dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

moetunes · 2014-02-03 08:24:08

Hi MoonSwan, there's no theme.ini file that is used with snapwm. Where did you find that?
snapwm has three conf files; rc.conf, key.conf and apps.conf, that should be placed in ~/.config/snapwm/ and edited to suit. If you used the PKGBUILD sample confs can be found in /usr/share/snapwm, if you used git they will be in the git directory.
I stop the cursor being a X by adding a line to ~/.xinitrc:

xsetroot -cursor_name left_ptr &

I log in via a tty. If you use a desktop manager(lightdm, slim, kdm etc) you'll have to check it's documentation but I thought they ran that command as default... (I haven't used a dm for nearly a decade)
I don't know why the cursor would be disappearing, that's not normal, the window manager does nothing with cursors and I've never had dramas with them on the intel hardware I use here. I do think it is a configuration issue but if you keep having problems we can try to sort it out.

Cheers

MoonSwan · 2014-02-05 02:22:16

Hi Moetunes, sorry for the confusion I was thinking of the "themes" section of the rc.conf file! Thank you for the xsetroot command, I'll definitely put that in my .xinitrc. Being able to have one desktop in Grid mode and another in Fullscreen is a blessing. I am so in love with snapwm!

As for the cursor issue, I agree I must have something set wrong somewhere but I have no idea where to look. It may calm down with your xsetroot command. I'll let you know if it's still an issue after experimenting with snapwm further.

My thanks to you, your hard work and quick reply. It is all appreciated!

moetunes · 2014-02-08 09:05:46

I'm glad you're enjoying the wm MoonSwan, it works well for me
The sample.rc.conf file has lots of comments to help you get started setting the colours up. There's the wiki too.

Cheers

MoonSwan · 2014-02-10 19:55:37

Good day Mr. Moetunes! I did use your xsetroot command and indeed I have no more cursor issues. Yay! As for the colours I just found Pychrom from Xyne's repo and am going to use that to get the correct numbers to use in the rc.conf file.

I realise that, as you said, you don't use a login manager but I have been experimenting with Slim and wondered if you might be able to venture a guess regarding its behaviour and snapwm.

Slim allows you to choose a WM/DE to log into while you're at the login screen where you enter a name and password. I've found that this works brilliantly with, for example, Xfce4 and Openbox. However, I've also been trying to get Slim to work with snapwm as a choice at Slim's login screen. So far I've managed to read Slim's documentation (such as it is) and the Arch wiki but both give the same answers about modifying Slim's config file (you have to uncomment the "sessions directory" line and add snapwm to the "sessions" line listing your WM/DE preferences). No luck thus far with snapwm so I started to wonder why snapwm doesn't behave in a similar way to other WMs' interaction with Slim.

Please understand that I'm not a coder (though at times I wish was) and I'm not asking for a patch or how to address this situation. I am merely curious and trying to understand at a basic level (if that's possible) what's going on here.

Thank you for your help and snapwm.

MS

moetunes · 2014-02-10 23:59:16

I'm happy to see the cursor issue was a simple fix MoonSwan.

Being a lightweight window manager snapwm doesn't bother about sessions, I've never come across a need for one. i also haven't seen anyone mention the need to make a file for snapwm in /usr/share/xsessions so it can be used from slim(I don't even have that directory here...). I wonder if you've changed exec openbox-session to exec snapwm-session in .xinitrc, I've seen that done before and it won't work. exec snapwm in .xinitc is all that's needed. Let me know if that works for slim and I'll add it to the wiki.

Cheers

stlarch · 2014-02-11 16:59:57

I'm not sure about slim, but I've done it before with lightdm. I had to make a symbolic link.

ln -s ~/.xinitrc ~/.xsession

I used something like this for /usr/share/xsessions.

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Snapwm
Exec=/etc/X11/Xsession

moetunes · 2014-02-15 18:53:27

Thanks for the info stlarch, I've been waiting 'till I hear from MoonSwan on what worked there before adding to the wiki.
I'll add the info for making the file in /usr/share/xsessions.

Cheers

chickenPie4tea · 2014-02-16 15:50:00

can you clarify the names confusion?
on the first page of this thread you gave a github address for snapwm but on the wiki it links to nextwm, which one should I use for the latest version or are they the same? I'm guessing that the nextwm is more experimental?
also you mention on one posting, "larrythewindowmanager" WTF!
I am running the version I built from the snapwm git address,

is there a way of sending commands to snapwm using a keybinding app (I use sxhkd) instead of setting the keybindings in the key.conf?

also where can you configure making room on part of the screen say a band going along the bottom
this is because I miss having a system tray to show running apps so would like to try running trayer or some such.
It's just handy being able to click on things like your clipboard manager to see the list of cliped items.
so far really liking this easy to use wm

Last edited by chickenPie4tea (2014-02-16 19:22:48)

moetunes · 2014-02-16 21:32:45

Hi chickenpie4tea,
the first post in this thread has a hyperlink to the Nextwm repo, that is the first and main place snapwm is hosted. I was undecided on what I was going to call it, and it went through a couple of name changes, so I used a generic type name for the repo. The snapwm in the Nextwm repo is the development version and there is a snapwm-stable repo which is updated to the development version every now and again.

Larrythewindowmanager is a lighter version of snapwm with no inbuilt bar, no stacking mode and a few other things left out but still has reloadable config files. I've also mentioned in the thread that I've built a light analogue clock using only xlib and a gui alarm clock...

snapwm doesn't listen for input from any other apps. I think the key.conf is pretty straightforward to edit and since it can be reloaded in the running wm the whole process of adding/changing keybindings is pretty friendly. I'm not interested in making it harder... Is there something you are having trouble doing?

The bar in snapwm can be on the top or the bottom and that can be changed in the running wm, so adding a space for an external bar opposite to where snapwm's bar is might be a little bit tricky but it seems like it could be handy for some so I'll see what I can do.

Cheers

chickenPie4tea · 2014-02-16 21:47:29

Hi thanks for the reply, I was just asking about if it would accept external commands out of curiosity. I agree the keys config is very easy to change.
About the bar - if there was a possibility to change it's length, therefore allowing room at one end for something else?
I guess I could learn to live without a tray - most folk seem to manage fine without one!
I might try using stalonetray with it.
Great little WM

Last edited by chickenPie4tea (2014-02-17 16:01:31)

moetunes · 2014-02-19 20:51:28

I've addd an option in rc.conf to shorten the bar so there's room for an external app on the right. It's off by default so if it's not needed nothing needs to be done. It takes a value in pixels, zero(0) is full length and like everything else it can be changed in the running wm.

BAR_SHORT 0
or
BAR_SHORT 250

As always it is up to the user to make sure the length of the open windows' name and any status info will still fit.

@chickenPie4tea, that should let you run a system tray

Cheers

chickenPie4tea · 2014-02-20 12:56:39

That's really cool, especially for folks who want to use a 3rd party tray.
The other thing I wondered about was is there a way to make the bar always visable no matter what. At the moment if I maximize somthing it covers the bar and to see it again I have to keep pressing Win+b I would like it so that the bar is never hidden by even a maximized app as happens in i3, or DWM etc.

moetunes · 2014-02-20 14:03:43

I've never had an app cover the bar but i don't use every app.
So I can test here, what app/s is/are covering the bar and in what mode; stacking, tiling or fullscreen and do you have anything in apps.conf for it/them? How do you maximise the app?

chickenPie4tea · 2014-02-20 21:49:25

sorry maybe i was wrong as it doesn't happen now, what does happen is:
when I first log in to snapwm there is no bar showing so I have to press Win b
if I open an app on tag 1 then with the mouse click on tab 2 the bar dissapears again so I press Win b to get it back
if I then click on tab 2 the bar dissapears again
However once this has happened on all the tabs and I bring the bar back it doesn't dissapear any more
this also only happens with mouse clicking on the tab.

moetunes · 2014-02-20 22:38:27

Have a look at ~/.config/snapwm/rc.conf for the line

SHOW_BAR 1

which should be set to zero(0) to have the bar visible on all desktops from the start.
snapwm will remember the toggle state for the bar for each desktop.

chickenPie4tea · 2014-02-21 08:20:40

ok thanks, I thought setting it to 0 would mean I was switching it off, the rc file has a lot of helpfull hints, maybe add one more for folk like me?!
I tried setting the system try app called "Trayer" to go at the top right to fill the gap and it fits in but when I use tile mode it gets tiled with the other open apps, not sure how to stop that.

Tested out the new bar option of lenght and working fine, so is the show on all desktops bar 0 setting.
I found the app that was covering the bar, it's urxvt. It doesn't cover the tag/desktop numbers but the rest of the bar. However since it's the only app that I can find that is doing this(only in stacking mode) it's no big deal as I can still see the tag numbers and maybe I can just set a limited size for xterm to show in.
So far this is the snappiest wm I have tried including DWM , it's old Grandpa?!

Last edited by chickenPie4tea (2014-02-21 13:51:52)

moetunes · 2014-02-21 20:10:36

For an app not to have it's window tiled it needs to have the override redirect flag set. Trayer doesn't seem to have that option. I'll see if ignoring windows set as a dock won't be too much extra code so you can use trayer --SetTypeDock true. Since it only takes 3 lines to set the override redirect flag in an app it would be simpler to patch trayer...

I've been using urxvt for ages and it's never covered the bar here. The switcher and the rest of the bar are the same things so there's no reason it would cover one and not the other. If you let me know what are you doing to have it cover the bar I can try and sort it out.

I tried dwm once but it was horribly limited. The first post in this thread has a link to the catwm thread which will show you how I started hacking windows managers.

chickenPie4tea · 2014-02-21 21:01:28

Please don't bother writing code just for me - I'll try other trays etc. As for urxvt I'll just set it to open in a certain dimension. I dont use it often anyway I use Guake.

moetunes · 2014-02-22 09:18:45

Since I had already added the option to shorten the bar I went ahead and set snapwm to not do anything with apps that set '_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DOCK' which trayer will do with the option --SetTypeDock true.
It was only about a dozen lines of code.

Other people might be having the same issue you are with urxvt, now or in the future, so I'd like to sort it out if I can...

Cheers

chickenPie4tea · 2014-02-23 08:09:11

hi, thanks for the ignore dock apps addition, now my tray gets left alone and doesn't tile.
about urxvt terminal coverint the bar in stacking mode - I took a screenshot to show how it goes off the top of the screen covering the bar but not the tag numbers for some reason.
Ignore that black vertical oblong as that was some sort of glitch produced by the screenshot app - it's hard to see as the termial background and the bar and desktop are all near black but you can notice the terminals scrollbar. Also that text to the right is conky on the desktop. xterm and terminator behave normally in stacking mode

screenshot

Last edited by chickenPie4tea (2014-02-23 08:50:06)

moetunes · 2014-02-23 09:57:37

Looking at that screenshot there is no border on the urxvt window top or bottom...
Something on your system is setting urxvt to be huge that is why it is covering the bar. In stacking mode snapwm will let the app be the size it requests or if there is a size setting in apps.conf it will resize it to that.
You will have to go through some config files to check as urxvt doesn't do that by default.
I would have a grep -i for urxvt through ~/.{Xdefaults,Xresources,xinitrc,bashrc,bash_alias,config/snapwm/apps.conf} or anywhere else you can think of for some geometry setting. If you use xprop on the urxvt window it will tell you how tall it actually is.
I could set the window manager to not allow any part of the window off screen to try and help you out with that but I find dragging most of a window off screen to have it out of the way useful at times. If I set snapwm to not allow a window to cover the bar you would still have a lot of the urxvt window off screen at the bottom. Sorry, but this is one of those times where there is an error in a config for an app and I don't think it's appropriate for the wm to try and manage that.
If you can't find a solution try a setting in apps.conf for urxvt.

I hope that helps the situation

Cheers

chickenPie4tea · 2014-02-23 10:49:54

I fully understand what you say and agree, and as I say I dont use urxvt often, I could just as easily start up xterm or just press a couple of keys to put it into a different mode. I will check out some configs tho out of interest.
Edit:
ok solved the urxvt - i had an entry in .Xresources that set the dimensions to 100x80 ! I removed it and it acts normaly now.
I do notice with Geany and Spacefm that they sometimes partialy obscure the bar but not fully, in stacking mode only.
below link to screenshot, again ignore the black oblong! just look at the bar at the top.
screenshot

Last edited by chickenPie4tea (2014-02-23 11:06:01)

moetunes · 2014-02-23 21:11:26

I think this is a similar situation to the urxvt one. Do geany or spacefm have size and position settings in a config or do they remember their last size when closed and open at the same size and position?
In case it is the latter try resizing and moving geany, close it and open it again and see what happens.

chickenPie4tea · 2014-02-24 08:12:35

I havent set any size settings for them but I don't know if they remember size I imagine they would, have checked through their preferences and can't see anything. I have put them into stackiing mode and resized them smaller to see if this has any effect. They don't do the over the bar thing all the time so it may not show up immediately, we'll see.
Edit: I resized them smaller and moved them down a bit but it still happens, doesn't bother me though but just thought i would mention it.

I am glad you decided to include a built-in bar. Quite a few wm's don't, maybe to save memory? but then you have to fiddle around trying to set it up with a 3rd party bar and if you end up using dzen2 for instance it ends up using more memory than if the wm just included it's own.

Last edited by chickenPie4tea (2014-02-24 14:39:37)

windowsrefund · 2014-02-25 18:52:13

thanks for snapwm!

I'd love to have a way to execute a few things when snapwm starts. More specifically, switch to a particular desktop (rather than accept the default value of 1) and then fire up a terminal

Arch Linux

#526 2014-02-03 08:24:08

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#527 2014-02-05 02:22:16

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#528 2014-02-08 09:05:46

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#529 2014-02-10 19:55:37

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#530 2014-02-10 23:59:16

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#531 2014-02-11 16:59:57

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#532 2014-02-15 18:53:27

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#533 2014-02-16 15:50:00

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#534 2014-02-16 21:32:45

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#535 2014-02-16 21:47:29

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#536 2014-02-19 20:51:28

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#537 2014-02-20 12:56:39

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#538 2014-02-20 14:03:43

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#539 2014-02-20 21:49:25

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#540 2014-02-20 22:38:27

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#541 2014-02-21 08:20:40

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#542 2014-02-21 20:10:36

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#543 2014-02-21 21:01:28

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#544 2014-02-22 09:18:45

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#545 2014-02-23 08:09:11

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#546 2014-02-23 09:57:37

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#547 2014-02-23 10:49:54

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#548 2014-02-23 21:11:26

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#549 2014-02-24 08:12:35

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

#550 2014-02-25 18:52:13

Re: dminiwm snapwm & bipolarbar

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