In the past I've used tools such as Font Custom and IcoMoon to create webfonts for use in various web applications used much like one would used Font Awesome.
However there does not seem to be a solution that runs natively under windows. With Font Custom relying on libraries not available on windows, and IcoMoon not providing a batch / local way of doing things.
Is there a good way to do this on Windows, or does a solution not yet exist?
Bonus points if it can be done via Grunt or a Visual Studio build step.
There’s grunt-webfont (you need to use the node engine on Windows).
Related
I am currently creating an installer for my software. I decided to use WIX for it, because I read on stackoverflow that while it has a steep learning curve, it is the most versatile tool to create .msi installers.
I'm trying to create a very simple one screen installer, and I'm happy with the results so far, but some of the controls just look really outdated.
The sunken text edit doesn't really match the look and feel of Windows 10. What bothers me more is the file browsing dialog, though.
I know that I can change the logo, but the icons and everything just look like they're coming from Windows 98. Since WIX seems to be a widely adopted option for creating Windows installers, I thought there must be a solution out there to create a more modern look and feel, but I wasn't able to find anything.
Do I have to live with the outdated look? If so, do you have a better alternative for creating Windows installers (.msi not required)?
Custom GUI: Maybe I can add to Phil's answer that the WiX installer itself uses such a custom Burn GUI. You obviously have the WiX installer already, but here is a link to the WiX 3 installert for other readers.
Burn: Just to clarify: Burn is part of WiX - it is a bootstrapper / sequencer / downloader tool designed to help you run several MSI files or setup.exe binaries in sequence. Hence it allows you to also install prerequisites. The fact that it allows an external GUI is just another aspect of its primary function: to install all the setups and components you need - in the right order.
MsiSetExternalUI: For the record: the underlying feature in Windows Installer itself that allows an external GUI to be used is the function: MsiSetExternalUI? I think Installshield - one of the leading commercial tools for creating Windows setups - provides some more modern GUI features as well - using this external GUI approach, but I don't have a full overview.
Some Burn samples: There are many samples available on github.com for how to make Burn bundles with WiX. Here is a nice, first sample of what Burn can do: https://github.com/frederiksen/Classic-WiX-Burn-Theme. This shows how you can make a simple Burn GUI that has a more "modern feel".
There are many other resources available. Here are a few I would recommend:
WiX Burn XML Markup Sample - "Hello WiX Burn (on steroids)".
WiX Burn Information & Simple Markup Sample
"Hello WiX Burn" on top.
Lots of links for further information below. See section "Some Burn Sample Links".
Burn has a standard GUI available - which is more modern than the normal MSI GUI. But you can also implement the whole GUI yourself - as Phil states in his answer. Here are a couple of links on the subject:
Write your own WiX Burn setup GUI application (advanced)
https://github.com/rstropek/Samples/tree/master/WiXSamples/CustomBurnUI
More WiX samples for other aspects of WiX found a level or two higher
MSI GUI: The actual MSI files themselves can also have a customized GUI. Here is an old answer on customized MSI GUI.
To be clear: the Burn Setup.exe has one GUI and the actual MSI files included can have their own GUI embedded. The embedded GUI in MSI files can be suppressed via Burn (also by msiexec.exe install commands).
Some Links:
Uncommon UI layout for Windows installer for Techsmith Snagit
WiX root feature without Treelines
msiexec.exe to stdout
Wix - Choice of UI based on property
You get a basic UI with Windows Installer, and that's mainly because it comes from 1998 (pre .NET) and could not assume that anything (.NET, C++) was on the system other than the bare bones of Windows. And obviously it's not been modernized.
The standard way to do this is to build your own UI using Burn, supplying your own UI to contain the standard data that the install provides as it progresses. If you do a search for "burn ui wix" you'll find examples of how to provide that framework, such as this one:
https://frozencloud.wordpress.com/2016/05/03/creating-a-custom-ui-installer-with-wix-burn-bootstrapper/
It gets complicated because you need to deal with all aspects of the UI, including file-in-use dialogs, that browse dialog, and so on. There may be some complete examples somewhere if you search for examples.
On Qt Creator, is there a way separate projects can be made to open in separate windows?
The visual separation of the source code files would make comparison / copying much easier.
EDIT: From sjwarner's answer it seems it's possible to open projects in separate windows under Linux and Windows. However, I am using Mac OS X
Looking at open's man page,
-n Open a new instance of the application(s) even if one is already running.
I figured we can use it like this
open -n /path/to/Qt\ Creator.app
to open and work on multiple Qt Creator projects in parallel.
The visual separation of the source code files would make comparison /
copying much easier.
If you can't open multiple windows, you split the code window to show multiple documents side-by-side (the option is in the Window menu). How effective this is for you depends on your screen size/resolution of course.
I just open Qt Creator twice and then go from there...! You might find it easier to manage multiple projects using the session system though (File->Session Manager)...
I need to create an application for all versions of windows (XP, Vista, 7) without the need to install .NET or other 3rd party tools.
The application needs to download files asynchronous which are received in a json format and display a html page which can communicate with the application using javascript.
Is there a way to do that using an advanced IDE like Visual Studio but without requiring anything besides the application exe?
Are there any open source alternatives?
Thank you.
Look into the WebBrowser control. It's basically an Internet Explorer control you can embed in your application, and it has an interface that allows all sorts of manipulations. And given Internet Explorer is always a part of windows, it'll always be available without further installations.
Using the control requires some work. You can start by looking at Using the WebBrowser control, simplified. It uses MFC, but you can use the control with plain C++ as well.
The way I'd use it is push as many complicated tasks as possible to the browser control, and run them using JavaScript. A-synchronously downloading JSON is a pain in C++, but a no-brainer in JS. So you can basically divide your logic between C++ and JavaScript, and figure out some interface (by using, say, the DOM).
Use a text UI library. The Curses library used to be a popular option, but it is limited by copyrights.
Fortunately, there is an uncopyrighted version available.
This is called the "Console" mode.
Depending on your development environment and language of choice, it can be as simple as Ctrl+Shift+N, "Console Project" (in Visual Studio), or tweaking compiler flags (for C++). Every IDE/language provide a way to do this.
In Windows, the Console operates in two ways. Firstly, any project can create, attach to, and modify any number of console windows whenever it wants. Secondly, with a special flag in the EXE, the project will start up already attached to a console.
The latter operates subtly differently from the former. If you want a "normal" console application, I strongly suggest against creating and attaching to consoles. Just use the Console mode compiler setting.
Clipper was a popular way to do this in DOS.
I guess this is an old Clipper program. I so, there is still active support and even GUI libraries. I suggest you try xharbour. It's not DOS anymore but pure windows based. There is a free version and a pay version (visual xHarbour). With this tool you can even access SQL databases and it's 100% clipper compatible.
I want to compile a portable version of Firefox 3 on a low cost Intel Celeron Windows Xp machine to run as a kiosk computer. So i just want the browsing functionality since i'll be running it on the fullscreen mode. What are the steps to do a minimal rebuild from the sources?
Also what is firefox's command line parameters to open a site from the cmd?
A "Stripped down minimal build" doesn't really make any sense. You can't really exclude any functionality that would make it run faster or be any smaller, since most of the code that Firefox needs to render webpages is the same code that it uses to render its user interface. Forget about trying to "strip down" the code.
That being said, it sounds like you probably want to use XULRunner, which will let you use all the web browsing functionality of Firefox, but wrap it in your own GUI. You can find an ultra-minimalist browser XUL application here:
http://benjamin.smedbergs.us/xulrunner/mybrowser-0.2.2.xulapp
There is a Kiosk mode addon (more for a lock-down) for Firefox.
You may be in general interested in this other question here:
How to lock down Windows XP for use as an internet kiosk?
Here is a gHacks reference for custom builds.
and, a Prism reference.
http://webconverger.com/ provides a minimalistic OS build featuring Firefox. There is also build instructions if you want to build your own customised images.