Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ncar!boulder!stan!toml
From: toml@Solbourne.COM (Tom LaStrange)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Is xplaces possible?
Message-ID: <2779@ninja.Solbourne.COM>
Date: 13 Oct 89 21:30:50 GMT
Organization: Solbourne Computer Inc., Longmont, Co.
Lines: 38


The subject says it all.  Is an "xplaces" program possible?

I am attempting to put xplaces functionality into a window manager and
am running into some problems.  The window manager knows a lot of
information about client windows: state, icon position, geometry, etc.
When the window manager is asked to dump out the information to
something that could be used as an .xinitrc file, it would be nice if
all this state information could be saved also.

I can't figure out a standard way to do this.

The window manager can start with the WM_COMMAND property but cannot
really modify it in any way.  Not all clients understand the same
options so the wm can't even add something as simple as a -geometry
option to the WM_COMMAND string without breaking clients that don't
understand -geometry.  XView clients are a perfect example,  all the
options they recognize are Sunview like rather than Xt like.

What I almost need is a standard -ignore "some string here" option that
all clients will ignore.  This string could then be looked for in the
WM_COMMAND property when the window manager goes to reparent the
window.  The window manager could parse the string for any options to
restore the client to the state from which it was saved.

Have I completely missed the boat on something here?  Is there an easy
standard way to do this that I've overlooked?

This is going to be the first tool that a lot of Sunview users are
going to ask for and it's not going to go over well if it only works
with half the clients out there.

--
Tom LaStrange

Solbourne Computer Inc.    ARPA: toml@Solbourne.COM
1900 Pike Rd.              UUCP: ...!{boulder,nbires,sun}!stan!toml
Longmont, CO  80501