Xfce Forum

crstml

Member

Registered: 2026-10-14

Posts: 1

Show a workspace overview matrix when workspaces are changed

Hello,

I use a (6 x 6) matrix of virtual desktops. I would like to
display a graphical overview of these desktops when I change
desktops (when I press CTRL+ALT+ARROW), and hide it when the
desktop switching key is released. In this way, it would not be
necessary to use the mouse to open a panel containing a workspace
switcher.

Ideally, the overview would be displayed as a temporary panel
containing exactly what the Workspace Switcher contains.

What I have achieved so far

I created a dedicated normal XFCE panel containing *only* the
Workspace Switcher and configured the switcher to display a (6 x 6)
matrix of virtual desktops.

The panel is controlled by a small shell script that uses
xfconf-query to change its autohide-behavior property:

property="/panels/panel-3/autohide-behavior"

current=$(xfconf-query -c xfce4-panel -p "$property")

if test "$current" == "2"
then
    # show the panel (-s 0: never autohide)
    xfconf-query -c xfce4-panel -p "$property" -s 0
else
    # hide the panel (-s 2: always autohide)
    xfconf-query -c xfce4-panel -p "$property" -s 2
fi

I assigned a keyboard shortcut to execute the script, so I can
show and hide the workspace overview using the same key combination.

Finally, I configured the panel's popup and popdown delays
in ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css to eliminate the delay when showing
or hiding the panel.

This solution is simple (it does not require a background
process, a polling loop, or any additional application) and it
works relatively well.

But there are the following drawbacks:

     - when the panel is hidden it must be attached to
       the border of the screen, but in this way it is hidden
       at that border and when it is made visible
       it is attached to the same border.

       When visible I would like to see a rectangle centered in
       the middle of the screen.

    - when autohidden, a small white area reveals the panel presence (not
      like it)

    - the user can interact with the autohidden panel by accidentally
      moving the mose over it.
     
My question:

    Is there a more direct or native way to achieve this in XFCE?

    Probably displaying the  Workspace Switcher as a temporary window,
    centered overlay while Ctrl + Alt + Arrow is held down, and hide
    it when the key combination is released?

    I vaguely remember having used a software package that provided a
    similar workspace overview, but I cannot remember its name.

Thank you.
Chris

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 12,720

Re: Show a workspace overview matrix when workspaces are changed

- when the panel is hidden it must be attached to
       the border of the screen, but in this way it is hidden
       at that border and when it is made visible
       it is attached to the same border.

When visible I would like to see a rectangle centered in
       the middle of the screen.

You can set the panel free-floating. "Unlock" it from the panel preferences and drag/drop the handle to where you want to position it.

- when autohidden, a small white area reveals the panel presence (not
      like it)

You can hide that with:

#XfcePanelWindowHidden {background:transparent}

...in gtk.css.

- the user can interact with the autohidden panel by accidentally
      moving the mose over it.

Unfortunately, yes. Maybe there is some way to unmap it instead of hiding it, but initial examination, I'm not seeing how as all panels show up as xfce4-panel in the x management tools (wmctrl, xdotool, xprop).

I vaguely remember having used a software package that provided a
    similar workspace overview, but I cannot remember its name.

There is xfdashboard that provides something similar - it is an Xfce app. The other that I see mentioned alot is skippy-xd.

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