Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

sazeile · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 41

I'm in the process of converting the in-laws from Windows to Puppy Linux. After getting over the "it's different" learning curve they really like it, especially the virtual desktops. "It's like having multiple computers". They also like the quick boot time and I'm looking forward to not spending my holidays chasing viruses.

To automatically start applications for them I created a shell script in /root/Startup with lines like:

nohup skype &

nohup pidgin &

nohup firefox &

It works fine but the desktop is crowded.

Is there a way to specify in which virtual desktop the app should start so that I can spread them out across the virtual desktops?

Thanks,

Steve

disciple · Posted: Wed 06 Jan 2010, 09:36 Post subject:

You can make a program always start on a particular desktop, which is not exactly what you're asking:
Look at the "Group" settings in http://joewing.net/programs/jwm/config.shtml
You'll want to edit ~/jwm/jwmrc-personal

sazeile · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 41

Disciple,

Thanks for the reply.

You're right, it's not quite what I'm looking for.

I also discovered in desktops that you can specify a different background for each desktop. If I set the background type to "command" and then specify the app that I want then that app will start when I go to that desktop.

What is doesn't do is auto start that app on that desktop without going to that desktop.

However, I think that will be good enough.

Thanks again,

Steve Z.

disciple · Posted: Thu 07 Jan 2010, 00:40 Post subject:

A clever misuse of that feature Smile

You should suggest in the JWM improvement thread a feature to have separate startup commands for each desktop http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=379081#379081

There is probably a "better" way to do what you want, but you can do it by inserting lines in your startup script that switch between the desktops by using xte, (which might actually be included in Puppy now, I can't remember) to send whatever keystrokes are bound in your JWM configuration for desktop switching. If you do this I imagine you'll see the screen flicker briefly at startup while it cycles through the desktops.

sazeile · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 41

Disciple,

Turns out there was a minor problem with my "clever misuse".
Everytime you go to a desktop with a background="command" that command gets executed.

I was able to set up a function key to toggle between desktops and then I used xte in my startup script and it did the trick.

Thanks for the link to xte. It isn't in 4.3.1.

I had to add some "sleep" steps to allow the apps to get started before toggling to the next desktop.
Otherwise the app will land on the next desktop if it hasn't had time to get started.

I wasn't able to figure out how to use the "desktop#" key action to go to a specific desktop.
That would be better then toggling through all of the desktops.

Do you know what Joe means by:

desktop# Key to switch to a specific desktop. To use this, # must be specified in the key section.
Then numbers from 1 to the number of desktops configured are substituted for #.

I tried:

<Key key="F1">desktop#</Key>
<Key key="F2">desktop#</Key>
<Key key="F3">desktop#</Key>
<Key key="F4">desktop#</Key>

No errors on "jwm -p" but all four keys just toggle to the next desktop instead of going to a specific desktop.

Thanks,

Steve Z.

disciple · Posted: Sun 10 Jan 2010, 03:58 Post subject:

Hmmm.
I've never tried it before - it isn't actually what I thought. The default Puppy configuration includes

sazeile · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 41

Disciple,

Thanks for the explanation.

I now have a startup script that looks like:

DanYHKim · Joined: 14 Sep 2008 Posts: 103

I haven't done this. I was just looking for clues about using VMware Tools. On a page about setting up VMware Tools, there are some instructions found at "Step Six" of the list showing a script that invokes the XVKBD virtual keyboard to switch desktops.

Someone smarter than me will have to look at it and see if it makes sense.

disciple · Posted: Wed 13 Jan 2010, 04:02 Post subject:

Alternatively if you don't mind a program always starting on a particular desktop (not just at when jwm starts) you could use groups in the jwm config to make them do that.

disciple · Posted: Wed 13 Jan 2010, 04:20 Post subject:

If you do mind it always applying, you might find a better solution using wmctrl or devilspie or something...

disciple · Posted: Thu 28 Jan 2010, 05:15 Post subject:

Ah, a slightly better approach would be to just open the programs on whatever desktop you are on, then use the tiny xdotool to move them to the right desktop e.g.

sazeile · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 41

Disciple,

The xdotool makes sending it to another desktop easier and it provided me a way to know when the application has launched and can then be moved.

Here's the code that I added to my startup.sh script in /root/Startup