yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Uhm, I thought you were referring to the manilla ones I put in this update :p

Will try to see if I can find the ones in your pictures, can't promise anything at the moment but I'll try ;)
[Windows Mobile Themes] DeeDeeKay79:
Hey Vostradamus. Great work you´ve done. But what do you think aboet chinese or japanese signs, for example as a background for clocks (digital or/ and analog) or other widgets?
[Windows Mobile Themes] berndhufmann:
Hey Vostradamus, thanks a lot for the analog clock. Is it skinnable? Da Vinci may made perfect woman paints but i think it has better ones ;-)
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
That could be a nice idea indeed :) Any suggestion/link to some nice suitable images? :p
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Glad to read that you liked how it's done ;)

Unfortunately, I can't make skinnable skins (lol sounds funny), but if you have some specific image in mind (a link to it would be even better :p) I can add another one in the next release ;)
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Uhmmmmmmm.... thinking about it again..... maybe I was wrong... maybe I can manage to make a skinnable one, even if it's gonna consists not of 2 but of 3 different widgets :D

Just gimme some time to make some experiments and I'll try to set something up ;)

(not giving a release date because Xmas is veeeery close, but I'll see to it asap) :p
[Windows Mobile Themes] berndhufmann:
Yeah i can wait and link to skins could be provided but it will even better to be configurable myself depending on my daily fancy ;-) Thanks again.
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Released version 2.21 (Yep, it's been quicker than I thought) :)

ChangeLog, detailed info and download links in the first post ;)

Enjoy! :D
[Windows Mobile Themes] berndhufmann:
Thanks a lot for the skinnable analog clock!!
[Windows Mobile Themes] maldives lover:
I need help!

Hi

I've downloaded your widgets to my phone ran the xml file and when I try to change the skins I can see your widgets but when I choose one nothing happens, what am I doing wrong?:eek:
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
If you can see the widgets names in the change skin menu but nothing happens when you select them it usually means that something went wrong while installing the xml file... try installing it again and see what happens.

If, while installing it, it says that the previous version of the xml installer can't be uninstalled just ignore that message and proceed with the installation.

Lemme know if it works :)
[Windows Mobile Themes] maldives lover:
Hi

Thanks for the quick response, I've tried installing the xml file a number of times but still nothing! I'm a newbie so I'm probably doing something wrong but can't figure out what.
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
no prob don't worry, we'll manage somehow :)

Could you attach your qa_layouts.dat on here so I can take a look at it?

EDIT: just made some tests... try the attached xml installer too and see if anything changes
[Windows Mobile Themes] maldives lover:
Hi

Thanks for that, I've installed it but nothing has changed:confused: I've attached my qa layout.dat as requested.

Thanks for your help
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Uhm........ I could be turning blind, but I can't see where you have attached your qa_layouts.dat :p

EDIT: lol ok now I see it, I was posting right when you were adding it eheheh
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Ok, I just checked your qa_layouts and it looks alright, the xml file has been correctly imported.

Question: it was you who renamed it as .zip to attach it on here, but the original file extension was .dat, right?

Could you describe in details what you do when trying to use the new widgets and what you see on the device screen?
[Windows Mobile Themes] maldives lover:
Hi

Yes I renamed it because I couldn't upload a .dat file

Copy widget and xml files to HTC

Install widget followed by xml

SPB restarts

Edit Layout (battery)

Screen shows original battery widget and text for default or Beer.

Click on beer and press tick to save changes but nothing happens.
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Ok, I thought so :)

Weird thing is: everything looks alright....

Which widgets cabs did you install? What do you exactly do when trying to use the new widgets? and what do you exactly see on the device screen?

EDIT: lol again I was posting while you were editing your post :p
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
When you select "beer" does the preview show or nothing appears?

Also check in your mobile shell folder if there is the qa_BatteryBeer.dat (if your device is a qvga) or va_BatteryBeer.dat (if your device is a vga)
[Windows Mobile Themes] maldives lover:
No there is no preview, I've installed the beer, duracell and cats/clock widgets but I don't see a preview for any of them although the text option for choosing them is there.
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Mmmh.... I know this is a dumb question but... are you sure you installed the right cabs for your device screen resolution? :confused: :o
[Windows Mobile Themes] maldives lover:
Hmmm not such a daft question:o:o:o:o Sorry... I was installing the QVGA cabs, in my defence, my husband told me I'd got a qvga phone and it looks like it's a vga resolution, they are now working. Sorry for being such a lemon and thanks for your help. I'll have another go once I have recovered from my embarrassment.
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
lol don't worry, nothing to be embarassed about, expecially if your hubby gave you the wrong info from the start ;)

I'm glad you finally got it working, and stay tuned for new releases :)
[Windows Mobile Themes] PollPixx:
absolutely a great job, thanks a lot. Everything (what I wanted) works perfect, it really looks much better now.

And if I may request something for future skins, I would like to have the skinnable analogue clock in medium ;-)

Cheers,

Arnold
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Thanks! :)

About the clock: the current one is half the screen wide, which size exactly would you like it?
[Windows Mobile Themes] PollPixx:
on my x1 the skinnable is for small photoframe. So I can only use small photoframes and put the skinnable over it as a new layer which looks kind of small on the x1. The medium photoframe is looking much better, but when I put the skinnable clock over it, it fills just a part of the picture, which looks not as good as fill it completely.

Sorry for my not perfect english, I am Dutch, but you would probably understand less of it when I wrote this in proper Dutch ;-)

I hope you understand what I mean...

Cheers,

Arnold
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Got it! :)

Actually I already thought you were referring to the medium sized picure frame, I just wanted to confirm it ;)

Don't worry 'bout your english: it's perfectly understandable (and most probably much better than mine lol) :D

.... and yes: I don't think I would have understood much if you were to write in dutch lol :p

I'll see to the new size of the clock in the next version, hope to release it soon (I already have a couple other addons ready to be released too) ;)
[Windows Mobile Themes] PollPixx:
that would be awesome, I will be patient... :rolleyes:

By the way, Big sizes picture will also be very good, that fits perfectly on one page, with underneath the icons for the SMS/Calls/Email/Voicemail buttons....

Cheers,

Arnold
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
I thought so :p

I'll set up a large version too ;)
[Windows Mobile Themes] john_smith:
guay

Hi from Spain , say you that i think that it´s a great, great widgets, overall, the narrow task and calendar, because y had a omnia and low space for put icons, but the most interesting it´s that you can install one by one and not afects at othes widgets intalled previously, only a question , i had ha problem on reinstall "task narrow", it try to unistall previous but after 10 minutes say that it can not unistall, i i try to install otherwise, the i respond yes and after others 10 minutes or more, it´say that i cannot do it.i not test whith others cabs, can you help or that i need to delete, unistall others widgets and spb, i cannot unistall "task narrow", sorry for my english and large post and happy new year
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
That's quite weird, it's the first time I read of uninstalling problems

You can try two things:

1) shut mobile shell off and try uninstallin it when it's not running (uninstall from start-settings-remove programs)

if the above does not help, you can try uninstalling manually. To do this do as follow:

- shut mobile shell off

- go to mobile shell folder

- delete qp_calendarcompactnarrow.dat

- open a registry editing program

- go to HKLM\software\spb software house\shared\spb menu\widgetpackages\spb.widgetsziogian

- delete every key with a name starting as "CalendarCompactNarrow" or "TasksCompactNarrow"

- go to HKLM\software\apps

- delete the key "Vostradamus Colored Narrow Calendar"

- go to HKLM\security\appinstall

- delete the key "Vostradamus Colored Narrow Calendar"

- close the registry editing program

- wait a minute, then soft reset your phone

- uninstall completed

Just curious: why are you trying to reinstall the narrow calendar/tasks over the already installed one anyway? They haven't been modified in ages, so I don't really see the point :p
[Windows Mobile Themes] john_smith:
ok, i´ll try it and write again with results, greats explanations, thanks for your time
[Windows Mobile Themes] SquonkSC:
Request

Hi vostradamus,

First I like to say I really like the widgets you made. Thank you.

Like most people I like to have as much info on my screen as possible.

In that light I have a request.

I use the standard clock, set at medium.

This is how it looks now:

Note that the under the clock I have the "current date" widget.

What I would like to do is to combine the clock and the curent date.

That would look something like this:

When I place the current date over the clock, the date underneath is visible:

There are two ways to fix my problem.

1st: make a clock without the date:

View attachment 261662

2nd: idealy combine the clock and current date widget:

View attachment 261665

I would love to do this myself but I don't know how to do it.

Would it be possible for you to do this for me, and if so, would it be easiest if I send you my "qa_dclock_widget_combo.dat"?

I have no idea how to go about it.

Is there a tutorial for creating my own widgets?

I would love to contribute new widgets to this forum, but I need to know which tools I would need and how to use them.

I'm quite good with photoshop, I know a thing or two about xml, but that's about it.

Sorry for all the questions.

I hope you can help me.

Thanks,

Michel
[Windows Mobile Themes] SquonkSC:
Thanks

Hi Vostradamus,

Thank you for the excellent explanation, not messy at all.

Based on your guide, I have a few new questions.

1. After I succeed in making a widget, how would I make it available for others?

Meaning, what tool or procedure would I need to make it easy for people to install it to their device without messing things up. :)

2. You spoke about an emulator on my PC?

Which one do you recommend?

3. Is there a way to clone my current PDA setup to the emulator, or would I have to install everything separately on it?

Again, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge.

And when I figure everything out, this forum will definitely have a new developer, because I love doing this.

Greetings,

Michel
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
1) several ways to make your creations available to others:

- zip archive with all the files to be added to mobile shell folder, plus the xml to be added to qa_layouts plus a .reg file with the keys to be writtten in the registry

or maybe

- cab file to install the widget and registry keys + xml to be added to qa_layouts.dat

or any other solution that can come to your mind, anything is good as long as you provide clear instructions on what to do and how to do it ;)

2) Take a look over here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=1A7A6B52-F89E-4354-84CE-5D19C204498A&displaylang=en

3) I'd suggest you to start clean, just install the emulator, run it and install mobile shell then save its current status and you'll be ready to experiment :)
[Windows Mobile Themes] SquonkSC:
1st Problem

Thanks again for the quick response.

I ran into my first problem.

Just for experimental purpose I made one little change to an xml, and the widget turns out totally screwed.

Here is what I did.

1. I copied the "va_dclock_widget_medium.dat" to my laptop.

2. I changed .dat to .zip

3. I extracted the index.xml and opened it with notepad.

This is what it looks like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<skin name="ModernDClock">

<items>

<item id="ModernDClock" class="MODERNDCLOCK">

<Bitmap Name="Face" Image="face.bmp" Mask="face_m.bmp"/>

<Int Name="UseStandardFont" Value="1"/>

<Rect Name="TimeRect" X="9" Y="4" Width="210" Height="50"/>

<Rect Name="DateRect" X="15" Y="58" Width="180" Height="48"/>

<Font Name="TimeFont" Face="Tahoma" HeightPxl="42" Bold="y"/>

<Font Name="DateFont" Face="Tahoma" HeightPxl="36" Bold="n"/>

</item>

</items>

</skin>

4. I changed only the "Bold="n" into Bold="y"

5. I saved the xml

6. put the changed xml back into the zip file and changed the name back from

.zip to .dat

I presumed I didn't have to change any other parameter.

7. I copied the file back to the SPB folder on my pda

8. When I want to change the skin from SPB, and I chose the medium clock,

the thing is totally screwed.

First it is much smaller and the text is very big and wrong.

What mistake did I make here in my thinking process???

Could it be that powerarchiver's way of saving a zip is screwing things up and making the .zip/.dat file non conform?

Sorry for being such a pain in the butt, but that's growing pains I think. :D

Greetings,

Michel
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Don't worry, it's not a pain to give some help :) Everyone has to start from scratch, so it's normal making some mess at first... lol the first time I tried to create a widget I crashed the whole shell, so you seem to be far ahead of me ahahahah :D

It looks like something went wrong probably when saving, for your line of reasoning was right: that change should have just put the date font in bold and nothing else (I also tried it right now on the emulator just to be 100% sure).

You mentioned you used powerarchiver to save the zip, I'd suggest you to use only winzip, even winrar which should be 100% compatible is known to have caused some mess sometimes... so use winzip and about the "compression" option leave it on "maximum compatibility".

.... and of course when you put your modified files back in the zip, alwyas be sure to remember the encryption password, otherwise you can be sure it won't work.

EDIT: also forgot to mention... every time you change something, restart the shell before trying it :)
[Windows Mobile Themes] SquonkSC:
Problem solved

Thanks again.

Problem was that powerarchiver saves passwords to archives, so the next time you open the archive you don't have to type it.

This alters the zip to an extend that SPB can't read it properly.

Luckily I can deactivate the automatic password storage in the options of powerarchiver.

After I did that, the clock showed up as expected with the date font showing in bold.

I'm glad I can keep using powerarchiver, because I really like it and there is nothing that comes close in funtionality and supported file types.

I'll keep you posted of my progress and when I figure out how to create packs, I will be posting them here.

Greetings and I wish you and everybody here a happy ending of 2009 and a brilliant 2010.

Michel
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Great!

Can't wait to see another developer join the ranks! ;)
[Windows Mobile Themes] SquonkSC:
First try

Hi Vostradamus,

Here is the first result of some experimentation.

Excuse the blurry image and mismatched colors. :o

Image is 86kb only. ;)

I know it's not much, but it's a beginning in understanding the skin.

Based on this experience I have another few questions.

1. You said something about the .bmp and m.bmp influencing the lightness of the widgets.

How does it work exactely? I tried to make my holiday widget darker, but making the m.bmp lighter didn't change anything.

2. How can I work with color? The weather widget has a yellow colored sun, so there must be a way, right?

3. Is it possible to work with .png instead of .bmp?

That would make the widgets smaller in size, and would make memory and cpu usage more efficiently.

And it would make the use of two .bmp masks obsolete.

4. In which xml are the margins set between the widgets?

I want to be able to decrease the room between widgets, to make them use screen space more efficiently.

And to invent a kind of grid, so the widgets always fit into a certain prefixed grid, and to align them perfectly.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Greetings,

Michel
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Hi there!

Knowing that these are your first tries you're doing...... MORE THAN GREAT :)

1) image mask:

As you probably noticed, every image used in a widget is defined by two bmp, the image itself and the mask.

The image is just what the name says: the image which is going to be displayed.

The mask, on the other hand, defines how the image is displayed.

Try to imagine the mask ideally put over the image, now, the areas of the image where the mask is white are gonna be displayed in its solid color, the areas there the mask is black are gonna be transparent (i.e. invisible). Every gray tone of the mask defines how much transparency is applied to that part of the image, the darker the mask, the more transparent that part of the image.

lol I hope what I wrote up here will be at least a bit understandable :p

2) colors:

if you're working on digital clocks, forget the color for the background image: I dunno why, but it messes up if you try to make them colored... looks like they've been designed to be only grayscale.

The only part you can use colors on in a digital clock are the numbers, try taking a look at the bigger clocks files and you'll see what I mean.

The other widgets, on the other hand, can use colors without problems BUT keep in mind a couple things:

- mask file: this has to be a 256 colors, grayscale image. I'd suggest to save the palette from one of the original mask files and use it on every other mask file you draw.

- image file: this has to be saved in 16bit format (65k colors) otherwise strange behaviours may occur (for example, if you save it as 24bit or higher you will see the right colors, but the whole graphics part will vanish while swiping on the screen)

3) png instead of bmp: nope, it's currently not possible. Keep in mind, though, the the bmps are inside zip files (.dat=.zip) so they're not gonna waste much space ;)

4) margins and grid:

mobile shell already uses an invisible grid to align its widgets. If I remember right, it's a 10 pixels grid on qvga devices, 20 on vga.

The part you refer to as "margins", if I got right what you mean, is defined in the xml where you describe your widgets, the one inside qa_layouts.dat.

The parameter you want to look at is "boundrect", take a look at how it is used in the original spb widgets :)

EDIT: forgot to mention one thing about colors... if you wanna work with the text color, keep in mind that the hex notation which one could image as RGB is BGR instead, dunno why they made it this way
[Windows Mobile Themes] SquonkSC:
Thanks, this helps me go deeper in the matter.

Weird about the clocks not showing color.

Must be in one or other .dat file though, because it's not a restriction of the software.

I'll make it one of my missions to find out why that is, and if it can be fixed.

About the bmp files in the compressed dat files.

You are right about it not occupying much space while it's stored,

but for the software to use the bmp, it needs to extract and deflate the image into ram.

The bmp file will be full size in ram, and the cpu is being used to extract it.

In practice though it doesn't seem to have any impact on performance,

so bmp's are fine I guess.

However, Png's would be so much more practical, because you wouldn't have to use a mask to set the transparency.

Well, I keep repeating myself, but thanks once again for being so helpful.

I think I have enough info now to find out the rest for myself.

Greetz,

Michel
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Yep the clock vs. color part kinda surprised me too.

It's not exactly that it's not showing colors... it is, but in a... weird way...

For example: if you save the background image in 24bit format or higher, it actually shows colors... but there's still the problem I wrote about before, that is it vanishes during swiping.

If you save it 16bit like all the other widgets, it messes up the palette and shows it almost only in shades of xxxx (where xxxx seeems to be a "random" color, not sure based on what) :confused::confused:

If you save it in grayscale, it works normally.

I think it could be some sort of bug in the pluginclass code, but can't be sure 'bout it as I don't have access to it :(

After a couple afternoons trying to figure it out, I just gave up :p Good luck in figuring out something more, I'll definitely cheer for you! :)

You're right about the images, png would be much more comfortable because of the transparency, but maybe the guys at spb have some problems with that format: even the picture frame does not support png transparency :(

Keep me updated about your progresses, and happy modding! ;):D
[Windows Mobile Themes] PollPixx:
Is there anyway I can change the colour of the Big Squared Blue/Cyan/Green squares for e-mail/sms/calls/voicemail?

I want it to have in colour# 9d948b

CMYK code in order-> 44,40,41,2

If not, how hard is it for you to change the colour in your rawfiles and make a cab:rolleyes:....I know it is my second question in a few days:p

Reason I ask is because it would fit perfect in my lifestyle page onderneath a squared big photograph (wherefor I requested the big Skinnable White analogue clock...). As the photo is in quite a dark sepia colour I checked in Photoshop CS4 the colour code of the background of the photograph...

Cheers,

Arnold
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
There's no immediate way to change that color, you should open one of the current colors' dat file, extract the graphics, change it to what you like and put it back in the dat.

Doing this, though, would allow you to change the color, but the change skin menu would still contain the original color name even if the graphics are changed.

If you want I can set up a cab and include it in the next release. It won't be the same exact color you wrote, mainly because those widgets are not single-colored, but I can try to make it as similar as possible....
[Windows Mobile Themes] PollPixx:
grazie mille ;)

you are the best! Now I really stop tiring you...

Cheers,

Arnold
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Thanks for your kind words, and don't worry: you're not bothering me at all ;)
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Released version 2.22 :)

ChangeLog, detailaed info and download links in the first post ;)

Enjoy! :D
[Windows Mobile Themes] PollPixx:
Once more: You are the best...thank you!

Sepia buttons looks much more relaxing, it looks awesome....just....great!

Unfortunately the big clocks is a little too big and fall out of the big photo frame. The medium one is perfect!

Happy new year !!!

Cheers,

Arnold
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
I'm glad you liked the sepia icons, actually I must admit I like them myself :p

About the clock.... the big clock is the same size of the big photo frame, I tested it ;)

Could it be that the picture you're trying to use with the frame is not large enough?

The large picture frame/clock is 240x240 on qvga and 480x480 on vga, check the size of your picture ;)
[Windows Mobile Themes] Gino14:
Thanks for all your great works....

You make the Spb MS more funny and brilliant....

:)
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Thanks for your appreciation :)