KDE4 Readable Desktop Pager Available!
in [Suse]
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From: Mark S Bilk on 16 Jan 2010 15:32 I'm running KDE4.3.4 in OpenSuse 11.2. The most serious problem I found with KDE4 is that the desktop names in the desktop pager are not readable in any theme that I tried, due to the names being in a small skinny font against a background of rectangles corresponding to the windows in each desktop. I downloaded the relevant source tree with help from folks in the #opensuse-kde IRC channel, modified pager.cpp, rebuilt plasma_applet_pager.so, the pager binary, and replaced the original one in my /usr/lib/kde4 directory with it. The result is the pager (in the panel at the bottom of the screen) shown in the screenshot here: http://cosmicpenguin.com/kde/screen02.gif in which the background rectangles have been removed, the font is enlarged, and the current desktop is shown in reverse-video. If you are running Suse 11.2 and KDE4.3.4, which I think is the latest stable bug-free version, installed according to the instructions at: http://en.opensuse.org/KDE/Upgrade#Upgrading_to_KDE_4.3.x_on_openSUSE_11.2 then you can use this readable pager too. Check in Yast Software Management that the version numbers of your kdebase4 and kdelibs4 components begin with 4.3.4 . INSTALLING THE PAGER BINARY If you're running the 32-bit version of Suse 11.2, you can just download the new pager binary from here: http://cosmicpenguin.com/kde/plasma_applet_pager.so Then remove your current pager from its panel, and kill plasma by doing "killall plasma-desktop"; this will cause your panel(s) to disappear. Become root and rename your current pager binary at: /usr/lib/kde4/plasma_applet_pager.so to something else (e.g., plasma_applet_pager.so.orig), and copy the new plasma_applet_pager.so into the /usr/lib/kde4/ directory. (The new one is a lot bigger than the original -- 588KB vs. 92KB -- presumably because it contains debugging symbols.) Then (as yourself again) run "plasma-desktop", which will restore your panel(s) (I use one at the top of the screen and one at the bottom). I get several error messages when I restart plasma-desktop, but it works fine. Do "Add Widgets" in the panel where the pager was, select "Pager" from the list, and "Add Widget". Then right-click on the pager now in the panel, select "Pager Settings", and click the "Desktop name" button and "OK". The new pager will then show the desktop names in readable form, and the current desktop in reverse-video. It works great with every theme I've tried, except Cream (where the name of the current desktop is not shown in clear reverse-video). Enjoy! BUILDING THE PAGER FROM SOURCE If you want to build plasma_applet_pager.so from source yourself (which I think you'll need to if you're running 64-bit Suse 11.2), here's how to do it: Install everything in the "Base Development" and "KDE Development" patterns in Yast Software Management. Create a directory in your account to work in, go into it, and run: svn co svn://anonsvn.kde.org/home/kde/branches/KDE/4.3/kdebase/workspace/ Run cmake inside the topmost directory -- "workspace" . When I did this cmake complained about LibKNotificationItem-1 being missing, and I had to install libknotificationitem-1-devel via Yast, and run cmake again. This time, although reporting that some optional stuff was missing, it terminated normally with: -- Configuring done -- Generating done -- Build files have been written to: /home/msb/KDEPAGER2/workspace Go into the workspace/plasma/applets/pager directory, rename pager.cpp to pager.cpp.orig, download the new pager.cpp from: http://cosmicpenguin.com/kde/pager.cpp put it in that directory, and run "make" there. That should build the new binary plasma_applet_pager.so in the directory workspace/lib . Install that new plasma_applet_pager.so binary in place of your current one according to the previous instructions above.
From: script||die on 19 Jan 2010 13:38 On 01/19/2010 04:20 AM, Mark S Bilk wrote: > KDE showing just what I need with > no distractions. Atta boy!!!!!! > I also want to fix the taskbar so it shows which windows are > minimized. > Then I'll adjust the Pager Settings and Task Manager Settings windows > to match the new functionality. The KDE people want the window > outlines > retained in the pager, so I'll have to put that back in, but with a > switch in the Settings window to turn them off. Then I'll submit > patches for both, and hopefully they'll get incorporated into the > mainline KDE4 code. If they're not, I'll submit them to kde-apps.org. That's been bugging me too. You can set TM prefs to show only minimized windows which is my use for it. What I'd ask you to look into if you're going to work on it is (for once with a need as opposed to the pager frames) a frame that shows the TM on the panel so you know where it is when it's empty. I also came upon a weirdo here last night. My prefs are set to shade windows on titlebar double click. I was working with Yast and was taking snapshots of a couple of dialogs for a readme guide. I double clicked to shade for a moment but the lot minimized instead into the TM but were *NOT* showing up there (couldn't find them at the time). Only when I reset TM prefs to show all windows could I see them and get'em back down. Go figure. Nice work on the pager.
From: Mark S Bilk on 20 Jan 2010 02:04 On Jan 19, 10:38 am, script||die <nomail.nospam@_INVALID_no.org> wrote: > On 01/19/2010 04:20 AM, Mark S Bilk wrote: > > > KDE showing just what I need with no distractions. > > Atta boy!!!!!! > > > I also want to fix the taskbar so it shows which windows are > > minimized. > > That's been bugging me too. You can set TM prefs to show only > minimized windows which is my use for it. What I'd ask you > to look into if you're going to work on it is (for once with > a need as opposed to the pager frames) a frame that shows > the TM on the panel so you know where it is when it's empty. I'll try to do that. (I always have at least one window that's on all desktops, so my Task Manager, which is set to show all windows in the current desktop, is never empty.) > I also came upon a weirdo here last night. My prefs are set > to shade windows on titlebar double click. I was working > with Yast and was taking snapshots of a couple of dialogs > for a readme guide. I double clicked to shade for a moment > but the lot minimized instead into the TM but were *NOT* > showing up there (couldn't find them at the time). Only when > I reset TM prefs to show all windows could I see them and > get'em back down. Go figure. Hmm, shaded is sort of a fourth state of windows (selected, maximized, shaded, minimized), although actually, shaded/full is orthogonal to selected/maximized/minimized. I haven't used it before. And yes, you're quite correct -- if the taskbar is set to show only minimized windows, it will not show minimized shaded windows; I just tried it. That is certainly wrong, and I'll try to fix it. But I'm not going to show which windows are shaded in the TM entries -- I'll just distinguish between selected, maximized (but not selected), and minimized. And maybe put a star or that little pin graphic on the entries for windows that are on all desktops. > Nice work on the pager. Thanks! Are you using it? If not, please try it! BTW, the Window List applet shows all windows on all desktops (like a button in KDE3.5 did). I find that very useful, as sometimes I forget which of the 20 desktops I was doing some project in. I keep it in the left end of my upper panel, which improves the way it displays the list of windows.
From: script||die on 20 Jan 2010 11:21 On 01/20/2010 02:04 AM, Mark S Bilk wrote: > On Jan 19, 10:38 am, script||die <nomail.nospam@_INVALID_no.org> > wrote: >> On 01/19/2010 04:20 AM, Mark S Bilk wrote: >> >>> KDE showing just what I need with no distractions. >> >> Atta boy!!!!!! >> >>> I also want to fix the taskbar so it shows which windows are >>> minimized. >> >> That's been bugging me too. You can set TM prefs to show only >> minimized windows which is my use for it. What I'd ask you >> to look into if you're going to work on it is (for once with >> a need as opposed to the pager frames) a frame that shows >> the TM on the panel so you know where it is when it's empty. > > I'll try to do that. (I always have at least one window that's > on all desktops, so my Task Manager, which is set to show all > windows in the current desktop, is never empty.) > >> I also came upon a weirdo here last night. My prefs are set >> to shade windows on titlebar double click. I was working >> with Yast and was taking snapshots of a couple of dialogs >> for a readme guide. I double clicked to shade for a moment >> but the lot minimized instead into the TM but were *NOT* >> showing up there (couldn't find them at the time). Only when >> I reset TM prefs to show all windows could I see them and >> get'em back down. Go figure. > > Hmm, shaded is sort of a fourth state of windows (selected, > maximized, shaded, minimized), although actually, shaded/full > is orthogonal to selected/maximized/minimized. That's over my head. > I haven't used > it before. It's just a handy way to get a window momentarily outta the way without minimizing it. > And yes, you're quite correct -- if the taskbar is > set to show only minimized windows, it will not show minimized > shaded windows; I just tried it. That is certainly wrong, and > I'll try to fix it. > > But I'm not going to show which windows are shaded in the TM > entries -- I'll just distinguish between selected, maximized > (but not selected), and minimized. And maybe put a star or > that little pin graphic on the entries for windows that are > on all desktops. A shaded window is supposed to stay on the desktop and not go into the TM at all, unless I missed something. That's what got me confused in the first place. My mouse setting is double-click and that's what I did on the title bar when lo and behold the Yast parent and child dialogs just vanished. >> Nice work on the pager. > > Thanks! Are you using it? If not, please try it! Oh yeah, I have nothing against eye candy but defaults (for my money) should always be business like, crisp, clean, unmistakable, what I call the zero-fluff config :-) I'm also looking for the kstep window decor if it's there for kde4, been using it for years and for my likes it's clean. > BTW, the Window List applet shows all windows on all desktops > (like a button in KDE3.5 did). I find that very useful, as > sometimes I forget which of the 20 desktops I was doing some > project in. I keep it in the left end of my upper panel, > which improves the way it displays the list of windows. > I'll have to try that.
From: Mark S Bilk on 20 Jan 2010 12:34
On Jan 20, 8:21 am, script||die <nomail.nospam@_INVALID_no.org> wrote: > On 01/20/2010 02:04 AM, Mark S Bilk wrote: > > On Jan 19, 10:38 am, script||die wrote: > >> On 01/19/2010 04:20 AM, Mark S Bilk wrote: > >> I also came upon a weirdo here last night. My prefs are set > >> to shade windows on titlebar double click. I was working > >> with Yast and was taking snapshots of a couple of dialogs > >> for a readme guide. I double clicked to shade for a moment > >> but the lot minimized instead into the TM but were *NOT* > >> showing up there (couldn't find them at the time). Only > >> when I reset TM prefs to show all windows could I see them > >> and get'em back down. Go figure. > > > Hmm, shaded is sort of a fourth state of windows (selected, > > maximized, shaded, minimized), although actually, > > shaded/full is orthogonal to selected/maximized/minimized. > > That's over my head. I just meant that selected-maximized-shaded-minimized can be considered the spectrum or hierarchy of visibility of windows, from most visible to least. But actually, whether a window is shaded or not is independent of whether it's selected, maximized, or minimized. > A shaded window is supposed to stay on the desktop and not > go into the TM at all, unless I missed something. That's > what got me confused in the first place. My mouse setting > is double-click and that's what I did on the title bar when > lo and behold the Yast parent and child dialogs just vanished. Does this happen all the time when you shade a window, or just that once? I set up shading on double-click on the titlebar and it worked ok for me the couple of times I did it -- the body of the window disappeared and only the titlebar remained. (Except that when minimized the shaded window didn't show up in the taskbar that I'd set to show only minimized windows, as you noted.) > I'm also looking for the kstep window decor if it's there > for kde4, been using it for years and for my likes it's clean. Would you please explain what kstep is and where to find it? I've googled for it and can't figure it out, and yast can't find it in any of the repos I have loaded. |