In the next installment, we'll create a more complex gadget that illustrates how to add a non-default icon, how to populate the "details" area of the gadget gallery, and most importantly, how to display a Settings dialog and save the settings so they'll be in effect each time your gadget starts.Īnd: Create a Win7 Gadget with a Flyout Panelĭeveloping a Gadget for Windows Sidebar (Written for Vista, but it mostly applies) CAB files can be signed, so your users might avoid a scary "Unknown Publisher" notice when installing. Rather than a renamed ZIP file, you can instead create a renamed CAB file for deployment. The gadget immediately becomes available in your gallery.īut, as we've seen, you don't need to create a deployment package: While developing, you can create the folder manually and work directly with the source code.Ĭaution: If you work this way (directly in the AppData folder), then be aware that if you choose to Uninstall in the Gadget Gallery, it will delete your files! Keep a copy of the files handy in a different place.
gadget extension, Windows asks if you want to install the gadget, and then it creates the AppData directory and unpacks the files into it. When you right-click a file that has the.
Rename the ZIP file to give it an extension of. All you need to do is create a ZIP file that contains your two files. See Debugging JScript Programs with Visual Studio 2008 for related info. I've found this technique works best if you break your JScript out into a separate file (as opposed to putting it all in the HTML file). The VS script debugger will come up and let you single-step, check variables, and so forth. If you have Visual Studio, you can use its Just-In-Time debugging. It's better than sitting there looking at the screen blankly and wondering why nothing is happening. will enable the display of script errors. With Windows 7, there is a new registry key that affects debugging.
One option is to drop the HTML file onto a browser and run it there - where alert() will work. You can open the HTML file with your favorite text editor, make changes, and then drag it from the gallery to the desktop to see the effects of your changes.Īlas, the usually-dependable all-purpose JavaScript debugging tool - the alert() function - is not available when running as a gadget. About all you can do with it is drag it around and close it. It has the default icon, but the name is as was set in the XML file. Your gadget is now visible in the gallery. Right-click the desktop and select Gadgets. gadget A good way to learn about gadget programming is to examine the source files of the gadgets you can download from the Microsoft site.ĭrag the HelloGadget.gadget folder from the desktop Each is in a folder that has a file extension of. Looking in that folder, you will see the other gadgets that are already installed. %localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows Sidebar\Gadgets where userDir is your Windows User Name (the folder is in the "Desktop" virtual folder, just above "Computer" ) If you want, you can copy the following text and paste it into the address bar in any Explorer window (or in the Start/Search or Start/Run input boxes): UserDir \ AppData\Local\Microsoft\Wi ndows Sidebar\Gadgets\
Open a Windows Explorer and drill-down to locate the HelloGadget.html //- resizes the gadget display surface function DoInit() Hello World!
Full Ībout the only place you might go wrong is misspelling the name of the HTML file in the Gadget.xml HelloGadget 1.0.0.0 Hello World Gadget. Open that folder and create two files in that folder. UserDir \ AppData\Local\Microsoft\Wi ndows Sidebar\Gadgets\ gadgetName.gadgetįollow these steps and you'll have a new gadget in a few minutes:Ĭreate a new folder on your desktop and name it Here's all you need to do to create your own gadget:ġ) Write an HTML page, say gadgetName.htmlĢ) Write a short XML file, named ( exactly) gadget.xmlģ) Copy these two files into a particular directory: How to Create a Gadget (the short version): There is no limit to the creative things you can do with gadgets. Like HTAs, they run with with full local-program privileges, and can use ActiveX objects. If you have Notepad.exe and some knowledge about HTML, then you can write your own gadget. That means: No big-project development overhead. What I like about gadgets is that they are really just small HTML pages. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, or to act as a gateway to a website or a larger program.
This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" - a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista.