This page to perform an anonymous svn checkout.
Source code for WidgetRunner is available as GoogleCode project. If you are interested in helping fix these issues, feel free to email me and I'd be happy to describe what I know about them. I've spent a bit of time trying to debug these issues, but eventually gave up. In particular, it doesn't work properly with some widgets that define custom Javascript classes (such as FlightTracker), and sometimes has issues with not setting widget window frames properly (e.g., the Address Book widget). WidgetRunner is not compatible with all Widgets. WidgetRunner works with most of the Apple-supplied Widgets, including Weather, Google, Calculator, iTunes, etc. I believe it should run under MacOS 10.5 as well. I have only tested WidgetRunner under MacOS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) on an Intel Mac. You can cause WidgetRunner to open at startup by right (or Ctrl) clicking on its icon in the dock and selecting "Options>Open at Login". You may have multiple instances (with different settings) of the same widget open. Open widgets are automatically saved at exit and re-opened at launch. To configure the level at which a widget floats, or close a widget after you have opened it, right (or Ctrl) click on it and select one of the options. (In the open dialog, click on the name of your hard drive, then Library, then Widgets) Create a new widget by selecting "New Widget." from the File menu. You're looking at it! Download and extract the program, and place it in your Applications folder. There are also commercial applications to do this, but I didn't feel it was worth $10+ for this feature Apple should have included for free, so I decided to write this bit of free software. WidgetRunner allows you to specify whether each widget should float on top, act like a normal window, or be pinned to the destkop. Though there is an undocumented hack that allows you to run Widgets on the desktop, they always float above all other windows (including PowerPoint presentations!), which I found to be pretty annoying. I find this to be a much more convenient way to run many widgets - especially those that present information, such as the Weather widget.
This is a quick hack I put together to run MacOS Dashboard Widgets on your desktop, rather than having to separately enter the dashboard to view/manipulate them.
(Version 1.0.3 - Released - Fix to remember window positions, plus other minor bugs.) (Version 1.0.2 - Released - Calculator Compatibility) (Version 1.0.1 - Released - MacOS 10.5 Compatibility)
Dashcode is included for free as part of the Developer Tools on your Mac OS X Leopard system install disks.WidgetRunner - Dashboard Widgets on the MacOS Desktop WidgetRunner - Run Dashboard Widgets on the MacOS Desktop
For those who are interested in learning how to use AppleScript in wwidgets, open the QwikFolder widget in DashCode - Apple’s IDE for creating and editing Dashboard Widgets. The QwikFolder widget uses AppleScript to accomplish its work. Then, double-click on the widget file to summon the following installation dialog:Ĭlick the Install button to add the widget to the set of widgets already installed on your computer. Installationĭownload and unpack the archive. The QwikFolder Widget (left), displaying folder destinations (right). To use, just summon Dashboard, click on Qwikfolder’s popup menu, select the folder you want, and the folder you select automatically appears opened on the desktop. The QwikFolder Widget provides single-click access to over 30 special folders such as the Utilities folder, the Application Support folder, and the various Preferences folders. There's an easier way and it’s only a click away… the QwikFolder Widget. Have you ever had to quickly navigate to one of the many special folders in the operating system, such as the Shared Items folder, or your Public folder, or Computer Preferences folder? If you're like most people you open a new Finder window, change it to column view, and start transversing the disk’s folder hierarchy.