Welcome to my daily ADHD sessions. Today: ScreenBar.

I looked at the AROS screen title bar code and found some groundwork for adding extra content. That seemed like a good place to start.

The first prototype includes a clock, an audio-settings shortcut, and a screen switcher. The speaker icon opens AHI preferences for now. The screen switcher opens a dropdown listing public screens.

I'm also putting together a proposal for a common module interface, inspired by MorphOS, Xfce, and macOS. The idea is to support two kinds of items:

* Persistent system modules: clock, memory usage, CPU load, temperature, audio controls, etc.
* Items added by running applications: playback controls, transfer progress, or the status of a background service. These would appear while the application runs and disappear when it exits.

ScreenBar would handle appearance, placement, and menus, while modules provide data and actions. A preferences program would let users enable modules, arrange them, and configure which application items are shown.

There are two development paths: a standalone version for existing distributions, and native integration with Intuition/Decoration. That should let people try it without waiting for changes to land in AROS itself. Mainline and ABIv11 are both targets.

It's early days, but the prototype works, and the proposed module contract is in the repository. I'd be interested to hear which modules you'd actually use, and whether anyone has worked in this area before.

Inspiration:

* MorphOS: modules in the screen title bar, available across screens, with configurable order and settings.
* Xfce: the panel/plugin interface, especially module lifecycle, sizing and popup handling.
* macOS: system controls alongside indicators added by running applications, with compact menus opened from the bar.

The aim is to adapt these ideas to AROS, with one module interface and a consistent appearance.



https://github.com/tomaszstaniak/aros-screenbar

Feel free to modify and help me out. Also if you have any ideas where you'd need the screenbar gadget - check the current contract and let's align

Nice! I was calling it Quick Launch Prefs but Screenbar Gadgets works!

Nice concept. At Startup get a hardware list to load the required gadgets. For laptops load AHI Sound, Wifi Manager, Battery Indicator, Screenmode, etc. ;-)

It would be helpful to launch screenmode Prefs from the Screenbar Gadget rather than SYS.Prefs/Screenmode. I like it.

Isn't this already being worked on in mainline?

Maybe. How does one know what is being worked on in the mainline?

Mainline has a slack channel.

arosdevteam.slack.com

Awesome! Thank you! But for the Slack workspace, you need to be invited, as far as I remember (and checked)
If it gets done in the mainline, it's great! I am not married to any of my projects; that's why I publish them as open source even when I don't have to comply with any license. This one is implemented in two ways: either as part of v1/v11 or as separate software that can be added to distros "today".

The invite is on aros.org

Standalone applications as add-ons that work with either Wanderer or Magellan or Scalos is very useful. It's good to see improvements.

I'm working on a few standalone add-ons myself involving icons.

Sooner is better than waiting a long time as well. Sometimes I wait several years to release what I'm working on; sometimes it's never in a "done" condition, it's never completed, always editing/changing. I'll try to do better. ;-)

Do you post your completed software on AROS archives or somewhere else?

In general - yes, but it's less convenient for rapid development than github + either jonx's or mine package managers (https://github.com/tomaszstaniak/arospkg)

nice work thank you

This is the way
Mandalorian

coffeecat, the Screenbar Widgets are really cool and will make Wandere look more modern

@coffeecat Fantastic work. AROS looks much better with this. Thank you!

@AMIGASYSTEM This would be perfect for your app controlling volume/mixer.

is it possible to have an i386 version

Right now, I don't see any reason why not.

But everyone, please set your expectations accordingly. Right now it's still a proof of concept. Before going live in any way, I will need to check v1.

ok

Most likely the screenbar gadgets were going to be part of Wanderer 2.0 but that was many years ago and I don't remember exactly.

However, there are more than one option as far as workbench replacement. We should support Magellan, Scalos and Wanderer rather than just one because it's our favorite.

AROS and Amiga are well known for Add-On Commodities such as ClickToFront and others than enhance workbench. The Screenbar Gadgets are just a new Commodity intended for all the workbench replacements.

I look forward to seeing it in use on my Magellan Workbench sometime this year. No worries, though we can wait till Christmas!