Transparency (true) with transset and xcompmgr

watsonalgas · 2007-03-27 18:40:45

Could someone please point me to a script or tell me have to achieve true transparency in Openbox with xcompmgr and transset (or transset-df)?

I have it working to where you can set them each individually, but I want it set automatically when I start X. I've also tried a couple other things such as the perl script on the transset-df page, but Ihaving gotten something working full proof. Does anything know of something that will help?

prim · 2007-03-29 21:39:38

What do you mean by "set automatically"?
If you want to have xcompmgr started with X you should add it to your .xinitrc file.
If you want some per app settings, it will be difficult. There's transd but it didn't work for me. I was playing with xcompmgr only for a short time and I used the following script to make urxvt windows transparent.

urxvtc &
sleep 1
transset-df --id `xprop -root | grep "_NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW(WINDOW): window id # " | grep -o -E -e 0x[a-z0-9]+` 0.65 &> /dev/null

I use urxvtd deamon and every new window is a client (urxvtc). The script just starts new window, waits a second, then finds an ID of active window (which should be the urxvtc window opened just before) and sends that ID to transset-df. It's just a quick hack but maybe useful for you.

watsonalgas · 2007-03-31 01:24:25

Thanks for your help, I couldn't get transd working either. Your code looks like something I could use, but I can't get it to work properly. Could you give me some more instructions. I understand starting urxvtd (which I put in .xinitrc), but after that how do I implement the script? I've gotten it to work, but not perfectly. Thanks again.

prim · 2007-03-31 09:07:24

You can put the script in /usr/bin and make it executable. Give it a name like urxvt-transparent for example. Then you can start the script from command line or bind it to a button on your panel.

watsonalgas · 2007-03-31 17:42:20

Yeah, that's what I did, and it worked, but I couldn't get it to work with the Yab desklet for some reason. Other than that, do I need to do anything with urxvtc or anything else?

watsonalgas · 2007-03-31 21:27:05

I also found out that xcompmgr breaks xmoto, so there's not much point anyway....but it would be nice to have a transparent urxvt (and other windows for that matter)...but oh well, I guess I just have to wait for updates...

prim · 2007-04-01 21:22:29

I think it's more complicated with desklets, because they are not regular windows. You need some other way to find the window id.

I'm afraid there will be no updates for xcompmgr. AFAIK it was only a "proof of concept". If you want some desktop effects you should take a look at Beryl or Compiz. Xfce has also a simple compositor built in (you can have transparency and shadows under windows). With these window managers you can just start urxvt (or urxvtc) like this:

urxvt -depth 32 -bg rgba:0000/0000/0000/cccc -fg white

This way only the background of urxvt window will be transparent but not the letters.
This command also works with xcompmgr and latest openbox from svn.

Last edited by prim (2007-04-01 22:26:09)

watsonalgas · 2007-04-01 23:29:41

OK, I'll try that, thank you.

About the desklets, I wasn't trying to make the desklet transparent, but run urxvt from the Yab icon bar. It must be a special case, since I don't know why it won't run that script you gave me.

Thanks for the suggestions and help.

Arch Linux

#1 2007-03-27 18:40:45

Transparency (true) with transset and xcompmgr

#2 2007-03-29 21:39:38

Re: Transparency (true) with transset and xcompmgr

#3 2007-03-31 01:24:25

Re: Transparency (true) with transset and xcompmgr

#4 2007-03-31 09:07:24

Re: Transparency (true) with transset and xcompmgr

#5 2007-03-31 17:42:20

Re: Transparency (true) with transset and xcompmgr

#6 2007-03-31 21:27:05

Re: Transparency (true) with transset and xcompmgr

#7 2007-04-01 21:22:29

Re: Transparency (true) with transset and xcompmgr

#8 2007-04-01 23:29:41

Re: Transparency (true) with transset and xcompmgr

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