FAO Gadgets - Updated with Version 2!

SP4WN · Post by **SP4WN** » Fri May 28, 2010 2:14 am

I have finally completed v2.0 of the Windows 7/Vista Gadget after 5 sleepless and hair-pulling nights at the computer.

Changelist;

--Now fully supporting transparency
--delay upon each event load
--Launch function added for ASGS. Currently this will only launch your Allegiance if you have it stored in the (C:\program files\microsoft games\allegiance) which is the default storage location. I have however been informed some win7 systems have (C:\program files (x86)\microsoft games\allegiance) I am willing to provide a secondary version for people with this filepath is needed.
--Forum launcher, now launches your browser directly to the FAO forums.
--Refresh added to the online button, just click to get a fresh listing of online players. I am not adding auto refresh until im sure it wont be to heavy serverside.
--Total players online functionality added. You wont be able to see it until I make the neccesary changes serverside, but on the plus side you wont have to re-download the gadget when its finished.

Screenshots!;

Main Gadget

Gallery

Online Listing

As usual critism, bug reporting, idea's and any general feedback is greatly appreciated.

The download link has been added to the first post.

/Sp4wn

SP4WN · Post by **SP4WN** » Fri May 28, 2010 3:20 pm

After speaking with a few win7 x64 users. I have decided to create a specific x64 release for you. It will fix the launch errors you get when trying to run the standard one.

x64 Gadget v2.0
Download

Captain Helf · Post by **Captain Helf** » Fri May 28, 2010 3:38 pm

I am using the x64 version and it works well. it also looks fantastic. the only problem i have with it is there is some lag, I will click any button and it won't work for 1 or 2 seconds. sometimes when i click it, it doesn't work at all

SP4WN · Post by **SP4WN** » Fri May 28, 2010 4:01 pm

There was a delay set in place(I put it in the change list). This was mainly to stop the app hanging itself when reloading the online list or clicking errors. I am looking into speeding it back up without breaking it.

The slight snag that has been noticed with making the app transparent, is that you actually need to click on the images to make the event happen, if you click on the clear space inbetween the A, it does not recognise you clicking the app. I am looking into applying a transparent image that could handle this atm.

Thanks for the feedback, the more I get, the more issues/bugs I can fix and also make the app better in the long run.

/Sp4wn

madpeople · Post by **madpeople** » Fri May 28, 2010 4:50 pm

why not read the allegiance dir from the registery?

SP4WN · Post by **SP4WN** » Sat May 29, 2010 1:42 am

I dont exactly know how to do that, the code used to access and even launch a program from javascript isnt exactly standard. Its a weird hack using ActiveX controls that IE allows.

Since the gadget is built on the IE engine it works, also dont forget I have literally been coding javascript less than 5 days since v1.0 uses barely any.
If you have any links to resources about going down the route of your method madp, please forward them to me, I am currently looking myself but it seems a bit tricky.

/Sp4wn

madpeople · Post by **madpeople** » Sat May 29, 2010 10:53 am

ah, so these gadgets are JS, doubt you will be able to get into the registery then. Could you launch the allegiance link on the desktop provided it exists, before trying to do C:\\program files and then if that one fails trying C:\\program files(x86) ?

SP4WN · Post by **SP4WN** » Sat May 29, 2010 3:33 pm

Its a combination of javascript, html, xml and PHP serverside.

There is a way to read the registry files, but I would like to keep it as un-intrusive as possible.

The method you suggest is sound, barring the exception of using a shortcut, my initial "run" for launching was via the shortcut. The problem is, however, when running a shortcut you need to have the "link" that runs the command in the name of the actual program(ASGSClient.exe), obviously with using an image over an image to run the command currently its not possible.

That being said, using filesystemobject's fileexists method, I should be able to get it to work. Just dont expect it very soon, the documentation on standard file handling is huge, let alone trying to figure out how to integrate it into a shell execute is well above me at the moment.

Thanks for the idea's and feedback, always appreciated.

/Sp4wn

Post by **Tigereye** » Mon May 31, 2010 7:23 pm

I'm curious about the "serverside" thing...
isn't this gadget just a snippet of code that displays the online list to the user? Why does it need a server?

--TE

Bard · Post by **Bard** » Mon May 31, 2010 9:04 pm

Tigereye wrote:QUOTE (Tigereye @ May 31 2010, 02:23 PM) I'm curious about the "serverside" thing...
isn't this gadget just a snippet of code that displays the online list to the user? Why does it need a server?

--TE

If I had to guess, I'd say he's using PHP to parse the array from the ./asgsboh/ output.