Mini question

[Achoriham]

Hi Pete,

Sorry for the silly question...

Would it be (technically) possible to have a switch in the FSUIPC and Wideclient .ini files to start an application 'Minimized'?

Asking, because in my cockpit setup there are a few of those needed but badly written programs that do not allow themselves to be started minimized.

Of course I can minimize those by hand when FSUIPC started them, but in a cockpit setup it needs opening a VNC app. etc

Forgive me if it is a bad or irrelevant question.

best regards

Achoriham

[Pete Dowson]

Would it be (technically) possible to have a switch in the FSUIPC and Wideclient .ini files to start an application 'Minimized'?

Yes.

There's already a "HIDE" facility in the [Programs] facility in FSUIPC. Not quite the same as Minimising, though. I could add a "MIN" option in the same way.

For WideClient it would also be possible but I'd need to work out a way to specify it. Probably a separate line, as "Minimise1=Yes" for the "Run1" program, "MinimiseReady1=Yes" for the RunReady1 program, and so on. The program is set up to analyse the parameters in that sort of syntax already. It would work for programs whose top level window is the visible one.

If this is sufficient for you I'll take a look. Is it FSUIPC3 or FSUIPC4 you are interested in? If only WideClient, for now, I can add it relatively quickly -- maybe tomorrow. For FSUIPC3 I'd rather not do it for a while because of some other things I need to sort out. Similarly for FSUIPC4. In fact, I'd really rather leave it to the HIDE facility in those.

Note my spelling of "minimise" would be English, not American. ;-) (Though I expect I should accept either).

[LATER]

Thinking on this further, I think I'll add a more flexible facility to WideClient instead. Like

Show <programID> = Hide, Restore, Min or Max

where the <programID> is one of 1-8, Ready1-8, If1-8 or Key1-8, as usual.

Regards

Pete

[Achoriham]

Hi Pete,

Many thanks! Would be a great thing if it is possible!

Is it FSUIPC3 or FSUIPC4 you are interested in?

I personally use FSUIPC4 exclusively.

Note my spelling of "minimise" would be English, not American. ;-) (Though I expect I should accept either).

LOL! 'MIN' would just suffice and would sound international enough.

Although here in India we are supposed to follow more of the English way, all my spell-checkers seem to be American...

Thinking on this further, I think I'll add a more flexible facility to WideClient instead. Like

Show <programID> = Hide, Restore, Min or Max

where the <programID> is one of 1-8, Ready1-8, If1-8 or Key1-8, as usual.

Sounds just great.

many thanks in advance

regards

Achoriham

[Pete Dowson]

Thinking on this further, I think I'll add a more flexible facility to WideClient instead.

Okay, this is done. Wideclient 6.844, now available in the Download Links subforum, provides the following additional facility:

22. The facilities for running programs are enhanced by additional options which control how their Windows are displayed. This applies to programs run by Run, RunIf, RunReady and RunKey. There's a set of additional parameter types: Show, ShowIf, ShowReady and ShowKey, each relating to the similarly characterised Run program. For instance, Show3 refers to the Run3 program, whilst ShowKey4 refers to the RunKey4 program. The options are:

Show<id>=<mode>

or

Show<id>=<delay>,<mode>

where <mode> is one of MAX (for maximised), MIN (minimized), HIDE (hidden). Anything else does a 'restore' (to the window's default size and state).

The <delay> part is a number of seconds to wait after the program is loaded before trying to change the Window. This is needed for many programs to make sure the correct top-level program window is affected, as many programs display a banner or initialisation window before the true operational one.

Regards

Pete

[Achoriham]

Okay, this is done. Wideclient 6.844, now available in the Download Links subforum, provides the following additional facility:

Hi Pete,

This is just great.

Grateful thanks!

If i may ask: does it mean that these options will also work for FSUIPC's [Programs] section?

best regards

Achoriham

[Pete Dowson]

If i may ask: does it mean that these options will also work for FSUIPC's [Programs] section?

No.

I haven't had time to look at that yet. I'm not sure how to do it either, yet. It is very different.

Regards

Pete

[Achoriham]

No. I haven't had time to look at that yet. I'm not sure how to do it either, yet. It is very different.

Hi Pete,

Pity... would have been wonderful.

Many thanks anyway!

best regards

Achoriham

[Pete Dowson]

Pity... would have been wonderful.

If it is that important to you you can run WideClient on the FS PC as well -- just set the ClassInstance in the INI file to a non-zero value. Then WideClient can run your programs and minimize them.

[LATER]

I've had another look at the FSUIPC4 code.

If the "HIDE" option in [Programs] works for the program(s) you are wanting this facility for, then try downloading FSUIPC 4.665 using this link:

FSUIPC 4.665

then using "MIN" or "MAX" instead of "HIDE".

Unfortunately, as with 'HIDE' this technique relies on the program initialising according to the settings it gets from Windows when it starts, so it probably doesn't help in your case. To do a fuller job, as with WideClient, involves porting quite a lot of the code which WideClient uses over to FSUIPC, which I am really reluctant to do. The WideClient solution I suggest above does work, however, and having WideClient running as well, on the FS PC, shouldn't be any noticeable overhead on a multi-cored PC.

Regards

Pete