• Registered: 2011-08-09
  • Posts: 233

Topic: [SOLVED]Undecorating apps problem

On Openbox, I have a list of apps that are set to be undecorated when I start them. But all of a sudden when I started adding new apps to the list, they won't start undecorated. Is it possible that there's a number to how many undecorated apps there can be in the rc.xml?

Here's the undecorate section of my rc.xml(starting with the line 'end of example' and to down to the line 'open_config':

  # end of the example
-->
    <application name="gmessage">
      <decor>no</decor>
      <shade>no</shade>
      <skip_pager>yes</skip_pager>
      <skip_taskbar>yes</skip_taskbar>
      <fullscreen>no</fullscreen>
      <maximized>no</maximized>
    </application>
    <application name="openbox-logout">
      <decor>no</decor>
      <shade>no</shade>
      <skip_pager>yes</skip_pager>
      <fullscreen>no</fullscreen>
      <maximized>no</maximized>
      <layer>above</layer>
    </application>
<application name="wterm">
      <decor>no</decor>
    </application>
<application name="sylpheed">
      <decor>no</decor>
    </application>
    <application name="easytag">
      <decor>no</decor>
    </application>
<application name="sakura">
      <decor>no</decor>
</application>
<application name="pcmanfm">
      <decor>no</decor>
    </application>
<application name="thunar">
      <decor>no</decor>
    </application>
<application name="terminator">
      <decor>no</decor>
    </application>
<application name="swiftfox">
      <decor>no</decor>
    </application>
</applications>

</openbox_config>

I started adding them starting with wterm. And Terminator is the last app on that list that pops up undecorated. Anything I add after Terminator part will not open undecorated. I've tried with swiftfox, uzbl-browser, and a few other apps.

Can anyone see what the problem is or what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks for any help

Last edited by h8uthemost (2011-12-27 15:26:29)

  • Awebb
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Re: [SOLVED]Undecorating apps problem

I see an </applications> in the end, but no <applications> in the beginning. You might run into problems, if the section is not properly introduces. Openbox seems to allow only one block per type.

Are you sure swiftfox is the right name type? Maybe you need something other than the name. Read the openbox doku and use xprop to see what's to be used.

I'm so meta, even this acronym
  • Registered: 2011-08-09
  • Posts: 233

Re: [SOLVED]Undecorating apps problem

About the <applications> thing, I copied/pasted each one as they were before. Each one starts with an <application name=> and ends with an <applications>. Do you think they should be starting with an <applications end=>?

As for the name, 'swiftfox' is what appears in dmenu and I just tried starting the browser from terminal with that name and it popped right up. So I'm guessing that's the correct name, but I'll follow your suggestions to make sure.

EDIT: It was the name! I looked in my Processes pipe menu(since xprop wasn't starting for me) and there was a 'swiftfox' and a 'swiftfox-bin' in it. So I changed the name in my rc.xml to swiftfox-bin and viola, the app popped up undecorated.

That was so annoying. Everytime I started the app I had to hit Alt+Space and select Undecorate.

Thanks for bringing that to my attention, Awebb.

By the way, I just looked again in my Processes pipe menu when I started uzbl, and the name being used is uzbl-core. And I was always using uzbl-browser in my rc.xml. Guess I'll look to the Processes menu from now.

Last edited by h8uthemost (2011-12-27 15:28:10)

  • pvsage
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  • Registered: 2009-10-18
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Re: [SOLVED]Undecorating apps problem

h8uthemost wrote:

About the <applications> thing, I copied/pasted each one as they were before. Each one starts with an <application name=> and ends with an <applications>. Do you think they should be starting with an <applications end=>?

Just for LULz, open rc.xml and look for an "<applications>" in there.  It'll probably be about four score lines above the text you posted, just above the comment block showing the example code.  In my rc.xml, it's right under the "</menu>" tag.

while ( ! ( succeed = try() ) );
  • Registered: 2011-08-09
  • Posts: 233

Re: [SOLVED]Undecorating apps problem

pvsage wrote:

In my rc.xml, it's right under the "</menu>" tag.

That's where it is in mine too. A little ways up from the example I post of my rc.xml.

  • pvsage
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Re: [SOLVED]Undecorating apps problem

^ Good!  The fact that fixing the name of the binary fixed your undec problem confirmed the proper start tag was there; I just wanted to make sure you were aware of it.

while ( ! ( succeed = try() ) );
  • Registered: 2011-08-09
  • Posts: 233

Re: [SOLVED]Undecorating apps problem

And thanks to you I am. smile

You know...I struggled with this problem for probably a couple months. I mean I didn't look too hard into it, but I was thinking for some stupid reason that the rc.xml had a limit or something(I know I know, stupid thought) since I was convinced that I was spelling the name of the app properly. I should have just came here and asked in the first place. It would have saved me all that frustration.

Anyways thanks for the help you guys. I can always count on this excellent community for my foolish questions. Believe it or not I've learned a ton about Linux in general since moving to #! and thanks to this forum. But I still run into other problems on a pretty regular basis that I need help with.

  • Registered: 2011-08-09
  • Posts: 233

Re: [SOLVED]Undecorating apps problem

You know what...I have another question about apps starting and I might as well ask it here.

When rtorrent starts the terminal pops up in a pretty small window. And I always have to Alt+plus drag the mouse to resize the terminal window to what I want. I do this every single time I open rtorrent. Isn't there a way to make rtorrent pop up at a pre-determined width/length?

I combed through the rc.xml and came across a couple examples that I thought would work with what I'm wanting, but they didn't.  The two I tried were:

<popupFixedPosition>
      <x>0</x>
      <y>0</y>
    </popupFixedPosition>
<position>
        <x>center</x>
        <y>20</y>
      </position>

But neither of these make the rtorrent terminal window start at a certain size. Then I tried just adding <width></width>, <length></length> to the section in my rc.xml, but that didn't work either.

So does anyone happen to know the syntax that I'm looking for to make this happen?

  • pvsage
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Re: [SOLVED]Undecorating apps problem

You may be able to set this in .Xdefaults (e.g. "rtorrent*geometry: 90x28"); you may also be able to use <maximized>yes</maximized> in your application rule if you want it to start maximized.  The former was the only help Google had to offer; the latter is from the comment block in my rc.xml.

while ( ! ( succeed = try() ) );
  • Registered: 2011-08-09
  • Posts: 233

Re: [SOLVED]Undecorating apps problem

Thanks pvsage. I forgot to mention that I also tried the .xdefaults(but wasn't sure to put after *), but still had no luck. Even with what you posted.

And maximized isn't really what I'm wanting. Specifically I'm wanting rtorrent to open at 103x24. But...it looks like I'm not going to be able to make that happen, so I'll just keep doing it manually whenever I start rtorrent.

I appreciate the help.

EDIT: Actually I got it when switching what you typed from:

rtorrent*geometry: 90x28

to

wterm*geometry: 90x28

And since wterm is the terminal I use for rtorrent, then I guess this is the method I'm going to have to use. I was hoping to get it work on a per app basis(have rtorrent open at one size, the mocp at another, etc...) but it's no big deal.

Thanks again for your help, pvsage.

Last edited by h8uthemost (2011-12-31 17:36:10)

  • From: A kingdom in transition
  • Registered: 2011-06-24
  • Posts: 2,138

Re: [SOLVED]Undecorating apps problem

Try this from a terminal:

terminator --geometry=800x600 -x rtorrent

It will start a new terminator window with dimensions 800x600 pixels and start rtorrent in that window.

You can change your menu.xml to start this command from your openbox menu. I leave that as an exercise smile

It is also possible to specify the start position of the window using the --geometry command so that the rtotrrent window is always placed at the same location, with the same dimensions.

hth

Edit: Correction. The command is:

terminator --geometry=800x600 --command=rtorrent

Last edited by xaos52 (2011-12-31 17:53:45)

If you poke the bear it is going to come after you.
  • pvsage
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Re: [SOLVED]Undecorating apps problem

h8uthemost wrote:

wterm is the terminal I use for rtorrent

Let's see...(/me apt-gets wterm)...from the wterm man page:

       -geometry geometry
              Size (in characters) and position of window.

...so maybe include that in the string you use to launch rtorrent?

while ( ! ( succeed = try() ) );
  • Registered: 2011-08-09
  • Posts: 233

Re: [SOLVED]Undecorating apps problem

The man page! Damn...I knew there was something I forgetting to look at.

So yeah, with this command:

wterm +sb -geometry 103x24 -e rtorrent

rtorrent opens in wterm in a 103x24 resolution. So you both were right. smile Can't believe I didn't think of putting the -geometry command in my command that launches rtorrent. Well, that's one more thing that I learned.

Thanks a lot you two. Finally I'll no longer have to manually resize the window everytime I open rtorrent.

It is also possible to specify the start position of the window using the --geometry command so that the rtotrrent window is always placed at the same location, with the same dimensions.

This is what I'll work on next since another thing I'm used to doing when opening rtorrent is dragging it to the upper left of my screen. So later tonight when I get home I'll mess with that.

EDIT: Alright I was able to figure out the screen position to put into the rtorrent start up command. Which if by small some chance someone is wanting to achieve the same I'll post my start up command:

wterm +sb -geometry 103x24+0+28 -e rtorrent

Which just like the code I posted earlier, the 103x24 is what the screen size of the terminal is. And the +0+28 is  the screen position(0 is x and 29 is y). Which if you're using tint2, this will place rtorrent to the far left of the screen right and directly underneath tint2.

Thanks again for your help you two. It's much better to be able to make rtorrent do this with its own command rather than putting something in .xdefaults or at the very bottom of the rc.xml to make wterm do it. I'm a happy camper now. tongue No more constantly resizing and repositioning.

Last edited by h8uthemost (2011-12-31 22:13:00)