Samurize 0.85b Visual Tutorial

• VincentB for remaking most of the images in .gif format to drastically reduce loading times
• My girlfriend Jo for pointing out all my typos and spelling mistakes

• Client program
• Config Program
  • The top and bottom panels
  • The Tools and Settings panel
    • Edit Meters Tab
    • Common meter settings
      • Hyperlink feature in Samurize 0.85b
    • Meter-specific settings
      • Add Text
      • Add ActiveScript
      • Add Console Program
      • Add Date/Time
      • Add Drive Space
      • Add MBM
      • Add Memory
      • Add Perfmon...
      • Add Pop3
      • Add Text File
      • Add Total Up/Down
      • Add Uptime
      • Add Winamp
      • Laptop Battery
      • Laptop Status
  • Edit Graphics Tab
  • Project Options Tab
• Step-by-step creation of a simple config
• Samurize Resource Page

Client Program

This program is the one that does all the pretty stuff; it displays your Samurize config on the desktop. You can always tell if the client is running because its icon will appear in the system tray:


When you right-click on the tray icon, you get given a menu with all the client options:

• Select Config File: lets you choose a Samurize config out of all the config files in your Configs directory.
• Reload Config: does as it says - reloads the current config. Useful for checking if scripts are working as they should be.
• Edit Config File: opens the Config program to edit the current config.
• Position: has a number of options
  • Always on top - makes the config sit on top of all other windows etc. on your desktop.
  • Pin to desktop - makes the config sit behind everything (except desktop icons) on your desktop. The config cannot be moved around in this mode.
  • Normal window behaviour - the config behaves like any other desktop window (it can be moved, brought to the front by clicking on it etc.)
• Pause: halts the Samurize config - nothing will update until this option is unchecked.
• Client Info: displays the name of the config file and its Instance Name (useful for running multiple instances of the client program)
• About: displays information about the authors and version.
• Exit: closes the client program.

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Config Program

This program is the "Config factory" - where you build your Samurize configs. When you start this program, you will be presented with a window similar to this:


The menu bar along the top should be pretty familiar to anyone who has used any kind of editor program before. The File menu contains the commands New, Open, Save, Save As and Exit. The Edit menu has Cut, Copy and Paste for duplicating Design Area objects. The Help menu has Help (opens the Samurize help), Visit Homepage and About.

The bottom & top panels

Note: If not all of the options on the bottom panel are visible, click this:

The Tools and Setting panel

This is where the real 'magic' of Samurize is done! Whether making a simple little config to sit in the corner of your desktop or a mammoth news, system and weather information panel, this is where you'll spend most of your time

Edit Meters Tab

This tab may seem a little empty at first, but that's only because you haven't added any meters yet. Clicking on the Add Meter button pops up a list of all the different types of meters Samurize has to offer.

After you have selected a meter, you will be presented with a set of options related to that meter. Some of these are common to all meters and are described in the pictures below.
 

Common Text Meter options	Common Graph Meter options
Common Progressbar Meter Options	Common Histogram Meter Options
Common Analog Meter Options

Hyperlink feature in Samurize 0.85b

The release of Samurize 0.85b heralded the introduction of a feature I have waited a long time for - the hyperlink! Any meter in your config can have a hyperlink added to it so that when you double-click the meter, a web page is opened, program executed,... - the possibilities are endless!
Every meter you add now has a new option checkbox in the Tools And Settings Panel under the Edit Meters tab called Allow Meter-Linkage:
 
Checking the box results in the following display:
 
Enter your link in the indicated text field. It can be a URL for a website (eg. http://www.samurize.com, http://www.cnn.com), a directory (eg. C:\WINDOWS), a program (eg. mspaint.exe) or a file (eg. C:\WINDOWS\Greenstone.bmp). NOTE: Links to files will be opened with the default viewer for that file type. Hyperlinks will open in Internet Exploror if they are preceded by http:// (if you remove the http:// they should open in your default browser). Hyperlinks will not work if your config is pinned to the desktop.

• Add Text
  This meter has already been fully explained in the Common Text Meter options section above.
   
• Add ActiveScript
  This is one of the most frequently asked about meters, and is probably the hardest to explain because the function usage varies from script to script. Make sure you read the script's readme file or the comments the script's author has posted when he uploaded the script on www.samurize.com so you know how to use the script.
  
   
  Notes:
  
  • Some scripts write temporary files to your hard drive so you may get warnings from antivirus software saying that they are malicious scripts. If this worries you, always check what these scripts are doing either by either asking the author or posting on the Samurize forums.
  • Scripts that do use temporary files often have a function called 'writeFile' or 'updateListing' or something similar, which do not seem to produce any result. These functions are necessary to keep the script up-to-date! Either hide them away (put no text in their text box) or mask them as a plain text meter.
  • Scripts that retreive news, TV listings etc from the internet typically need you to be connected to the internet at all times to keep them up-to-date. This may seem obvious, but you'd be surprised at how many people ask about this ;)
  • Samurize 0.85b added options to pass parameters to scripts and a button to edit the script you are using in the meter. Check the script readme or ask the script's author for details of parameters to pass. This feature will be explained better in the next revision of this tutorial.
  
   
• Add Console Program
  This meter is for running applications from the console and using their output in Samurize. Any executable program that can be run from a command prompt can be used with this meter.
    Note that some commands do not seem to work (eg. mem) - they just time out.
   
• Add Date/Time
  This meter is used to display in real-time the current time and date.
   
• Add Drive Space
  If you want to monitor disk usage, this meter is the way to go
    Note: the '%' Unit is handy if you want to display disk usage as any kind of graphical meter.
   
• Add MBM
  To use this meter, you must have Motherboard Monitor (MBM) installed and running. It displays information from MBM such as CPU temperature etc.
   
   
• Add Memory
  This meter can display information about the amount of physical or virtual memory you have in use, free and in total, and also the size of your pagefile.
   
   
• Add PerfMon...
  This meter is the richest of them all - the amount of things it can display is staggering!! There are far too many things to list here - you'll have to play around with it yourself. Some of its more common uses are shown in the step-by-step tutorial.
  
  When you first select this meter, you will be presented with the following window:
   
  Once you have selected the performance object, counter etc. the Tools and Setting Tab will display the following:
   
   
• Add Pop3
  All this meter does is simply display how many new emails you have in your POP3 email account inbox. You will need to contact your mail provider if you do not know the mail server address or port.
     
  NOTE: If your POP3 username and password do not seem to save when you enter them in the Config program, save the config file as it is, and open it in notepad. Look for a section similar to the following:
  
  [Source XX]
  Type=TMailCollector
  Port=110
  Interval=5
  UserName=
  Password=
  Server=[your mail server]
  
  Add to the line that says 'UserName=' your username, and add your password to the end of the line that says 'Password='. Save the config and open it in Samurize and it should be fixed. It's that simple!
   
• Add Text File
  This meter is similar to a plain Text meter, except that it reads from a file instead of you entering the text into the field in Samurize. It is commonly used in conjunction with scripts (eg. news scripts).
   
   
• Add Total Up/Down
  Displays how much data your computer has uploaded or downloaded from the time it was last booted.
   
   
• Add Uptime
  Displays how long your computer has been running for (since it was last booted).
   
   
• Add Winamp
  Displays info about the current track playing in Winamp (Track playlist number, artist, title). This meter works exactly the same as a Text meter. Just make sure there is a %v in the Text field area, otherwise the track info will not be displayed.
   
• Laptop Battery
  Displays info about your laptop's battery level (assuming Samurize is running on a laptop!). This meter works exactly the same as a Text meter. Just make sure there is a %v in the Text field area, otherwise the info will not be displayed.
   
• Laptop Status
  Displays info about your laptop's status (assuming Samurize is running on a laptop!). This meter works exactly the same as a Text meter. Just make sure there is a %v in the Text field area, otherwise the info will not be displayed.
   

Edit Graphics Tab

This tab allows you to add aesthetic features to your config - essentially to make it look pretty ;) You can add coloured rectangles or 32-bit alpha-transparent .png graphic files to your config using this panel. The options presented in this panel are pretty self-explanatory (or have been described in earlier sections eg. alpha blending) - have a play round with them if you're not sure about some things

Project Options Tab

This tab currently only has one option. You can change how often the client program updates your config in the Update Interval box. The lower this setting, the more often your config is updated, giving you more accurate information but consuming more CPU power.

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