Version: 3.4.0 (using KDE KDE 3.4.0) Installed from: Gentoo Packages Compiler: gcc-3.4.3.20050110-r2 nptl enabled OS: Linux This is not really a bug, but as I think this harm the functionality of KDE I've decided to report as a feature request. To get into situation let me explain a little: I have set a multi-desktop layout in one single row. The model is 4x1, I've worked (and work still) for some time with fvwm, where I had the same layout for my four desktops. I set up kde to change to next desktop when I move the mouse to the left or right borders of the screen, so I can go from one desktop to another and even drang windows without any problem. But the layout of the desktops seems to be hardly tied to the kicker pager applet. So, if I change the size of kicker to a bigger size then the applet takes layout is 2x2, and now, when I move the pointer up or down the proper desktop is loaded. Even more, since I use the pointer movement to change desktop I dont really have a need for the applet, so I thought about not loading it. But, my surprise: seems like the 2x2 layout is the default when no pager applet is loaded, so, if not loaded I still get the 2x2 layout that I really cant stand with. I dont want the pager, so, for now, im standing with two desktops and the behaviour is fine, but only two desktops are really too small space for me to work comfortably. My request is: I would like the multi-desktop layout to be applet independent, in a way that you could set it from the multiple desktops configuration tab in kcontrol. This way, even if you dont have any applet you could configure your layout to be used without applet, that is the way that I (and I'm sure more people) do it. I don't really know if this is really related to kdesktop or would suit better into any other category. If I am wrong in anything excuse me and feel free to correct me. By the way, I like to test avery new release of KDE since I first tried it, and 3.4 has been a so great surprise for me. Regards and congratulations for the good work. Keep it going!
You can turn off the applet and set the layout yourself using DCOP: "dcop kwin KWinInterface setDesktopLayout <orient> <x> <y>", orientation is 0 for horizontal and 1 for vertical, -1 for x or y means "depends on the other one". But yes, KWin probably should save the layout in its config file. Which is simple enough for a Junior Job. Just see Workspace::setDesktopLayout() and Workspace::init().
This should probably be filed as a seperate bug report, but for now I'll just put it here since it's related. Since kwin now has the destop grid effect a pager is no longer nessessary except that there is no way to access the kcontrol module for virtual desktops through system settings. Can this be fixed? I'll fix it if you want, it should be just one line in the system settings code.
> Since kwin now has the destop grid effect a pager is no longer necessary Just for the record, people without composite might beg to differ! :-) Fortunately, we aren't trying to kill the pager here. > there is no way to access the kcontrol module for virtual desktops through system settings. Can this be fixed? I'll fix it if you want, it should be just one line in the system settings code. I think not having a pager widget is not terribly uncommon, the OP apparently uses switching via mouse, and switching via keyboard doesn't seem too strange, so probably being able to configure desktops without the pager is a good idea. Maybe changing the number of rows should be part of the desktop kcm?
*** Bug 166017 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 177639 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 177715 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
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*** Bug 183188 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
I'm also having the same sort of issues. I have the Desktop Grib effect enabled, with a custom layout of 1 row (so I have 4x1 desktops), I also have a shortcut key of 'ctrl+alt+left/right' to rotate left/right. However, when I log out and log back in, KWin forgets my custom layout of 1 row and instead thinks I have 2, which gives me some funky behaviour when I try to rotate left (it instead rotates ... right, I think, or maybe it is just not wrapping around - I can't quite see what it is doing). As soon as I place the 'Pager' widget on the desktop, and remove it again, my ctrl+alt+left shortkey works as expected, and I can rotate all the way around the cube no problem.
Just wondering, is there is any update or official response on this odd behaviour?
I have found a related issue here: (KDE 4.2.2 debian/sid; and also: KDE 4.2.70 (KDE 4.3 >= 20090415)) I have defined 2 panels on my desktop (left and bottom). While configuring them, both panels had a pager. I have switched the grid layout of the new left pager, so the 2 pagers did show different rows/columns. This is an inconsistent configuration! Which of the two layouts define the behaviour of the desktop grid effect and the goto left/right/up/down desktop hotkeys? After removing the bottom pager the desktop grid layout/behaviour still was messed up. I had to log out and in again to make this right. So IMHO it is wrong to define the desktop rows/columns layout in the pager configuration. The solution would be to define the layout in the global desktop settings. Here currently only the number of desktops is set. Instead of this you should be able to define the rows and columns of the desktop, so that the number of desktops is computed automatically.
Just as a note: the EWMH clearly states that the desktop layout is set by a Pager and not by the Window Manager (see http://standards.freedesktop.org/wm-spec/latest/ar01s03.html#id2568337 ). If KWin and KDE wants to be compliant we have to stay with the pager. Nevertheless that two Pager Plasmoids do not show the same layout could be considered as a bug.
Besides the question if this EWMH rule makes sense or not, KDE could be EWMH conform anyway if it would behave like this: a) the desktop grid layout is configured in the central KDE system settings as mentioned before. b) This setting is read by each KDE-pager that is placed on the desktop. This results in the same layout for all KDE-pagers. c) kwin reads the layout by EWMH from any pager that it can find. Because all pagers do use the same setting it does not matter which pager is asked by kwin. Greetings, Gert
@ #13 if the EWMH rule indeed imposes that there can be only one pager configuration then the EWMH spec should be upgraded as it doesn't reflect reality anymore, IMOHO. Thus bugreport shows that various people want to have multiple pagers and since they can very well exist in completely different contexts (panel/containment) there is a pretty good chance that it makes sense to make them look different. I think the idea written in #11 makes a lot of sense. Making the KCM show rows/columns and conclude the amount of desktops based on that gives kwin/plasma all the information we need. The number of rows/columns can then be used for 'up'/'down' etc virtual-desktop configuration even if the user doesn't have a pager. This can then be the default pager layout as well. Makes sense to me :)
*** Bug 194024 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
The spec intention is to have only one process that handle the layout, and that process doesn't have to be the wm. Now i suggest kwin handle the layout, through a 'virtual pager' filling the requirements of the specs. Pagers listen this virtual one for changes and can propose a new one.
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How about a stub pager program that just sets the correct layout and quits? People would then put that to autostart (or it could be ran by kde in the absence of any other pager).
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This is a major usability issue with regards to multiple desktops. Below I quote the report for one of the (currently 9) duplicate bugs. Additionally I highly suggest changing the status of this from "feature request" to "bug". Also, the spec (from ten years ago) is introducing a very confusing dependency (a taskbar widget) into the architecture of a window manager; though perhaps I would not speak out against it so much if I knew the rationale behind it. "This property is set by a Pager, not by the Window Manager." If this part of the spec is confounding many users, it should be ignored imho; however maybe it is reasonable to consider the PersonalSettings>Desktop>MultipleDesktops>[proposed Layout/Geometry tab] to be a "pager" under this spec -- just one located in a control panel, and that also happens to be synced to any changed pushed from third-party pagers in a dock. __________________ quote When using the Desktop Wall, one can configure it to have a custom number of rows. This is not synced with the true geometry of the virtual desktops. There is no preference in Personal Settings to change the number of desktop columns. Such a preference should exist in PersonalSettings>Desktop>MultipleDesktops and should be synced with the DesktopWall plugin. The workaround is impossible to figure out for normal users. It is this: - right-click on kicker - add a widget - go through the list of widgets until you find one named "Pager" - add this widget to kicker or the desktop - right-click on it and modify the settings One had to show and modify a completely unrelated UI element in an entirely different part of the operating system, that users may not even know exists, in order to change a setting which should have appeared in PersonalSettings>Desktop>MultipleDesktops. The fact that this appears to be a kwin bug further confounds the issue. It is actually a kde desktop settings usability bug where the only solution is completely unrelated to what the user would expect.
the number of rows setting does not belong in the plasmoid - this has been brought up at the last two tokamaks iirc. it's one of those things everyone wants done and nobody wants to do ;) rrix was actually close to having it working, but then his hard drive died and he lost all that work :/ I don't think he's touched it since. so... patches welcome! :)
As for the spec, the idea is not what it says. To quote Havoc Pennington on the mailing list: "The point in the spec is really that only one process can set the layout (since it does not make sense to have multiple layouts) and it does not have to be the WM. But any process can grab the selection."
*** Bug 189309 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
I have the same problem. I don't like to have a pager on my desktop. You can't even make it invisible. Anyway, It seems to me that the spec does not specify that a pager has actually to be visible. How about a invisible master-pager component.
@Ralf Engels: As workaround for a hidden pager you might try to place it on the desktop, resize it to be very small and move it behind the panel somewhere. Maybe this works.
Git commit 4bf7761307a2453a63d918c60e13c26980727830 by Martin Gräßlin. Committed on 24/07/2011 at 14:59. Pushed by graesslin into branch 'master'. Move control of desktop layout from pager to KWin The desktop layout (number of rows) should be controlled by the window manager as it is also responsible for the number of desktops and the names of them. The setting for the rows is moved from the pager UI to the virtual desktops KCM. The desktop layout is set when KWin starts and updated by the KCM. With this change there is no process claiming the manager selection for pager any more. This means the KDE Plasma Workspaces are no longer compliant to the complete section of _NET_DESKTOP_LAYOUT in the EWMH. REVIEW: 102073 BUG: 277965 FEATURE: 105779 FEATURE: 213353 FIXED-IN: 4.8.0 M +10 -0 kwin/workspace.cpp M +2 -2 kwin/kcmkwin/kwindesktop/main.ui M +4 -57 plasma/desktop/applets/pager/pagerConfig.ui M +30 -8 kwin/kcmkwin/kwindesktop/main.cpp M +0 -3 plasma/desktop/applets/pager/pager.h M +10 -47 plasma/desktop/applets/pager/pager.cpp http://commits.kde.org/kde-workspace/4bf7761307a2453a63d918c60e13c26980727830
Hi Martin, this sounds great. Just one question: Will there be the choice if you want to configure the number of rows or the number of columns? If you are using a panel on the left it would be more interesting to configure columns instead of rows. Thanks, Gert
(In reply to comment #28) > Just one question: Will there be the choice if you want to configure the number > of rows or the number of columns? If you are using a panel on the left it would > be more interesting to configure columns instead of rows. Now it is only possible to configure the number of rows, but the panel is adjusting automagically.
"but the panel is adjusting automagically." fine