PIEPlus 2.0 Released, With WM5 Support

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.reensoft.com/PIEPlus/' target='_blank'>http://www.reensoft.com/PIEPlus/</a><br /><br /></div>PIEPlus, a popular and powerful PIE/IE Mobile add on, has been released. New features include WM5 support, new toolbar UI, back/forward menus, URL tools, and more.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/parekh-20060522-PIEPlus.gif" /><br /><br />Existing users of v1.x can <a href="http://www.reensoft.com/upgrade.html">upgrade for $7</a>. Everyone else can download a trial or purchase a copy <a href="http://www.handango.com/ampp/store/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=311&amp;productType=2&amp;productId=84128">from Handango</a> [affiliate].

[galt]

I was excited to try this but quickly ran into some problems. Trying to get into an options screen I ran into a "failed to find ___options.dll" (went away after reboot) and the menu options within the app are cut off in landscape view (imate JasJar). Also totally unable to switch to a previous tab using Tab menu option, can't enable tab bar, can't seem to enable the address bar either with or without WM5 softkeys option enabled. Seems very buggy, at least on my device, time for a quick uninstall...

[ReenSoft]

Dear galt,

Thank you for your trial of PIEPlus V2.

I was excited to try this but quickly ran into some problems.

I am so sorry for the problem.

Trying to get into an options screen I ran into a "failed to find ___options.dll" (went away after reboot)

This message indicates that the main module can not find option.dll in the same directory. But you wrote that it went away after reboot. I can't guess the reason of the problem now. But I'll check it again.

and the menu options within the app are cut off in landscape view (imate JasJar).

This is known-problem. It's more serious on sqaure screen device. I'll fix it in the next minor upgrade version.

Also totally unable to switch to a previous tab using Tab menu option,

This feature is one of the most tested features while developing. I'm afraid that this problem occurs on all other devices or only on your device. Lots of people purchased V2, but no one reported the same problem.

can't enable tab bar,

Did you turn on [Hide tab bar if there is only one tab]? Then the tab bar will be hidden if you have only one tab. Or you can enable or disable the tab bar with [Tab Bar] in [View] menu.

can't seem to enable the address bar either with or without WM5 softkeys option enabled.

You can see the address bar with [Address Bar] in [View] menu. I suppose that you checked it. Then, can't you enable or disable the address bar at all?

Seems very buggy, at least on my device, time for a quick uninstall...

I'm so sorry for the problem. But as I wrote above, no one reported the problems like yours. I'll keep trying to solve the issues.

[galt]

I tried a fresh install. This time no dll error but still running into problems:

Tab Bar - Yes, I made sure "hide tab bar" was off and I selected the Tab Bar option on the View menu. The only time the tab bar shows up is while loading a new tab or toggling Full Screen on and then off, as soon as I select the tab the tab bar disappears and won't come back. Using the menu options I am now able to switch between tabs UNLESS I turn on the WM soft keys. When these are enabled I can't switch tabs even via the menu. With the softkeys on I can also get the tabs to show up if I toggle full screen on and then off, but clicking on them switches to the selected tab and then kills the tab bar again.

Address Bar - Still can't enable it even though it is selected in the View menu and "hide address bar" is NOT selected in the options.

Could this be because my default PIE behavior is already full screen when PIEPlus is installed? I don't know, but I'm not willing to keep messing with it right now. Time to restore from last night's backup...

If no one else is having these problems maybe it's due to a software conflict or something. Thanks for following up though.

[ReenSoft]

I tried a fresh install. This time no dll error but still running into problems:

Thank you for your trial again.

Could this be because my default PIE behavior is already full screen when PIEPlus is installed?

I've got it. I made PIE full screen and installed PIEPlus. Tab bar and address bar problem occurs as you wrote. Thank you. I can fix it now. :D

I'll fix this problem in the next minor version upgrade.

Before the next version, you can fix this problem by editing a registry value. Please go to [\HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Main] and set the value of [FullScreen] to 0.

Thank you again.

[SteveHoward999]

I've used PIE+ for years. I didn't hesitate to upgrade.

SO far no problems. Nice enhancements. I would love to see some miore features to help challenge Opera.

[Menneisyys]

Just posted my review to http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=48926

It's a very nice app.

[SteveHoward999]

It's a very nice app.



What he said :-D

[galt]

I've got it. I made PIE full screen and installed PIEPlus. Tab bar and address bar problem occurs as you wrote. Thank you. I can fix it now. :D

I'll fix this problem in the next minor version upgrade.

Before the next version, you can fix this problem by editing a registry value. Please go to [\HKCU\Software \Microsoft\Main] and set the value of [FullScreen] to 0.

Thank you again.
I restored from a previous back up, made the PIE screen view default not full screen and reinstalled PIEPlus and the problem did go away. Since then I've really been able to try out the app and have found it very useful! Love the tabs, love the quick option to use a mobile proxy on the current URL (helps when trying to load Digg web pages from a link in my RSS reader).

Here's the only two problems I have:

1) Even when I select the Scroll D-pad by Page option I can't get the d-pad scroll to work consistently. It appears to kinda scroll by line while still retaining some link focus but it doesn't scroll the entire page like I was able to do with a reg. hack to the 4-Way Nav entry (Change Value from 1 to 0.). I thought the problem might be my reg. edit, but I restored from a backup again, reversed the reg edit, softreset, installed PIEPlus and still have the same problem. Tried changing the scroll by line percentage but it didn't seem to make a difference. Is there a way to have the same "scroll whole page" option with dpad in PIEPlus?

2) When using the WM5 softkey menubar option and the full screen view PIEPlus inhibits previous PIE behavior/functionality. Previously, in full screen mode I could hit the hardware softkey to temporarily bring up the softkey menu, use the menu to select a page from my favorites, and then it would load the page and return to full screen. In PIEPlus full screen, the WM5 softkey menu bar can not be temporarily restored in this manner. I know PIEPlus has functionality to map hardware keys to functions like open favorites, but it doesn't allow mapping to these softkeys. It also appears that the PIEPlus button mapping conflicts with PQZ which I just can't give up...

[galt]

One more issue, is anyone else seeing this?

When using the full screen view of PIEPlus, the full screen view is disabled (menu bars return) when another application is switched to and the user returns to PIE. The full screen view is also not maintained after a session is ended and a new one is initiated. Neither of these behaviors are consistent with regular PIE full screen behavior which maintains full screen even if one switches between applications and between sessions.

I'm really loving the functionality this app adds, the ability to quickly mobilize a URL via Mobile Leap is fantastic, but I'm very dependant on to being able to view pages in full screen and still navigate menus from the device keyboard...

[galt]

ReenSoft has continued development on PIEPlus 2.0, the latest beta version 2.1 RC2 resolves every issue I had with full screen toggling, WM5 hardware softkeys, PQZII compatibility, and scroll by page.

Not only am I very pleased with the latest version, I'm incredibly impressed with the commitment of the developers at ReenSoft to work out these issues in a pretty quick manner. Their support (via email) was prompt, pleasant and helpful every time I contacted them.

Way to go, ReenSoft!! :D