[openbox] window decorations problem...

[Ava Arachne Jarvis]

[Ben Jansens - Sat,  9 Nov 2002 06:32:36 PM CST]
> <from the netwm standard>
> Rationale: This hint is intend to replace the MOTIF hints. One of the
> objections to the MOTIF hints is that they are a purely visual
> description of the window decoration. By describing the function of
> the window, the window manager can apply consistent decoration and
> behaviour to windows of the same type.

Right.  I thought I'd read that from somewhere.


> I'm looking at another approach that kinda combines netwm and mwm, but
> I'm not sure if it would be right..

Sounds like the majority of window managers out there combine both
approaches -- first NetWM, and then motif hints overriding.

Thisi s what the GTK 2.0 specs say, for (one of the) functions that does
the MWM hint setting:

  gtk_window_set_decorated ()
  
  By default, windows are decorated with a title bar, resize controls,
  etc. Some window managers allow GTK+ to disable these decorations,
  creating a borderless window. If you set the decorated property to FALSE
  using this function, GTK+ will do its best to convince the window
  manager not to decorate the window. Depending on the system, this
  function may not have any effect when called on a window that is already
  visible, so you should call it before calling gtk_window_show(). 

  On Windows, this function always works, since there's no window
  manager policy involved.

This is encouraged in most cases over setting _NETWM_WINDOW_TYPE to
something decorless, I assume because that ends up confusing function
and appearance, which is sometimes bad.  In any case, there doesn't seem
to be any kind of NETWM_WINDOW_TYPE that says "I am a normal window, but
make me decorless anyways".

There is one other issue with NetWM window type handling and Openbox
that is less of a question about "rightness": 

According to the NETWM specs, window_type_menu is only for
torn-off/pinned menus; so Openbox should NOT make them sticky (which it
does at the moment), and should give them a title bar so they can moved
about (which it does not at the moment).


-- 
| It is your destiny.  - Darth Vader