Introduction
In times of Windows XP I liked having my desktop just for the data I worked with and my application launchers (lots of them) separately at the right side of the screen.
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Since Windows Vista (AFAIK), there is no way how to drag the "quick launch" out of the taskbar and drop it elsewhere. First, I tried to search for any freeware/shareware that would simulate the XP "quick launch" behaviour. I haven't found anything similar (just taskbar-bound gadgets or floating panels with animations which I didn't like). So I decided to write one. I don't include a complete downloadable application, just a framework how to create it in a very easy way.
Using the code
- Sort your desktop icons according to the type and move the shortcuts (.lnk files) to a folder (e.g., C:\Users\John Doe\Documents\Panel).
- Create Windows forms application. I suggest these Form1 properties:
FormBorderStyle = FixedToolWindow
StartPosition = Manual
MaximizeBox = False
MinimizeBox = False
ShowInTaskbar = False
Set the Text
, Size
, and
Location
according to your needs.
- Drop a
ListView
onto a form and dock it to fill it. I suggest these
listView1
properties:
HeaderStyle = None
Dock = Fill
HoverSelection = True
HotTracking = True
Activation = OneClick
Set the BackColor
, Font
, and
ForeColor
according to your needs.
- Switch to the code. Put this code into the constructor of the Form1.
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
listView1.Columns.Add("Shortcut", -2);
string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(@"C:\Users\John Doe\Documents\Panel");
ImageList ilSmall = new ImageList();
foreach (string fp in files)
{
ilSmall.Images.Add(IconFromFilePath(fp));
}
listView1.SmallImageList = ilSmall;
listView1.View = View.Details;
int iIdx = 0;
foreach (string file in files)
{
string fileName = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(file);
ListViewItem item = new ListViewItem(fileName);
item.Tag = file;
listView1.Items.Add(item);
item.ImageIndex = iIdx++;
}
}
- Implement some more methods/handlers.
private Icon IconFromFilePath(string filePath)
{
Icon result = null;
try
{
result = Icon.ExtractAssociatedIcon(filePath);
}
catch { }
return result;
}
private void Form1_FormClosing(object sender, FormClosingEventArgs e)
{
if (MessageBox.Show("Really quit?", "Confirm",
MessageBoxButtons.YesNo, MessageBoxIcon.Question) !=
System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.Yes)
e.Cancel = true;
}
private void listView1_ItemActivate(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
ListViewItem lvi = listView1.SelectedItems[0];
Process proc = new Process();
try
{
proc.StartInfo.FileName = (string)lvi.Tag;
proc.Start();
}
catch { }
}
- Compile the application and put the executable to your Startup folder. Log off, log on and enjoy!