Perdanga11

Replacement for the Windows 11 Start Menu.

Highlights & Features

• Fast Start: Written entirely in pure native C++ with zero third-party dependencies.
• Deep Multi Search: Background multi-threaded scans applications, desktop items, user libraries, and all connected drives with specific support for documents and media.
• Custom Categorized Tabs: Organize your workspace with customizable tabs (Pinned, Folders, Tools, Games, etc.). Drag-and-drop tiles to rearrange, rename tabs, or create new categories with a simple right-click.
• Consecutive Multi-Launch: Launch multiple programs in succession without the menu auto-closing simply by holding Shift while clicking (or via middle mouse click). Standard single-click launches and dismisses immediately.
• Intelligent Path: Hovering any tile displays a clean, floating info card showing the program's actual installation directory.
• Native Explorer Pinning & SendTo: Pin files, folders, and executables directly from Windows Explorer or the Desktop.
• Theme Support: Automatically adapts to Windows 11 dark and light modes.

Technology Stack

• Core: C++17 (MSVC), Win32 API, Shell APIs, DWM.
• Graphics & Rendering: GDI+, DirectComposition, and Fluent 2 typography (Display, Text).
• System Hooks & Interception: Low-level Windows hooks (WH_KEYBOARD_LL, WH_MOUSE_LL), UI Automation, and UIPI filtering.
• Configuration: Supports both portable mode and user-level storage in %APPDATA%\Perdanga11\config.ini.
• Packaging: Inno Setup 6.

📂 Project Structure

Perdanga11/
├── assets/                  # Graphical assets
│   ├── ico/
│   │   └── perdanga11.ico   # Application icon
│   └── logo/
│       └── perdanga11.png   # Fluent brand logo
│
├── src/                     # Core Application Source Code
│   ├── AppIndexer.hpp       # Asynchronous file indexer, icon cache & search scorer
│   ├── Config.hpp           # State management, INI serializer & localization
│   ├── Hooks.hpp            # Keyboard/mouse low-level hooks & UI Automation
│   ├── MenuInteraction.hpp  # Context menus, modal dialogs & system power actions
│   ├── MenuRenderer.hpp     # GDI+ double-buffered visual rendering pipeline
│   ├── MenuState.hpp        # Window state, debounced search worker & animation
│   ├── MenuWindow.hpp       # Main Win32 window message loop & event handler
│   ├── main.cpp             # Entry point, single-instance mutex & tray icon
│   ├── resource.h           # Resource ID definitions
│   └── resource.rc          # Windows resource compiler definition
│
├── installer/               # Distribution & Installer
│   ├── installer.cpp        # Lightweight standalone C++ setup utility
│   ├── installer.rc         # Embedded payload resources
│   └── setup.iss            # Inno Setup compilation script with custom theme
│
├── bin/                     # Output Directory for Binaries
│   ├── Perdanga11.exe       # Compiled executable
│   └── config.ini           # User layout and tab configuration
│
├── build/                   # Temporary build artifacts (.obj, .res)
├── dist/                    # Packaged installers (Perdanga11_Setup.exe)
├── build.bat                # Automated one-click compilation & packaging script
└── clean.bat                # Cleanup script for temporary build artifacts

Build

Prerequisites

1. Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit)
2. Visual Studio 2022 (or MSVC Build Tools) with the "Desktop development with C++" workload.
3. Inno Setup 6 (Optional, required only for compiling the setup installer wizard).

Step-by-Step Compilation Guide

1. Open x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS.
2. Navigate to the project folder:

   cd "C:\Path\To\Perdanga11"

3. Run the master build script:

   build.bat

The script will automatically:

• Compile application resources (resource.rc).
• Compile and link bin\Perdanga11.exe.
• Prepare high-resolution installer artwork from assets\logo\perdanga11.png.
• Compile the setup installer (dist\Perdanga11_Setup.exe) if Inno Setup is present.
• Launch Perdanga11.exe immediately for testing.

Cleaning Build Artifacts

To clean all intermediate .obj and .res files from the build\ folder:

clean.bat

Perdanga Forever!