doesn't like that. if u are then replace them with whitespaces.
secondly u don't want to use that $imagesdir$ there. just specify the filename.

i fixed a few things first win98 would not let me change extensions by renaming so used command prompt got rid of $imagesdir$ and now there are no errors but there is no box?

first of all, if you're using taskbar3 (which I believe you are), then you need to change ";*ModuleHook !TasksBoxHook" to "*ModuleHook !TaskbarBoxHook". second of all, all the settings look fine. what's the line you have to create the box?

I am using tasks-0.92-b3 here is all relavant code:

;------------------------------------------------------------
; load modules
;------------------------------------------------------------

*NetLoadModule popup2-2.0
*NetLoadModule desktop2-2.0
*NetLoadModule lsbox-2.95
*Netloadmudule systray2-2.0.2
*Netloadmudule tasks-0.92-b3
*NetLoadModule lstransparent-1.0.0.9a

;------------------------------------------------------------
; module config
;------------------------------------------------------------

include "$ConfigDir$Desktop.rc"
include "$ConfigDir$popup.rc"
include "$ConfigDir$trans.rc"
include "$ConfigDir$lsbox.rc"

from theme.rc

;------------------------------------------------------------
; Lsbox config
;------------------------------------------------------------

*LsBoxCreate "$ConfigDir$Lsbox\Taskbar.box"
;*LsBoxCreate "$ConfigDir$Lsbox\System.box"

from lsbox.rc

TasksX 0
TasksY 0
TasksHeight 26
TasksWidth 104
TasksSpacingX 1
TasksSpacingY 1
TasksDirection "right"
TasksWrapCount 0
TasksMaxTiles 8
TasksDockWindow "tasks.box"
TasksetTimer 250
TasksDisplay "all"
TaskszOrder "ontop"
TasksMButton2 ".syspopup"
TasksNoIcons true
TasksNoMove true
TasksUseWindowsSettings true
TasksBgColor FF00FF
TasksDarkColor FFFFFF
TasksLightColor FFFFFF
TasksHighLightSelected true
TasksSelDarkColor 000000
TasksSelLightColor 000000

from tasks.rc
i have edited out the ; from taskbar.box and all i get is a blank screen no errors ? i dont know what ive done wrong please help

ok, lsbox config files need to be named name.box, not name.rc. so change the file name to taskbar.box (that's what you're already calling in your create line, so no need to change it in 2 places), then remove the "include "$ConfigDir$lsbox.rc" line from your theme.rc. recycle and try it again.

i think you have misunderstood due to my labeling, theme.rc calls lsbox.rc wich has the create taskbar.box line this .box file (higher up on the page) sets up the box and calls for tasks.rc to configure the tasks module in the box. i will try replacing the include lsbox.rc line with the straight call *LsBoxCreate "$ConfigDir$Lsbox\Taskbar.box"
i think this is what you meen?

[edit]
it didnt work samre old no error no box prob

well... you need to hook the tasks module, not dock it to the box. take out the line

TasksDockWindow "tasks.box"

and put

*ModuleHook !TasksBoxHook

in the .box file. (side note: why is this not in the tasks readme file? i had to look for this in the lsbox readme...) also, dont use *netloadmodule for tasks, because that will try to make litestep load the module, when you actually want lsbox to load the module. use

*NetInstallModule tasks-0.92-b3

instead.

thanks for the help i have now reconfigured the theme so that theme.rc has the lines:

*NetInstallModule tasks-0.92-b3

and

*LsBoxCreate "$ConfigDir$Taskbar.box"

and the taskbar.box file has been moved to configdir and now looks like this:

LsBoxName Taskbar
LsboxX 0
LsBoxY 0
LsBoxBackground lsboxback.bmp
LSBoxBackgroundOffs 0 0 0 0
LsBoxStartHidden 0
LsboxNotsticky 0
LsBoxRemeberPosition 0
LsBoxZOrder NORMAL
LsboxUseFx 200 slide
*ModuleHook !TasksBoxHook
TasksX 0
TasksY 0
TasksHeight 26
TasksWidth 104
TasksSpacingX 1
TasksSpacingY 1
TasksDirection "right"
TasksWrapCount 0
TasksMaxTiles 8
TasksetTimer 250
TasksDisplay "all"
TaskszOrder "ontop"
TasksMButton2 ".syspopup"
TasksNoIcons true
TasksNoMove true
TasksUseWindowsSettings true
TasksBgColor FF00FF
TasksDarkColor FFFFFF
TasksLightColor FFFFFF
TasksHighLightSelected true
TasksSelDarkColor 000000
TasksSelLightColor 000000

i still get the same prob but i think it is due to the lack of a loadmodule line however i am not sure where to place it as i put one in the taskbar.box just above the modulehook and lsbox threw up an error saying that it could not load the module the line was: *LoadModule tasks-0.92-b3, thanks to everyone i think we are nearly there anyone who can help please do.
Raptor Out.

hmmm... if im not mistaken, the configuration for tasks still goes in the theme.rc (or tasks.rc in your case). also, make sure you have an include line for tasks.rc

still wont work ahhha! problem check list:
1. netinstall tasks then netload lsbox in theme.rc
2. create lsbox taskbar.box line, taskbar.box looks like:

LsBoxName Taskbar
LsboxX 0
LsBoxY 0
LsBoxBackground lsboxback.bmp
LSBoxBackgroundOffs 0 0 0 0
LsBoxStartHidden 0
LsboxNotsticky 0
LsBoxRemeberPosition 0
LsBoxZOrder NORMAL
LsboxUseFx 200 slide
*ModuleHook !TasksBoxHook

3. include tasks.rc line in theme.rc, tasks.rc looks like:

TasksX 0
TasksY 0
TasksHeight 26
TasksWidth 104
TasksSpacingX 1
TasksSpacingY 1
TasksDirection "right"
TasksWrapCount 0
TasksMaxTiles 8
TasksetTimer 250
TasksDisplay "all"
TaskszOrder "ontop"
TasksMButton2 ".syspopup"
TasksNoIcons true
TasksNoMove true
TasksUseWindowsSettings true
TasksBgColor FF00FF
TasksDarkColor FFFFFF
TasksLightColor FFFFFF
TasksHighLightSelected true
TasksSelDarkColor 000000
TasksSelLightColor 000000

4. no load module line for tasks is it needed where should it go?

this is driving me nuts!

bump this is driving me nuts

4. no load module line for tasks is it needed where should it go?

You are loading the module in the last line of your taskbar.box file.

I'm curious, are you seeing the box without the taskbar? Or are you seeing nothing at all?

If you use a !Hook the module should be loaded in step.rc/theme.rc, and it should be loaded *before* lsbox. The !hook won't ever load a module. Calling !systrayhide won't ever replace the LoadModule line for systray2 either. :) A !Hook bang is just like any other !bang, except that it takes a HWND as a parameter.

Hint: Try to study a little the "austerity skin" of the "gathering theme". Don't look at the scripts!, just the .box and .rc files.
Maybe you can rip-off some of its code and do some changes to looks like yours (don't forget to give credits for the ppl that worked in the theme)