--geometry for noobs
 

i've been messing around with configuring X to suit my style, and editing xinitrc to start up some stuff when i start gnome. the how-tos i've been reading, and from what i can understand of man pages, seem to suggest -g(eometry) can be used with many (if not all) X applications, and takes 4 options. ie 80x40x0x0 would make a box 80x40 and place it at 0x0 (top left). i understood that the four virtual desktops available are (in geometric terms) one big desktop, and to put something on the second desktop you would simply use 100x0 for the location.

it doesn't seem to be working though. are there any guru's out there who understand this better than me and could help me out??

thanks so much!

Re: --geometry for noobs
 

This is just a hint because nobody else answered: Are you using Gnome 2 with Metacity? Due to freedesktop "suggestions", windowmangers should not try to take care of where windows pop up anymore, but the applications. Metacity is such a windowmanager.

Thus, maybe it didn't work because Metacity doesn't understand the geometry option? Please note, this is just a wild guess...

A workaround might be to leave your applications open when you logout. In most cases, gnome restores them after you log in, again.

Maybe it helps you a little bit....

ok, well i had some of the syntax wrong. when you specify the size of the object you separate with 'x', but the location with '+' or '-'

emamples:

aterm -g 80x35+10+0
aterm -g 80x35+600-50

this first would create an aterm 80 pixels wide and 35 long, 10 pixels to the right from the top left corner. the second would place it in the bottom right corner, 50 pixels to the left from the corner.

i still haven't figured out how to place it on a different virtual desktop, i'll post when i do.

:)

This too, is also just a guess, but what resolution are you running at? I wasn't sure if the "100x0" you mentioned was actually what you were using on the command line. Obviously, it would need to be much larger if you were running 1024x768 for example.

Something else to consider: are you certain how the virtual desktops are laid out conceptually? That is, assuming they are all adjacent to one another, do they form a single-file horizontal line? a single-file vertical line? a square/rectangle?

What I'm getting at is this: if they're horizontal, then adding to the horizontal component is the way to go. So, if they are adjacent like you describe, with a large enough horizontal value, it would show on the next virtual desktop. If they're vertical, then you'd need to add to the vertical component.

That might be obvious, but when I read your message the first time, I limited myself to think the virtual desktops were lined up horizontally only, and that might not be the case.

i played around with the different horizontal and vertical locations, and they'll push you off the desktop, but not onto another one. so i guess they're not one big virtual desktop split into 4 views. y'know, this may depend on the window manager...