Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!apple!usc!wuarchive!csus.edu!ucdavis!csusac!unify!jeff From: jeff@Unify.Com (Jeff Mischkinsky) Newsgroups: comp.windows.open-look Subject: Re: OpenWindows backgrounds (dammit) Message-ID: Date: 21 Jan 91 22:43:58 GMT References: <4w5wjtp@openlook.Unify.Com> Organization: Unify Corporation, Sacramento, CA, USA Lines: 39 In article <4w5wjtp@openlook.Unify.Com> grp@magpie.unify.com (Greg Pasquariello) writes: >> >>Well, I just got accustomed to the idea that my monochrome SLC just >>won't do that nifty 3d-look that I like so much, and started working >>on how to get the background to be set to a bitmap pattern. Under >>normal X (previously compiled X11R4), I just had a line in my .xinitrc: >>"xsetroot -bitmap $PATH/bitmapname". Real Easy. Under Sun's OpenWindows >>V2.0, I put this ANYWHERE (.xinitrc, .openwin-init) and sure enough, >>the bitmap comes up, only to be replaced moments later by this nondescript >>grey background. If I type the command by hand in one of my xterm windows >>everything is fine, but I want this to come up automatically. Of course, >>the documentation doesn't mention any kind of resources for the "Workspace" >>except "WorkspaceColor" which (as I understand it) is useless. >> >>Is there something that I'm just too blind to see, or is this thing really >>designed so bass-ackwards that you can't customize your background >>automatically (unless of course you like solid "colors")? > >Whats happening is a race condition between the olwm and >the xsetroot. I am unaware of any resources that will allow you >to do this kind of thing, but I've had success by starting >olwm first, then, as the very last thing, sleep for a few seconds >and do the xsetroot. This will allow time for olwm to do it's background, >at which point the xsetroot can run and replace it. >>Pete Hartman pwh@bradley.bradley.edu Haazavaa? In addition, you may run into problems with olwm if you try to start up "too many" processes and put up too many windows too quickly. This can occur if you start up olwm in your .openwin-init (or .xinitrc) and then immediately fire up a bunch of processess in the background. The "safe" thing to do is to sleep for a few seconds after starting up olwm and then sleep for a few seconds between groups of 4 or 5 startup processes. Thus my .openwin-init file looks like: cmd&; cmd&; cmd&; cmd&; cmd&; sleep 5; cmd&; ... -- Jeff Mischkinsky internet: jeff@unify.com Unify Corporation ...!{pyramid,csusac}!unify!jeff 3870 Rosin Court voice: (916) 920-9092 fax: (916) 921-5340 Sacramento, CA 95834 ICBMS: 38 38 40 N / 120 28 10 W