When run, the tray-based DC Decoder will appear in the Windows system tray (located on the right side of the task bar) as an icon of a dragon. By default, it watches the Windows clipboard for dragon codes, and, if one is copied to the clipboard, a window will appear in the lower right hand of the screen displaying the decoded dragon code. This window will automatically hide after the specified number of seconds (default 45), but can be immediately hidden if it is clicked on. If the system tray icon is right-clicked on, a menu of options will appear.

Menu options

Options Shows a dialog of various options and settings. About Shows a run-of-the-mill about box. Enter DC2 Allows for direct entry of a DC or DC2. Note that when a code is decoded this way, the decoder popup will not automatically hide itself and auto-appending is disabled. Reshow Re-shows the decoder popup after is has been hidden. It contains the information that last appeared in it. Close Closes the DC Decoder and removes it from the systray.

Options dialog

Monitor Clipboard Enables active monitoring of the Windows clipboard. This must be enabled for the next two options to be available. Hide window after X seconds Sets the number of seconds until a popup will automatically hide itself. Max append delay The number of seconds that new information copied to the clipboard will be appended to the currently decoded code (unless the new data is obviously a complete code). This is useful for DC's that are spread out through a signature. The first line can be copied and the DC decoder will appear, then the next line can be copied and the DC decoder will automatically append the new data on the clipboard to the previously copied code. Auto-clip multiline codes Also useful for codes which are spread out through a signature. If the clipboard contains multiple lines of text, then this option will cause the decoder to drop anything on the beginning of a new line that is not an alphabetic character. This gets around most signatures which have ASCII art in the left column. Don't auto-hide when mouse over If enabled, causes the decoder popup to not auto-hide if the mouse has been moved over it. If the mouse has been moved over it, a little pin icon will appear in the upper right of the window indicating that it will not auto-hide.