487
edits
US Tray Menu 2: Difference between revisions
Minor grammatical corrections.
m (→Summary) |
(Minor grammatical corrections.) |
||
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
'''''US Tray Menu 2''''' | '''''US Tray Menu 2''''' | ||
== Introduction == | == Introduction == | ||
[[US Tray Menu: Introduction | | [[US Tray Menu: Introduction | The previous tutorial]] concluded with a new UniTray. Other than UTF-8 support, it offered no new features. It mimics the original menu, hence menu items are static and control files are command line based. When running the menu on a dark background, a noticeable ghosting effect is produced. | ||
This tutorial covers adding new features making our menu user- | This tutorial covers adding new features, making our menu more user-friendly. It also addresses that undesirable ghosting effect. | ||
Due to a lack of interest for a plugin there is an interesting final twist! | Due to a lack of interest for a plugin, there is an interesting final twist! | ||
== User feedback == | == User feedback == | ||
To start and stop either | To start and stop either of the individual servers or both, currently our menu uses individual buttons. This applies to running as a standard program or as a service. Other than looking pretty, the icon to the left of each button provides no real information. | ||
There is no real reason why an icon should not indicate current server status (green running and red not running). Also | There is no real reason why an icon should not indicate current server status (green running and red not running). Also, why use two buttons when a single toggle button will do? Unlike with a third party menu program, we have no constraints . This allows us to change anything we like. | ||
=== Configuration file === | === Configuration file === | ||
The text displayed on each server button (menu item) toggles between start and stop, hence we need to supply these two pieces of text. Since they are user translatable (different language) they cannot be hard coded, so they are part of the configuration file. In addition our script needs to known what functionality a button is performing. Assigning a command to each button and letting the script decide its current state (in real time) accommodates the above. | |||
Similarly there are menu items (buttons) that become active only when servers are running. Assigning | Similarly there are menu items (buttons) that become active only when the servers are running. Assigning commands to these buttons allows for alternative text to be displayed. These again are defined in the configuration file. | ||
=== Status Icon === | === Status Icon === | ||
The left icon of each button toggles showing current server status (red stopped green running). This can be difficult to achieve however a feature inherent in our menu makes this very easy. Clicking any button automatically minimises our menu. On restoring | The left icon of each button toggles showing the current server status (red stopped, green running). This can be difficult to achieve, however a feature inherent in our menu makes this very easy. Clicking any button automatically minimises our menu. On restoring, the whole menu is redrawn using data from the master array. This is used to great effect; before redrawing, we update master array with current server status (real time) and appropriate button text. | ||
This technique can be applied to any menu item. | This technique can be applied to any menu item. | ||
=== Commands === | === Commands === | ||
| Line 74: | Line 68: | ||
'''''Note'':''' men1[] Is a special case it is set to whichever text (Text1 or Text2) is the longest. This text is used for calculating width of main or sub-menu. Duplication applies only to commands xxxx. | '''''Note'':''' men1[] Is a special case it is set to whichever text (Text1 or Text2) is the longest. This text is used for calculating width of main or sub-menu. Duplication applies only to commands xxxx. | ||
=== Define commands === | === Define commands === | ||
| Line 109: | Line 101: | ||
'''''Note'':''' Above list reflects current menu options depending on final requirements this may change. | '''''Note'':''' Above list reflects current menu options depending on final requirements this may change. | ||
== Summary == | == Summary == | ||