Published on October 7, 2004 By _Martin_ In WinCustomize News
In a drive to make DesktopX easier for both users and devlopers I am in the process of trying to develop some standards for DesktopX.

These will only succeed with support and a critical mass of developers using them so I urge you to assist if you think this a a worth while cause.

This first draft details proposed Common User Information, and outlines other plans for the standard. Your feedback is welcome.

You can get the draft document here: www.desktopx.net/standards/DesktopX Standards.pdf
A sample of the Common User Information is here: www.desktopx.net/standards/dxinfo.xml
Comments (Page 1)
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on Oct 07, 2004
cool!!!!!

on Oct 07, 2004
That is a great idea, but can't Desktopx be modified to allow easy editing of registry?

IE: Savesetting and Loadsetting (used in VB.NET but not in vbscript).
on Oct 07, 2004
Oh yeah what about calendar with appointments standards? Sometimes I would like to use another people's creations but they use different file.
on Oct 07, 2004
XX - you can easily write to the registry now but that doesn't stop people writing all over the registry with no structure.

If you read the document then you'll realise that the standardisation of information is the issue, not whether it resides in the registry or XML. Registry access is also difficult at times due to the various security apps on computers.
on Oct 07, 2004
Very good work Martin. Thanx very much for it.
As far as the shortcuts are concerned, I'd rather «type» as being URL, application, folder, or special folder this way, we'd be able to easily script them : if it's a folder and you click on it for more than 2 seconds, then it opens the Browse folder dialog, so that you can change the folder target... Does this make sense ?
Then we should have a «type» info for each shortcut PLUS a «category» info (graphics, office, ...)
on Oct 07, 2004
Hmmmmmm. I can't edit my message ("you're not authorized to view this page" )
Just one more thing : since there are online TVs available on the net, «radio» should be «radio OR TV», don't you think so ?
on Oct 07, 2004
Thanks for the feedback. I can certainly add a "folder" type. This is a sensible idea.

There are two ways of looking at the need for "type" and "category".
1) You could argue that a folder will be distinct type that is different so you don't need categories
2) You may think a more sophisticated system is needed where you may want to group different types of URL (graphics, skinning etc). If this is the case, should we enforce a structure or allow the user to create their own. You could do the same for "Applications" - placing them into graphics, skinning categories etc.

This is the sort of debate we need - though I think we need a newsgroup to maintain some structure to these threads !!!

Special folders I plan to add to the common scripts as these can easily be extracted from the registry.

Let me know what you think.
on Oct 07, 2004
oh and as for TV, this would probably be added as a distinct media, as there may be different properties for it in the long term. We'll see if the need for that arrives.
on Oct 07, 2004
Ahh so it uses a XML file?

Will there be a ready to use script for creating, changing or accessing this XML file?
on Oct 07, 2004
Oh yeah if you plan to create a calendear with appts standard, I would recommand using my format (just check out ApptLinearCalendear) so that way yu can use split function to simpify splitting up information.


But at the same time, You could split up all of the data, incuding day, month and year, time so this point would be moot.

It may go like this:
MM/DD/YY'format
2'this one tells how many appts there is.

'APPT then the number
20'day
1'month
2005'year
7:00
My 29th Birthday


'second appt.
20
1
2006
7:00
My 30th Birthday


Of course this format has some weaknesses. If appt 1 is removed it causes some problems. any solution? Hmm one possible: just use without any numbers and use SPLIT function?
on Oct 07, 2004
Aww it messed up my post. For some odd reason, I can't edit it.
on Oct 07, 2004
XX - If you actually read the document it might enlighten you as to the format, details etc.

I also created an appointment calendar a good while ago, so I have a fairly good format, but thanks.
on Oct 07, 2004
Actually, my own is based on yours.

I modified it to use split functions.
on Oct 07, 2004
Martin,

This is a good start - you've obviously been working hard.

A lot of the most interesting stuff will come in the AOI section, so we'll still have to wait and see on that.

Two things that I immediately see are missing: 1)User's text color preference and 2)under weather, the user's hemisphere (northern or southern).

For the 99% of you wondering why #2, it's so the moon phase can be displayed accurately.

I also think it would be good if the units preference for weather was more specific, to accomodate different people's interests:
Temp: F,C
Wind Speed: mp/h,km/h,m/s,knots
Visibility: mi,km
Barometer: in,mm,hPa,kPa,mb
Precip:in,cm,mm

Cheers,

Will
on Oct 07, 2004
Martin,

A small comment from someone who is just learning to script, but has alot of experience in Quality Control standards and documentation.

This is probably the best idea I have seen here at WC in the 6 months I have been a subscriber.

A great way to prevent loss of quality and a fantastic tool for anyone with an interest in creating highly compatible products.

Just 2 cents from a subscriber who cares.
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