15.04.00 – 21.04.00
I’m getting some strange vibes from the new development team. It seems as
if they are abandoning Win9x. As far as I know, not one of the current coders is even
using or testing the new builds in 9x. Now, seeing as probably 2/3 of the LiteStep
community run a 9x Windows, this is a disturbing trend. I can understand the want
to make features for the newer OS’s but you have to remember to keep backward
compatibility with at least the current popular OS’s. Along this thread of thought
I’d like to bring up the point of older mods no longer working correctly. Why does
updating and upgrading the core have to mean that support for older mods is gone?
How hard would it be to leave support for older mods. From my understanding, not too
hard. I’m getting an “elitist” feeling from these new builds and if this trend
continues, I see the user base dropping off a lot in the future of LiteStep.
- demigod
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-= LiteStep Specific =-
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TOP NEWS STORIES
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- LSWeekly Gets A ListServ (10:02am 20.04)
Yup, finally I am no longer doing LSWeekly manually. I would like to give
a big thanks to Bryan who was kind enough to set up a bot for me. Thanx a lot
Bryan!! You have helped to insure the continuation of LSWeekly!
(source: bryan via private e-mail)
+—————+
- yogib3ar Interviews NeXTer And c0mrade (9:58am 20.04)
Over at chunkymunky, there are two new interviews with two of the more
well known individuals in the LS community. Makes for some interesting
reading. Be on the look out for more interviews from yogi.
url – http://www.chunkymunky.com/features
(source: yogib3ar via irc)
+—————+
- LS Mailing List Has A Full Searchable Archive (9:59am 24.04)
Bryan has moved the ls mailing list to a new server that now includes
a full searchable archive. It updates the archive daily and even gives
you the hit count on your search. Shoot on over there and type in your
name and see how many times its mentioned (= (I only have a wimpy 128 hits)
url - http://wuzzle.org/list/litestep.html
(source: LS Mailing List ~ Update)
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MODULES
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- Lsbox .95 ~ Black Hawk (12:39pm 17.04)
“From what I can tell, lsbox creates a menu from a .rc config file that can
be used to perform different commands, etc. As I understand it, the idea is
to replace shortcuts as a menu”
url – http://www.blkhawk.de/
e-mail – blkhawk@blkhawk.de
(source: http://floach.pimpin.net)
+—————+
- Rainlendar .2 ~ Rainy (10:29am 18.04)
“Rainlendar is a very customizable calendar that resides on your desktop and
shows the days of the current month. The application is a Litestep plugin, but
it can be used without the Litestep as well. You can use it even with the
normal Explorer-shell if you like.”
New in this version:
- Removed the Reload-menuitem.
- RefreshDelay moved to the ini-file. There is no GUI for setting it, so
you’ll have to edit the ini-file by hand.
- Month & weekday names are now in the ini-file for localization purposes.
- Changed the way alpha-transparency is calculated.
- Magic Pink works now for the background too.
- Auto-refreshes when the day changes.
url – http://gamma.nic.fi/~rainy/
e-mail – rainy@iki.fi
(source: http://gamma.nic.fi/~rainy/)
+—————+
- winctrl 1.3 ~ mirul (10:36am 18.04)
“Winctrl.dll controls various aspects of a window using !bang commands (such
as windowshade (roll-up), setting a maximum maximize size, etc).”
New in this version:
26/10/99 version 1.2
- Added !WinAlwaysOnTop
o Outlook refuses to comply.
- Changed method of tracking shaded windows.
o used API SetProp, GetProp & RemoveProp for storage/retrieval
of window height. Removed localWinlist. Shaded windows is
determined by GetProp != NULL.
o WinUnshadeAll broken.
- Changed !WinDeltaY to work on shaded windows.
- Changed !WinSendToBottom so that after sending, the top app window
(if any) on the current desktop is activated.
- Changed !WinShade so that when no app is active, nothing happens.
18/4/00 version 1.3
- Fixed for the year 2000 versions of ls.
url – http://floach.pimpin.net
e-mail – mirul_@hotmail.com
(source: http://floach.pimpin.net)
+—————+
- grdTray 2.1 b2 ~ gustav (12:46pm 19.04)
“grdTray is a system tray replacement module for LiteStep which provides
greater control over appearance, placement and icon layout.”
New in this version:
- yet another feature has been imported from systray, AutoSizing is now
included!!! Just set grdTrayAutoSize in step.rc, and you’re done
- removed a completely useless function, that I left inside the source by
mistake
url – http://home.swipnet.se/grd/ls/
e-mail – grd@swipnet.se
(source: LS Mailing List ~ grdTray, marches one step more)
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THEMES
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- pure ~ jamesh (12:11pm 20.04)
“The idea is that it’s ultra-functional – the desktop uses deskfolders &
shortcuts to let you browse your hard disk, start menu, net favorites, etc..
without opening an explorer box. This replaces the popup, which I’ve missed
out as i think it works out slower to use than the system I’ve put in…”
“The systray goes over the bit of screen which is usually wasted by blank bits
of titlebar, so you can have it visible but still use 100% of your screen
area.
“The vwm autohides at the right hand side.
“There’s also a hotkey that pops up an lsxcommand box by your cursor, which is
handy.
“I’m working on a different wallpaper for people who don’t like bright
white :)”
url – http://www.litestep.net
ss – http://www.litestep.net/themes/ss/pure8253.jpg
e-mail – hampster23@hotmail.com
(source: http://www.litestep.net)
+—————+
- micromalism v1.1 (sQuirrel) ~ starfire (11:07am 21.04)
“A clean theme for power users wishing maximum desktop space and effective
resource usage.
“Requires build 17-04-2000 or newer.
“Features:
* No shortcuts makes for clean environment and less resource usage.
* Minimized programs are handled entirely through popup or alt-tab. Tasks.dll
is used to hide ugly desktop bars.
* VWM is hotkey-controlled and can be shown for ease of use.
* VWM and tray are hidden but available through both hotkeys and keymodified
mouseclicks.
* Footprint is currently <650 Kb unzipped. Ideal for small-HD systems.
* Useable with any res (only requirement is 24bpp). Good for laptops and older
computers.
“Resource usage could be cut even more, but I’ve used some perhaps unnecessary
modules to make the theme more graphically appealing…
“[UPDATE 21-04-2000]: Updated for build 17-04-2000. Graphics remade. Popups
merged and more… read the readme.”
url – http://www.litestep.net
ss – http://www.litestep.net/themes/ss/micromalism.jpg
e-mail – starfire@algonet.se
(source: http://www.litestep.net)
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WEB SITES
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- LiteStep.com Down (10:13am 24.04)
The box that litestep.com, darkstep.com, darkstep.net, and other DarkStep
sites ran on is toasted. The hdd, mobo, and probably some other parts
have been wiped out. I’m not entirely sure when these sites will be back
up and running, but keep and eye out in this section and I will try to
keep you up to date as much as possible.
(source: Fahim via private e-mail)
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GLOSSARY OF TERMS
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- Module
A module is a small program that is called within a shell. The file is
usually followed by .dll.(some times by .app) A few examples of modules
would be tasks.dll, popup.dll, and desktop.dll.
………………………………
—-
Tips
—-
- Newbie Tip
Does LiteStep (or just about any other shell) crash for no reason. Don’t know
exactly what’s causing it? Try commenting out each module you are loading
one at a time and recycle. This is the easiest way to figure out what is
crashing your shell.
- Advanced Tip
LiteStep doesn’t have a GUI config editor, but you can make one. Using
Shortcuts, a script.dll, and some nifty mods you can basically have
all aspects of your shell configurable via a shortcut driven GUI config.
Not only does this look nice, but it takes out a lot of the “How do I do x,
y, z.” mails from people using your theme.
…………………………………………….
-= Beyond LiteStep =-
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Tweaking Beyond the Shell
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- Hacking the Windows Widgets
This hack will tell you how to change the close, maximize/restore, minimize buttons
on windows. For this hack I used Softy which you can get at:
http://home.iclweb.com/icl1/d.w.emmett
*MAKE A BACK UP OF YOUR ORIGINAL MARLETT.TTF FILE BEFORE CHANGING THE WIDGETS.*
Step 1 – Goto your \windows\fonts dir and copy Marlett.ttf to a temp folder.
Step 2 – Start Softy and goto Font Type, TrueType.
Step 3 – In the TTF window goto File, Open, and browse to the temp dir where
you made the copy of Marlett.ttf.
Step 4 – The third, forth, fifth, and thirtieth icon are the main four icons
that you want to change.
Step 5 – After editing the icons to what you would like them to look like,
goto File, Save.
Step 6 – Click on Yes on the popup box to save the current glyph.
Step 7 – Close Softy and reboot into the ms-dos shell.
Step 8 – Go to the directory where you have the edited Marlett.ttf.
Step 9 – Type Copy Marlett.ttf c:\windows\fonts\Marlett.ttf (where c is your
windows drive letter)
Step 10 – Type y when prompted to overwrite the current Marlett.ttf .
Step 11 – Type win to re-enter windows.
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Interesting
————————-
** NEW SECTION ** I’ll be adding in things here that I have found during the week
that I have found to be interesting. Maybe a new OS or a shell or something.
- Seal
Seal is a gui interface for dos. It’s written in c++ using the freeware
djgpp compiler and is open source licensed under the gpl. Although it is
in the beginning stages of being created, it looks as if it could become
a nice replacement for win3.1 for people who still have old dos boxs that they
use, like me.
url – http://www.home.sk/public/seal/
e-mail – stenclpmd@ba.telecom.sk
(source: http://www.home.sk/public/seal/)
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————-
Latest Builds
————-
- Stable – b24.6 build 041700
- Daily – b24.6 build 041600
Modified [LSAPI, Desktop2 / NeXTer / 04-17-00]
o LSAPI:
o Merged new code for merging images in LoadLSImage(). Thank’s to
Gustav Munkby (grd) for the new code.
o Removed some old junk.
o Added the struct Message for passing messages from the WndProc to
the actual message handlers.
o Desktop2:
o Began a slight revision, to make this piece of code adhere to a
“standard style” that can be used in the future.
Modified [Desktop2 / NeXTer / 04-17-00]
o The code is now almost crystal clear, if we can apply this structure
to the other modules, much will have been acheived.
Fixed [LSAPI / NeXTer / 04-17-00]
o ParseBangCommand() didn’t parse the information correctly if NULL
was being passed as the argument for the bang command.
o Also fixed a memory leak in the same function, for good measure.
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Mailing Lists
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- LiteStep
To subscribe, e-mail: litestep-subscribe@litestep.ru.ac.za
To unsubscribe, e-mail: litestep-unsubscribe@litestep.ru.ac.za
Additional commands, e-mail: litestep-help@litestep.ru.ac.za
- Stuff
To subscribe, e-mail: stuff-subscribe@litestep.ru.ac.za
To unsubscribe, e-mail: stuff-unsubscribe@litestep.ru.ac.za
Additional commands, e-mail: stuff-help@litestep.ru.ac.za