Command Line Supported Minimize to Tray App

[HoppaLong]

I've got an app running in 98SE that lacks the "minimize to tray" option.

After trying several applets that are suppose to accomplish this mighty

task, I'm about to give up! All the applets I tried were uniformly awful.

What I need is a command supported applet that I can add to a script. It

should respond to the window title, and not place its own icon in the tray

too.

When I started my search, I thought I would find a large pile of applets

that would do the job. There are tons of tray apps out there. I just

can't find the one I need. What really amazes me is how many of these

tiny bits of code are defective.

Can someone point my browser in the right direction?

[Queue]

Minimizing to the tray isn't an inherent capability of Windows, it's something that has to be done by a program itself. Like you saw, there are a handful of utilities that allow minimizing other programs to the system tray, but the utility that manages minimizing other windows to the tray has to be running to enable that, and generally they themselves are going to have a tray icon so you can access their functions.

The two that I've used on 98SE (and other versions of Windows) are Minimizer-XP and Iconize, but I doubt either is exactly what you're looking for and bet you've tried at least one of those already, if not both.

Queue

[HoppaLong]

Yes Queue, I understand that an app capable of minimizing a window to the

tray must be a running or active process. I was hoping to find something

small, that would do this one thing only and not display itself in the

tray. Wishful thinking, I suppose.

I don't think I've tried the two you mentioned. I tried a bunch of open

source or freeware tray apps. I wasn't exaggerating when I said how poorly

executed several of these tray apps are. Many times it seemed like the

author got tired and just compiled the code, without actually finishing

or debugging the applet!

I really didn't expect a repy to my post.

Thank you Queue. I really appreciate your reply.

[Queue]

http://www.12oClocker.com is where Iconize is from. Minimizer-XP seems to have been discontinued by its author, so this is basically it: http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Minimizer-XP-Download-19922.html

Queue

[dencorso]

Give TrayMin also a try. While it may not be what you're asking for, you may find it satisfies your need well enough.

Look for it, as well as for info on it, in this thread, starting in post #4.

[jaclaz]

Another possible option:

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/nircmd.html

win min command.

jaclaz

[Glenn9999]

I might be able to help on this one, since I've written one of those kinds of apps and posted it on these forums (had to remove it for attachment size limits, but that's another problem).

Indeed, this is not an inherent capability of Windows. In fact, a tray icon is directly controlled by an application. Which means any actions taken upon that tray icon are routed to the application it belongs to as messages. That application then has to respond to those messages.

Now, in taking over another application, you have to do some things to that application outside of its design. Which means if you want use of the program again, you have to have a memory-resident monitor there to take messages from the tray icon and then undo what you did to put the application to the tray if the user clicks on the tray icon. In fact, the way my program works requires all min-trayed programs to be unminimized if the monitor itself is shut down. As for indicating this action to be done, it requires its own tray application (or UI at least). Otherwise, you start messing with the underlying windowing system (*), since there seems to be no provision for such things in the base Windows. I have other ideas, but I'm not sure how well they would work in implementation. In essence the problem you have without having some UI presence of this monitor is indicating what program you want minimized to the tray.

Now to move to the command-line thing, I know you could start a program and force it to the tray, but the problem with a necessarily non-resident application called through script is that you would need to have a way to reestablish control of the program if you desired - all you would have without the monitor is a dead tray icon and an application you couldn't control without killing and restarting it.

Maybe this will help at least determine what is possible and maybe spur some ideas.

(*) - I'm sure there are some here who know exactly how to do that with 98/ME, but I'm not sure how that could carry over to XP/Vista/7

Edited August 8, 2010 by Glenn9999

[jaclaz]

(*) - I'm sure there are some here who know exactly how to do that with 98/ME, but I'm not sure how that could carry over to XP/Vista/7

Have you actually TRIED nirsoft nircmd.exe?

System Requirements

This utility can work in all 32-bit Windows operating systems: Windows 9x/ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Vista. However, some of NirCmd commands works only on Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista.

(cannot say if this particular command works on 98/Me)

Or is it another thing (like how to write a program that do this?)

jaclaz

[Glenn9999]

Have you actually TRIED nirsoft nircmd.exe?

And what does this have to do with modifying or changing the underlying windows display and messaging to have a "minimize to tray" button on each and every window, or make Windows itself do such a task upon minimizing a program?

Edited August 8, 2010 by Glenn9999