I love using the virtual desktops on Mac to separate what I'm working on at any time of day. However, I would really like for the Dock to only show the apps that are current to the desktop that I'm working on. As an example, if I'm using a text editor and terminal in the current desktop, I would like for those to be the only items on the dock. Is that possible?
I am looking for a solution that will allow me to create a desktop icon that when clicked will open a url in the user's default browser.
The solution should work for mac & windows (or alternatively will need a separate solution for windows and mac).
For this situation, creating a webpage shortcut from the browser is not enough. It needs to be an .exe or app.
I remember being able to do this with Flash back in the early 2000's.
I am currently evaluating building an app that uses the Windows Store architecture (formerly known as Metro). This app will target not just Windows Phone devices, but also Windows 10 desktop.
One function of the app would be to drag-and-drop files onto the app from File Explorer. An example scenario would be to click-and-hold on a JPEG image and drag it into the app, which would then process the file. This would provide the user with another option instead of going through file dialogs.
I can find plenty of resources about using drag-and-drop inside Windows Store apps, but it seems there's no information about drag-and-drop from a "normal" Windows desktop app, such as File Explorer.
With Windows 10, Store apps are promoted to proper windows, rather than fullscreen apps, so this functionality seems to be a bit more useful in this environment.
This comment seems to suggest that it isn't supported, but is dated two years ago and refers to Windows 8. Is this still the case with Windows 10?
Here is video tutorial and simple example on GitHub.
I want to create an application to run on a Windows 7 PC with a touch screen that is a sort of toolbox with large icons optimized for touch screens.
I need it to include a file browser with a hard coded path. That way I can auto launch the application and they will be taken to the folder right away. I would also like a section where I can put "Useful Applications" shortcuts so that they do not have to go through the start menu or the desktop.
Can someone guide me where I can start learning how I can do this? I would most likely code in C#
Get started with Windows Runtime apps. You can write a Windows Runtime app in a variety of languages, such as C# or C++ with XAML, C++ with DirectX, and JavaScript with HTML/CSS. Now you can easily create apps for Windows devices and Windows Phone from a single project.
https://dev.windows.com/en-us/getstarted
Is there any way to automatically launch an application on USB attach or CD insert on Mac OS X? it's easy on Windows, but I found that AutoRun.Inf does not work on the Mac at all.
You can't. Autostarting applications is impossible under Mac OS X.
The next-best thing, opening the CD folder and showing the installer icon, can be done by using (AutoOpen version 1.0) to make a .dmg which can then be burnt to a CD.
Basically, auto-run is considered a security problem and so is not supported in OSX. Sophie Alpert's answer is also a bit overkill. Most installers for OSX simply open up a folder to show the application and, possibly, a readme. Installing is done by dragging the app to your Applications folder.
For other kinds of apps on CDs (say, a slide show or something like that), the developer generally uses hidden folders to hide support data to ensure that the only thing the user will see when they open the CD is the single icon they're supposed to double click to start the app.
It is possible to install a background service that monitors whenever a USB device is plugged in and then launches an App. Google's "Android File Transfer Agent" is such a service that is running in the background and launches "Android File Transfer" whenever you plug in an Android device.
If you are looking for something for just yourself, you could write a small mac app that runs in the background and watches for a particular USB device (by id) to be attached and then run the program. Ideally a small XML plist could be used to map device IDs to the correct program to run. The XCode SDK has sample code that monitors for device additional and removal to get you started.
I agree with JavaCoderEx. I would crontab a task that looks for /Volumes/*/autorun.sh, then runs it once. Maybe touch a file in /tmp/ so you know its already been run, then remove it if the volume disappears.