Xmonad question floating window placement and xmobar

lswest · 2010-06-08 12:37:47

I've recently started trying out XMonad on my laptop, and in the process of trying to get Firefox's preferences windows to float, I noticed that all the apps that I float from my ManageHooks are below everything else. The save dialog in gedit (not in my ManageHooks), for example, appears above the window (as it should). I'm not sure how to change it, and haven't found any concrete solutions via google/forum search. I also noticed when writing this post that my middle-click to paste highlighted text isn't working, but I could have sworn it worked earlier. Lastly, can anyone point me in the direction of some instructions on getting trayer and xmobar to play nice? (i.e. have them both on the top of the screen, with xmobar leaving space for trayer, etc.)

Thanks in advance for any pointers/suggestions,
Lswest

*EDIT* I've been looking into this further, and have discovered that the problem disappears when I stop using cairo-compmgr. There is an open bug report for this behaviour on the xmonad code website, hopefully they'll figure out a fix/workaround soon.

xmonad.hs:

--
-- xmonad example config file.
--
-- A template showing all available configuration hooks,
-- and how to override the defaults in your own xmonad.hs conf file.
--
-- Normally, you'd only override those defaults you care about.
--

import XMonad
import XMonad.Hooks.DynamicLog
import XMonad.Util.Run
import Data.Monoid
import System.Exit

import qualified XMonad.StackSet as W
import qualified Data.Map        as M

-- The preferred terminal program, which is used in a binding below and by
-- certain contrib modules.
--
myTerminal      = "urxvt"

-- Whether focus follows the mouse pointer.
myFocusFollowsMouse :: Bool
myFocusFollowsMouse = True

-- Width of the window border in pixels.
--
myBorderWidth   = 0

-- modMask lets you specify which modkey you want to use. The default
-- is mod1Mask ("left alt").  You may also consider using mod3Mask
-- ("right alt"), which does not conflict with emacs keybindings. The
-- "windows key" is usually mod4Mask.
--
myModMask       = mod4Mask

-- The mask for the numlock key. Numlock status is "masked" from the
-- current modifier status, so the keybindings will work with numlock on or
-- off. You may need to change this on some systems.
--
-- You can find the numlock modifier by running "xmodmap" and looking for a
-- modifier with Num_Lock bound to it:
--
-- > $ xmodmap | grep Num
-- > mod2        Num_Lock (0x4d)
--
-- Set numlockMask = 0 if you don't have a numlock key, or want to treat
-- numlock status separately.
--
myNumlockMask   = mod2Mask

-- The default number of workspaces (virtual screens) and their names.
-- By default we use numeric strings, but any string may be used as a
-- workspace name. The number of workspaces is determined by the length
-- of this list.
--
-- A tagging example:
--
-- > workspaces = ["web", "irc", "code" ] ++ map show [4..9]
--
myWorkspaces    = ["1","2","3","4","5","6","7","8","9"]

-- Border colors for unfocused and focused windows, respectively.
--
myNormalBorderColor  = "#dddddd"
myFocusedBorderColor = "#ff0000"

------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Key bindings. Add, modify or remove key bindings here.
--
myKeys conf@(XConfig {XMonad.modMask = modm}) = M.fromList $

    -- launch a terminal
    [ ((modm,               xK_Return), spawn $ XMonad.terminal conf)

    -- launch dmenu
    , ((modm,               xK_p     ), spawn "exe=`dmenu_path | dmenu` && eval \"exec $exe\"")
    -- launch firefox
    , ((modm,               xK_f     ), spawn "firefox")

    -- Audio Keys
    , ((0,                 0x1008FF12), spawn "vol.sh mute")
    , ((0,                 0x1008FF13), spawn "vol.sh up")
    , ((0,                 0x1008FF11), spawn "vol.sh down")
    , ((0,                 0x1008FF14), spawn "ncmpcpp toggle")
    , ((0,                 0x1008FF17), spawn "ncmpcpp next")
    , ((0,                 0x1008FF16), spawn "ncmpcpp prev")
    , ((modm,              xK_q      ), spawn "urxvt -e ncmpcpp")

    -- Brightness Keys
    , ((0,                 0x1008FF02), spawn "brightness up")
    , ((0,                 0x1008FF03), spawn "brightness down")

    -- Wireless
    , ((0,                 0x1008FF95), spawn "wlantoggle")
    
    -- launch skype
    , ((modm,               xK_s     ), spawn "skype")

    -- launch gmrun
    , ((modm .|. shiftMask, xK_p     ), spawn "gmrun")

    -- close focused window
    , ((modm .|. shiftMask, xK_c     ), kill)

     -- Rotate through the available layout algorithms
    , ((modm,               xK_space ), sendMessage NextLayout)

    --  Reset the layouts on the current workspace to default
    , ((modm .|. shiftMask, xK_space ), setLayout $ XMonad.layoutHook conf)

    -- Resize viewed windows to the correct size
    , ((modm,               xK_n     ), refresh)

    -- Move focus to the next window
    , ((modm,               xK_Tab   ), windows W.focusDown)

    -- Move focus to the next window
    , ((modm,               xK_j     ), windows W.focusDown)

    -- Move focus to the previous window
    , ((modm,               xK_k     ), windows W.focusUp  )

    -- Move focus to the master window
    , ((modm,               xK_m     ), windows W.focusMaster  )

    -- Swap the focused window and the master window
    , ((modm .|. shiftMask, xK_Return), windows W.swapMaster)

    -- Swap the focused window with the next window
    , ((modm .|. shiftMask, xK_j     ), windows W.swapDown  )

    -- Swap the focused window with the previous window
    , ((modm .|. shiftMask, xK_k     ), windows W.swapUp    )

    -- Shrink the master area
    , ((modm,               xK_h     ), sendMessage Shrink)

    -- Expand the master area
    , ((modm,               xK_l     ), sendMessage Expand)

    -- Push window back into tiling
    , ((modm,               xK_t     ), withFocused $ windows . W.sink)

    -- Increment the number of windows in the master area
    , ((modm              , xK_comma ), sendMessage (IncMasterN 1))

    -- Deincrement the number of windows in the master area
    , ((modm              , xK_period), sendMessage (IncMasterN (-1)))

    -- Toggle the status bar gap
    -- Use this binding with avoidStruts from Hooks.ManageDocks.
    -- See also the statusBar function from Hooks.DynamicLog.
    --
    -- , ((modm              , xK_b     ), sendMessage ToggleStruts)

    -- Quit xmonad
    , ((modm .|. controlMask , xK_q  ), io (exitWith ExitSuccess))

    -- Restart xmonad
    , ((modm .|. shiftMask, xK_q     ), spawn "xmonad --recompile; xmonad --restart")
    ]
    ++

    --
    -- mod-[1..9], Switch to workspace N
    -- mod-shift-[1..9], Move client to workspace N
    --
    [((m .|. modm, k), windows $ f i)
        | (i, k) <- zip (XMonad.workspaces conf) [xK_1 .. xK_9]
        , (f, m) <- [(W.greedyView, 0), (W.shift, shiftMask)]]
    ++

    --
    -- mod-{w,e,r}, Switch to physical/Xinerama screens 1, 2, or 3
    -- mod-shift-{w,e,r}, Move client to screen 1, 2, or 3
    --
    [((m .|. modm, key), screenWorkspace sc >>= flip whenJust (windows . f))
        | (key, sc) <- zip [xK_w, xK_e, xK_r] [0..]
        , (f, m) <- [(W.view, 0), (W.shift, shiftMask)]]


------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Mouse bindings: default actions bound to mouse events
--
myMouseBindings (XConfig {XMonad.modMask = modm}) = M.fromList $

    -- mod-button1, Set the window to floating mode and move by dragging
    [ ((modm, button1), (\w -> focus w >> mouseMoveWindow w
                                       >> windows W.shiftMaster))

    -- mod-button2, Raise the window to the top of the stack
    , ((modm, button2), (\w -> focus w >> windows W.shiftMaster))

    -- mod-button3, Set the window to floating mode and resize by dragging
    , ((modm, button3), (\w -> focus w >> mouseResizeWindow w
                                       >> windows W.shiftMaster))

    -- you may also bind events to the mouse scroll wheel (button4 and button5)
    ]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Layouts:

-- You can specify and transform your layouts by modifying these values.
-- If you change layout bindings be sure to use 'mod-shift-space' after
-- restarting (with 'mod-q') to reset your layout state to the new
-- defaults, as xmonad preserves your old layout settings by default.
--
-- The available layouts.  Note that each layout is separated by |||,
-- which denotes layout choice.
--
myLayout = tiled ||| Mirror tiled ||| Full
  where
     -- default tiling algorithm partitions the screen into two panes
     tiled   = Tall nmaster delta ratio

     -- The default number of windows in the master pane
     nmaster = 1

     -- Default proportion of screen occupied by master pane
     ratio   = 1/2

     -- Percent of screen to increment by when resizing panes
     delta   = 3/100

------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Window rules:

-- Execute arbitrary actions and WindowSet manipulations when managing
-- a new window. You can use this to, for example, always float a
-- particular program, or have a client always appear on a particular
-- workspace.
--
-- To find the property name associated with a program, use
-- > xprop | grep WM_CLASS
-- and click on the client you're interested in.
--
-- To match on the WM_NAME, you can use 'title' in the same way that
-- 'className' and 'resource' are used below.
--
myManageHook = composeAll
    [ className =? "MPlayer"        --> doFloat
    , className =? "Gimp"           --> doFloat
    , className =? "Skype.real"     --> (doFloat <+> doShift "4")
    , className =? "vlc"            --> doFloat
    , className =? "Firefox"        --> doShift "9"
    , title     =? "Firefox Preferences" --> doFloat
    , title     =? "Session Manager - Mozilla Firefox" --> doFloat
    , title     =? "Firefox Add-on Updates" --> doFloat
    , title     =? "Clear Private Data" --> doFloat
    , (title =? "ncmpcpp" <&&> className =? "URxvt") --> doShift "8"
    , resource  =? "desktop_window" --> doIgnore
    , resource  =? "kdesktop"       --> doIgnore ]


------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Event handling

-- * EwmhDesktops users should change this to ewmhDesktopsEventHook
--
-- Defines a custom handler function for X Events. The function should
-- return (All True) if the default handler is to be run afterwards. To
-- combine event hooks use mappend or mconcat from Data.Monoid.
--
myEventHook = mempty

------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Status bars and logging

-- Perform an arbitrary action on each internal state change or X event.
-- See the 'XMonad.Hooks.DynamicLog' extension for examples.
--
myLogHook = return ()

------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Startup hook

-- Perform an arbitrary action each time xmonad starts or is restarted
-- with mod-q.  Used by, e.g., XMonad.Layout.PerWorkspace to initialize
-- per-workspace layout choices.
--
-- By default, do nothing.
myStartupHook = return ()

------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Now run xmonad with all the defaults we set up.

-- Run xmonad with the settings you specify. No need to modify this.
--
main = xmonad =<< statusBar myBar myPP toggleStrutsKey defaults
-- command to launch the bar.
myBar = "xmobar"

-- custom PP, configure it as you like.  It determines what's being written to the bar.
myPP = xmobarPP { ppCurrent = xmobarColor "#429942" "" . wrap "<" ">" }

-- Keybinding to toggle the gap for the bar.
toggleStrutsKey XConfig { XMonad.modMask = modMask } = (modMask, xK_b)


-- A structure containing your configuration settings, overriding
-- fields in the default config. Any you don't override, will
-- use the defaults defined in xmonad/XMonad/Config.hs
--
-- No need to modify this.
--
defaults = defaultConfig {
      -- simple stuff
        terminal           = myTerminal,
        focusFollowsMouse  = myFocusFollowsMouse,
        borderWidth        = myBorderWidth,
        modMask            = myModMask,
        numlockMask        = myNumlockMask,
        workspaces         = myWorkspaces,
        normalBorderColor  = myNormalBorderColor,
        focusedBorderColor = myFocusedBorderColor,

      -- key bindings
        keys               = myKeys,
        mouseBindings      = myMouseBindings,

      -- hooks, layouts
        layoutHook         = myLayout,
        manageHook         = myManageHook,
        handleEventHook    = myEventHook,
        logHook            = myLogHook,
        startupHook        = myStartupHook
    }

Last edited by lswest (2010-06-08 16:27:49)

skottish · 2010-06-09 02:28:18

The trouble with Xmonad and floaters that you're having is with composeAll; You'll need to switch to composeOne to get things working properly. composeOne is in Xmonad.Hooks.ManageHelpers.

lswest · 2010-06-09 08:41:18

Thanks for the response. I've switched over to composeOne for the Firefox Preferences manageHook (to test it), but the same error occurs as before. It's entirely possible that I'm calling the function wrong. It still seems to work right when I disable compositing.

Relevant section of code (everything else is the same as in the first post):

myManageHook = composeAll
    [ className =? "MPlayer"        --> doFloat
    , className =? "cairo-compmgr"  --> doIgnore
    , className =? "Gimp"           --> doFloat
    , className =? "Skype.real"     --> (doFloat <+> doShift "4")
    , className =? "vlc"            --> doFloat
    , className =? "Firefox"        --> doShift "9"
   -- , title     =? "Firefox Preferences" --> doFloat
    , title     =? "Session Manager - Mozilla Firefox" --> doFloat
    , title     =? "Firefox Add-on Updates" --> doFloat
    , title     =? "Clear Private Data" --> doFloat
    , (title =? "ncmpcpp" <&&> className =? "URxvt") --> doShift "8"
    , resource  =? "desktop_window" --> doIgnore
    , resource  =? "kdesktop"       --> doIgnore
    , resource  =? "cairo-compmgr"  --> doIgnore ]
    <+> composeOne [ isDialog -?> doCenterFloat
                     , title =? "Firefox Preferences" -?> doCenterFloat]

skottish · 2010-06-10 00:24:23

lswest wrote:

Thanks for the response. I've switched over to composeOne for the Firefox Preferences manageHook (to test it), but the same error occurs as before. It's entirely possible that I'm calling the function wrong. It still seems to work right when I disable compositing.

Relevant section of code (everything else is the same as in the first post):

myManageHook = composeAll
    [ className =? "MPlayer"        --> doFloat
    , className =? "cairo-compmgr"  --> doIgnore
    , className =? "Gimp"           --> doFloat
    , className =? "Skype.real"     --> (doFloat <+> doShift "4")
    , className =? "vlc"            --> doFloat
    , className =? "Firefox"        --> doShift "9"
   -- , title     =? "Firefox Preferences" --> doFloat
    , title     =? "Session Manager - Mozilla Firefox" --> doFloat
    , title     =? "Firefox Add-on Updates" --> doFloat
    , title     =? "Clear Private Data" --> doFloat
    , (title =? "ncmpcpp" <&&> className =? "URxvt") --> doShift "8"
    , resource  =? "desktop_window" --> doIgnore
    , resource  =? "kdesktop"       --> doIgnore
    , resource  =? "cairo-compmgr"  --> doIgnore ]
    <+> composeOne [ isDialog -?> doCenterFloat
                     , title =? "Firefox Preferences" -?> doCenterFloat]

I had to use composeOne for everything; I had no luck with picking and choosing one app at a time. My situation is less complex than yours, but this is what I did.

Original:

manageHook'    = composeAll
   [ className =? "MPlayer"         --> doCenterFloat
   , className =? "Geeqie"          --> doCenterFloat
   , className =? "ffplay"          --> doCenterFloat
   , title     =? "glxgears"        --> doCenterFloat
   , className =? "Gimp"            --> doFloat
   , resource  =? "Dialog"          --> doFloat
   ]

New:

manageHook'       =  composeOne
   [ className    =? "MPlayer"         -?> doCenterFloat
   , className    =? "Geeqie"          -?> doCenterFloat
   , className    =? "ffplay"          -?> doCenterFloat
   , title        =? "glxgears"        -?> doCenterFloat
   , className    =? "Gimp"            -?> doFloat
   , resource     =? "Dialog"          -?> doFloat
   , return True                       -?> insertPosition Below Newer
   ]

The last line is for how I want my windows tiled. It's the same behavior as DWM's attachaside patch.

lswest · 2010-06-10 11:51:17

I appreciate the help, but for some reason I can't get composeOne to float the Firefox windows at all. Skype still floats like it should, but the Firefox windows listed by title aren't. Also, Skype is still below any new windows created on that workspace/tag/whatever Xmonad calls them. Due to the fact that disabling my compositing manager causes my composeAll manageHook to work like I want it to, I assume the problem lies with how Xmonad treats windows that are affect by cairo-compmgr. For the time being I'll just run XMonad without a compositing manager, and see if I can find a better solution.

Skottish, do you run XMonad with cairo-compmgr/xcompmgr? If not, when you do run it, does the same behaviour pop up for you?

The "new" manageHook, in case someone sees something I did wrong:

myManageHook2 = composeOne
    [ className =? "MPlayer"        -?> doCenterFloat
    --, className =? "cairo-compmgr"  -?> doIgnore
    , className =? "Gimp"           -?> doFloat
    , className =? "Skype.real"     -?> (doFloat <+> doShift "4")
    , className =? "vlc"            -?> doFloat
    , className =? "Firefox"        -?> doShift "9"
    , title     =? "Firefox Preferences" -?> doCenterFloat
    , title     =? "Session Manager - Mozilla Firefox" -?> doCenterFloat
    , title     =? "Firefox Add-on Updates" -?> doCenterFloat
    , title     =? "Clear Private Data" -?> doCenterFloat
    , (title =? "ncmpcpp" <&&> className =? "URxvt") -?> doShift "8"
    , resource  =? "desktop_window" -?> doIgnore
    , resource  =? "kdesktop"       -?> doIgnore
    , resource  =? "Dialog"         -?> doFloat
    --, resource  =? "cairo-compmgr"  -?> doIgnore 
    ]

I also swap myManageHook with myManageHook2 in the defaults structure.

Last edited by lswest (2010-06-10 11:52:14)

rizzix · 2010-06-11 05:33:33

To float Firefox's Preference window I made use of the WM_WINDOW_ROLE property as follows:

I have the following line in my manageHook:

, role =? "Preferences" --> doFloat

where,

role = stringProperty "WM_WINDOW_ROLE"

Here's myManageHook in it's entirety:

myManageHook sp = manageSpawn sp 
    <+> composeAllFocusFloats
    [ isDialog                      
    , title =? "VLC media player"   
    , title =? "VLC (XVideo output)"
    , title =? "<interactive>"      
    , role  =? "buddy_list"         
    , role  =? "ticker"             
    , role  =? "gimp-toolbox"       
    , role  =? "gimp-dock"          
    , role  =? "gimp-image-window"  
    , role  =? "Preferences"
    , className =? "VirtualBox"     
    , className =? "MPlayer"        
    , className =? "Smplayer" ]
    <+> composeOne
    [ transience 
    , resource  =? "desktop_window" -?> doIgnore
    , resource  =? "trayer"         -?> doIgnore
    , isKDETrayWindow               -?> doIgnore 
    , isFullscreen                  -?> doFocusFullFloat ]
    <+> composeAll
    [ H.insertPosition H.Below H.Older 
    , manageDocks ]
  where
    role = stringProperty "WM_WINDOW_ROLE"
    composeAllFocusFloats = composeAll . map (--> doFocusFloat)
    doFocusFloat = composeAll [doFloat, H.insertPosition H.Above H.Newer]
    doFocusFullFloat = composeAll [doFullFloat, H.insertPosition H.Above H.Newer]

Last edited by rizzix (2010-06-11 05:35:58)

lswest · 2010-06-11 08:20:53

Thanks for the reply rizzix. The role setting does indeed float the window, but it's still appearing below all the other windows. Any chance you could share the imports you needed to get the insertPosition settings to work? That may actually affect my problem, because the window is "below" until I drag it with the mouse (which I can, strangely, do through the window that's above it).

rizzix · 2010-06-11 12:51:18

Technically you shouldn't need it, since I believe the default setting is to

H.insertPosition H.Above H.Newer

Where as I change it to

 H.insertPosition H.Below H.Older

except for floating (and fullscreen) windows.

However, the relevant imports are:

import XMonad.Hooks.InsertPosition as H

Last edited by rizzix (2010-06-11 12:53:04)

Arch Linux

#1 2010-06-08 12:37:47

Xmonad question floating window placement and xmobar

#2 2010-06-09 02:28:18

Re: Xmonad question floating window placement and xmobar

#3 2010-06-09 08:41:18

Re: Xmonad question floating window placement and xmobar

#4 2010-06-10 00:24:23

Re: Xmonad question floating window placement and xmobar

#5 2010-06-10 11:51:17

Re: Xmonad question floating window placement and xmobar

#6 2010-06-11 05:33:33

Re: Xmonad question floating window placement and xmobar

#7 2010-06-11 08:20:53

Re: Xmonad question floating window placement and xmobar

#8 2010-06-11 12:51:18

Re: Xmonad question floating window placement and xmobar

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