Railing

Railing is a hyper-efficient, native C++ desktop shell for Windows.

Designed as a "Glass Box" alternative to the standard Windows taskbar, it prioritizes absolute performance and transparency. Unlike modern widgets built on heavy web technologies (Electron, WebView2), Railing is built directly on the Win32 API and Direct2D. It renders at high framerates with near-zero resource usage, offering true acrylic blur, real-time hardware telemetry, and pixel-perfect customization.

Features

• ⚡ Native Performance: Written purely in C++. No web engines, no interpretation, no bloat.
• 💎 True Glass: Implements undocumented Windows 10/11 APIs for genuine, high-performance acrylic blur behind the bar.
• 📊 Hardware Telemetry:
  • GPU: Real-time temperature monitoring via DXCore (supports dedicated NVIDIA/AMD cards).
  • CPU & RAM: Accurate load usage via Windows Performance Counters.
• 🖥️ Workspaces: Seamless virtual desktop switching and visualization.
• 🎨 JSON Theming: Every pixel—margins, border widths, colors, fonts, and layouts—is scriptable via config.json.
• 🧩 Modular Architecture:
  • System Tray & Notification Area
  • Volume Control (with native flyouts)
  • Network & Battery Status
  • Clock (with custom strftime formatting)

Presets

Railing includes several built-in themes to get you started. You can find these configuration files in the presets/ directory.

---

Neon Cyberpunk

High contrast, retrowave aesthetic.

Source: neon_cyberpunk.json

---

Nordic Minimal

Matte colors, rounded corners, clean look.

Source: nordic_minimal.json

---

Glass Pill

Windows 11 style, heavy blur, floating modules.

Source: glass_pill.json

---

Red Alert

High-density, server-monitor style.

Source: red_alert.json

Directory Structure

This repository is structured as a Balcony solution containing the Railing project.

• Balcony.slnx - The main Visual Studio Solution file.
• Railing/ - Source code for the main bar application.
• presets/ - Pre-made JSON configuration themes.

Build Instructions

Prerequisites

• Windows 10 (1903+) or Windows 11.
• Visual Studio 2022 with "Desktop development with C++" workload installed.
• Windows SDK (10.0.19041.0 or newer).

Steps

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone [https://github.com/YourUsername/Balcony.git](https://github.com/YourUsername/Balcony.git)
   cd Balcony

2. Open Balcony.slnx in Visual Studio 2022.
3. Set the build configuration to Release / x64.
4. Right-click the Railing project in the Solution Explorer and select Set as Startup Project.
5. Build Solution (Ctrl+Shift+B).
6. The executable will be located in x64/Release/Railing.exe.

Important: The application requires a config.json file in the same directory as the .exe to run. Copy one from the presets/ folder or create your own.

Configuration

Railing is configured via config.json. The file is split into three main sections:

1. Global

Controls the window properties, positioning, and global aesthetic.

"global": {
  "position": "top",          // "top", "bottom", "left", "right"
  "height": 44,               // Bar thickness
  "blur": true,               // Enable Windows Acrylic blur
  "background": "#101018cc",  // Hex color (#RRGGBBAA)
  "font": "Segoe UI Variable Display"
}

2. Layout

Determines the order of modules.

"layout": {
  "left": ["workspaces"],
  "center": ["clock"],
  "right": ["cpu", "gpu", "ram", "group_hardware"]
}

3. Modules

Defines the behavior and style of specific widgets.

"gpu": {
  "type": "gpu",
  "format": "GPU {temp}\u00B0C", // Use \u00B0 for degree symbol
  "interval": 2000,              // Update every 2 seconds
  "style": {
    "bg": "#000000",
    "fg": "#00ff00",
    "border_width": 1,
    "border_color": "#00ff00"
  },
  "thresholds": [
    { "val": 80, "style": { "fg": "#ff0000" } } // Red text if temp > 80C
  ]
}

Troubleshooting

Q: My GPU module shows "0°C". A: Railing attempts to find a Dedicated GPU via DXCore. Ensure you are running on a system with a dedicated GPU drivers installed. Integrated graphics (iGPU) often do not report temperature via standard driver paths.

Q: Text looks weird or characters are broken. A: Ensure your JSON file uses Unicode Escape Sequences for special characters (e.g., use \u00B0 instead of °).

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.