From time to time I promise bits of software to people in news groups, so it seems reasonable to make them available via this download page. There is nothing too revolutionary here as I firmly believe in keeping things simple. You'll find a mixture of VB6 and C# code. However, you'll also find that the download zips contain the source code and the executables.
Most of the C# code uses the DotNetBar component library so you'll need that to recompile.
Drawing dials with GDI+
Having produced a dashboard for Lucidus' IPM, I was told that it desperately needed a dial. Sad but true, facts rarely have as much impact as a pretty dial. My first attempts worked but looked real bad. This app is a test app that I produce while attempting to develop something that looks better than the straight windows drawing abilities can produce. It used GDI+ to overlap a background picture with anti-aliased scales and pointers.
Bear in mind, this is an on-going effort, so this is the first pass at something that 'functions'. The final version will be parameter driven to allow you to specify the background image and to draw the scale in a different place.
Update: 20 August, 2008The latest version of the code has been uploaded and includes all of the missing options that I wanted including the ability to drive the dial via user modifiable parameters, tick marks, ability to load different backgrounds and the ability to save the dial to a file. I've also modified it to be an ActiveX with test app.
Panel ActiveX
I wanted a panel control that I could control the border style and the position of the text within the panel. What I ended up with was a fairly simple VB6 ActiveX control that gives me those facilities and gives me a great deal of flexibility in the positioning of text. It also acts as a container control.
Mapping Folders
We had a client who configured their files to run from a J drive. Great, but when we wanted to work on their files locally, we were stuffed because we didn't have a J drive nor any way to get one. I found some commercial software that allowed me to map a local folder to a drive letter but didn't fancy paying for it for such a one off requirement. So, I wrote my own folder to drive letter mapper in C#. The source and a full install are included in the zip.
Popup Reminders
I searched high and low for a simple system that could remind me to do things at specific times on specific days. Loads of systems exist for this and they're all just too complicated for what I want. For example, I backup my system every Friday at 12:00 so want to be reminded to put in a DVD at 11:45. Simple. Then I realised that I was wasting my time. All I wanted was a message at 11:45 and Windows has a scheduler to automate most of that. All I needed to do was provide a message program. That's what this C# code is.
Digital Signatures
I needed to digitally sign a few executables so I automated the process using WinBatch and merrily let it rip. Problem is, the code signing executable is a dos app, so I couldn't see the results. This C# app (with install in the zip) gives me that ability. The program allows me to specify the location of the digital signature keys that I want to use, signs the app and presents me with the results rather than what was previously happening which was that a dos box opened and immediately closed.