I wrote application which makes PlayOnLinux more ergonomically. It could be freely redistributed and executed. It is written with use of GTK libraries. It meets the need of the community:

http://www.playonlinux.com/en/topic-1801-winetricks_integration.html
http://www.playonlinux.com/en/topic-2058-further_to_suggestions_re_already_installed_games.html

I know, it may contain bugs and therefore it shows basic information if executed in terminal which may help me to debug it. I'm using POL 3.4 from generic package on Fedora 10 and application works for me. The application starts in Ubuntu 8.04 but I didn't tested it.
To install POL Helper copy "POL Helper" directory to "/home/YourUsernameHere/.PlayOnLinux/plugins/" and then you can easily run it from PlayOnLinux menu.

Features list:
1) Create or Edit PlayOnLinux script
-you can add already installed application
-you can easily define Command-line
-you can correct paths in PlayOnLinux script if you were installing not in default directory

2) Change icon of PlayOnLinux script
-you can add and change icon for unsupported applications
-you don't have to worry about size of the icon as script will automatically re-size it to right size
-you chose from directory where wine throws all icons
-you've got icon preview during choosing
-supported formats are .png .xpm .ico

3) Rename PlayOnLinux script
-you can easily rename PlayOnLinux script without searching through POL directories
-you don't have to worry about assigned icon as it will be carried along

4) Create shortcut on desktop and in menu for PlayOnLinux script
-you can easily add shortcut for PlayOnLinux script
-you don't have to worry about icon, because if there was any, it will be automatically assigned to that shortcut

5) Easy use winetricks with PlayOnLinux prefixes
-you can (and have to if you want to use this feature) easily download winetricks from "http://www.kegel.com/wine/winetricks"
-you can easily use winetricks (created and maintained by Dan Kegel) on all PlayOnLinux prefixes
-you don't have to worry about winetricks and version of Wine assigned to the prefix (it is vital thing for e.g. gecko package)


The file is on file share server and it's name is "POL Helper.zip" you can download it from here

Edited by NSLW

Good Idea :-)

I'm gonna test it and add it to the download page

Thank's

Hello NSLW,

This looks very nice! i'm posting about it on Wine-Reviews now

Thanks!

Tom

It is nice to see someone is interested in my little plug-in. Thank you for making whole new post on Wine-Reviews.

btw.

I updated POL Helper. Now it can be downloaded from here Remember to delete old "POL Helper" directory.
Things changed:
-using winetricks feature gives more feedback to user (namely you see output from Dan Kegel script which is very useful if you download very large DirectX file and doesn't know what is happening, it works if terminal is xterm or konsole)
-added some warnings to prevent plug-in crashes
-fixed bug in "Create/Edit POL Script" with application executable
-added more in POLHelperPATH.conf which can be edited manually ( file exist in case some distros or future POL releases have got different paths than mine)

Edited by NSLW

Ok nice !

Some suggestions :

You'd better use POL_SetupWindow bash functions for the main part of the scripts (Main menu, rename shortcut, winetricks)
You can still use your gtk program for Create Edit POL Script

Eventually you should make a .pol file

If you do that, you'll have a personnel page for your plugin in the future POL website

About suggestions:
I think it would be hard to use POL_SetupWindow now because:

1) you don't provide all necessary documentation. I saw:
dev doc 1

dev doc 2

2) if I would create main menu with POL_SetupWindow it will look completely different and I think less ergonomically

3) Rename POL Script (as other features) contain functions and parameters that aren't available with POL_SetupWindow

4) I would have to think about communication between POL_SetupWindow and POL Helper, I don't know if i can manage that

5) IMHO it won't bring anything beside new look and double work

About .pol file:

The ScriptCreator doesn't work for me so i can not make .pol file.
I posted bug in here


Anyway, write if (and when) would you like to add it to official plug-ins list.

1) It is updated for the new version of the website, be patient ;)

2) I really don't agree with you. Users are often lost when they see a lot of differents GUIs in the same programm

3) Which one ?

4) Of course you can ;) Exemple :
POL_SetupWindow_menu "Title" "Message" "shorcut 1#shortcut 2" "#"
./pol_helper_edit_shortcut "$APP_ANSWER"
And you get the argc var in C/C++

Yes, but it will be updated and nobody knows how long it would take and I've got the plugin right now.


POL Helper is not main part of POL and user can live without it. He musn't see it at all. I think that the POL Helper gui does it task.


For example. Function to set up default directory when browsing for a file or function to restrict a file to .ico. It can't be done with POL_SetupWindow. For this reason i use C + GTK. Will you be arguing that POL_SetupWindow has the same functionality as gtk libraries?



I would like to say that I'm not a skilled programmer and and i haven't ever programmed command line. I think i might be not up to the task. And as i said it would be nothing more like double work.

BTW.

I updated POL Helper. Simply download POL Helper 09032009.zip from the known fileshare server.
Remember to delete old "POL Helper" directory before installing new version
Things changed:

1)New feature: Create POL prefix
-you can create POL prefixes everywhere (however you have to delete them manually if you don't need them anymore because POL will only delete link to it)
-you can use winetricks on POL prefix before installing an application
-you don't have to worry about free space in your home directory

2) winetricks can now be used with WINEPREFIX or POL Launcher

4)possibility to translate the plug-in
simply take one of language files and translate it to your own language. Files are in "~/.PlayOnLinux/plugins/POL Helper/bin"

5) added Polish translation

Edited by NSLW

Hey ! Pay the server if you find it to slow. It's enough complicated to manage

Tinou i didn't meant to point out that there is no full documentation for POL_SetupWindow. Sorry if you received it so. I wait and will be waiting patiently for that to come, but for now I'm writing in C where i can do almost everything without limits and.

I added a new feature in POL Helper. It allows to override DLL libraries, but before I put link on this site i would like to ask you Tinou:
Will it be ok if I add button "Visit www.dll-files.com"? The button will start Internet browser with this site and user can download there different dlls. It will help those who don't know where to find such files.

If you wish. No problems, it's your plugin

I updated POL Helper. Simply download POL Helper 14032009.zip from the known fileshare server.
Remember to delete old "POL Helper" directory before installing new version

For the first time there is feature that wasn't requested by users of this forum, but is also helpful.

Changes since 09032009:
-new feature: Override DLL library
-if you click "Create shortcut in menu" and the shortcut is already there then it'll be erased with notification about that
-German translation by me
-small improvements in code

Edited by NSLW

I updated POL Helper. Simply download POL Helper 24032009.zip from the known fileshare server.
Remember to delete old "POL Helper" directory before installing new version

Changes since 14032009:
-"Create/Edit POL Launcher" now properly handles POL Launcher created after installing from unsupported or from POL script
-POL Helper identifies invalid launchers created by POL, corrects them and notifies about that
-it is possible now to create prefixes with space in name
-shortcuts in menu and on desktop are no longer dead after POL Launcher rename (practical)
-added new possibility to paste in all text entries
-winetricks asks if you want to clean your temp directory (result even in 100 MB space saving)
-if POL Launcher chosen and DLL override chosen and DLL was overriden already then the properly type of override is preselected
-Wine Tweak with one tweak: Font Smoothing working with tahoma font (if anybody knows any useful tweak beside those in "Advanced Wine Configurator" i would be thankful for informing me )
-user can do less harm to himself at typing to the entries
-small improvements

Now i wrote little FAQ which explains what to do if you've got little space in your home directory or how does POL Helper works in some cases.

Edited by NSLW

I updated POL Helper. Simply download POL Helper 02042009.zip from the known fileshare server.
Remember to delete old "POL Helper" directory before installing new version

Changes since 24032009:
-bug with Wine 1.0.1 resolved
-Shortcuts should now work if PlayOnLinux installed from distro packages (tested on Fedora 10) anyhow you can still use generic package unpacked to your home directory (or any other directory which could be modified in "POLHelperPATH.conf")
-"Application Directory" is preselected to "dosdevices" when WINEPREFIX is set
-POL Helper links to wineprefixes outside the PlayOnLinux internal directory structure
-POL Helper detects and warns if wineprefix chosen incorrectly
-POL Helper shows error if user tries to create wineprefix on restricted partition or on NTFS partition
-"Create POL Prefix" uses wineboot now
-function for reading POL launchers was rewritten
-small code improvements
-there is possibility to create wineprefix from command line e.g. " ./POLH "PREFIXPATH" " in POL Script will create wineprefix in PREFIXPATH

If anyone finds a bug please post it as private message to me or here in this post.

I updated POL Helper. Simply download POL Helper 07052009.zip from the known fileshare server.
Remember to delete old "POL Helper" directory before installing new version or use included installation script

Changes since 02042009:
-installation script
-new feature: "Compile Wine"
-Wine version now changes properly to System
-POL Helper doesn't ask if import WINEPREFIX when saving changes to launcher
-language is changed without POL Helper restart
-you can disable features in main menu
-"Override DLL" creates backup of DLL file if it exists and then restore it on "disable and remove"
-now there is possible to choose override destination
-"Change icon" doesn't preselect "~/.local/share/icons/" if directory doesn't exist
-changes in Command Line handling to make it easier to set POL Launcher for opening files in desktop environment
-code improvements

If anyone finds a bug please post it as private message to me or here in this post.

Edited by NSLW

Iv'e copied the POL helper directory from ZIP archive 0707 version to my plugins directory
Enabled POL Helper in installed plugins (plugins manager)
Restarted playonlinux
click on POL Helper in plugins dropdown menu, but nothing happens
Tried a few times any ideas,/

Please run playonlinux from terminal and then run POL Helper and see what it displays in terminal. You may also want to configure POL as POL Helper takes environment variables from POL, but it shouldn't affect running of POL Helper

OK here is output in terminal:
Checking python : [ Ok ]
./POLH: error while loading shared libraries: libgio-2.0.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
I tried adding /home/myusername to /.playonlinux directories in polhelperpath.conf
Is this wrong