Pydesks.py Manpage

Pydesks is a simple extension that allows you to maintain a mnemonic mapping for desktop numbers, and to quickly switch between desktops. It is reminiscent of Ctwm's desktop pager. Those who use multiple desktops, each of a single 1x1 page, may find this succinct interface useful. It takes up much less screen real-estate than the standard FvwmPager.

Note that Pydesks requires that you have Tkinter installed in your Python interpreter, either as a static or dynamic module.

Synposis

Configuration File Options

Pydesks understands the following configuration options (in your fvwmrc file):

*PydesksDesk NAME NUMBER: A desk mapping description. Pydesks will associate the NAME with the desk NUMBER. All desk mappings will be presented in a vertical radio button, in the order they are found in your configuration file.
*PydesksAutoGrow: If present, Pydesks will automatically grow the radio button list when Fvwm changes to a desk number not contained in the *PydesksDesk mappings. It will name the new desk Desk N where N is the new desk number.
*PydesksFvwmPagerKludge: If present, Pydesks will ignore Desk 10000 commands. These are generated by FvwmPager to work around a timing problem which is caused by the lack of a single function that changes both the desk and the page. Without this option, you will see Desk 10000 appear in the radio buttons when also using FvwmPager.
*PydesksGeometry GEOM: Assigns the top level window the specified X geometry.

Operation

When you start Pydesks a small window will pop up containing a vertical bank of radio buttons. Each button will contain the name of a desk defined in your desk number to desk name mappings. By clicking on a button, Fvwm will switch to the specified desk. When switched to a known desk by other means (e.g. via FvwmPager), the current desk's radio button will be selected. If the desk is not part of the current mappings, a radio button may be added for the new desk, depending on the presence of the PydesksAutoGrow flag.

Hitting Alt-q over the radio button window will cause Pydesks to exit.

Bugs

The geometry isn't always maintained when automatically grown.

It would be nice to completely reproduce FvwmPager.

It would be nice if you could interactively edit the desk mappings, deleting, renaming, adding desks, etc., and have them automatically rewritten back to your fvwmrc configuration file.