Pierre & All
Hello !• First, to be clear, “active” means here that such a stuff should not be designed to support some new ¦ exotic image-format, but to provide functions currently not supported by XnView, and that could be very useful.
• In order to lighten the Pierre's (heavy) tasks, this could be created by competent users as small programs or libraries, able to bring the wished additional features. On principle, they might be free of charge for a personal use, like XnView is.
• For example, I'ld propose here an extra tool-bar - requested already, and which the lack is getting more and more annoying each day…
- Currently, the icons number is limited up to thirty-three by design, since XnView uses a single bitmap for its main tool-bar.
- This system has benefits, but also boring inconveniences, since the addition of one icon is pratically impossible: it should bind a full rebuilding of all existing skins, a pretty mess
- Hence, we could have an executable file, "linked" to and working with the main program to get supplemental icons on an extra-bar.
- These icons could launch functions from the menus which have not any icon in the bar currently, they are legion. Indeed, they must be customizable, as well for the command to assign, as for the image to set as icon.
- Pratically, I see a kind of small movable window, normally set at any side of the main "View" window in that mode, but able to be moved externally and hooked to the XnView window when it's set as "adjustable" (Normal according with the Win wording), and that could be hidden easily if needed :
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http://perso.wanadoo.fr/charries/relais ... upplem.png
¤ Above are icons for the JPEG lossless transformations, this could do the trick for the recent Helmut's proposal
¤ The "Hand" is a “hot” area allowing to move the bar anywhere, the <| button is to show / hide the bar…
{ Note : I drew these icons quickly to present that thread, indeed they aren't nice at all
}- Of course, the bar can be hooked inside the main window too, and its shape / layout (vertical, horizontal, multi-row…) could be chosen from the options of the plugin.
• Icons could be added as and when required. A right-clic (or a combination of keys ) could open a local-menu to configure the bar, add icons, change their order via Drag & Drop, etc. …
- There are two ways to save these active-plugin settings :
1. The plugin has its own INI file either in the main-program folder or in its sub-folder,
2. Its settings have a general [ActivePlugins] planned section and they are written in the INI file of the main-program…
- This leads to get a list of all allowed XnView menu-commands (and maybe a bunch of others…) to choose which commands and which assigned icons can be added… For instance, in Total Commander such a file exists (it's simply a TXT-format file), as .INC (for INternal Commands). A default ICL exists, but it's possible to use any icon for any command, from DLLs, ICLs, EXEs, or *.ico files…
- TIFF libraries containing icons only are not supported in T.C., but it should be nice they be in XnView if possible…
What do you think ?
Kind regards,Claude
Clo
