XYstylEZ - Visual Themes for your XYplorer, made easy

[Anselma]

Oh, boy.
While it seemed good on theory, I find it can come to be terrible on practice. Since I have WindowBlinds changed the frame and colorize the toolbar, now it is colorful everywhere. My eyes are spinning round. I suppose it is better to use this XYstylEZ under default theme which Windows provided.

[aurumdigitus]

@ SkyFrontier

After implementing each and every safety feature listed above put Theme.xys into service this morning. So far the script is operating smoothly. However, some of the color schemes have problems. See screen shot of Doc Holiday.

As you still have the code under active development, the only suggestion in the first few hours is to have a feature that would allow user to remove a theme they just can't stand. Will try to come up with other ideas to help you shape the final product while it is malleable.

Actually it is one of my favorite "birthday presents" to play with! And a Happy Birthday to you on your up coming special day. (Have concluded that birthdays are something like having money; above a certain point the number just becomes a method of keeping score.)

Because it has been in the news lately, for the CTB icon used one for Bitcoin. It stands out uniquely and cannot be confused with the other TB glyphs.

[aurumdigitus]

Getting ready to shut computer down and this idea blossomed. How about having the name of current Theme displayed in either Title or Status Bar? Or could the drop-down list have a check-mark by what is in current use?

[SkyFrontier]

Doc: FEATURE!
Theme name: done.
Remove: trying.
ETA: SUNDAY!
=)
So far it has got SIX helper tools aside main script.
^^

[klownboy]

Hi,
@ SkyFrontier - Themes great idea! Personally though, I like the approach binocular222 took with the separate ini files in a Theme directory and reading the entries from the selected ini file. I know it it means more files but it just seems like a better way to go - modifying individual ini file values in lieu of the long script itself.

@binocular222 - I noticed that you are using folderreport with a format template

Code: Select all

folderreport("files:{Basename}", "r", $ThemeFolder,,,"|")

You have probably noticed, as I have in the past, a significant delay in using folderreport with template. I've found that if you use folderrport with no template and then format the result you desire in a foreach loop, the menu will display significantly faster - basically instantaneously.

Code: Select all

// $ThemeList = folderreport("files:{Basename}", "r", $ThemeFolder,,,"|");
 $ThemeList = folderreport("files", "r", $ThemeFolder,,,"|");
 $ModThemeList = "";
  foreach($theme, $ThemeList, "|") {
       $ThemeName = getpathcomponent($theme, "base");
       $ModThemeList = $ModThemeList . $ThemeName . "|";}
 If(getkey("ClrBack", "ListBrowse") == 0) {$Mode = "Night Mode"}; Else {$Mode = ""};

 $Menu = popupmenu("$ModThemeList|-|Save as");
 end $Menu == "";

Thanks,
Ken

[binocular222]

just tested text folderreport("files", "r") with a my sys32 folder (3000+ files), still instant. I see no delay at all.
Anyone else get a delay?

[klownboy]

Hi @binocular222, there may be a misunderstanding in what I was getting at... text folderreport("files", "r") will be instantaneous as both you and I said. What I was pointing out is that you used a format template (i.e folderreport("files:{Basename}" ) in your "theme.xys". That will be significantly slower than the "files" in folderreport. If you run, text folderreport("files:{Basename}", "r", ,,,"|") in system32 you'll wait quite awhile even on a fast computer. See the examples for using folderreport with a template vs without a template in XY help. Thanks Ken

[SkyFrontier]

Hi, Ken.
Yes, you'll get similar result, AS SOON AS I GET A DESKTOP CONNECTION!
Build is ready to go.
All is green IMHO.

[aurumdigitus]

Have noticed that when changing Themes and XY reopens in the Navigation Pane all Drives are collapsed as are all Catalog Categories. Is this a glitch or the expected behavior?

If the former hope it can be rectified as having to redo both to prior state greatly impacts workflow.

[SkyFrontier]

@aurumdigitus:

I think I saw similar issues too but it may be déja-vu, as my focus were on colors and functionality/stability
but definitely not layout, as I played with 6 different instances of XY to build the script. Have to investigate.
I recall I had a recurrent problem with my tabsets being reset after saving changes - under Config, Startup & Exit,
'Include most recently used lists on save > Apply To...' I had my answer. Worth a look.

Have more to say, but let me upload the thing first, then I give an edit here.

EDIT:

Hum. 2500 lines: you don't know jacky...
(not to mention it's a little cheat in that you probably have guessed already!)

But ok, it's got 757 lines (574 non-empty - almost 575) and all of it is about dedication. Don know well about it as I
do and try to do several other stuff in order to promote XYplorer.

As you can see, I do included even the remove themes idea, as well as the get theme name one. May in not the
format you suggested, which I see impossible ATM with current knowledge or resources. Other scripter may
have something more to your liking to share.

As said in the first post,
the Doc Holiday and few others are 'presentation' themes, so one can hide from an audience
other folders that are not intended to show, deliberately or not. Like the Instant Color Filter
'Black Out'.

Hope you enjoy the whole Themes Creation & Management Tools - and share your creations with us!

More ideas and feedback are welcome - let them come! Thanks.

[SkyFrontier]

Uau.
Uau!
U-au!

Beauty has got smartness!

=)

Having reached 40 archived (mainly beta; 4 or 6 stable, 3 named as such - help me, I am in versioning hell!)
versions, I guess it's time to deliver it.

I wanted to produce *SIMPLE* self-contained, settings-protection themes because, well, looks can kill
(learned it the best way - the hard one. OFFLINE, I mean). ; )

So here it is: XYstylEZ Themes Tool, v1.
Also, I am sharing (currently) EIGHT tools to ease the process of themes creation/management/publishing.
Some I used to build the core product, some were suggested by users, some were thought out as additional
features/aids. They are concatenated into a single .xys as my suggestion for usage is: have a CTB
(Custom Toolbar Icon) filled with the Theme Set I published on first post, under left click, and this
attachment (XYstylEZThemesTool_PlusHelpers_v1.zip) configured as right click.

(this will and need to get wordy - feel free to just scroll down and download the tool set. But
you may learn a thing or two by coming back and reading this, any other time)

Since I left Lighttek's Talisman behind (sigh... sweet days long gone. GREAT TOOL, btw!) I never
cared much on themes-changing anymore... until now. And I'm so deeply in love with those colorful,
'quick & easy' themes that I was really concerned about security on user end, as after all we're
dealing with XY core itself: XYini and its settings.

***DON'T BE INTIMIDATED AT ALL***, dear user: almost everything is self explanatory and as soon as
you get yourself using the tool set you'll realize how easy the whole thing is. Introductory screens,
tips on each interfaced operation and my personal support via forum as time permits. While I am
NOT open to mess up with the general layout (some things are yet possible to change, while others may
simply destroy the entire work), I am all ears for suggestions, questions or anything else I can
help you with. EVEN IF YOU ARE A FAST CLICKER, have no worries: the tool will got you covered
preserving main features as well as keeping your settings safe. And this is key, here.

Theoretically, the XYstylEZ Themes Tool serves to share entire sets of settings in a controlled manner,
using the proper dialog - this is an idea I had published years ago here on the forums and this *may* be
a tool for doing it. Anyway, it deserves more meditation as it was not specifically designed for such a
task. For instance, it may not deal properly with non-ASCII character sets and certainly won't play
nicely with very large inputs due to getkey/setkey limitations. Time will tell but the seed is thrown.

There are differences on the 'z_XYstylEZ_LastUsedThemeBKP.txt' and 'z_XYstylEZ_1stRunStyleBKP.txt'
files produced either by the Theme Tool, a theme itself (:!:) *or even from the code contained on both
files*. This is by design and serves as a way to track down last used method which originated the code.
Either way, the core functionalities will remain the same and with usage you'll learn the difference.

The main script missed some functionality due to use of clipboard I had to made instead of self() [which
currently does not supports heredoc syntax preservation - not in a special case, heredoc which contains
another heredoc, ie, inner heredocs are preserved!, but that's another discussion]. At some point it
copies the generated script to the clipboard but after clicking 'ok' the original content of clipboard
is attempted to be restored - this function may got confused by the self x clipboard solution and there
are so many variables at play that I decided to quit bug hunting on this little fault. [update: after all
testings made since I revised {again!} the code it seems that this is fixed now - so your original clipboard
content will be restored at the end of each operation. I did my best in that direction.]

Design notes:
-At some point '<xydata>\<xyini>' in a window title will not resolve to actual values - I didn't care
much about this. Do the same. Please. Please.

-I probably have posted elsewhere on the clipboard problem. Good news is: I fixed it, so at the end of each run
either from Tool or Theme your original clipboard content will be restored. Seems to work 5x5.

-Yes, I thought about providing *another* dialog asking where to save the created theme but soon I quit on this. It
would be the 4th (!!!) dialog prompt, not to mention the other notifications. So the thing is: heard the beep * 3,
go around and paste your theme using the method you like - I even provided another script for this, just in case.

-I suspect <xydata> gets disconnected of $iniSRC at late stages of the script, as the tool has got more and more
functions under a very complicated to maintain heredoc format, resolving to current xydata. Affects
remote (ie, source/target which is not current XYini loaded into memory) ini management, only.
Will be fixed, if necessary.

-XYini tends to receive additional backups under certain conditions. It's a feature - better have some updates
to resource to than a single, pretty outdated one. Once I incorporate a consistent method of having only a few (3?)
recent backups of XYini, I'll let you know. It's easy, but I'm really tired of this for this moment.

-using the main tool to create a theme will set that theme's values as 'z_XYstylEZ_LastUsedThemeBKP.txt'. Just in case.

Anytime soon, I guess, I'll be posting an updated version of the theme set I previously made, named
'XYstylEZ_SafetyDance'. It will be massively the same set with minor tweaks concerning styles and colors (mainly
background tabs' colors, info panel got unreadable, sometimes! Ouch...), but this time using the final version
of the tool. User binocular222 agreed on inclusion of a modified version of his classy 'Night Mode' theme, so
that update will have it.

*OF COURSE*, even due to recent changes, numerous (endless, COUNTLESS!) tests among each and every possible usage
scenario, aggregated functions over time, debug codes, clutter removal, design changes, wind speed and so on, I
do not expect this to be as bug-free as I'd like - despite being simple in both its functionality and presentation
(ok, this can be object of debate... lol), it is with no doubt one of the most stressing scripts I've ever produced.
I GUESS it's safe, concise and consistent after all. Be kind with your laughing...

The Tools:

Designed (but not limited to*) for aidinng XY Themes creation and management.

XYstylEZ_ThemesTool aka 'main script' - Tools, Configuration, Colors|Styles - create your theme there,
*save your configuration*, then run the tool. All the process is guided, yet simple.

XYstylEZ_ThemeHelper_CoolThemePalWhatName (suggested by user aurumdigitus - sorry, this is the best I could do!)
- well. It tells you the name of the current theme.
XYstylEZ_ThemeHelper_ListColorsMatcher - ever wanted a way to make other options match list, easily? Me, too.
XYstylEZ_ThemeHelper_ThemeLoader - in case you don't use a full theme set and prefer a 'select a theme inside
a folder' approach.
XYstylEZ_ThemeHelper_ThemeNamesReader - presents internal vs. external names of the themes.
XYstylEZ_ThemeHelper_ThemesEraser (suggested by user aurumdigitus) - get rid of nasty themes on Theme Sets,
the easy way.
XYstylEZ_ThemeHelper_ThemeSetsCreator - merges all themes you created in the order you wish, getting them
ready for publishing.
XYstylEZ_ThemeHelper_ThemeWriter - aids for theme creation sessions (Themes Tool has got this covered, but
may happen someone prefers doing this externally - who knows...).
XYstylEZ_ThemeHelper_TitlesRipper - 4 ways-at-once to strip names out of Theme Set files.

*even if you're not using the Themes Tool you may benefit on tools from this set*, mainly the Theme Writer,
the Theme Sets Creator and the List Colors Matcher.

ToDo list:

//toDo: th loader: validation header/internal name-offer to continue anyway, if detection fails or internal/external mismatches

//toDo: th names reader: comparison on internal/external mismatches

//toDo: th writer, even main tool: detect and prompt (ask what 2 do) same input (name) as previously existent file

There are minor stuff I'm considering for the main tool, but again: feedback would immensely help! User aurumdigitus
suggested some features which in early stage of development I abandoned as I found they would be extra work for
little to none productivity gain a.k.a overkill. I was wrong.

Previous incarnations of the themes were capable of restart XY automatically. Removed, mainly (simple scripts
seems to not present this problem with the same frequency as the sophisticated ones), as this was causing the
closing instance XY to be considered freezed by Win7. Mystery.

Yet on drawing board:
-Themes Conversion Tool (from v1 to v2 - current one); I'm so tired of this that I will
probably leave it for the next century. If any scripter is up to the task, please do so. Seriously.
May not be that complicated at all, but I'm exhausted to this point. I also plan to fully revise and bring
up to date the early stable version that produced the v1 Theme Set (no FVS-aware, this time) as one may
want to just have their Themes stored in a simpler manner, be it in the form of setkey commands or plain
section\key\value structure.
-Format Translation Tool: back and forth .ini <-> setkey formats.
-XYstylEZ_ThemeHelper_ThemesResampler.xys - finished but won't make into this upload.
-Random Themes Generator - any scripter willing to develop this? Two modes: totally random colors and
more homogeneous ones.
-Random Names Generator - for inspiration. When I got the time (base code is ready). And the inspiration. lol
-Themes Loader, .ini-based version - user binocular222 has made something in that fashion, I believe.
-TOol and Helpers Splitter - for convenience.

I've tried to made them as simple as possible as well as having all means of error handling I could think on.
They are prone to gently descer a lenha, digo, conduce the user in all aspects to get the job done, even in the
unlikely event of user error.

***Oh, no! Something went wrong and I want my cool theme back!***
Worry not - refer to your '<xydata>' folder (the one attached to the XY exe which ran either the Theme Tool
or themes themselves). There you'll find

z_XYstylEZ_1stRunStyleBKP.txt - saves the initial theme config in the form of a self contained script. Preferred 'txt'
in favor of users who may not know how to open an .xys, just in case. TXT will give them a hint, at least.
> Guys, feel free to ask for a little help!
z_XYstylEZ_LastUsedThemeBKP.txt - saves the last used theme in case of theme changing, or the current theme, in
case of theme creation.
z_XYstylEZbkp_<the original ini name - backup!>.ini

This post needs some little revision - as time permits.
Tools may deserve better wording and clarity - I'm counting on feedback and cooperation for this. English is not my
native language, so sorry for any inconvenience on this. I *always* do my best.

As a last word (finally!): share. Themes. Theme Sets. Share.
All of this is only worth if people start creating and posting their themes/theme sets, bringing XY to a new,
lively and colorful place to work with. Relieve eye-strain, focus on work, add to privacy, even chromatherapy
(believe it or not a user reminded the green color being 'healer'! I'M USING IT SINCE THEN!).

Enjoy the ride. I sincerely hope this helps you in your computing life - if it has to be done, may it be quick and
comfortable.

Love and attitude,

SkyFrontier.

________
*Minor adjustments may be needed for other usages.
____________
Sônia: this is dedicated to you. You know you had a role on this. Thanks for such a faith and *unbelievable* support!

[SkyFrontier]

(For a multitude of notes covering several aspects of this, please refer to my previous post. Thanks.)

Here they are - XYstylEZ Themes Tool, plus Helpers.

The Themes Tool ('main script') is essentially a settings export script which also provides some (auto-) backup functions
of the involved configs, caring also about XY ini itself. It creates a Theme containing your current colors
config, plus other minor style-related settings which not only is dependencies-free but also has got
settings-protection functions, too. Cool, huh?

Lost your custom theme when applying a new one? Go to <xydata> - all info is there.
Want to revert back to your original theme settings, prior to use of an XYstylEZ Theme? Same procedure.

*HOW TO...*

...install the beast:
I'd suggest using a Custom Toolbar Button.
Don't know about this great feature or how to use it? Please copy the whole line

::help "idh_toolbar.htm#idh_ctb";

and paste into XYplorer's address bar. Press ENTER.

Suggestion: left click to launch a Theme Set like the one I've uploaded (warning:
they currently do not contain the protection codes as this is a later feature. Soon I'll upload an updated Theme
Set, as they need some minor revisions concerning style, either!), right click to fire the Theme/Helper Tools.

...use the Themes Tool:
1. customize XYplorer interface to your liking using Tools, Configuration, Colors|Styles. Then, SAVE YOUR SETTINGS!
(this is important, otherwise the tool won't 'see' what you've done. 'Save Settings' or 'Settings Special /
Save Configuration' under 'File' at XYplorer interface).

2. Execute the script contained in the attached 'XYstylEZThemesTool_PlusHelpers_v1_1.zip' file. Even if you open the
zipped 'XYstylEZ.xys' with notepad, copying the whole content then pasting it under 'Scripting > Run Script...' and
clicking 'ok' will do.

3. Enter a name for your theme. If you click 'ok' on the next 3 dialogs you'll skip more advanced options, but you've
got what you want. The confirmation box offers a way to immediately create a FILE theme (attention: 'cancel' is
the default button, here!, and it will just skip creating the file internally) - the Theme will be on clipboard,
ready to be used or pasted elsewhere.

4. Done! ^^

...use the Helper Tools:
They're easy ride aside having very simple tips to guide your usage. Just relax.

Regarding those Helper Tools, they were designed (but not limited to*) for aiding XY Themes creation and management.

List Colors Matcher - ever wanted a way to make other options match list, easily? Me, too.

Theme Writer - aids for theme creation sessions (Themes Tool has got this covered, but
may happen someone prefers doing this externally - who knows...).

Theme Sets Creator - merges all themes you created in the order you wish, getting them
ready for publishing.

Theme Loader - in case you don't use a full theme set and prefer a 'select a theme inside a folder' approach.

Theme Names Reader - presents internal vs. external names of the themes.

Titles Ripper - 4 ways-at-once to strip names out of Theme Set files.

Themes Eraser (suggested by user aurumdigitus) - get rid of nasty themes on Theme Sets,
the easy way.

Cool Theme Pal, What's Name? (suggested by user aurumdigitus) - well. It tells you the name of the current theme.

There are others planned or already built: Themes Conversion Tool (from v1 to v2 - current one),
Format Translation Tool, XYstylEZ_ThemeHelper_ThemesResampler.xys, Random Themes Generator, Random
Names Generator, Themes Loader (.ini-based version). Any given sunday they arrive.


Now go get some XYstyle.

She's got the looks.

It's all about Love.

________
*requiring some minor tweaks, in some cases.
__________
Want to retribute? Send me legit software licenses - helder\*dot\publicATgmail/anotherdot*/com. Anything. I'm a
collector, worst of all a media junkie. Currently I mainly need an InsideCAT license as my CD cataloger stopped
working due to OS upgrade. *IF YOU DEVELOP*, great - I'd like to have a convertion tool among InsideCAT format
and my former tool, which used basically plain text to store my CDs info. Or just throw some chatting.
Yes, I stopped buying software licenses recently as things went hard again. But I see the silent and gray days
going away.
______________
Technical note: I'd recommend to play with caution with remote (ie, source/target which is not current XYini
loaded into memory) ini management, as I added features to the current ini management but had no time yet to
thoroughly test remote management.
________________
For a theme set, please refer to the first post.
Direct download = http://www.xyplorer.com/xyfc/download/file.php?id=4892.
__________________
It takes two, baby, to control a Jäeger.

XYstylEZThemesTool_PlusHelpers_v1_2.zip

(6.67 KiB) Downloaded 1761 times

XYstylEZ_Menu.png (13.46 KiB) Viewed 8920 times

[aurumdigitus]

Have Save Settings button on TB. When passing cursor over it the number of changes to XY since last save is shown. After having used Theme.xys it longer displays that information.

[SkyFrontier]

Despite Theme.xys being not my script, I'll try to reproduce and find a solution.
I've played several, countless times with 6 XY installations side by side to write the script and had not such a glitch.

[aurumdigitus]

Sadly XY seems to have its share of nooks and grannies where things happen that defy reason and logic. Sometimes wonder if this could be a negative manifestation of Visual Basic. That is just a intuitive reaction; have no empirical proof.