Switching processes in X

adz · 07-25-2003, 02:54 AM

I'm not sure whether this is an X question or a WM question but: How do I switch between programs in X? I'm not talking about between different windows but rather programs (like games for instance) which take over the whole display. How do I then switch back to my desktop without quitting the game?

I run WindowMaker 0.80.1 if that helps.

cicisbeo · 07-25-2003, 06:55 AM

I think this is a WM question. I use the enlightenment package and there is a keybinding of M+tab which switches the focused
application. I've never tried to to do this when running anything fullscreen, but check the documentation that came with your WM
and see if there are any hotkeys configured for program focus switching or if you can define your own.
good luck,
~cicisbeo

adz · 07-26-2003, 06:18 AM

Yeah I've looked through the key bindings setup and can't find anything. Only things that switch between windows.

cicisbeo · 07-26-2003, 08:37 AM

Have you tried those window switching bindings?

adz · 07-26-2003, 08:53 AM

Yep. Tried all those. The program will override them most of the time.

cicisbeo · 07-26-2003, 09:04 AM

I wonder if you could get X to run on more than tty and switch out from the
game that way ...

adz · 07-26-2003, 07:12 PM

I thought of that but that would take up more memory and would require preparation beforehand. I was just hoping there was a way to switch on-the-fly like in ms windows. A crappy OS for the most part but with a few good features... Like better switching.

Oh by the way have you tried switching fullscreen programs yet in enlightenment yet? I've noticed some let you but not all.

cicisbeo · 07-27-2003, 06:25 AM

Well, I wrote a quickie SDL prog to test it out, but with that, the app has all the
focus and seems to be the sole receiver of any interrupts...
I can't think of any libVGA progs I have installed, but I'm sure i can find
something to test it out.
You might try also checking out different window managers websites and
looking at their changelogs / features. I'm pretty ignorant to anything but
enlightenment. However some wm include: sawfish & metacity.