Okay we're tring to configure our computers to have the feel of an active desktop with a taskbar at the bottom of the screen but we do not want to provide a start menu or system tray.
Our idea so far is to run public browser in either desktop or kiosk mode and litestep to provide the taskbar with out a start menu or system tray.
Our problem is that when the browser is in desktop or kiosk mode it shows on the task bar and can be minimized via a right click. We need to configure the browser so it cannot be minimized in anyway. We tried setting DisableMinimizeButton=True but that doesn't work. Have you guys tackled a problem like this before?
Another idea we had was to remove the browser from the task list and then it just wouldn't show up in the task bar which would be okay because then there wouldn't be a button on the task bar to right click and minimize and the browser has no title bar so it can't be minimized from there. But again I'm not sure how to go about that.
Running it with the icon put in the system tray would be okay too since we're not displaing the system tray.
Any ideas or suggestions? We're not tied to litestep if there's a better way to go about this.
Moxy
Taskbar Controls
Moderators: Tyler, Scott, PWB v2 Moderator
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moxy
That seems to be working pretty good. Is there a way to disable the scrollbars? The "Desktop" window has scrollbars on the page we're displaying and they don't really need to be there.
We've also run into another problem.
Here's our setup. We have a Desk.ini file that points the homepage to our "active desktop" stuff and the size set to 775x555 (screen res is 800x600) this is to hide the bottom scroll bar under the taskbar. KioskMode and DesktopMode are false. We've got the minimize, maximize, close buttons disabled. This sets up our background that can't me changed.
We have a second ini (Plain.ini) That we use when we want to go to a website. We're doing this because we need to display a policy that the user may accept to continue or decline to close.
Both of these work the way we expect on their own.
If we try doing both, i.e. opening running pwb http://library.unt.edu /INI="Plain.ini" then we run into problems. It seems like the computer gets confused as to which buttons in the task bar associate to which instance of the browser. For example after switching to notepad I click on "Desktop" and it displays the window with the library page. But if I try to click on a link in the library page it takes me back to the Desktop window.
We're very confused about this behavior.
We've also run into another problem.
Here's our setup. We have a Desk.ini file that points the homepage to our "active desktop" stuff and the size set to 775x555 (screen res is 800x600) this is to hide the bottom scroll bar under the taskbar. KioskMode and DesktopMode are false. We've got the minimize, maximize, close buttons disabled. This sets up our background that can't me changed.
We have a second ini (Plain.ini) That we use when we want to go to a website. We're doing this because we need to display a policy that the user may accept to continue or decline to close.
Both of these work the way we expect on their own.
If we try doing both, i.e. opening running pwb http://library.unt.edu /INI="Plain.ini" then we run into problems. It seems like the computer gets confused as to which buttons in the task bar associate to which instance of the browser. For example after switching to notepad I click on "Desktop" and it displays the window with the library page. But if I try to click on a link in the library page it takes me back to the Desktop window.
We're very confused about this behavior.
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moxy
No reply yet but I thought I'd post an update. We're still looking for answers to our problem. One idea I had was if we could run the DisableWindowsGUI with out running the browser that might get us somewhere. So I made the following bat file that seems to mostly work:
rundll32 c:\test\PWBDisableWindowsGUI.dll,PWBAddonStart c:\test\PWBDisableWindowsGUI.ini
Where the disable gui package you told me about is unziped in c:\test.
It seems that it can't find the ini file because it completely hides the entire task bar but I specified in the ini file not to do that. Is there a way to tell it where to get the ini file from?
If you try this you can run this to make it quit:
rundll32 c:\test\PWBDisableWindowsGUI.dll,PWBAddonEnd
rundll32 c:\test\PWBDisableWindowsGUI.dll,PWBAddonStart c:\test\PWBDisableWindowsGUI.ini
Where the disable gui package you told me about is unziped in c:\test.
It seems that it can't find the ini file because it completely hides the entire task bar but I specified in the ini file not to do that. Is there a way to tell it where to get the ini file from?
If you try this you can run this to make it quit:
rundll32 c:\test\PWBDisableWindowsGUI.dll,PWBAddonEnd
The Desktop mode is a special PWB mode designed for kiosks. In Desktop mode PWB opens a window fullscreen with no interface showing to the Desktop mode file, then if configured it opens a second window to the Homepage. Each link clicked is opened in a new window using the settings in the INI file first used. I have a good example I can send you if you email Scott@TeamSoftwareSolutions.com.
The Disable Windows GUI is designed to run as an add-on to PWB v2.05+ and should be specified in the PWB INI file. Disable Windows GUI DLL looks in the same folder as the DLL for the INI file when it is run.
The scrollbars in the browser window is a function of the page it is displaying. I am not a web programmer, but I know you can use frames on the page to not show the scrollbars.
If you want to display a policy that the user needs to accept, why not use the policy functionlity PWB has already built in?
Use the PWB policy dialog:
[Security] ShowPolicyDialog=True
PWB Only, use the Disable Windows GUI add-on:
[Addons]
PWBDisableWindowsGUI=C:\Path to folder\PWBDisableWindowsGUI.DLL
When the patron is done, have them close PWB, or have the Inactivity timer close it, and let PWB restart itself, which will show the policy dialog:
[Security] RestartOnClose=True
[Inactivity] InactivityAction=Exit
There are a few more settings that need to go with this such as the disable minimize, and perhaps Start Maximized.
To get the Active Desktop feel, you will not be able to use the policy functionality. You can use the Desktop mode, but you normally you can not use alternate INI files, you configure the original INI file the way you want PWB to be. Disable the Minimize button in the second window section, not the browser section.
--Scott
The Disable Windows GUI is designed to run as an add-on to PWB v2.05+ and should be specified in the PWB INI file. Disable Windows GUI DLL looks in the same folder as the DLL for the INI file when it is run.
The scrollbars in the browser window is a function of the page it is displaying. I am not a web programmer, but I know you can use frames on the page to not show the scrollbars.
If you want to display a policy that the user needs to accept, why not use the policy functionlity PWB has already built in?
Use the PWB policy dialog:
[Security] ShowPolicyDialog=True
PWB Only, use the Disable Windows GUI add-on:
[Addons]
PWBDisableWindowsGUI=C:\Path to folder\PWBDisableWindowsGUI.DLL
When the patron is done, have them close PWB, or have the Inactivity timer close it, and let PWB restart itself, which will show the policy dialog:
[Security] RestartOnClose=True
[Inactivity] InactivityAction=Exit
There are a few more settings that need to go with this such as the disable minimize, and perhaps Start Maximized.
To get the Active Desktop feel, you will not be able to use the policy functionality. You can use the Desktop mode, but you normally you can not use alternate INI files, you configure the original INI file the way you want PWB to be. Disable the Minimize button in the second window section, not the browser section.
--Scott
If you want to get advaced, use PWB v2.06. Set it to run in Desktop mode with the Disable Window GUI add-on, and not to open the second window, and not to open the second window when the link is clicked.
Enable the Dynamic External Java Command Execute. Use this command to execute PWB with an alternate INI file for each link on the Desktop mode page.
--Scott
Enable the Dynamic External Java Command Execute. Use this command to execute PWB with an alternate INI file for each link on the Desktop mode page.
--Scott
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Guest
This is exactally what we were trying when I posted my reply about the browser getting confused. Again I can provide our setup for you if you'd like to test yourself. We're going to continue looking into this. I'm even looking at making a program like the Disable gui add on that is just a regular program.
Scott wrote:If you want to get advaced, use PWB v2.06. Set it to run in Desktop mode with the Disable Window GUI add-on, and not to open the second window, and not to open the second window when the link is clicked.
Enable the Dynamic External Java Command Execute. Use this command to execute PWB with an alternate INI file for each link on the Desktop mode page.
--Scott
In order to specify an alternate INI file for PWB executed via the java command, create a shortcut to PWB with the alternate INI specified. Then use the java command to run the shortcut.
[Java]
...
JavaExecute=PWBExecute
...
<html>
...
window.external.PWBExecute( 'H:\\PWB\\HI.lnk' )
...
</html>
This allows PWB to execute applications with commadn lines. Make sure you are using full paths in the INI files.
--Scott
[Java]
...
JavaExecute=PWBExecute
...
<html>
...
window.external.PWBExecute( 'H:\\PWB\\HI.lnk' )
...
</html>
This allows PWB to execute applications with commadn lines. Make sure you are using full paths in the INI files.
--Scott
