Desktop Sideboard Even the Smallest Desktop Has Room for a Panel

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Setting up SuxPanel Desktop Sideboard Even the smallest desktop has room for a panel. If your choice of a window manager does not support a suitable panel alternative, you can always add a panel like SuxPanel. Suxpanel pro- vides many useful features for the desktop, and it even it even supports plug-ins.

BY ANDREA MÜLLER www.sxc .hu

sideboard or panel groups a col- make code directory to create a user configura- lection of practical desktop su -c "make install" tion in ~/.suxpanel. When you run the Aextensions like a clock and a start script, it will not only create a configura- menu. The major desktop environments, to build and install the panel. The install tion file with default settings, but it will such as KDE and Gnome, have a panel command copies the panel to the direc- also check the /usr/share/applications by default, but users of more simple win- tory tree below /usr. There is no way folder for Gnome desktop entries. It cre- dow managers often need to add a panel. to change this, not even if you run ates an entry in the SuxPanel start menu SuxPanel [1], by Leandro Pereira, has an ./configure with the --prefix=/other/ for any files ending with .desktop. If you amazing list of features, including an installation/directory parameter set. If have installed Gnome, this gives you a extended clipboard, plug-in support, and you want to remove SuxPanel later, you head start with a good selection of pro- automatic menu generation. will need to manually delete the exe- grams (Figure 1). cutable, /usr/bin/suxpanel, and the Suse Linux users are out of luck. Suse Gimme! /usr/share/suxpanel directory. installs Gnome programs in /opt/gnome, SuxPanel has no RPM or Debian pack- where suxpanel-install.sh will not find ages at this time, so you will have to Gnome Menus for the Asking them. The good news is, you can use an build the panel from the source code. To Before you launch your new panel for editor to modify the script, allowing it to build SuxPanel from the source, you the first time, you will need to run the discover the Suse Linux start menu need gtk2 version 2.0 and the matching suxpanel-install.sh script in the source entries. In lines 75, 81, 87, and 107, developer package. Most distributions add a -devel or -dev tag to help you iden- tify the developer packages. Unpack the suxpanel-0.3.tar.bz2 archive file, and change to the directory created by this step, suxpanel-0.3. Then type the follow- ing commands:

./configure Figure 1:The suxpanel-install.sh script tells SuxPanel to parse your Gnome desktop menu entries.

78 January 2005 www.linux-magazine.com deskTOPia LINUX USER

Figure 2: By default, SuxPanel loads a full selection of plug-ins – from left to right: the quick start icons, menu, clipboard, window list, desktop pager, volume setting, and clock. replace /usr with /opt/gnome. Do not dialog box that appears, change the set- share/suxpanel/plugins/apps.so to the change the other instances of the /usr ting for the number of virtual desktops. top. It is quite simple to edit the menu. string, as they refer to SuxPanel and its You need to do this even if you happen The place to edit the menu is the ~/.sux- plug-in directory. to work with four desktops – the default panel/apps directory. To add a new pager setting. Change the value to 3 and category to the menu called Internet, for Well Equipped then back to 4. After this push in the example, create a directory with this After running the setup script, you can right direction, blackbox and its deriva- name. Then create a directory below this launch the panel by typing suxpanel. tives will switch virtual desktops at the level for each program you want to The panel will set up shop at the top of click of a mouse. group below Internet. For example, you your screen (see Figure 2) and load the The clock and the volume control might create a directory called ~/.sux- plug-ins supplied by the program’s share a spot on the right of the panel. panel/apps/Internet/Mozilla to add the author. On the far left, you will see two Clicking the mixer pops up a slide con- browser to the menu. Then create a quickstart icons for a terminal window troller that sets the volume. Don’t be script called AppRun in the Mozilla and a file manager. The target applica- surprised if the control does not disap- folder, and add the command to launch tion for the file manager depends on pear when you make a change: SuxPanel Mozilla: what suxpanel-install.sh discovered on waits for five seconds before closing the your box. It looks for Rox first, before mixer. #!/bin/sh going on to look for Nautilus, Konqueror, mozilla and gmc (the Gnome Midnight Comman- Customizing SuxPanel der). It uses the first match as the default If you cannot get the window list to Type chmod +x AppRun to make the file file manager. work, you might like to disable the plug- executable and ensure that the panel will The clipboard (hiding behind the clip- in. There is no way of disabling the accept the file as a start script. The next board symbol) is particularly useful. You plug-in in the configuration dialog at pre- time you launch SuxPanel, you should can hold down the left mouse button sent. You cannot remove the checkmarks see a new submenu with an entry for when selecting a section of text to store in the plug-in checkboxes. But there is a Mozilla. If you want to add an icon for the text in SuxPanel. The text is not workaround to this problem via the the menu entry, copy an XPM-formatted replaced if you select something else; ~/.suxpanel/modules.ini text file. This graphic to the Mozilla folder, and rename instead, the panel saves up to six blocks file has the path to a plug-in in every the image file to AppIcon.xpm. Instead of of text. To insert a block of text, click on line; the line for the window list looks copying the icon, you could simply cre- the clipboard icon, select the required like this: ate a link. You’ll find a big collection of entry, and then press the center mouse program icons in the /usr/share/pixmaps button. l=/usr/share/suxpanelU folder. ■ To the right of the clipboard, the panel /plugins/sux-tasklist-applet.so has a list of active windows. As window INFO managers use different approaches to To disable the module, delete the line [1] SuxPanel:http://www.linuxmag.com.br/ managing windows, this will not work from modules.ini. The l= and r= pre- ~leandro/suxpanel/ on any desktop. Whereas fvwm, icewm, fixes specify whether the plug-in will [2] Andrea Müller:“Opening Pandora’s Box: and kwin show you all application win- launch on the left or right side. The first The Fluxbox Window Manager,”Linux dows, blackbox, fluxbox [2], and line, which starts with l=, loads the Magazine #43 / June 2004,p 80 window maker show nothing at all. Your plug-in on the left. To view the program best approach is to check and see if the menu rather than the quick start icons, task list plug-in works with your window simply move the line with l=/usr/ After nearly two- manager. years as an There are similar issues with the independent journal- ist,Andrea Mueller pager, which does not let you switch vir- works as a new editor

tual desktops under Window Maker. The HOR for the Linux New pager works fine with blackbox and its T Media AG. derivatives, fluxbox and openbox, but it When she is not taking care of articles does need a little help to get started. or wrapping packages for the

Open the configuration dialog box by THE AU EasyLinux download area,she looks beyond Linux and is involved with selecting Settings in the panel context other operating systems like QNX, menu. Then select WorkSpace Switcher Figure 3: Select Workspace Switcher to set the BeOS and NetBSD. and click on Properties (Figure 3). In the number of virtual desktops.