Getting the list of running programs (for a panel-like application)

veverica · 2009-05-27 15:44:09

I am trying to make a simple panel ( like bmpanel or tint2 for example ) and I need a way to get the list of running applications.
I am working with qt4, and I know a little bit of xlib. It would be great if someone could point me to some tutorial or documentation...

It would be also great to know how to minimize and maximize windows, how to kill them, and other tasks that a normal panel does

i think i should use some xlib function( atoms maybe ), but i didnt found anything useful , i have the source code of bmpanel but its worth nothing without a good documentation ... can someone please point me to one... ( maybe there is some function in qt4.5 that can help me ? )

PJ · 2009-05-27 16:32:26

You could always check out fspanel. It is pretty small and it is easy to follow the code to get a hint how to minimize, maximize, get a list of running applications and other useful things.

You might need to read the EWMH specification and the [url=]ICCCM[/url] specification. Not everything in these two specifications are for panels, a lot of the content in these two specifications are for window managers. But this is of course if you want to create a standardize application.

Not sure how much of the Xlib you will need but there are some other interesting howto's here: http://www.tronche.com/gui/x/
freedesktop.org contains a lot of specifications that might be useful: http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications

Last edited by PJ (2009-05-27 16:34:50)

moljac024 · 2009-05-27 16:33:41

You can also look into the code of existing panels...

But honestly, I don't think many people would like a qt4 panel... unless it will rock really hard

Last edited by moljac024 (2009-05-27 16:35:47)

PJ · 2009-05-27 16:57:07

The fspanel site doesn't contain much so in case you need the source you could download it from here: source for fspanel

fspanel is pretty much the one I looked at before starting to write my own. My own is still a work in progress and it will be done when it is done. I think I went to far when I started writing my own GUI toolkit...

veverica · 2009-05-27 18:50:26

thanks for the help people

@PJ
I also started to write a gui toolkit but i get lost in xlib and never really finished the project, I have around 1500 lines of code maybe it could help u...

@moljac024
I know that people usualy dont like qt, but its because every( ok almost every) qt application uses kde-libs , but i want to make a pure qt4 application and show the people the beauty of it without kde

PJ · 2009-05-27 21:29:51

veverica wrote:

I also started to write a gui toolkit but i get lost in xlib and never really finished the project, I have around 1500 lines of code maybe it could help u...

I am not writing it purely by myself, I am using the rendering engine from Openbox but that is of course made as a plugin so it would be possible to replace if I ever will get tired of Openbox. I have a total of 5000 lines of code in C++ and the GUI toolkit API is heavily influenced by Java Swing. Thanks for your offer but I am not sure if I will need your code but it is always useful to look and analyze other peoples code just to improve your own coding skills.

HashBox · 2009-05-28 00:18:13

PJ, this toolkit of yours actually sounds quite neat, do you have a home on the web for this project?

PJ · 2009-05-28 20:22:43

HashBox wrote:

PJ, this toolkit of yours actually sounds quite neat, do you have a home on the web for this project?

No, I have not put it on the web. I do have some plans for that but it will be when it is a bit more usable, now it is not even alpha quality.

HashBox · 2009-05-28 23:22:12

No problem, I wish you luck with it though

Arch Linux

#1 2009-05-27 15:44:09

Getting the list of running programs (for a panel-like application)

#2 2009-05-27 16:32:26

Re: Getting the list of running programs (for a panel-like application)

#3 2009-05-27 16:33:41

Re: Getting the list of running programs (for a panel-like application)

#4 2009-05-27 16:57:07

Re: Getting the list of running programs (for a panel-like application)

#5 2009-05-27 18:50:26

Re: Getting the list of running programs (for a panel-like application)

#6 2009-05-27 21:29:51

Re: Getting the list of running programs (for a panel-like application)

#7 2009-05-28 00:18:13

Re: Getting the list of running programs (for a panel-like application)

#8 2009-05-28 20:22:43

Re: Getting the list of running programs (for a panel-like application)

#9 2009-05-28 23:22:12

Re: Getting the list of running programs (for a panel-like application)

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