Common Desktop Environment: Advanced User's and System Administrator's Guide

13 Advanced Front Panel
Customization


Contents of Chapter:
Front Panel Configuration Files
Default Front Panel Configuration File
Search Path for Front Panel Configuration Files
How the Front Panel Is Assembled: Precedence Rules
Dynamically Created Front Panel Files
Administering User Interface Customizations
To Prevent Personal Customizations
To Restore a Deleted Control or Subpanel
Organization of the Front Panel Definition
Front Panel Components
General Syntax of the Front Panel Definition
Modifying the Main Panel
To Add a Control to the Main Panel
To Remove a Control
To Modify a Control
To Interchange the Position of Controls
To Replace a Front Panel Control
Specifying the Icon Used by a Control
Creating and Modifying Subpanels
To Create a New System-Wide Subpanel
Customizing the Built-in Subpanels
To Modify General Properties of a Built-In Subpanel
To Add a System-Wide Control to a Built-In Subpanel
To Remove a Control from a Built-In Subpanel
To Remove the Install Icon Control
To Change the Auto-Close Behavior of Subpanels
Defining Front Panel Controls
Front Panel Control Definitions
Control Types
To Create a New Control
To Create a Client Window Control
To Animate a Control
Customizing the Workspace Switch
To Change the Default Number of Workspaces
To Change the Number of Switch Rows
To Change or Add Controls in the Workspace Switch
General Front Panel Configuration
General Steps
To Change the Default Front Panel Location
To Label Controls in the Main Panel
To Change the Click Behavior of Controls
To Create an Entirely New Front Panel
Example of Creating a Personal Front Panel with Three Rows
Users can customize the Front Panel using its pop-up menus and the Install Icon controls in the subpanels.

This chapter covers customizing the Front Panel by creating and editing configuration files.

See Also

Front Panel Configuration Files

The Front Panel is defined in a database of configuration files.

The configuration files provide a way to customize the Front Panel. Certain modifications can only be done by editing a configuration file, including:

To provide maximum flexibility in configuring the panel, these files can be personal, system-wide, or located on other systems.

The Front Panel is created and managed by the Workspace Manager.

Default Front Panel Configuration File

The default Front Panel is defined in the Front Panel configuration file /usr/dt/appconfig/types/language/dtwm.fp.

This file should not be altered.

Search Path for Front Panel Configuration Files

The Front Panel definition can be distributed among any number of files located locally or on remote systems.

Files used to define the Front Panel must meet these requirements:

The default actions database search path includes these directories, searched in the following order:

HomeDirectory/.dt/types
Personal customizations

/etc/dt/appconfig/types/language
System-wide customizations

/usr/dt/appconfig/types/language
Built-in panel and controls

An additional directory, HomeDirectory /.dt/types/ fp_dynamic , is used for personal customizations made with the user interface. Do not use this directory for manual customizations.

The actions database search path may include additional directories added to configure the system for networking. In particular, additional remote locations are added when the system is configured to access an application server. For more information, see "Database (Action/Data Types) Search Path" .

How the Front Panel Is Assembled: Precedence Rules

The Front Panel is assembled from all the configuration files located on the actions database search path.

Where there is a conflict between components of the definition, precedence rules determine which definition is used. Two components are in conflict with one another when they:

The Front Panel uses these precedence rules:


Note: When you are modifying a control by creating a new system-wide or personal version of it, the new control definition must specify the same control name, CONTAINER_NAME , and CONTAINER_TYPE . Otherwise, the new control will appear in addition to the existing control.

Dynamically Created Front Panel Files

When the user customizes the Front Panel using the Install Icon control and pop-up menus, files are written to the directory HomeDirectory/.dt/types/fp_dynamic.

The Front Panel creates an additional file, HomeDirectory /.dt/sessions/dtwmfp.session , that is used to save and restore the state of the customized Front Panel for each session.


Administering User Interface Customizations

Users can use the controls' pop-up menus and Install Icon controls to extensively customize the Front Panel.

This section describes how to:

To Prevent Personal Customizations

  1. If the control is a built-in control, copy its definition from /usr/dt/appconfig/types/ language /dtwm.fp to /etc/dt/appconfig/types/ language / name .fp.

  2. Add the following line to the control definition:

    LOCKED   True

To Restore a Deleted Control or Subpanel

The Restore Front Panel action in the Desktop_Tools application group removes all Front Panel customizations made with the user interface. Users can use this action to remove all their personal customizations made with the Front Panel's pop-up menus.

Use the following procedure to restore an individual control.

In the HomeDirectory /.dt/types/fp_dynamic directory, remove the file that was created when the user deleted the control. The control will have the same name as the original control that was deleted.

For example, if the user deleted the Icon Editor control, a file in the fp_dynamic directory will contain:

CONTROL IconEditor
{
   ... 
   DELETE   True
}

When the user deletes a subpanel, a separate dynamic file is created for the subpanel and for each control in the subpanel.


Organization of the Front Panel Definition

The Front Panel is built by assembling definitions for its components. Each of these components has required syntax that defines where the component is placed in the Front Panel, what the component looks like, and how it behaves.

Front Panel Components

Figure 13-1 Front Panel components

The Front Panel is assembled from the outside in:

There are two special types of containers:

General Syntax of the Front Panel Definition

Each component in the Front Panel is defined separately using the syntax:

COMPONENT name
{
  KEYWORD       value
  KEYWORD       value
  ... 
}

Some keywords are required, others are optional. For more information, see the dtfpfile(4X) man page.

PANEL Definition

The PANEL is the top-level component. Its definition includes:


PANEL front_panel_name
{
   KEYWORD      value
   KEYWORD      value
   ... 
}

The front_panel_name is a unique name for the Front Panel. The default name is "FrontPanel."

BOX Definitions

A BOX definition describes:

BOX box_name
{
   CONTAINER_NAME   front_panel_name
   POSITION_HINTS   position
   KEYWORD          value
   KEYWORD          value
   ...
}

CONTROL Definitions

A CONTROL definition describes:

CONTROL control_name
{
   CONTAINER_TYPE   BOX or SUBPANEL or SWITCH
   CONTAINER_NAME   box_name or subpanel_name or switch_name
   TYPE             control_type
   POSITION_HINTS   position
   KEYWORD          value
   KEYWORD          value
   ...
}

SUBPANEL Definitions

A SUBPANEL definition describes:

SUBPANEL subpanel_name
{
   CONTAINER_NAME   control_name
   KEYWORD          value
   KEYWORD          value
   ...
}

SWITCH Definition

The SWITCH definition describes:

SWITCH switch_name
{
   CONTAINER_NAME   box_name
   POSITION_HINTS   position
   KEYWORD          value
   KEYWORD          value
   ...
}


Modifying the Main Panel

The Main Panel is the Front Panel window, excluding the subpanels.

Figure 13-2 Main Panel containers

Modifications you can make include:

To Add a Control to the Main Panel

  1. Create a Front Panel configuration file:
  2. Define the control in the file.

    Use the CONTAINER_NAME and CONTAINER_TYPE fields to specify the container for the control:

    CONTAINER_NAME  Top
    CONTAINER_TYPE  BOX

    Use POSITION_HINTS to specify the left-to-right placement of the control. Since customizations have precedence over built-in controls, the new control will "bump" the existing control with that position one position to the right.

  3. Save the configuration file.

  4. Create an icon for the Front Panel control.

    See "Specifying the Icon Used by a Control".

  5. Choose Restart Workspace Manager from the Workspace menu.

For example, the following control definition placed in the file /etc/dt/appconfig/types/ language /audio.fp inserts an audio application control between the Clock and Calendar controls.

CONTROL AudioApplication
{
 TYPE             icon
 CONTAINER_NAME   Top
 CONTAINER_TYPE   BOX
 ICON             AudioApp
 POSITION_HINTS   2
 PUSH_ACTION      StartAudioApplication
 PUSH_RECALL      true
}

To Remove a Control

  1. Create a Front Panel configuration file:
  2. Copy the definition of the control you want to delete to the new file.

    If the control is built-in, its definition is in /usr/dt/appconfig/types/language/dtwm.fp.

    You do not need to copy the entire definition. However, the portion you copy must include the fields CONTAINER_NAME and CONTAINER_TYPE.

  3. Add the DELETE field to the definition:

    DELETE    True

  4. Save the configuration file

  5. Choose Restart Workspace Manager from the Workspace menu.

For example, the following control definition placed in the file /etc/dt/appconfig/types/language/TrashCan.fp removes the Trash Can control from the Front Panel.

CONTROL Trash
{
 CONTAINER_NAME  Top
 CONTAINER_TYPE  BOX
 DELETE          True
}

To Modify a Control

Use this procedure when you need to modify a control definition--for example, to change its icon image.

  1. Copy the entire control definition from /usr/dt/appconfig/types/language/dtwm.fp to:
  2. Edit the field you want to change. You can also add additional fields.

  3. Save the file

  4. Choose Restart Workspace Manager from the Workspace menu.

To Interchange the Position of Controls

  1. Copy the control definitions for the controls whose positions you want to change from /usr/dt/appconfig/types/language/dtwm.fp to: You must copy the entire control definition for each control to be moved.

  2. Interchange the values of the POSITION_HINTS fields of the control definitions.

  3. Save the file

  4. Choose Restart Workspace Manager from the Workspace menu.

For example, the following definitions placed in a file /etc/dt/appconfig/types/C/MailHelp.fp interchange the positions of the Mail and Help Manager controls and lock these controls against personal changes.

CONTROL Mail
{
   POSITION_HINTS   12
   LOCKED           True
   ... the rest of the control definition
}

CONTROL Help { POSITION_HINTS 5 LOCKED True ... the rest of the control definition }

To Replace a Front Panel Control

Create another control definition with the same:

For example, the following two controls are defined in two different configuration files. The controls have the same control name and container name and are therefore considered the same control.

The personal control has precedence, so the control will be located at position 6.

Specifying the Icon Used by a Control

The control definition's ICON field defines the icon image used for the control.

The value of the ICON field can be:

The size icon you need depends on the location of the control:

Location
Size

Main Panel
48 by 48 pixels (name.l.pm or name.l.bm)

Subpanel
24 by 24 pixels (name.s.pm or name.s.bm)

Place the icon file in one of these locations:


Creating and Modifying Subpanels

Users can create and modify subpanels using the Front Panel pop-up menus.

This section discusses how to provide system-wide customization, which requires you to modify the Front Panel configuration files.

A subpanel is "attached" to a control in the Main Panel.

Figure 13-3 A subpanel's container is the control to which it is attached

The attachment is done in the subpanel definition. The CONTAINER_NAME field specifies the control to which the subpanel is attached:

CONTROL control_name
{
   ...
}

SUBPANEL subpanel_name
{
   CONTAINER_NAME    control_name
   ...
}

To Create a New System-Wide Subpanel

  1. Locate the control_name of the control in the Main Panel to which you want to attach the subpanel.

    If the control is one of the built-in controls, its definition is in /usr/dt/appconfig/types/language/dtwm.fp.

  2. Create a new file /etc/dt/appconfig/types/language/*.fp.

  3. Define the subpanel:

    SUBPANEL subpanel_name
    {
       CONTAINER_NAME   control_name
       TITLE            value
       KEYWORD          value
       ...
    }

  4. Save the new configuration file.

  5. Choose Restart Workspace Manager from the Workspace menu.

Customizing the Built-in Subpanels

You can modify general properties (such as the title) and the contents of the built-in subpanels.

To Modify General Properties of a Built-In Subpanel

  1. Create a new Front Panel configuration file:
  2. Copy the entire default SUBPANEL definition from /usr/dt/appconfig/types/language/dtwm.fp to the new file:

    SUBPANEL   subpanel_name
    {
      ... 
    }

  3. Modify the subpanel definition.

  4. Save the new configuration file.

  5. Choose Restart Workspace Manager from the Workspace menu.

For example, the following definition, placed in the file /users/janice/.dt/types/PerApps.fp, changes the name of the Personal Applications subpanel:

SUBPANEL PersAppsSubpanel
{
   CONTAINER_NAME   TextEditor
   TITLE            Janice's Applications
}

To Add a System-Wide Control to a Built-In Subpanel

  1. Create a Front Panel configuration file /etc/dt/appconfig/types/language/name.fp.

  2. Define the system-wide control in the file.

    Use the CONTAINER_NAME and CONTAINER_TYPE fields to specify the container for the control:

    CONTROL control_name
    {
       CONTAINER_NAME   subpanel_name
       CONTAINER_TYPE   SUBPANEL
       ... 
    }

    See "Defining Front Panel Controls".

  3. Save the configuration file.

  4. Choose Restart Workspace Manager from the Workspace menu.

For example, the following control defined in a new file /etc/dt/appconfig/types/ language /DigitalClock.fp adds the DigitalClock (in the Desktop_Tools application group) to the Personal Applications subpanel for all users.

CONTROL DigitalClockControl
{
   TYPE             icon
   CONTAINER_NAME   PerAppsSubpanel
   CONTAINER_TYPE   SUBPANEL
   ICON             Dtdgclk
   PUSH_ACTION      DigitalClock
   PUSH_RECALL      True
}

To Remove a Control from a Built-In Subpanel

Use the same procedure as for removing a Main Panel control. See "To Remove a Control".

To Remove the Install Icon Control

Add the following field to the subpanel definition:

CONTROL_INSTALL    False

To Change the Auto-Close Behavior of Subpanels

The default behavior of subpanels is to close when the user chooses a control, unless the user has moved the subpanel from its original position.

The Front Panel can be configured to keep subpanels open until the user explicitly closes them.

  1. Create a new Front Panel configuration file in:
  2. Copy the default PANEL definition from /usr/dt/appconfig/types/language/dtwm.fp to the new file:

    PANEL FrontPanel
    {
      ... 
    }

  3. Add the following field to the PANEL definition:

    SUBPANEL_UNPOST    False

  4. Save the new configuration file.

  5. Choose Restart Workspace Manager from the Workspace menu.


Defining Front Panel Controls

The user can create personal controls by dropping icons on the Install Icon controls.

While this provides easy customizability, the functionality it provides is a subset of the capabilities of Front Panel controls. For example, a control created using the Install Icon control cannot:

This section describes how to manually create Front Panel controls.

For reference information on the syntax of Front Panel controls, see the dtfpfile(4X) man page.

Front Panel Control Definitions

The structure of a Front Panel control definition is:

CONTROL control_name
{
  TYPE            control_type
  CONTAINER_NAME  value
  CONTAINER_TYPE  value
  other fields defining appearance and behavior
}

Control Types

The TYPE field in the control definition specifies the basic behavior of the control.

Control TYPE
Control Behavior

icon
(Default). The control will run a specified action when the user clicks the control or drops a file on it.

blank
Placeholder used to adjust spacing of controls.

busy
Busy light. The control blinks (toggles images) when an action is invoked

client
A client window in the Front Panel.

clock
Clock.

date
Displays the current date.

file
Represents a file. Choosing the control runs the default action for the file.

To Create a New Control

This section describes the general steps for defining a control and describes how to create various types of controls.

  1. If the control will have a PUSH_ACTION and/or DROP_ACTION , create the action definitions. These are the actions that run when the user clicks the control or drops a file on it.

  2. Create the icon image files for the control.

    For information about icon sizes, names, and locations, see "Icon Image Files".

  3. Create a new Front Panel configuration file in:
  4. Add the control definition to the file.

  5. Save the file.

  6. Choose Restart Workspace Manager from the Workspace menu.

Creating a Control that Runs an Action When Clicked

Use these fields to define the control's behavior:

For example, the following control, which will be put in the Personal Applications subpanel, runs a game the user has acquired:

CONTROL Ball
{
   TYPE             icon
   CONTAINER_NAME   PersAppsSubpanel
   CONTAINER_TYPE   SUBPANEL
   ICON             ball
   PUSH_ACTION      RunBallGame
   HELP_STRING      "Choose this control to play Ball."
}

The following control will be located in the upper left corner of the switch. It starts an action named CutDisp.

CONTROL StartCutDisp
{
  TYPE              icon
  CONTAINER_NAME    Switch
  CONTAINER_TYPE    SWITCH
  POSITION_HINTS    first
  ICON              cutdisp
  HELP_STRING       "Choose this control to run cutdisp."
  PUSH_ACTION       CutDisp
}

Creating a Control that Opens a File

Use these fields to define the control's behavior:

There must be an Open action defined for the data type of the file.

For example, the following control will be located on the far right side of the Main Panel. It starts Text Editor with the data file /users/ellen/PhoneList.txt . The Open action for *.txt files is part of the default action database.

CONTROL EditPhoneList
{
   TYPE             file
   FILE_NAME        /users/ellen/PhoneList.txt
   CONTAINER_NAME   Top
   CONTAINER_TYPE   BOX
   POSITION_HINTS   last
   ICON             PhoneBook
   HELP_STRING      "This control displays Ellen's phone list."
   PUSH_ACTION      Open
}

Creating a Control that Behaves as a Drop Zone

Use the DROP_ACTION field to specify the action that runs when the user drops a file on the control. The action must be capable of accepting a file argument.

Frequently, a control definition includes both a PUSH_ACTION and DROP_ACTION field. You can use the same action for the push and drop action.

For example, the following control, located in the Personal Applications subpanel, runs the X client xwud, which takes a file argument.

CONTROL Run_xwud
{
   CONTAINER_NAME   PerAppsSubpanel
   CONTAINER_TYPE   SUBPANEL
   POSITION_HINTS   2
   ICON             XwudImage
   PUSH_ACTION      RunXwud
   DROP_ACTION      RunXwud
}

Creating a Control that Monitors a File

Use these fields to define the control's behavior:

For example, the following control looks for the presence of a file named meetings that you expect to be transferred to your system using anonymous ftp. The control is placed at the top of the Personal Applications subpanel.

CONTROL MonitorCalendar
{
   TYPE             file
   CONTAINER_NAME   PersonalApps
   CONTAINER_TYPE   SUBPANEL
   POSITION_HINTS   first
   FILE_NAME        /users/ftp/meetings
   MONITOR_TYPE     file
   ICON             meetingsno
   ALTERNATE_ICON   meetingsyes
}

Creating a One-Instance (Toggle) Control

A one-instance control checks to see whether the process started by the PUSH_ACTION is already running. If the process is not running, the PUSH_ACTION is run. If the process is already running, the window is moved to the top of the window stack in the current workspace.

Use these fields to define the control's behavior:

For example, the following control runs one instance of an application whose action is named MyEditor.

CONTROL MyEditor
{
   TYPE             icon
   CONTAINER_NAME   Top
   CONTAINER_TYPE   BOX
   POSITION_HINTS   15
   PUSH_RECALL      True
   CLIENT_NAME      BestEditor
   PUSH_ACTION      StartMyEditor
   ICON             MyEd
}

To Create a Client Window Control

A client window control is an application window embedded in the Front Panel. For example, you can put a system load meter in the Front Panel by creating an xload client window control.

  1. Define the control.

    Use these fields to define the control's behavior:

  2. Choose Restart Workspace Manager from the Workspace menu.

  3. Start the client from a terminal emulator command line.

For example, the following control displays a 30 X 20 pixel load meter.

CONTROL LoadMeter
{
   TYPE             client
   CONTAINER_NAME   Top
   CONTAINER_TYPE   BOX
   CLIENT_NAME      xload
   CLIENT_GEOMETRY  30x20
}

If the client is not saved and restored between sessions, you may want to configure the control to start the client when the user clicks it. For example, you can configure the LoadMeter control to start xload by adding the following line to the definition:

PUSH_ACTION    StartXload

and creating the action:

ACTION StartXload
{
   WINDOW_TYPE      NO_STDIO
   EXEC_STRING      /usr/contrib/bin/X11/xload
}

To Animate a Control

You can attach an animation sequence to be used when the user chooses the control or drops an object on it.

In order to have an animation sequence, a control must:

  1. Specify the animation sequence using the ANIMATION component:

    ANIMATION animation_name
    {
       icon_image       [delay]
       icon_image       [delay]
       ... 
    }

    where delay is the time delay between animation icons, in milliseconds.

  2. Add the PUSH_ANIMATION and/or DROP_ANIMATION fields to the control definition. The value is the name of the ANIMATION sequence.

For example, the following lines animate a control that starts the BestEditor application. The time delay between icons is 300 milliseconds. The example assumes you've created icon files frame1 , frame2 , etc.

CONTROL BestEditor
{
   ... 
   PUSH_ANIMATION    BestEdAnimation
   ... 
}

ANIMATION BestEdAnimation { frame1 300 frame2 ... }

Providing On Item Help for Front Panel Controls

There are two ways to provide help for a control:


Customizing the Workspace Switch

There are several ways to customize the workspace switch:

To Change the Default Number of Workspaces

Modify the following Workspace Manager resource:

Dtwm*workspaceCount: n

For more information, see "To Change the Number of Workspaces on a System_Wide Basis".

To Change the Number of Switch Rows

Modify the NUMBER_OF_ROWS field in the SWITCH definition.

For example, the following definition defines a three-row switch.

SWITCH Switch
{
   CONTAINER_NAME    box_name
   NUMBER_OF_ROWS    3
   ... 
}

To Change or Add Controls in the Workspace Switch

  1. Create a Front Panel configuration file with the control definition.

  2. Create the icon for the control. The recommended size is 16 by 16 pixels.

For example, the following control puts a Terminal control in the switch.

CONTROL SwitchTerminal
{
  TYPE                  icon
  CONTAINER_NAME        Switch
  CONTAINER_TYPE        SWITCH
  POSITION_HINTS        3
  ICON                  Fpterm
  LABEL                 Terminal
  PUSH_ACTION           Dtterm
  HELP_TOPIC            FPOnItemTerm
  HELP_VOLUME           FPanel
}

The control uses a built-in icon and the same help topic used by the Terminal control in the Personal Applications subpanel.


General Front Panel Configuration

Front Panel's PANEL syntax allows you to:

The default PANEL description is in /usr/dt/appconfig/types/language/dtwm.fp.

For additional information, see the dtfpfile(4X) man page.

General Steps

  1. Create a new Front Panel configuration file in /etc/dt/appconfig/types/language or HomeDirectory/.dt/types.

  2. Copy the default PANEL description from /usr/dt/appconfig/types/language/dtwm.fp to the new file.

  3. Edit the PANEL description.

The new PANEL description has precedence over the default one.

To Change the Default Front Panel Location

Use the PANEL_GEOMETRY field in the PANEL definition to specify the location.

For example, the following panel is in the upper right corner.

PANEL SpecialFrontPanel
{
  PANEL_GEOMETRY    -1+1
  ...
}

To Label Controls in the Main Panel

  1. Add the following line to the PANEL definition:

    DISPLAY_CONTROL_LABELS   True

  2. Add a LABEL field to each control.

The control_name is used if no LABEL is specified.

To Change the Click Behavior of Controls

Use the CONTROL_BEHAVIOR field in the PANEL definition to specify how the user runs a control's PUSH_ACTION . Values for the field are:

single_click
The user clicks the control to run the PUSH_ACTION

double_click
The user double-clicks the control to run the PUSH_ACTION

To Create an Entirely New Front Panel

Creating a new Front Panel may be preferable when you want to make extensive changes.

To avoid conflict with the built-in Front Panel components, an entirely new Front Panel should use new names for the PANEL and other containers.

  1. Create the PANEL component for the new Front Panel. Give it a unique name:

    PANEL front_panel_name
    {
       ...
    }

  2. Create the new boxes and controls, using the new container names.

    If you want to use existing components, you must copy their definitions and change the CONTAINER_NAME value.

  3. Choose Restart Workspace Manager from the Workspace menu.

Example of Creating a Personal Front Panel with Three Rows

The following example changes the default Front Panel so that its controls are organized into three rows.

  1. Copy /usr/dt/appconfig/types/language/dtwm.fp to HomeDirectory/.dt.types/MyFrontPanel.fp. Give the file write permission.

    This is the file you will edit to provide the new Front Panel.

  2. Change the name of the Front Panel:

    PANEL NewFrontPanel

  3. Change the name of the box named Top and edit its container name:

    BOX NewFrontPanelTop
    {
      CONTAINER_NAME    NewFrontPanel
      POSITION_HINTS    first
      ... 
    }

  4. Add box definitions for the middle and bottom rows:

    BOX NewFrontPanelMiddle
    {
      CONTAINER_NAME    NewFrontPanel
      POSITION_HINTS    second
    }
    

    BOX NewFrontPanelBottom { CONTAINER_NAME NewFrontPanel POSITION_HINTS second }

  5. Change the CONTAINER_NAME of the following controls to NewFrontPanelTop:
  6. Change the CONTAINER_NAME of the following controls to NewFrontPanelBottom:
  7. Change the CONTAINER_NAME of the switch to NewFrontPanelMiddle.

  8. Set the resource:

    Dtwm*frontPanel*name:  NewFrontPanel

  9. Choose Restart Workspace Manager from the Workspace menu.



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