Workspace Margins cannot be set

xfce_ltg · 2018-09-13 09:28:23

Dear Forum,

i use the margin from the workspaces for presenting a part of the Desktop (1920x1080) to a Beamer (1240x800) via

xrandr -output VIRTUAL1 -off -output eDP1 -mode 1600x900 -pos 0x0 -rotate normal -output HDMI1 -mode 1280x720 -pos 186x132 -rotate normal

and then maximised windows should appear on the Beamer.

Therefore i set the margins via script

xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/margin_top -s 280

this functioned on old version also for margin_left, margin_right and margin_bottom.

The new file .config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfwm4.xml just have one entry for

   <property name="margin_top" type="int" value="132"/>

If i write the other into the file, nothing happens by using the script.
It all function, if i use the UI for workspaces from settings.

How can i add this properties to be adjustable by script?

Thanks for your help

Johannes Almer

ToZ · 2018-09-13 23:09:42

Hello and welcome.

What version of xfwm4 are you running and which distro?

I can't replicate this issue on my system.
Can you post the script that you are using?

Also, try running in another terminal window:

xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -mv

...while running your script to see if the settings are being applied.

mint4all · 2018-09-14 16:41:49

Greetings! The version of XFWM4 is 4.13.0 on all my systems (LM18.3-xfce & LM19.0-xfce).

Afaict, on a fresh install, xfwm's config file (~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfwm4.xml) shows type="empty" for the "workspace_count" and "workspace_names" keys/variables. Likewise, the 4 margin entries (top/left/right/bottom, or 'TLRB') are also initialized with the type="empty".

Re. workspace tweaks, the behavior i observed is as follows: when the workspace count is increased (either via the GUI or the settings editor), the workspace_count changes to type="int" and attaches the value="?" variable reflecting the number of workspaces the user has selected. In the GUI, the user then can enter a name for each workspace thus overriding the default "Workspace ?" name(s), and also has a tab window to enter margin settings.

The first time a 2nd (or additional) workspace is selected, the "workspace_names" key changes to type="array" with every instance showing a '<value type="string" value="Workspace ?" /> property ("?" my placeholder for the default workspace number). If the user assigns a name to a workspace, i.e. "Cashflow", that name would show up in the value= field.

So far so good -- that explains how multiple workspaces are being handled. There appears to be no upper limit (i've created as many as 6). However, i noticed that the max chosen by a user stays in the array even when the count is being lowered or returned to "1" -- the array is not being cleaned up, or resized.

However, the handling of margin settings demonstrates a problem (or a misunderstanding?, to wit: While the GUI provides a tabbed entry for margin settings, only one set of margins is being stored in the config file -- the last set of numbers entered. Since the margin settings are evidently not being stored in an array, that single set (TBLR) is then being applied to EVERY workspace even though the GUI leads one to believe that the margins entered are unique to each workspace. Should they be?

ToZ · 2018-09-14 17:05:09

mint4all wrote:

However, the handling of margin settings demonstrates a problem (or a misunderstanding?, to wit: While the GUI provides a tabbed entry for margin settings, only one set of margins is being stored in the config file -- the last set of numbers entered. Since the margin settings are evidently not being stored in an array, that single set (TBLR) is then being applied to EVERY workspace even though the GUI leads one to believe that the margins entered are unique to each workspace. Should they be?

Yes, they apply to all workspaces. It has not been coded to be "per workspace" or "per display". So basically, regardless of the dimensions of the workspace for the display, those entered margin values are used.

It's interesting though that you feel the GUI leads one to believe that margins are unique to every workspace.. Perhaps the wording in that dialog should be cleared up to be more precise?

mint4all · 2018-09-21 16:58:51

Before suggesting anything, and after thoroughly playing with LM19-Xfce, I booted up live-DVDs of LM19-Mate, LM19-Cinnamon, and Ubuntu1804-Gnome, to see how those other DEs handled multiple "workspaces". Imho, Gnome's desktop is probably the most sophisticated re. workspace layouts (supports a row/col-grid), followed by Xfce's desktop (supports cross--workspace margins), with Cinnamon's & Mate's workspaces appearing to be on a par (note: i'm no expert here and may have overlooked some bells & whistles).

Xfce seems to be the only DE supporting workspace margins, albeit just a global setting as you have pointed out. At a minimum, it would be helpful to have it clearly labeled/tool-tipped as such to avoid any confusion.

What would be even more useful, however, would be a per-workspace margin setting: this would head off -- imho -- an emerging usability problem in those cases where users setup multiple displays of different sizes/resolutions. Per-Workspace margin settings could be used to tweak a display's aspect-ratios & -scaling so that apps' screens appear constant across different display sizes, or benefit from larger displays (ie HiDPI/4K).

That, combined with launching apps into designated workspaces (with an added workspace-selection in panel-launchers) would go a long way towards making Xfce the premier multi-display/multi-workspace DE ...

Last edited by mint4all (2018-09-21 17:00:47)

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#1 2018-09-13 09:28:23

Workspace Margins cannot be set

#2 2018-09-13 23:09:42

Re: Workspace Margins cannot be set

#3 2018-09-14 16:41:49

Re: Workspace Margins cannot be set

#4 2018-09-14 17:05:09

Re: Workspace Margins cannot be set

#5 2018-09-21 16:58:51

Re: Workspace Margins cannot be set

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