When the you select an X11 virtual screen (1 of 4) with the mouse on default centos 5 what command gets executed to show screen 1, screen 2 etc...
Basically, I want to have a command or know the command to execute to show the desired virtual X11 screen.
Thanks,
Jerry
On Tue, 2007-09-04 at 21:40 -0400, Jerry Geis wrote:
When the you select an X11 virtual screen (1 of 4) with the mouse on default centos 5 what command gets executed to show screen 1, screen 2 etc...
Basically, I want to have a command or know the command to execute to show the desired virtual X11 screen.
I'm not knowledgeable about this specific topic, but the last X question I saw got no response for over a week, so I thought I would jump in. That resulted in an immediate response by one who seems knowledgeable. Som *my* level of knowledge is not significant in that scenario and may have value as an irritant. :-)
Regardless, it may be that question is so X-centric and CentOS-remote that few want to pursue it. Other lists/resources may be best.
Anyway, so, ...
It would surprise me if a "command to execute" exists. *Usually* these sort of things are internal responses to external asynchronous events by the software that manages these resources. E.g., my mouse transitions from an active pane in X and enters a new one. Focus shifts from the one being exited to the one being entered. Double-click the title bar and the application's pane is "rolled up" or "unrolled", etc.
For the specific task you mention, IIUC what you are asking, a <CTL>- <ALT>-<RIGHT|LEFT> is an event that also causes the switch to another screen. <CTL>-<ALT>-<TAB> rotates among desktop and panel focus, and <SHIFT>-<TAB> rotates focus through apps in a virtual desktop. IIUC, none of these things cause the loading or execution of some external program or command that can be invoked in a stand-alone mode.
Given all that, if it is valid, your task would be to write a small app for X that provides an "event" to which the existing management software would respond. I hear that qt makes this easy... LOL! I'm guessing that you want some automated way to cycle through screens? Maybe that already exists and is locatable in google-land?
Thanks,
Jerry
<snip sig stuff>
HTH -- Bill
William L. Maltby wrote:
On Tue, 2007-09-04 at 21:40 -0400, Jerry Geis wrote:
When the you select an X11 virtual screen (1 of 4) with the
mouse on
default centos 5 what command gets executed to show screen 1, screen 2 etc...
Basically, I want to have a command or know the command to execute to show the desired virtual X11 screen.
I'm not knowledgeable about this specific topic, but the last X question I saw got no response for over a week, so I thought I would jump in. That resulted in an immediate response by one who seems knowledgeable. Som *my* level of knowledge is not significant in that scenario and may have value as an irritant. :-)
It wasn't you that was irritant, but myself that was irritable. ;-)
Regardless, it may be that question is so X-centric and CentOS-remote that few want to pursue it. Other lists/resources may be best.
Anyway, so, ...
It would surprise me if a "command to execute" exists. *Usually* these sort of things are internal responses to external asynchronous events by the software that manages these resources. E.g., my mouse transitions from an active pane in X and enters a new one. Focus shifts from the one being exited to the one being entered. Double-click the title bar and the application's pane is "rolled up" or "unrolled", etc.
Yes, these are controlled by the console driver or X. When at the text console the console driver traps ALT-Fx and switches virtual screens to the appropriate virtual terminal. When in X the X server traps CTRL-ALT-Fx and switches control to the appropriate virtual terminal.
There exists a command-line command to do this as well, 'chvt' which is part of the kbd package.
For the specific task you mention, IIUC what you are asking, a <CTL>- <ALT>-<RIGHT|LEFT> is an event that also causes the switch to another screen. <CTL>-<ALT>-<TAB> rotates among desktop and panel focus, and <SHIFT>-<TAB> rotates focus through apps in a virtual desktop. IIUC, none of these things cause the loading or execution of some external program or command that can be invoked in a stand-alone mode.
These are handled by the window manager of choice, the X server only traps CTRL-ALT-Fx, CTRL-ALT-BKSPC, CTRL-ALT-KEYPAD-ADD, CTRL-ALT-KEYPAD-SUB, CTRL-ALT-KEYPAD-MUL, CTRL-ALT-KEYPAD-DIV.
Given all that, if it is valid, your task would be to write a small app for X that provides an "event" to which the existing management software would respond. I hear that qt makes this easy... LOL! I'm guessing that you want some automated way to cycle through screens? Maybe that already exists and is locatable in google-land?
You can program a lot of powerful keyboard macros with KDE which aren't set by default, I'd say you can do so in Gnome or XFCE, but I don't know as I don't use those.
-Ross
______________________________________________________________________ This e-mail, and any attachments thereto, is intended only for use by the addressee(s) named herein and may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail, and any attachments thereto, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the sender and permanently delete the original and any copy or printout thereof.
On Sun, 2007-09-16 at 21:48 -0400, Ross S. W. Walker wrote:
William L. Maltby wrote:
On Tue, 2007-09-04 at 21:40 -0400, Jerry Geis wrote:
<snip>
There exists a command-line command to do this as well, 'chvt' which is part of the kbd package.
I want to add openvt, just for completeness and because it lets me get really greedy about VTs. With default of 6 (*usually* more than enough) and occasional need for more, I can then use 7->24(? unless default X is running, then 8->*). Since I don't have to login to the new terminal screens, it satisfies my laziness gene.
BTW, I meant to mention earlier, that when in virtual terminals on the console, a nice little feature is rotation through the virtual terminals provided by the <ALT>-<LEFT | RIGHT> key combos. Of course, when you encounter the X terminal, you'll need to use the <CTL>-<ALT> key with a function key to leave there.
I'm not sure when this next thing would be useful, but another thing that I think has a high degree of "coolity" is that I can "openvt" from an X terminal and work in the standard (usually 80x25) console screen.
... Oh wait! When my old eyes get tired of squinting (sometimes even virtual workspaces with a lower screen resolution and larger fonts don't seem to prevent eye strain after long hours), I find the standard 80x25 very soothing and restful. Since I prefer CLI anyway, ...
It's probably just preconditioning since I "grew up" on these types of screens. But I am getting more comfortable with the X stuff.
<snip>
-Ross
<snip sig stuff>
-- Bill
William L. Maltby wrote:
I'm not sure when this next thing would be useful, but another thing that I think has a high degree of "coolity" is that I can "openvt" from an X terminal and work in the standard (usually 80x25) console screen.
... Oh wait! When my old eyes get tired of squinting (sometimes even virtual workspaces with a lower screen resolution and larger fonts don't seem to prevent eye strain after long hours), I find the standard 80x25 very soothing and restful. Since I prefer CLI anyway, ...
It's probably just preconditioning since I "grew up" on these types of screens. But I am getting more comfortable with the X stuff.
I can see why you might want vt's if you weren't running X or couldn't run X for some reason. I don't see the point of ever accessing a non-windowed console instead of using xterms (or the kde/gnome variations) if you have X running. You can set whatever geometry and font you like in them with several visible at once if you have sufficient screen space, ssh among machines in text modes, and easily cut and paste among them. And you can group them in your X virtual desktops if you dont' want to see them all at once.
On Sun, 23 Sep 2007, William L. Maltby wrote:
On Sun, 2007-09-16 at 21:48 -0400, Ross S. W. Walker wrote:
William L. Maltby wrote:
On Tue, 2007-09-04 at 21:40 -0400, Jerry Geis wrote:
<snip>
There exists a command-line command to do this as well, 'chvt' which is part of the kbd package.
I want to add openvt, just for completeness and because it lets me get really greedy about VTs. With default of 6 (*usually* more than enough) and occasional need for more, I can then use 7->24(? unless default X is running, then 8->*). Since I don't have to login to the new terminal screens, it satisfies my laziness gene.
Interesting, I knew a tool called 'open' that seemed similar to what you call 'openvt', so I looked on a RHEL4 and noticed that the 'open' and 'openvt' man pages are almost identical.
But:
[root@lisse rpms]# rpm -qf $(which open) open-1.4-21.x86_64 [root@lisse rpms]# rpm -qf $(which openvt) kbd-1.12-2.el4.4.x86_64
and:
[root@lisse rpms]# strings /usr/bin/open | grep '(c)' open: 1.4 (c) Jon Tombs 1994 [root@lisse rpms]# strings /usr/bin/openvt | grep '(c)' openvt 1.4b - (c) Jon Tombs 1994
So Red Hat is shipping the same program twice, with a different name and version in 2 different packages.
They apparently got their act together in RHEL5 :)
* Sat Jul 15 2006 Jesse Keating jkeating@redhat.com - 1.12-17 - Obsoletes/Provides open - Create a symlink from open to openvt
PS I usually set inittab to only create 2 VTs, any other I can create myself using 'open' although screen often makes it irrelevant anyway.
On Mon, 24 Sep 2007, Dag Wieers wrote:
On Sun, 23 Sep 2007, William L. Maltby wrote:
On Sun, 2007-09-16 at 21:48 -0400, Ross S. W. Walker wrote:
William L. Maltby wrote:
On Tue, 2007-09-04 at 21:40 -0400, Jerry Geis wrote:
<snip>
There exists a command-line command to do this as well, 'chvt' which is part of the kbd package.
I want to add openvt, just for completeness and because it lets me get really greedy about VTs. With default of 6 (*usually* more than enough) and occasional need for more, I can then use 7->24(? unless default X is running, then 8->*). Since I don't have to login to the new terminal screens, it satisfies my laziness gene.
Interesting, I knew a tool called 'open' that seemed similar to what you call 'openvt', so I looked on a RHEL4 and noticed that the 'open' and 'openvt' man pages are almost identical.
Let me also enlighten this list with another *nifty* tool to handly VTs, called 'conspy'. It allows you to view or take over one of your VTs. (eg. when you want to log out from your console remotely)
If you know of similar tools, I'd be interested as well :)
-- -- dag wieers, dag@centos.org, http://dag.wieers.com/ -- [Any errors in spelling, tact or fact are transmission errors]
-
Dag Wieers -
Jerry Geis -
Les Mikesell -
Ross S. W. Walker -
William L. Maltby