Xfce Forum

janp

Member

Registered: 2016-02-05

Posts: 27

Re: XFCE4.16 to switch to CSD

I was just writing to request to be able to force the titlebar on some application , like the Opera browser, that use the horrible CSD layout and I discovered, to my deep sadness, that xfce itself wants to switch to CSD!

Why? Why this stupid decision? I don't use Opera anymore because, besides of looking horrible, it is barely distinguishable from other windows on the desktop.
So PLEASE add the possibility to force borders and titlebars on selected windows (like Kwin of KDE does) like the Opera one because these geniuses have removed this option from the product, and,  leave at least the option to use normal titlebars and borders on XFCE.

Thank you.

Aravisian

Member

Registered: 2019-08-17

Posts: 410

Re: XFCE4.16 to switch to CSD

I was just writing to request to be able to force the titlebar on some application , like the Opera browser, that use the horrible CSD layout and I discovered, to my deep sadness, that xfce itself wants to switch to CSD!

Why? Why this stupid decision? I don't use Opera anymore because, besides of looking horrible, it is barely distinguishable from other windows on the desktop.
So PLEASE add the possibility to force borders and titlebars on selected windows (like Kwin of KDE does) like the Opera one because these geniuses have removed this option from the product, and,  leave at least the option to use normal titlebars and borders on XFCE.

Thank you.

JanP, I agree with you, obviously.  A bit off topic, but perhaps helpful for in the meantime: Have you tried using gtk-3-nocsd with Opera?

janp

Member

Registered: 2016-02-05

Posts: 27

Re: XFCE4.16 to switch to CSD

JanP, I agree with you, obviously.  A bit off topic, but perhaps helpful for in the meantime: Have you tried using gtk-3-nocsd with Opera?

Hi, I tried it without success. Maybe I am not using it correctly but with Opera it has absolutely no effect.
I read that Kwin has an option to force WM decorations and I think that a similar solution for xfwm would be preferrable over using thirdy party hacks.
Thank you.

janp

Member

Registered: 2016-02-05

Posts: 27

Re: XFCE4.16 to switch to CSD

Eventually I patched a bit xfwm (in an ugly way) to force title and borders onto the Opera window

It was quite easy for me so I think that for xfce developers it would be easier to modify it in the correct way. Hope that they will offer this option and that they will abandon CSD for the other applications.

denyer

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2018-10-20

Posts: 63

Website

Re: XFCE4.16 to switch to CSD

Does support the possibility of forking xfwm4 and holding/reverting the intended changes, doesn't it?

janp

Member

Registered: 2016-02-05

Posts: 27

Re: XFCE4.16 to switch to CSD

Does support the possibility of forking xfwm4 and holding/reverting the intended changes, doesn't it?

Indeed it can be done, however xfwm4 is just a component. You can notice that the xfwm4 title bar pushed around the Opera "CSD" window, while makes easier to find the window on the desktop and allows for the application window to be moved  among workspaces (it can't be moved directly otherwise!!!) , is ugly anyway because  tha application has been made for CSD use and still has the close button etc..
What I mean is that until the apps continue to be butchered this way it shall be hard to save us from CSD.
I still find unbelievable what they are doing, it's totally dumb.

Last edited by janp (2020-03-20 10:45:47)

sbedi

Member

Registered: 2020-02-04

Posts: 3

Re: XFCE4.16 to switch to CSD

Eventually I patched a bit xfwm (in an ugly way) to force title and borders onto the Opera window
https://i.ibb.co/y0ppGGL/withtitle.png
It was quite easy for me so I think that for xfce developers it would be easier to modify it in the correct way. Hope that they will offer this option and that they will abandon CSD for the other applications.

Looks good. Do shadows work properly? IFAIK CSD applications bring their own shadows or am I wrong?

janp

Member

Registered: 2016-02-05

Posts: 27

Re: XFCE4.16 to switch to CSD

Looks good. Do shadows work properly? IFAIK CSD applications bring their own shadows or am I wrong?

Yep, the shadows work properly with opera . I suppose that It will work also with apps that draw their own shadow because what I did was to force some client flags of the original window. I'm not sure though, I'm in no way an expert, I am primarily a pissed user that try convince the develpers, that this is the wrong path.

Last edited by janp (2020-03-25 07:01:50)

nimnull2020

Member

Registered: 2020-07-07

Posts: 2

Re: XFCE4.16 to switch to CSD

That looks good
I switched to 20.04 and wanted to try Opera
But unfortunately that was not possible because its window doesn't have any borders to resize it
I tried "gtk3-nocsd" - it also doesn't make any difference

Question is what are our options.
How to disable this unusable CSD or configure it to have at least border to change window size.
Or am I asking too much in 2020?

Last edited by nimnull2020 (2020-07-08 00:14:34)

janp

Member

Registered: 2016-02-05

Posts: 27

Re: XFCE4.16 to switch to CSD

That looks good
I switched to 20.04 and wanted to try Opera
But unfortunately that was not possible because its window doesn't have any borders to resize it
I tried "gtk3-nocsd" - it also doesn't make any difference

Question is what are our options.
How to disable this unusable CSD or configure it to have at least border to change window size.
Or am I asking too much in 2020?

Hi,

gtk3-nocsd does not work for apps like opera, microsoft teams , mattermost and maybe others.
What I did was to modify the xfwm source code because, as far as I know, Xfce has no settings to force title and borders on a chosen application window.
But it is a quick hack , nothing that can be published.
Kwin from plasma desktop (KDE) can do this, so you can switch desktop environment if you like KDE.
I hope that the Developers will read this forum and add a similar feature to Xfce too.
Unfortunately Xfce will adopt CSD in v. 4.16... Another step toward the sinking of the Linux desktop

denyer

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2018-10-20

Posts: 63

Website

Re: XFCE4.16 to switch to CSD

Can certainly recommend KWin as it's a very fully featured window manager.

The option to force system themes on applications such as Opera is straightforward and located under System Settings > Window Management > Window Rules. Add a new rule (I based it on both window class and window title matching 'opera' as a substring) and choose "No titlebar and frame" on the Appearance & Fixes tab with Force + No as the options.

I've seen people post about about using KWin with Xfce years ago, and at the time it involved a lot of KDE dependencies, but that may have improved and might be worth a go even if that's the case. If I get chance at some point I'll try it just out of curiosity.

edit: It pulls in quite a lot of packages but works, and Greybird looks quite professional with Breeze titlebars/shadows/etc -- https://www.thelinuxrain.com/articles/t … -with-xfce

https://i.imgur.com/yZaVE5l.png

https://i.imgur.com/1VhBAaD.png

I'm just not sure why anyone would want to and not use the rest of the environment it originates from.

With regard to the Xfwm4 feature I missed the most with CSD windows, someone helpfully pointed out that a keyboard shortcut could be configured to allow vertically maximising them. So that doesn't help anyone who wants/needs window roll ups or Xfwm4 themes but might help someone else. I've still got some machines running Xubuntu and Mint Xfce but would probably start with Plasma on Kubuntu these days even on old hardware -- I don't see it as worth fighting an environment in order to retain functionality whether it's Windows or a Linux DE.

Last edited by denyer (2020-07-12 14:31:51)

shawnanastasio

Member

Registered: 2020-07-08

Posts: 1

Re: XFCE4.16 to switch to CSD

I too was dismayed by the decision to enable CSD on xfce4 applications, so I've forked libxfce4ui to disable CSD and implement all new CSD-specific functionality as wrappers so that applications built against new libxfce4ui can continue to function.

The fork is available here: https://github.com/Xfce-Classic/libxfce4ui-nocsd.

nimnull2020

Member

Registered: 2020-07-07

Posts: 2

Re: XFCE4.16 to switch to CSD

I too was dismayed by the decision to enable CSD on xfce4 applications, so I've forked libxfce4ui to disable CSD and implement all new CSD-specific functionality as wrappers so that applications built against new libxfce4ui can continue to function.

The fork is available here: https://github.com/Xfce-Classic/libxfce4ui-nocsd.

I will try it. I am fine with csd, but where is a borders?
I do not see any suggestions how to compile it. I am far from this area.
Would appreciate for some help. I use Xubuntu 20.04.

It was really NOT farsighted to allow application to decide, what to show without ability to redefine decorations.
XFCE team needs to create some sort of default, in case if application will draw a garbage (like Opera now)

One thing I would like to know, is it application bug not to show borders at all or is it XFCE bug to draw them incorrectly?

Because chromium perfectly show 5px border for couple of years now, and to tell the truth, I never thought to change back to window manager.

Thank you.

Last edited by nimnull2020 (2020-07-09 13:43:00)

woistmeinauto

Member

Registered: 2020-03-29

Posts: 54

Re: XFCE4.16 to switch to CSD

Couldn't they just add CSD as an optional feature?

One thing I would like to know, is it application bag not to show borders at all or is it XFCE bug to draw them incorrectly?

It's on application to fix it and some don't bother.

File Manager

Member

Registered: 2019-11-01

Posts: 62

Re: XFCE4.16 to switch to CSD

I too was dismayed by the decision to enable CSD on xfce4 applications, so I've forked libxfce4ui to disable CSD and implement all new CSD-specific functionality as wrappers so that applications built against new libxfce4ui can continue to function.

The fork is available here: https://github.com/Xfce-Classic/libxfce4ui-nocsd.

Thanks. Your work is appreciated.