No more ? :-(

[tjhart85]

I love your program Benjamin. I have tried WPI, XPLODE, Ktool, W.A.I.T, and others, WIHU is the ONLY one that works properly and the way I want it to.

I really hope you decide to change your mind. Not only is your program the best, you are a great devoloper, and even others using your source code, WIHU will never be the same.

[BenjaminKalytta]

ich will dich nicht wieder vom Studium ablenken, wie gesagt, wenn es leicht geht wärs echt super, ansonsten lass es. Danke auf jeden Fall !

Kann dieses Semester leider eh keine Prüfungen mitschreiben weil ich nun mein Vordiplom nicht habe was laut Studienordnung in meiner FH dann nicht möglich ist. Werde da also noch etwas machen, auch wenn vielleicht in einer anderen Form.

So eveyone, what should I do now?

Fact is, Im not able to continue my work as fast as in past which means, it would take long time until new features will be added in future.

Don't think that because people don't post a whole lot doesn't mean that they don't use it.

Hmm, of course it doesn't necessarily mean this, but it is an indication.

I think more people would use WIHU if there were an WIHU Ini file creation tool for easy manipulating the ini file. But currently there is no time to create this.

So what I do is select the options with WIHU and use XPlode to install them.

Hmm, does it mean, installation done by XPlode is better than WIHU installation routine? If yes, what do you miss in WIHU?

Hmm... Now that I have VS2K3, I might try a couple of things with the source code...

Believe me, changing anything in my code is more difficult from day to day;)

Benjamin Kalytta

[midiboy]

Hi !

First of all ... maybe Benjamin would be more inclined to continue development of Wihu if all of you guys actually using his tool on a regular basis would make a little donation. I still can´t believe that I am the only one who did that so far. I just feel that if I am relying on a tool that someone created using lots and lots of time and effort he should at least be able to get a few beer for free or go to the movies ...

I am using Wihu more often than MS Office and there are more alternatives to Office than there are for Wihu so my decision on that one was clear from the beginning.

Benjamin never asked for money but I am sure he would be a little bit more motivated if people would appreciate his work in a more material way so to say ...

So eveyone, what should I do now?

Well, first you have to make a decision for yourself I think. Your main argument for stopping development was lack of time because of your studies. If that is indeed the main reason behind your decision, nobody will be able to convince you otherwise.

You would simply have to know if you can either continue your studies more slowly while continuing developing Wihu on the side or if you need to spend all your time on studying.

If, on the other hand, your main reason for stopping Wihu was the lack of response and feedback from your userbase, THEN it might be a good idea to continue developing Wihu (even if that means less updates and slower response) because in my opinion, it IS the best tool for the job, even if the ini creation process is not the best yet.

I think more people would use WIHU if there were an WIHU Ini file creation tool for easy manipulating the ini file. But currently there is no time to create this.

Maybe the ini creation tool could come from someone else ?

Also ... I have no idea how much of a problem the status of your code is right now. You once said that it is impossible to manage by now and you need to start again. If that is indeed the case and progress is impossible with the current version you might consider working on 3.0 when you have free time. I am sure no one here will be angry if it takes a few months but it would be a pity if you stopped development completely just because you THINK no one uses Wihu anyway.

Maybe the ini creation tool is indeed more important than Wihu 3.0 though to get more people to use it.

Kann dieses Semester leider eh keine Prüfungen mitschreiben weil ich nun mein Vordiplom nicht habe was laut Studienordnung in meiner FH dann nicht möglich ist. Werde da also noch etwas machen, auch wenn vielleicht in einer anderen Form.

Dann hast ja jetzt eh Zeit

Ciao,

Alex

[KoppieKoffie]

.....What Can I say?

WIHU is a standard on all my UA cd's and a big hit with everyone who never heard of setup.exe (dad, uncles etc.).

Besides the ini file, which is just a bit more work but very straightforward, the rest is ' id*** proof' and that's the whole purpose of this tool right?

My apologies for not complaining about the tool on a regular basis

CupOfCoffee

[Maelstorm]

So eveyone, what should I do now?

Fact is, Im not able to continue my work as fast as in past which means, it would take long time until new features will be added in future.

It's not a problem. As a software developer myself, I do understand that it is very time consuming. Your studies should take precedence though, and I will not try to convince you otherwise. But, if you need help writing the code due to your personal situation, I can personally lend you a hand, but I don't understand Windows programming all that well myself. I understand C, but not C on Windows because most of my software programming experience in C is on the Unix platform. I am learning though. Also, my plate is also a little full right now too.

Don't think that because people don't post a whole lot doesn't mean that they don't use it.

Hmm, of course it doesn't necessarily mean this, but it is an indication.

I think more people would use WIHU if there were an WIHU Ini file creation tool for easy manipulating the ini file. But currently there is no time to create this.

Once again, this is quite understandable. But another poster mentioned this before, but maybe the reason that you do not hear alot about your tool is probably because people don't have problems with it...which is a good thing. I can only speak for myself, but I only speak up if I want a new feature, find a bug, or have some other problem with it.

Maybe the ini creation tool could come from someone else ?

Maybe the ini creation tool is indeed more important than Wihu 3.0 though to get more people to use it.

I agree, but it cannot be done in VBScript unless you use a prepared source file so that the script can convert it over to the ini format. I did something similar with my XPlode XML code generator, which I'm still working on, but the ini file format presents some odd programming problems. Any ini creation tool would make it easier to use WIHU, but the tool itself would need to be easy to use.

I just thought of something...Taking a page from WPI, why not have the creation tool embedded inside WIHU? There you could just highlight an item, right click to edit, and have a dialog box popup...Or add new sub-tree, etc..., etc.., etc...

So what I do is select the options with WIHU and use XPlode to install them.

Hmm, does it mean, installation done by XPlode is better than WIHU installation routine? If yes, what do you miss in WIHU?

The main thing that XPlode has going for it is that it is more visually appealing than WIHU. But, for user interface ease of use, WIHU beats XPlode. I'm sorry, but XPlode's UI for the select install is...lacking, IMO. On my setup, because XPlode does not support conditionals on an unattended install, I use WIHU to call a script file with an index. From there, it automatically generates the needed data file and converts them to XML format for installation under XPlode during the RunOnceEX installation at first login (I call it Phase 3). WIHU runs at the T-12 portion of the setup (I call it Phase 2) and all the needed files get built at that time.

Hmm... Now that I have VS2K3, I might try a couple of things with the source code...

Believe me, changing anything in my code is more difficult from day to day;)

Benjamin Kalytta

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not to discount your programming abilities, and I'm not trying to be rude or insulting, but I do have some constructive critisim about your source code. The one glaring problem that I have with it is the fact that there are almost no comments in the code. For someone like me who is new to Windows programming, that would be a big help in following the logic of the program.

Hi !

Hello.

First of all ... maybe Benjamin would be more inclined to continue development of Wihu if all of you guys actually using his tool on a regular basis would make a little donation. I still can´t believe that I am the only one who did that so far. I just feel that if I am relying on a tool that someone created using lots and lots of time and effort he should at least be able to get a  few beer for free or go to the movies ...

That brings up a good point, but how? There is no way to specify a donation that I could see. Futhermore, I would buy him a few beers or take him out to a movie or two, but I'm in the United States. So right now the only thing that I can offer is to help work on the software.

Benjamin:

And I have a really good idea about the software architecture of WIHU... I noticed in your source code that you are using monilithing programming practices. Why not use objects? This type of application would be much easier to implement I think. I'll email my ideas to you.

[geitbo34]

Dear Benjamin,

WIHU does kick a**. As mentioned by others, it's easy and has a lot of options.

WIHU is the only program I know of that makes a tree-like selection and XOR selections of apps possible.

Offcourse, your study is most important. Now your fans know, they'll respect a slower progression on your side for sure.

I'm no programmer at all otherwise I would offered my help, but maybe guys like Maelstorm could help you.

Whatever you decide: Thanks for creating WIHU!

Geitbo

[midiboy]

Hi Maelstrom,

That brings up a good point, but how? There is no way to specify a donation that I could see. Futhermore, I would buy him a few beers or take him out to a movie or two, but I'm in the United States. So right now the only thing that I can offer is to help work on the software.

Have a look at Benjamin´s Website. At the bottom you will find a donation section with his bank account details.

I also did not fly to Bingen, Germany to have a few beer with him ( how about it, Benjamin? ) ....

Bye,

Alex

[BenjaminKalytta]

I also did not fly to Bingen, Germany to have a few beer with him ( how about it, Benjamin?  ) ....

Oh a visit would be nice

But you all here convinced me to continue work on WIHU ... and I decided to follow your wishs

However, Version 3.0 will be delayed for indefinite time now. I'll try to clean up my current code a bit.

@Maelstorm: Nice proposal to help me.

but maybe the reason that you do not hear alot about your tool is probably because people don't have problems with it...which is a good thing

Of course I agree. But what I missed a bit were those noobs who always asked "How do I..." questions. There are usually enough of them. But may be such noobs don't use WIHU which is also great . I think everyone here using WIHU are more or less competent users which is also good.

I just thought of something...Taking a page from WPI, why not have the creation tool embedded inside WIHU? There you could just highlight an item, right click to edit, and have a dialog box popup...Or add new sub-tree, etc..., etc.., etc...

Oh no, that would be bad. There should be an extra creation tool.

And I have a really good idea about the software architecture of WIHU... I noticed in your source code that you are using monilithing programming practices. Why not use objects?

I know, you are right. That was my initially reason for creating Version 3.0 which was entirely in object oriented way (c++, WTL/ATL)

One of the time consuming things was to create new TreeControl which should be at least as capable as current one. It should support riched text, icons and more ... of course Im able to create this, but this would take a long time. It's easier to create such an control from bottom up than reusing windows controls because there are some restrictions by using them. Some things are already done, like resizable property sheet windows (you can find the source on www.codeproject.com in WTL section).

Benjamin Kalytta

[Maelstorm]

@Maelstorm: Nice proposal to help me.

Thanks.

but maybe the reason that you do not hear alot about your tool is probably because people don't have problems with it...which is a good thing

Of course I agree. But what I missed a bit were those noobs who always asked "How do I..." questions. There are usually enough of them. But may be such noobs don't use WIHU which is also great . I think everyone here using WIHU are more or less competent users which is also good.

Well, most users don't make unattended installs of their software either.

And I have a really good idea about the software architecture of WIHU... I noticed in your source code that you are using monilithing programming practices. Why not use objects?

I know, you are right. That was my initially reason for creating Version 3.0 which was entirely in object oriented way (c++, WTL/ATL)

One of the time consuming things was to create new TreeControl which should be at least as capable as current one. It should support riched text, icons and more ... of course Im able to create this, but this would take a long time. It's easier to create such an control from bottom up than reusing windows controls because there are some restrictions by using them. Some things are already done, like resizable property sheet windows (you can find the source on www.codeproject.com in WTL section).

I'll have a look at it. I got busy so I didn't get to send you that email. But the other part of using objects was that each object in itself would represent one data item. That way, to add data items, all you have to do is create another instance of an object. Depending on how you declare the methods, all the objects will use the same code, but occupy different memory areas for the data. Because the visual layout to the user is in a tree format, have the objects layed out in memory the same way using a double linked binary tree. Then the main loop can "walk the tree" to do things like display or execute. In my opinion, it would also be easier to add functionality to the object model once the program engine was written.

I have found two things that take the most time in any programming project:

1. The user interface.

2. The program engine.

[BenjaminKalytta]

@midiboy: Just try current version.

It's possible to specify alternative path as an second option instead of just format.

Sorry for not providing english dialog image, but currently my virtual PC where an english windows version is installed on is damaged.

Benjamin Kalytta

[midiboy]

Hi BEnjamin,

thanks for adding this. I will try that soon.

Will this alternative path be used for all the specified shell folders automatically ? If one has specified two or more shell folders, which one will be adapted if not all ?

Thanks,

Alex

[BenjaminKalytta]

It will only adapt to the folder where WIHU detected to be an unformated drive.

In example screen shot above you'll see that this only concerns "My Music" shell folder.

Benjamin Kalytta

[Maelstorm]

Hi Maelstrom,

That brings up a good point, but how? There is no way to specify a donation that I could see. Futhermore, I would buy him a few beers or take him out to a movie or two, but I'm in the United States. So right now the only thing that I can offer is to help work on the software.

Have a look at Benjamin´s Website. At the bottom you will find a donation section with his bank account details.

I also did not fly to Bingen, Germany to have a few beer with him ( how about it, Benjamin? ) ....

Bye,

Alex

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was looking for a PayPal account or something where I could wire a few dollars to him.

[midiboy]

Hi Benjamin,

t's possible to specify alternative path as an second option instead of just format.

I think I found a small bug with this new feature. Sorry ...

It is kind of complicated to explain:

I have set the shell folders to be like this in Wihu:

[Environment]

Personal=D:\%ThisUser%
My Video=D:\%ThisUser%\Eigene Videos
My Music=D:\%ThisUser%\Eigene Musik
My Pictures=D:\%ThisUser%\Eigene Bilder
Favorites=D:\%ThisUser%\Favoriten
Desktop=D:\%ThisUser%\Desktop

Now, if the drive D: is NOT formatted, Wihu will correctly present me with the "format/change path" dialog box. Wihu does this 6 times (because there are 6 folders above that point to D:)

I did the following:

The first time, Wihu asked me if it should format or change the path for the Desktop I decided not to format the drive but change the folder from Desktop=D:\%ThisUser%\Desktop to C:\Desktop

The second time Wihu asked me to format or change the path for the next folder I decided to format the drive D. Of course Wihu did so.

Now the problem appeared like this:

Wihu created two Desktop folders: One at D:\%ThisUser%\Desktop AND one at C:\Desktop.

The folder at this location: D:\%ThisUser%\Desktop was also added to the registry as the Desktop folder:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders]
"Desktop"="D:\\Alexander\\Desktop"

However, all the lnk files from the "Default Desktop folder" in D:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\Default User\Desktop were copied to this folder:

C:\Desktop

instead. Do you see the problem ?

Maybe it is just a small thing and you are able to fix this without spending too much time ...

Thanks,

Alex

[BenjaminKalytta]

Hi midiboy,

I see the problem and I'll fix this soon

Thx for reporting this.

Benjamin Kalytta