Widget engines: High-impact Strategies - What You Need to Know: Definitions, Adoptions, Impact, Benefits, Maturity, Vendors

Kevin Roebuck

Description

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In computer software, a widget engine is a software service available to users for running and displaying applets on a graphical user interface, such as that of the desktop.
The widget model in widget engines is attractive because of ease of development. Most of these widgets can be created with a few images and about 10 to several hundred lines of XML/JavaScript/VBScript source code. A single host software system, such as a web browser, runs all the loaded widgets. This allows several desktop widgets to be built sharing resources and code.
The term widget engine is not to be confused with that of a widget toolkit. Toolkits are used by GUI programmers, who combine several widgets to form a single application. A widget in a toolkit provides a single, low level interaction, and is prepared to communicate with other widgets in the toolkit. On the other hand, widget engines such as desktop widgets and web widgets are intended for end users. Desktop and web widgets are stand-alone, task-oriented applications which can be composed of several related interactions on its own. Each widget serves only a purpose that is usually addressed by the effort of one GUI widget in a full-scale application.

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In easy to read chapters, with extensive references and links to get you to know all there is to know about Widget engine right away. A quick look inside: Widget engine, Adesklets, AveDesk, Comparison of widget engines, Dashboard (software), DesktopX, GDesklets, Google Gadgets, HTML Application, Kapsules, KDE Plasma Workspaces, Makagiga (software), Microsoft Gadgets, Multiple frames interface, Opera (web browser), Samurize, Screenlets, SuperKaramba, User interface markup language, Web widget, WidSets, Windows Desktop Gadgets, XULRunner, Yahoo! Widgets, Cowsay, Desktop notes, DeskTube, Mezmerize (software), Neko (computer program), ShixxNOTE, Stickies (software), XPenguins, Xsnow, Zebtab ...and Much, Much More!

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Sujets

• Computers
• Informatique
• General officer
• General

Informations

• Publié par: Emereo Publishing
• Date de parution: 24 octobre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781743443958
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 6 Mo

Extrait

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Contents

Articles Widget engine adesklets AveDesk Comparison of widget engines Dashboard (software) DesktopX gDesklets Google Gadgets HTML Application Kapsules KDE Plasma Workspaces User:Kludgeteer/Kludgets Makagiga (software) Microsoft Gadgets Multiple frames interface Opera (web browser) Samurize Screenlets

SuperKaramba User interface markup language Web widget WidSets Windows Desktop Gadgets XULRunner Yahoo! Widgets cowsay Desktop notes DeskTube Mezmerize (software) Neko (computer program) ShixxNOTE Stickies (software) Wikipedia:Wikipedia Widget XPenguins

1 4 5 8 13 17 20 21 22 24 25 31 33 34 37 38 50 52 53 55 58 61 62 64 66 70 72 74 75 75 78 81 82 83

Xsnow Zebtab

References Article Sources and Contributors Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

Article Licenses License

84 86

88 91

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Widget engine

Widget engine

In computer software, awidget engineis a software service available to users for running and displaying applets on a graphical user interface, such as that of the desktop. The widget model in widget engines is attractive because of ease of development. Most of these widgets can be created with a few images and about 10 to several hundred lines of XML/JavaScript/VBScript source code. A single host software system, such as a web browser, runs all the loaded widgets. This allows several desktop widgets to be built sharing resources and code. The term widget engine is not to be confused with that of a widget toolkit. Toolkits are used by GUI programmers, who combine several widgets to form a single application. A widget in a toolkit provides a single, low level interaction, and is prepared to communicate with other widgets in the toolkit. On the other hand, widget engines such as desktop widgets and web widgets are intended for end users. Desktop and web widgets are stand-alone, task-oriented applications which can be composed of several related interactions on its own. Each widget serves only a purpose that is usually addressed by the effort of one GUI widget in a full-scale application.

Types

Desktop widgets

Desktop widgets (commonly just called widgets) are interactive virtual tools that provide single-purpose services such as showing the user the latest news, the current weather, the time, a calendar, a dictionary, a map program, a calculator, desktop notes, photo viewers, or even a language translator, among other things. Examples of widget engines include:

The Wikipedia Widget, in Dashboard running under Mac OS X v10.4

 Dashboard widgets of Apple Macintosh  Microsoft gadgets in Windows Vista and in the Windows Live system  Plasmoids are widgets in Plasma, the workspace for the KDE desktop environment.  Portlets in Google Desktop  Yahoo! Widgets  gdesklets, adesklets, and Screenlets in Linux  Opera widgets on all platforms (desktop, mobile TVs, gaming Early developer version of Plasma Desktop with Plasmoids consoles) using the Opera browser's rendering engine.  Homescreen widgets in Maemo Originally, desk accessories were developed to provide a small degree of multitasking, but when real multitasking OSes became available, these were replaced by normal applications.

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Widget engine

Blidgets Blidgets are desktop widgets that connect the user to a blog.

Widget draft standard On 9 November 2006, the Web Application Formats Working Group in W3C released the first public working draft [1] of Widgets 1.0. . The intention is to standardise some aspects of widgets. The Opera browser is the first client side [2] widget engine to adopt this draft W3C standard. . Apache Wookie (Incubating) is the first server side widget engine to adopt this W3C standard. Wookie is a server that manages widget instances and allows them to be embedded in web applications in addition to being provided for client devices such as Opera.

Mobile widgets Most mobile widgets are like desktop widgets, but for a mobile phone. Mobile widgets can maximize screen space use and may be especially useful in placing live data-rich applications on the device idle-screen/home-screen/"phone-top". Several Java ME-based mobile widget engines exist, but the lack of standards-based APIs for Java to control the mobile device home-screen makes it harder for these engines to expose widgets on the phone-top. Several AJAX-based native widget platforms are also available for mobile devices. The growing pervasiveness of mobile widgets is easily understood. While widgets are a convenience in the online world,they can be looked at as near-essential in the mobile world. The reason: the mobile device is small and the interface is often challenging. Wading through large amounts of information in a mobile environment isn't just a nuisance; it's a near impossibility. One of the biggest challenges of widget development is writing multiple sets of computer code so that a widget will be compatible with multiple operating systems and types of devices. Companies considering new mobile widgets should evaluate and then deploy applications according to four criteria: the business model, distribution model, server-side application framework and the run-time environment. Many solutions are growing for mobile widgets. Among them the BONDI initiative whitin OMTP is trying to defragment these solution allowing the same widget to be run on different mobile phones allowing secure access to mobile phone capabilities.

Web widgets Web browsers can also be used as widget engine infrastructures. The web is an environment well suited to distribution of widgets, as it doesn't require explicit interaction from the user to install new code snippets. Web widgets have unleashed some commercial interest, due their perceived potential as a marketing channel, mainly because they provide interactivity and viral distribution through social networks. The first known web widget, Trivia Blitz, was introduced in 1997. It was a game applet offered by Uproar.com (the leading online game company from 2000 - 2001) that appeared on over 35,000 websites ranging from Geocities personal pages to CNN and Tower Records. When Uproar.com was acquired by Vivendi Universal in 2001, the widget was discontinued.

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Widget engine

TV set widgets Widgets are also available for TV's.Yahoo! Widget Engine is announced as a component of the next generation TV sets.

Information flow of desktop widgets A desktop widget is a small footprint application, which resides on the user’s desktop using little desktop space and computer resources, such as HDD and RAM. Its purpose is to provide relevant information to the user in a non-intrusive manner and using few resources. Basically, desktop widgets enable the user to view on demand, encapsulated information from predetermined data sources. Ideally, a desktop widget must present personalized content, based on the user’s preferences. It is supposed to provide the most important information that a user requires on a day to day basis. Most of the desktop widgets are available as free downloads from the vendors’Web sites.

Notes and references [1] "Widgets 1.0" (http://www.w3.org/TR/widgets/). World Wide Web Consortium. . [2] "Web Specifications Supported in Opera 9" (http:/ /www.opera.com/docs/specs/opera9/#wml). Opera ASA. .

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adesklets

adesklets

adesklets

Desktop with running adesklets Stable release0.6.1 / 2006-03-31

Operating system

License

Website

unix-like/Linux

GPL

[1]

adeskletsis a lightweight X11 program which provides the architecture for small applets (desktop widgets) to be placed on top of the user's desktop. The applets placed on the desktop are meant to be quick ways for the user to retrieve information and not get in the way of normal activity. More formally, it could be referred to as an interactive Imlib2 console for the X Window System. adesklets stands foranother desklets container.

Desklets The programs that are run inside adesklets are called desklets and are small Python applets loaded into the adesklets daemon. Some of the available desklets include:  Clocks  Calendars  Weather  RSS feed aggregators  Controls for other applications (such as XMMS and MPD Music Player Deamon)  Animated toolbars  Desktop notes  System monitors

External links [2]  adesklets Home

References [1] http://adesklets.sourceforge.net/ [2] http://adesklets.sourceforge.net

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AveDesk

AveDesk

AveDesk

Examples of AveDesk desklets. Developer(s)Andreas Verhoeven

Operating system

Type

License

Website

Microsoft Windows

Widget engine

Donationware

[1] AveDesk

AveDeskis a freeware (although it is touted as "Donationware", which means the software is solely donation-supported in terms of financing) widget engine for Windows XP that runs small, self-contained widgets called "desklets", as well as ObjectDock "docklets" (small plugins intended for use by ObjectDock and other similar programs), and is created by Andreas Verhoeven, a freelance software programmer. Unlike most other software programs of its kind, AveDesk is heavily community driven. A dedicated section of the forums onAqua-Soft, an online community of skinning enthusiasts dedicated to emulating the look and feel of Mac OS X Leopard, is used by users of the software to report bugs or request for new software features directly to the programmer, cutting any red tape in the way. New features are also better discussed among the users of the software program and the programmer himself. The "Ave" in "AveDesk" is a shortened version of the author's name,AndreasVerhoeven.

Features AveDesk desklets are skinnable plugins developed in Visual C++ that can display themselves as widgets, rather than just simply script files. One advantage is that the desklets can have its entire appearance more easily changed to suit the tastes of its users, rather than having to create an entirely new desklet, as in most other widget engines. However, due to the same reason, users cannot easily create custom-made desklets for AveDesk as other similar programs (such as Konfabulator and DesktopX). To work around this, AveDesk users usually use a plugin calledSysStats, which allow users to easily create and run desklets for AveDesk using scripts (such as JavaScript and VBScript), coupled with specially structured INI files and computer image files that make up the look and functionality of the widget. With the release of version 1.3 of AveDesk, a new scripting engine, calledAveScripter, will be developed to take advantage of the updated internal architecture of desklets. The engine is more closely integrated with AveDesk, and is able to take advantage of the internal features that come with the new version, such as visual effects included with AveDesk and a special library of graphical user interface controls intended for AveDesk desklets, called

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AveDesk

AveControls.

Desklets AveDesk is mainly used by Windows users emulating the look and feel of Mac OS X. This can be seen in the default set of desklets included in the program. Some of the more commonly used ones include:  A "PidlShortcut" desklet (the most popular among the default set of desklets in AveDesk), a skinnable shortcut desklet that can point to a computer file or folder, but with customisable looks and functions and the ability to use a high-resolution PNG image as an icon for the shortcut (instead of the usual low-resolution Windows icon), as well as to provide additional information, such as the number of files in the folder or the size of the disk drive,  A skinnable "iTunesDesklet" desklet (also known as "AveTunes"), which is an iTunes remote control, similar in functionality to its Mac OS X's Dashboard counterpart, but can have its appearance changed through skins, and  A "StickyNotes" desklet, which can hold simple notes and is very similar to the Stickies widget in Mac OS X's Dashboard. This desklet is an updated replacement for the "Notes" desklet found in earlier versions of AveDesk.  A "Translator" desklet, which uses an online language translator to translate text from one language to another, and is similar to its Mac OS X's Dashboard's counterpart, but can have its appearance changed through skins. Among the languages supported are the more commonly spoken languages in Europe (such as English, French and German), as well as Chinese, Korean and Japanese. Version 1.3 of AveDesk adds several new internal features as mentioned earlier, and a few new desklets were made to take advantage of them. In addition to the "Translator" and "StickyNotes" desklets (which were added in version 1.3) described above, two other desklets worth mentioning are:  A "ChalkBoard" desklet. Essentially a simple electronic drawing pad, a user can use a mouse to write or draw on the pad. The user can choose between five drawing colours and three pen sizes.  A "WordSearcher" desklet, which allows a user to search either an online dictionary or thesaurus. The desklet's colour changes to green if an entry is found, and red if it is unable to find the entry. Note that this is not an exhaustive list of all the desklets included with AveDesk.

Features Among the features of AveDesk not usually found in other widget engines are:  An installer feature. New users are easily confused with the correct installation of new desklets. To work around this, desklet creators can create specially pre-packaged desklets (which are actually ZIP files with the correct directory structure and instructions for the software program). Users need only to open the package with AveDesk, which will then automatically and correctly install the desklets for the user.  Modules, which extend the functionality of the software program itself. These modules act as plugins to the AveDesk program itself, and are not desklets or widgets. Modules provide additional functionality such as the ability to show or hide "PidlShortcut" desklets that point to specific disk drives as they are mounted or dismounted, or to automatically hide all normal desktop icons when the program is started.  A themes feature. This feature allows a user of AveDesk to save the configurations and positions of AveDesk desklets he or she has running on the desktop, so if the user wishes to go back to that configuration in the future, he or she only needs to load that theme into AveDesk, saving the hassle of rearranging and reconfiguring the desklets. This feature came about after some users of earlier versions voiced the need to use multiple configurations of AveDesk desklets.  Showcase. Similar to Konfabulator's Konsposa, and patterned after Mac OS X's Dashboard and Exposa, this feature quickly brings AveDesk desklets to the foreground, with the background dimmed. The user can set the hotkeys used to activate ShowCase, as well as setting the "dimness" of the background.  The ability to add custom visual effects to desklets, and to create new ones using specially crafted scripts. Unlike other widget engines, where visual effects are limited to the scope of the widgets, users can add their own visual

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