Sort desktop icons

[daanodinot]

Hi,

I'm wondering how I would be able to sort desktop icons, say by name.

This is the handle of the desktop control:

$ListView = ControlGetHandle("Program Manager", "", "SysListView321")

But then how do I sort the icons? I've looked into the RegisterSortCallBack, SortItems and SimpleSort, and I've tried to use them according to the examples, but without any luck (i.e. nothing happens).

I hope somebody can help me out.. Thanks in advance!

[guinness]

Search the examples for some software by KaFu and Melba23 about icons and the desktop, it's called ICU.

[daanodinot]

I've Ctrl+F'd through the source, but there was no mention of "sort".

But Surely, it shouldn't that be hard.. I've tried something like this:

Global $fSortDescending = False
_GUICtrlListView_SimpleSort($ListView, $fSortDescending, 0)

But instead of sorting, a particular icon on the desktop gets selected, nothing is moved. If you put it in a loop, different icons get selected one by one, in no particular order.

Edited March 3, 2013 by KeyMs92

[Nessie]

_GUICtrlListView_SimpleSort is used to sort a listview that's why doesn't work for your aim

Hi!

[guinness]

The desktop is a type of listview, see...

expandcollapse popup

#AutoIt3Wrapper_UseX64=Y

#include <Array.au3> ; Required only for _ArrayDisplay(), but not the UDF!
#include <GUIListView.au3>

Local Const $aReturn = _GUICtrlListView_CreateArray(ControlGetHandle('[CLASS:Progman]', '', '[CLASS:SysListView32;INSTANCE:1]'))
_ArrayDisplay($aReturn, '_GetDesktopShortcuts() array.')

; #FUNCTION# ====================================================================================================================
; Name ..........: _GUICtrlListView_CreateArray
; Description ...: Creates a 2-dimensional array from a listview.
; Syntax ........: _GUICtrlListView_CreateArray($hListView[, $sDelimeter = '|'])
; Parameters ....: $hListView           - Control ID/Handle to the control
;                  $sDelimeter          - [optional] One or more characters to use as delimiters (case sensitive). Default is '|'.
; Return values .: Success - The array returned is two-dimensional and is made up of the following:
;                                $aArray[0][0] = Number of rows
;                                $aArray[0][1] = Number of columns
;                                $aArray[0][3] = Delimited string of the column name(s) e.g. Column 1|Column 2|Column 3|Column nth

;                                $aArray[1][0] = 1st row, 1st column
;                                $aArray[1][1] = 1st row, 2nd column
;                                $aArray[1][2] = 1st row, 3rd column
;                                $aArray[n][0] = nth row, 1st column
;                                $aArray[n][1] = nth row, 2nd column
;                                $aArray[n][2] = nth row, 3rd column
; Author ........: guinness
; Remarks .......: GUICtrlListView.au3 should be included.
; Example .......: Yes
; ===============================================================================================================================
Func _GUICtrlListView_CreateArray($hListView, $sDelimeter = '|')
    Local $iColumnCount = _GUICtrlListView_GetColumnCount($hListView), $iDim = 0, $iItemCount = _GUICtrlListView_GetItemCount($hListView)
    If $iColumnCount < 3 Then
        $iDim = 3 - $iColumnCount
    EndIf
    If $sDelimeter = Default Then
        $sDelimeter = '|'
    EndIf

    Local $aColumns = 0, $aReturn[$iItemCount + 1][$iColumnCount + $iDim] = [[$iItemCount, $iColumnCount, '']]
    For $i = 0 To $iColumnCount - 1
        $aColumns = _GUICtrlListView_GetColumn($hListView, $i)
        $aReturn[0][2] &= $aColumns[5] & $sDelimeter
    Next
    $aReturn[0][2] = StringTrimRight($aReturn[0][2], StringLen($sDelimeter))

    For $i = 0 To $iItemCount - 1
        For $j = 0 To $iColumnCount - 1
            $aReturn[$i + 1][$j] = _GUICtrlListView_GetItemText($hListView, $i, $j)
        Next
    Next
    Return SetError(Number($aReturn[0][0] = 0), 0, $aReturn)
EndFunc   ;==>_GUICtrlListView_CreateArray

But that function only works with listviews created within an AutoIt process.

[daanodinot]

Thanks for your reply!

Hmm.. The class of the desktop control is "SysListView32", but perhaps that's different than a 'listview'. Is there something else I could use to sort desktop icons?

EDIT

@guinness Right... so would it be possible to use a sorting function for the desktop?

Edited March 3, 2013 by KeyMs92

[guinness]

Not as far as I'm aware. You can use _ArraySort with the code above, but as far as moving the items is concerned, I wouldn't have a clue.

Edited March 3, 2013 by guinness

[Chimaera]

It could be the same thing but cant you find a way to get access to the right click desktop menus

Viewauto arrange items

OR

Sort byName

Surely there must be a registry key or something for these

Some info here

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/22555-auto-arrange-desktop-icons-setting/

Found this as well

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/88153-numerical-sorting-windows-explorer-enable-disable.html

hope it helps

Edited March 4, 2013 by Chimaera

[daanodinot]

Thank you. Yes, all the setings are present in [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsShellBags1Desktop]

But the difficulty for me, is how I can have Windows read or write to this key. By default, this key is read when explorer.exe is loaded, and, strangely, it is only written to when the user logs off.

Edited March 5, 2013 by KeyMs92

[Chimaera]

Well write to the key then refresh explorer like this

RunWait(@ComSpec & " /c " & "taskkill /f /im explorer.exe", "", @SW_HIDE) ; close explorer
 RunWait(@ComSpec & " /c " & "start " & @WindowsDir & "\explorer.exe", "", @SW_HIDE) ; restart explorer

Edited March 5, 2013 by Chimaera

[daanodinot]

Thanks. Yes, I know that can be done, but then I still prefer to do it via the interface directly using the Send function. Unless, of course I can let Windows read the registry key without restarting explorer but my guess is that, that is impossible.