HoverDesk Tutorial - The Eyedropper Plugin

The Eyedropper Plugin.

The eyedropper is another simple plug which can pick up colors from anywhere on your desktop and display them in the R,G,B format.
It can zoom from x1 to x8 and the current color can be copied to the clipboard.

Click once inside the color picker window and hold down your mouse button, then move your pointer over the desktop. Release your mouse button to pick up the color. The R,G,B reading will be displayed in the little boxes above the colorpicker window.

To skin this we have to drop a texture on it. There's no real configuring to be done in the modules.ini file as the plug in is very restricted as to what you can do with it. For this theme I have done a very simple texture, but there are ways to jazz your eyedropper up a bit, see the bottom of the page for an example.

OK, so first right click the main tile and from the pop up menu select plugins then HoverEyeDrop (HDEyeDrop.dll)
The eyedropper plugin will appear on the desktop in position 0,0 (top left corner) in it's default state.

Right click the main tile again and from the pop up menu select plugins then HoverEyeDrop (HDEyeDrop.dll) again.
This will unload the plugin and write the necessary information to the modules.ini file.

Once more right click the main tile and from the pop up menu select plugins then HoverEyeDrop (HDEyeDrop.dll)
The eyedropper plugin will appear on the desktop in position 0,0 (top left corner) in it's default state again.

Shift and drag the eyedropper to an area we can work with it.
Now navigate to the Pixel Perfect theme folder and look for a file called eyedropper.bmp

It's simply a matter of clicking on the file and dragging onto the eyedropper plugin, then dragging it into position. My eyedropper sits just above the Recycle plugin.

trans = select 0 if your bmp does not contain any pink, select 1 if it does contain pink.
texture = the name of the bmp file to be used for the eyedropper background.

Tip: You can make the eyedropper plugin 'popup' by attaching it to a predefined tile. Either attach it directly to the tile or use theme debug mode to make the plugin popup anywhere on the desktop. (see command line plugin)

Tip: When I have my plugin configured correctly I exit HVD then reopen it.
This ensures the settings are saved.

Restrictions

The eyedropper plug is very restrictive as to what you can and can't do with it. Infact, maybe I should have done this one first as it's the easiest one to do.

The .bmp texture must be 64x64 pixels.
The color display (R,G,B numeric filed) cannot be altered or moved at all
The color picker window cannot be mover or resized at all.
Not a restriction, but the eyedropper plugin does support transparency (by using the 'great pink')

Click the picture to download the template.

Jazzing it up a Bit

The trick here is to make the eyedropper plugin 'blend' into another tile (positioned behind the plugin)
Tip: Make sure the decorative tile (behind the plugin) is set at position = bottom (accessible by right clicking the tile)