Work Area

[matonga]

What:

This program is just one more option to reserve an edge of the screen.

Why:

This program has been developed with resource consumption and ease of use in mind. It consumes no resources and requires no .NET framework.

By "it consumes no resources" I mean: you open the app, draw the desired work area and press Apply, the application will apply the desired work area and then it will quit. There is no need to keep the app open.

Also when you tell it to run at startup it will do this at startup:

1. Load the last work area specified by user.

2. Apply the work area.

3. Quit.

So again, no resource consumption at all after the app has finished it's job.

If this doesn't suit to you, you can choose among other alternatives, even in this same forum you have for example DesktopBar which I haven't tried.

Update:

Now you can tell Work Area to run in the background. It sits there, consuming 4 MBytes of RAM , waiting for the screen resolution to change, and when that happens, it automatically reapplies the settings. This may or may not suit your needs, so it is an optional setting, to enable it just check the Keep running in the background option (disabled by default).

Screenshot:

Download:

http://matias.securityconsultant.com.ar/WorkArea-release.rar

Extract .rar contents to C:Program filesWorkArea (or wherever you want to).

Don't run the .exe from inside the .rar file and then tell it to run at startup, it just won't work. Don't force me to write a version with installer.

Artwork:

An icon is greatly welcome. The one included was pixel-drawn by myself with a notebook touchpad, also I'm horrible as a designer.

[lostspyder]

It's a great idea, but a bit buggy.

1. You need an option to undo a "work area option"
   
2. Drawing work areas is really buggy, I have to trick it to make a work area that doesn't have a corner in the middle.
   
3. Mabie have a setting file that someone could load.
   
4. It doesn't support dual monitors.
   

It would be really awesome if you fixed these problems This is an application I could see myself using every day.

[schmrom]

My problem was, with tools which made it just like yours, that when I locked the screen, the space is gone

[matonga]

I'm writing the next version for this program, with new features. Not uploaded yet. Stay tuned.

@lostspyder:

1. Maybe an option to restore it to windows default workarea?

2. Don't understand. Just in case in next version you can see the middle parts of the screen in the preview.

3. Settings are currently stored in the registry to avoid problems with Vista, maybe a Load/Save settings from/to file?

4. Available in next version, not only dual monitors but any number of monitors

@schmrom:

Tested what you say. Yes, work area settings are lost on screen lock I'll try monitoring WM_SETTINGCHANGE and restoring the work area when such message is received but this would imply the app will have to stay loaded and running

Edit:

Uploaded new version with multimonitor support. Download with first post link.

[schmrom]

@matonga:

I don't understand why people are complaining about 1,2M of ram usage

[tengshj]

a problem; once the resolution is changed, the space gone.

and once a full screen game run, the space gone.

[schmrom]

a problem; once the resolution is changed, the space gone.

and once a full screen game run, the space gone.

That's the same thing as with locking the screen, I've written that before.

[Peskat]

I have an issue with the startup feature. I have selected it to run on startup, and it does run,(I use a tweak program that can display those programs), but it doesn't apply the workarea I have chosen. It works again once I've manually started the program and hit apply.

Also as lostspyder mentioned, drawing the work-area is buggy. If I make the mistake of clicking twice, it makes a box in the middle, and moves that. Also the "box" shifts when the held-down cursor crosses the middle lines... It's so weird that I can't even describe it. The only way I've found so far is to only click once, hold the button down and draw the desired area. Anything else leads to failure.

By the way, so far great app. I'm confident that it will only get better.

[firecracker6]

hey matonga, what visual style are you using? Is it a VS or WB?

[matonga]

It is a VS called LeopardXP. Ok, here is the .rar file (Leopard_XP_Visual_Style_by_nobodyuse.rar), it says:

----===LeopardXP V1.0===----
  (msstyle for Windows XP)

Made by NobodyUse

http://www.trucsenvrac.com

[...]

Edit:

Now I remember I got it from DeviantArt:

http://nobodyuse.deviantart.com/art/Leopar...-Style-81776516

[dennisalcayde]

hi Mat.... you are one great genius...

[dennisalcayde]

and one more thing....

its good to know we use the same VS...

thanks to that NobodyUSe

[dennisalcayde]

have to delete this post, absolutely useless comment

[dennisalcayde]

sorry for double posting...

[tengshj]

any news?

Are you going to program a backgroud version?

[matonga]

@tengshj:

News: background version.

[siik]

Best app ever matonga!

[tengshj]

resolution changed, workarea lost.

It would be great that if it can reserve workarea in relative way nomatter the size or resolution has been changed or not.

Is it possilble?

[matonga]

resolution changed, workarea lost.

It would be great that if it can reserve workarea in relative way nomatter the size or resolution has been changed or not.

Is it possilble?

Possible? It is relative. If you don't believe me, load workarea, apply, then change screen resolution, reload workarea and reapply.

If you want workarea to automatically reapply settings when changing screen resolution, use the "Keep running in the background" option.

[tengshj]

Possible? It is relative. If you don't believe me, load workarea, apply, then change screen resolution, reload workarea and reapply.

If you want workarea to automatically reapply settings when changing screen resolution, use the "Keep running in the background" option.

I am using the "keep running in the background", but it seems can not reserve the screen edge while the resolution is changing.

I tested it in this way: I set a certain margin at 1280*800, everything is fine. then the resolution was changed to 800*600, the margin lost. then I changed the resolution back to 1280*800, margin has gone.

[matonga]

I am using the "keep running in the background", but it seems can not reserve the screen edge while the resolution is changing.

I tested it in this way: I set a certain margin at 1280*800, everything is fine. then the resolution was changed to 800*600, the margin lost. then I changed the resolution back to 1280*800, margin has gone.

Mmm... strange.

1. Are you using WIndows Vista?

2. If you go to the task manager, is there a process called workarea.exe? (This, I mean, while workarea is closed and running in the background).

[tengshj]

Mmm... strange.

1. Are you using WIndows Vista?

2. If you go to the task manager, is there a process called workarea.exe? (This, I mean, while workarea is closed and running in the background).

1. I am using windows xp pro.

2. the workarea.exe was running while all this happened.

[frukt]

thank you very much, now it's fully comfortable

[Ghostwalker]

Great little app, it ignores the dock at the bottom(ObjectDock) but does not ignore the Yahoo Dock on the side is there a way for it to ignore it also? It pushes the dock up and then makes the controls for the dock off screen.

[scissorhands7]

This is awesome matonga!