Issue with Fluxbox not retaining settings

[VastOne]

A good one for you Mr PackRat

On my secondary V-Ger machine that supplies the web backup and V-ger (supybot) for the IRC channels, I have a strange issue that I cannot seem to trace

What makes it tougher is that it has several areas of issues that do not make sense to me

In this screenshot shows a part of the problem

http://imgur.com/ydgOLpGl.png

The menu items are all compressed together and nothing in any them changes or individual settings in terminalrc or fluxbox settings seem to correct it. I only see this (menu compression) on the terminal (xfce-terminal) app but I do see similar things on right click context menus

The second part of this issue is fluxbox settings from the right click context menu where you can save settings (Layer Position Transparency etc).. I set anyone of these to be saved but they are not retained anywhere and when I come back to the terminal it has none of those settings saved even though I just did save it

I have tried so many different things to correct it but have reached my patience level.. I need an assist RatMan..

What would you like to know or see?

[hakerdefo]

Looks like a GTK theme issue to me.

Cheers!!!

[PackRat]

^ that - looks like GTK is broken. Did Debian have a recent upgrade for GTK?
Are you seeing those squished menus in medit or synaptic? Transmission and evince are two others that get messed up by gtk breakage.

If the GTK is broken, the menu selection for fluxbox windowmenu may not be working. Try this.

Rename your ~/fluxbox/apps file to something like apps_backup
Create a blank ~/.fluxbox/apps file

Without changing your gtk theme, log back into fluxbox and open your xfce4-terminal. Use the windowmenu and select some settings to get written to the ~/.fluxbox/apps file.
Verify they were written to the file.

If they weren't written, change your gtk theme to something mudane like Raleigh and repeat the process - your titlrbar menu should look right.

[VastOne]

Not sure on new GTK updates and this has been going on for months... Irarely log onto the machine so it never bothers me. I am seeing it in Synaptic and Transmission but not in Medit

I renamed and did all that was asked, yes the file is being written to ... If there are no windows open, terminal returns to the correct place but not size. If a window is open it will then go almost completely opposite of there it should be

Changing to Raleigh does correct the issue with the squished menu

And this is the weirdness ... This build machine I am on now is the exact machine.. just an newer build of VSIDO but both are up to date with apt-get.. Virtually identical in setup.. but I DO NOT have this issue on this machine. No menu issues at all

[PackRat]

this has been going on for months... Irarely log onto the machine so it never bothers me

Did you make the switch to the new gtk theme (Dorian or something like that) on this machine?

Try using the theme that's working on the whacked machine.

I'm not sure why the apps settings aren't working then - I don't think there is a relationship between gtk and window managers other than the decor. Did you try with an application other than xfce4-terminal? Give it a go with xterm - something more basic. Maybe a couple more apps if you have time.

Hate to think fluxbox or Xorg is getting a bit wonky on that machine.

Edit - and pick a gtk app like medit or something and maximize it. Use the windowmenu to set maximized as the preference (nothing else) and see if fluxbox is respecting that.

[VastOne]

Yes.. I use the default VSIDO Vertex-Dark theme (on both machines) and I switched to Dorian and have the same results.

Yes Medit is remembering the fluxbox settings and applying them when restarting them.. the check item of Maximize is still checked. Unlike terminal where they do not remain checked when you open it again

xterm remembers the fluxbox settings and works as it should as does Transmission... 

[PackRat]

Getting slow in my old age (I'll blame conky).

Post the apps entry for xfce4-terminal from the bad machine.

I suspect it looks something like:

Code Select Expand

[app] (name=xfce4-terminal) (class=Xfce4-terminal) (role=xfce4-terminal-1484068113--1155071300)
  [Dimensions] {73% 67%}
  [Position] (UPPERLEFT) {13% 16%}
[end]

That role stanza is the issue. It's unique to every instance of xfce4-terminal, therefore a new terminal will not be subject to the existing apps setting. I just added xfce4-terminal to my apps file and have the same issue (Void linux, so it's not a Debian issue).

pause, while I run upstairs .....

here is the apps setting for xfce4-teminal on the desktop:

Code Select Expand

[app] (name=xfce4-terminal) (class=Xfce4-terminal)
  [Dimensions] {80% 89%}
  [Position] (UPPERLEFT) {10% 5%}
  [Deco] {0x66f}
  [Minimized] {no}
  [Maximized] {no}
  [Fullscreen] {no}
  [Layer] {8}
  [Alpha] {255}
[end]

Note that the role stanza was deleted - and it works fine. I've had to delete that stanza on dozens of installs, I should have spotted it right off. That role does need to be used for xfce4-terminal in dropdown mode:

Code Select Expand

[app] (name=xfce4-terminal) (class=Xfce4-terminal) (role=xfce4-terminal-dropdown)
  [Position] (TOP) {0 10}
  [Deco] {0x5e0}
  [Layer] {2}
  [Alpha] {255}
[end]

so that your dropdown terminal doesn't get whacked by the regular terminal settings.

File managers also use the "role" setting a lot. Open spacefm or thunar and try to make per app settings, you'll probably see the same behavior.

That "role" stanza is just something fluxbox picks up - it may actually be a feature for some high-end app like MatLab or something. Not so convenient for terminals.

[VastOne]

Code Select Expand

[app] (name=fbrun)
  [Position] (CENTER) {0 0}
  [Layer] {2}
[end]
[app] (name=xfce4-terminal) (class=Xfce4-terminal) (role=xfce4-terminal-1484063987--672770396)
  [Dimensions] {53% 67%}
  [Position] (UPPERLEFT) {0% 1%}
[end]
[app] (name=xfce4-terminal) (class=Xfce4-terminal) (role=xfce4-terminal-1484064262--1456670945)
  [Dimensions] {62% 74%}
  [Position] (UPPERLEFT) {16% 17%}
[end]
[app] (name=xfce4-terminal) (class=Xfce4-terminal) (role=xfce4-terminal-1484064428--1434008441)
  [Dimensions] {53% 67%}
  [Position] (UPPERLEFT) {47% 30%}
[end]
[app] (name=medit) (class=medit)
[end]
[app] (name=xterm) (class=XTerm)
  [Dimensions] {48% 52%}
  [Position] (UPPERLEFT) {20% 39%}
[end]
[app] (name=transmission-gtk) (class=Transmission-gtk) (role=tr-main)
  [Dimensions] {60% 70%}
  [Position] (UPPERLEFT) {6% 5%}
[end]

[VastOne]

On this build machine where there is no issue the app file does not have role= setting anywhere

[PackRat]

^ sounds like a BINGO.

Edit your other apps file so that there is only one xfce4-terminal entry without the "role"; should work.

[VastOne]

^ Right.. that's the fix, but whats the cause?   

[PackRat]

Fluxbox just picks up that role setting for some apps. I don't know why.

And it's always the same apps - so it's something in the apps, not the window manager.

Open an instance of xfce4-terminal and xterm then use xprop on each. Maybe you can spot something in the output.

[VastOne]

Thanks RatMan... as far as the scrunched menu items on these same apps.. Is it possible I have some old gtkrc file or setting on this old build that is at the heart of the issue?

[PackRat]

^ yes, that's a gtk issue - that can be hit and miss fixing that. I just went through that exercise - with Mousepad actually, so Xfce apps may be lagging a bit. If the gtkrc files can be deleted and recreated, it may work.

I just did the xprop on terminals exercise - urxvt only outputs name and class, no role; xfce4-terminal outputs name, class, and role. Fluxbox must actually be looking for all 3 internally for apps settings.

[PackRat]

Brain stuck in 1st gear today.

The role is important for transient windows like dialogue boxes or the Firefox bookmarks window.

For example, if you open Firefox and set it to be maximized. Then when you open the "show all bookmarks" or "show all downloads" windows, they are not maximized because the roles are unique- browser, bookmarks, downloads. As a result, you can give the dialogue boxes for various apps their own settings- like centered with border only for the Medit file open dialogue.

I'll post my apps file when I get home.

So the issue is why do xfce4-terminal and some other apps use a unique role property. First guess is that xfce4-panel uses it for grouping apps in the taskbar module.

apps file snippet - gives an idea how role (and transient) are used - and how the transients can have the same name and class as the parent:

Code Select Expand

[app] (name=medit) (class=medit)
  [Dimensions] {82% 91%}
  [Position] (CENTER) {0 0}
  [Deco] {0x66f}
  [Layer] {8}
  [Alpha] {255}
[end]
[transient] (name=medit) (class=medit) (role=GtkFileChooserDialog)
  [Position] (UPPERLEFT) {3% 6%}
  [Shaded] {no}
  [Deco] {0x627}
  [IconHidden] {yes}
  [Sticky] {no}
  [Minimized] {no}
  [Maximized] {no}
  [Fullscreen] {no}
  [Layer] {8}
  [Alpha] {255}
[end]
[group]  (workspace=[current])
[app] (name=urxvt) (class=URxvt)
  [Dimensions] {85% 81%}
  [Position] (UPPERLEFT) {7% 9%}
  [Shaded] {no}
  [Deco] {0x66f}
  [Sticky] {no}
  [Minimized] {no}
  [Maximized] {no}
  [Fullscreen] {no}
  [Layer] {8}
  [Alpha] {255}
[end]
[group]  (workspace=[current])
[app] (name=Navigator) (class=Firefox) (role=browser)
[app] (name=Places) (class=Firefox) (role=Organizer)
[app] (name=Mail) (class=Thunderbird) (role=3pane)
[app] (name=Msgcompose) (class=Thunderbird) (role=Msgcompose)
[app] (name=filezilla) (class=Filezilla)
  [Deco] {0x66f}
  [Minimized] {no}
  [Maximized] {yes}
  [Fullscreen] {no}
  [Layer] {8}
  [Alpha] {255}
[end]