[W.I.P] new spotlight application (gds v2 beta)

[riot]

*edit2*

See this post for details

Download Spotlight.NET Alpha

please give feedback on the search-as-you-type speed!

*edit2*

------------------------------

*edit*

Download Beta 1.4

Updates include...

* Ability to run program with "-notray" command

* Faster, more efficient search-as-you-type

* Launching of web results in default browser

* Other misc fixes

*/edit*

after seeing tomlapp420's spotlight clone, then getchoo from alilm -- ive been very interested in making my own version. i think both of them have done a phenomenal job on their respective programs, and i am in no way trying to step on their heels by making my own.

so with that said, here is a preview of my personal twist on spotlight:

this is what ive got so far. it searches as you type, and as you can see, its layout out very similar to spotlight, but i have decided to rule out the grouping. instead of grouping them by type, i have opted to just put the related icon in that section. this is not a final decision, but so far im leaning towards keeping it this way.

so.. icons. as far as ive gone with the icons right now is a changable icon for web results, as well as the default "unknown" icon for everything else. only expception is that it grabs icons from any application (*.exe). im not sure what other kind of icons to add for files, so this is where suggestions are HIGHLY recommended perhaps i could make a list of file extensions (editable of course) tied to a specific icon.

past that, it has some limited skinning capabilitys as well right now. the top spotlight search bar, and the selected item background are both skinable. basically it will ship with some pre-set images in a directory with the application, that you can change at your own will. this is also where the icons for web results, and unknown results are kept.

i dont know if im really gonna get any response to this post, but i figured i would give it a shot. i would also like to note, im a very active developer -- and if this does have some intrest i will probally release an initial beta, then perhaps nightly builds from there. when i begin projects like this that i am very interested in, i really enjoying working on them. so bugfixes and updates should be no problem, given the right circumstances

*EDIT* i forgot to mention it is programmed in visual basic 6.0 using microsoft xml 3.0 -- i havent tested on any other computers, but it is very efficient on mine. there seems to be little to no lag while searching (as you type).

riot

[nv02migu]

Very Nice! is it for google desktop search or stand-alone?

[riot]

yes, as the topic says it is for Google Desktop Search (v2 beta)

[firecracker6]

Looks very promising... will you add shadows to your app, or will it be shadow-able using YzShadow?

[riot]

i havent thought about shadows yet, and trying with yz shadow has proven to be a failure. ill have to see what i can do, or see if someone can give me a tip about this. ive never added a shadow to a program like that, so im not sure how to go about it just yet.

[firecracker6]

Perhaps you could talk to Ave and see if he has a moment to give you pointers. Maybe see if can be made avedesk friendly?

[alilm]

Looks very nice

[riot]

@firecracker6: yeah that was my first idea, im sure he could help me out

@alilm: thanks a lot! it feels good coming from another developer ive used getchoo since you released it. hehe

[blurryeyes]

i would keep my eyes on this post~ great job!! dude

[Guest colraffs]

Hate to sound pesamistic but "oh no please not another unfinished spotlight clone" what with tomlapp disapearing of the face of the earth and alilms developments just not developing really.

Good luck anyway

[riot]

Hate to sound pesamistic but "oh no please not another unfinished spotlight clone" what with tomlapp disapearing of the face of the earth and alilms developments just not developing really.

Good luck anyway

maybe you should read my post before commenting. not to mention its not a clone, even further proving my point you need to read the thread before posting. please dont come back to my thread. i dont want you here.

and if this does have some intrest i will probally release an initial beta, then perhaps nightly builds from there. when i begin projects like this that i am very interested in, i really enjoying working on them. so bugfixes and updates should be no problem, given the right circumstances

thank you come again.

[gracie34]

Don't let pessimists get you down, this looks great so far.

I do have question--Is the icon for the program itself going to be like the Spotlight clone that TomLapp was working on (where you can lay it on top of the spotlight icon on the taskbar if you have that in your theme) or will it be a system tray icon like Limelight? I enjoy Limelight and it works on my machine but I loved the movable, clickable icon that was in TomLapp's program, I just couldn't get TomLapp's Spotlight clone to work.

Thanks and good luck

[Guest colraffs]

im sorry but sometimes we hear about all these fantastic apps and get news of how they are comming along and then they just disapear hey i whish you all the best and also wish i could do what you are doing but i cant......sorry....... i look forward to this .....god am i having a bad day or what ?

[riot]

@gracie34: i havent yet decided that. as of now it just runs the reason being, i used to always use mac themes with objectbar and i would like it to work for that, wether the program can be ran with command parmeters, or if it makes the icon above it like tomlapps. but now, ive started to use more 'windowsish' themes (currently XPMC) and i like how getchoo goes in the systray, because obviously i have a clock where the spotlight icon should be. so basically... it looks like i need to add functionality for both

@colraffs: its okay i understand, that is the reason i created this one. ever since the inital releases of their programs it seems to have come to a screetching halt. im hoping that DOESNT happen with this. i am very interested in this project and am currently enjoying working on it. i forgive you

and with that said, heres an update screenshot

default skin:

black skin:

since the last screenshot, ive made a good portion of the settings form. and added functionality for displaying a certain ammount of results out of the total number of gds results.

[gracie34]

OK Thanks.

[buddyb3ar]

Very nice ,and it looks promising really, hte only thing I suggest, is maybe (just for people who are organization freaks like me) Maybe to re-add grouping, but maybe make it optional..

Also, if it wouldn't be too hard, Maybe you could add a look like the normal, glassy look of Spotlight.

by the way, when are you expecting to release this

[riot]

@buddyb3ar: ill have to think about the grouping. and as you can see, the skin is very easily changed in the settings. its only going to ship with the default blue, i showed the black one just so you can see that it works and is changable

[amitsaraf32]

Looks promising ! Keeping a close eye on this one - added to FP

[ppoppe]

@mac_win: I don't think it has been released yet, it's just a WIP

[buddyb3ar]

Ah , I see

Yes, this does look very nice, I'll be sure to continue looking up to it.

Don't let the other people bring you down, its awesoem so far

[riot]

well i think ive got it to a point where i can release my inital beta. i have it all compiled and rared up, but have no host for it currently. if you can help me out, either reply here or send me a PM please.

so until i find a host, here is a little "teaser" screenshot:

[Satans Child]

Why not put on DA?

[riot]

DA isnt for applications is it? was i not clear in what i was asking for?

[Satans Child]

I don't know why you wouldn't be able to upload there. Maybe give it a try.

[riot]

alright ive got it hosted!

*EDIT* CHECK FIRST OR LAST POST *EDIT*

please give feedback in this thread! if you have any suggestions, ideas, whatever please post it here

this is an initial beta release. it comes as-is and just needs to be extracted to its own directory somewhere. please note that not all features are working. one being the "view all" does not work. also unchecking the file or website display options will not do anything. the focus timeout is also not complete yet, so it is disabled. you can change the max results, and the display results, as well as the screen position. the skinning also works, just make sure you keep the images the same size as the originals