Wallpaper Changer Command Line Utility

 

 

Update

This page is no longer updated, please go to the blog instead.

Visit this updated blog post where you can post comments rather than using this old static page.

Description

WallpaperChanger is a command line utility for changing the wallpaper (desktop background) in Windows. The intent of this program is not to be a standalone wallpaper program (it is too cumbersome to use for that). It is intended to be used as a "helper" utility program for another program or script.

For example, I wrote this program for use with a Java program I was writing to change the desktop wallpaper. I ran into a problem trying to get Java to change the desktop wallpaper. The best way to do it is to use one of the Windows system libraries (dlls). I decided to implement a command line utility program in C# to set a new wallpaper. My Java program executed this external utility program when it set the wallpaper.


Use

The program takes two arguments: the file (including path) to use as wallpaper, and the style (Tiled, Centered, Stretched, Fit, Fill). Instead of a file, a directory can also be specified in which case a random image from the directory will be set as the wallpaper. 
Syntax is: [file|directory] [style] [location]

	[file] is the complete path to the file
	[directory] is the complete path to a directory containing image files
	  a random image from the directory will be set as the background
	[style] is an integer (if no style is specified it defaults to Stretched):
	  0 for Tiled
	  1 for Centered
	  2 for Stretched
	  3 for Fit (Windows 7 or later)
	  4 for Fill (Windows 7 or later)
	[location] is the complete path to a directory for storing the generated file
	  defaults to the temp folder which should be fine in most cases

If the style argument is not specified it will default to Stretched.

Optional flags:
  -h, -help   - Display the usage help
  -r, -remove - Remove the current wallpaper

Alternatively a config file can be placed in the same directory as the WallpaperChanger executable.
The file should be named 'config' without any file extension.  Each line in the file should have
the full path to an image and can optionally include the style code to use.  If the style is not
specified it will default to Stretched.

The file type can be any of the standard picture types (bmp, jpg, gif, etc.). The program will automatically convert the file to a bmp file (required by windows) and place it within the users temp directory. Storing the bmp file in the temp directory should be fine in most cases, however if you would prefer to use an alternative directory you can specify it as parameter number 3.

When using the config file it should be formatted like this:

C:\wallpaper1.jpg
C:\wallpaper\wallpaper2.jpg 3
D:\wallpaper3.png 2
"D:\wallpapers to use\image1.jpg"
etc.
Full paths to the image files should be used and if the path or filename contains spaces you will need to wrap it in quotes.

The program has a return code - 0 for normal, 1 for error

An error code will be returned if the program had an exception, for example invalid syntax, invalid file name, invalid style type, etc.
 

Requirements

Because WallpaperChanger is written in C#, it requires the .NET Framework (specifically version 2.0 or later) to be installed.  If you do not have the .NET Framework installed, you can get it from Windows Update or from the Microsoft website.

Download

Download the WallpaperChanger here
 

What's New

  • 1.5 - Wallpaper is now converted to png instead of bmp to avoid artifacts
  • 1.4 - Added remove flag and config file support
  • 1.3 - Added two new styles for Windows 7 or later (Fit and Fill)
 

Disclaimer

This program is free for use and distribution. It is delivered "as-is". I have tested the program and have used it without problem in my own wallpaper changing program.

If you have questions or comments, leave a comment on my blog: http://sg20.com/techblog/2011/06/23/wallpaper-changer-command-line-utility/

The code in the program was based off of the code in a CodeProject article found at:
http://www.codeproject.com/dotnet/SettingWallpaperDotNet.asp



Last Modified: 2015-10-10