Re: docked window mode in GOk and SOK

[Bill Haneman <Bill Haneman Sun COM>]

On Thu, 2006-06-29 at 13:47, Chris Jones wrote:
> Agreed but it will do for now.
> 
> Are there any plans for a new WM API.  I don't think we can just leave this.

The wm-spec-list gnome org is the place to take the discussion.  Good
luck convincing folks of the value of multiple docks on the same edge of
the screen, though... seems like a usability misfeature.  At least where
GOK was concerned it seemed preferable to reduce the number of panels. 
The second panel in Gnome doesn't add much functionality that couldn't
be achieved by just combining the two panels.

Of course you can also work around this by putting both Gnome panels on
the same edge of the screen, which arguably would result in better
usability anyhow.  I think there is value in having the onscreen
keyboard sit "on its own", having it share the edge with a panel means
it's harder for the user to quickly scan for the desired characters.

Bill


> On 29/06/06, Bill Haneman <Bill Haneman sun com> wrote:
> > Reading the gconf values isn't a fully robust solution, since the panel
> > is not the only thing that might use _NET_WM_STRUTS.
> >
> > It's not apathy, it just that fixing this the right way would require
> > new WM API.
> >
> > Bill
> >
> > On Thu, 2006-06-29 at 12:02, Chris Jones wrote:
> > > Well I think it is possible to detect if the panel is running through
> > > dbus, and it's location is stored in gconf.  This should be easy to
> > > implement.  I've already tested it by hardcoding an offset, all that
> > > remains to do is reading the gconf values.
> > >
> > > I don't quite understand this apathy.  No other part of the desktop
> > > would put up with such an annoying bug.  I don't see why it is
> > > acceptable here.
> > >
> > > On 29/06/06, Bill Haneman <Bill Haneman sun com> wrote:
> > > > Hi Chris:
> > > >
> > > > There's no good solution to the "share a dock area" problem.  We
> > > > recommend that you don't use both top and bottom panels when running an
> > > > onscreen keyboard, for this reason.
> > > >
> > > > The straightforward solution is to remove either the top or bottom
> > > > panel, and then use that edge to dock your keyboard.  Otherwise you
> > > > could waste^^H^H^spend a lot of time trying to work around this.
> > > >
> > > > I don't believe there's any way to put multiple docks on one edge
> > > > reliably unless those docks share code (this is how gnome-panel manages
> > > > this), or some new IPC is invented whereby the docks can share info (and
> > > > then you have to convince all the users of _NET_WM_STRUT to implement
> > > > that IPC - good luck!).  The existing X API for struts just doesn't
> > > > accommodate this scenario.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > regards,
> > > >
> > > > Bill
> > > >
> > > > On Wed, 2006-06-28 at 22:43, Chris Jones wrote:
> > > > > SOK is simple onscreen keyboard I am writing to compliment GOK.  It is
> > > > > a summer of code project.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > I've been trying to implement a dock window mode for SOK like that
> > > > > which GOK has.
> > > > >
> > > > > Unfortunately my effort was met with a plethora of problems.
> > > > >
> > > > > Support for such docked windows is unpredictable under dual screens
> > > > > and can cause windows to get stuck or disappear etc.  There's not much
> > > > > I can do about this but file bug reports.
> > > > >
> > > > > Attaching GOK or SOK to an edge which has a panel attached results in
> > > > > a focus "war" betwixt the two.  I'm planning to work round this by
> > > > > reading the gconf keys for the panel and adjusting the placement of
> > > > > SOK accordingly.  Does GOK have a solution in the pipeline?  Can
> > > > > anyone think of a better way to go about this?
> > > > >
> > > > > --
> > > > > Chris Jones
> > > > >
> > > > > jabber - skating tortoise gmail com
> > > > > msn - skating_tortoise dsl pipex com
> > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > gnome-accessibility-list mailing list
> > > > > gnome-accessibility-list gnome org
> > > > > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnome-accessibility-list
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Chris Jones
> > >
> > > jabber - skating tortoise gmail com
> > > msn - skating_tortoise dsl pipex com
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > gnome-accessibility-list mailing list
> > > gnome-accessibility-list gnome org
> > > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnome-accessibility-list
> >
> >
> 
> 
> -- 
> Chris Jones
> 
> jabber - skating tortoise gmail com
> msn - skating_tortoise dsl pipex com
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