AutoHotkey Community

[holomind]

to see/edit the latest version in wiki click here:
http://www.autohotkey.com/wiki/index.php?title=Workspace%3AExpose_Clone

as suggested by majkinetor, i combined some of my scripts and built a real expose clone, which shows all your windows in miniature and if you click on it it activates this window. compared to the other exposescript here, the windows are not moved or resized, but the window is "zoomed".
like other expose clones this also supports fancy animation, or better fade_in and fade_out. (animation would be possible but its to complicated for me now). you can configure this script in the "read_config" function. (transparency and speed of fade, simply set fade_steps to 1 to turn it off).

i tried to keep the script short, but its the nature of this application that it gets a bit longer. i didnt reuse the other expose script, as i wanted to figure it out myself but borrowed one or two ideas to make it shorter.

you could even have livepreviews if you call "draw_thumbnails:" in a timer function, but for me its enough to draw it only once. (less cpu)

use mbutton or win-tab to activate it. (pressing the same key while expose is running will end it and do no modification to any window)
activate the window by clicking on the replica.

important: if you miss windows then change min_w and min_h or change the function is_excluded_win()

download: expose.ahk

Version 0.1: initial version
Version 0.2: changed configs and added strech for small windows
Version 0.3: bugfix for scalethumbs, now correct
Version 0.4: optimized layout one row less if possible
Version 0.5: added live-repaint, to prevent hidden windows (cmd.exe)
Version 0.6: added sorting of task_ids suggested by lazlo, +sleep0 , repainttime now 2secs
Version 0.7: some versions in this thread, thanks for contribution.
Version 0.8: lazlos optimization for gui_destroy order
Version 0.9: lazlos latest Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 4:34 pm
Version 0.91: minor change strechblt mode 3
Version 0.92: lazlos optimization for refresh etc.
Version 0.93: on click zoom-out effect added (holomind)
Version 0.94: animation now zooms exactly to clicked window (small change in winactivate(id) as WinMove forces refresh of window.)
Version 0.95: RC1 Superb Animation with Tripple Framebuffer, like Butter Addictive
Version 0.96: correct taskbar detection, optimized transition from real to animation (delay gui show)
Version 0.97: bugfix, detectscreen hat top and left swapped now ok
Version 0.98: bugfix for offset in bitblt, + optimization for backbuffer clearing if number of wins changes. backup 0.98 in wiki
Version 1.00: now in wiki and speed improvements, backup 1.00 in wiki
Version 1.01: added desktopimage, code read more readable, max zoom backup 1.01 in wiki

... from Version 1.0 on we will work in wiki and copy stable versions into forum
Roadplan for Version 1.0 until version 2.0
* agree on a codestyle for all collaborators (we are near already)
(ok) work in realtime in wiki, make bugfixes directly and inform others with forum, so everybody always changes/works on latest version.
* make a small featurelist and who wants to do it, so we dont do things twice (majkinetor proposed a similar list already)
(ok) new feature: rewrite DLLcalls and use #include GDI.ahk (from this thread)
* compact code to satisfy lazlos short style
(ok) rename some variablenames to make it easier to understand
* rewrite functions to enable pluginsystem of majkinetor (and lazlo)
* new feature: config .ini file
* now we can start building .exe as downloadables
* new feature: config gui (lower prio if we have config.ini)
* new feature: fade transition between last animate_out and hide gui
(ok) new feature: enable background image (with offset correction for taskbar)
* new feature: mirror window position of not-maximized windows in thumbposition
* add lots of features/bugfixes from user-feedback
* make a big 2.0 release party

[Veovis]

EXCELLENT!!!

this is way cool!

i have always loved macs expose. its so useful and intuitive. unlike alt-tabbing through a bunch of icons or looking for the name of your program in the taskbar, expose is intuitive and easy.

While this does go a little slow on my 1 Ghz lappy, i am very pleased with the feel. I noticed that there is a lot of black space if you have some small windows open, but that isnt a problem really, and it would be complicated to compute window sizes so the fit together better.

I also changed the transparency so it goes black because it was slightly disorienting to see parts of a different window behind the small thumbnails.

Overall, Very nice job!
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"Power can be given overnight, but responsibility must be taught. Long years go into its making."

[koro]

The first time i tried it worked fine, but now it's randomly showing 1 or 2 windows only, not all of the open windos. in fact right now it only shows 1, everytime. I re-downloaded the script since i may have pasted something wrong but no...

[Veovis]

hmmmm your right. right now it only shows 4 of the 6 that are open. it might be due to the ... somewhat odd nature of the google talk windows, but i recall them working earlier... any ideas?
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"Power can be given overnight, but responsibility must be taught. Long years go into its making."

[SoggyDog]

I absolutely love it...
However, I also have windows that don't show up.

This really is a fantastic script
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SoggyDog
Download AutoHotKey Wallpaper
Does Fuzzy Logic tickle?

[holomind]

i also noticed that windows sometimes do not show acutally they are completele black (but not missing). its a problem with the printwindow() function. and perhaps shows up when many windows are open. if i have 4windows or 8windows it works but with more it can give black windows.

the msdn api says it returns if it was successfull, but in my case it also returns 1 if its black. one trick would be to draw it repeatadly calling the draw_thumbnails in a loop (every second) to repaint it, then the chance is quite good next time its correct.
in the beginning i had the gui: add picture just after the printwindow and got lots of black frames, i move the gui add to a different location in the code and it didnt interfere anymore. there are many people complaining about black frames in printwindow and its quite unreliable. even commercial tools have this problem.
perhaps one could do a pixel search on the lower half of the thumbnail and if its black then repaint the window. perhaps search on the windowborder so you dont hit real black text or background by accident.

you have the code so you can tweak it.
performace should not be the greatest as all is done in printwindow and bitblt. (fast but slower than directx or opengl).

on the other hand bitblt-ing the desktop never gives black frames, so you could buffer the images and then show them, but this makes it more complicate.

as i didnt notice blackframes in my useage i hadnt the need to optimize it.

for debugging it would be interessting:
a) number of windows when showing expose
b) your screenresolution
c) ghz of cpu, and perhaps brand of gfx-card (shared or realmemory)

eg. i have 6windows, 1400x1050 intel-i850 gfx with no problems

[holomind]

did you notice the size-filter? it hides windows smaller than 200px-width or lower than 200px height. this way i hide windows on purpose like taskbar. maybe some sidebars and other small windows "disappear", this is by purpouse.
you can tweak the min_w and min_h in the readconfig functions to allow other windows.

[holomind]

[holomind]

the script is now a bit longer, but i implemented the suggested ideas:

a) small windows are scaled to fit the avalable space in this grid-zone.
no tetris stacking yet (which i personally dont like)

b) you can set the end of animation to solid if you set
read_config: translevel_stop_solid to 1

c) the window filter is now in a separate function so you can easily adopt it to your needs. i have to hide my deskman window and my objectdock-tab-folderbar, which would mess it up. also expose itself is hidden.

i think there is not a big problem with black frames in printwindow, but windows are hidden because of their size. for me expose works like expected

[majkinetor]

Superb homind, this is exactly what I wanted up to the animation.

The bugs are of course, present in this first release, windows are dropped somehow. First time when I run it, all were there except console. I restarted the script and only console and opera were there, and on next F12, console dissappeared leaving opera small in one corner. On next F12, Opera was big, using all the screen. ))


BTW, I have an advice to you. You should change the layout of your presentation with something more structural. I had a problem with your other script using this and that - well, not really a problem but it was more time consuming then it should be. So, I suggest you to put download cleanly visible and direct links to scripts u used if you didn't merge all scripts at the end (ExpandIncludes.ahk). You can also provide archive with all the additionals used by your main script. I also noticed that Chris created overview for one of your scripts witch shouldn't happen in the first place if they are structured well. Consider that some of us don't have enough time to read every word and/or entire thread, and want to "jump in" in fastest way. If you supply usability & installation data clearly visible and separated of other text, they are able to do that.
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[holomind]

[holomind]

the scale function is now bugfixes, i hope it scales the windows without distortion now.

majkinetor suggested to use wallpaper instead of black background, so we wait what he comes up with, as i dont use any wallpaper i dont know how to do it

[majkinetor]

[holomind]

[Laszlo]

This is a very nice script. I will use a version of it all the time. Thanks Holomind for sharing it. (Don't worry about the comments on the format. It is fine!).

I only have problems with disappearing command prompt (console) windows (Version 0.3). They randomly show up or remain black after pressing F12. All other windows behave properly.