Software : : AppLauncher.sbar v1.1
Posted By: igracki. on 2018/9/26 19:03:32
AppLauncher_sbar.png

Do you ever dreamed to start any application from every (public) screen without the need
to switch to the Ambient screen or remember hotkeys?

Now you can!

This screenbar module opens a popup menu if you click on the butterfly symbol in your screenbar.
There you can select the application you want to start!

The best is that you are able to configure the menu with a simple text file which has to be placed
in SYS:Data/Screenbar/AppLauncher/config.

The default config file includes all standard Applications, Utilities and Tools!

INSTALLATION:
=============
Just copy the contents (its only the sbar module and a config file) of the "SYS" directory to
your SYS: partition and select "Refresh" from the screen depth-gadget menu or reboot.
Or execute/doubleclick the "Install" file.

HISTORY:
========
24-Sep-2018: v1.1
added a "Recent Apps" menu, with the last 10 launched apps

20-Sep-2018: v1.0
first version
 
  • ASiegel
    Joined: 2003/2/15
    Posts: 1369
    From: Central Europe
    It is great that this exists and being able to start applications on any screen is super helpful but I really do not believe "The best is that you are able to configure the menu with a simple text file" should be praised as feature.

    There is a global place for all screen bar module preferences and introducing separate configuration files simply adds unnecessary fragmentation, which is ultimately not user-friendly.

    Also, I am sure users would find it much more convenient if they were able to simply drag an application icon into a list rather than have to manually add and remove application paths in a text editor. (I am only mentioning this to show that a text file is not necessarily "simple" to handle when compared to graphical user interface alternatives.)

    [ Edited by ASiegel On 2018/9/26 21:22 ]
  • »2018/9/26 19:20
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  • Paladin of the Pegasos
    Paladin of the Pegasos
    NewSense
    Joined: 2012/11/10
    Posts: 1468
    From: Manchester, UK/GB
    Quote:

    ASiegel wrote: " ... I am sure users would find it much more convenient if they were able to simply drag an application icon into a list ..."

    I'd have to agree with André on that comment, so it's a +1 from me, for an easier Settings/Config method for this utility.

    Also, why isn't it listed on your webpage, or the update showing on the MorphOS Storage list, as the v1.0 is on the MorphOS Storage files list, but currently not the v1.1 update?
    MacMini 1.5GHz,64MB VRAM, PowerBooks A1138/9 (Model 5,8/9),PowerMac G5 2.3GHz(DP), iMac A1145 2.1GHz 20", all with MorphOS v3.18+,Airport,Bluetooth,A1016 Keyboard,T-RB22 Mouse,DVD-RW-DL,MiniMax,Firewire/USB2 & MacOSX 10.4/5
  • »2018/9/27 2:48
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  • Order of the Butterfly
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    igracki
    Joined: 2003/2/24
    Posts: 382
    From: Berlin
    Thanks for your interest!

    I will add a gui in the sbar prefs for defining the menu in one of the next versions.
  • »2018/9/28 19:46
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  • Order of the Butterfly
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    igracki
    Joined: 2003/2/24
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    From: Berlin
    Just wanted to say that v2.0 of AppLauncher.sbar is out!

    There is now a inbuild menu editor to edit the popup menu and a new sbar and prefs image by André Siegel.

    AppLauncher_MenuEditor.png

    You can download it now from here or soon from Aminet or MorphOS Storage.
  • »2018/10/8 18:57
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  • Paladin of the Pegasos
    Paladin of the Pegasos
    NewSense
    Joined: 2012/11/10
    Posts: 1468
    From: Manchester, UK/GB
    It works nicely for me, the prefs (Menu Editor) have the aesthetic feel of Crabum, I don't know whether this was intentional but it's OK for me.

    AND . . . it's a nice improvement, including the mini screenbar icon, which is slightly more individual than the Mini-Morpho which can get confusing as we have so many instances of "Morpho" type icons, so something individual like what André has now created "stands out from the crowd". ;-)

    When I try to save the prefs from the Menu Editor, when I'm on a Public Screen, say, for example, OWB's screen, then the "Save and Apply..." confirm/cancel (Yes/No) requester jumps back to Ambient instead of remaining on the screen it's on, so you have to specifically choose to go back to the screen you were on, after confirming/cancelling the save requester, which is a bit irritating. Anyway to fix this issue?
    MacMini 1.5GHz,64MB VRAM, PowerBooks A1138/9 (Model 5,8/9),PowerMac G5 2.3GHz(DP), iMac A1145 2.1GHz 20", all with MorphOS v3.18+,Airport,Bluetooth,A1016 Keyboard,T-RB22 Mouse,DVD-RW-DL,MiniMax,Firewire/USB2 & MacOSX 10.4/5
  • »2018/10/9 2:42
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  • Order of the Butterfly
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    igracki
    Joined: 2003/2/24
    Posts: 382
    From: Berlin
    I used some code from CRABUM;) but also enhanced it bit.

    Sorry, for the issue with the Yes/No requester, didn't tested this.
    I'll fix it when I'm home.

    And btw, there is now also a website for AppLauncher;)
  • »2018/10/9 3:58
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    emeck
    Joined: 2014/7/15
    Posts: 168
    From:
    @igracki

    Very nice! Thank you.

    One request. Could you add other colored icons? The white squares are almost invisible on my light gray screenbar.
    PowerBook 5.8 MorphOS 3.18
    Mac Mini MorphOS 3.18
  • »2018/10/10 17:43
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  • ASiegel
    Joined: 2003/2/15
    Posts: 1369
    From: Central Europe
    @emeck

    Ideally, the icon should be automatically recolored based on whatever font color is used for the top screen bar. This is how all of the internal screen bar modules handle it to ensure their icons remain perfectly legible with a variety of different UI settings.
  • »2018/10/10 18:54
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    emeck
    Joined: 2014/7/15
    Posts: 168
    From:
    @ASiegel
    Quote:

    @emeck

    Ideally, the icon should be automatically recolored based on whatever font color is used for the top screen bar...


    Ok, I see it. It seems to change between black and white squares, depending on the skin I choose. Problem is with some skins like Ferox or Albulus which use light colored background it uses white.

    Sorry if this is obvious but, is there a setting to change the color font for the screen bar or is it hardcoded to the skin?

    [ Edited by emeck On 2018/10/11 9:44 ]
    PowerBook 5.8 MorphOS 3.18
    Mac Mini MorphOS 3.18
  • »2018/10/11 7:44
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    igracki
    Joined: 2003/2/24
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    From: Berlin
    @emeck, sorry I just did a simple negative on darker screenbars.

    Now I recolor the sbar image with the screebar's TextPen, like André said.
    I didn't know previously how to do that, but today I found it out by myself;)

    The textpen is hardcoded in the skinconfig file (which you can edit with a normal text editor), but some sbar modules (like yWeather;) let you choose a different color.

    Here you can download the new v2.1 or wait till it comes up on Aminet and MorphOS Storage.
  • »2018/10/12 17:42
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    emeck
    Joined: 2014/7/15
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    @igracki

    Wow, quickly fixed. Thank you very much!
    PowerBook 5.8 MorphOS 3.18
    Mac Mini MorphOS 3.18
  • »2018/10/12 19:42
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  • MorphOS Developer
    geit
    Joined: 2004/9/23
    Posts: 1030
    From:
    Now put the prefs into the normal sbar settings :D

    <duck>
  • »2018/10/12 20:15
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  • ASiegel
    Joined: 2003/2/15
    Posts: 1369
    From: Central Europe
    The MorphOS SDK should really feature a skeleton sbar example that includes all the necessary code to both set up proper settings in the global screen bars prefs window and to handle automatically recolored screen title bar icons (and different sizes based on title bar height perhaps).

    There is no good reason why anybody should reinvent this functionality from scratch and a high probability for non-standard solutions due to a lack of time, etc.
  • »2018/10/13 8:43
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    igracki
    Joined: 2003/2/24
    Posts: 382
    From: Berlin
    Why would it be so much better if the MenuEditor would be in the global sbar prefs instead of an own window?

    I think it's easier to open the MenuEditor from the popup menu.
    Especially for a newbie.

    I'm open to be convinced;)
  • »2018/10/13 16:15
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  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
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    Cool_amigaN
    Joined: 2011/11/30
    Posts: 745
    From:
    Yo, installed via the installer, rescanned the modules, found it, enabled it but cannot locate it on the screen bar! Wtf? I am running MorphOS 3.9. Any ideas? Does it have a visible icon? Where it should be located by default (on the far left corner of the bar)? I am running on 1280x1024@24bit and all system components are functional.. Would love to use it :)
    Amiga gaming Tribute: Watch, rate, comment :)
  • »2018/10/15 16:36
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  • Order of the Butterfly
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    igracki
    Joined: 2003/2/24
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    From: Berlin
    Why don't you update to the current version 3.11?

    You need MorphOS v3.11, because I use the new extras.library.
  • »2018/10/15 17:45
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  • Acolyte of the Butterfly
    Acolyte of the Butterfly
    Sprocki
    Joined: 2005/2/23
    Posts: 128
    From: Berlin - Germany
    I 'installed' version 2.1, and when I click on the SBar icon the SBar is dead for 10 seconds: the title clock is stalled. After 10 seconds the popup menu opens and the systems is reactive again. This reminds me of a similar bug in gTranslator that I reported some time ago.
    I like the general idea of panels/start bars on various screens, but I mostly miss Ambient's icon bars on all screens. think it would be more useful to make Ambient's icon bars available for all public screens. That offered many more advantages to the user like more flexibilty in orientation, placement, visibility, icon size, screen dependent content etc.

    By the way, there will be another meeting in IN-Berlin on Oct 27th: https://user.in-berlin.de/vrkalender/view-reservation.php?rn=5bb880aedf18d546316728
  • »2018/10/16 21:55
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    igracki
    Joined: 2003/2/24
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    From: Berlin
    Hmm, the 10secs delay isn't normal. On first press the config gets loaded and menu is created, but that shouldn't take 10secs.
    Is it only the first time you press the sbar icon or everytime? Any hits in the log?
    Could you maybe have snoopium running while doing this? Maybe you see some delay there.
  • »2018/10/17 4:00
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  • Acolyte of the Butterfly
    Acolyte of the Butterfly
    Sprocki
    Joined: 2005/2/23
    Posts: 128
    From: Berlin - Germany
    10s delay only happens on first click. Log does not show hints. Snoopium log with only a few functions turned on:

    Code:

    [1] [&laquo; Public Screen Manager &raquo;] [Open] [SYS:Data/Screenbar/AppLauncher/config] [Lesen] [OK]
    [2] [ramlib] [Load] [MOSSYS:LIBS/mui/Popmenu.mui.elf] [] [Fehlgeschlagen]
    [3] [ramlib] [Open] [MOSSYS:LIBS/mui/Popmenu.mui.elf] [Lesen] [Fehlgeschlagen]
    [4] [ramlib] [Open] [MOSSYS:LIBS/mui/Popmenu.mui.elf] [Lesen] [Fehlgeschlagen]
    [5] [ramlib] [Load] [MOSSYS:LIBS/mui/Popmenu.mui] [] [Fehlgeschlagen]
    [6] [ramlib] [Open] [MOSSYS:LIBS/mui/Popmenu.mui] [Lesen] [Fehlgeschlagen]
    [7] [ramlib] [Open] [MOSSYS:LIBS/mui/Popmenu.mui] [Lesen] [Fehlgeschlagen]
    [8] [ramlib] [Load] [LIBS:mui/Popmenu.mui.elf] [] [Fehlgeschlagen]
    [9] [ramlib] [Open] [LIBS:mui/Popmenu.mui.elf] [Lesen] [Fehlgeschlagen]
    [10] [ramlib] [Open] [LIBS:mui/Popmenu.mui.elf] [Lesen] [Fehlgeschlagen]
    [11] [ramlib] [Load] [SYS:mui/Popmenu.mui.elf] [] [Fehlgeschlagen]
    [12] [ramlib] [Open] [SYS:mui/Popmenu.mui.elf] [Lesen] [Fehlgeschlagen]
    [13] [ramlib] [Open] [SYS:mui/Popmenu.mui.elf] [Lesen] [Fehlgeschlagen]
    [14] [ramlib] [Load] [LIBS:mui/Popmenu.mui] [] [OK]
    [15] [ramlib] [Open] [LIBS:mui/Popmenu.mui] [Lesen] [OK]
    [16] [&laquo; Public Screen Manager &raquo;] [Open] [SYS:Prefs/MUIGfx/frames/FlatPapillon/Button_MenuCursor.png] [Lesen] [OK]
    [17] [&laquo; Skin Manager &raquo;] [ChangeDir] [DH1:Prefs/Skins/FlatPapillon] [] []


    Of which position 1 is logged right away when I click the SBar icon and all the following ones are delayed by 10s. They show up at the same time the popup menu opens. If you want more detailed output, then please tell/show me your desired settings.
  • »2018/10/17 20:39
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  • Order of the Butterfly
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    igracki
    Joined: 2003/2/24
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    From: Berlin
    Hmm, is there also a delay if you deactivate AppLauncher then reactivate it and click on it's icon?

    Could it be that your sys: partition is extremly fragmented?

    How long does this take:
    Code:
    type SYS:Data/Screenbar/AppLauncher/config
  • »2018/10/18 11:34
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  • Acolyte of the Butterfly
    Acolyte of the Butterfly
    Sprocki
    Joined: 2005/2/23
    Posts: 128
    From: Berlin - Germany
    When I deactivate the module and activate it again, the 10s delay shows up again on next icon click.

    Fragmentation Level: 1%

    'type' command takes 15s to finish.
  • »2018/10/18 19:02
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    igracki
    Joined: 2003/2/24
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    From: Berlin
    15secs!?
    Ok, then there is definitely something wrong with your system. The filesize of the default config is only about 3kb. It should take only about 1 sec or something like that.
  • »2018/10/18 19:58
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  • Acolyte of the Butterfly
    Acolyte of the Butterfly
    Sprocki
    Joined: 2005/2/23
    Posts: 128
    From: Berlin - Germany
    The system behaves totally normal apart from AppLauncher. And I found the reason for it:

    Code:

    Ram Disk:&gt; list SYS:Data/Screenbar/AppLauncher/config
    Directory &quot;SYS:Data/Screenbar/AppLauncher&quot; on Donnerstag 18-Okt-18
    config 51928800 ----rwed Samstag 18:07:23
    1 file - 51928800 bytes used


    Why on earth does AppLauncher create a config file of that size? All I did was opening the prefs editor and adding Iris:

    Code:
    WBRUN &quot;Work:Iris/Iris&quot;


    Then I saved the config. Obviously this created a file of 49.5MB in size which causes the delay. The backup file in fact is 3,319 Bytes in size. If I replace the config by the backup file, the SBar popup menu opens right away.
  • »2018/10/18 20:26
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  • Order of the Butterfly
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    igracki
    Joined: 2003/2/24
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    From: Berlin
    Very strange, could you maybe send me the first MB of that config via email (Thomas@Igracki.de)?


    Btw, where did you added the new item?
  • »2018/10/18 20:40
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  • Acolyte of the Butterfly
    Acolyte of the Butterfly
    Sprocki
    Joined: 2005/2/23
    Posts: 128
    From: Berlin - Germany
    Okay, the reason is clear now :-) I did some more tests. The prefs editor cannot handle items through drag'n'drop properly. I dragged the Iris icon from an Ambient lister and dropped it on the prefs window. The path was added correctly, I could move the item to any desired place, so all appeared correct. Then I saved the config and this created the huge file. It looks like the prefs editor appends the whole binary (and even more) to the config file. Appends - because once it is loaded, the popup menu looks and works correctly. On a third test with the same binary dropped on the config window, the config file written to disk ended up at more than 390MB! Cool 'feature' ;-)
  • »2018/10/18 21:05
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    igracki
    Joined: 2003/2/24
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    From: Berlin
    Ok, I could reproduce it and found the cause!
    It doesn't appends the contents of the file it appended lots of spaces!

    I use a ULONG variable for the insertion of spaces infront of the items, and because if you insert an item in the "root" node,
    my variable "indent" was 0 and then I decreased it by one (indent--), "indent" then becomes -1! Although its of ULONG type.

    Then my while loop "while (indent > 0)" is entered although "indent" was negative!? Strange...

    I thought "indent" would automatically be set to 0, because I decrease a ULONG variable (which is already 0) by 1.

    Now I added a check and everything works as it should;)

    I will prepare a new version later, I wanted to add a global hotkey to open the menu via keyboard.
  • »2018/10/20 14:28
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  • Order of the Butterfly
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    igracki
    Joined: 2003/2/24
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    From: Berlin
    v2.2 is out now!

    Changelog:
    fix: the wrong image (11 instead 14) was taken for the sbar image
    new: there is now a hotkey to open the menu via keyboard (default is ctrl help)
    fix: adding an item to the root then saving the config, leads to an endless loop adding lots of spaces
    to the config file
    [16-Oct-18, reported by sprocki]

    fix: renaming an menu entry shows random text in the command column
    chg: now a new item has "SYS:NewCommand" as initial command instead of "<New command>" to have a
    initial drawer in the filerequester
  • »2018/10/20 20:07
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  • Acolyte of the Butterfly
    Acolyte of the Butterfly
    Sprocki
    Joined: 2005/2/23
    Posts: 128
    From: Berlin - Germany
    Thanks. I confirm that the bug is fixed in v2.2.
  • »2018/10/21 15:53
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  • Paladin of the Pegasos
    Paladin of the Pegasos
    NewSense
    Joined: 2012/11/10
    Posts: 1468
    From: Manchester, UK/GB
    I tried v2.2, but the HotKey (Ctrl+help) I had to change to something else, as my A1016 Bluetooth keyboard does not have a MorphOS/Amiga recognised Help key on it, (as it's recognised as the Insert key) so by using the sample key I chose, "lshift control a" - once I had changed it I tried it, and didn't realise why it hadn't seemed to work, but then I remembered that any changes to the modules need to be re-scanned, and so it works now.

    So that's another neat feature, and you can use the cursor, Return and Esc keys to navigate the menu, so it's totally keyboard controllable. So, I like it even more. 8-)

    @ igracki

    If you want an updated readme with improved English then just ask, and I'll send it to you via a PM, as it seems to not be recognised as a text file, due to an unrecognised character that's placed just prior to your Last name.

    [ Edited by NewSense On 2018/10/22 5:54 ]
    MacMini 1.5GHz,64MB VRAM, PowerBooks A1138/9 (Model 5,8/9),PowerMac G5 2.3GHz(DP), iMac A1145 2.1GHz 20", all with MorphOS v3.18+,Airport,Bluetooth,A1016 Keyboard,T-RB22 Mouse,DVD-RW-DL,MiniMax,Firewire/USB2 & MacOSX 10.4/5
  • »2018/10/21 22:49
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    igracki
    Joined: 2003/2/24
    Posts: 382
    From: Berlin
    The Keyadjust.mui which is used for getting the hotkey doesn't supports notification on changing currently so you have to disable/reenable a module or do a full rescan like you did. It's the same with other modules using this class like Grabber.sbar f.e.

    I did a bug report for this issue.

    Concerning your help for improving the English in the readme, yes please!
  • »2018/10/22 8:20
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  • Paladin of the Pegasos
    Paladin of the Pegasos
    NewSense
    Joined: 2012/11/10
    Posts: 1468
    From: Manchester, UK/GB
    OK, I'll send you the edited/amended ReadMe.txt in a PM ... to follow shortly ............. enjoy !! :-)

    PM sent with amended ReadMe file

    [ Edited by NewSense On 2018/10/26 7:09 ]
    MacMini 1.5GHz,64MB VRAM, PowerBooks A1138/9 (Model 5,8/9),PowerMac G5 2.3GHz(DP), iMac A1145 2.1GHz 20", all with MorphOS v3.18+,Airport,Bluetooth,A1016 Keyboard,T-RB22 Mouse,DVD-RW-DL,MiniMax,Firewire/USB2 & MacOSX 10.4/5
  • »2018/10/25 7:23
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    igracki
    Joined: 2003/2/24
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    From: Berlin
    v2.3 is out now!

    Changelog:
    ========
    Code:

    31-Oct-2018: v2.3
    new: added a new interactive installation/update script
    chg: now the standard config file is named &quot;StandardConfig&quot;, which will be loaded
    if no file named &quot;Config&quot; was found, this was done to not overwrite your custom
    config when updating to a new version
    chg: addded the Games folder to the standard config
    new: if you add a new item, and then select the command from the popup file requester,
    the Name field is automatically set to the filename

    26-Oct-2018:
    new: added two checkmarks in the settings for not adding the &quot;Recent Apps&quot; and &quot;MenuEditor...&quot;
    menuitems
    [25-Oct-18, suggested by Christoph Poelzl]
  • »2018/10/31 18:53
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  • Paladin of the Pegasos
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    NewSense
    Joined: 2012/11/10
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    @ Igracki - Hi Thomas

    Currently that link is still for AppLauncher_sbar - v2.2 - soon to be updated with v2.3 - hopefully, but the [LINK] is incorrect/has not been updated as yet. ;-)
    MacMini 1.5GHz,64MB VRAM, PowerBooks A1138/9 (Model 5,8/9),PowerMac G5 2.3GHz(DP), iMac A1145 2.1GHz 20", all with MorphOS v3.18+,Airport,Bluetooth,A1016 Keyboard,T-RB22 Mouse,DVD-RW-DL,MiniMax,Firewire/USB2 & MacOSX 10.4/5
  • »2018/11/1 2:46
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    igracki
    Joined: 2003/2/24
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    Hmm, sorry for that.
    I'll have a look at it, when I'm home.
    Also my website wasn't updated...

    My webspace provider square7 is now bplaced, maybe they changed something for ftp upload...

    But it's on MorphOS Storage and Aminet.
  • »2018/11/1 3:58
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    igracki
    Joined: 2003/2/24
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    The link is working now
  • »2018/11/2 13:05
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