[solved] BSPWM how to set up bar/panel/whatever

mindcrime · 2014-11-14 22:35:13

I plan on moving to BSPWM if I can figure out one thing first.

I do not understand "bar"/"panel" configuration (can I even use those terms interchangeably?)! I am used to Awesome and I understand BSPWM to be quite Unix-like-y in that it only deals with one thing: the WM. I like that, but I do not understand how people get the "panel" or the "bar" setup (again, are those terms interchangeable?). Can I not just install Dzen2 and put a line in my bspwmrc file that will make it work?

I have read the two guides created by the developer and a user that exist but I still do not understand. And I don't want to install the WM and clutter up my system until I know I will be able to get a simple bar or panel or whatever setup quickly.

Last edited by mindcrime (2014-11-15 18:48:38)

Zactoid · 2014-11-14 23:10:52

The term "panel" is just what it used to refer to such applications as bar; which is used as an example in bspwm.

And yes, you can use Dzen2 instead.

I'm not going to write another tutorial for you about how to use a panel with bspwm; instead you could provide more information about the specifics you don't understand about other tutorials or the steps you took in previous attempts and maybe someone could assist you further.

mindcrime · 2014-11-14 23:20:02

From BSPWM For Dummies:

Configuration

Add the following to /etc/profile or /etc/zsh/zprofile: export PANEL_FIFO="/tmp/panel-fifo"

Copy the scripts in bspwm/examples/panel/panel and bspwm/examples/panel/panel_bar to some directory. Add this directory to your $PATH using export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/panel/scripts. Make the scripts executable running chmod +x panel && chmod +x panel_bar

I am a bit confused. Is the copying of the bspwm/examples/panel/panel and panel/bar necessary if I do not want to use the example (and use something else like Dzen and configure it myself)?

Will I have to deal with making scripts executable and such? I don't even know what those scripts are doing...

Basically, can I not just install Dzen2 and start it up from the BSPWM configuration file?

Sounds like I need to go back to Awesome because I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this.

Last edited by mindcrime (2014-11-14 23:20:40)

Steef435 · 2014-11-14 23:41:01

Have you checked out the examples directory on bspwm's github?

AFAIK "bar" and "panel" are basically the same thing, but "bar" usually refers to Lemonboy's bar(-aint-recursive) in this context, which is used as panel in the examples.

bar and Dzen2 are "simple" panels, they'll only show what you tell them to. I could do this, for example:

$ echo "test" | bar -p

And a panel will show up with the text "test" in it. These tools can do much more, like creating an interactive interface with buttons etc., but the basic idea remains the same: get data about the current state of the WM and other things (the time, unread e-mails etc.) and throw them in a panel (the example uses bar).

You'll want this information to be updated once in a while, if you switch to another workspace you might want to show that in bar too. Bspwm can tell you when something happens using bspc control --subscribe:

$bspc control --subscribe
WMDisplayPort-1:fmain:Owww:fcode:fdoc:ffiles:fmedia:fmail:fmisc:LT
WMDisplayPort-1:fmain:owww:Fcode:fdoc:ffiles:fmedia:fmail:fmisc:LT

Then you'll have to write a tool to extract the information you need from this output and throw it in bar, with the right make-up. Maybe you want to have the date in there, you could throw in the output of date for that.

The example does this:
Take the output of a few tools regularly (or subscribe to events) and throw them in a FIFO.
Pipe the FIFO in a script that extracts the information you need and adds the needed glamour.
Pipe the output of this script in bar.

To answer your questions specifically:

I am a bit confused. Is the copying of the bspwm/examples/panel/panel and panel/bar necessary if I do not want to use the example (and use something else like Dzen and configure it myself)?

It's not, but they might give you a good start, especially the part in which they extract the information from bspwm's control --subscribe output.

Will I have to deal with making scripts executable and such? I don't even know what those scripts are doing...

Yes, examples are provided, you can read them to see what they're doing, together with what I've written above and some experimentation/research you'll probably come a long way. You can make them executable using chmod.

Basically, can I not just install Dzen2 and start it up from the BSPWM configuration file?

You can, but you'll only see an empty panel. You'll have to provide input to show.

You can always use less simple panels with all sorts of goodies (which you can just start from the configuration file and expect to automatically show workspaces and stuff like that), like lxpanel. Have a look at the list from the wiki:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ap … _.2F_docks

mindcrime · 2014-11-14 23:47:56

Steef435 wrote:

-snip!-
You can always use less simple panels with all sorts of goodies (which you can just start from the configuration file and expect to automatically show workspaces and stuff like that), like lxpanel. Have a look at the list from the wiki:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ap … _.2F_docks

So I can just use Tint2 and ignore all this mess with creating my own tools and such to get simple things to work?

Are you a BSPWM user? All this hassle is really making me rethink starting to use it even though the features of the WM itself are really attractive... this is just a lot of work to get an efficient setup (more than Awesome that is).

Thanks!

Steef435 · 2014-11-15 00:14:13

According to the manual all EWMH compliant panels should work (tint2 is explicitly mentioned as working), so yeah I guess. Maybe you'll want to tweak it a bit of course.

I am, and I love how it just does what it has to do (managing windows) and how open it is to tweaking. The fact that it doesn't provide a panel and has a good scripting interface enables me to use whatever I prefer myself.

Writing an awesome configuration from scratch (and learning how to do it) is quite a hassle too if you ask me ^^. It's a price to pay for simplicity and, consecutively, tweakability I guess.

mindcrime · 2014-11-15 18:47:28

I just wanted the thank you properly for the help and give a little update.

I installed BSPWM, I figured I might as well figure things out for myself, and at first, I had a rough start. But then, I kinda, well, fell in love with it.

Even with Awesome, things felt clunky. With i3, I dunno, I just didn't like it. With BSPWM, it feels MODERN. I dunno, but it's great. I really like the Unix-like nature of it, as you said you did too. It's very nice

With that being said, however, I have not yet wrapped my head around bar/panel mumbo jumbo, but...

I have a ton of inspiration just from getting my ( currently panel-less! ) setup going, and I plan on getting something with Dzen2 set up that it solely based on pop-ups. A little pop-up in the corner for switching between workspaces, a little pop-up for volume (I believe that's called dvol), a little pop-up for my battery life, music, etc... I am super excited about it. Minimalism + Usability. BSPWM is great.

Thanks for the help again, Steef. See you around on the BSPWM screenshot thread.

Steef435 · 2014-11-16 22:28:50

Glad I could help, have fun!

Arch Linux

#1 2014-11-14 22:35:13

[solved] BSPWM how to set up bar/panel/whatever

#2 2014-11-14 23:10:52

Re: [solved] BSPWM how to set up bar/panel/whatever

#3 2014-11-14 23:20:02

Re: [solved] BSPWM how to set up bar/panel/whatever

#4 2014-11-14 23:41:01

Re: [solved] BSPWM how to set up bar/panel/whatever

#5 2014-11-14 23:47:56

Re: [solved] BSPWM how to set up bar/panel/whatever

#6 2014-11-15 00:14:13

Re: [solved] BSPWM how to set up bar/panel/whatever

#7 2014-11-15 18:47:28

Re: [solved] BSPWM how to set up bar/panel/whatever

#8 2014-11-16 22:28:50

Re: [solved] BSPWM how to set up bar/panel/whatever

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