ZTools

A lightweight Windows desktop utility suite built with Avalonia UI.

Features

Window Manager

Move and resize any window on screen without grabbing its title bar or edge.

Gesture	Action
Hold modifier + left-drag anywhere in a window	Move the window
Hold modifier + right-drag anywhere in a window	Resize the window from the bottom-right corner

The default modifier key is Alt. You can switch it to Ctrl, Shift, or Win in the Window Manager settings page.

System Tray

ZTools lives in the system tray. When Minimize to Tray is enabled, closing the main window hides it rather than exiting — click the tray icon to bring it back.

Settings

• Language — English (United States) or 简体中文, or follow the system locale.
• Start with Windows — adds / removes a registry entry under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.
• Minimize to Tray — controls close-to-hide behaviour.

---

Requirements

• Windows 10 / 11 (x64)
• .NET 10 SDK (build only — the published binary is self-contained)

---

Getting Started

git clone https://github.com/zerx-lab/ztools.git
cd ztools
dotnet run

---

Developer Commands

dotnet restore                                          # restore NuGet packages
dotnet build                                            # debug build
dotnet run                                              # run in development
dotnet build -c Release                                 # release build
dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained  # portable publish

There is no solution file. Build with dotnet build ztools.csproj or just dotnet build from the project root.

During a Debug build, press F12 inside the running app to open the Avalonia Inspector.

---

Project Structure

ztools/
├── Assets/                  # Icons and style resources
│   └── Styles/
├── I18n/
│   ├── LocaleManager.cs     # Locale loading, switching, and indexer
│   └── Locales/
│       ├── en-US.json
│       └── zh-CN.json
├── Models/
│   ├── AppSettings.cs       # Persisted settings data model
│   └── NavItem.cs           # Sidebar navigation item
├── Services/
│   ├── SettingsService.cs   # Load / save settings.json
│   ├── StartupService.cs    # Windows registry startup entry
│   ├── TrayService.cs       # System tray icon and minimize-to-tray
│   └── WindowManagerService.cs  # Global mouse hook, move/resize logic
├── ViewModels/
│   ├── MainWindowViewModel.cs   # Sidebar, navigation, sidebar width
│   ├── SettingsViewModel.cs     # Settings page bindings
│   ├── WindowManagerViewModel.cs
│   └── ViewModelBase.cs
├── Views/
│   ├── MainWindow.axaml(.cs)
│   ├── SettingsView.axaml(.cs)
│   └── WindowManagerView.axaml(.cs)
├── App.axaml(.cs)           # Application entry, design tokens, theme
├── Program.cs               # Entry point ([STAThread])
├── ViewLocator.cs           # *ViewModel → *View name convention
└── ztools.csproj

---

Architecture

Program.cs → App (Application)
  └── OnFrameworkInitializationCompleted()
        ├── SettingsService.Load()         → AppSettings (%APPDATA%\ztools\settings.json)
        ├── LocaleManager.Instance.Load()  → embedded locale JSON
        └── MainWindow { DataContext = MainWindowViewModel }
              ├── ViewLocator (IDataTemplate): *ViewModel → *View
              └── ContentControl switches between feature views

MVVM is provided by CommunityToolkit.Mvvm. Source generators emit boilerplate from [ObservableProperty] and [RelayCommand] attributes on partial classes.

Compiled bindings (AvaloniaUseCompiledBindingsByDefault=true) — all XAML bindings are type-checked at build time. Binding errors are compiler errors, not runtime warnings.

---

Internationalization

Locale strings are loaded from embedded JSON files (I18n/Locales/*.json) via LocaleManager. In XAML, use {Binding L[key]}. Switching the locale fires a PropertyChanged event for "Item[]", which refreshes all bound strings automatically without a restart.

Available locale codes: en-US, zh-CN, system (auto-detect from OS).

To add a new locale:

1. Create I18n/Locales/<code>.json with all the same keys as en-US.json.
2. The EmbeddedResource glob in ztools.csproj (I18n/Locales/*.json) picks it up automatically.
3. Add a (code, displayName) entry to LocaleManager.AvailableLocales.

---

Settings Persistence

Settings are stored at %APPDATA%\ztools\settings.json. I/O errors are silently swallowed — the app falls back to defaults.

Key	Type	Default	Description
Language	string	"system"	"system" | "en-US" | "zh-CN"
Theme	string	"dark"	"dark" | "light" | "system"
StartWithWindows	bool	false	Registry startup entry
MinimizeToTray	bool	false	Close hides window instead of exiting
SidebarWidth	double	220	Last sidebar width in pixels (52–320)
WindowManagerEnabled	bool	true	Global mouse hook active
WindowManagerHotkey	string	"Alt"	Modifier key (Alt, Ctrl, Shift, Win)

---

Stack

Package	Version
Avalonia	11.3.12
Avalonia.Themes.Fluent	11.3.12
Avalonia.Fonts.Inter	11.3.12
Avalonia.Diagnostics	11.3.12 (Debug only)
CommunityToolkit.Mvvm	8.2.1
Target framework	net10.0

---

License

MIT