
CoolTicker Channel Hook for Awasu 2.2

David Edwards
Davide@telepath.com

Updated: November 19, 2005


DESCRIPTION

CoolTicker is a Windows application that places a scrolling ticker on the desktop.

The CoolTickerChannelHook is a vbscript that sends feed items (called "tickets") from one or more Awasu channels to the CoolTicker display.

The CoolTicker application doesn't seem to be in development any longer and there is little support. The CoolTicker website indicates that CoolTicker is free for personal use.
http://membres.lycos.fr/coolticker/


REQUIREMENTS

1. Windows XP SP2 (others may work also)

3. Windows Script 5.6 for Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=C717D943-7E4B-4622-86EB-95A22B832CAA&displaylang=en

4. Awasu RSS Reader 2.2
http://www.awasu.com/

5. CoolTicker .90A
http://membres.lycos.fr/coolticker/downloadus.html

6. CoolTicker Latest Internal Release
http://membres.lycos.fr/coolticker/lastbeta.php

7. CoolTickerChannelHook files included in this archive.



INSTALLATION

1. Windows XP, XP SP2 and Windows Script 5.6 should be installed already.

2. Awasu 2.2 should be installed and working.
   - The Awasu program folder should contain a global.ini file (you may need to create one)
   - The global.ini should contain the following text to enable VBScript:

[Scripting File Associations]
.vbs=c:\windows\system32\cscript.exe /nologo "%1" "%2"
[Script File Types]
.vbs=VBScript    


   NOTE: Be sure to restart Awasu after modifying the global.ini file

3. Unzip the CoolTickerChannelHook zip file to a temporary folder.

4. Install CoolTicker .90A to the default folder

5. Copy the CoolTicker 03-16-04 beta update to your CoolTicker installation folder.

6. Copy files from the CoolTicker_Config_Files folder to your CoolTicker installation folder.

7. Make a note of the full path to the CoolTicker/ToDo folder
Default path: C:\Program Files\CoolTicker\ToDo

8. Start the CoolTicker application
	- The "About CoolTicker" dialog must be manually closed each time CoolTicker is started
	- The ScrollBar should appear at the top of the screen.
	- A CoolTicker menu should appear in the system tray.
	- NOTE: Right-click on the icon in the system tray or the ScrollBar to see the CoolTicker menu.
	
9. Create a new folder in the Awasu\ChannelHooks called CoolTickerChannelHooks
Default Path: C:\Program Files\Awasu\ChannelHooks\CoolTickerChannelHook

10. Copy all files from the unzipped CoolTickerChannelHooks folder to the Awasu\ChannelHooks\CoolTickerChannelHook folder.

11. Testing CoolTicker
    A. Locate the one of the *_ticket_*.txt files in the CookTickerChannelHookFolder
    B. Copy one the *_ticket_*.txt files to the CoolTicker\ToDo folder
    C. If CoolTicker is running then a sample ticket should appear in the scrollbar.

12. Testing the CoolTickerChannelHook script.
    NOTE: Some firewalls and anti-spyware prevent the running of VBScript files. In this case you will probably be prompted to "Authorize" the script when it is run the first time.
    A. Open Windows Explorer to the Awasu\ChannelHooks\CoolTickerChannelHook folder
    B. double-click the CoolTickerChannelHook.bat file and follow the instructions.
    NOTE: If you did not install CoolTicker to the default location then you will need to make a change to the sample control file to point to the correct location of the CoolTicker\ToDo folder. View the CoolTickerChannelHook.bat to see which sample file is being passed to the CoolTickerChannelHook.vbs script and modify the path in that sample file before running CoolTickerChannelHook.bat.
    C. If no error messages were returned then one or more sample tickets should appear in the CoolTicker ScrollBoard
    
13. Add the CoolTickerChannelHook to an Awasu Channel
    A. Right-click on a channel in Awasu and select "properties"
    B. Choose the "Advanced" tab (or button)
    C. Choose the folder button in the Channel Hooks window.
    D. select the .hook file located at C:\Program Files\Awasu\ChannelHooks\CoolTickerChannelHook\CoolTickerChannelHook.hook

14. Configure Global Channel hook parameters.
		NOTE: Global parameters should only need to be defined once. Global parameters will not need to be defined if the CoolTickerChannelHook is added to additional channels.
    A. Click on the "Global" tab (or button) in the Channel Hook properties window
    B. Check the "GlobalTickerInboxPath" to make sure it matches the path to your CoolTicker/ToDo folder
    	The default location is C:\Program Files\CoolTicker\ToDo
    C. Set other values to preference:
    	- GlobalExpireMinutes: The number of minutes a ticket will remain in the scrollboard. If no value is specified the default value of 60 minutes will be used.
    	- GlobalMaxItemsPerRun: Not implemented
    	- GlobalTickerInboxPath: Path to the CoolTicker\ToDo folder (required)
    	- GlobalDisableThisHook: A quick way to disable this Channel Hook without removing the hook from all channels.
    	- GlobalEnableLogging: If this is true a log file will be created in the CoolTickerChannelHook folder
    	- GlobalEnableMirrorOutput: If this is true, all temporary files will be copied to the CoolTickerChannelHook\output folder. The folder will be created if it does not exist.
    	- GlobalTickerDestination: Tickets can be sent to CoolTicker's ScrollBoard or DashBoard. Tickets will be sent to the ScrollBoard if left blank.
    	
15. Configure Channel hook parameters
		Note: Channel hook parameters (non-global) need to be defined each time the channel hook is added to a channel.
		A. Click on the "Parameters" tab (or button) in the Channel Hook properties window
		B. None of the Channel-specific parameters are required. They can all be left as the default value.
		C. Set values to preference:
		  - ShortName: A name that will be displayed in the ticker before the item description to help identify which channel sent the ticket. Leave blank to disable this feature.
		  - ExpireMinutes: Overrides the GlobalExpireMinutes value.
		  - MaxItemsPerRun: Not implemented
		  - ForegroundColor: Any HTML color value in hex format (Example: #000000). The foreground color is used for the title text and the ticket seperator. All color parameters must be specified or default colors will be used.
		  - DescriptionColor: Any HTML color value in hex format (Example: #646464). The description color is used for the description text. All color parameters must be specified or default colors will be used.
		  - BackgroundColor: Any HTML color value in hex format (Example: #FFFFA4). The background color is used to color the ticket background. All color parameters must be specified or default colors will be used.
		  - DisableThisHook: Disables this channel hook for this channel only. A quick way to turn off the channel hook without removing it from the channel.
		  - TickerDestination: Overrides GlobalTickerDestination for this channel only. Tickets can be sent to CoolTicker's ScrollBoard or DashBoard. Tickets will be sent to the value specified in GlobalTickerDestination if left blank. If the global value is also blank then tickets will be sent to the ScrollBoard.
		  - EnableLogging: Enable logging for this channel only. If this is true a log file will be created in the CoolTickerChannelHook folder.
		  - EnableMirrorOutput: Enable Mirror Output for this channel only. If this is true, all temporary files will be copied to the CoolTickerChannelHook\output folder. The folder will be created if it does not exist.
		  
16. If everything is configured and working then when Awasu updates the channel, any new items will also be placed on the CoolTicker ScrollBoard (or Dashboard if configured).




USING THE "GenerateTestFeed" CHANNEL PLUGIN

The "GenerateTestFeed" Channel Plugin is a VBScript that will generate one or more sample items every time the channel is updated. This is handy way to test the CoolTickerChannelHook because most live feeds do not provide new items each time a channel is updated.

1. Create a new folder called "GenerateTestFeed" in the C:\Program Files\Awasu\ChannelPlugins folder
2. Locate the GenerateTestFeedChannelPlugin folder from the files you unzipped earlier.
3. Copy all files in the GenerateTestFeedChannelPlugin folder to the C:\Program Files\Awasu\ChannelPlugins\GenerateTestFeed folder
4. Open Awasu, press CTRL+N to create a new channel
5. Choose "Generated by channel plugin"
6. Browse to locate the C:\Program Files\Awasu\ChannelPlugins\GenerateTestFeed\GenerateTestFeed.plugin file
7. Click next to begin setting the plugin parameters.
8. Set the parameters for this Channel Plugin:
   - NumberOfItems: The number of items that will be generated each time the channel is updated.
   - ItemLink: Any sample URL
   - ItemTitle: Any text for a sample title
   - ItemDescription: Any text for sample description
9. Finish creating the channel as you normally would. This channel should not be set to update automatically because you will be updating it manually.
10. Each time you update the channel, one or more feed items are created.
11. Follow the instructions for adding the CoolTickerChannelHook to this channel if you would like to use this channel to test the CoolTickerChannelHook.


