Gadgets and Widgets??? » Forum Post by angus1949

A gadget is a stand-alone app. It has the DX engine wrapped up in it.
A widget needs the DX engine installed on the PC.
An object needs to have the DX engine installed and running.
A Vista sidebar gadget is also stand-alone.

I move all my unzipped DX gadgets/widgets/whatever to the proper directory in C:\Program Files\Stardock\Object Desktop\DesktopX (objects, widgets, gadgets, themes, or Sidebar Gadgets. Then I run them from there.

Widgets - DesktopX objects can be exported as mini-applications called widgets. Widgets are similar to objects except they are actual programs (.EXEs) that run in their own memory space. Widgets do not require DesktopX to be running to be used but require DesktopX to be installed

Gadgets - For users of DesktopX Pro DesktopX widgets can be exported as stand-alone programs (.EXEs) called gadgets that require no additional files or run-times to be installed. Gadgets can be sent to any user of Windows XP or 2000, or vista to be used. No installation required.

see more here: Documentation

damm... you are quick ZU..

Zubaz and Bilbo,
Thank you, that cleared up a lot. I was getting confused when I opened a zip and it had just and exe while others have dlls included. I'll look over that documentation as soon as I post this Bilbo. Thanks again.

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If the zip has dlls it's because your browser renamed the original extention. If you downloaded an object and you get a zip with dlls and other stuff, rename the file so the "zip" is a "dxpack" (so zubaz.zip woudl become zubaz.dxpack)

I think some gadgets or widgets may contain their own plug-ins like we can see in volume control widget by Julien, there is vista volume control plug-in so the zip may contain the dll file.
By clicking on the exe you have installed it and if you have checed the copy loaded objects to dx directory in the prefrences then it will also get copied.

yep im packed some .dll inside the zip...

e.g. digitalclock.dll ..

Good points haptork and Bilbo. I guess it's not always as clear as we'd like.

Also, a gadget can be exported in two different ways - simple or custom deployment. Simple deployment will export a single executable whilst custom deployment results in an executable and sub-folders containing any scripts, graphics, sound files etc, and the dx dlls such as DXAxHost.dll.

Basically, the simple deployment contains all those same files compressed inside the exe which are decompressed on the fly when the exe is run.

In either case, custom or simple deployment, the gadget is standalone, as mentioned above, and can be run from anywhere on your hard drive.

Thany you Zubaz, HAPTORK, bilbo and Tiggs. Very helpful information and just what I was needing. Some of this is kind of confusing for a real newbie, and it's hard to locate the information in tuts or articles most of the time. Sure wish the help information was located together a bit more. I wish when I dl'ed OD there was a basic tut included that explained more basics about using SDC as a central installer, and some of the basics of file extraction or renaming of zips, etc. Any thoughts?

Any thoughts?

As you figure stuff out . . add it to the wiki? I wish I had more help to offer but while Stardock documentation has gotten so much better over the years their apps are so complex and (dare I say it?) customizable and their update cycle so fast that the internal documentation just can't keep up.

Luckily, the community has stepped up to fill the gaps here in the forums, in IRC, and now in the wiki.

[blatent plug]If you need help with my favorite app, ObjectBar, there is a BRILLIANT walk-through here: http://www.stardock.com/products/objectbar/docs/Creating_OB.asp[/blatent plug]

For anyone wanting to learn how create DX widgets/objects/gadgets i believe this link is a good place to start.

Link

There are a LOT of tutorials out there, as well as documentation on DX.

THE BEST way to find any tutorial, code, or examples is to do the following:

goto GOOGLE and type in something like:
DesktopX Tutorials (returns - 33 THOUSAND results)
DesktopX widgets or gadgets - the 3rd one there tells you the diff between widgets/gadgets

I find that i use google for finding all kinds of info, and for how to vbscript examples, and more. Its amazing what is out there.

Just the other day i was looking for how to set the IP address of an adapter with vbscript and it returned this amazing site:
Link
If there is a vbscript function that dx can do, its probably on that page, love the net.

Im not sure why people shy away from doing google searches, most time i can find what i want that way, and if i cant, im sure there is someone here (WC) that knows...

Enjoy!

Just the other day i was looking for how to set the IP address of an adapter with vbscript and it returned this amazing site:
Link
If there is a vbscript function that dx can do, its probably on that page, love the net.

Very, very cool site!

I was looking at the sytem restore section and and imaging how that could be used in a DX theme (like Vad_M's SD Desktop) and the Windows Firewall stuff . . . neato!

Yeah, excellent site David. Added to the wiki.

Not meaning to hijack the thread but, a tutorial on Custom Deployment might be a good idea for the future?

what do you mean?

How to make gadgets? or SETUP.exe extractors? that kind of thing?

Guess, I should of thought that out more. Just tried it with a version of iReflector & it really isn't any different than regular deployment but, it does reduce load time.

There's lot's of tutorials for setup extractors out there. So, forget the request.

LOL.. i never know what one is best.. heck im not sure of the one i used.. i LOVE VAD_M's one, but i think that one is for PROs and costs some serious $$. I use the FREE ones, im cheeep.

Any thoughts?

As you figure stuff out . . add it to the wiki? I wish I had more help to offer but while Stardock documentation has gotten so much better over the years their apps are so complex and (dare I say it?) customizable and their update cycle so fast that the internal documentation just can't keep up.

Luckily, the community has stepped up to fill the gaps here in the forums, in IRC, and now in the wiki.

[blatent plug]If you need help with my favorite app, ObjectBar, there is a BRILLIANT walk-through here: http://www.stardock.com/products/objectbar/docs/Creating_OB.asp[/blatent plug]

Zubaz,
I didn't think I would be qualified enough as such a newbie to add anything to the Wiki's. I guess I can understand Stardock not being able to keep up with documentation on an ever evolving product. Yes WC has a great community. The best I've found for any product or topic. I went over your tut on ObjectBar. Seems very in depth if not a little overwhelming at first. But from what I could see you have the right to be "blatant". Oh, by the way, your spelling was spot on.

I do wish this editor had a spell check!

Oh, by the way, your spelling was spot on. I do wish this editor had a spell check!