Objectdock Plus Feature Request - Limit Work Area!

Hi there Jeff and All,

I'd like to start by saying how much I like OD+....it's just what I've been looking for. I've been building themes to replace explorer (task, tray, start, proglaunch, right click menu etc...) in litestep and Desktopx and the like for years now and none of them have ever been quick/slick enough to keep up with what I want to get outta them. OD+ does everything I want without breaking a sweat, and is easily configurable!

There is, however one particular feature I really need before using OD+ ALL the time and that's the ability to limit the work area for maximised windows like you can using desktopX. I've tried running desktopX alongside OD+ and limiting the work area that way, but that just pushes the docks further in to dock against the side of the new, smaller work area. So what I want is for the docks to stay at the edge of the screen and to be able to put in a values for each side of the screen of where I want maximised windows to stretch to, so that my docks are not going over the top of my windows. I don't want to use autohide, cos I wanna be able to see all these wickid skinned tabs and docks all round my desktop. Hope that makes sense and it should be very easy to implement, surely!

I also think, although it's less important, that more plugins should be built into OD plus from the start, so that you can make a new shortcut and select 'control panel' or the like from a drop down menu, or have sysstats built in and a proper start menu docklet, not just a programs one. I guess what I mean is that I want it to be more 'ready' outta the box.

I hope you take these suggestions on board, jeff, cos I'll be happy when this feature is implemented.

#212612

Hey greg,

Well workarea stuff has been something that I wanted to add in, the main issue behind that is that there are already so many programs that deal with it its difficult to make them get along. Like, what exactly are you supposed to do when both OD+ and DesktopX and ObjectBar all have user-set settings that say the workarea should be different sizes? Which wins? So issues like that need to be addressed. I agree though, there should be something involving workarea control. Still have to talk to the boss 'bout it

As for the plugins, hah you can already choose to make a new shortcut and type in Control Panel, perhaps I'll add it to the list of default things you can choose. But yeah basically you can already just type in any of the basic things and it'll automatically point to them, the drop down menu thats in there are just hints

Yeah, we should probably put a plugin or two in there, but its not going to happen until we get to really look behind a couple of the plugins, its a big responsibility to just go and pick code from a person outside the company with no liability and include it with your commercial product, i had put a CPU meter in there that i liked that wasn't mine back when OD+ first came out, and it definitely was a source of crashes, had bugs.

thanks for the suggestions greg hope you're enjoying the program good so far

#212662

This actuall sounds like a good idea to me as on the mac version when you switch sides of where your dock is the desktop margins are automatically adjusted but they aren't on any of the windows docks so far.

#212821

The thing is, there are already more than one program that you could run together that limits the work area, like you say, so adding another one surely won't really change the situation. What wins out of objectbar and desktopx at the moment? I don't have objectbar so don't know, but you could get round this by putting a warning in or something, or putting in a check to see if any other program is limiting the work area first and disable the option if they are, until you can find a satisfactory solution.

Hope I'm making sense!!!

#212942

DesktopX does, but the issue is more along the lines like ObjectBar plays by the rules e.g. it requests chunks of space from an edge of the screen, whereas programs such as DesktopX actually SET the workarea with a specific number set by the user, thus overriding anything else making just 'requests' at the workarea. Having multiple programs that both want to set the exact workarea using tricks to do so, idk how that'd end up

#213043

Originally posted by JMB1984@Sep 11 2004, 07:16 PM

DesktopX does, but the issue is more along the lines like ObjectBar plays by the rules e.g. it requests chunks of space from an edge of the screen, whereas programs such as DesktopX actually SET the workarea with a specific number set by the user, thus overriding anything else making just 'requests' at the workarea. Having multiple programs that both want to set the exact workarea using tricks to do so, idk how that'd end up

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, you may as well try it out...I've read a few similar requests elsewhere. If there area unsatisfactory results, why not just disable the feature if objectbar is running, or have a warning. Not everyone that runs objectdock has objectbar too I'm sure, so you may as well give it a go.

I apologise for going on about this, but I'm really frustrated that I can't use objectdock plus and any of my apps at the same time, cos it gets in the way of all the toolbars in photoshop say.

Oh one other thing - I'v noticed that objectdock makes the tabs in mozilla firefox laggy (may just be an extension I'm using). This doesn't happen when I'm not using objectdock. I'll probably sort it by removing all extensions from firefox, just thought I'd let u know.

#213756