Theming of Xfce Panel Separator

rharish · 2017-11-19 06:46:17

I am running Xfce on Arch Linux, with Arc-Dark GTK theme. I would like to replace Arc-Dark's icon for the "handle" form of the separator plugin for Xfce panel with Adapta-Nokto's.

Arc-Dark:
Arc-Dark handle separator

Adapta-Nokto:
Adapta-Nokto handle separator

I could not find any images related to the separator in the theme folder. Could anyone point out what I need to change in the Arc-Dark folder to achieve this?

ToZ · 2017-11-19 11:18:12

Hello and welcome.

That item is called a handle. Adapta-Notko has these assets in it's gtk-2.0/Handles directory and Arc-Dark has them in gtk-2.0/assets. Take the handle that you want from Adapta-Notko and copy it to Arc-Dark's directory renaming it to either "handle-h.png" (horizontal) or "handle-v.png" (vertical).

To use an override in ~/.gtkrc-2.0, try something like this:

engine "pixmap" {
    image {
      function = HANDLE
      overlay_file = "handle-h.png"
      overlay_stretch = FALSE
      orientation = HORIZONTAL
    }

    image {
      function = HANDLE
      overlay_file = "handle-v.png"
      overlay_stretch = FALSE
      orientation = VERTICAL
    }
}

...and copy Adapta-notko's two handle files (renamed to handle-h.png and handle-v.png) to your home directory.

rharish · 2017-11-19 14:46:57

Thanks for your quick reply ToZ!

I tried that and it didn't work for the separator at all. One effect of it was seen in Thunar:

Before:
Adapta-Nokto handle

After:
Arc-Dark handle

Is there some other file that I must look at for the separator? I did exactly as you told me to.

ToZ · 2017-11-19 17:31:11

Which option did you try?

Are you running the gtk2 version of xfce4-panel - the one from the official repositories?

What did you set the separator style to? Right-click the separator and select properties. Actually try the different style options, they may get you what you are looking for,

rharish · 2017-11-20 02:56:56

ToZ wrote:

Which option did you try?

I tried replacing Arc-Dark handle pngs from /usr/share/themes/Arc-Dark/gtk-2.0/assets with Adapta-Nokto's, as well as the override from ~/.gtkrc-2.0.

ToZ wrote:

Are you running the gtk2 version of xfce4-panel - the one from the official repositories?

I am running the xfce4-panel from the Arch Linux repositories: https://www.archlinux.org/packages/extr … ce4-panel/ . As the Arch Wiki states:

Xfce is a lightweight and modular desktop environment currently based on GTK+ 2.

Thus, I think it uses GTK+ 2.

ToZ wrote:

What did you set the separator style to? Right-click the separator and select properties. Actually try the different style options, they may get you what you are looking for

I tried all the various separator styles; none of the separator styles for Arc-Dark are modified after replacing the handle pngs, while I would like a vertical white bar like Adapta-Nokto's "handle" separator.

Last edited by rharish (2017-11-20 06:41:54)

ToZ · 2017-11-21 01:27:02

Try undoing the overwrites, or simply re-install the Arc-Dark theme. Then change the separator style to Separator. That should give you a line.

rharish · 2017-11-21 10:19:14

Well, that does give me a line:
Arc-Dark separator transparent panel

Generally I use the panel with alpha set to 95, which would give me this:
Arc-Dark separator opaque panel

With Adapta-Nokto, the line is white, which makes it clearly visible on the panel, while with Arc-Dark, it's almost invisible, which is why I reduced the opacity for my previous screenshots.

Also, I noticed that the "handle" separator icon for Arc-Dark is a bit different from the handle-v.png that I've been trying to modify, which would mean that we've been trying to change the wrong files. What do you think?

Last edited by rharish (2017-11-21 10:19:58)

sixsixfive · 2017-11-21 17:25:01

try it by customizing only the panel handles eg:

style"xfcepanelhandles"{
engine"pixmap"{
image{
function=HANDLE
detail="handlebox"
overlay_file="images/$(#horiz_panel_image)"
overlay_stretch=FALSE
orientation=VERTICAL}
image{
function=HANDLE
detail="handlebox"
overlay_file="images/$(#vert_panel_image)"
orientation=HORIZONTAL
overlay_stretch=FALSE}}}
widget"*PanelItembar*"style"xfcepanelhandles"

rharish · 2017-11-21 17:30:19

Yay! sixsixfive's solution worked perfectly. Thanks! big_smile

ToZ · 2017-11-22 01:38:54

Thanks sixsixfive, i wasn't able to figure that one out.

rharish · 2019-08-13 14:04:47

Bump. Xfce panel has been updated to 4.14, and the GTK2 solution suggested by sixsixfive doesn't work anymore. Furthermore, I am unable to find the right CSS element using the GTK Inspector. Could someone point me out to the correct CSS element, or provide an alternate solution?

ToZ · 2019-08-13 16:51:57

Doesn't look like it's possible anymore (https://git.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-panel/c … fdeb26225c). It looks like the handelbox was removed (not available in GTK3) and the handle is just painted on with cairo.

rharish · 2019-08-13 16:59:48

Oh, that's unfortunate. However, I see that changing the separator style to "Separator" gives a similar result to what I want, so it kind of works out for me, but not for anyone wanting a custom separator.

Thanks for the quick reply!

Last edited by rharish (2019-08-13 17:00:15)

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#1 2017-11-19 06:46:17

Theming of Xfce Panel Separator

#2 2017-11-19 11:18:12

Re: Theming of Xfce Panel Separator

#3 2017-11-19 14:46:57

Re: Theming of Xfce Panel Separator

#4 2017-11-19 17:31:11

Re: Theming of Xfce Panel Separator

#5 2017-11-20 02:56:56

Re: Theming of Xfce Panel Separator

#6 2017-11-21 01:27:02

Re: Theming of Xfce Panel Separator

#7 2017-11-21 10:19:14

Re: Theming of Xfce Panel Separator

#8 2017-11-21 17:25:01

Re: Theming of Xfce Panel Separator

#9 2017-11-21 17:30:19

Re: Theming of Xfce Panel Separator

#10 2017-11-22 01:38:54

Re: Theming of Xfce Panel Separator

#11 2019-08-13 14:04:47

Re: Theming of Xfce Panel Separator

#12 2019-08-13 16:51:57

Re: Theming of Xfce Panel Separator

#13 2019-08-13 16:59:48

Re: Theming of Xfce Panel Separator

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