antiX-forum

There is an app called icewm control panel. It has a few cool things in it, but because of a dependency issue it's not fully functional in antix. One of the cool things that does work is a theme designer. Download the app from here

http://linux.softpedia.com/get/System/S ... 1576.shtml

and unpack it. Click on IceWMCP.py and when the control panel window pops up, click on the icewm theme designer icon. (So you don't even have to install it.)

john

With all your interest in IceWM you should contact PhrozenSmoke to see about taking it over since he hasn't updated it in several years. He seems to code everything in python.

AFAIK, icewm uses 16x16 icons in the menu and taskbar; however, depending on the style, they can look pretty bad (light backgrounds, larger menus, etc). So the easy fix is to use 32x32 icons instead. They will look better in any situation.

john

Note: This may not work with all icon sets. It does work with gtangish black icon set that is used in the antix control center and logout windows.

In fluxbox, a lot of times you can launch an app with arguments directly from the menu. For example, let's say you wanted to take a screenshot. Then you would simply add this entry to the fluxbox menu:

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scrot -d 5 '%Y-%m-%d_$wx$h.jpg'; xmessage 'snapshot done'

Now whenever you want to take a screenshot, just click on the entry for "Screenshot." And this entry does everything for you: It saves the file after a 5 second delay and displays a message when the file is saved. Unfortunately, it's not as easy in icewm. Here's a workaround that I use:

Note: You will need to have scrot installed.

1. Make a menu entry. Using the screenshot example, make an entry such as:

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prog "Screenshot" /icons/name.png screenshot.sh

2. Open an editor and write a script. It's really not as scary as it sounds. The main code is really just the line from the fluxbox menu entry:

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#!/bin/sh

scrot -d 5 '%Y-%m-%d_$wx$h.jpg'; xmessage 'snapshot done'

3. Save the file as "screenshot.sh" and make it executable:

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chmod a+x /path/to/screenshot.sh

4. Now move the file to /usr/local/bin/:

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mv /path/to/screenshot.sh /usr/local/bin/

5. Restart Icewm using the start menu (Start Menu > Logout > Restart Icewm). Everything should work now.

john

I'm pretty sure there are some non-antix users checking this thread out. So hello and welcome to you. This post is for you. If you would like an app to set the wallpaper for you, then feh is a simple app that can get the job done. Here is how:

1. Install feh.

2. Using the tips from the previous post, create a menu entry and a script for feh. Here's the script that you'll need:

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#!/bin/sh

feh -g 640x480 -d -S filename ~/Wallpaper/

Don't forget to make it executable and move it /usr/local/bin/.

Note: You can change "~/Wallpaper/" to whatever directory you use for your wallpapers/images.

3. Add this line to ~/.icewm/startup so that feh will set this wall paper each time you startup:

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eval `cat $HOME/.fehbg` &

4. If you don't have the file ~/.icewm/startup, then use mine:

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#!/bin/bash

conky &
eval `cat $HOME/.fehbg` &
(sleep 2; idesk &) &

You will need to make it executable. See the above post for more info.

Note: Your .xsession or .xinitrc file will need to have an entry such as "exec icewm-session" for the startup file to be executed.

5. Restart Icewm using the menu. Try clicking your menu entry for feh. Everything should work.


john

As you know, icewm does not update the menu automatically when new applications are installed; instead, you are expected to edit the menu on your own. There is a way around this that requires very little effort on your part. With a simple edit of icewm's menu file, you can add a folder called "programs." This will give you a folder populated with just about every app on your computer. It will also organize them into subfolders and include icons in a few cases. Here's a screenshot:



So just 3 steps:
1. Open the control center and choose "edit icewm settings." Then click the menu tab.
2. Add this entry anywhere you like:
menufile Programs folder programs
3. Save it.

You should now have a menu that will "update" itself as you install new apps.

john

That is a great tip, John! I believe it is Debian that turns that feature on by default, not only with IceWM, but with many other window managers as well. One reason that I do not use some window managers by default is that they are missing a lot of applications, particularly the new ones that I install. I know that I can add them manually to various menus, task bars, and so forth, but that can be tedious. With this tip, it becomes very useful. Then if I want to put a particular item in my favorite spot for convenience, I can still do so, but at least with this approach I always have access to all of the available programs. Thanks for sharing how to do this!

OU812 wrote:So just 3 steps:
1. Open the control center and choose "edit icewm settings." Then click the menu tab.
2. Add this entry anywhere you like:
menufile Programs folder programs
3. Save it.

You should now have a menu that will "update" itself as you install new apps.

john

Hey! Nice! Thanks icewm!

Only in the last few days have I been able to download and clean install M7.5. Decided this time to learn and stretch some more by making icewm the default wm. After playing with it for a few days and getting everything tweaked the way I like it....I have to say John.....really nice job! Infinitely more attractive and very usable. I've been keeping track of the progress and "evolution" through this forum but am even more impressed now that I'm using it.

The experience of using antiX from Spartacus on up the ladder has been an amazing ride. Eager to see and be part of what lies ahead in the future.

OU812 wrote:As you know, icewm does not update the menu automatically when new applications are installed; instead, you are expected to edit the menu on your own. There is a way around this that requires very little effort on your part.

So just 3 steps:
1. Open the control center and choose "edit icewm settings." Then click the menu tab.
2. Add this entry anywhere you like:
menufile Programs folder programs
3. Save it.

You should now have a menu that will "update" itself as you install new apps.

john

I believe I found an entry in the Fluxbox menu that allows me to access all of the applications, but is there a facility like this in Fluxbox to have a Programs menu similar to this? I really like having nice, clean menus, but I also like to have access to all applications. The Programs menu entry in IceWM is ideal for this, and I was wondering what the corresponding technique is in Fluxbox to do a similar thing?

I really like this feature. Thanks so much, John, for putting the time and effort into really making the IceWM configuration so usable!

Thanks for the tip, anti! That will make my antiX excursions more nimble than ever. What a great release this is, and great people to work with here. I've really been enjoying it!

There are quite a few new icewm at the following sites:

http://www.box-look.org/index.php?xcont ... f31ab375c8

http://themes.freshmeat.net/browse/925/

Check them out.

john

If you want something along the lines of fbpanel or lxpanel, try this first. There is an app at box-look.org that is designed to look at your *.desktop files and create a "start" menu based on those entries. The nice thing about this is that it uses your current window theme and icon sets so the overall look of your desktop remains consistent. The downside is that you may need to create some *.desktop entries to fully populate your menu. Also, you need to compile it from source. But hey, it looks really cool.

http://www.box-look.org/content/show.ph ... tent=88340

john

I've been working on an icewm theme based on 3 existing icewm themes that I've found around the web. I'm just about ready to declare it final. When I do, I'll try posting it at freshmeat. Then I'll probably work on a couple more based on the lxice and silver vista themes.

Also, I would like to have a volume control app that resides in the tray rather than the taskbar. There's an ubuntu thread with some info that I'm looking into. If I can get it to work, I'll post back with the details.

john