Startup and identification questions

Configuration General Questions
1

Ok, here follows some lame questions for which I haven’t been able to find answers. If they’re already on the forum, I apologize.

  1. I try to set up some programs to start up with StartsOnDesk and StartsOnPage styles. Some, like Mozilla Thunderbird, do not seem to be affected at all by these parameters. It starts up on where ever I start it. Some, like Eterm, act all funky with these parameters. Eterm, when started with StartsOnDesk and -Page, doesn’t show itself inside Pager anymore, and after switching to another screen and back to the original, it’s all gone. Some programs work fine with exactly same parameters than given to the previous example programs.

What can I do with these applications to get them to behave? Is it hopeless? Or am I?

  1. How do I use WindowId? I have an application of id 0x1400003 (XChat), and I want to start it up on a certain page of a certain desk during startup. After that I want it to grow in size until it reaches FvwmIconMan on the top of the screen and FvwmButtons on the left.

I have:

DestroyFunc FvwmXChat
AddToFunc   FvwmXChat
+ I Exec exec xchat
+ I WindowId 0x1400003 root 2 Maximize grow grow

Style "xchat" NoTitle, !Handles, !Borders, StartsOnDesk 2, StartsOnPage 2

It just doesn’t recognize the XChat window.

  1. Well, while I’m at it, I could also ask how to start these applications so that the current page I’m in won’t change (for example: Xchat starts to desk 2 page 3, but I stay on desk 1 page 1).

Well… I think I apologize anyway, even if there’d be no answers to these questions. :blush:

2

Works fine here.

Style Gecko StartsOnPage 0 1 0, SkipMapping

… for instance. What line are you using?

That’s because the window is not mapped before the WindowID command is issues. In functions, commands beginning “+I” run sequentially one after the other. What you really want to do is:

DestroyFunc FvwmXChat
AddToFunc   FvwmXChat
+ I Exec exec xchat
+ I Wait xchat
+ I WindowId 0x1400003 root 2 Maximize grow grow

Although the above has some problems – the WindowID of the xchat window will be different each time you start it – sio stick to using the name of the window, instead using ‘Next’ to match the next instance of xchat as it loads. So the function becomes:

DestroyFunc FvwmXChat
AddToFunc   FvwmXChat
+ I Exec exec xchat
+ I Wait xchat
+ I Next (xchat) Maximize grow grow

Use a style line with the ‘SkipMapping’ option.

– Thomas Adam

3

Thank you!

It’s all working now. Seems I was misinterpreting some of the configuration options (for example StartOnPage’s x y page position arguments).

Thank you, once again.

One more question. I have the intention to start these programs at startup, but if I do it (using the methods you’ve shown), I don’t get past startup. I see the clock cursor, and first of the applications I set to start (using StartFunction or InitFunction) fires up, but then nothing happens.

Like this:

DestroyFunc FvwmThunderbird
AddToFunc   FvwmThunderbird
+ I Exec exec thunderbird
+ I Wait Thunderbird-bin
+ I Next (Thunderbird-bin) Maximize grow grow

DestroyFunc InitFunction
AddToFunc   InitFunction
+ I FvwmThunderbird

Does this happen because of the Wait command issued in FvwmSomefunction (like the one you showed for Xchat)? How does on get past this? This doesn’t happen if I start the applications manually after boot, not even when using FvwmSomefunction. Everything goes smoothly then.

4

You’re welcome.

Yes, it does. Perhaps the only way to get out of it if it hangs like that is to press: CTRL ALT ESC. Although, I can’t quite see why it should hang – it works fine for me, the only difference being I use “StartFunction” in place of “InitFunction”, which is what you should use, as well.

– Thomas Adam