[HOWTO] Make aMsn work with Win7 pin to taskbar

[cancausecancer]

By default in Windows 7 when you pin aMsn to the taskbar and then launch from that pin, aMsn's window doesn't appear in it's pin slot, instead it appears amongst the non pinned windows.
The reason is because aMsn.exe launches wish.exe and wish.exe isn't what is pinned in that slot.

To get around this and make your aMsn's pin work normally you must make a shortcut to wish.exe instead of aMsn.

The default location for my shortcut to aMsn was:

Code:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\amsn.exe"

But to directly launch aMsn from wish.exe I changed it to:

Code:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\bin\wish.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\scripts\AppMain.tcl"

The reason there are two paths in the new shortcut is because the first one specifies to open wish.exe, the 2nd one tells wish.exe to open call AppMain.tcl (which start up the aMsn script).

So start by creating a new shortcut to wish.exe (I went to the aMsn\bin folder and right-clicked-dragged it out and choose 'Create shortcut here' from the context menu that appeared when I ended the drag.)
Next go to the new shortcut's properties and add the path to AppMain.tcl after the path to wish.exe so it looks like my example above (unless you installed aMsn in another drive/folder, then you'll have to replace my path part with your path part)

Next change the icon from the feather to the aMsn icon (optional) by going to the shortcut's properties and clicking 'Change Icon' and then going back and selecting aMsn.exe as the icon's location.

After that you can right click and pin to the taskbar and when it launches, it'll occupy the pin's slot.


UPDATED (thanks Gordijnhoofd):

Gordijnhoofd wrote:

I had the same problem, that file didn't seem to exist. I tried a whole bunch of other .tcl-files but that didn't seem to do anything (but launching a console sometimes). Until I came across the "amsn"-file, which pretty much looked like a running-core when I looked at the code. So I tried that one and it worked.

So instead of
Code:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\bin\wish.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\scripts\AppMain.tcl"


use this
Code:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\bin\wish.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\scripts\amsn"

[kakaroto]

Hi! Welcome to the forums!
Nice first post, thanks for this HOWTO, I'll sticky your thread so others can enjoy it!

[PjhN]

Excellent, thanks very much for this cancausecancer! Only just spotted it. It's a big improvement over the default behaviour.

There's just one thing that would make it awesome...
(okay, two things, but I'm sure they're not interested in implementing 'jump list' support for now.)

Anyway, the only fault still with this is that if you minimise aMSN to the system tray (by clicking the 'X'), clicking on the pinned Taskbar shortcut will open a new instance of aMSN rather than restore the minimised instance. I know in certain circumstances this is an advantage, and of course it's certainly not a bug, but most of the time I think people only tend to use one instance, so if it were possible to set aMSN to only allow one instance to be open at a time it'd be very helpful! Is there a way kakaroto?

[kakaroto]

no, you can't, and people like amsn because it can run multiple times...

[PjhN]

Okay, fine. Note however that it wasn't a criticism kakaroto, it was a question. I said quite clearly that I appreciate there's a benefit. But it is not a benefit that everyone needs, even occasionally, and I'm sure there's a large number of aMSN users out there who've never taken advantage of the feature.

[kakaroto]

no worries, I didn't take it as a criticism, I knew exactly why you said that.. I was just in a hurry :p
And like I said, it can't be done, because I don't think we can communicate with other existing applications from amsn... there's a way that Tcl/Tk has but it has some special use cases for security so might not always work...

[siller]

a workaround could be to tell amsn just to minimize instead of minimizing to system tray,
this way it will work as the 'Default' Windows 7 behaviour.

will take a look, and maybe i can figure out how to do this, but can't promise anything.

i think i've found a solution.

NOTE: you'll have to close amsn by using the shortcut "ctrl+Q" or by using the menu account->exit...

in gui.tcl change line 5153

Code:

wm protocol . WM_DELETE_WINDOW {::amsn::closeOrDock [::config::getKey closingdocks]
to
wm protocol . WM_DELETE_WINDOW { wm state . iconic }

only bug is when clicking the system tray you'll have to double click.
first it'll remove the minimized window than reopen it. but hey who uses system tray in windows 7 right ?!

also note this action will always make you minimize when pressing the X-button


EDITE
I also made a 'clean(er)' fix
i added an extra option at closeOrDock popup window
and also fixed that small bug I've mentioned before.
if you want this version I'll upload it.

[kakaroto]

 NOTE: you'll have to close amsn by using the shortcut "ctrl+Q"

or by using the menu account->exit...
btw, I hate the way WLM acts on Win7, it's just weird..

[siller]

Edited the note ;-)

yea,
windows7 takes some getting used to.

[PjhN]

Hey! Thanks for that siller, I've given it a go. I'm actually a little torn now, as to which behaviour I prefer so far. Your fix basically turns the close ('X') button into a minimise key, which certainly keeps aMSN tethered to the taskbar. But there is an advantage to being able to close the contacts list; it you only have one chat window open, to bring it to the foreground with the contact list closed requires just the one click (on the aMSN taskbar icon). However, with your fix since the contact list is only minimised, clicking the aMSN icon brings up the choice of which window you'd prefer open, chat or contacts. And if the contacts are minimised to Tray (by double-clicking on the Tray icon), then the short-cut then starts a new aMSN instance just like normal.

I think for the time being I'll leave out your fix, simply since that although it makes life a little easier sometimes, it doesn't actually introduce any new/different behaviour, it just gives me two minimise buttons instead of one minimise and one close. So I may as well leave the code untampered with and just pay attention to what button I'm pressing.

cancausecancer's alternative short-cut for the taskbar has great advantages as it is;
> If aMSN is not running, the short-cut runs aMSN
> If the contact list is minimised to the system tray, and a chat window is minimised to the taskbar, the short-cut maximises the chat window again.
> If there are multiple aMSN windows open (chat(s) & contacts) then they're all grouped on the one icon.

So really the only extra ability that would be ideal would be
> If the contact list is minimised to system tray, and there are no chat windows open, then the short-cut will maximise the contact list again.
That'd definitely be the best of both worlds.

But honestly, thank you very much for looking into it.




p.s. As an aside on the subject of the system tray, just as a matter of interest, I do still use it in Windows 7 as there are still several programs that live down there and are of use relatively frequently;
- The Bluetooth Devices icon, which has additional options on right-click for sending/receiving files and adding new devices,
- AlwaysOnTop is one of my favourite little freeware apps for Windows, which simply gives you a list on right-click of all the windows you have open, which you can select to then have permanently in the foreground (especially useful for aMSN chat + webcamming while also browsing the internet),
- The new Volume Mixer is extremely handy to make sure program notifications don't boom over music/video sound/games, etc.

[alex30741611]

By default in Windows 7 when you pin aMsn to the taskbar and then launch from that pin, aMsn's window doesn't appear in it's pin slot, instead it appears amongst the non pinned windows.
The reason is because aMsn.exe launches wish.exe and wish.exe isn't what is pinned in that slot.

To get around this and make your aMsn's pin work normally you must make a shortcut to wish.exe instead of aMsn.

The default location for my shortcut to aMsn was:

Code:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\amsn.exe"

In my case my shortcut said it couldn't find the path of AppMain.tcl, it says it couldn't find it, also i searched for the AppMain.tcl manually and could not find it... some help please 
But to directly launch aMsn from wish.exe I changed it to:

Code:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\bin\wish.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\scripts\AppMain.tcl"

The reason there are two paths in the new shortcut is because the first one specifies to open wish.exe, the 2nd one tells wish.exe to open call AppMain.tcl (which start up the aMsn script).

So start by creating a new shortcut to wish.exe (I went to the aMsn\bin folder and right-clicked-dragged it out and choose 'Create shortcut here' from the context menu that appeared when I ended the drag.)
Next go to the new shortcut's properties and add the path to AppMain.tcl after the path to wish.exe so it looks like my example above (unless you installed aMsn in another drive/folder, then you'll have to replace my path part with your path part)

Next change the icon from the feather to the aMsn icon (optional) by going to the shortcut's properties and clicking 'Change Icon' and then going back and selecting aMsn.exe as the icon's location.

After that you can right click and pin to the taskbar and when it launches, it'll occupy the pin's slot.

[Gordijnhoofd]

By default in Windows 7 when you pin aMsn to the taskbar and then launch from that pin, aMsn's window doesn't appear in it's pin slot, instead it appears amongst the non pinned windows.
The reason is because aMsn.exe launches wish.exe and wish.exe isn't what is pinned in that slot.

To get around this and make your aMsn's pin work normally you must make a shortcut to wish.exe instead of aMsn.

The default location for my shortcut to aMsn was:

Code:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\amsn.exe"

But to directly launch aMsn from wish.exe I changed it to:

Code:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\bin\wish.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\scripts\AppMain.tcl"

The reason there are two paths in the new shortcut is because the first one specifies to open wish.exe, the 2nd one tells wish.exe to open call AppMain.tcl (which start up the aMsn script).

So start by creating a new shortcut to wish.exe (I went to the aMsn\bin folder and right-clicked-dragged it out and choose 'Create shortcut here' from the context menu that appeared when I ended the drag.)
Next go to the new shortcut's properties and add the path to AppMain.tcl after the path to wish.exe so it looks like my example above (unless you installed aMsn in another drive/folder, then you'll have to replace my path part with your path part)

Next change the icon from the feather to the aMsn icon (optional) by going to the shortcut's properties and clicking 'Change Icon' and then going back and selecting aMsn.exe as the icon's location.

After that you can right click and pin to the taskbar and when it launches, it'll occupy the pin's slot.

In my case my shortcut said it couldn't find the path of AppMain.tcl, it says it couldn't find it, also i searched for the AppMain.tcl manually and could not find it... some help please 

I had the same problem, that file didn't seem to exist. I tried a whole bunch of other .tcl-files but that didn't seem to do anything (but launching a console sometimes). Until I came across the "amsn"-file, which pretty much looked like a running-core when I looked at the code. So I tried that one and it worked.

So instead of

Code:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\bin\wish.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\scripts\AppMain.tcl"

use this

Code:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\bin\wish.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\scripts\amsn"

Grtz,
Gordijnhoofd

PS: could some admin please edit the first post and change this?

[EddBeers]

I get this message everytime i use the computer:

Tried to free a colour thatìsn`t allocated
 whereafter aMSN sswitches off. I like aMSN bit this renders it inoperable.
Is there a cure?
Usually i am using nothing more but a game or Hotmail.
Got Windows XP professional on the computer.

TNX

Ed

[ORiN]

It seems that neither "C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\scripts\AppMain.tcl" nor "C:\Program Files (x86)\aMSN\scripts\amsn" appears to be working for me.

[Anael]

EddBeers,

This is a problem with the tcl/tk libraries.
I have this error on a time, using some softwares.... view the subject

Wait & see :-(