Details

To build or change your main menu, open menu.rc in a text editor. See also the included default menu.rc as an example.

Notes:

• Lines starting with # or ! are ignored.
• In a menu label, a single '&' makes a shortcut letter, to display '&', use '&&'.
• You can use environment variables (e.g. %USERNAME%) to make your menu work for different setups.

Each menu item consists of 1..3 fields:

[command]  (label)  {data}

In addition to normal paths like {c:/program files/...}, a number of items may be used to indicate a special shellfolder. See shellfolders.rc for examples.

The 'edit' commands use the 'blackbox.editor', which is specified in extensions.rc. For example:

blackbox.editor: bbnote.exe

(*) You can add -q(uiet) for no confirmation. For example

[logoff -q] (Log Out)

(*) Optionally a working directory or a start workspace can be specified, or a (console-) program can be started in an hidden window:

[exec] (label) { -in "c:\working-dir" : program args ... }
[exec] (label) { -workspace2 : program args ... }
[exec] (label) { -hidden : program args ... }

Generally, the background can be an image or a dynamically generated gradient. The background is specified in the current style with a line that starts like:

rootCommand: bsetroot -full "backgrounds\your_image.jpg"

Click on bsetroot.exe to get some help with it. See also the documentation for bsetroot.exe.

bbLean uses bsetroot.exe to generate the background and then either displays it on its own or lets Windows set the wallpaper, depending on the setting of 'Smart Wallpaper' in 'Configuration->Graphics'.

Also any processing of the rootCommand may be disabled in 'Configuration->Graphics'.

Desktop Margins are the areas of the screen that aren't covered by maximized windows. They can be set to adjust automatically according to the placement of the bars or manually from the configuration menu.

• 'auto' (-1 in extensions.rc) means automatic adjustment to the toolbar's or Systembar's thickness.
• Values '0..x' mean fixed margin settings in pixels.
• With 'Full Maximisation' all margin settings are ignored.

Multiple monitors: Automatic adjustement is supposed to work independently on monitors. Margins for a 2nd monitor may be set manually in extensions.rc like:

blackbox.desktop.2.marginLeft: ...

List each application to be common among all workspaces on a separate line in 'StickyWindows.ini' (located in the blackbox.exe's folder), save the changes, and 'reconfigure.'

Click 'Show Appnames' from 'Configuration->Misc.' to get a list of the currently running tasks and their internal names.

bbLean can be run on top of explorer or installed as default shell. To install bbLean as default shell, use the included bsetshell tool.

On Win2k/XP/Vista you can install bbLean for all users or for certain users only. To install bbLean for certain users only you first need to run bsetshell as administrator (right-click -> "Run as ...") and enable "per-user" shell setting. Then from the user account set blackbox as shell for that user.

Notes:

• With unexpected problems after installation, hold down 'Control' during startup. This will give you the option to uninstall bbLean before it actually loads.
• When running bbLean over explorer the systray icons won't show in many cases.

Broadcast messages (Broams) are messages sent to Blackbox and plugins to trigger some actions.

They may be sent

• from the menu, such as:

[exec] (label) {@BroadcastMessage}

• from a key shortcut, in bbkeys.rc:

..., WithAction(@BBCore.ShowMenu)

• by other means, for instance by a 'BBInterface' button.

Broadcast messages recognized by the core:

The 'blackbox editor' is specified in extensions.rc.

Any '@BBCfg...' command that toggles a setting, can have an optional argument 'true' or 'false' to specify the new state. For example to unload bbLeanBar if loaded and do nothing otherwise:

@BBCfg.plugin.load bbLeanBar false

Use the Show Bro@ms option in Configuration->Menus to view other broadcast messages for core configuration and plugins.

Mini-Script

This is to execute multiple commands on one broadcast message. The command list must be enclosed into '[ ]'s, and single commands are separated by '|'s and may be broams or external executables.

@Script [@SomeBroam | some_prog arguments | @AnotherBroam]

Hotkeys are done with the 'bbKeys' plugin and its configuration file 'bbKeys.rc'. The line-format in bbkeys.rc is like this:

KeyToGrab(<hotkey>), WithModifier(<modifiers>), WithAction(<action>)

Available hotkeys:

• A..Z and 0..9
• F1..F12
• LEFT RIGHT UP DOWN HOME END PAGEUP PAGEDOWN INSERT DELETE
• TAB BACKSPACE SPACEBAR ENTER ESCAPE APPS PRTSCN PAUSE
• NUM0..NUM9
• MUL DIV ADD SUB DEC
• LWIN RWIN
• VK### - General virtual key code (decimal). For example VK112 is the same as F1. Tables for virtual key codes can be found on the internet.

Available modifiers:

• CTRL SHIFT ALT WIN

Available actions:

• Any of the @BBCore commands, but omitting the '@BBCore.' part. To run programs or to send other broadcast messages, the 'exec' action can be used.

Default Hotkey Bindings:

• Read -> here.

These codes are used for formatting the clock displays, for ...

• the Toolbar, in blackbox.rc:

session.screen0.strftimeFormat: %#I:%M:%S %p

• bbLeanbar, in bbleanbar.rc:

bbleanbar.strftimeFormat: %d %a %#H:%M

The # flag modifies some of the above as follows:

You can set another language for the clock display in extensions.rc.

blackbox.options.locale: <locale-id>

For locale-id's see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-3

Experimental options in extensions.rc

Some options are supported to disable parts of the bbLean shell for special purposes:

(R) Restart the shell to apply - (Q) Quit and restart the shell to apply - (L) Logout and login again to apply

(D) deskhook.dll can be used in combination with no own desktop window to receive mouse clicks on the explore desktop background. deskhook.dll is not part of the binary package, but is included in the source code.

Other options for extensions.rc:

(R) Restart the shell to apply - (Q) Quit and restart the shell to apply - (L) Logout and login again to apply

bbLean runs on windows versions 95/98/me/2000/xp/vista. Still there may be potential problems:

Systray icons missing:

You need to install blackbox as shell to get all systray icons. See -> Install as Shell

Shell crashes, hangs, does not start, etc.:

Unload all plugins first, then try again. Also some anti-virus/spyware programs cah cause problems with bbLeanSkin and/or blackbox itself.

Drawing issues with applications, unresponsive applications:

May be caused by bbLeanSkin. See bbLeanSkin/readme.txt for details on how to exclude applications from being skinned. Also, on XP/Vista it is recommended to use the 'Windows Classic' design option (in 'Display Properties').

Titlebars flickers:

May happen with bbLeanSkin when the caption text is frequently updated. Can't be fixed.

Find files:

Does not work from the context menu. Hit F3 or Ctrl-F in an explorer window instead. Or use an alternate tool like Agent Ransack...

Network Places and Recent Documents folder don't update:

This also does not seem to work without the explorer shell. On a blackbox menu you can press F5 to refresh.

'SendTo' or 'Open With' menus empty or scrambled:

Turn off 'ClearType' fonts (XP/Vista).

Plugins conflict with gaming:

Disable 'Always On Top' and 'AutoHide' with plugins. Or hit Win+Ctrl+P to toggle plugin visibility.

Lost Windows, other issues with workspaces:

Hit Win-G to 'Gather Windows' in the current workspace. If the problem continues, try 'Alternate Workspace Method' off or on, respectively. With Winamp, checkout its 'LiteStep Virtual Desktop' options, or add it to StickyWindows.ini.

Browse long menus:

Drag the scroll button (under the menu titlebar) or use the mouse wheel or the arrow keys.

Show file extensions in menus:

Uncheck "Hide Extensions for Known File Types" in windows explorer options.

Memory usage:

bbLean itself uses about 1..2MB. However as it is the shell, bbLean is also responsible to load other things into its own process. For example on Vista just loading the systray applets causes something like 15MB additional memory usage. Of course if you don't need the network and volume icons, you could always compile your own bb-super-lean version.

Unknow procedure DrawShadowText in comctl32.dll:

This is a problem in the Microsoft products. See http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=884883 It means basically that some application has an old comctl32.dll installed, most likely in its own directory. Try to remove that dll or rename it to something else.

Windows 95:

You might need to install msvcrt.dll.

Copyright 2003-2009 grischka@users.sourceforge.net