flex-launcher

• Added OnLaunch 'Quit' mode

Version 2.0 is a new major release. Users upgrading from 1.x versions should read these release notes carefully before upgrading, as many changes are not backwards compatible.

The config file specification has been reorganized, with the settings broken down into smaller sections to make it more manageable. You will not be able to reuse your old v1.x config file, but most of the settings have been carried over to the new format. You can refer to the configuration file documentation to adapt your old config file to the new format. One thing that hasn't changed is the menu specification. You can copy and paste your old menus verbatim into your new config file.

The biggest change in functionality v2.0 relates to the OnLaunch setting. Previously, Flex Launcher would track the launched application's process status to determine when the application started and finished. This turned out to be a poor indicator of whether or not the launched application was running, particularly on Windows. Flex Launcher v2.0 uses the window focus state to determine if the application is running: when the launcher loses the window focus it assumes the application has successfully launched, and when it regains the window focus it assumes that the application has finished. Consequently, the "Hide" OnLaunch mode has been removed, since it relied on the process status which is no longer considered reliable. "Blank" is now the default, with "None" still available.

See the following list for a comprehensive summary of changes:

• Change application tracking to window focus-based instead of process based
• Remove OnLaunch "Hide" mode
• Reorganize configuration file into smaller sections
• Make VSync optional
• Add support for transparent backgrounds
• Allow control from multiple gamepads
• Allow unlimited number of slideshow backgrounds
• Make highlight optional
• Make application titles optional
• Specify color and key HEX codes with string beginning with # character
• Rename ButtonCenterline setting to VCenter
• Create dialog box on fatal errors
• Linux: Prefer native Wayland over XWayland

• Added inhibit OS screensaver feature
• Minor bugfixes
• Windows: Added "chrome_proxy.exe" to the list of supported browser processes

• Added selected icons feature
• Added StartupCmd and QuitCmd features
• New getopt-based command line parsing

• Windows: Disable system DPI scaling

• Added background overlay feature
• Added text shadows feature
• Added outline configuration option for highlight
• Added scroll indicator outline configuration option
• Fixed bug where an unmapped controller won't automatically connect upon startup

• Added :fork special command
• Enabled VSync
• Added MouseSelect setting for gyroscopic mouse support
• Windows: Added exit hotkey feature
• Windows: The :sleep special command now properly sleeps the PC instead of hibernating it

• Added clock widget to show the current time and date
• Windows: Full Unicode support implemented
• Linux: Changed .desktop file action delimiting character from pipe | to semicolon ;

• Added hotkeys feature
• Removed EscQuit setting. Esc to quit functionality is now implemented as a configurable hotkey
• Changed slideshow time units from milliseconds to seconds
• Windows: Applications now launch via WIN32 API instead of the standard C runtime
• Windows: Implemented OnLaunch setting that was previously Linux exclusive
• Windows: Fixed web browser non-blocking issue
• Linux: Improved Wayland support

• Added slideshow background mode
• Added screensaver feature
• Windows: Improved Unicode support

• Added logging interface
• Linux: Added OnLaunch setting
• Changed all RGBA color settings to RGB for simplicity. Transparency is now set solely in the separate opacity setting
• Refactored automatic file searching logic

• Added support for WebP images
• Improved handling of paths enclosed in quotes
• Windows: Added application icon to executable

Initial release