PekWM and Xfce4-panel configuration

The_Nerd · 2006-03-12 05:53:24

Having a few problems with xfce4 panel, hopefully you guys can help.

First off...

The xfce-panel loads up and shows up fine in pekwm. Everything works well until i try to open up an xterm or a firefox window just to give two examples. the xterm window opens itself up below the panel as does the firefox window. this basically gives me a window which i can then not move easily since the titlebar at the top and the good upper portion of the window is covered by the panel. i know i can change autoproperties and have the windows spawn at a higher level than the panel, but I would like to declare borders around the panel so that nothing is allowed behind/overtop of it as well as i should not be able to move any windows any higher; basically the screen ends at the top panel. in this case i am talking about the half of the panel at the top of my desktop (taskbar).

secondly... the other half of the panel on the bottom of the window(pager, etc), has its borders defined in xfce so that no window will open up and expand below the top of the bar. for example, i press the maximise button on firefox and it maximises to the top of the bottom xfce-panel and to what would be the bottom of the top xfce-panel (wow that sounds weird to read).

i'm trying to emulate this behavior in pekwm since i've gotten used to it in xfce i know that there are probably better panels out there (i'm also trying out fbpanel, didnt like pypanel too much) but i've come to feel at home with the xfce-panel as of late, having used it for the past 2 months. any ideas on how to do such a thing via settings or am i going to have to start some sort of xfce-settings manager to track all the borders etc.

thanks in advance

syd · 2006-03-12 10:15:42

Hey

Man did you get it working (Apps maximizing over the panel)? I have the same problem at the moment.
It was working alright last time i installed it but i can remeber what i changed it the autopropertys to get it working properly.

Ben

The_Nerd · 2006-03-12 13:28:39

i can get it to maximise over or under the panel, but i'd like it to see the panel as having screen boundaries or something along those lines which it currently doesnt. i'm gonna keep tinkering with it today.... anyone else have any input?

kps · 2006-05-10 08:46:44

That's exactly what I wanted to achieve, but with openbox.

whargoul · 2006-05-10 16:29:01

It worked for me... but that was yesterday... I wonder why?

ingvildr · 2006-05-10 16:46:25

i always have the same problem, when i start a program it just maximizes like no panel is there at all, so i close the program then restart openbox and everything works :?:

The_Nerd · 2006-05-11 02:59:25

rezza and i had a chat about this not too long ago and he said that it just worked with him with the latest xfce-svn. i wasnt so lucky but i stumbled upon this little hack that'll do the trick. now if someone would be so kind as to try this and let me know how it works. and then once its working, if you figure out a good way to get rid of the window in the taskbar that the proggie takes up would be greatly appreciated.

and without further ado....

Well with the right term in hand "strut" i scoured google and found a pretty nifty solution. Edit the defined numbers as you see fit, and then compile and run the program. It gives you borders around your screen so that if you set the same size as your panels, nothing should spawn or maximize over/under/anywhere near if you dont want it to, your panels.

http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php? … b44fb30854

theres the link.. and for the shorter version

#include <stdio>
#include <X11>
#include <X11>
#include <X11>

#define LEFT 30
#define RIGHT 30
#define TOP 30
#define BOTTOM 30

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
   Display    *dpy;
   Window      win;
   XEvent      event;
   unsigned long strut[4];
   XWMHints xwmh = { (InputHint|StateHint), False, IconicState, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, };

   if ((dpy = XOpenDisplay(NULL)) == NULL) {
      fprintf(stderr, "%s: can't open %sen", argv[0], XDisplayName(NULL));
      exit(1);
   }

   win = XCreateSimpleWindow(dpy, DefaultRootWindow(dpy),
         0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0);

   XSetWMHints(dpy, win, &xwmh);
   XMapWindow(dpy, win);

   strut[0] = LEFT;
   strut[1] = RIGHT;
   strut[2] = TOP;
   strut[3] = BOTTOM;
   XChangeProperty (dpy, win, XInternAtom(dpy, "_NET_WM_STRUT", False), XA_CARDINAL, 32, PropModeReplace, (unsigned char *) strut, 4);

   while (1) {
      XNextEvent(dpy, &event);
   }
}

then to compile

gcc -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lX11 -o simple_strut simple_strut.c

Its worked really well for me thus far since the latest xfce-panel svn didnt do it.

whargoul · 2006-05-12 21:09:05

Hey, it seems to work now. Maybe it was the patch to Openbox 3.3rc2.

The_Nerd · 2006-05-13 17:18:32

i just got this e-mail this morning

From: Peng Xiaoyu

nearly one month ago, i found my xfce4-panel-svn can't work with openbox properly
also some ARCHer complaint it in our forum

Will Udovich just told me to use a simple_strut program
but today, i found a magic way to solve this problem

simply add a sleep time before lanuch openbox
let xfce4-panel complete its initialization first

here's my .xinitrc

#!/bin/sh

#
# ~/.xinitrc
#
# Executed by startx (run your window manager from here)
#

feh --bg-scale Downloads/looks/gliding_into_a_cold_dawn.jpg
xfce-mcs-manager&
xfce4-panel&
conky
sleep 1
exec openbox

since an AMD Athlon XP2500+ in my machine, one second seems enough
if this method won't work, try larger sleep time

Good Luck

hope that helps some people as well!

Arch Linux

#1 2006-03-12 05:53:24

PekWM and Xfce4-panel configuration

#2 2006-03-12 10:15:42

Re: PekWM and Xfce4-panel configuration

#3 2006-03-12 13:28:39

Re: PekWM and Xfce4-panel configuration

#4 2006-05-10 08:46:44

Re: PekWM and Xfce4-panel configuration

#5 2006-05-10 16:29:01

Re: PekWM and Xfce4-panel configuration

#6 2006-05-10 16:46:25

Re: PekWM and Xfce4-panel configuration

#7 2006-05-11 02:59:25

Re: PekWM and Xfce4-panel configuration

#8 2006-05-12 21:09:05

Re: PekWM and Xfce4-panel configuration

#9 2006-05-13 17:18:32

Re: PekWM and Xfce4-panel configuration

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