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iNexus : About : History : The Tale of DriveGaugeAs best recollected by Brian Ganninger, Lead Software Engineer Reading is FUNdamental I kept a stack a of user interface articles (since interfaces are my primary interest) by the couch that I'd printed over the past year to read in my spare time. One of the them I came across again that December afternoon was an idea from Liquid.org, which is sadly no longer around in that incarnation, but at the time had a series of articles about interesting UI revisions to the classic MacOS including a novel idea for progress bars on a volume's icon. The simple yet beautiful idea of visible drive usage (via progress bar or gauge of some type) was a deceptively simple concept that no one had done in the three years since it had first been proposed. Thus I began in earnest to see if I could do it, as a mental exercise, to learn Objective-C and gain experience creating Mac OS X applications. Let's Get It Started
I added a way to quickly restore icons by removing gauged ones and restoring a copy created the first time a gauge was added. Unfortunately there wasn't much control to stop it from gauging certain drives, and there wasn't any security. You couldn't even really see what each would look like (only the last would show up in the Preview by the time it was done.) I worked as quickly as I could though and focused on adding important features such as authentication before it was really ready for an announced, public release. This was only a first step, but it was a vital first step as it provided a built-in measure of security for an action that could effect every user. Next up... really being able to do something with it. Step By Step Revisions and enhancements continued to be added even as I worked towards my degree and the first major step on the chopping block was the ability to be able to see each drive and to be able to choose whether or not to actually draw a gauge on a given volume. This meant I had to learn tables, which actually started off quite comically. View the movie of a gauge filling up One feature of DriveGauge that was introduced in DG 2.1 that continues to be refined is customizable icon support for different volume types and even custom icons (although the support there has been less than perfect, due in part to its trickiness in handling updates and missing icons, as well as many other internal issues regarding them.) It also introduced the new Aqua look for gauges that was contributed by a user of DriveGauge 1.1.6, Pollo Warratz. From this would grow the concept of GaugeStyles to allow users to customize the appearance of each gauge as they saw fit. To this end the GaugeStyle Library was set up and launched alongside DriveGauge 3.0, which would follow on the heels of the growing interface and core functionality of DG. It's Time To Style
I continued working on DriveGauge because it was not only a product I used all the time but also a popular one with over 14,000 downloads in the first year and distribution on CD-ROMs and magazine inserts in 7 countries around the world. Apparently hard drive space is fascinating in Japan, Germany and Italy! DriveGauge 3.1 added a GaugeStyle Manager to accentuate the already useful customizability available in styles (and really, users shouldn't have to dig to find the Styles folder in the /Library/Application Support/DriveGauge/Styles/, it's not very fun but it sure is easy for the computer.) Now users would be able to preview, import, and delete styles from a single location without being forced to select a drive first. This version also added a new icon and complete Apple Help as well as fixed the #1 (and oldest) bug in DriveGauge: jagged edges on icons and gauges (it was a silly mistake, but one easily fixed once found.) All around this brought more security and flexibility to DriveGauge with more and more support for the user and more cleanup from its humbler roots. Keep On Going... DriveGauge 3.2, was released nearly a year after the original 3.0 but featured The best part - *grrrrrr* - Growl! Growl is a unique notification system that makes it easy for the user to change the look, feel, and even the behavior of notifications that pop up, and not just for any certain app but for all applications that support it, and the list keeps growing (including even Compare Folders.) DriveGauge pops up notifications whenever a drive goes over a set percentage. This is incredibly useful when you can't take your eyes off your work long enough to find the gauge on your Desktop. In addition to Growl there were many interface and component revisions to make it the most elegant and polished release in the series with a Setup Assistant to get things started. While it may not be the primary application being developed anymore DriveGauge represents the roots of Infinite Nexus and the starting point for our entire adventure. Version 4.0 is already prototyped and under development, bringing with it an entirely rewritten application built with years more experience and an eye for what possibilities lie within. Evolution of an Icon
The best is yet to come!
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Within a month of getting started 
Once I'd gotten the hang of tables 
so many new features and enhancements that it made it the most robust and coolest 