Getting the list of running programs

veverica · 05-26-2009, 05:26 PM

I am trying to make a simple panel ( like bmpanel for example ) and I need a way to get the list of running applications.
I am working with qt4, and I know a little bit of xlib. It would be great if someone could point me to some tutorial or documentation...

It would be also great to know how to minimize and maximize windows, how to kill them, and other tasks that a normal panel does

paulsm4 · 05-26-2009, 05:43 PM

You can get everything you want from doing a simple read (as in "fgets()", for example) from /dev/proc:

http://www.linuxforums.org/misc/unde...ng_proc_3.html

'Hope that helps .. PSM

veverica · 05-27-2009, 07:12 AM

thanks for the help, but i dont know how to find the info about the state of application( minimized or maximized ) and the name of the window...

i think i should use some xlib function( atoms maybe ), but i didnt find anything useful , i just have the source code of bmpanel but its worth nothing without a good documentation ... can someone please point me to one... ( maybe there is some function in qt4.5 that can help me ? )

osor · 05-27-2009, 11:02 PM

I think paulsm4’s advice applice more to individual processes than X11 applications.

In order to do what you want, your window manager must implement the EWMH standard. From here use the X11 protocol to accomplish what you are trying to do. Otherwise, you will have to write into specific hooks provided by whatever window manager you use.

Since the standard is somewhat terse, here is a minimal, commented example of a similar use. I suggest you look at the sourcecode of other utilities such as xprop, xwininfo, and wmctrl to get started.