Xfce Forum

bellaff

Member

Registered: 2020-02-22

Posts: 2

backdrop per workspace?

I have written a script to change the backdrop, using xfconf-query. I have four workspaces and I see four parameters:

/backdrop/screen0/monitorLVDS-1/workspace0/last-image
/backdrop/screen0/monitorLVDS-1/workspace1/last-image
/backdrop/screen0/monitorLVDS-1/workspace2/last-image
/backdrop/screen0/monitorLVDS-1/workspace3/last-image

However, if I use desktop settings to change the backdrop it always changes workspace0, no matter which workspace I am on and all workspaces always have the same background.

My script sets a different image for each workspace and I can see each of the above properties has a different value but when I switch workspaces, it is always the same backdrop in each workspace - the image set for workspace0.

I saw an old post that referred to /backdrop/single-workspace-mode but when I try to view that I get: Property "/backdrop/single-workspace-mode" does not exist on channel "xfce4-desktop"

I am using xfce 1.14.1.

Is there something I can do so that each workspace has its own backdrop, according to the properties listed above?

Also, is there some command I can run to see what is the current workspace? The 'wmctrl -d' command seems to show them all, with the current one indicated but something that just returned the name or number of the current workspace would be easier than parsing the output of wmctrl.

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,489

Re: backdrop per workspace?

Hello and welcome.

I saw an old post that referred to /backdrop/single-workspace-mode but when I try to view that I get: Property "/backdrop/single-workspace-mode" does not exist on channel "xfce4-desktop"

If the property doesn't exist, you need to create it. The easy way is to toggle the "Apply to all Workspaces" checkbox in the desktop properties, or you can manually create it via:

xfconf-query -c xfce4-desktop -p /backdrop/single-workspace-mode -t bool -s false --create

Also, is there some command I can run to see what is the current workspace? The 'wmctrl -d' command seems to show them all, with the current one indicated but something that just returned the name or number of the current workspace would be easier than parsing the output of wmctrl.

There isn't anything built into Xfce to display the current workspace and using wmctrl is the best option:

wmctrl -d | grep \* | awk '{print $1}'

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bellaff

Member

Registered: 2020-02-22

Posts: 2

Re: backdrop per workspace?

Thank you ToZ. I didn't know I could create the property. As you say, unchecking Apply to all workspaces is easy and after doing so I do see the single-workspace-mode property and it is set to false. If I then check Apply to all workspaces in desktop settings the property remains, now set to true. And when it is set to false, i see the different backdrop that i set in each workspace. I guess none of this is news to you, but it is a welcome revelation to me.