Windowblinds stored lists... » Forum Post by ronshillington@comcast.net

Are you serious?? Excel randomizing Windowblinds skins??

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So sorry! I wasn't perfectly clear here.

By having a spreadsheet of Name, Author, Ratings, Total Downloads, Personal Ratings, etc. I could sort with various criteria and use that as a list for running my Blinds for, say a week.

Randomizing doesn't work in WindowBlinds... no respect of presets, defaults, etc. It's been this way for a long time...I believe.

Hope this helps!

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Windowblinds did has this functions at previous version,I don't know why it was taken down,maybe no popularity. I think you are asking a very "unique" feature. So hoping more people seen the thread,the more interests would generate.

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Yes. This is missed. Also another feature I used to use regularly was ability to assign a different skin's taskbar to the skin that has been applied. Used to use it a lot because frames of certain skins were good and task bar of some were good. Now with the latest version I have to make "my own" custom blended skin of the parts I like so that my desktop can look like how I want it to be.

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Quoting AbKu,

reply 4

Yes. This is missed. Also another feature I used to use regularly was ability to assign a different skin's taskbar to the skin that has been applied. Used to use it a lot because frames of certain skins were good and task bar of some were good. Now with the latest version I have to make "my own" custom blended skin of the parts I like so that my desktop can look like how I want it to be.

You can still assign a skin to the taskbar as you used to be able to. On the settings page.

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ZubaZ

Join Date 11/2001

+917

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No offense, but my original question about any access to a Random Files list seems to have dropped through the cracks. I see some real "Heavy Weights" here. Windowblinds MUST keep that list somewhere...or is it an ET Phone Home thing?!

TIA!

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Could you do something with C:\Users\Public\Documents\Stardock\WindowBlinds\skins.ntxt? It's a text file in spite of the extension. It's basically an .ini file. Here's the top of mine:

[3D animated]
SkinName=3D animated
SkinUISName=3D animated
SkinAuthor=Atlem
SkinCategory=OS
SkinDate=1488049711
[7Classic]
SkinName=7Classic
SkinUISName=7Classic
SkinAuthor=BoXXi
SkinCategory=Speciality
SkinDate=1488049711
[7Dusk]
SkinName=7Dusk
SkinUISName=7Dusk
SkinAuthor=TomRichter
SkinCategory=OS
SkinDate=1488049711
[8 for 7]
SkinName=8 for 7
SkinUISName=8 for 7
SkinAuthor=2of3
SkinCategory=OS
SkinDate=1488049711
[a Study in Glass]
SkinName=a Study in Glass
SkinUISName=a Study in Glass
SkinAuthor=gmc2
SkinCategory=Others
SkinDate=1488049711

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Thanks, gavensmd! That looks like the beginning of a *.uis file (the file SKS creates). The file I am looking for would have a list of multiple SkinName(s) from those different skins that are in the Random list.

Or MAYBE....Windowblinds carefully puts a leeeeeeeeetle, SECRET Code Mark in each random designated skin and then races out and reads ALL the UIS files (I have 1543 at the moment) each time it is started. That would be AMAZING and no one could read that list ALL AT ONCE....."Take THAT you nasty Hackers!!!"

SORRY!!! I couldn't resist.....

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Well, that will teach me to try and be humorous! Didn't read your sample carefully. Maybe it IS a random list. I just don't have such a file and I have over 600 random skins in my list.

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If you click on the settings button in the upper right corner, there is a menu entry "random styles settings", i think this may help...

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If the setting to pick from all random skins, a random index into skins.nbd is used.

Otherwise the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\WindowBlinds\wb5.ini\RandSkins is used

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Thank you Neil!

I will try to do my best to get Regedit and Excell working to make a usable sorting sheet. I am not sure where the "bit" is for denoting SELECTED is but I will see what I can find.

OK if I let people know what I have come up with? If I can come up with a little procedure to manipulate the random list easily, maybe more people would use the feature.

Anyway I am a Happier Camper now.

+1

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Quoting starbucksphreaq,

reply 10

Well, that will teach me to try and be humorous! Didn't read your sample carefully. Maybe it IS a random list. I just don't have such a file and I have over 600 random skins in my list.

That's because I typed the name incorrectly. It's skins.nbd. I had txt in my head becuase it's a text file.

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DaveBax

Join Date 10/2007

+629

Quoting gevansmd,

reply 14

I had txt in my head becuase it's a text file.

Nice to know you have something up there.

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Quoting gevansmd,

reply 14

Quoting starbucksphreaq,

reply 10

Well, that will teach me to try and be humorous! Didn't read your sample carefully. Maybe it IS a random list. I just don't have such a file and I have over 600 random skins in my list.

That's because I typed the name incorrectly. It's skins.nbd. I had txt in my head because it's a text file.

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Quoting DaveBax,

reply 15

Quoting gevansmd,

reply 14

I had txt in my head becuase it's a text file.

Nice to know you have something up there.

I take that to mean you don't have that file? I did an experiment and edited it removing all but the first 5 blinds. When I opened the WB configuration program it only showed the 5 remaining blinds, so it does use the file.

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Good show gevansmd!

I don't see any clues about Randomness but I will can see lots of possibilities for inventory and category (whatever that is).

Thanks! We will come up with something yet!

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Further playing I discovered the Wbload.exe is the program that actually loads a blind. I tried it at a command prompt but it said the blind I selected did not have a .uis. If I can figure out the correct command line there would be no need to modify the file containing all the WB names. From the command prompt if you just type wbload you see it loading the currently selected blind.

Also, when you load a blind with the configuration program it updates the date/time stamp of the blind folder (in the dsme path where the list file is located) to "now". I am trying to figure out where it stores the "current" blind so after a reboot you get the blind you last used.

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gevansmd, you are obviously learning the "engine" in a much different way than I have seen. Much info for thought.

I am trying to meld Windowblinds with Excell because I have learned that I can use its wonderful, multi-level sorting to order (think group, as well) Blinds in to Quality, Need Fixing, are dark/light/blue/white/etc.

The hard part is picking those characteristics out of the internals of Windowblinds. Searching through hundreds of .uis files is even more cumbersome.

Keep us posted and I will try to show some progress with "clever" sorts to group Blinds in different ways.

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Quoting starbucksphreaq,

reply 20

gevansmd, you are obviously learning the "engine" in a much different way than I have seen. Much info for thought.

I am trying to meld Windowblinds with Excell because I have learned that I can use its wonderful, multi-level sorting to order (think group, as well) Blinds in to Quality, Need Fixing, are dark/light/blue/white/etc.

The hard part is picking those characteristics out of the internals of Windowblinds. Searching through hundreds of .uis files is even more cumbersome.

Keep us posted and I will try to show some progress with "clever" sorts to group Blinds in different ways.

Have you looked at Sqlite? It's a free SQL database engine that lets you buld and query databases. That might work even better for your as sorting and foltering is very easy to do. If you look at Sqlite also get SqlitePsy, an GUI interface, so you're not limited to the command line.

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