Specifying the desktop application automatically opens on in Openbox?

handy · 2009-04-17 23:43:33

I would like to use Openbox's ability to automatically open a number of applications onto specific desktops upon logging into Openbox.

Currently I have four applications that open automatically, but all onto desktop 1, from where I drag three of them - each to the desktop on which I want them located.

The four app's that automatically start are called from the ~/.config/openbox/autostart.sh file.

According to the info' on this page:

http://icculus.org/openbox/index.php/Help:Applications

Adding the following to my openbox/rc.xml file in the applications section should do as it says:

<application name="Firefox*">
<desktop>3</desktop>
<maximized>yes</maximized>
</application>

The above does not work for me. I have tried replacing "Firefox*" with "Firefox" & "Gran Paradiso" with no success.

The following is what I have at the end of the applications section of my rc.xml file:

Just in case clarification is required, none of the above four app's load onto their specified desktops, they all land on desktop #1, due to there being called in autostart.sh

Any help with this one is greatly appreciated.

evr · 2009-04-17 23:57:46

try using the regular command for the application name i.e. "firefox" etc. That's what works for me.

.:B:. · 2009-04-18 00:04:14

A short search (on the web and the forum) would reveal the following:

1) you need to find out the names with which the apps identify themselves to the window manager and use those in rc.xml
2) Firefox is pesky when it comes to honouring those standards

handy · 2009-04-18 06:13:52

B wrote:

A short search (on the web and the forum) would reveal the following:
1) you need to find out the names with which the apps identify themselves to the window manager and use those in rc.xml

So, asking for just a teeny weeny hint, about how such names are acquired is acceptable?

This I am now doing on behalf of those of us who are still only mere intellectual mortals.

Still I speak for those of us who inhabit the realms of the lowly & intermediate Arch-Linux knowledge base, as someone must.

Wouldn't it be truly seen as a sign of great magnificence & beneficence to all & sundry Arch users if YOU could just squeeze out a slight clue to help us, the intellectually impaired?

B wrote:

2) Firefox is pesky when it comes to honouring those standards

There wouldn't happen to exist a repository of known translations/interpretations of firefox idiosyncrasies in this regard that YOU know about would there?

As if there were, it would help my brethren, the intellectually impaired?

We all thank you for your time.

handy · 2009-04-18 06:15:29

evr wrote:

try using the regular command for the application name i.e. "firefox" etc. That's what works for me.

If you read my original post, I tried multiple name calls to firefox in particular.

handy · 2009-04-18 06:22:41

B wrote:

A short search (on the web and the forum) would reveal the following:
1) you need to find out the names with which the apps identify themselves to the window manager and use those in rc.xml
2) Firefox is pesky when it comes to honouring those standards

Before I tare your post to pieces, the easiest question on my behalf follows:

Have you ever made Openbox open an application on login, onto the desktop that you specified?

Now if you have done such a thing, then I consider YOU to be a person of great value to me.

If, on the other hand you have not.

Then you should not have entered into the conversation of this thread.

Addendum:

If of course you have got the Openbox act together then you need to now make a how-to for all the world to see.

As I will do if it happens to be me who gets there first.

Pointing people to rtfm & google is considered the sign of egotistical ignorance!

And a long, long way from what the tiny minority of us call humility...

Last edited by handy (2009-04-18 12:04:21)

tomk · 2009-04-18 08:18:07

handy wrote:

So, asking for just a teeny weeny hint, about how such names are acquired is acceptable?

Not really, as the required information is provided on the Openbox wiki page that you have already referenced:

Openbox wiki wrote:

Per-application settings let you match on what we call class, name and role. The first two are set in the WM_CLASS property which you can find by running xprop WM_CLASS and clicking on the window you want to make a rule for.

handy wrote:

This I am now doing on behalf of .. <snip>.. us, the intellectually impaired?

I doubt that sarcasm like this will help you progress towards a solution to your problem - your choice though.

handy wrote:

Before I tare your post to pieces....

Again, this response is not getting you closer to your objective, and is likely to discourage others from helping you, now and in the future.

handy wrote:

If of course you have got the Openbox act together then you need to now make a how-to for all the world to see.

No he doesn't, for two reasons, the most important being that nobody needs to do anything in relation to this issue. If somebody wants to take action, then that is up to them. Also, the howto already exists, and you have already found it.

handy wrote:

Pointing people to rtfm & google is considered the sign of egotistical ignorance!

Not around here - it's a valid response in most cases.

To summarise: lose the attitude, and remember that nobody here is obliged to help you at all with anything. If you continue with this kind of behaviour, you will no longer be welcome in this forum.

palobo · 2009-04-18 09:16:15

+1 for what tomk said. I'm sorry but I have to chime in here and show much appreciation for this particular comunity and linux comunities in general. Very seldomly do you get RTFM unless is so blatenly obvious that the user put no effort into resolving his/her issue. At least that has been my experience.

Secondly, part of the fun in linux is discovery! Experiment, read, experiment and read some more.

Thirdly, if poeple point you to google it's for a reason: Openbox Guide

I call your attention to the first two. A great source of info and help.

Last edited by palobo (2009-04-18 09:16:45)

handy · 2009-04-18 11:40:14

Cool, so all shit aside, has anyone yet come up with a 2 or 3 step plan for just exactly how the poor uninitiated Openbox user... Can get the one or two application that he/she would like to open on exactly the desktop number of his/her choice yet?

Or is this still one of those kind of hypothetical things that physicists have absolutely totally & completely understood in theory but are waiting for the technology to come up to standard so that they can prove that their theory is valid?

Last edited by handy (2009-04-18 11:45:41)

handy · 2009-04-18 11:43:16

By the way, I DO know that this shit works with Openbox, all I need is one of you wonderdudes to please, PLEASE, spend the time & give me a step by step (as I am dumb as dog shit by nature) through the routine.

After which I will write a wiki article here & elsewhere to help my poor brain damaged brethren...

.:B:. · 2009-04-18 12:22:43

It's nice to see not even pointers are appreciated anymore....

Anyways - you did look in the right place, but not closely enough. Because it is specified right there. No need to write that wiki article anymore - the Arch wiki entry on Openbox already links to it .

Also, a search on the forums, as we suggested, would have informed you that there is a problem with Firefox, and how to fix it. I'm sure you can do the rest of your work yourself - the bulk is done.

I am not gonna give you the newbie lecture; Arch is for everyone, provided they have a sense of initiative and some google skills. We don't care how smart you are, how good you are, what your skillset is - Arch is not about being smart or l33t enough to run it, it's about learning how to solve your problems. Not about having others doing it for you.

Edit: I saw even tomk quoted the answer already. You might want to re-read his post.

handy · 2009-04-18 13:12:53

B wrote:

It's nice to see not even pointers are appreciated anymore....
Anyways - you did look in the right place, but not closely enough. Because it is specified right there. No need to write that wiki article anymore - the Arch wiki entry on Openbox already links to it .
Also, a search on the forums, as we suggested, would have informed you that there is a problem with Firefox, and how to fix it. I'm sure you can do the rest of your work yourself - the bulk is done.
I am not gonna give you the newbie lecture; Arch is for everyone, provided they have a sense of initiative and some google skills. We don't care how smart you are, how good you are, what your skillset is - Arch is not about being smart or l33t enough to run it, it's about learning how to solve your problems. Not about having others doing it for you.
Edit: I saw even tomk quoted the answer already. You might want to re-read his post.

OK:

Why is there such an aggressive attitude to my question in the Arch forum here & now???

I have read & applied the info' from the icculus site. If it worked for me, I would not be humbly asking for help here where I expected that knowledgeable people would be oh so happy to help me with whatever the problem is.

Instead, what I find on the Arch forum are egotistical people who make out like they know the answers but decide to keep it a secret because I happen to be too stupid to have found the secret key that opens the door to where all of the oh so easy to find knowledge is.

Come on guys, grow up.

Can't we just please give as much help to each other as we possibly can, without demanding some kind of invisible requisite level of invisible qualifiability?

I love Arch, I recommend it & support it in other forums, I have written a bloody monster of a wiki article for your wiki. All I want is some help with something that I am too dumb to work out for myself.

Done finished.

Oh, no it's not, do any of you actually know how to solve my problem, or are you just being mouth pieces for a generally accepted correct answer that you haven't really used yourself?

palobo · 2009-04-18 13:56:52

handy wrote:

OK:
Why is there such an aggressive attitude to my question in the Arch forum here & now???

I think that would be due to the tone of your first few posts.

I'm not quite sure wether or not you spent more than a few minutes trying to solve this issue or not, but I'll give you the benefit of doubt that you did.
So as per your request... here is a step by step guide that I tested and worked for me.

Total time to successful conclusion +/- 5minutes

Step 1:
Quickly read http://icculus.org/openbox/index.php/Help:Applications and test with firefox.

Didn't work so tested with another app... Worked fine.

Conclusion to draw from this... Problem lies in firefox

Step 2:
Search google with following keywords: Openbox+firefox+per-application+settings. This returned a big list. The second item on list pointed me to... You guessed it the arch wiki. namely http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Openbox

Step 3:
Press Ctrl+F (For the intelligently impaired that open firefox search) and type firefox. This in turn highlights a link that brings us here: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ope … tion_rules

Step 4:
Read the info in contained in the link above. To note... "For whatever reason, Firefox and its open source equivalents will ignore application rules (e.g. <desktop>) unless class="Firefox*" is used, regardless of what xprop reports as the actual WM_CLASS values. "

Step 5:
Change config accordingly, Open terminal and type "openbox --restart" and Voilá... I have Firefox on desired desktop.

Now for the lazy and intelligently impaired... A copy paste method:

Paste in your rc.xml in the appropriate section the following code changing the desktop desired and whatever else need be changed:

<application class="Firefox*">
    <desktop>2</desktop>
    <maximized>yes</maximized>
</application>

I call once again your attention to the fact that it's class="Firefox*" and not name="Firefox*"

There... all done and by a mere mortal on less than 5 minutes. (Heck it took me longer to write this than do it)

Hope that helps (and sorry for the sore tone poeple..)

Last edited by palobo (2009-04-18 14:01:14)

skottish · 2009-04-18 14:55:32

palobo wrote:

handy wrote:
OK:
Why is there such an aggressive attitude to my question in the Arch forum here & now???
I think that would be due to the tone of your first few posts.

This is true.

handy, you're rejecting the help that other users are giving you because it's not what you want to hear. Normally I would send a private e-mail about this, but there's nothing more to add.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-04-17 23:43:33

Specifying the desktop application automatically opens on in Openbox?

#2 2009-04-17 23:57:46

Re: Specifying the desktop application automatically opens on in Openbox?

#3 2009-04-18 00:04:14

Re: Specifying the desktop application automatically opens on in Openbox?

#4 2009-04-18 06:13:52

Re: Specifying the desktop application automatically opens on in Openbox?

#5 2009-04-18 06:15:29

Re: Specifying the desktop application automatically opens on in Openbox?

#6 2009-04-18 06:22:41

Re: Specifying the desktop application automatically opens on in Openbox?

#7 2009-04-18 08:18:07

Re: Specifying the desktop application automatically opens on in Openbox?

#8 2009-04-18 09:16:15

Re: Specifying the desktop application automatically opens on in Openbox?

#9 2009-04-18 11:40:14

Re: Specifying the desktop application automatically opens on in Openbox?

#10 2009-04-18 11:43:16

Re: Specifying the desktop application automatically opens on in Openbox?

#11 2009-04-18 12:22:43

Re: Specifying the desktop application automatically opens on in Openbox?

#12 2009-04-18 13:12:53

Re: Specifying the desktop application automatically opens on in Openbox?

#13 2009-04-18 13:56:52

Re: Specifying the desktop application automatically opens on in Openbox?

#14 2009-04-18 14:55:32

Re: Specifying the desktop application automatically opens on in Openbox?

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