Hello. I tried a wm called olix, which is a fairly well integrated rox + icewm desktop. I had a hard time changing it's appearance, but the config tools were top-notch. So I took a cue from them and retooled the mouse scripts into icewm config scripts. Here's what I have so far:


I plan on adding some more tabs:
1. Applets - mail, cpu graph, etc.
2. Toolbar - start button, windows, etc.
3. Workspaces - show or not, and number of workspaces
4. Perhaps a tab for preferred applications

The idea is that by checking the boxes, you are changing the default settings in your preferences file. To return to the default settings, just leave the box unchecked and click OK. It's working very well, except it crashes X after a few run-throughs. Maybe it's because after running the script I issue the following command to restart icewm:
Any ideas? Thanks.

john

Here are two more tabs:


I plan on adding one more tab for misc options such as show collapse icon and double-height taskbar.

Speaking of the coding: It's mostly complete for the options you see. It's just passing the name of the setting to tweak along with a 0 or 1 (off/on). This allows me to reuse one script for each setting. However, the show seconds in clock and number of workspaces require new scripts and have not been coded yet. All else is finished.

I don't know if the app still crashes x. I've only been adding options since I know how everything works. I know, poor programming practice.

Major hiccup: Recall the way it works: check means change option, no check means return to default. Since there's no session manager in antix, the app doesn't remember what was checked or unchecked on the last run of the app. So you'd have to redo the entire gamut of settings. The only other option is to use a different utility - and there's a few out there - to manage the settings. There are two problems with this: I've sometimes run in to dependency issues and they have a tendency to take over your preferences file; i.e., they edit out the comments and white spaces, and if you try to edit it by hand instead of the app, things get weird.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

john

Hello. The application is almost complete. I believe that I've included the most common options in the menus and I like the layout.

Known Issues:
1. X crashes if the settings are changed too often (probably around 15 times). I think this is due to the way I restart icewm. But I don't know of any other way.
2. I need to add some sort of confirmation dialog.
3. I should probably have the app backup your preferences file each time it is run.

Installation (as root):
1. Unzip archive to /usr/local/bin
2. Make sure all files are executable
3. Back up ~/.icewm/preferences to a safe place such as your documents folder.

Running the app:
Run"icewmconfig.sh" as user (without quotes) using any run command, terminal, or menu entry.

Usage:
Think of the preferences file that ships with antix as holding all of the default antix settings. The app can then be used to change any of these settings. So if you check some boxes and then hit"OK", then the result will be a new configuration file. To"restore" the default options - all or some - just run the app without checking those options.

Warning:
This app has no"memory;" i.e., each time you run the app you will need to carefully go through every option, checking and unchecking boxes as needed. But it sure is easier than wading through the 1000+ lines of code.

Screenshot:


Files:


john

Please report any issues in this thread.

Nice job John. do you have an icon preference? If so pass it on and I will"deb" it for you, including a desktop file an anything else you want with it.

Thanks, erie. I'll take you up on your offer after I feel that it's complete. I'm also thinking of a new layout. For example, the clock tab would have the following options:
1. Hide
2. Time format
3. Effects (such as blinking)
4. Command to run
I think it may be better to have all similar options grouped together. (I originally based my layout on an app called ice-prefer from sourceforge.

I'll post an updated script with the fixes mentioned in my previous post. Then I'll work on a new layout and see if I like it. You're of course more than welcome to make packages for both layouts. Give me some time to first work out the bugs and choose an icon. Thanks!

john

P.S. I would also like a .desktop file. There are at least two apps that I know of that create a menu for icewm using .desktop files. Thanks!

When ever you think it's ready just send me the files and I will put it together for you.

It's actually quite easy, especially if it's just scripts and files. It sure makes it convenient to update and maintain.

Portuguese version.

I will have to check and see how to package together scripts like these in different languages. The user should be able to get the script for his/her lang automatically.

I will have to check and see how to package together scripts like these in different languages. The user should be able to get the script for his/her lang automatically.

Changelog (new zip available in previous post):

1. If the user hits the"OK" button, then their preferences file is backed up as ~/.icewm/preferences.bak
2. Slight change in wording in Misc tab:"Panel Options" to"Taskbar Options"
3. Added a zenity dialog that does two things: informs user that changes were saved and asks if they want icewm restarted.

Thanks for the translations! The only new translations needed are in the Misc tab and the zenity dialog at the end of the file. Thanks!

john

P.S. I think I like the simplicity of the app. Therefore, I will leave it as is.

@erie Let's use an icon from gtangish for consitency.

/blah/apps/preferences-system-windows.png

Using the latest set of scripts.

If user has set for panel on top and then adds all the applets, the panel gets moved back to the bottom.
Is there a way to make it 'obvious' that users can make several choices from each tab before hitting OK and that each part works?
Also a way to reverse the process?

Apart from that another excellent addition to icewm.

Something else.

Above regular windows seems to work like 'go back to how it was" (A good idea IMO.)
I just wanted to look at having workspaces on the right, didn't like it, but no way to go back to workspaces on the left without having to change all the settings.

Well, yeah. There's those problems which I knew about from the start. I don't know how to have the app"remember" the settings. The only thing I can do is look into the app"ice-prefer" and see how they do it. It's a simple bash script with a lot of"sed" commands. It uses xdialog - I think - and it does remember your settings. A little awkward to use as some things aren't obvious. The only two problems I found were not seeing an option for adding the network monitor and I couldn't change the clock config. Here's a link if you're willing to try it (and maybe even help me convert it into a zenity app to look a little better).


========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://sourceforge.net/projects/ice-prefer/"
linktext was:"http://sourceforge.net/projects/ice-prefer/"
====================================
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john