CDE is so #%$#%$# -> was: SUMMARY: CDE and user wishes

From: Bernt Christandl <beb_at_mpe.mpg.de>
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 10:11:55 +0200

Hello managers,

after i had sent out my "SUMMARY: CDE and user wishes"
i received several mails with hints and suggestions...

My thanks to all who took time to mail me!

This mail is a new one telling the story of what i did
and what i did learn about CDE and digital unix 4.0b
(This is a story of disappointement and on success!)

1.) Good news to start with:

  There is a FAQ on CDE! (Why didn't I know about that?)
  You can get it from

  http://www.webslingerz.com/~sburnett/cde/index.html

  There is also an ascii-version available. The one i've
  downloaded this morning, after i haved learned about it
  (thank you very much Allen David Winter <winterz_at_clark.net>!)
  has over 800 lines...

  The rest of this mail is not based on any information
  i may get from this FAQ; sorry for that.

2.) A bit of "philosophy" and/or moaning...

  Some of you told me, that they have similar problems
  with CDE and no good resource found for help with CDE
  (including this list!). Most mails stated, that the
  author of it has no good knowledge about CDE (like me!)
  but has found a little trick (or whatever) to overcome
  one of the problems...

  Obviously we all have much to learn about CDE and its
  actual implementation...
  There is a rumor, that the next version of DU (NOT 4.0D)
  will have a *MUCH* better, nicer, almost problem-free (?!)
  version of CDE and that DEC is working hard on that.
  (I hope that, because at the moment: i don't like it!!)

3.) Several things i did try and their results...

  -> I did not find a way to have my actual icon places
     saved and restored from cde-session to cde-session :-(

     but I've got answers, that said "yes, it could be done"
     or "no, this can't be done as far as i know" ...

     Hans Ullitz-Moeller <hum_at_biobase.dk> said:
> In the style manager ( the mouse-fonts-palette icon in the bar),
> select "startup" and activate "Resume current session"

     "SIMEONE, Allan J." <Allan.SIMEONE_at_rp-rorer.com> said:
> I think if you put the icons where you want them to be on
> your desktop, then do the following....
>
> Click on the syle manager which is on the CDE control panel.
> The icon has a mouse and 3 TTT's on it.
> Click on Startup (the key icon) and then click on Set home Session.
> The next time you log in, it will put the icons on startup as you
> placed them in your current session

     I tried both (are these hints contradictory?): NO SUCCESS.

  -> I did not succeed with a change of Dtwm*iconPlacement.
     I entered "Dtwm*iconPlacement: top left" within $HOME/.Xdefaults,
     $HOME/.dtprofile and $HOME/.dt/dtwmrc and nothing changed the
     default behaviour (left bottom). The only thing i could reach
     was an error with "source" one of those files:
     
            Dtwm*icomPlacement:: Too many arguments.

  -> I did not find a way to quit/exit/leave my session without
     having it saved (the way CDE does it...) :-(
     (Once saved, i thought this would speed up the "exit"...)

  -> I asked, how i can save my window- and icontitles from
     CDE-session to CDE-session, i received several hints and
     could learn the way it works for me now! :-)
     (My only success today - with CDE!)

     A dtterm started with "-name <NAME>" which was on the workspace
     either open or as icon at exit-save-time, was restarted with
     that <NAME> at next session-login. The same is true for xterms.

  -> I find the need of single-click and double-click to start
     something very confusing: You need a single-click to start the
     application-manager from the dtwm-"bar", but once it is up,
     you need a double-click to start anything else from within it... :-(

  -> Paul Henderson <pgh_at_unx.dec.com> wrote:
> CDE doesn't save window titles. I do this:
> I create a ~/.dt/sessions/sessionetc file in which I start
> all my xterms with the proper titles.

     Okay, see the funny results i've got:

     I created such a file and included 3 lines like this
     "dtterm -ls -aw -rw -sb -sl 1000 -j -name Alpha"
     "dtterm -ls -aw -rw -sb -sl 1000 -j -name Beta"
     "dtterm -ls -aw -rw -sb -sl 1000 -j -name Gamma -e rlogin ABC"

     Then clicked on the "exit" and logged in again and got -
     guess what? - only one(!) dtterm named Alpha.
     But when i logout from only this dtterm, then the next one,
     named Beta appers, ... Ctrl_D and "Gamma" appears logged in to ABC.

     This behaviour remains the same, when i exit the complete
     CDE-session, that is i then have a new "CDE-prompter(??)"
     AND a running dtterm at the same time on my screen...

     The next funny effect is, that when i "exit" the CDE-session,
     the session-save saves my dtterm named "Alpha" and the next
     CDE-login appears with 2 (!) "Alpha"s, one from the save one
     from sessionetc.

     So be very careful if you use this feature!


I think this is enough for today. I will go now and read the FAQ...
... and i'm pretty sure this was not the last CDE-concerning mail.

(Hey, Ian - mortimer_at_physics.uq.edu.au - what about a summary
on your "[Q] CDE editor" question???)

My thanks again to all of you for your patience with me.

Bernt Christandl
                                                                       
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Bernt Christandl / Max Planck Institut - Extraterrestrische Physik -
- D-85740 Garching / Phone: +49/89/3299-3342 / Fax: +49/89/3299-3569 -
- email: beb_at_mpe.mpg.de -
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Received on Fri Oct 24 1997 - 10:42:48 NZDT

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