SkinUI by Dmitry

[jjesusfreak01]

Dmitry has just released a demo of his new SkinUI program. This first version skins buttons, dialog boxes, check boxes, and a few other things. The included skin is Cobalt, and it looks really cool.

As always, you can get it from his site at www.dmitrygr.com

[blackcarrera]

This is great, do you know if this will be freeware?

[blackcarrera]

It makes you want to look at your Clie for a long time.

[jjesusfreak01]

It makes you want to look at your Clie for a long time.
I did that after I bought ClieSkinner, then after ZLauncher, then after landscape, and I get to do it again. It looks almost exactly like Cobalt.

[jjesusfreak01]

Bump, why is no one commenting?

[Jeff Kirvin]

It looks pretty, but it screws up the d-pad control on my T5.

[blackcarrera]

All I have to say is, this is what OS 5 should have looked like from the start.

[jjesusfreak01]

It looks pretty, but it screws up the d-pad control on my T5.
Really, thats an interesting problem. Email dmitry about it, because I cant imagine its something that is supposed to happen. He mentions that it can use active and passive code, but im guessing, because of what i have seen, that it is going to need more active code to work properly.

[dmitrygr]

screws up? how? graphically? screenshots please. As for freeware: according to my website's poll 66% would pay for ap if skins were free so, it will be like that.

All there is left is grpahical scrollbars (like in cobalt, not just gray) and graphical window titles (like in cobalt)

[jjesusfreak01]

Im thinking it is going to need some tweaking or active code on your part to fix the problems with mislocated buttons and such. I'll post some screenshots later of a few of the major problems I am having.

[FormerlyKnownAs]

A few questions and observations:

Why do you need Force16 when all of the bitmaps I checked (about 5 or 6 of them is all, both the -8 versions and the -8-d144) are 8 bit depth? (I extracted them from Cobalt.prc using PalmBMX, then checked the properties.)

The transparency doesn't seem to be recognized around the buttons and check boxes.

It causes a fatal error when launching any program protected by PwdLaunch v1.0.3.

[jjesusfreak01]

Remember, thats all the bitmaps as well as the code needed to substitute them. Its not bad.

[dmitrygr]

no transparency needed. form background will be forced to white in further versions. No choice for you, because this is the way cobalt is. i will force color scheme as is in cobalt. and if u dont have force16 some apps set different palette and makes things look weird.

[dmitrygr]

SKIN FORMAT:


bitmaps:
31000 - checkbox on
31001-checkbox off
31002 - popUpList trigger unselected
31004 - sliders' thumb
31005 - sliders' base
31005 - popUp list trigger selected
31006 - infoButton unselected
31007 - infoButton selected

31050 - info AlertIcon
31051 - question AlertIcon
31052 - warning AlertIcon
31053 - error AlertIcon

then are same orders for uselected,selected buttons and then unselected and selected popup triggers

base numbers for buttons unselected is 31010, for buttons selected is 31020, unselected popup triggers is 31030 and selected popuptriggers is 31040

order of bitmaps:

sizes are (lo-res sizes)
BASE+ size what
0 5x5 topLeft
1 160x5 top
2 5x5 topRight
3 5x160 right
4 5x5 bottomRight
5 160x5 bottom
6 5x5 bottomLeft
7 5x160 left
8 160x60 center


the bitmaps are so big because tiling takes time and this way there is no need for it.


So total bitmaps in current skins is 48 (no versioning of skins yet). currently there is no way to select a skin so only one is used. you have to replace it with your own to use it. This will be fixed soon. Currently name does not matter. just set creator to "skUI" and type to "skin".

All bitmaps must be in arm-format (use "-LE32" flag for PilRC)

Happy skinning

[dmitrygr]

anyone up for skinning?? My art skills suck so I used cobalt and made alert icons myself. Someone artistic out there, PLEASE MAKE SOMETHIGN COOL!

[FormerlyKnownAs]

Sounds like it would be good to have a selection or exclusion panel for apps if you are forcing backgrounds to white. Some apps are going to look pretty "weird" if forced to white, and there is at least one app, PwdLaunch, that fatals on launch if SkinUI is running. As simple as PwdLaunch is, I'm willing to bet there will be others.

[tosbsas]

Any screenshots yet???

Ruben

[jjesusfreak01]

Any screenshots yet???

Ruben
Sure, I took one yesterday. Its posted here (http://tamspalm.blogspot.com/2005/05/skinui-by-dmitry.html) on Tamspalm (tamspalm.blogspot.com).

[MrNako]

anyone up for skinning?? My art skills suck so I used cobalt and made alert icons myself. Someone artistic out there, PLEASE MAKE SOMETHIGN COOL!

Hey dmitrygr your app is very cool! I loved the cobalt skin. I can create a windows skin but what do I need in order to create it?

[jjesusfreak01]

Hey dmitrygr your app is very cool! I loved the cobalt skin. I can create a windows skin but what do I need in order to create it?
It sounds like you need to compile it yourslef. When he is finished with the program maybe he can make a quick skin compiler. There are a couple people whom I know could do it. Pruss could, and Festus could, and I'll bet Velo could too. I cant, my first skin will end up being made in TBmpedit entirely on my Clie.

[MrNako]

It sounds like you need to compile it yourslef. When he is finished with the program maybe he can make a quick skin compiler. There are a couple people whom I know could do it. Pruss could, and Festus could, and I'll bet Velo could too. I cant, my first skin will end up being made in TBmpedit entirely on my Clie.

Oh I see. I think I found a way to create the skin. I will start right away. Im so excited!!! :p :D

[m8rk]

Woah! - excellent! :D

[filber]

It sounds like you need to compile it yourslef. When he is finished with the program maybe he can make a quick skin compiler. There are a couple people whom I know could do it. Pruss could, and Festus could, and I'll bet Velo could too. I cant, my first skin will end up being made in TBmpedit entirely on my Clie.

Write to Festus440 and inquire about his PFCD utility! I just used it to decompile the Cobalt skin, giving me a perfect base file to work from. I'll put together a skin when I get some time!

[MrNako]

Write to Festus440 and inquire about his PFCD utility! I just used it to decompile the Cobalt skin, giving me a perfect base file to work from. I'll put together a skin when I get some time!

Yes I have it. Thats what I am doing right know :D

[BUMP THAT]

DOes this support all devices? I got a zodaic. I hvent installed yet. I just hope it supports Landscape. Does it also skin the application bar. You on the TOP where it says Agendus or To Do? Really good idea though, I have been waiting for something like this.

[jjesusfreak01]

DOes this support all devices? I got a zodaic. I hvent installed yet. I just hope it supports Landscape. Does it also skin the application bar. You on the TOP where it says Agendus or To Do? Really good idea though, I have been waiting for something like this.
I would highly doubt this version supports the Zodiac, though since there was a loophole to get skintw to work, it could be possible without signing, though not without some additional programming. Just my perspective.

[dmitrygr]

no reason for zodiac to not work. Try it.

And thank you everyone who is making skins!

[jjesusfreak01]

no reason for zodiac to not work. Try it.

And thank you everyone who is making skins!
Really, so Zodiac allows you to skin it without signing? I didnt think they would do that, but I guess if it just makes the system think it is using the default bitmaps, then it isnt a problem. Whatever you say. Someone try it on your Zodiac.

[MrNako]

Whats the maximum color depth?

[jjesusfreak01]

Whats the maximum color depth?
The current skin is 8bit, but it looks like it can substitute 16bit skins. Make a 16bit skin, and then downconvert it if it doesnt work.

[JAmerican]

I like it. Look cool. Only thing is that after resetting, its off again. :( Is there anyway for you to make a "Apply after Reset" checkbox or something? Can you make an app and have an install button in the app so that it will do the 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, Installed then return to the app. That way, the app while have all the options we need. Some suggestions.

JAmerican

[jjesusfreak01]

I hate "apply after reset" boxes. How about it loads automatically, and we do a warm reset to remove it if it messes up our system.

[MrNako]

The current skin is 8bit, but it looks like it can substitute 16bit skins. Make a 16bit skin, and then downconvert it if it doesnt work.

I just finished it but the colors still look bad even though I used different color depths.

Here you have it, try it out and tell me what you think.

This is Windows Energy Blue skin.

<updated link in next page>

[Sharkk717]

dmitry, i am very impressed with it! it's come a LONG way since you mentioned it to me a week or so ago :D can't wait to see the final product and skins that jjf/mrnako make!

keep up the excellent programming/hacking/skinning :D

regards, sharky

[jjesusfreak01]

I just finished it but the colors still look bad even though I used different color depths.

Here you have it, try it out and tell me what you think.

This is Windows Energy Blue skin.

Download here (http://www.geocities.com/mrnako/winblue.prc)
Not that I would want to steal your work, but I cant edit those bitmaps like Dmitrys. What is different?

[MrNako]

Not that I would want to steal your work, but I cant edit those bitmaps like Dmitrys. What is different?

You cannot edit them? I dont know, I just modified them, re-saved them, then re-compiled them. :confused:

[lmame]

I can't believe I missed this one :)

I installed and tested it on a VZ90, both Cobalt and Winblue skins, here are some screenshots:

Cobalt:
http://www.lmame-bug.com/forum/files/skin_ui_04_169.jpg
http://www.lmame-bug.com/forum/files/skin_ui_00_139.jpg
http://www.lmame-bug.com/forum/files/skin_ui_06_119.jpg


Winblue:
http://www.lmame-bug.com/forum/files/skin_ui_03_879.jpg
http://www.lmame-bug.com/forum/files/skin_ui_02_129.jpg
http://www.lmame-bug.com/forum/files/skin_ui_01_886.jpg


I've done more on my website (http://www.lmame-bug.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=675) ;)


If you want to swap from skins, it seems you need first to delete skinui, soft reset and then delete the skin.
Then copy the new skin and skinui in RAM :)


Edit:
if you want to swap from skins, more simple, simply perform a soft reset, then delete the skin ;)

[lmame]

It seems there is a trouble when using skinui and launching PHTML (I know, it's an old software but I tried it)...

When launching PHTML, I got this error:
StringMgr.c, Line: 353 (japanese stuff)

RESET

It happends only if skinui is active.

[lmame]

Here is a little before / after show:

Before:
http://www.lmame-bug.com/forum/files/skin_ui_10_288.jpg


After with Cobalt:
http://www.lmame-bug.com/forum/files/skin_ui_06_119.jpg


After with Winblue:
http://www.lmame-bug.com/forum/files/skin_ui_11_868.jpg

[LupeValenz]

Gah, who needs Palmsource when we have the miracle workers here?! :P Looking soooo sweeet here, ahhh, Palm is getting better lookin day by day.

[jjesusfreak01]

I tweaked the Cobalt skin to fix the "i" icon problem. You can download it here (http://www.tamoggemon.com/blog/contents/2005/May/CBTweaked/cobalt.prc).

I found out that I cant edit and save bitmaps because they are more than 64k. That was the problem I had with editing Nako's skin.

[Jeff Kirvin]

screws up? how? graphically? screenshots please. As for freeware: according to my website's poll 66% would pay for ap if skins were free so, it will be like that.

All there is left is grpahical scrollbars (like in cobalt, not just gray) and graphical window titles (like in cobalt)
The blue highlighting that shows you which button has the focus disappears when SkinUI is active.

[BUMP THAT]

Hey looks good Nako!! I will have to try it later today. If the app still needs to be signed on Zodiacs, Thats no issue for me. I have the DAA. SO I can help test for ya on Zods. ;)

[xMist]

I'll also test it later today on my Zodiac...I don't have a DAA, so we'll see if it works! :cool:

[BUMP THAT]

Well it works!! Now my Zodiac is even better. I am now using my Win XP Energy BVLue ZL Skin and Nako's energy Blue. This rocks!!

[MrNako]

I just updated the WinBlue skin, I had a problem in the buttons. Also I uploaded a WinXP skin. They are pretty similar.

MrNako :p

Download:
WinBlue (http://www.geocities.com/mrnako/winblue.prc)
WinXP (http://www.geocities.com/mrnako/winxp.prc)

Edit:
I just re-uploaded both files. I changed the bar thing. Same links.

[dmitrygr]

MrNako - nice one! you, however, forgot the sliders :-D


EDIT: looks ok now after update :-D

[MrNako]

MrNako - nice one! you, however, forgot the sliders :-D


EDIT: looks ok now after update :-D

Yep I forgot them. What I couldnt figure out was, how did you manage to give the scroller bars the look of cobalt? I couldnt find any bitmaps to change them. :confused:

[dmitrygr]

scroll bars are not bitmaps YET - now i just make them grey - i will fix this soon

[MrNako]

scroll bars are not bitmaps YET - now i just make them grey - i will fix this soon

Sounds great! :D Can't wait!

[xMist]

It works fine until I try to 'lock & off' my device. When I do that, it displays the 'System Lockout' screen for a second, soft resets, gives me a nice-looking Tapwave error message, telling me that the 'Security' app doesn't have the required signature to run on my device. Your app is interfering somehow, and after the reset, skinUI is disabled. So it will be off my device until there's an update, or not... :p

Besides for that, it looks great! Keep up the good work.

[dmitrygr]

xMist - this is quite werid. I was very sure that I completely disabled their checks for signatures when I install my traps (and since you got no errors on installation - the disabling worked). Look like reset enables them back. :-(

[xMist]

Yeah, I don't think that the way skinUI works is at fault, it's just the way it works with the Security app that's messing things up. I'm not a very skilled programmer (yet :p), so I'm sorry I can't really help...

Although my one idea is this: does your program call back to itself for instructions on how to display a button, or is it a one-time thing? If the first is true, then the Security app is probably blocking access back to skinUI and creating a problem...

just an idea.

[dmitrygr]

MrNako - I am adding a skin selection dialog now as well as a few skin features that are needed for that. Will post here as soon as I am done.

[MrNako]

MrNako - I am adding a skin selection dialog now as well as a few skin features that are needed for that. Will post here as soon as I am done.

Yeah that would be an excellent feature!

[dmitrygr]

ok here is what you need to add to your skins:

tSTR 31999 - skin name (keep it short)
tSTR 31998 - skin's about string
abmp 31999 - the skin list bitmap (13x13 lo-res, 26x26 hi-res)

[BUMP THAT]

OK some info on the Zodiac. I can use it with the DAA. BUt When I turn off the Device it resets and tells me that the application is not signed. But it does work. This is just the system of how the Zodiac works. Very nice app to not have on the Zod. Any plans to get it signed on the final?

@Nako

The WinXP is a broken link. Or is it me? Godd job on the WinBlue too, how about a silver? :D

[MrNako]

ok here is what you need to add to your skins:

tSTR 31999 - skin name (keep it short)
tSTR 31998 - skin's about string
abmp 31999 - the skin list bitmap (13x13 lo-res, 26x26 hi-res)

uhmm... I dont get it. Do I have to compile that on the skin file?

[dmitrygr]

one extra bitmap ID # 31999 - the skin's icon in the list of skins (bitmap size in lo-res is 13x13)

and string ID 31999 is the skin name
and string ID 31998 is skin information. I updates the demo with new versions of Cobalt skin and skinUI so look at how it is theres :-D please update your skins too.

demo: here (http://www.dmitrygr.com/file/skUIdemo.zip)


EDIT: also no new skinning features in this version. Will add some to the next. I rushed this one so skin selection is there as I never expected skins from people that fast! MrNako - I am amazed!

[MrNako]

one extra bitmap ID # 31999 - the skin's icon in the list of skins (bitmap size in lo-res is 13x13)

and string ID 31999 is the skin name
and string ID 31998 is skin information. I updates the demo with new versions of Cobalt skin and skinUI so look at how it is theres :-D please update your skins too.

demo: here (http://www.dmitrygr.com/file/skUIdemo.zip)


EDIT: also no new skinning features in this version. Will add some to the next. I rushed this one so skin selection is there as I never expected skins from people that fast! MrNako - I am amazed!

LOL. I was amazed with this program thats why I created the skins so fast. You can also include my skins in your zip file as freeware skins.

[dmitrygr]

actually, I was about to ask if I could do that. I will as soon as you update them to be compatible with new version of skinUI

[ziggy]

SkinUI does not work on my TE. Installing it immediately results in an endless Fatal exception / soft reset loop, and I am forced to do a hard reset. Any ideas?

[dmitrygr]

es i know why this is.

[dmitrygr]

MrNako, did you update your skins??

[FormerlyKnownAs]

no transparency needed. form background will be forced to white in further versions. No choice for you, because this is the way cobalt is. i will force color scheme as is in cobalt. and if u dont have force16 some apps set different palette and makes things look weird.

Now that other skins are being developed, I would like to request that you implement transparency if at all possible. I have been playing around with this using Festus440's PFCD and I can get the upper left-hand corner of buttons to be transparent by adding transparency to that corner of all the bitmaps used to build the button. (see screen shot)

If the edge bitmaps (like 31011, 31013, 31015 and 31017) and the center bitmaps (like 31018) all started inside the corner bitmaps instead of overlapping it would be very easy to build skins with transparency. I don't know how easy that would be for you to do.

As long as OS5 is all that is currently available and it supports transparency, this would allow some very creative skinning that would look better with more applications. It would also allow the use of utilities like Khroma, Butterfly, Colorize, etc. without white edges around the icons.

Also, do you have any idea why PwdLaunch v1.0.3 protected apps have a fatal error when you try to launch them and SkinUI is active? The error is assigned to PwdLaunch and the message is "MemoryMgr.c, Line:3635, NULL handle".

[dmitrygr]

that would slow things down too much. Plus it is too little use anyways. colro theming will be disabled or enabled individually by any skin. Also once I release specs for active skins make one that has transparency if you want and in skin options of yuor skin enable themeing - IMHO its not worth it

[FormerlyKnownAs]

Thanks for your thoughts.

How about the second question, why does SkinUI cause fatal errors in PwdLaunch? And can you fix it?

[jjesusfreak01]

that would slow things down too much. Plus it is too little use anyways. colro theming will be disabled or enabled individually by any skin. Also once I release specs for active skins make one that has transparency if you want and in skin options of yuor skin enable themeing - IMHO its not worth it
Could you make it where it doesnt crash if you happen to have an incompatable skin in the RAM when you go to the selection dialog?

MemoryMgr.c, Line:3635, NULL Handle

[dmitrygr]

yes - you have MrNako's skins don't you? I think he will fix them before I get to a computer and noone else made any yet and now that is part of specs :-D

[dmitrygr]

i will try to fix pwd launch. send me link where to get it

[jjesusfreak01]

yes - you have MrNako's skins don't you? I think he will fix them before I get to a computer and noone else made any yet and now that is part of specs :-D
I have them fixed temporarily until MrNako wants to do it himself.

WinXP (geocities.com/jjesusfreak01/winxp.prc)
WinBlue (geocities.com/jjesusfreak01/winblue.prc)

Edit: It looks like abmp files can only have one bitmap in them, so I guess I did it right.

[dmitrygr]

MrNako's skins' bitmaps are in a weird format. What were they created by? Those are illegal and might cause problems to older OS5 devices like TT

[jjesusfreak01]

MrNako's skins' bitmaps are in a weird format. What were they created by? Those are illegal and might cause problems to older OS5 devices like TT
Thats what I was talking about before. TBmpEdit doesnt handle them like regular bitmaps, though this could be because it isnt good with resources over 68k. Anyway, the ones I uploaded will work with the new version.

[dmitrygr]

yes they work but whatever created those bitmaps need 2 be deleted and overwritten with zeroes. the format conforms to specifications not at all. No editor will openit and it has 258-bit depth bitmaps (WTF???) as well as 2-dpi bitmaps (lo-res is 72, hi is 144).

[dmitrygr]

Ok new things: skin preview dialog. and a cancel button in the skin selection dialog. A small bugfix and inclusion of MrNako's skins in the archive (now 24K)

get demo here (http://www.dmitrygr.com/file/skUIdemo.zip)

[jjesusfreak01]

It works great, and the preview dialogue is really good.

[dmitrygr]

jjf, make a skin! NOW!!!! LOL

[jjesusfreak01]

jjf, make a skin! NOW!!!! LOL
Im more into resource editing. I am working on a modified version of MrNakos blue skin. It will be called WinGreen.

[dmitrygr]

add skin for sliders as currenlt it uses cobalt and that doest fit. use liek scrollbars of XP for that ok?

[dmitrygr]

the slider thumb does not need to be the dimensions that mine is.
height need to be that, width can be anything

[jjesusfreak01]

the slider thumb does not need to be the dimensions that mine is.
height need to be that, width can be anything
Whats the name of the bitmap?

[MrNako]

Im sorry... I've been very busy today, tonight I will finish up the skins. Sorry :(

[FormerlyKnownAs]

i will try to fix pwd launch. send me link where to get it

Thanks! PwdLaunch @ Palmgear:

http://www.palmgear.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=software.showsoftware&PartnerREF=&siteid=1&prodID=100969

[dmitrygr]

pwdLaunch does some weird (read: not allowed) stuff. I'll make a work around but the author needs to fix this app.

[dmitrygr]

i think i have scrollbard working! YAY! it was hard, very much so. also enable-after-reset has been added. I will release new version here soon.

[blackcarrera]

Sometimes the text in a button is misaligned, I've seen this more so with the 'File Mgr' button (TH55 Media Info) and the Data Import connect/Disconnect button. The Text in File Mgr is moved to the left about 8 pixels and the Data Import button is moved to the right about 8 pixels.

This is with the Cobalt skin.

Another one. The text in Uninstall Manager's Uninstall button is also moved to the right.

The thing that's strange is that the File Mgr button is working correctly most of the time; I notice this sometimes in ZL but I think that it's caused by another app (but I'm not sure) because when I notice this it is after I've been using another app.

[blackcarrera]

This may just be a random thing. I did see it again in the File Mgr button, what I did was pope up the VG then taped the Memory Stick icon and the text was misaligned. The strange thing is I tried to do it again and this time the text was normal.

[dmitrygr]

ill try 2 fix this. one way to 100% duplicate it is in ZL hold stylus in an app ands select" info" the creation and modification dates are always missaligned.

[jjesusfreak01]

jjf, make a skin! NOW!!!! LOL
I changed my mind, I made a modified version of the Cobalt skin. It is called JJGreen. You can all download it from here (geocities.com/jjesusfreak01/JJGreen.prc). Its very highly modified, and seems to be very compatable with most programs.

[MrNako]

I changed my mind, I made a modified version of the Cobalt skin. It is called JJGreen. You can all download it from here (geocities.com/jjesusfreak01/jjgreen.prc). Its very highly modified, and seems to be very compatable with most programs.

Wrong link

Edit: It now works. Looks nice! :cool:

[dmitrygr]

WELL, jff i did not see it as it will become useless in 10 minutes :-P i added scrollbar skinning so until you add those extra bitmaps it is no use to me. you up to do it now?

[jjesusfreak01]

Wrong link
The link is fixed.

[MrNako]

WELL, jff i did not see it as it will become useless in 10 minutes :-P i added scrollbar skinning so until you add those extra bitmaps it is no use to me. you up to do it now?

Scrollbars.... drooling... :p :p :p

[dmitrygr]

2 good news and 1 bad news:

Good: scrollbars work and are fully skinnable
Bad: program bloated to twice its size now being 20K
Good: cobalt skin shrunk to 1/4 its original size, now being 64K

[jjesusfreak01]

2 good news and 1 bad news:

Good: scrollbars work and are fully skinnable
Bad: program bloated to twice its size now being 20K
Good: cobalt skin shrunk to 1/4 its original size, now being 64K


1. Yay, now spit it out! (so to speak)
2. 20k is nothing
3. Did you compress the images?

[dmitrygr]

1. not yet
2. im glad u feel that way
3. yes

[jjesusfreak01]

1. not yet
2. im glad u feel that way
3. yes

I'll update the bitmaps on my skin, i'll repost it tomorrow.

[dmitrygr]

u dont even know which ones yet :-P i will not release it yet as i still did not get bitmaps for horizontal scrollbars fromc obalt (surprisingly little apps use them)

[jjesusfreak01]

u dont even know which ones yet :-P i will not release it yet as i still did not get bitmaps for horizontal scrollbars fromc obalt (surprisingly little apps use them)
Actually, I was referring to compression. What do you recommend?

[dmitrygr]

i use CW i just add COMPRESS in the rcp file for pilRC and it picks best. seeing as there is a lot fo repetitive rows i would recommend scanline, but packBits might work better. decompression is fast enough on both so pick whichever compresses more.

[FormerlyKnownAs]

Actually, I was referring to compression. What do you recommend?

I've been playing around with these skins, and I really like the results!

If you are using Festus440's PFCD to compile, just add COMPRESS after DENSITY 2 for each bitmap definition in the rcp file. This takes the skins from about 270k to about 18k for skins similar to Cobalt.

I have also been able to add transparency for all bitmaps. The practical exceptions are the bitmaps that build the buttons and popup triggers. Because the buttons are built by overlapping the corners over the sides and the sides over the center, the only corner that comes out transparent is the upper left.

I don't know how advisable this is, but I have also stripped all of the lowres icons out of the rcp file (and thus the skin). This takes the skin size down to 14k, and you don't have to maintain the lowres images. I don't know of any lowres PDAs that run OS5 (Maybe some phones?) and I have had no problems (yet) with old apps designed for lowres.

[dmitrygr]

lowes os5? tro 600 and zire 31 (both supported and working (although quite useless))

transparency? OK FINE ILLl ADD IT!

[blackcarrera]

Yes transparency would be very good for the buttons when using the steel colors for my TH55.

[jjesusfreak01]

lowes os5? tro 600 and zire 31 (both supported and working (although quite useless))

transparency? OK FINE ILLl ADD IT!
That nice. Now, do 16bit skins work? I dont think so. If possible, that would make it infinitely easier to create skins, and they would look better.

On another note (I sure am picky), there seems to be a bug in the program that makes this work very badly with Netfront in some situations. Netfront uses the systems bitmaps for buttons and checkboxes on web pages, and when there is one on the page, it not only makes it very slow, but can lock up my system too.

[MrNako]

16bit skins do work!!!!
Thanks a lot to Festus440 who help me out with this. Now Im doing my skins in 16bit... I'll upload them in a moment! :D

[MrNako]

Uhmmm I forgot about the scroll bars update. Should I wait dmitry? :confused:

[dmitrygr]

yes will do it soon. just fixing a few small flukes

[jjesusfreak01]

16bit skins do work!!!!
Thanks a lot to Festus440 who help me out with this. Now Im doing my skins in 16bit... I'll upload them in a moment! :D
Cool, I really wasnt sure. Thats very good. The problem with Netfront still stands though. I really just assumed that since there were no 16bit skins, that it couldnt be done, since 16bit skins are alot easier to make.

Im heading downstairs to do the fix on my skin, and I can do the further work when the update comes out. Feel free to release it, we can add more bitmaps when we need to.

[dmitrygr]

adding transparecy support too... almost done.... it is about 200% slower but still its faster then original OS routines :-D

[jjesusfreak01]

adding transparecy support too... almost done.... it is about 200% slower but still its faster then original OS routines :-D
Very good, youre a great programmer, but I dont really have to tell you that. Could you give us a heads up on the extra bitmaps needed?

[dmitrygr]

26 extra bitmpas (13 for horiz scrollbars, 13 for vertical.)

scroll arrows (on and off) (8 total)
scrollbody(top,center,bottp) (6 total)
scrollcar(on and off, top,center,body) (12 total)

[jjesusfreak01]

26 extra bitmaps (13 for horiz scrollbars, 13 for vertical.)

scroll arrows (on and off) (8 total)
scrollbody(top,center,bottp) (6 total)
scrollcar(on and off, top,center,body) (12 total)
Why do many? I could be smoking something funny, but those features equal 12 in all, and it needs 26 bitmaps? Anyway, could you add the feature to have it work with older themes, just substituting the default (or Cobalt) bitmaps for the ones missing in the skin? This would make it easier for skinners to catch up, while their skins are still compatable.

Either way, I compressed my skin, and it is now at about 20k. You can still download it from here (geocities.com/jjesusfreak01/JJGreen.prc).

BTW, make sure you check on that Netfront thing. If you can find a TH-55 lying around that is.

[dmitrygr]

automatic skin completion would be very sloooow!!!!!!!
not 12:

look: horizontal: 4 arrows (left & right, on& off), 3 body(left & right & center), 6 car(on & off, left&right&center)

4+3+6=13

same for horizontal. anyways update ur skin fast. i will post mine as soon as its fully transparent (10 min maybe)

[jjesusfreak01]

automatic skin completion would be very sloooow!!!!!!!
not 12:

look: horizontal: 4 arrows (left & right, on& off), 3 body(left & right & center), 6 car(on & off, left&right&center)

4+3+6=13

same for horizontal. anyways update ur skin fast. i will post mine as soon as its fully transparent (10 min maybe)
I think I will have to see your skin first to understand/borrow from it. I will get mine updated as quickly as possible when I see exactly what I need.

PS: Do I need to do anything special for 16bit, or do I simply create a 16bit bitmap, and it works?

[MrNako]

I dont care how many they are... just give it to me!! :D

[LupeValenz]

Heheh you guys are pretty busy and active, so busy I think you might benefit from the chat room ;)

[jjesusfreak01]

I dont care how many they are... just give it to me!! :D
<sarcasm>
By the way, it also allows full system alpha blending, like in ZLauncher.
</sarcasm>

To the chat room. (1src.com/chat)

[dmitrygr]

here: http://www.dmitrygr.com/file/skUIdemo.zip
alpha blending is a possibility but only for machines with 400MHz+ processor (as is cobalt)

[dmitrygr]

btw get in the chatroom! NOW!

[jjesusfreak01]

The new compatable version of my skin is available here (geocities.com/jjesusfreak01/JJGreen.prc).

I didnt make the new bitmaps, they are stolen from the Cobalt skin, but since the new skinUI doesnt work if there are missing bitmaps, this should tide everyone over until I actually get to editing it.

[MrNako]

screenshot moved

[LupeValenz]

:eek: Beaaatiful!!! ;_;

[FormerlyKnownAs]

This latest update really looks good! The transparent buttons really open up some possibilities, and I'm not seeing a noticeable slowdown. This does at least as much as ClieSkinner as far as improving the look of a PDA. I'll see if I can get a halfway decent skin together and get it posted. (WinXP looks like it will be a tough act to follow.) Thanks Dmitry!

Any more features to anticipate?

And I know it is low priority, but any progress on making it compatible with PwdLaunch? I tried out the new version, and at least I was able to see that your "Enable after reset" works! (If it comes down to a choice between the 2, PwdLaunch is outa here!)

And for CodeDiver users, SkinUI does work just fine with CodeDiver beta8, including its wallpaper function.

[MrNako]

:eek: Beaaatiful!!! ;_;

LOL thanx... heres the file :D :

download (http://www.geocities.com/mrnako/winxp.prc)

[dmitrygr]

requests: OSX skin

[blackcarrera]

dmitrygr the horizontal scroll bars don't show up right when my TH55 is in landscape, it's as if the bar is broken and a part of it just disappears with a blank white space. Also a light gray thick line will show up after a scroll bar is displayed; you’ll need to change your Colors in the prefs app to steel and then check it out with Clie Files.

With Clie Files you'll need to switch views from internal memory to Memory Stick, this will make a scroll bar appear as needed to scroll through the list then switch to Memory Stick view to where there will be no need to scroll. The disappearance of the scroll bar will leave a light gray line in its place.

[MrNako]

Screenshots of WinXP and WinBlue
http://www.1src.com/gallery/data/500/30634winxp_skinui.PNG http://www.1src.com/gallery/data/500/30634winblue_skinui.PNG
Download WinXP (http://www.geocities.com/mrnako/winxp.prc) Download WinBlue (http://www.geocities.com/mrnako/winblue.prc)

[dmitrygr]

OSX!!!
OSX!!!
OSX!!!
OSX!!!


anyways next on my list is lists (pun intended) and then window borders and title bars. Possibly menus as well.

[dmitrygr]

MrNako, what screenshots do you want to make OSX? I am too lazy to do it myself - i still need to program a bit more to finish this up.

[FormerlyKnownAs]

Dmitry -

Regarding the scrollbars, when the up arrow or the slider is pressed the 31071 bitmap is refreshed, but not when the down arrow is pressed. The same is true for the 31091 bitmap in the horizontal scrollbar; it does not refresh when the right arrow is pressed. I don't know if this is something SkinUI can control, but would it be possible to refresh 31070, 31071 & 31072 when any control on the vertical scrollbar is pressed? (And do the same for the 3109x bitmaps on the horizontal?)

I know this sounds a little odd, but it has a noticeable effect in the skin I'm working on.

Thanks,
Dave

[MrNako]

MrNako, what screenshots do you want to make OSX? I am too lazy to do it myself - i still need to program a bit more to finish this up.

Well I would need screenshots of what a SkinUI skin would need LOL. Buttons, scrollers, checkboxes, etc. plus them being depressed.

[MrNako]

anyways next on my list is lists (pun intended) and then window borders and title bars. Possibly menus as well.

How long would that take you? Can't wait! :eek:

[dmitrygr]

it will take aone night but tonight i have to BS an essay for english class and then help my GF prepare for her test. I wil ltry to do it today and if not then sometime durign the weekend i will go that and then the window titlebars as well.

[dmitrygr]

i will definitely tonight add another feature to give skinners a headache :-D radio buttons (palmos draws them same as chackboxes but i feel they should be different so need 2 more small bitmaps. skinners ready?

[dmitrygr]

Dmitry -

Regarding the scrollbars, when the up arrow or the slider is pressed the 31071 bitmap is refreshed, but not when the down arrow is pressed. The same is true for the 31091 bitmap in the horizontal scrollbar; it does not refresh when the right arrow is pressed. I don't know if this is something SkinUI can control

skinUI can control everything - I do not call the system Ctl* functions so I control everything. Anyways I have no idea what you are talking about so post a screenshot or three.

[jjesusfreak01]

it will take aone night but tonight i have to BS an essay for english class and then help my GF prepare for her test. I wil ltry to do it today and if not then sometime durign the weekend i will go that and then the window titlebars as well.
Who wants to see what I have done on my 16bit skin so far? Well, here is a screenshot. I havent worked on the scrollbars yet, but if anyone would like to give feedback on the rest of the skin I would appreciate it.
http://www.geocities.com/jjesusfreak01/HRCapt20050519163100.bmp

[daver]

whew, JJF1, that is one fine skin you've made there... see if you can get pa1mOne to hire you for the OS6 GUI!

[LupeValenz]

OMG!! Sooo good, ahhh, where the download. I need to enhance my palm, lookin better day by day. I have to agree, it would be great to replace that 'title tab' at the top to something else. Looks just soooo dull.

[MrNako]

Hey JJF01 your skin looks great! and it is not a rip off! LOL :p

[dmitrygr]

slider and scrollers stil mine :-P

[m8rk]

What font is that you're using MrNako?

BTW I prefer your latest WinXP skin - the button edges are so subtle! Too beautiful!!! :D


Nice work JJF - you've got three possible sets there - gray, silver and electric green! LOL :D ...Go make 3 sets!!! ...and i'd love to see the rollovers - d/l soon??

[dmitrygr]

skins not complete yet will b obsolete again tonite (unless jff adds option buttons bitmaps now)

[MrNako]

What font is that you're using MrNako?

BTW I prefer your latest WinXP skin - the button edges are so subtle! Too beautiful!!! :D


Nice work JJF - you've got three possible sets there - gray, silver and electric green! LOL :D ...Go make 3 sets!!! ...and i'd love to see the rollovers - d/l soon??

Glad you like it! :D

Im using Tahoma with Font Smoother. Looks gorgeous!! :)

[jjesusfreak01]

Glad you like it! :D

Im using Tahoma with Font Smoother. Looks gorgeous!! :)
Im glad you like mine too. The credit really goes to Tbmpedit, which allows my skins to be completed entirely on my PDA. I have to edit it in a non compressed state, and so I will have to head downstairs to my desktop to recompile it before uploading. If everyone likes it I can certainly do that now. I'll have it up in a few minutes. I am adding a few more of my own bitmaps, and then I can release it. As always, thanks to Dmitry for making the program and allowing me to use his skin for the parts of mine I have not yet had time to alter.

And remember, my skins are never obsolete, I just steal Dmitrys bitmaps until I can fix them when he makes a new version of the program.

[LupeValenz]

GAhhhhh, helllp!! I don't have the purty interface anymore :(. When I did a reset it went back to normal, so I figured I'd activate it again and didn't work, so now deleting the files to reinstall again, but I can't get YAHM_YAHM_appl_a68k to delete!! Keeps saying Error: dm: Database Protected in Item:: remove () d.
I changed the version from 0 to 1, didn't work, did same, then unchecked everything, which was only resource db, that didn't work. Why can't I delete this?

[jjesusfreak01]

What font is that you're using MrNako?

BTW I prefer your latest WinXP skin - the button edges are so subtle! Too beautiful!!! :D


Nice work JJF - you've got three possible sets there - gray, silver and electric green! LOL :D ...Go make 3 sets!!! ...and i'd love to see the rollovers - d/l soon??
Download now (geocities.com/jjesusfreak01/JJGreen.prc)

Lupe, did you try deleting it in a warm reset and with ZLauncher.

[LupeValenz]

Haven't tried that, but I'll give it a shot, thanks for the tip!!!.......Sweet, that works!! Thanks alot!!! Time to get those nice UI Skins back up ^_^

Edit: It is workin now!!! Thanks alot, and have to say, great skin JJF, very nice. Ahh, now this cobalt thing....what is it again? heheh :p

[dmitrygr]

hehe. the reson my skins are 8-bit is that PilRC has a bug and I'm not about to edit on palm so i will add option to have skins have the old style 'Tbmp' resources (os4- bitmaps) and convert them on skin load. this will let me have 16-bit skins and allow skinners to use my simple pilRC project to make skins (one click and the skin is generated!)

[dmitrygr]

also the bugs with text placemet in controls are soon goign as well :-D stupidity on my part

[JAmerican]

Note Dmitrygr, on my UX, the newest demo version freezes my device after a reset. There are no errors. It just freezes. The previos version did not do this. BTW, I love the scrollbars.

JAmerican

[dmitrygr]

disable anble after reset and it wont :-D

[JAmerican]

disable anble after reset and it wont :-D

That doesn't affect it. The program's presence in my handheld crashes it.

JAmerican

[jjesusfreak01]

hehe. the reson my skins are 8-bit is that PilRC has a bug and I'm not about to edit on palm so i will add option to have skins have the old style 'Tbmp' resources (os4- bitmaps) and convert them on skin load. this will let me have 16-bit skins and allow skinners to use my simple pilRC project to make skins (one click and the skin is generated!)
Yay, Tbmpedit can edit abmp files, but can create tbmp, so now I can design a skin entirely on my pda alot easier.

[FormerlyKnownAs]

skinUI can control everything - I do not call the system Ctl* functions so I control everything. Anyways I have no idea what you are talking about so post a screenshot or three.

Sorry, I really tried to keep it straightforward. Told you which bitmap numbers don't refresh and under what conditions. I'll dummy something up with high contrast colors and hopefully you will be able to see what I'm talking about. I'll get it to you as soon as I can.

Thanks!

Edit: I just sent the screenshots and a version of Cobalt with a modified scrollbar to show the problem, along with as thorough an explanation as I could come up with. I sent it to the gmail account on your website, the attachments are zipped into "cobalt.zip". Let me know if there are any problems with the attachments or if you need anything else.

[ahsirg]

Hello to everyone on this forum! Maybe someone knows the solution to the TE's and now Z71's cyclic reset issue (the old version worked fine, but the new one with forms causes a FATAL ALERT) Dmitry, maybe it is something regarding that the TE and 71 have an OMAP and not a PXA?

[JJF01]

Hello to everyone on this forum! Maybe someone knows the solution to the TE's and now Z71's cyclic reset issue (the old version worked fine, but the new one with forms causes a FATAL ALERT) Dmitry, maybe it is something regarding that the TE and 71 have an OMAP and not a PXA?
Thats unlikely to be the cause of the problem. Do a warm reset, and delete the program. It causes resets with my device, but never loops. If you can remove it, send Dmitry a bug report with everything you can think of. Maybe a later version will work better.

[dmitrygr]

i know this. will fix if somebody emails me and reminds me

[FormerlyKnownAs]

Dmitry -

Just a bump on post 154 -

Did you get a chance to take a look at the email I set to you? Any thoughts?

[dmitrygr]

i am fighting a nasty bug right now. you can witness it too. select a skin. the selact another one and so on. apply each one in a a row. after 4 applies it crashes. not cool:-(

[LupeValenz]

i am fighting a nasty bug right now. you can witness it too. select a skin. the selact another one and so on. apply each one in a a row. after 4 applies it crashes. not cool:-(

WHAAA! Why would I want to witness THAT!! Wow hehe, well I doubt I'll ever see that happening as I wouldn't change skins that many time in a row....now if its preview skin 4 times in a row, then yes Houston, we do have a problem.

[jjesusfreak01]

WHAAA! Why would I want to witness THAT!! Wow hehe, well I doubt I'll ever see that happening as I wouldn't change skins that many time in a row....now if its preview skin 4 times in a row, then yes Houston, we do have a problem.
I have seen it with less. Something even weirder though is that Tbmpedit sometimes loads bitmaps from skins you are editing when it isnt even the selected skin.

[intellidryad]

Hi, I'm using a NX73, and it went in crashed right after a reset (a crash loop here, too)
only a warm reset and deleting skinUI saved it.
(haven't seen which version was it, but downloaded it 2days ago)
Wish that helps debuging.

Go on Dmitry, you're great :)

[m8rk]

I experience a crash loop after installing the new version - the problem was the old skins - once i'd deleted them the problem dissapeared.

[dmitrygr]

the current version has a few dangerous bugs i have fixed.until I release the fixes i advise everyone to not switch skins more then once per a run of the program.

[JJF01]

the current version has a few dangerous bugs i have fixed.until I release the fixes i advise everyone to not switch skins more then once per a run of the program.
More time to finish my red and green skins. Then I can do a blue one, and then I will make one that isnt even remotely based off of the Cobalt. Sounds good Dmitry. Also, when telling us what new bitmaps we need, could you give sizes too?

[dmitrygr]

option buttons (same a scheckboxes size) on-31008, off-31009

popup list boundaries (i have not decideds on sizes and IDs yet)

[JJF01]

option buttons (same a scheckboxes size) on-31008, off-31009

popup list boundaries (i have not decideds on sizes and IDs yet)
What exactly is a popup list? Or, an option button for that matter.

[xMist]

I think he means the pick lists that pop up, allowing you to choose one of the options out of a list...and by boundaries, I assume he means that you'll be able to skin the edges of those. That'll be cool!

[jjesusfreak01]

Well, I have finished my JJGreen skin. It has mostly original scrollbars now. You can download it from here (geocities.com/jjesusfreak01/JJGreen.prc). Tell me what you think. Any suggestions for a later version?

[MrNako]

Well, I have finished my JJGreen skin. It has mostly original scrollbars now. You can download it from here (geocities.com/jjesusfreak01/JJGreen.prc). Tell me what you think. Any suggestions for a later version?

Screenshot... screenshot!! :p

[jjesusfreak01]

Screenshot... screenshot!! :p
It looks better when you are using it because this skin uses Green primarily for the down portions of buttons. nevertheless, here are a couple screenshots.

http://www.geocities.com/jjesusfreak01/JJGreenP1.jpg http://www.geocities.com/jjesusfreak01/JJGreenP2.jpg
These pics are available for a limited time only. Get them while they're hot.

[dmitrygr]

ok people here is the new format:



EDITED!
all sizes are in hi-res pixels


bitmap size name
31100 4x4 popuplist topLeft
31101 480x2 popuplist top
31102 4x4 popuplist topRight
31103 4x480 popuplist right
31104 4x4 popuplist bottomRight
31105 480x4 popuplist bottom
31106 4x4 popuplist bottomLeft
31107 4x480 popupList left

transparency is supported

also
31008 - option button on
31009 - option button off

option buttons are checkboxes in a group so when you turn one on, the others go off. palm has those. in windows that are called radioButtons. There is no examples in the preview form YET.

popup list is what pops up when in previey you click on "popup trigger" in preview form


i will post new skinUI and cobalt soon.
also another feature added is the ability to include a colortheme for a skin and solid underline (like in cobalt) to the fileds.

[ahsirg]

Is there a fix yet available for Z71?
Thanx

[dmitrygr]

yes there is. next version soon

[jjesusfreak01]

Good job Dmitry, I was going to ask about the colortheme, since this can allow us to make better smoothed themes. I probably will not be able to update my skins in the next week for this, as I have final exams, but if anyone else would like to mod and host them for now, they certainly may. Thanks for all the hard work, and i'll talk to you later. Gotta go study.

[dmitrygr]

ok here goes:

new skinUI here (http://dmitrygr.com/file/skUIdemo.zip).
skin-making project (one click compiling): here (http://dmitrygr.com/file/cobalt.zip).

i think zire 71 bug has been fixed (I tested on zire 72, TH55, TJ37 and zire 31)


to use the skin-making project just double-click "compile.bat" on Windows systems.

colortable in a theme is optional.

enjoy...

[xMist]

Did you fix it for the Zodiac? Should I dare to try it again? :)

[dmitrygr]

try it, why not?

[blackcarrera]

On some cases when a box is checked marked it reverts back to it's original box; I have found this to be with Acid Image and the mute button on the 'Adjust Volume' popup window you get when tapping the speaker icon on the TH55 status bar.

[xMist]

try it, why not?

Because I don't wanna hard reset again!

[m8rk]

http://www.1src.com/gallery/data/500/30634winxp_skinui.PNG
I have a request MrNako. Would it be easy to do a black version of this, for use with a black [eg NZ] colour scheme??

[dmitrygr]

please redownload if u downloaded from above post. i fixed the Zire and Zodiac bug here (http://dmitrygr.com/file/skUIdemo.zip).

[xMist]

Thanks Dmitry! I'm gonna try it now...

[xMist]

Sorry, it still doesn't work on the Zodiac, Dmitry.

[jjesusfreak01]

please redownload if u downloaded from above post. i fixed the Zire and Zodiac bug here (http://dmitrygr.com/file/skUIdemo.zip).
I have a bug with the second set of check boxes (the two beside each other). When I originally load the preview, the first box is checked, and the second is not, but they both look like Cobalt (this is good). Unfortunately, when I click the second box, and the first box is unselected, it reverts to the OS normal skin Black box look. The same think happens if I do it again and switch to the other box. I would test this within an app, but I am not sure which apps use this.

[dmitrygr]

jjf, I forgot to say DO A RESET AFTER INSTALLING NEW VERSION

xMist whats wrong?

[jjesusfreak01]

jjf, I forgot to say DO A RESET AFTER INSTALLING NEW VERSION

xMist whats wrong?
It looks very good Dmitry. I especially like the popup lists.

So, whats left? Just menu lists I think. I would say its about 97% complete.

[dmitrygr]

get skinning!!! fix your skins! c'mon - you know you want to... LOL

[jjesusfreak01]

get skinning!!! fix your skins! c'mon - you know you want to... LOL
Not now, I have to get back to studying. I was taking a break because I just finished my last assignment of the year. Now all I have are exams.

BTW, I just got the coolest error. I loaded on of my skins into the preview, and it worked fine, but it auto completed the skin (or just kept the bitmaps from your skin when it was loaded). I exited SkinUI, and when I got to a program with a popup list, I opened the list, and I got a fatal error. What was cool though is that the fatal error only filled the space of the popup list, and the rest of the screen was fine, albeit frozen.

Suggested feature for final version (the one we pay for). Have the program recognize if there are bitmaps missing from the skin and have it offer to insert the needed bitmaps into that skin from either your skin, or another one.

[dmitrygr]

Suggested feature for final version (the one we pay for). Have the program recognize if there are bitmaps missing from the skin and have it offer to insert the needed bitmaps into that skin from either your skin, or another one.


no. the program itself ha sno idea what bitmaps the indivisual patches use. and does not need to know. autocomplete in the preivew is an accident, no more

[MrNako]

dmitrygr this update is gorgeous!! I love everything you added! Now I will be busy for a while... again. :p

[MrNako]

I just noticed one thing... The cobalt skin has changed my theme colors set on preferences, I tried several of them and I always get the same colors. :confused:

[MrNako]

I have a request MrNako. Would it be easy to do a black version of this, for use with a black [eg NZ] colour scheme??

Thats easy to do. Just wait until the final version of SkinUI is ready because for every of the skins I have a lot of work everytime dmitry does a change. :rolleyes:

[dmitrygr]

i know. this is a feature! make cobalt look good. every skin can decide to do this. trust me this is for the best. :-P Color theme is optional in skins so you do not need to have one, but i recomend adding one to winXP.

[blackcarrera]

jjf, I forgot to say DO A RESET AFTER INSTALLING NEW VERSION

xMist whats wrong?


Man this is Awesome; I just wish you would have mentioned the need for a soft reset sooner. The check boxes are fixed and the text misalignment is fixed. Thanks allot dmitrygr.

[blackcarrera]

It's not just the original theme it's the Cobalt's theme and it looks pretty nice too; though I do like the steel colors for TH.

[MrNako]

Whats the UIct0000 file? How can I choose the colors for my skin? This is confusing. So now theres no support for lowres?

[Me1]

dmitry, when I install skinui on my Tungsten T1 it enters in a interminable loop of resets, is the T|T1 incompatible or is it a still unfixed bug?
TIA:
Me1

[blackcarrera]

One problem; if you push the back button to cancel a prompt screen the cancel button reverts back to the original button instead of the nicer looking button.

[blackcarrera]

These Cobalt colors make my screen look allot brighter too.

[JJF01]

i know. this is a feature! make cobalt look good. every skin can decide to do this. trust me this is for the best. :-P Color theme is optional in skins so you do not need to have one, but i recomend adding one to winXP.
It allows you to smooth the edges of buttons and boxes with the background easily. You can make them look however you want them too and they still blend. It is a needed feature for full skins.

Also Dmitry, I would recommend adding the option in the final version to have the program add the needed resources to the skin. If we are going to pay for it, this is the bkind of thing I would expect to see. Its what skinner does with SB bitmaps.

[dmitrygr]

Whats the UIct0000 file? How can I choose the colors for my skin?

download my source of cobalt skin and see - its all explained in the RCP file


So now theres no support for lowres?

there is. i just removed it from cobalt

dmitry, when I install skinui on my Tungsten T1 it enters in a interminable loop of resets, is the T|T1 incompatible or is it a still unfixed bug?
TIA:
Me1

I'll look into it

It allows you to smooth the edges of buttons and boxes with the background easily. You can make them look however you want them too and they still blend. It is a needed feature for full skins.


not true. i just added it so lists and menus look like cobalt. cobalt bitmaps are not antialiased so they look good on any background



Also Dmitry, I would recommend adding the option in the final version to have the program add the needed resources to the skin. If we are going to pay for it, this is the bkind of thing I would expect to see. Its what skinner does with SB bitmaps.


there won't be a need to. one the format is finalized all skins will be the same and this will not be a problem. until then I do not ask you to pay do i? :rolleyes:

[dmitrygr]

One problem; if you push the back button to cancel a prompt screen the cancel button reverts back to the original button instead of the nicer looking button.

I'll look into that too


EDIT: I did. Not much I can do, but since you only see it for a a quarter of a second i do not consider this a big bug

These Cobalt colors make my screen look allot brighter too.

I'm glad you like it

[m8rk]

Thats easy to do. Just wait until the final version of SkinUI is ready because for every of the skins I have a lot of work everytime dmitry does a change. :rolleyes:
hehe! ok ...can't wait :)

[jjesusfreak01]

there won't be a need to. one the format is finalized all skins will be the same and this will not be a problem. until then I do not ask you to pay do i?
I guess you are right. We are just the active avid skinners who spend too much time on this so that users can experience the capabilities of your program. After this week, my skins will be updated, and I will work on making some dedicated non Cobalt based skins.

[MrNako]

What's coming next? Menus?

[dmitrygr]

menus are REALLy hard. Im not quite sure they are neede anyways. they would look almost the same.
next is normal lists (2-piscel border is still worth skinning as we see it a lot in many apps).


then titlebars

then release

[MrNako]

I was also seeing that SkinUI can be a solution for those who want to have the color theme of the VZ90. Apps like butterfly or colorize and others lose their colors after using Netfront and some other Clie apps.

[MrNako]

menus are REALLy hard. Im not quite sure they are neede anyways. they would look almost the same.
next is normal lists (2-piscel border is still worth skinning as we see it a lot in many apps).


then titlebars

then release

Believe me that menus are REALLY needed. After doing the popup list box with shadow I imagined how the menus would look. Please try!

[dmitrygr]

Believe me that menus are REALLY needed. After doing the popup list box with shadow I imagined how the menus would look. Please try!

i ALWAYS try but it will take a while so i will do the rest first

[blackcarrera]

SkinUI does not work at all for my NX70 even while in a factory default setting.

[dmitrygr]

explain how it doesnt work?

[blackcarrera]

explain how it doesnt work?

Oh yeah I forgot. After I install it and soft reset the NX70 gets caught in a reset loop error witch can only be fixed with a warm reset and then to delete the program.

[JJF01]

i ALWAYS try but it will take a while so i will do the rest first
Thats fine. Finish the program, release it, and then you can work on menus. I should also mention Netfront still locks up on me every time I have a skin enabled.

[filber]

Feedback:

Immediately following installation of the latest SkinUI, I got an automatic soft reset (normal, I believe). Upon the TH55's restart I immediately received a popup which only says "panic3". Does this mean anything? I was able to tap "ok" and proceed. After selecting the new "Cobalt" skin (I erased all the others) and tapping "ok", I had a crash, and had to manually perform a soft reset. The skin did not load itself, although the "enable after reset" is selected. Actually, whether I select a skin or not, tapping "ok" gives me an immediate crash and upon restart I get the same popup (panic3) message.

These bugs occur with YAHM activated or not, with Force16 active or not. I'll continue to test with the current version and provide further feedback should I find anything else unusual.

Edit: additional feedback - there seems to be a system slowdown which goes away if I delete SkinUI. Also, I get a crash when exiting a fews apps (Warfare, INC for example). The crashes go away if I delete SkinUI.

I have several other utilities working in the background, such as McPhling, Techsounds, Fonts4OS5 and Fontsmoother. I'll try disabling them all to see what happens.

[blackcarrera]

Thats fine. Finish the program, release it, and then you can work on menus. I should also mention Netfront still locks up on me every time I have a skin enabled.

This happens to me too when I'm trying to quote you and see if I could have the problem; but it's not an immediate freeze up, and when it does it does an automatic reset.

[MrNako]

This happens to me too when I'm trying to quote you and see if I could have the problem; but it's not an immediate freeze up, and when it does it does an automatic reset.

Mine does freeze also.

[filber]

Further Feedback: With every background app (except Uninstall Manager) deactivated, I ceased getting the reset after selecting the skin and tapping ok. However, upon performing a soft reset, I'm still getting the panic3 popup and the skin fails to reload.

[blackcarrera]

It maybe that NF locks up when certain functions are being used; like when editing. When I was about to post something on 1src it locked up.

I'll have to do more of an extensive test though but right on my PC so I will further test when I'm in the mood to.

[LupeValenz]

I have several other utilities working in the background, such as McPhling, Techsounds, Fonts4OS5 and Fontsmoother. I'll try disabling them all to see what happens.

I know for sure that Techsounds does cause a problem. I had resets left and right of me and then deleted Techsounds and all is good now ^_^. Don't know bout the others because I don't use them. Hopefully it is only techsounds that is causing that.

[dmitrygr]

netfront is fine for me. panic 3 is not too good. the question is why. there is not slowdown as i do not patch any functions that are called often or are time-critical.

[filber]

I've reverted back to the version you had posted in post #176 and the panic3 popup has gone away. So far no resets...and no speed issue. I'll start reactivating background type apps individually and see if I get any noticeable conflicts.

[blackcarrera]

netfront is fine for me. panic 3 is not too good. the question is why. there is not slowdown as i do not patch any functions that are called often or are time-critical.

Just a test. Everything is the same on my TH55 except the original skin is used instead of the Cobalt skin.

[dmitrygr]

yes that one doesnt work on zires so i will have to somehow combine them...

warfare inc 1.2 exits fine without crashing.

[xMist]

Oh yeah I forgot. After I install it and soft reset the NX70 gets caught in a reset loop error witch can only be fixed with a warm reset and then to delete the program.

Ditto on the Zodiac. So it must not be just the Zodiac...

[LupeValenz]

I just experiment the same thing. Firs time I went into Netfront and it was working, but then I saw the scroll bars, I didn't have a skin loaded. So I go to load a skin and then there it was, reset :(. Not too big of a deal, I don't use it much but still, there is something with Netfront and SkinUI it seems.

[dmitrygr]

ok ok damn palmSource!!!!! on reset no notification manager on some palms. no alarm manager on some others and some have neither. GRRRRRRRRRrr

[blackcarrera]

This means that there is something causing conflict with NF. I am using NF3.1 that JAmerican translated to English from the VZ90.

[xMist]

is this going to be easy for you to fix?

[dmitrygr]

is this going to be easy for you to fix?


what exactly? incompatibilities with some devices? not easy but i can do it
Netfront? not mya problem - on a clean th55 with skinUI and netfront it is fine. as is warfare

[xMist]

yeah, the incompatibilities with different devices...thanks!

[LupeValenz]

Welp, it seems I have resets when I try to bring up popup menus :(. This is with the 176post download.

Edit: I have almost a clean device, only thing added onto Dmitry list is that landscape app, ...oh well, I forgot I added the VZ90codes, MP4Player, and medialauncher but I don't think they should mess up too much.

[dmitrygr]

use newest cobalt skin
from most recent post

[blackcarrera]

what exactly? incompatibilities with some devices? not easy but i can do it
Netfront? not mya problem - on a clean th55 with skinUI and netfront it is fine. as is warfare

It is possible that the NF crash is a problem with a combination of apps though I have never had this problem before, I will however do a hard reset and install the necessary apps (VZ90's NF and the SkinUI) to begin the process of elimination.

[LupeValenz]

Ok, I see what I missed, that soft reset after installing new version fixed the netfront and popup menu resets. ^_^ Great work, man, I never knew PDA's could be work of art. Making PPC look bland (Which we all knew anyway ;))

[blackcarrera]

It is possible that the NF crash is a problem with a combination of apps though I have never had this problem before, I will however do a hard reset and install the necessary apps (VZ90's NF and the SkinUI) to begin the process of elimination.


My test proves that SkinUI is the problem. I was typing in the text field for a while and reading over to check mistakes and then tried to scroll down VIA jog wheel and My TH55 locked up. My tests are when I am quoting someone.

[MrNako]

My test proves that SkinUI is the problem. I was typing in the text field for a while and reading over to check mistakes and then tried to scroll down VIA jog wheel and My TH55 locked up. My tests are when I am quoting someone.

Mine freezes when viewing google.com. Try to see if it locks up also with you.

[blackcarrera]

My test proves that SkinUI is the problem. I was typing in the text field for a while and reading over to check mistakes and then tried to scroll down VIA jog wheel and My TH55 locked up. My tests are when I am quoting someone.


It could even be the other way around, it is possible that NF is interfering with SkinUI because when I used to use the steel colors NF would put it back to the original colors. Maybe something along those lines is what the problem is.

[blackcarrera]

Mine freezes when viewing google.com. Try to see if it locks up also with you.

Ok. It might be web site specific. My other test was to be long time surfing the net with my TH55, but that is what I wasn't in the mood to do yet.

[LupeValenz]

Argh, darn it. Cobalt skins looks good in all applications except for Medialauncher! :(. The background is all grey, except around the fonts and the visuals :(. It can still play...but just looks uuugly -_-'.

Edit: Oh yeah, I went straight to google when I tested the new version, it works fine for me here.

[blackcarrera]

Mine freezes when viewing google.com. Try to see if it locks up also with you.

I'm not getting any problems with google. Are you just letting it stay in the web site and it locks up or is it something specific you are doing that may be what causes this to happen?

I did a search "Just a test for my TH55" and followed the link to 1src with no problems.

[filber]

I tried a clean install of SkinUI (most recent version, with the skin provided) and still get the panic3 message upon reset/restart. I've disabled ClieSkinner and deleted the Landscape Utility (forgot about these before). The only thing left to delete would be DA's, however there is no DA launcher running. Is anyone else receiving the panic3 message?

[dmitrygr]

panic3 means that it cannot sent the notification to itself to activate after reset
it is not a big deal.

[blackcarrera]

I tried a clean install of SkinUI (most recent version, with the skin provided) and still get the panic3 message upon reset/restart. I've disabled ClieSkinner and deleted the Landscape Utility (forgot about these before). The only thing left to delete would be DA's, however there is no DA launcher running. Is anyone else receiving the panic3 message?


Iv'e never had this problem. I'd sugest you to do a hard reset and try it with just SkinUI installed except my tests would have reavled that problem so you should move it to the next step. Try not to just disable programs that maybe of conflict but delet them intirely and do a soft reset after the delete.

[filber]

panic3 means that it cannot sent the notification to itself to activate after reset
it is not a big deal.

Whatever changes you made between the most recent version and the version posted in post#176 is most likely the problem. The previous version works flawlessly for me. FYI, I'm fairly sure the problem I was having with Warfare was caused by a utility called "KeepWide". Everytime I enable it then disable it (with or without SkinUI installed), Warfare crashed on exit.

I still haven't tested through with all the background apps I have. Once I get through them all I'll let you know what I find out.

[dmitrygr]

chages? made it compatible with zire 72 and tt3

[LupeValenz]

Never saw this panic3 error and if I did, that is what I'm bout to do, Panic to the max! Anyway, I just noticed that the general/color themes doesn't change at all anymore. I just noticed how light grey it was against a pure white application, I guess thats why it overrides the Medialauncher black background?

[LupeValenz]

chages? made it compatible with zire 72 and tt3
I believe he meant the change from the first post to the 176 download unless there is a newer version out after that I didn't see ^_^.

[dmitrygr]

ooh, an uncountable number

[filber]

The changes I'm referring to are between the versions posted in posts 176 and 182. I received no error messages prior to the post 182 version.