                            =======================
                            Virtual Console Desklet
                            =======================
                            
                              version 0.1 [alpha]

                        Copyright (C) 2005 by Marco Jez


DESCRIPTION
-----------

This is a desklet for AveDesk (version 1.1 or above) that allows a console to be 
displayed on your desktop along with other desklets. Such console behaves like 
standard Windows consoles but its appearance is configurable to suit your 
desktop theme and layout.

The application which is launched when the Virtual Console desklet starts is the 
system shell by default, but it can be modified later. You can launch any 
character-mode application such as alternative shells (Cygwin for example) and 
you can select the starting directory from the desklet's property dialog.

The console buffer is updated at fixed time intervals (250 ms by default). It is 
possible to specify a different interval, but it should be noticed that very low 
time intervals may lead to high CPU usage.

You can change both the character font and the default color (in case you have 
chosen to ignore native colors). However, only fixed-width fonts (like Courier 
New, Lucida Console, Terminal, etc.) can be used. There are a bunch of web sites 
that offer new fixed-width fonts for free.



STATUS
------

Current status is: Alpha

This version still needs wide testing, so you are encouraged NOT TO USE IT if 
you expect a solid and robust application. The author won't be responsible of 
any damage caused either directly or indirectly by this application.



FEATURES
--------

- can run any character-mode application, from powerful shells to old 16-bit 
  apps (like EDIT.COM)

- colors can either be determined by the running child application (native 
  colors) or the user may specify a fixed default color

- the text is an overlay, so it is possible to add any background image directly 
  from the AveDesk control panel

- character cells that have a black background can be made transparent

- the content of the console buffer can be scrolled using the mouse wheel



KNOWN LIMITATIONS 
-----------------

- multiple Virtual Console desklets are not supported. This limitation comes 
  from the operating system and I'm not even sure it's possible to work around 
  it.

- text color can't be transparent. That's because I had to use GDI functions 
  instead of GDI+ to draw the text, because GDI+ doesn't support OEM fonts. 
  Unfortunately, GDI doesn't support transparency directly.



KNOWN ISSUES
------------

(these ones are most likely to be addressed before the first official Beta 
release)

- the ALT+keypad combinations to produce ASCII characters don't work

- not all character attributes are supported (bold, inverse-video, etc.)

- when using native colors (i.e. the "Ignore xxxx" options are disabled) the 
  rendering is a bit slower. Although the speed can't be as high as when using 
  default colors, it can still be improved.

- mouse events are not handled

- the Properties dialog is not completely wired (for example, the Apply button
  is not enabled on property changes)



TERMS OF USE 
------------

You are free to download, use and redistribute this application without any 
charge. This README file must NEVER be separated from the package which contains 
the desklet binary file. Also, whether you host a copy of this package or you 
are simply linking to an existing storage, please report the author's credits 
along with the full name of the desklet ("Virtual Console").

You are not allowed to modify or reverse-engineer any of the files included in 
this package.

The author won't be responsible of any damage caused either directly or 
indirectly by this application.



CONTACT
-------

The author may be contacted on the Aqua-Soft.org forum, his nickname is 
"Polo78". Please, PLEASE AVOID private messages unless they're really important!
