Original Post
Hi all, It's been a long time since I've posted anything on GD and I've spent equally as long working on a few side projects instead of games. This is my latest (and admittedly, smallest) project this year, but I am quite happy with myself - I found out I had a lot of skill that I didn't know about before (Windows handles and technical things like that). 
The program is called the "Link Bar". That screenshot is how my bar looks at the moment. It is similar to ObjectDock if you've heard of it. I really made this for myself so there are some parts that are quite customizable and some that aren't (for instance, the size of icons is set). I decided to make it and stop using ObjectDock because: 1. I am always (for some reason) up for make tool-type programs; 2. ObjectDock had a nasty effect on DirectX applications. Before using it, my game (that I am currently working on) would run at 1700 fps windowed, but after I open ObjectDock that would drop right down to 110 fps and would never improve again until I restart my computer (hence why I say this is for DirectX developers). Also, DVD movies wouldn't work through PowerDVD (visual was just black) and I couldn't see video from my recording device. So, for those reasons I created the Link Bar. To add a link to the bar, you just have to drag it onto the bar and it'll update and show it as the last (right-most) link. Each link has it's own description that you can modify whenever you like. The "sections" divided by "separators" can be named individually to sort links into groups like "Folders" or "Games", and those names can be shown or hidden to suit. Links can be grouped by file extension to reduce the space the bar takes up, or to fit more on the bar. Moving over grouped files shows a list of all group links, and the group can be named just like any other link. You can also select which extensions to group - usually .exe files will occupy most of the links on the bar, so grouping them would detract from the usefulness of it. However, grouping playlists in one link and project files are just a few uses I thought of that keeps things neat and in one place. You can tell it to run on startup and it can be hidden when not being used, so that it doesn't get in the way. Unfortunately it doesn't have any support for command line arguments attributed to links (like control panel/my computer/network connections shortcuts), but this didn't seem necessary and still doesn't. Shortcuts manually created (like those for programs on the start menu and desktop) however have their target extracted so that they are no longer needed. As far as I'm aware this doesn't have any bugs that cause it to crash, and I'm pretty certain there aren't any bad glitches that render it impossible to use. If you'd like to give it a go (I've rambled so much now...), here's the link: Link Bar.zip If you like it or find something wrong with it, please feel free to post a comment; I like hearing what people think and why [wink]! Jonathan
The program is called the "Link Bar". That screenshot is how my bar looks at the moment. It is similar to ObjectDock if you've heard of it. I really made this for myself so there are some parts that are quite customizable and some that aren't (for instance, the size of icons is set). I decided to make it and stop using ObjectDock because: 1. I am always (for some reason) up for make tool-type programs; 2. ObjectDock had a nasty effect on DirectX applications. Before using it, my game (that I am currently working on) would run at 1700 fps windowed, but after I open ObjectDock that would drop right down to 110 fps and would never improve again until I restart my computer (hence why I say this is for DirectX developers). Also, DVD movies wouldn't work through PowerDVD (visual was just black) and I couldn't see video from my recording device. So, for those reasons I created the Link Bar. To add a link to the bar, you just have to drag it onto the bar and it'll update and show it as the last (right-most) link. Each link has it's own description that you can modify whenever you like. The "sections" divided by "separators" can be named individually to sort links into groups like "Folders" or "Games", and those names can be shown or hidden to suit. Links can be grouped by file extension to reduce the space the bar takes up, or to fit more on the bar. Moving over grouped files shows a list of all group links, and the group can be named just like any other link. You can also select which extensions to group - usually .exe files will occupy most of the links on the bar, so grouping them would detract from the usefulness of it. However, grouping playlists in one link and project files are just a few uses I thought of that keeps things neat and in one place. You can tell it to run on startup and it can be hidden when not being used, so that it doesn't get in the way. Unfortunately it doesn't have any support for command line arguments attributed to links (like control panel/my computer/network connections shortcuts), but this didn't seem necessary and still doesn't. Shortcuts manually created (like those for programs on the start menu and desktop) however have their target extracted so that they are no longer needed. As far as I'm aware this doesn't have any bugs that cause it to crash, and I'm pretty certain there aren't any bad glitches that render it impossible to use. If you'd like to give it a go (I've rambled so much now...), here's the link: Link Bar.zip If you like it or find something wrong with it, please feel free to post a comment; I like hearing what people think and why [wink]! Jonathan