Subject: Re: a naive Xinerama question

From: "Dmitry Yu. Bolkhovityanov" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2001 19:47:03 +0700

On Wed, 8 Aug 2001, Matthias Clasen wrote:

> > On Tue, 7 Aug 2001, Olivier Chapuis wrote:
> > 
> > > Hello,
> > > 
> > > I have a very naive Xinerama question:
> > > Is it possible to send to modules a "M_NEW_SCREEN" message
> > > when the mouse pointer change of screen?
> > 
> 	> Technicaly it isn't possible -- X server wouldn't generate
> > "EnterScreenNotify" events, since Xinerama screens look like a single
> > large screen.  
> 
> But it would certainly be a useful addition to the Xinerama extension to
> send "EnterXineramaHead" and LeaveXineramaHead events  - IIRC X 
> extensions can introduce new events.  If these events contain the a
> head number, interested applications can then easily maintain information
> about the set of heads the pointer is in (even for the pathological case
> of overlapping heads).

	Well, this *can* be a useful addition if we find a real case when
it is needed.  Than we can try to persuade Mark Vojkovich to add this
functionality to X (BTW, what is interesting -- he also uses fvwm).  But
there must be some real, hard arguments, otherwise this definitely
wouldn't pass the X Xinerama group.

	_________________________________________
	  Dmitry Yu. Bolkhovityanov
	  [email-masked]
	  The Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics

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---

From: Olivier Chapuis <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2001 06:39:22 +0200

> wouldn't pass the X Xinerama group.

Well,

Some users may want to have an application which is always on the
current screen. Typically, if I get a double head I would like to
have my FvwmPager and my WLM (TaskBar, WinList, IconMan or IconBox)
always in the current screen. The solution is to run two such modules
(it is the reason I added aliases support in TaskBar, WinList and
IconBox recently). But a solution which seems better is that the
application "follows the pointer". Moreover, for some applications,
running as many sticky copies of an application than screens will be
not a solution to get it always on the current screen: for example
with an xterm we lost the "historic".

So I think that an EnterScreenNotify event will be a good thing for
a window manager: it will be able to manage a new/strong sticky mode
for any applications.

Olivier

---

From: "Dmitry Yu. Bolkhovityanov" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2001 21:37:50 +0700

> a window manager: it will be able to manage a new/strong sticky mode

	Well, that sounds very reasonable (now I understand my mistake --
I was thinking about something similar to FvwmBacker, but for Xinerama
screens, which is a nonsense ;-).

	We have an option to add such functionality right now, but with
fvwm tracking screens itself (this is needed anyway for emulated
Xinerama), and later check for real "EnterScreenNotify" availability in
configure script.

	IMHO currently the best way to go is collecting various reasons
for such an event, and later discuss it with X people.  Looking at Xserver
and libXinerama sources, I can easily work out a patch for this thingie
(the server internally has a "ChangeScreen" event, since it has to move
cursor between screens).

---

From: Dominik Vogt <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2001 17:18:45 +0200

> Xinerama), and later check for real "EnterScreenNotify" availability in

I don't think this can be solved inside fvwm to our satisfaction.
Polling the mouse pointer wastes lots of CPU and tracking the
pointer via MotionNotify events does not work when the pointer is
grabbed.

> (the server internally has a "ChangeScreen" event, since it has to move

That would be the right place to implement this functionality.

Bye

Dominik ^_^  ^_^

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