StackyNG v0.7.0#

Simple icon stacks solution for Windows 11

StackyNG is a small, fast program for Windows that displays the contents of a directory as a list of clickable, labeled icons. It’s designed to replace multiple taskbar shortcuts with a single, organized menu.

View Features | View Tutorial | View Build Guide | Future Roadmap

New in v0.7.0 (StackyNG)#

  • Modular Refactor: Clean, maintainable codebase split into logic-specific modules.
  • Improved Stability: Fixed menu “escaping” and UI ghosting issues.
  • Expanded Build Support: Native support for VS2022, CMake, Ninja , NMake, and MSBuild.
  • Structured Configuration: Enhanced stacky.json for advanced shortcut overrides.
  • Custom Icon Overrides: Support for .png, .ico, and other formats with transparency.
  • Dark Mode Support: Automatically follows system theme or allows manual override.
  • Dynamic Tooltips: Hover over items to see their full path or description.
  • Argument & Admin Support: Launch shortcuts with custom command-line arguments or as Administrator.
  • Asynchronous Scanning: UI remains responsive while the cache is being built.
  • Memory-Mapped Cache: High-performance Win32 cache I/O.
  • High DPI Support: Optimized icon extraction and scaling.

Architecture Overview#

StackyNG follows an optimized scan-cache-display cycle:

  1. Command Line: Receives a folder path as its first argument.
  2. Instance Signaling: If another instance is running, signals it to show the menu and exits.
  3. Asynchronous Scan: Recursively scans the target folder for .lnk files on a background thread.
  4. Memory-Mapped Cache:
    • Loads the icon and tree structure using memory mapping for maximum performance.
    • Validates cache timestamp against filesystem modification times.
  5. Modern Icon Extraction: Uses Windows Shell IImageList and WIC to extract and scale icons correctly for High DPI.
  6. Menu Construction: Dynamically builds a hierarchical HMENU.
  7. Interaction: Displays the menu at the cursor position and launches the target with ShellExecute.

Customization (stacky.json)#

StackyNG supports advanced customization via a stacky.json file. You can override names, icons, and launch arguments for individual items.

Example:

"MyGame": {
    "name": "Play Modern Warfare",
    "icon": "icons/mw.png",
    "args": "--developer-mode",
    "admin": true
}

See Tutorial for full configuration details. For a setup tool see setup stacky

How to Use It#

  1. Create a Folder: Place shortcuts to your programs inside it. Subdirectories can be used for organization.

  2. Create a Shortcut: Make a Windows shortcut to stacky.exe.

  3. Set the Target: Edit the shortcut’s target to include your folder path:

    "C:\Path\To\stacky.exe" "C:\Path\To\Your\StackFolder"

  4. Pin to Taskbar: Drag the shortcut to the taskbar.

Compilation#

See BUILD.MD for detailed build instructions using CMake, Visual Studio, or the command line.

Build Requirements#

  • Compiler: C++17 compatible (Visual Studio 2022 or later).
  • Architectures: x64, x86, ARM64.
  • SDKs: Windows SDK (Win32 + WIC + Common Controls APIs).
  • Libraries: user32, gdi32, shell32, ole32, comctl32, windowscodecs.

License#

StackyNG is open source and released under the Apache License 2.0. Original project by Pawel Turlejski. Modernized and maintained by B Dib.

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