Objectbar 1.99e[b].002 Issues
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I'm pleased with the overall idea of the customizable object bar but growing increasingly frustrated over problems that continue to repeatedly creep up that cause me to make, then remake, my customized bar. I am trying to use the object bar designed for the 'OS-X Tiger' Theme. It was originally designed with ObjectBar. It has places where the end user can add their own shortcuts and system calls. But here are some of the issues I've found with how ObjectBar interacts with that theme bar.
1. The Tiger.obtheme file becomes corrupt, at least, 10-15 times. After modifying it's shortcuts to point to programs I use, all using and saving from the supplied theme editor, reloading causes the last few items on the far right to just disappear. When I open the theme editor to see if they've been hidden, they aren't there. They're simply gone. I'm not sure whether my modifications have used the entire memory allocation for each menu, for the objectbar(if there is such a thing), or whether the last time I saved it became corrupted. My only options are to reload the original theme as a template and start all over again, or re-add those items that were truncated in the first place.
2. When I save my modified theme, there isn't any spinning cursor, or other user feedback from the user/program interface, to let me know if something is actually happening with the program. This often leads to a second 'click' on the save theme menu...which doesn't respond 'cause its already doing something else. This action may be a contributing factor, or main cause, of the problem listed above.
3. There is access to programs running in the background via the systray/taskbar. The section on this menu is called deskshade. But not all programs will relaunch from here. Incredimail, for example, will open, minimize to the systray/taskbar but not allow me to reopen from here. I must go to object dock and select the same application to reach my mail again. Closing some, many programs, from here causes an error message to appear, claiming a 'memory access violation error.' The program closes just as requested...and ObjectBar won't crash, but this message gets rather annoying. On occasion, I have noted that closing a backgound program from here causes the icons to get confused with what names are assigned to them. My Konfabulator says that its Zone Alarm, etc. The size of the taskbar is also rather large for the few items that may be loaded into memory. It doesn't seem to want to resize.
I don't know whats in store for the touted 2.00 version, but I'd like to see some of these basic issues cleared up along with the new improved advanced feature.
Beyond that...Keep up the good work!
4.There is a problem with the menu shifting from one side to the next depending upon which other window is open. If I mouse over the shifted menu however, the menu rewrites itself in the appropiate place and allows for the submenu display as expected. Submenus aren't selectable from their shifted positions. I have determined however, that if I shift the element "----Extra Space----" from the bottom to the position between my menu and my icons, it corrects this problem. The element "seperator" however does not correct this problem. This does lead me to my next point.
5. The element "----Extra Space----" is not addable, subtractable, or duplicatable. Which means that even though I can move it into a position to correct the shifting menu problem, there is no 'Extra Space' at the bottom of the menu...which again may contribute to problem #1. The Element 'Seperator' hidden or otherwise has no effect on this problem. It would be nice, even necessary to make this element addable.
6. As others have written previously, the theme editor leaves a bit to be desired. Both theme editors, Legacy and Advanced, has functions the other wants/lacks. Their Lack of ability to assign icons to parent menus, inability to navigate and edit submenus from within the theme editor, lack of a help file to assist us mere users to build our ObjectBars, and navigate around the many existing perils, are some of the more prominent issues that stand out. On my system, I cannot remove some subitems from this rebuilt theme without the objectBar carshing. I can however create new items without it crashing. Often when it crashes due to my modifications, those are when I found out that I must reload the basic Theme bar and start all over again.
1. The Tiger.obtheme file becomes corrupt, at least, 10-15 times. After modifying it's shortcuts to point to programs I use, all using and saving from the supplied theme editor, reloading causes the last few items on the far right to just disappear. When I open the theme editor to see if they've been hidden, they aren't there. They're simply gone. I'm not sure whether my modifications have used the entire memory allocation for each menu, for the objectbar(if there is such a thing), or whether the last time I saved it became corrupted. My only options are to reload the original theme as a template and start all over again, or re-add those items that were truncated in the first place.
2. When I save my modified theme, there isn't any spinning cursor, or other user feedback from the user/program interface, to let me know if something is actually happening with the program. This often leads to a second 'click' on the save theme menu...which doesn't respond 'cause its already doing something else. This action may be a contributing factor, or main cause, of the problem listed above.
3. There is access to programs running in the background via the systray/taskbar. The section on this menu is called deskshade. But not all programs will relaunch from here. Incredimail, for example, will open, minimize to the systray/taskbar but not allow me to reopen from here. I must go to object dock and select the same application to reach my mail again. Closing some, many programs, from here causes an error message to appear, claiming a 'memory access violation error.' The program closes just as requested...and ObjectBar won't crash, but this message gets rather annoying. On occasion, I have noted that closing a backgound program from here causes the icons to get confused with what names are assigned to them. My Konfabulator says that its Zone Alarm, etc. The size of the taskbar is also rather large for the few items that may be loaded into memory. It doesn't seem to want to resize.
I don't know whats in store for the touted 2.00 version, but I'd like to see some of these basic issues cleared up along with the new improved advanced feature.
Beyond that...Keep up the good work!
4.There is a problem with the menu shifting from one side to the next depending upon which other window is open. If I mouse over the shifted menu however, the menu rewrites itself in the appropiate place and allows for the submenu display as expected. Submenus aren't selectable from their shifted positions. I have determined however, that if I shift the element "----Extra Space----" from the bottom to the position between my menu and my icons, it corrects this problem. The element "seperator" however does not correct this problem. This does lead me to my next point.
5. The element "----Extra Space----" is not addable, subtractable, or duplicatable. Which means that even though I can move it into a position to correct the shifting menu problem, there is no 'Extra Space' at the bottom of the menu...which again may contribute to problem #1. The Element 'Seperator' hidden or otherwise has no effect on this problem. It would be nice, even necessary to make this element addable.
6. As others have written previously, the theme editor leaves a bit to be desired. Both theme editors, Legacy and Advanced, has functions the other wants/lacks. Their Lack of ability to assign icons to parent menus, inability to navigate and edit submenus from within the theme editor, lack of a help file to assist us mere users to build our ObjectBars, and navigate around the many existing perils, are some of the more prominent issues that stand out. On my system, I cannot remove some subitems from this rebuilt theme without the objectBar carshing. I can however create new items without it crashing. Often when it crashes due to my modifications, those are when I found out that I must reload the basic Theme bar and start all over again.