SyMenu Forum

Gianluca

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29/09/2023 Topic: SyMenu beta 8.00 Gianluca Administrator	Dear scentse, Let me know if the new version fixes the Options - Structure glitch please. The other problems are probably gone now. edited by Gianluca on 29/09/2023
29/09/2023 Topic: SyMenu beta 8.00 Gianluca Administrator	Me too I tested at 125%, 150%, and 175% with no issues. I have a question for you scentse. When you set the zoom to 150% did you use the Windows dropdown selector or you set a custom scaling at 150%? Strange enough it seems to me that Windows behaves in different ways when you go with the suggested scaling respect to a custom one, even if you choose the exact same values as the suggested ones...
30/09/2023 Topic: SyMenu beta 8.00 Gianluca Administrator	Great test and good assumption. The scaling is on the .NET Core framework and I don't know if it uses the OS or GPU features but, according to what you discovered, I guess the second one, if a GPU is available. All my tests take place on office PCs (I'm not a gaming guy) so I have never tested SyMenu on a dedicated graphic board. Anyway I think it's a thing bigger than us. Let's see if some Windows updates fix the problem. In the meanwhile, if you want, you could do some tests with the execution properties of the SyMenu executable. Among them, in the Compatibility tab, there are some settings that maybe can fix the problem (High DPI scaling override for example). If some of your tests solve the issue, totally or partially, I can put the workaround in the manual.
03/10/2023 Topic: SyMenu beta 8.00 Gianluca Administrator	Well if the situation is as you describe, SyMenu is not alone in this mess. I hope MS can fix this behaviour soon because I can do nothing.
03/10/2023 Topic: SyMenu beta 8.00 Gianluca Administrator	Thank you for the MS source but the interaction with the low level drawing devices it's on the .NET Core framework. I only use the high level graphical components the framework supplies. Sometimes I have to draw something with a so-called unmanaged code that is a simple Windows API call. But even with this technique I can't change the drawing stack that, in this case, it's on Windows OS. Probably I could draw everything with unmanaged code explicitly using the Direct2D libraries and methods you refer to but it's not the way the software is developed nowdays. Anyway this is a really interesting thread, I'm learning a lot thanks to you. Feel free to contact me in private if you want a deeper view of the SyMenu project. BTW the SyMenu database is perfectly interoperable among 7 and 8. It means you could even downgrade to 7 if you like. Naturally in this case you will lose all the customization introduced with 8 but it's not a big issue IMHO.
03/10/2023 Topic: SyMenu beta 8.00 Gianluca Administrator	At certain point I'll force the update from 7 to 8, because it is not feasible for me to maintain the two branches forever. But naturally, as an end user, it will be possible to refuse the automatic update and stay with the 7 even if the things will probably start to fail. Anyway I hope in some sort of MS fix sooner or later.
04/10/2023 Topic: SyMenu beta 8.00 Gianluca Administrator	I don't like at all the perspective of having two different branches so I created a beta version (8.00.8677) with a new option to choose how the OS resizes syMenu. Normally the resizing is the one we learnt could have some graphical issues but, going to Options - General, you can choose to go back to the virtual resizing. In this case the graphical result is not so clear, the fonts are quite blurred and the lines are not so sharp, but you are sure Windows does a perfect job and every command is perfectly visible. I hope this can help to overcome every doubt that could prevent a user from updating to the new 8.
04/10/2023 Topic: SyMenu beta 8.00 Gianluca Administrator	My hope is that virtual resizing will soon be useless because Windows will start to do its job better and better. So I would not include the option in the initial wizard. Plus, at the initial wizard you still don't know if you need the option or not. The glitches start to appear when you load the most complex forms not in the wizard. Again... the virtual rendering shouldn't have any problem because Windows renders the forms with default DPI (96) in a sort of sandbox, then it zooms the image for the user screen (this is the reason for the blurring)... so where do those glitches come from???? Probably it's again the bad GPU management that Windows does in the sandbox phase too... Well I never saw such a large unreliability from Windows.. What were they thinking about when they implemented it? Anyway I'm happy to hear that the new option can be decisive for the 8 adoption.
13/10/2023 Topic: SyMenu beta 8.00 Gianluca Administrator	There's a reason for this: I found a machine with the graphical issues you reported and I've been able to fix them one by one. Anyway I don't completely agree with you because some objects are still broken (for example the font inside textbox and listbox doesn't scale correctly yet and remains too small) but we are on the right path now. Thank you for your help, it was fundamental.
18/10/2023 Topic: Control Panel - 'Devices and Printers' link Gianluca Administrator	If you execute the item Control Panel - Devices and Printers, SyMenu opens the new modern setting page and not the old one for a simple reason: I don't use the GUID call but I instance it by name and MS defines the target for me accordingly with the OS. To be clear the calling to Device and Printers is this one: C:\Windows\system32\control.exe /name Microsoft.DevicesAndPrinters I should not offer a way to go to the old page for the reasons you pointed out but also because it's very easy to create the item by himself: Item type: Program Path: explorer.exe Program argument: shell:::{A8A91A66-3A7D-4424-8D24-04E180695C7A}
03/11/2023 Topic: [Suggestion] add Google Chrome Portable Gianluca Administrator	First: it's SyMenu not SyManue or SyManu. Please! Grabbing the PA version is the very last option for the SyMenu suite for several reasons: The PA installer prevented the silent install from third parties for years today. So if you are using the PA launcher you can use the silent installer otherwise you are the enemy and don't have to use their programs at all if possible. Not even thinking about using the silent install. The PA installer up to the 2.2.1.0 version, checked the FS to verify if the PAF program was executing on SyMenu or Lupo pen suite... and I don't know how many others. In that case a scary message was shown to the user. From the 2.2.1.0 version the scary message has been shown for installation and program update. Again if you install or update the same program with the PA launcher no scary message appears. I don't know how much the PA community is aware of these things but nobody is interested in this topic. They self-styled as an open community but they act as a closed one. This is the scenario that explains why I'm so reluctant in using the PA version. When I have no other options, I use their version. Regarding Google Chrome they use a network install. It means that the PAF version of this program doesn't contain the real program but a downloader. Since I don't want to use this method because it is senseless, Google Chrome can't be used in the PAF version.
03/11/2023 Topic: [Suggestion] add Google Chrome Portable Gianluca Administrator	You should. As you already know for sure you can use SyMenu as a launcher for external programs too.
19/11/2023 Topic: SyMenu beta 8.00 Gianluca Administrator	Well I'm working on the glitches but finally there is some good news: the .NET Core 8 has been released so the SyMenu version I've just published is built on a final (LTS) framework. This means I finally have a stable platform to work with. I imagine a lot of the glitches you are experiencing have not been fixed by a simple framework change but at least from now on every fix I'll do will be stably fixed. IMHO the only option stored in the SyMenuConfig.zip that can change something with visualization is the <system ... DPIUnware="False" /> that corresponds to the checkbox "Check this for issues on HD monitors" in Options - General. Every other element doesn't impact the form visualization. The change you've experienced is probably originating from some other reasons.
04/12/2023 Topic: SyMenu 8.00 Gianluca Administrator	And finally it's out. SyMenu is entering into the future with the newest MS programming framework. I'm pretty sure we will experience a lot of issues with this 8 version but, guys, it was time... A new era has started! In the next few days I'll update the manual and the other materials. Please be patient with these.
06/12/2023 Topic: update problems again Gianluca Administrator	Well your misadventure allows me to explain how to manually update SyMenu. We have two scenarios: manual update from 7.00 to 8.00; manual update from 8.xx to whatever newer. Since all the SyMenu versions are compatible with each other, it's easy to succeed in both scenarios. Let's start. Rule 1 of SyMenu manual update: do not talk about SyMenu manual update... err... that was another thing... Re-start. Rule 1 Do not touch Config and ProgramFiles folders. Never! Do not touch Icons, Plugin, and Profiles folder too, but this is not a strict rule. Rule 2 Delete all files and folders from the SyMenu main folder except the folders from Rule 1. Rule 3 Unzip the downloaded SyMenu package into the SyMenu main folder. You have to unzip the package content and get a SyMenu.exe file inside the root folder Rule 4 Grab a coffee and relax, you've finished. If SyMenu doesn't work there's a chance you are upgrading from 7.00 to 8.00 and have some plugins installed. If it's your case, delete the Plugin folder and execute SyMenu again.
06/12/2023 Topic: SyMenu 8.00 Gianluca Administrator	Hi sl23, the About windows should close clicking outside of it. Otherwise it's a bug.
07/12/2023 Topic: SyMenu 8.00 Gianluca Administrator	jopa66 wrote: Yeah, the only way to close it is click the version number which also takes you to the home page. If you have an issue like that, try pressing the ESC key on the keyboard.
07/12/2023 Topic: update problems again Gianluca Administrator	Indeed the problem is not the ProgramFiles folder. SyMenu trashes all the programs in the SPSSuite\SyMenuSuite\ folder because it doesn't find the right configuration for those programs. Precisely the Config\SyMenuItem.zip file doesn't contain a good configuration for all the programs available inside the SPSSuite\SyMenuSuite. My advice for you: restore your backup for the ProgramFiles folder AND the backup for the SyMenuItem.zip file otherwise it doesn't work. If you follow my instruction and again finish with all your program trashed it is because of the wrong SyMenuItem.zip file, not because the content of ProgramFiles. Plus the problem with the automatic update comes from your AV. Try to read the history of detection and you'll find something tied with SyMenu for sure. In fact if you find the ~Update folder it means the download has happened, the unzipping has succeeded too, but the overwrite of the old installation has been blocked by your AV that thinks it's a really dangerous activity.
07/12/2023 Topic: Cannot start from command line after 8.x update Gianluca Administrator	Hi JackoBongo, welcome to the community. SyMenu has become fully portable from the 8.00 version. It means that it takes with itself all the libraries it needs to execute (you can find them inside the folder Lib). So if you execute it in a way similar to that: C:\>D:\Symenu\SyMenu.exe you'll get an error (see it in the Windows event viewer) because your SyMenu.exe is searching for the dependencies in C:\Lib You have two solutions here: 1) Change your script defining the right working dir (SyMenu main folder). 2) Change your execution folder. To be clear this is an example using the Windows shell: C:\>CD /d D:\SyMenu D:\SyMenu>SyMenu.exe Indeed you should solve the problem with two further solutions but I don't like them very much 3) Install .NET Core 8 in your system so that it's available everywhere for everyone. But you will have the same problem every time I change the framework in the future. 4) You can add the SyMenu\Lib in your environment variable Path but you cannot move SyMenu anymore without breaking the path for Lib again edited by Gianluca on 07/12/2023
07/12/2023 Topic: New Version 8 Scaling "Yikes" Gianluca Administrator	You can set the new option available in Options - General - Check this for issues on HD monitors. I'm not joking... I implemented this option for real and it's there exactly to avoid these kinds of problems. BTW when the community members write in this forum I really appreciate a more constructive approach. What does UNUSABLE (in CAPITAL letters) mean? Can't you read the text? Are the labels cut? Are the icons too little? Have you got a bad day? I know there are still problems with FHD and UHD monitors when you set a custom scaling, I've been working on this for more than one year now, so please be patient. edited by Gianluca on 07/12/2023