Subject: FVWM: .fvwmrc customization questions and requests

From: Mark Krischer <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 1997 15:07:03 -0500

i've got a couple question for things i'd like to do in my .fvwm2rc

1) i'd like be able to bind actions of my mouse to buttons on a
   specific window or to a specific icon.  e.g. when i right click
   on the netscape mail icon, i'd like to get a special menu with
   Get New Mail

2) i guess being able to do 1) would let me do this, but...
   another thing i'd like to be able to do is have an icon (the
   netscape mail one) be sticky, but the opened window not be.
   that is, i'd like to see the icon on every "page" but when i
   open the window, i don't want that following me around.

4) i think this is more of a request than a question, becuase 
   i;m pretty sure fvwm2 doesn't currently support this.
   it'd be really nice if i could have setting so if i start a
   process on a certain "page" then every other window spawned by
   that process would appear on that "page" without causing me
   to switch.  e.g. the Dotfile Generator pops up heaps of
   different windows.  i'd like to be able to start an action and
   go to another window to do work while the Dotfile program is
   working--it's a bit slow--without having all the different
   window is spawns popping up on me.  (i know you can set windows
   to appear on a specific desktop and not jump there, but i'd
   like a general setting on a process level so i don't need to
   know the names of every window the application might spawn.

thanks in advance

--mark

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From: Albrecht Kadlec <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 97 19:12:13 +0100

>>>>> Mark Krischer writes:

M> 2) i guess being able to do 1) would let me do this, but...
M>    another thing i'd like to be able to do is have an icon (the
M>    netscape mail one) be sticky, but the opened window not be.
M>    that is, i'd like to see the icon on every "page" but when i
M>    open the window, i don't want that following me around.

this would require two sticky flags: sticky_Window and sticky_Icon

M> 4) i think this is more of a request than a question, becuase 
M>    i;m pretty sure fvwm2 doesn't currently support this.
M>    it'd be really nice if i could have setting so if i start a
M>    process on a certain "page" then every other window spawned by
M>    that process would appear on that "page" without causing me
M>    to switch.  e.g. the Dotfile Generator pops up heaps of
M>    different windows.  i'd like to be able to start an action and
M>    go to another window to do work while the Dotfile program is
M>    working--it's a bit slow--without having all the different
M>    window is spawns popping up on me.  (i know you can set windows
M>    to appear on a specific desktop and not jump there, but i'd
M>    like a general setting on a process level so i don't need to
M>    know the names of every window the application might spawn.

startsOnPage (semi-mythical by now) would also recognize a class instead of
a name. that should work once startsOnPage is written by someone.

albrecht
-- 
"To catch a bus, one must first think like a bus."

---

From: [email-masked] (David S. Goldberg)
Date: 21 Feb 1997 13:56:35 -0500

> i'd like be able to bind actions of my mouse to buttons on a
> specific window

Probably not ideal, but I think you can set up application specific
buttons, and only include those buttons for windows of the appropriate
type.  For example, the default buttons are 1, 2 and 4 with 1 (left
side) typically being the window operations menu, 2 being maximize and
4 being iconify.  You could, for example, set up buttons 3, 5, 7 and 9
to four different application specific functions, only using the
appropriate button for each of those four window types.  In each of
those window types, the inside button on the left side of the window
will run your application specific function.  You can decide for
yourself whether to decorate the buttons differently.  I can't think
of anything you can do for icons, though.

> 2) i guess being able to do 1) would let me do this, but... another
> thing i'd like to be able to do is have an icon (the netscape mail
> one) be sticky, but the opened window not be. that is, i'd like to
> see the icon on every "page" but when i open the window, i don't
> want that following me around.

I think someone already suggested StickyIcon, but that won't do what
you want -- it'll open the window in your current page/desk when you
deiconify (yes, that's by design -- see TFM) whether the window itself
is sticky or slippery.  I think the best you can do now is use
FvwmIconBox to manage at least the netscape mail icon and make the
FvwmIconBox sticky, though I have to admit, I never tried using
FvwmIconBox for an active Icon.  I don't know if it would do the right
thing when mail arrived.

> 4) it'd be really nice if i could have setting so if i start a
>    process on a certain "page"

(what happened to 3? :-)

As someone else mentioned, a StartsOnPage directive has been on the
TODO list for quite some time now.  Unfortunately, it's a Style, and
there's no room for any more Styles until the Style flag mechanism is
rewritten.  In the mean time, if you are not using EdgeScroll, then
consider using separate Desks.  It took me a while to realize that I
nearly always had EdgeScroll turned off so now instead of using one
3x3 desktop, I use 9 1x1 desktops, set up FvwmPager to display them in
a 3x3 grid (*FvwmPagerRows 3) and I get the same look and feel I had
before, plus the ability to start applications on a given desk.  I
only occasionally miss being able to move windows among pages with the
mouse, but I can do that using FvwmPager, and there's also the
WindowsDesk function and temporarily making the window sticky.

hth,

--
Dave Goldberg
Post: The Mitre Corporation\MS B305\202 Burlington Rd.\Bedford, MA 01730
Phone: 617-271-3887
Email: [email-masked]

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From: Choksing Taweponsomkiat <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 1997 11:32:39 -0800

> WindowsDesk function and temporarily making the window sticky.

(I'm not sure this is what you really want.)
You can use the "-geometry" option to start applications on a certain
page. It's not the most elegant way to do it, but it works for now.
======================================================================
Choksing Taweponsomkiat.
E-mail : [email-masked] 
Address: Central Coast Systems, Inc.
	 425 Sumner Ave
	 Aptos, CA 95003
phone  : (408)688-3615       fax : (408)688.3903
======================================================================
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From: [email-masked] (David S. Goldberg)
Date: 21 Feb 1997 15:11:59 -0500

> (I'm not sure this is what you really want.) You can use the
> "-geometry" option to start applications on a certain page. It's not
> the most elegant way to do it, but it works for now.

Unfortunately, though, those geometries are relative to your current
page, so you have to be careful where you use them from.  If you have
a 3x3 desktop and are in page 2 2 (the lower right corner) and use a
geometry (assuming 1152x900 display) of +1152+0 to start on the top
middle page, you may be surprised...  Then again, it works quite
nicely for things started in InitFunction from which you (probably)
can assume the current page is 0 0.