How to use XEmbed to get alacritty terminal to drop down (SOLVED)

Strykar · 2019-11-12 01:36:50

I use the alacritty terminal which supports XEmbed.
How can I configure it so the alacritty terminal drops down/up from the top of the screen with a hotkey, like tilda or guake?

Last edited by Strykar (2019-11-12 06:13:08)

Trilby · 2019-11-12 01:53:48

Why do you assume that using XEmbed would even be part of acheiving this goal?

But if that's really the question you want to ask, the answer is that you have to write your own X11 client program that will respond to a hotkey by dropping a window down from the top of the screen like tilda or guake. Then also make that program support XEmbed, then use XEmbed to embed the alacritty terminal into your new program's window.

Of course this is probably not a very good approach to getting alacritty to drop down like those other terminals, but it is the approach that uses XEmbed.

Strykar · 2019-11-12 02:15:17

Why? Because an alacritty developer suggested XEmbed as a solution, which is supported by alacritty. https://github.com/jwilm/alacritty/issues/631
Thanks for clearing that up, using XEmbed for this is outside the scope of my abilities.

Is there another method to achieve this behavior with alacritty?

Trilby · 2019-11-12 02:21:15

Where did the developer suggest this? That's not in the link.

In any case, I'd think it'd be a lot easier to make a program/script that opened alacritty just off screen and in a series of small moves just moved the window down onto the screen. I'd do this in C with Xlib if I were to do it myself - but a script with xdotool (using windowmove and/or windowsize commands) should readily do the job.

The real point here is XEmbed is all wrong for this. XEmbed would allow you to embed the alacritty window in another window. But this just passes the buck: you still need to get that window to slide in from the top. If you have a way of getting that other window to slide in from the top, then you no longer have need for that window: just apply that method of getting the window to slide in to the alacritty window in the first place. In other words, XEmbed just adds a middle man (and a complex one at that), but it gets you no closer to the goal.

Last edited by Trilby (2019-11-12 02:23:43)

2ManyDogs · 2019-11-12 02:29:05

https://github.com/jwilm/alacritty/issues/1119

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/tdrop-git/

https://github.com/noctuid/tdrop

?

Strykar · 2019-11-12 04:37:12

Trilby wrote:

Where did the developer suggest this? That's not in the link.
In any case, I'd think it'd be a lot easier to make a program/script that opened alacritty just off screen and in a series of small moves just moved the window down onto the screen. I'd do this in C with Xlib if I were to do it myself - but a script with xdotool (using windowmove and/or windowsize commands) should readily do the job.
The real point here is XEmbed is all wrong for this. XEmbed would allow you to embed the alacritty window in another window. But this just passes the buck: you still need to get that window to slide in from the top. If you have a way of getting that other window to slide in from the top, then you no longer have need for that window: just apply that method of getting the window to slide in to the alacritty window in the first place. In other words, XEmbed just adds a middle man (and a complex one at that), but it gets you no closer to the goal.

On IRC.
[22:00:09] <<Strykar>> Would Alacritty ever consider a feature like being able to pull it down from the top of the screen? Like Tilda or Guake..
[22:00:28] <<@UndeadLeech>> No, that's the job of a WM.
[22:06:23] <<@UndeadLeech>> Strykar: On Wayland?
[06:53:57] <<Strykar>> UndeadLeech, no, Xorg
[06:57:20] <<@UndeadLeech>> I mean there you could even use XEmbed which is supported by Alacritty

Thanks for clearing that up, I'll check out xdotool.

Strykar · 2019-11-12 04:40:17

2ManyDogs wrote:

https://github.com/jwilm/alacritty/issues/1119
https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/tdrop-git/
https://github.com/noctuid/tdrop
?

I feel stupid now for missing that issue on Github.
Thank you, this does exactly what I need. Cheers!

Last edited by Strykar (2019-11-12 06:13:34)

Arch Linux

#1 2019-11-12 01:36:50

How to use XEmbed to get alacritty terminal to drop down (SOLVED)

#2 2019-11-12 01:53:48

Re: How to use XEmbed to get alacritty terminal to drop down (SOLVED)

#3 2019-11-12 02:15:17

Re: How to use XEmbed to get alacritty terminal to drop down (SOLVED)

#4 2019-11-12 02:21:15

Re: How to use XEmbed to get alacritty terminal to drop down (SOLVED)

#5 2019-11-12 02:29:05

Re: How to use XEmbed to get alacritty terminal to drop down (SOLVED)

#6 2019-11-12 04:37:12

Re: How to use XEmbed to get alacritty terminal to drop down (SOLVED)

#7 2019-11-12 04:40:17

Re: How to use XEmbed to get alacritty terminal to drop down (SOLVED)

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