PPCGeeks

PPCGeeks (http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/index.php)
-   HTC Apache (http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=14)
-   -   For those looking to skin your dialer (TDial 1.1.0, 12-09-07) (http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=7819)

tiermann 09-11-2007 03:11 AM

1 Attachment(s)
New Button Style: (HTCHomeDigits)
Matches the default clock digits for HTC Home plugin.
Just unzip to your Styles folder. I'll include it in the next version.

Trident 09-11-2007 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiermann (Post 85477)
Update: (b1.1.1)
-Fixed bug where changing style wouldn't update the preview images.
-Added option under "Options->Background" to revert to the default background for the current style.

Site is updated now too with b1.1.1

Thank you!
You "Da Man".

tiermann 09-11-2007 10:40 AM

Update: (b1.1.2)
-The new button styles actually use the digit color and alpha settings now :) It's more like a tint for them. Setting the digit color to white will give you the default colors of the images.
-You can now change the color of the status box and smartdial box. I rearranged a bit to make room for them on the far right. The colors also save in your ini file.
-Added the HTCHomeDigits style.
-Changed the indialer_ps and _ls images back to RGB instead of indexed. Now all images in styles are RGB. I use color matrices now so I don't need to read the palette anymore.
-Fixed a bug where clicking "Show/Hide SmarDial" wouldn't update the preview images in landscape mode.

Make sure you unzip everything, not just the exe. The change to alpha blending requires the changes I made to the indialer images in each style.

So what this means for any button style makers out there is, all images are RGB and need an alpha channel to work with the new transparency technique. With the new tinting feature, the effect will be seen best with white digits.

daveedem 09-11-2007 12:00 PM

Tiermann,

This is probably one of the easiest programs I've found to use to manipulate my PPC6700.

Maybe I'm missing it, but it would be great if there was a way you could pull in the skin you just created. I'm playing around with different images, and each time (I think) I have to reload and redo all the settings I've chosen.

I always keep a copy of the folder of the skin I create, so could you program in an "open" button that would allow you to open a previous skin you've created?

just an idea.

Keep up the great work. donation forthcoming.

Daveede

tiermann 09-11-2007 12:19 PM

There's options to "save current settings" and "save settings on exit" in the file menu. Saving the current settings after you save a skin will give you the same settings you had the next time you start the app.

For next version though I'll add in an "open" feature. It'll work a little differently though since the program can't actually read a finished skin (it just reads the "style" format I came up with). It'll save a "Skin Name.skin" in the folder you run it from so you can load up all backgrounds and settings just like they were when you created it.

I'm glad you find it useful, and thanks in advance for any donations :) (It'll actually be my first)

Edit: Donation recieved :) Thank you so much.
I'm putting that towards getting a server I can log into more than 50% of the time, hehe.

PS: Welcome to PPCGeeks, too! Didn't realize this was your first post.

rp3319 09-11-2007 02:25 PM

1 Attachment(s)
=D>

Here's what I'm using. Nothing too fancy, but it's kind of funny. My wife's picture shows up in the middle of the windshield of the truck, so it looks like she's driving when she calls...

tiermann 09-11-2007 03:22 PM

rp3319: Looks good :)

Update: (b1.1.3)
-When a skin is saved from now on, it also saves a "Skin Name.skin" file in the same directory as TDialDesigner.exe. Using the new "Open Skin" item in the file menu you can load skins you've previously made. That will load settings back exactly like they were when it was created, including Gloss and Style as well as backgrounds.

Just remember, if the skin name you use has already been used before, the skin file will be overwritten. Always good to use a new name for each skin.

I actually got into my site to update it, so it has b1.1.3 as well.
Also, I'll be changing servers later tonight thanks to livewirevoodoo and I'll change the links in my sig.

tiermann 09-12-2007 12:16 AM

Website moved :) Links in my sig are now updated.

Thanks again, livewirevoodoo! :)


Figured it's time to update the screenshot too...
http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/6...tledrg6.th.png

livewirevoodoo 09-12-2007 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiermann (Post 86180)
Website moved :) Links in my sig are now updated.

Thanks again, livewirevoodoo! :)

Glad I can be of help. You've designed some slick applications that I find extremely useful, so anything I can do to support development benefits the community as a whole.

daveedem 09-12-2007 10:36 AM

Strange thing with the portrait - borders
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by tiermann (Post 85851)
There's options to "save current settings" and "save settings on exit" in the file menu. Saving the current settings after you save a skin will give you the same settings you had the next time you start the app.

For next version though I'll add in an "open" feature. It'll work a little differently though since the program can't actually read a finished skin (it just reads the "style" format I came up with). It'll save a "Skin Name.skin" in the folder you run it from so you can load up all backgrounds and settings just like they were when you created it.

I'm glad you find it useful, and thanks in advance for any donations :) (It'll actually be my first)

Edit: Donation recieved :) Thank you so much.
I'm putting that towards getting a server I can log into more than 50% of the time, hehe.

PS: Welcome to PPCGeeks, too! Didn't realize this was your first post.






Weird issue with the portrait skin. I made it in the designer without borders, and the screens look right in the designer, but when I end a call on the phone itself, I can see borders around the Call history, mute, hold, etc. buttons.

Any ideas?

Also --- what's the Down colors for?

P.S. - Yah first post -- figured it was time to come out instead of lurking. Hated my PPC6770 the way it was. I used to work for Sprint PCS and heard through the rumour mill there was a WM6 rev coming out for it and that Sprint and UTstarcom killed it in an effort to get you to buy a new device. I hate "the man" forcing you to buy something that can be updated. It's a MS product for chrissakes, MS updates everything else, why not my device. Microsoft really should be a called "MicroGottaApplyUpdatesoft". Starting searching around and found this site. Applied WM6 and starting playing around.

tiermann 09-12-2007 10:57 AM

I'll take a look at that. It might not be saving the backdrop right for the progress screen.

The down colors are for when you press a button. There's a separate image for each down button too :). You can set them to a color a little brighter than the normal buttons to give the effect of lighting up or darker to make it look like a light goes out when pressed, etc.


Edit: Could you post a zipped copy of the ".skin" file too so I can have a look at the settings you used? It would help narrow down which combination gave you the borders in the final skin.

tiermann 09-12-2007 11:39 AM

Ok. I found it. The problem was that it wasn't using your color choice for the border when saving the progress screen (portrait only. landscape seemed fine in my test and in the code).
So..

Update: (b1.1.4)
-Fixed a bug where borders on the progress screen were incorrectly saved.

All you should have to do is unzip the new version (found in my signature) overtop of the old version (replace all). Open your .skin file and save it under a new name. The only file you'll need to copy to the pocketpc is "Progress_BkgdP.png". :)

daveedem 09-12-2007 03:18 PM

Ok.. that seems to have fixed that one. thanks.

How about changing the colour of the font on the progress screen? is that an option? Changing the colour on the main screen doesn't change it on the process screen.

Also, in the new version (i tried it all again just to see) it's still adding the statusbox with 100% shading even though I've set it to 0%. It creates the Dialer_BkgdP.png with a big grey box, even though it's previewing with no box.

Addition: It's also doing it on the progress window as well.....

Ideas?

Kudos on the save Skin - works great.

tiermann 09-12-2007 03:41 PM

That I can fix too :) I knew I must have missed a couple things when I changed the alpha blending around. Give me a few, sorry.

daveedem 09-12-2007 03:56 PM

No Problem.... it's just on the Portrait side of things... btw.

I figured out I could just copy and rename the Dialer_BkgdP.png to Progress_bkgrdP.png and since it was the same size it worked.

tiermann 09-12-2007 04:28 PM

This should do it...

Update: (b1.1.5)
-Fixed another bug with backdrop saving. Statusbox color/alpha was not what was chosen in the designer.
-Another side fix of the main fix is, colors of the statusbox also save now for the default backgrounds as well. Before they were ignored unless you chose a background.

Problem was when I added the better alpha blending I should have written 2 separate functions for saving and redrawing the smartdials, hehe. Instead I made a mess of checks to get away with one and I confused myself. Fixed it though and split it into 2 functions. :) Thanks for reporting bugs by the way. It's good to get these bigger ones taken care of. I had to change a lot around when I changed alpha, because my old method would have frozen up the program for a couple mins while it redrew all the buttons each time you change a color or setting, hehe.

Throughout these changes though, the .skin files will still work. It was saving settings correctly all along, it was just the images, so easy to load back up and re-save.

tvith 09-12-2007 09:13 PM

hey tiermann, I have q'stions... where do u unzip this to? I downloaded the zip file, and there was a folder inside the zip as well as a .exe file (the .exe isn't in the folder that came in the .zip). I put both of them together in a folder and transfered it to the SDcard. When i click on the .exe file, it gives me an error talking about the .net needs to b updated or something, so i brought the folder (which still has the folder w/ all the files and the .exe) to \Programs and clicked the .exe file and it gave me the same error, I also tried to run it on the comp and it gave me an error. What am i doing wrong? Am i suppose to take the files that r inside the folder that's inside the .zip and bring it over to windows and then take the .exe and bring it over to windows w/o putting them together in a folder? I don't get wat i'm doing wrong.

tiermann 09-13-2007 04:38 AM

TDial Designer is a Desktop program, not PocketPC.
Here's a quick runthrough of usage...

1. Unzip a fresh download of the zip file to a new folder on your PC.
2. If you don't have .NET 2.0 (for PC, not Compact Framework) or higher installed on your computer you will need that too in order to run TDial Designer. (should show up in windows update)
3. Run TDialDesigner.exe on your PC and it should bring up the designer (in about 3-5 secs on a newer computer).
4. After you finish editing your skin the way you like, go to File->Save As and choose a folder. It will create a sub folder in there named after the Skin Name you chose.
5. Copy all files from that folder (which should appear in the status bar) to \Windows on your PocketPC and soft-reset. You should see the new skin now on your dialer.

Let me know if that works for you. Remember to grab a fresh download of TDialDesigner.zip and start at step1 if it still gives you an error. Re-installing .Net 2.0 also fixed it for someone else.

Sorry if it's a bit of a pain without an installer right now, but it's still in beta. Once all the features that are currently in the latest b1.1.5 are working fine (unless I hear otherwise in a couple days I'll assume they are), I'll make an installer for 1.0 release that will also check for .Net 2.0 and direct you to the download for that if necessary.

tiermann 09-14-2007 12:41 AM

Release: v1.0
-I did a little code cleanup and built an msi installer as well as the old zip method for those who prefer it. See the opening post for more details.

tiermann 09-16-2007 02:25 PM

I made some big changes to my site, so please let me know about any dead links in my sig or any trouble downloading.

Thanks.

omegax 09-16-2007 04:37 PM

I like the new look, But I would suggest some kind of banner on that page. But other than that its clean and it flows. Looks alot more professional too.

neko988 09-16-2007 04:54 PM

great work tierman, loving the dialer app, heres my 1st shot at with it, all went very easy.


http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/3...0005yv9.th.png

rp3319 09-17-2007 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neko988 (Post 88372)

Nice shot of Fenway - given that the playoffs almost here, I like it.

trehouse 09-17-2007 01:22 PM

Tiermann, I have a question. When you changed the dialer program, did the files being generated change at all as the latest version as of a couple of days ago was giving me funny results. Perhaps not all of my old dialer files were now being overwritten?

After a reset, my dialer wasn't skinned properly (the backround of the smart dialer was alway incorrect and not all my dailer selections were now showing up). I reverted back to an old dialer from your 1st or 2nd version and things were now fine again. I checked the proecss a couple of times with similar results.

tiermann 09-17-2007 02:29 PM

The last 2 versions were bug fixes to the backdrop saving for portrait progress and a fix to the saving of the indialer (smartdial and statusbox) images. The last changes to the ammount of files it outputs was when I added the down buttons, but that was b1.0.8.

If you could zip up that incorrect skin along with the matching .skin file from your TDialDesigner folder I could take a look for you. That'll let me know your exact settings and what came out as the end result. Just to double check too, that was with v1.0 that you had trouble? Version shows in the titlebar in most builds, or you can rightclick the exe file and bring up properties->details tab to see on really early versions. That way I know which one works for you and which doesn't.

trehouse 09-17-2007 03:04 PM

Tiermann, (firstly, I don't want to take anything away from your work which we all think is really great but I had some strange issues).

My version I'm now using is b.1.1.5 and I was using one of the first versions earlier. I'm thinking that even without sending you my files you're saying that yes, the output count did change. If this is the case the leftovers perhaps from the early version after loading a dialer from the later version would cause the issue I had. Specifically, the smart dialer background was off when I loaded up the later version as were some of the buttom actions (I'm thinking it was in the landscape mode). I was able to re-create the problem.

I didn't send you my files as I'm not sure it's needed (but I don't know how lol).

Thanks!

tiermann 09-17-2007 03:34 PM

The number of files did change, but only went up. Anything from older versions still exists and gets replaced by skins from newer versions. v1.0 hasn't had any changes from b1.1.5 other than cleanup (which was just removal of comments and adding of new ones) and packaging.

And I know you're not bashing the work or anything :) I'd like to fix any problems you're having.

If you have a chance... If you could copy the .skin file to that incorrect skin's folder and to zip up files (if you're on Windows XP or Vista) you can right-click on a folder and choose "send to->compressed zip folder". That will give you a zip file with the same name as the folder. It just makes it easier for me to see exactly what your settings were when you created the skin as well as what exactly went wrong.

tiermann 09-18-2007 12:31 AM

Sorry, Trehouse. I wasn't able to reproduce the problem you're having. I was able to load up your skin file and it saved all of the images exactly as they were set in the designer for me. I did however find another bug that wouldn't let me open a previous skin file if you didn't have a TDial.ini, so I fixed that one.

If anyone else is having the same problem as Trehouse, please let me know and we'll try to narrow it down.

Update: v1.0.1
-Fixed a bug where old skins couldn't be opened unless you had a TDial.ini.

christianpeso 09-18-2007 01:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pierocksmysocks (Post 82341)
Tiermann the application rocks! Thanks mate! (But next time try to grab a nap every so often so you don't kill yourself alright?)



Pierocksmysocks...How do U have a 4gb minisd card. I thought they didn't come that big?

tiermann 09-18-2007 03:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christianpeso (Post 89087)
Pierocksmysocks...How do U have a 4gb minisd card. I thought they didn't come that big?

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread...ghlight=minisd
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread...ghlight=minisd
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread...ghlight=minisd
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread...ghlight=minisd

Some reading for ya :)

tiermann 09-19-2007 12:25 PM

Update: v1.0.2
-Removed the drawn-on status box from the default backgrounds making alpha blending for statusbox and smartdial always available. (no more grayed-out dropdowns)
-Added a check to see if the background images from loaded skins still exist in the same location. It'll tell you now if it can't find them as opposed to just crashing, hehe.

christianpeso 09-19-2007 09:39 PM

Thanx Tiermann for the threads. Also big thanx for the dialer program! You seem like a very kool person cause you actually answer questions about your software and frequently!! Keep doing what your doing! I and a whole bunch of other people Thank You for it!!!:mrgreen:

Ruinit 09-21-2007 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiermann (Post 89854)
Update: v1.0.2
-Removed the drawn-on status box from the default backgrounds making alpha blending for statusbox and smartdial always available. (no more grayed-out dropdowns)
-Added a check to see if the background images from loaded skins still exist in the same location. It'll tell you now if it can't find them as opposed to just crashing, hehe.


Great work and thanks for keeping it going! One thing though. For some reason using gloss numbers you can select white digits which is what I want to use but it is always greyish looking. Now it doesn't do that on the call history numbers? Could you tell me how to fix this?

Thanks

tiermann 09-21-2007 11:46 AM

It comes out greyish as opposed to white because the gloss is an overlay ontop of the numbers. A fix would be to open TDial\Styles\Gloss.png in photoshop and set the alpha really low, then save as Gloss2.png in your TDial\Styles folder. Any transparent pngs placed in that folder will show up in the Gloss menu next time you run TDial.

Next version though I should be able to add an extra % dropdown for the amount of gloss added which would save time from having to make your own pngs of the same gloss with different alphas.

Ruinit 09-21-2007 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiermann (Post 90839)
It comes out greyish as opposed to white because the gloss is an overlay ontop of the numbers. A fix would be to open TDial\Styles\Gloss.png in photoshop and set the alpha really low, then save as Gloss2.png in your TDial\Styles folder. Any transparent pngs placed in that folder will show up in the Gloss menu next time you run TDial.

Next version though I should be able to add an extra % dropdown for the amount of gloss added which would save time from having to make your own pngs of the same gloss with different alphas.


Cool if you could do that in the next update that would be great because I do not work with photoshop nor own it...

Thanks

josephlw88 09-21-2007 05:45 PM

wont work
 
i made my skin and saved it to my desktop. after that i opened the folder used ctrl + A to select everything and then i pasted them into the windows directory using activesync. the files are on the phone , but i still have the old dialer after a soft reset

christianpeso 09-21-2007 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by josephlw88 (Post 90996)
i made my skin and saved it to my desktop. after that i opened the folder used ctrl + A to select everything and then i pasted them into the windows directory using activesync. the files are on the phone , but i still have the old dialer after a soft reset


For some reason, for me, activesync did not see the /windows directory. What I did was use active sync to move the dialer skin to my storage card. Its in a new folder called New Skin. Then I went onto my xv6700 and opened up the folder called new skin. Copied all files. Then went into /windows directory on my xv6700 and pasted everything. It asked me if I wanted to overwrite other files and I selected all. Did a soft reset, and everything works fine. For some reason my computer does not see /Windows directory.

FRESHMAN 09-23-2007 11:34 PM

1 Attachment(s)
This is a great program...

Here are some basic gloss png's that I have designed that some of you may find useful.

Any feedback would be useful.

tiermann 09-24-2007 12:34 AM

Great work on the glosses, and welcome to PPCGeeks!
I was waiting for someone to come up with some prettier ones. I'm not that great with photoshop :p.

Do you mind if I add them to the styles folder for the next version?
Anyone who doesn't mind sharing their artwork in releases I'll add to the "about" message too.

FRESHMAN 09-24-2007 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiermann (Post 91903)
Great work on the glosses, and welcome to PPCGeeks!
I was waiting for someone to come up with some prettier ones. I'm not that great with photoshop :p.

Do you mind if I add them to the styles folder for the next version?
Anyone who doesn't mind sharing their artwork in releases I'll add to the "about" message too.

Not at all, in fact if you need help with anything else let me know.
I have never used my Photoshop skills for anything like this before, but if you want to check out some of my artwork goto http://www.myspace.com/sethshore


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 12:54 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
©2012 - PPCGeeks.com


Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0