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GNOME 3, how do you ensure windows are grouped in the dash?

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  GNOME 3, how do you ensure windows are grouped in the dash? Andy Smith <andy@strugglers.net> - 2016-03-09 09:40 +0100
    Re: GNOME 3, how do you ensure windows are grouped in the dash? Liam O'Toole <liam.p.otoole@gmail.com> - 2016-03-09 10:20 +0100
      Re: GNOME 3, how do you ensure windows are grouped in the dash? Sven Arvidsson <sa@whiz.se> - 2016-03-09 11:10 +0100
        Re: GNOME 3, how do you ensure windows are grouped in the dash? Andy Smith <andy@strugglers.net> - 2016-03-09 11:40 +0100
          Re: GNOME 3, how do you ensure windows are grouped in the dash? Sven Arvidsson <sa@whiz.se> - 2016-03-09 12:20 +0100
        Re: GNOME 3, how do you ensure windows are grouped in the dash? Liam O'Toole <liam.p.otoole@gmail.com> - 2016-03-10 02:10 +0100
      Re: GNOME 3, how do you ensure windows are grouped in the dash? Andy Smith <andy@strugglers.net> - 2016-03-09 11:20 +0100
        Re: GNOME 3, how do you ensure windows are grouped in the dash? Sven Arvidsson <sa@whiz.se> - 2016-03-09 11:40 +0100
          Re: GNOME 3, how do you ensure windows are grouped in the dash? Andy Smith <andy@strugglers.net> - 2016-03-09 18:30 +0100

#165169 — GNOME 3, how do you ensure windows are grouped in the dash?

Hi,

I'm experimenting with moving to GNOME 3 from Unity but there is a
particular behaviour I'm having trouble replicating and although
it's a small thing, I don't think I can live without it.

My workflow generally results in me having many (15+) rxvt-unicode
terminal windows each connected to different remote hosts, and a
couple of browser windows.

On Unity I provide myself with easy access to the different urxvt
launchers by making each one a different .desktop file in
~/.local/share/applications/

For example, ~/.local/share/applications/remotehost-foo.desktop:

[Desktop Entry]
Comment=Terminal on foo
Terminal=false
Name=foo
Exec=urxvt -T foo -e autossh -M 0 foo.example.com
Type=Application
Icon=utilities-terminal
StartupNotify=true
StartupWMClass=RemoteHosts

I can launch this by hitting the super key and starting to type
"foo". This application will appear in the dash as I type. If I
launch it again, or launch a different one, they will appear grouped
together under a single terminal icon on the launcher bar. I would
be able to select between them by right clicking on the single
terminal icon on the launcher bar.

I tried to set up the same thing on GNOME 3. It almost works.
Hitting super and starting to type indeed finds the applications,
but each one shows as its own icon on the dash while running. If I
carry on this way then my dash will be full of terminal icons that
are difficult to select between.

I tried changing StartupWMClass to "urxvt". That does not allow me
to launch multiple applications; the search finds the application,
but selecting it just brings the existing window to focus without
launching a new one.

I found one workaround, which was to make a single .desktop file
that has many alternate actions. Like this:

[Desktop Entry]
Comment=Terminals
Terminal=false
Name=urxvt
Exec=urxvt -T localhost
Type=Application
Icon=utilities-terminal
StartupNotify=true
Actions=foo;bar;

[Desktop Action foo]
name=foo
Comment=Terminal on foo
Exec=urxvt -T foo -e autossh -M 0 foo.example.com

[Desktop Action bar]
name=bar
Comment=Terminal on bar
Exec=urxvt -T bar -e autossh -M 0 bar.example.com

Basically one alternate action for each host I often connect to. I
would then launch them by hitting super, beginning to type urxvt,
right clicking on the icon that appears and selecting the correct
action. Multiple windows now do group under urxvt on the dash.

Downsides:

- Can't search for the application by its host name
- Have to select correct host from a huge list of actions

Those are pretty big downsides for that workaround.

I am aware that I could change my workflow. I could use one terminal
with screen or tmux or similar to have a different window on each
host. I know I could use terminator to have multiple terminal
windows inside one window. Or I could use a tabbed terminal emulator
like gnome-terminal.

The thing is, I really like urxvt! And I really like having one
urxvt window for each host, using screen to have multiple sessions
within each one.

So, does anyone know how to make GNOME 3's dash group multiple
windows under the one icon?

Perhaps this is not the best forum for asking GNOME 3 questions. I
had a search around and couldn't find any official GNOME support
channels though. If there's a better place please do let me know.

Cheers,
Andy

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#165171

On 2016-03-09, Andy Smith <andy@strugglers.net> wrote:

[...]

> I am aware that I could change my workflow. I could use one terminal
> with screen or tmux or similar to have a different window on each
> host. I know I could use terminator to have multiple terminal
> windows inside one window. Or I could use a tabbed terminal emulator
> like gnome-terminal.
>
> The thing is, I really like urxvt! And I really like having one
> urxvt window for each host, using screen to have multiple sessions
> within each one.

That is exactly my workflow. I achieve it using gnome-terminal, because
that terminal keeps only one application instance running and opens new
windows as necessary. There is no need for tabs within the terminal, and
only one icon appears in the dash. You are then free to run GNU screen
remotely as you require.

-- 

Liam

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#165175

[Multipart message — attachments visible in raw view] — view raw

On Wed, 2016-03-09 at 09:18 +0000, Liam O'Toole wrote:
> On 2016-03-09, Andy Smith <andy@strugglers.net> wrote:
> 
> [...]
> 
> > 
> > I am aware that I could change my workflow. I could use one
> > terminal
> > with screen or tmux or similar to have a different window on each
> > host. I know I could use terminator to have multiple terminal
> > windows inside one window. Or I could use a tabbed terminal
> > emulator
> > like gnome-terminal.
> > 
> > The thing is, I really like urxvt! And I really like having one
> > urxvt window for each host, using screen to have multiple sessions
> > within each one.
> That is exactly my workflow. I achieve it using gnome-terminal,
> because
> that terminal keeps only one application instance running and opens
> new
> windows as necessary. There is no need for tabs within the terminal,
> and
> only one icon appears in the dash. You are then free to run GNU
> screen
> remotely as you require.

No surprise as gnome-terminal is well integrated with GNOME :)

But xterm also have its windows grouped in the shell. Hmm...

I examined the window hints set by xterm and urxvt (with xprop) and
urxvt does not set WM_CLIENT_LEADER that the shell needs for grouping:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.lang.tcl/HQ479-XYwy8

-- 
Cheers,
Sven Arvidsson
http://www.whiz.se
PGP Key ID 6FAB5CD5

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#165177

Hi Sven,

On Wed, Mar 09, 2016 at 11:05:14AM +0100, Sven Arvidsson wrote:
> On Wed, 2016-03-09 at 09:18 +0000, Liam O'Toole wrote:
> No surprise as gnome-terminal is well integrated with GNOME :)
> 
> But xterm also have its windows grouped in the shell. Hmm...
> 
> I examined the window hints set by xterm and urxvt (with xprop) and
> urxvt does not set WM_CLIENT_LEADER that the shell needs for grouping:
> 
> https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.lang.tcl/HQ479-XYwy8

The annoying thing is, if I start one urxvt and then open multiple
others from within it by typing urxvt inside it then all of them are
grouped. But if I start multiple urxvt from different .desktop
files, they are each separate. So I'm not sure that it actually
anything wrong with urxvt.

Cheers,
Andy

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#165179

[Multipart message — attachments visible in raw view] — view raw

On Wed, 2016-03-09 at 10:32 +0000, Andy Smith wrote:
> The annoying thing is, if I start one urxvt and then open multiple
> others from within it by typing urxvt inside it then all of them are
> grouped. But if I start multiple urxvt from different .desktop
> files, they are each separate. So I'm not sure that it actually
> anything wrong with urxvt.

You could certainly file a bug about this. 

You could also try writing a wrapper for urxvt that uses xprop to set
the necessary properties for new windows. (At least I think that's
possible with xprop)

-- 
Cheers,
Sven Arvidsson
http://www.whiz.se
PGP Key ID 6FAB5CD5

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#165196

On 2016-03-09, Sven Arvidsson <sa@whiz.se> wrote:
>
> --=-UdXi+Shlqsrm1vW2wBHc
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>
> On Wed, 2016-03-09 at 09:18 +0000, Liam O'Toole wrote:
>> On 2016-03-09, Andy Smith <andy@strugglers.net> wrote:
>>=20
>> [...]
>>=20
>> >=20
>> > I am aware that I could change my workflow. I could use one
>> > terminal
>> > with screen or tmux or similar to have a different window on each
>> > host. I know I could use terminator to have multiple terminal
>> > windows inside one window. Or I could use a tabbed terminal
>> > emulator
>> > like gnome-terminal.
>> >=20
>> > The thing is, I really like urxvt! And I really like having one
>> > urxvt window for each host, using screen to have multiple sessions
>> > within each one.
>> That is exactly my workflow. I achieve it using gnome-terminal,
>> because
>> that terminal keeps only one application instance running and opens
>> new
>> windows as necessary. There is no need for tabs within the terminal,
>> and
>> only one icon appears in the dash. You are then free to run GNU
>> screen
>> remotely as you require.
>
> No surprise as gnome-terminal is well integrated with GNOME :)

Well, yes. My point is that gnome-terminal is a candidate not simply by
virtue of its tabbing capabilities.

-- 

Liam

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#165176

Hello,

On Wed, Mar 09, 2016 at 09:18:52AM +0000, Liam O'Toole wrote:
> On 2016-03-09, Andy Smith <andy@strugglers.net> wrote:
> > The thing is, I really like urxvt! And I really like having one
> > urxvt window for each host, using screen to have multiple sessions
> > within each one.
> 
> That is exactly my workflow. I achieve it using gnome-terminal

It would be a real shame if this could not be achieved with
arbitrary applications, as I find urxvt a lot faster than
gnome-terminal. :(

Cheers,
Andy

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#165178

[Multipart message — attachments visible in raw view] — view raw

On Wed, 2016-03-09 at 10:17 +0000, Andy Smith wrote:
> It would be a real shame if this could not be achieved with
> arbitrary applications, as I find urxvt a lot faster than
> gnome-terminal. :(

Interesting, g-t has been considered to be very fast:
http://martin.ankerl.com/2007/09/01/comprehensive-linux-terminal-performance-comparison/

(But that benchmark is quite old)

-- 
Cheers,
Sven Arvidsson
http://www.whiz.se
PGP Key ID 6FAB5CD5

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#165190

Hello,

On Wed, Mar 09, 2016 at 11:36:18AM +0100, Sven Arvidsson wrote:
> On Wed, 2016-03-09 at 10:17 +0000, Andy Smith wrote:
> > It would be a real shame if this could not be achieved with
> > arbitrary applications, as I find urxvt a lot faster than
> > gnome-terminal. :(
> 
> Interesting, g-t has been considered to be very fast:
> http://martin.ankerl.com/2007/09/01/comprehensive-linux-terminal-performance-comparison/

To be honest, so is my experience with urxvt vs gnome-terminal. Oh
well, I will switch to gnome-terminal for now and see how I get on.

Cheers,
Andy

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