DTLdesktop — User Guide v1.1-1

Preface

Purpose of this guide

This guide explains how to use DTLdesktop to capture, recognize, and restore a Windows desktop configuration: screen layout and orientation, the wallpaper of each monitor, and the position of every desktop icon. It covers interactive mode, the command-line options, how to read the diagnostics shown on screen, and a set of common scenarios.

For a functional description of the tool, why it was created, and how it works internally, see the DTLdesktop Reference Manual.

Intended audience

This guide is for anyone who uses DTLdesktop day to day on a multi-monitor workstation: workstation administrators, support staff who restore a desktop after a hardware change, and maintainers of the NetDTL suite. No programming knowledge is required.

Reminder: what DTLdesktop is

DTLdesktop records, as a profile, the state of a Windows desktop: screen layout and orientation, the wallpaper of each monitor, and the position of every desktop icon. It then automatically recognizes a previously known configuration, including after a physical swap of screens, and restores that entire state in a single verified operation. This reminder is deliberately short; the why and the internal workings are covered in the reference manual.

A note on language

DTLdesktop's console interface is in French. This guide describes the screens and prompts as they actually appear, with an English translation given the first time each one is introduced.

Getting started

Launching

DTLdesktop launches with no argument to open interactive mode, described in the next section. Launched with an option (for example --auto or --diagnose), it runs the corresponding action directly and exits without showing a menu; this is non-interactive mode, covered later in this guide.

Home screen and detection

On launch, DTLdesktop clears the screen, shows its header, then detects the screen configuration actually connected at that moment. For each monitor it shows the resolution, the orientation, and, for the primary screen, the corresponding label; it then shows the left-to-right layout of the screens.

DTLdesktop then states whether this configuration matches an already saved profile (Configuration sélectionnée : <profile name> — "Selected configuration") or is one it does not recognize (Nouvelle configuration — "New configuration"), in which case it proposes a default name for saving it.

What a profile is

A profile is the complete record of a desktop configuration: the screen layout, the wallpaper of each screen for both of its possible orientations, and the position of every desktop icon. Each profile is a subfolder of the Desktop folder located next to the application.

Profile naming

DTLdesktop assigns the profile name itself; there is no option to type a name. This default name describes the number of screens and their orientation (for example SingleLandscape, DualPortrait, TripleMixed). When a configuration exactly matches an already saved profile, DTLdesktop reuses that profile's name.

Automatic recognition

On every launch, DTLdesktop compares the detected configuration to the saved profiles. An exact match is recognized even if Windows has renamed the screens since the profile was saved, for example after a physical swap of two monitors. If no exact match exists but a compatible profile is found, DTLdesktop uses that instead. If nothing matches, it shows Nouvelle configuration ("New configuration").

Interactive mode

Menu overview

Once the detected configuration is shown, DTLdesktop offers the following menu, reached by typing the corresponding letter and pressing enter:

The menu stays on screen after each action, so several operations can be chained without restarting the tool.

Save the current profile (S)

Saves the current desktop state — screens, icons, and wallpapers — under the currently selected profile name (the recognized one, or the default proposed for a new configuration). If a profile of that name already exists, it is replaced by the current state. DTLdesktop confirms the number of icons and screens saved.

Apply a profile (A)

Lists the saved profiles, asks for one to be chosen by number, then states how many screens will have their orientation or layout changed by applying it. After confirmation (O/N, French for yes/no), DTLdesktop changes, in order, screen orientation and resolution, wallpapers, and then icon positions, and verifies that the result matches the profile. If this verification fails, DTLdesktop automatically attempts to return to the state that preceded the operation and shows the corresponding error message.

Restore icons only (R)

Lists the saved profiles, shows a preview of what would change (icons moved, missing, or new) without applying anything, then asks for confirmation. Once confirmed, only the desktop icon positions are restored from the chosen profile; screen layout and wallpapers are left untouched. DTLdesktop reports the number of icons restored and flags any from the profile that cannot be found on the current desktop.

Diagnose (D)

Shows the detected screen configuration. If it matches a known profile, DTLdesktop also shows the wallpaper diagnostic for that profile, screen by screen (see Reading the wallpaper diagnostic). If one or more wallpapers are inconsistent, DTLdesktop offers to correct them immediately; only wallpapers are changed, not icons or screen layout. If the configuration is not recognized, DTLdesktop states that it is a new configuration and suggests saving it with S.

Choose wallpapers (F)

Opens, for each detected screen, the Windows file picker to choose a wallpaper image; the folder opened by default is the one used in the last selection. Cancelling the selection for a screen keeps its current wallpaper. The chosen wallpapers are applied to the desktop immediately, in "Fill" mode.

Test and compare (T / C)

Both letters trigger the same action: list the saved profiles, then show, for the chosen profile, a comparison against the current desktop state — screens identical or different, number of icons moved, missing, or new, number of inconsistent wallpapers. No change is applied; this action is only meant to examine a discrepancy before deciding on a correction with A or R.

Quit (Q)

Closes DTLdesktop without performing any final action.

Non-interactive mode

Overview

Each option below runs a single action and then exits DTLdesktop, without showing the menu. This mode is intended for integration into a startup script, a scheduled task, or any automated call.

--auto

Automatically restores the profile recognized for the detected configuration — equivalent to choosing A on the recognized profile, without confirmation. If no compatible profile is found, DTLdesktop states so and makes no change.

--save

Saves the detected configuration under its recognized or default name, without asking for confirmation or a name — equivalent to S in interactive mode.

--apply <profile>

Fully applies the named profile: orientation, resolution, wallpapers, and icons — equivalent to A followed by selecting that profile and confirming.

--restore <profile>

Restores only the icons of the named profile, without touching screen layout or wallpapers — equivalent to R followed by selecting that profile and confirming.

--test <profile>

Shows a comparison between the current desktop state and the named profile, without changing anything — equivalent to T or C.

--diagnose

Shows the detected configuration and, if it matches a known profile, its wallpaper diagnostic — equivalent to D, without offering a correction.

--version shows only DTLdesktop's version number.

Exit codes

Common scenarios

First profile on a workstation

1. Connect and arrange the screens as desired, and set their orientation in Windows if needed.
2. Launch DTLdesktop. The configuration is detected and announced as new.
3. If needed, choose each monitor's wallpaper with F.
4. Save with S. The profile is created under the default proposed name.

A different wallpaper for each orientation of a screen

For a screen you sometimes rotate between landscape and portrait, DTLdesktop can automatically apply a different wallpaper depending on the actual orientation.

1. Orient the screen to landscape, choose its wallpaper with F, then save with S.
2. Rotate the screen to portrait. DTLdesktop detects the new orientation on the next launch.
3. Choose the wallpaper for portrait orientation with F, then save again with S.

Both wallpapers are now kept in the same profile; each is automatically reapplied according to the orientation detected during a restore.

Restoring after physically swapping two screens

After physically swapping the position of two monitors, Windows may reverse their device names and redistribute the icons.

1. Launch DTLdesktop. Thanks to the profile's geometric signature, the configuration is still recognized despite the change in naming.
2. Press A, select the recognized profile, and confirm.
3. DTLdesktop puts each screen's orientation, wallpapers, and icon positions back in place.

Fixing a single wallpaper without reapplying everything

1. Press D. DTLdesktop shows, screen by screen, whether the observed wallpaper matches the one expected by the recognized profile.
2. If a discrepancy is reported, answer O (yes) to the correction prompt. Only the non-conforming wallpapers are corrected.

This action does not touch screen layout or icon positions.

Automatic restore at logon

The --auto option is intended for automated calls, for example from a task run at logon or from a workstation startup script. It restores, without confirmation, the profile recognized for the configuration present at that moment, which brings back the layout, wallpapers, and icons with no manual intervention.

Telling apart two similar setups

Two physically different layouts of the same type (same screen count, same orientations) receive the same default profile name. To keep them separate:

1. Save the first configuration with S.
2. In Windows Explorer, rename the corresponding subfolder under Desktop to give it a distinctive name.
3. Set up the second configuration, then save it with S: it creates a new profile under the default name, without overwriting the renamed profile.

Messages and diagnostics

Common error messages

Reading the wallpaper diagnostic

For each screen, the diagnostic shown by D lists its resolution, orientation, the wallpaper currently observed, and a conclusion:

• ✓ conforme ("conforming"): the observed wallpaper matches the one expected by the profile for the screen's current orientation.
• ⚠ fond d'écran incohérent ("inconsistent wallpaper"): the observed wallpaper differs from the expected one; both file names are shown for comparison.

Appendices

Interactive menu quick reference

Command-line quick reference

File locations