[W3bbo]

I've made a screencast showing how to xpize your Windows CDs: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=jfGcBmD_1Xk

[W3bbo]

I'm pleased to report xpize 5 Release 4 has seen over a thousand installations over the past 24 hours.

[W3bbo]

Kaminari, on Jul 23 2009, 04:44 PM, said:

Every thing is A-ok on my setup.

Only one minor glitch so far has to do with what seems to be an alpha problem on the "Log-off user" and "Turn-off computer" windows. The corners of the buttons are grey/black instead of transparent. Not sure if XPize 5 is directly responsible, but I didn't see this problem in previous versions.

What options did you select on the "Modify Package" page?

This post has been edited by W3bbo: 23 July 2009 - 12:06 PM

[MrBusty]

W3bbo, on Jul 23 2009, 03:56 PM, said:

It's hidden since the xpize package is the only one embedded in the installer. If you download the tools there's a copy of the Installer that doesn't hide it. It's only meant for people testing their packages.

Ok, that makes sense.

Quote

Package = *.anop file that contains all the files and the package definition XML file. This requires a separate installer program to install.
Distribution = *.exe file that is the installer with an embedded package

Ok, same like before.
So the he translation is for both -xpize and installer- at once. Got it!

Quote

I've since made some modifications to the de.resx file you sent to me, so I'll re-upload all of them later today.

I see. I think I have to puzzle our versions together again.
Did you change the strings itself - or mostly other things (such as adding new strings like the 8 missing ones - or changing key words)?

If I load the latest English resx with my current German resx (which has not all strings) into the LocalTool, will this work?
I mean, will the LocalTool add the missing elements to the German version automatically (nontranslated of course)?
If not, this would be a really important request for the LocalTool. Then you do not have to worry about the translations any more:
just upload the latest English resx and the translators do all the rest. - This should be less work for you and the translator together.

Another suggestion for translation:
If there is a resx file in the same folder like the Installer or distribution, could it be used instead of the internal string table (e.g. as "external" entry in the language combobox)?
This would make the translator able to check his translation again and again, so that he can tune it until its perfect, without bothering you. The only thing, that you have to receive, will be the final and ready translated translation file - no early versions any more!

At this point a like to mention this other suggestion, which I requestet before:
* coloring the strings, which are already different (= already translated) on load in green. This would make translation of long string tables way easier (because it is possible to do the translation in several sessions, without such a high chance of missing a string).
* a search function would also be nice. (of course, this can be done half way also with sorting the columns, but a search function would still be nice)
(maybe you have some time left for this now, since did finally release the Release 4 )

PS: I did see, that you changed the "Durchsuchen..." string into "Durchsuche"... - Do you know some German, because that is correct too.
But if "Durchsuchen" (with the n) does also fit onto the button, it would be better to use this, because it fits more to the other standard button strings like "Abbrechen".

Quote

It isn't a problem on English, German, or Spanish versions of Windows.

Good to hear.

Quote

It already selects the right folder, it just needs the user to confirm to uninstall. I'll make this more clear in future.

Well, if I choose the second option, the textbox is empty...
I thougth, the path to the latest uninstall package could be placed there already (because many people may not know, where to find the right folder again)

Quote

That's a problem with the current strings. It says it'll restart but it doesn't. I've fixed this in my private builds.

Well, I did try it just one time. But think I can remember, that there was no string that said "Restart".
I noticed that, because it stated "Restart" after the installation process.

Quote

I'll release xpize 5 Release 5 later, maybe in a month's time since the only changes would be in the installer code rather than the xpize package. If xpize 5 Release 4 works for you then there's no need to use Release 5.

Did you pay attention to this?

Quote

I can't seem to reproduce this on my computer. Are you using any custom display settings? I note you're already using large icon spacing.

Well, I did install it on a VM which had Luna Element already installed. Maybe this did interfere with the Theme from the package...

Another thing is, that I had a nice Theme directly after installing xpize, but after switching between some themes, I cannot get the "after-install" theme back...

Furthermore I read often, that people like Luna Element 4 better than Luna Element 5. I never tried version 4, but maybe you should add this theme for these guys too.

Then there are still some 16 color icons in some deep system windows (computer management, event monitor and things like that).
This is not a big deal. I just noticed it stronger because all other icons are more polished now...
The question is: is xpize supposed to replace all ugly icons, or just the most important ones?


PS:
Is there an easy way, to select parts from different themes? (like the taskbar from there, the startmenu from here, the window frame and tiltlebar from that theme and the explorer sidebar from this other one...) - Can your extra tools used for that?

This post has been edited by MrBusty: 23 July 2009 - 12:49 PM

[Kelsenellenelvian]

W3bbo, on Jul 23 2009, 06:58 AM, said:

Kelsenellenelvian, on Jul 23 2009, 10:51 AM, said:

Actually that is a little known bug with the luna royal and ms's install method.

He didn't place and rename shellstyle.dll properly.

I don't think I did anything wrong there. Can you advise me on how to correct it?

Simply grab the shellstyle.dll and place it in a folder named themes\royal\shell\normal\shellstyle.dll

[W3bbo]

Kelsenellenelvian, on Jul 23 2009, 09:41 PM, said:

Simply grab the shellstyle.dll and place it in a folder named themes\royal\shell\normal\shellstyle.dll

That already happens though. Unless some files aren't being installed properly?

[W3bbo]

MrBusty, on Jul 23 2009, 07:30 PM, said:

Did you change the strings itself - or mostly other things (such as adding new strings like the 8 missing ones - or changing key words)?

Only a few minor things. But I also organised a few things too.

MrBusty, on Jul 23 2009, 07:30 PM, said:

If I load the latest English resx with my current German resx (which has not all strings) into the LocalTool, will this work?
I mean, will the LocalTool add the missing elements to the German version automatically (nontranslated of course)?
If not, this would be a really important request for the LocalTool. Then you do not have to worry about the translations any more:
just upload the latest English resx and the translators do all the rest. - This should be less work for you and the translator together.

I don't understand what you're saying fully.

MrBusty, on Jul 23 2009, 07:30 PM, said:

Another suggestion for translation:
If there is a resx file in the same folder like the Installer or distribution, could it be used instead of the internal string table (e.g. as "external" entry in the language combobox)?
This would make the translator able to check his translation again and again, so that he can tune it until its perfect, without bothering you. The only thing, that you have to receive, will be the final and ready translated translation file - no early versions any more!

I'm afraid that's not currently possible. It's a bigger undertaking than you think: *.resx files are compiled into *.resources files which are binary before being embedded in CLR executables. Whilst it is possible to read in a *.resx file at runtime and use as a source of resources, it would mean rearchitecting my current software which assumes the resource strings are all built-in. The strings are designed such that they won't need improvement.

MrBusty, on Jul 23 2009, 07:30 PM, said:

At this point a like to mention this other suggestion, which I requestet before:
* coloring the strings, which are already different (= already translated) on load in green. This would make translation of long string tables way easier (because it is possible to do the translation in several sessions, without such a high chance of missing a string).

There's no need. You only need to identify strings that are the same (untranslated, in purple) or empty/null (undefined, in red). I think you're using an older build that doesn't have the purple color.

MrBusty, on Jul 23 2009, 07:30 PM, said:

* a search function would also be nice. (of course, this can be done half way also with sorting the columns, but a search function would still be nice)
(maybe you have some time left for this now, since did finally release the Release 4 )

I can easily add Sorting, but not Searching.

MrBusty, on Jul 23 2009, 07:30 PM, said:

I did see, that you changed the "Durchsuchen..." string into "Durchsuche"... - Do you know some German, because that is correct too.
But if "Durchsuchen" (with the n) does also fit onto the button, it would be better to use this, because it fits more to the other standard button strings like "Abbrechen".

Don't tell me or post about it, just add it to your updated German table when I'm done. Your posts are long enough as it is.

MrBusty, on Jul 23 2009, 07:30 PM, said:

Quote

It isn't a problem on English, German, or Spanish versions of Windows.

Good to hear.

Actually, I take it back. This may affect Spanish versions, based on the few anecdotal reports I've received.

MrBusty, on Jul 23 2009, 07:30 PM, said:

Quote

It already selects the right folder, it just needs the user to confirm to uninstall. I'll make this more clear in future.

Well, if I choose the second option, the textbox is empty...
I thougth, the path to the latest uninstall package could be placed there already (because many people may not know, where to find the right folder again)

Oh sorry. I was talking about when you uninstall from the Add/Remove Programs control panel. The text isn't filled in when you run the installer normally because there's no way of telling where the user saved the backup to (and before you suggest using a registry key, remember that different packages might be installed in different orders).

MrBusty, on Jul 23 2009, 07:30 PM, said:

Did you pay attention to this?

Yes, and it's a minor bug in the Installer's code, nothing in xpize itself and so not a showstopper nor does it affect what the program actually does, that's why I'm saying it's not a big deal.

MrBusty, on Jul 23 2009, 07:30 PM, said:

Well, I did install it on a VM which had Luna Element already installed. Maybe this did interfere with the Theme from the package...

Another thing is, that I had a nice Theme directly after installing xpize, but after switching between some themes, I cannot get the "after-install" theme back...

Furthermore I read often, that people like Luna Element 4 better than Luna Element 5. I never tried version 4, but maybe you should add this theme for these guys too.

Each visual style adds about a megabyte to the size of distribution. I'm tempted to remove the Embedded VS because it isn't that good. Should I also remove the Zune VS?

MrBusty, on Jul 23 2009, 07:30 PM, said:

Then there are still some 16 color icons in some deep system windows (computer management, event monitor and things like that).
This is not a big deal. I just noticed it stronger because all other icons are more polished now...
The question is: is xpize supposed to replace all ugly icons, or just the most important ones?

"As many as is possible". Remember, not every icon or toolbar button can be updated, see Wordpad for example, those toolbar buttons are hardcoded to 16-color and there's nothing I can really do about it.

MrBusty, on Jul 23 2009, 07:30 PM, said:

Is there an easy way, to select parts from different themes? (like the taskbar from there, the startmenu from here, the window frame and tiltlebar from that theme and the explorer sidebar from this other one...) - Can your extra tools used for that?

You'd have to hack it together using a visual style editor. You can use Resourcer for that, but it's a lot of work.

[MrBusty]

W3bbo, on Jul 23 2009, 11:16 PM, said:

Only a few minor things. But I also organised a few things too.
...
I don't understand what you're saying fully.

What I tried to say is, that the work of organising could be done with your local tool: it should just take the structure from en.resx...
I did make a test and voilá - this is, what your tool is already doing.
=> so it should be possible to start from my version, where I did change already several things.

Quote

I'm afraid that's not currently possible. It's a bigger undertaking than you think:

I see. Very understandable. - For the normal use of your program, this would be a senseless feature.
It would be cool for the translator and nice for you (because translators will not ask you again and again, to implement an updated version of their translation), but its not worth its effort I suppose.

Quote

There's no need. You only need to identify strings that are the same (untranslated, in purple) or empty/null (undefined, in red). I think you're using an older build that doesn't have the purple color.

Yes, the purple thing is exactly that, what I suggested.
I did use the build from your post, and there should be no newer link here.
Could you please release the newest build of the local tool also, when you are posting the latest string table?

Quote

I can easily add Sorting, but not Searching.

Ok, I see.
Sorting is already possible (for all: key, English and local strings).

I like your local tool. Stardock is also delivering a tool for translating their products - but yours is BETTER!

Quote

Don't tell me or post about it, just add it to your updated German table when I'm done.

Sorry for bothering you... but I am asking, because I don't want to bother you too much!

"Durchsuchen..." was too long, so you did cut it down to
"Durchsuche", but I think
"Druchsuchen" (with n) is better.

I would like to change it, because I think the 'n' fits with difficulty onto the button.
But if it doesn't, I had to change it back again. - And this would mean, that you have to update my local again.
I tried to avoid this...

Quote

Your posts are long enough as it is.

Sorry, I am trying to give valuable feedback (at least for the most part).
And I am also trying to answer questions from other users, so that you don't have to waste your time with this...

Quote

Actually, I take it back. This may affect Spanish versions

Still good for me.

Quote

Oh sorry. I was talking about when you uninstall from the Add/Remove Programs control panel. The text isn't filled in when you run the installer normally because there's no way of telling where the user saved the backup to (and before you suggest using a registry key, remember that different packages might be installed in different orders).

No, I hate registry keys.
But your program could check, if there is a valid uninstall package in the default folder (program flies\Anolis\).
If there is one, it could suggest the latest one.

This would help users, which did fast click (Next> Next> Next> Install>) through the installation process and cannot remember the location of the backup folders.

Quote

Yes, and it's a minor bug in the Installer's code, nothing in xpize itself and so not a showstopper nor does it affect what the program actually does, that's why I'm saying it's not a big deal.

Sorry. I did mention it, so that it does not become lost.
I think, that it is no big deal also...
wrong reply - my bad

Quote

Each visual style adds about a megabyte to the size of distribution. I'm tempted to remove the Embedded VS because it isn't that good. Should I also remove the Zune VS?

Well, if you would support Win 3.11 so that I might install it on my first pc (200MB HDD), I had to agree - but nowadays a MB is just a piece of cake.
I really like it to have the choice. Not only between themes, but also between different versions of one theme. - Luna Element is worth it.
But I have to agree with the Zune style - its not pretty at all!

Quote

"As many as is possible". Remember, not every icon or toolbar button can be updated, see Wordpad for example, those toolbar buttons are hardcoded to 16-color and there's nothing I can really do about it.

I see.
I will try to post a few screenshots in the next days. But I suppose most of the icons are not replacable.

Quote

You'd have to hack it together using a visual style editor. You can use Resourcer for that, but it's a lot of work.

What a pitty!

[BudsieBuds]

Can it be installed over XPize 4.7?
I searched, but I couldn't find an answer to that question.

[Ikky_Phoenix]

Hello,

I searched a little, but i didn't find...can i install it silently?

Thank u for your great work

[W3bbo]

BudsieBuds, on Jul 24 2009, 03:18 AM, said:

Can it be installed over XPize 4.7?
I searched, but I couldn't find an answer to that question.

You can... but it isn't recommended.

If you've got a system that's already for 4.7 on it and you want to "upgrade" sure, it should work, but isn't a tested scenario.

But there's no advantage in installing 4.7 and then 5, because 5 includes everything that was in 4.7 (and 3.2) except for the eDonkey skin.

Ikky_Phoenix, on Jul 24 2009, 12:16 PM, said:

Hello,

I searched a little, but i didn't find...can i install it silently?

Thank u for your great work

I'll be releasing a command-line program that can do that for you.

[Happy-Dude]

Heya guys!!

So I've run into a problem, and W3bbo doesn't immediately know how to reproduce nor correct the issue. I'm running Windows XP Home Edition and returned results shown in these screenshots:




Has anyone experienced similar problems? Think this problem is WinXP Home specific?

Here's my install log:
http://pastebin.com/m60e44b9a

This post has been edited by Happy-Dude: 24 July 2009 - 05:49 PM

[W3bbo]

Just a quick note to say I've updated the xpize website with more up-to-date information regarding x64 support and the current state of xpize 5 (i.e. XPize 4.7 is now obsolete).

[Kaminari]

W3bbo, on Jul 23 2009, 08:06 PM, said:

Kaminari, on Jul 23 2009, 04:44 PM, said:

Every thing is A-ok on my setup.

Only one minor glitch so far has to do with what seems to be an alpha problem on the "Log-off user" and "Turn-off computer" windows. The corners of the buttons are grey/black instead of transparent. Not sure if XPize 5 is directly responsible, but I didn't see this problem in previous versions.

What options did you select on the "Modify Package" page?

Apparently, I wasn't careful enough during install and I didn't take note that the option selected by default (MCE) was a resource bitmap package, not a visual style... Which is why I, err... selected everything

It must have made a jolly mix-up between the four or five bitmap replacement packs. Quite brutally, I relaunched the installer and unticked everything but the MCE "style" option. Lo and behold, problem was fixed

Maybe the list of "styles" should be put to a separate page, along with a warning about the user having to choose only one resource bitmap pack per installation? To this end, a cycle menu would probably be more intuitive than the check buttons. Because right now, it can be a bit confusing for newcomers (and the others...).

Other than that, I love it. Congratulations for your great work!

This post has been edited by Kaminari: 24 July 2009 - 11:41 PM

[MrBusty]

Kaminari, on Jul 25 2009, 07:35 AM, said:

Apparently, I wasn't careful enough during install and I didn't take note that the option selected by default (MCE) was a resource bitmap package, not a visual style... Which is why I, err... selected everything

It must have made a jolly mix-up between the four or five bitmap replacement packs. Quite brutally, I relaunched the installer and unticked everything but the MCE "style" option. Lo and behold, problem was fixed

Maybe the list of "styles" should be put to a separate page, along with a warning about the user having to choose only one resource bitmap pack per installation? To this end, a cycle menu would probably be more intuitive than the check buttons. Because right now, it can be a bit confusing for newcomers (and the others...).

Ups, I did make the same mistake - and that could be the reason, why I got this explorer sidebar issue...

I did install all visual styles on purpose, because I wanted to be able to switch between all these styles without using xpize again.

Is there a way, to place all selected visual styles into the styles folder (resources\themes\) - but let the user choose just one of them, which will be installed?

This post has been edited by MrBusty: 25 July 2009 - 02:57 AM

[Ven]

W3bbo, on Jul 23 2009, 07:58 AM, said:

Kelsenellenelvian, on Jul 23 2009, 10:51 AM, said:

Actually that is a little known bug with the luna royal and ms's install method.

He didn't place and rename shellstyle.dll properly.

I don't think I did anything wrong there. Can you advise me on how to correct it?

I think there is something wrong with the shellstyle.dll in the luna royale theme included in Xpize 5, causing it to change only one of the items in the sidebar. I reinstalled Xpize 5, but without the visual themes. And got the luna royale theme from deviant art. Copied it to this folder: C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes and activated it. Problem solved, all the sidebar items are blue instead of gray.

[yojo2]

Hello,

I've got a problem installing XPize. After running installer error message shows up:

---------------------------
Anolis Installer
---------------------------
You must be running Windows XP SP3 (or later) or Windows XP x64 SP2 (or later) to install locally. You may still patch an I386 folder though.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

I'm using Windows XP SP3 (Polish).

Any ideas? /ignorePackageCondition doesn't help.

This post has been edited by yojo2: 25 July 2009 - 05:17 AM

[W3bbo]

yojo2, on Jul 25 2009, 12:13 PM, said:

Hello,

I've got a problem installing XPize. After running installer error message shows up:

---------------------------
Anolis Installer
---------------------------
You must be running Windows XP SP3 (or later) or Windows XP x64 SP2 (or later) to install locally. You may still patch an I386 folder though.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

I'm using Windows XP SP3 (Polish).

Any ideas? /ignorePackageCondition doesn't help.

That's not meant to happen

Download this program and run it from the command-line: http://w3bbo.com/mis...nditionTest.zip and paste the output here.

Thanks

[Gompedyret]

Excellent! Looking forward to test it.

[yojo2]

W3bbo, on Jul 25 2009, 07:51 AM, said:

That's not meant to happen

Download this program and run it from the command-line: http://w3bbo.com/mis...nditionTest.zip and paste the output here.

Thanks

Here you go:

 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Symbols
        osversion       5,1
        servicepack     -1
        architecture    32
        installlang     1045

Expression
        ToString()      ( osversion == 5.1 && servicepack == 3 && architecture =
= 32 )
        Tokenize        '(', 'osversion', '==', '5.1', '&&', 'servicepack', '=='
, '3', '&&', 'architecture', '==', '32', ')'
Evaluate
ExpressionException: Undefined symbol: "5.1" at position 18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Symbols
        osversion       5,1
        servicepack     -1
        architecture    32
        installlang     1045

Expression
        ToString()      ( osversion == 5.2 && servicepack == 2 && architecture =
= 32 )
        Tokenize        '(', 'osversion', '==', '5.2', '&&', 'servicepack', '=='
, '2', '&&', 'architecture', '==', '32', ')'
Evaluate
ExpressionException: Undefined symbol: "5.2" at position 18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Symbols
        osversion       5,1
        servicepack     -1
        architecture    32
        installlang     1045

Expression
        ToString()      ( osversion == 5.2 && servicepack == 2 && architecture =
= 64 )
        Tokenize        '(', 'osversion', '==', '5.2', '&&', 'servicepack', '=='
, '2', '&&', 'architecture', '==', '64', ')'
Evaluate
ExpressionException: Undefined symbol: "5.2" at position 18 

On Windows 2003 SP2 (Polish) there is the same problem.

 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Symbols
        osversion       5,2
        servicepack     -1
        architecture    32
        installlang     1045

Expression
        ToString()      ( osversion == 5.1 && servicepack == 3 && architecture =
= 32 )
        Tokenize        '(', 'osversion', '==', '5.1', '&&', 'servicepack', '=='
, '3', '&&', 'architecture', '==', '32', ')'
Evaluate
ExpressionException: Undefined symbol: "5.1" at position 18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Symbols
        osversion       5,2
        servicepack     -1
        architecture    32
        installlang     1045

Expression
        ToString()      ( osversion == 5.2 && servicepack == 2 && architecture =
= 32 )
        Tokenize        '(', 'osversion', '==', '5.2', '&&', 'servicepack', '=='
, '2', '&&', 'architecture', '==', '32', ')'
Evaluate
ExpressionException: Undefined symbol: "5.2" at position 18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Symbols
        osversion       5,2
        servicepack     -1
        architecture    32
        installlang     1045

Expression
        ToString()      ( osversion == 5.2 && servicepack == 2 && architecture =
= 64 )
        Tokenize        '(', 'osversion', '==', '5.2', '&&', 'servicepack', '=='
, '2', '&&', 'architecture', '==', '64', ')'
Evaluate
ExpressionException: Undefined symbol: "5.2" at position 18