Openbox FAQs

[William O'Higgins]

I've recently started using Openbox, and I like it enough to contribute.
We need a better FAQ, so here are some possible additions:

How do I edit the menu?

Edit ~/.config/openbox/menu.xml.  Read the documentation at the <a
href="http://icculus.org/openbox/docs.php?page=config.html">Docs</a>
page.


Where is the dock?

The dock is defined in the ~/.config/openbox/rc.xml file.  The relevant
section looks like this:<pre>
<dock>
	<position>BottomLeft</position>
    <stacking>Top</stacking>
	<direction>Vertical</direction>
	<floatingX>0</floatingX>
	<floatingY>0</floatingY>
	<autoHide>yes</autoHide>
	<hideDelay>300</hideDelay>
	<moveButton>A-Left</moveButton>
</dock>
</pre>

If you don't see anything in the dock, it is because there are no dock
applications running.  Look at <a
href="http:/docapps.org">docapps.org</a> for examples of dock
applications to see if there is anything you want to run.


How do I launch applications when X starts?

If you are starting X with startx, applications are launched with the
~/.xinitrc script.  If you are starting X via a graphical login,
applications are launched with the ~/.xsession.  Applications that are
to run on top of X must be run after X is started.  To accomplish this,
launch applications with the following syntax: 
<pre>
sleep 1 && exec application &
</pre>

The sleep command lets the X server get a head start and the trailing
ampersand lets the command happen in the background.


How do I set a background in Openbox?

You don't.  Seriously, Openbox is a window manager, and setting a root
window background is outside that mandate.  Use another program to set
the root background, such as xsetroot, bsetbg, Esetroot, Rox etc.
Launch these programs within the X startup script.


Can you put tabs in Openbox?

No.  If you want a tabbing window manager, use <a
href="http://www.fluxbox.org">fluxbox</a>
or <a href="http://pekwm.org">pekwm</a>.  For further explanation, read <a
href="http://www.nerdnest.org/~woodblck/2003/04/23/#tabs">this</a>.
-- 

yours,

William
nerd.cx