Mail object problem and text object problems

Friday, January 6, 2006 by DjStoic | Discussion: DesktopX

Ok I have 2 problems. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

First, I'm having problems with my Killer mail object. My mail server settings don't save if I change my theme at all. That's a bit of a pain. I used to be able to make the objects persistent, and that would save my settings, but now I can't do that. Anybody know how to fix that?

My second problem is with the text objects I use. My skills are pretty rudimentary, but I've created my own theme which is very functional. Most of my objects are simply text, with drop down menus and other shortcuts and such. Everything works great as long as I use a dark wallpaper--I just make all my text white and it shows up fine. Any bright wallpaper, though, and my objects tend to blend in with the background. What I'm wondering is if there's a way to make text have contrast no matter what color my background.

Thanks for any help
Bichur
Reply #1 Saturday, January 7, 2006 2:01 PM
2) add a border color
os1smith
Reply #2 Sunday, January 8, 2006 4:37 PM
Not sure about the save setting part, but for your text, use text outline, in a dark color. With dark themes you won't notice any change, but where the background is lighter your will still see the text due to the outlining. Should help.
DjStoic
Reply #3 Sunday, January 8, 2006 9:17 PM
Good idea... I'll try that out, thanks.
RomanDA
Reply #4 Tuesday, January 10, 2006 10:17 AM
You might want to use the registry to save your settings for email, etc.
Then its not looking at the widget at all but in a set place in the registry.

I got the following code out of something, i have no idea what anymore..


Dim EBRegistryPath, W_SH

EBRegistryPath = "HKCU\Software\Stardock\DesktopX\Widget\MyWidget\"
Set W_SH = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

Sub loadsettings
SportType = W_SH.RegRead(EBRegistryPath & "SportType")
Max_Tiles = W_SH.RegRead(EBRegistryPath & "MaxTiles")
MaxGameCount = W_SH.RegRead(EBRegistryPath & "MaxGameCount")
BackStyle = W_SH.RegRead(EBRegistryPath & "BackStyle")
Max_Tiles = INT(Max_Tiles)
MaxGameCount = INT(MaxGameCount)
End Sub

Sub savesettings
W_SH.RegWrite EBRegistryPath & "SportType", SportType, "REG_SZ"
W_SH.RegWrite EBRegistryPath & "MaxTiles", Max_Tiles, "REG_DWORD"
W_SH.RegWrite EBRegistryPath & "MaxGameCount", MaxGameCount, "REG_DWORD"
W_SH.RegWrite EBRegistryPath & "BackStyle", BackStyle, "REG_SZ"
End Sub

Function CheckReg()
On Error Resume Next
Test = W_SH.RegRead(EBRegistryPath & "SportType")
If Err.Number = 0 Then
LoadSettings
Else
W_SH.RegWrite EBRegistryPath & "SportType", "NFL", "REG_SZ"
W_SH.RegWrite EBRegistryPath & "MaxTiles", 8, "REG_DWORD"
W_SH.RegWrite EBRegistryPath & "MaxGameCount", 20, "REG_DWORD"
W_SH.RegWrite EBRegistryPath & "BackStyle", "Gray", "REG_SZ"
End If
On Error GoTo 0
End Function


This is not 100% but its a start. Look at some of the other widgets to see how they are storing info in the registry.

Hope this helps!
DjStoic
Reply #5 Tuesday, January 10, 2006 8:57 PM
Thanks man--I'll see if I can work on that.
DjStoic
Reply #6 Friday, January 13, 2006 9:21 PM
Hey guys, the border thing for text worked pretty well. Thanks again. Now I won't need to change my theme so the mail server setting issue isn't such a big deal. Now--if only I could get rid of desktop x helper when I boot up, I'd be happy!
_Martin_
Reply #7 Monday, January 16, 2006 8:40 AM
DjStoic - I often find a glow (with offset 0,0) is more subtle than a border.

Re the registry, I personally use the Local Settings area as this means that different users can store different preferences.

Cheers,

Martin

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