MX-23 beta 1 feedback thread

[siamhie]

Thanks for tracking it. Not sure ATM bcuz others worked on it; so we'll flag @ceeslans and@dolphin_oracle and see what they think

OK @Jerry3904 I'll go ahead and mention them also in my post.

[dolphin_oracle]

they must not overwrite all edits, as reloadstyle reconfigure is how mx-tweak changes the theme. as far as I know, the theme stays changed.

perhaps only some lines are overwritten, which makes necessary using the restart command after any change that effects those lines.

on the original fluxbox menus provided with the package, there is both a restart and a reconfigure menu option, rather than just our one blanket refresh.

our fluxbox menu entry should probably use restart

[ceeslans]

I've tracked down which fluxbox-remote command overwrites manual edits of the init file. (fluxbox-remote reloadstyle)

I broke down the command to individual entries and came up with this.

Refresh-orig and Refresh-2 overwrite manual edits of the init file. The other Refresh entries do not.

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[exec] (Refresh) {fluxbox-remote restart; idesktoggle idesk refresh }
[exec] (Refresh-orig) {fluxbox-remote reloadstyle; fluxbox-remote reconfigure; idesktoggle idesk refresh}
[exec] (Refresh-2) {fluxbox-remote reloadstyle; idesktoggle idesk refresh}
[exec] (Refresh-3) {fluxbox-remote reconfigure; idesktoggle idesk refresh}

Even the stock fluxbox root menu doesn't have the reloadstyle command. (copied from /etc/X11/fluxbox//fluxbox-menu)

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[workspaces] (Workspaces)
[reconfig] (Reconfigure)
[restart] (Restart)
[exit] (Exit)

@siamhie : first of all, in the newer fluxbox version (that comes with MX23), commands like reloadstyle actually do work correctly.
you can see all fluxbox-remote commands, run following in a terminal:

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fluxbox --list-commands

Executing the 'fluxbox-remote restart' makes a rather hefty reloading of the desktop, especially if more applications are open. Fluxbox developers indicated that the [restart] command should be used "when fluxbox is behaving weird".
'mx-tweak' uses the combination "reloadstyle" and "reconfigure" for a very smooth style+theme setting --> I'm sure you have experienced same.
And they work flawlessy for immediate change of settings in the keys, apps and overlay files .

I tested your reload/reconfigure commands on init - where I manually edited "session.screen0.defaultDeco" from NORMAL to BORDER.
I found that only the (Refresh) one worked: the decor changed to borders only --> and vica versa.
the other three (Refresh-orig/Refresh-2/Refresh-3) had no effect.

I must conclude that any manual edit to the init file, must be followed by a 'fluxbox-remote restart' command (with or without the additional idesktoggle).
therefor suggest that we maintain two settings:

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[exec] (Refresh) {fluxbox-remote reloadstyle; fluxbox-remote reconfigure; idesktoggle idesk refresh}
[exec] (Restart fluxbox)	{fluxbox-remote restart; idesktoggle idesk refresh}

[Jerry3904]

If we follow @ceeslans, I'm going to have to make the distinction clear in the menu name. Maybe there's another way to do it with a submenu. I'll work on it.

Thanks to all contributions toward answering this question!

[siamhie]

I tested your reload/reconfigure commands on init - where I manually edited "session.screen0.defaultDeco" from NORMAL to BORDER.
I found that only the (Refresh) one worked: the decor changed to borders only --> and vica versa.
the other three (Refresh-orig/Refresh-2/Refresh-3) had no effect.

I must conclude that any manual edit to the init file, must be followed by a 'fluxbox-remote restart' command (with or without the additional idesktoggle).

therefor suggest that we maintain two settings:
[exec] (Refresh) {fluxbox-remote reloadstyle; fluxbox-remote reconfigure; idesktoggle idesk refresh}
[exec] (Restart fluxbox) {fluxbox-remote restart; idesktoggle idesk refresh}

@ceeslans Reconfigure only works on newly opened windows. Existing opened windows would require the Restart command. ReloadStyle overwrites all manually edited entries in the init file which I don't understand if all you are doing is editing style files.

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Window Manager Commands


Restart [path]
Restarts fluxbox. This does not close any running applications. If the optional path is a path to an executable window manager, that manager is started in place of fluxbox.

Reconfig | Reconfigure
Reloads all fluxbox configuration files including the keys file, apps file, and init file, if they have changed.

ReloadStyle
Reloads only the current style. Useful after editing a style which is currently in use.

I propose to keep the Leave subcategory like we have in MX-21 fluxbox.

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[submenu] (Leave)
        [exec] (Refresh) { fluxbox-remote restart; idesktoggle idesk refresh }
        [exec] (Suspend) {sudo 'pm-suspend'}
        [exit] (Logout) 
        [exec] (Reboot) {sudo /sbin/reboot} 
        [exec] (Shutdown) {sudo /sbin/halt}
    [end]

[dolphin_oracle]

so I presume that the init file is overwritten with whatever the current loaded values are, correct? So after any edit besides a style change a restart should be done, which restarts fluxbox without without syncing up any init values. reloadstyle and reconfigure would be OK for style change if that is true.

[Jerry3904]

Thanks to both, again. Messy...

[Jerry3904]

So here's what I'm thinking ATM:

1) we've had a working refresh command for 3 years without a single complaint from a user.
2) DO already has the style refresh command built into Tweak

Can we 1) continue with the MX-21 restart command that will cover 99.99% of user needs, 2) rely on Tweak to cover most of the remainder, and 3) put a short note in the MXFB Manual?

[ceeslans]

@siamhie @dolphin_oracle :
All I see is that any manual change of the apps and/or keys and/or overlay files can be executed on-the-fly with the smooth refresh command (combined 'reloadstyle'+'reconfigure'). Same goes for font changes in ~/.gtkrc and ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings ini.
Only init seems to accept and execute manual changes if confirmed by the 'restart' command.
Believe I'm not the only one experiencing this; after all, @Melber was the first to notice exactly this behavior...

But I'm okay with whatever is going to be written in 'menu-mx' . That's one file that doesn't need any reload/restart ...

[siamhie]

@Jerry3904 That would work perfectly.

@ceeslans I can always edit out ReloadStyle from my root menu because I edit my init file so that all categories are grouped together (titlebar, iconbar, toolbar, etc). That's just the OCD in me.