Wharf - the AfterStep application "dock" module


SYNOPSIS

       Wharf  is spawned by afterstep, so no command line invoca-
       tion will work.



DESCRIPTION

       The Wharf module is a much worked  over  version  of  fvwm
       GoodStuff  which  provides  a button panel that is consis-
       tenet with the look and feel of the NEXTSTEP "dock." It is
       called Wharf however to avoid copywrite problems. The user
       can press the buttons at any time, and trigger  invocation
       of  a  user-specified command by the window manager. Wharf
       only works when afterstep is used as the window manager.

       Wharf, however, does differ from the  NEXTSTEP(tm)  "dock"
       in several ways:
              1. Buttons are 3-D pushable.
              2. A single click is all that is necessary to activate the
                 buttons(the "dock" uses a double click).
              3. Buttons will not highlight when activated.
              4. The three dots in the lower left corner of the button
                 were removed.



COPYRIGHTS

       The Wharf module is copyright 1995 by Bo Yang.  Other mod-
       ifications are copyright 1995 & 1996 Frank Fejes  and  Dan
       Weeks.

       The  GoodStuff  program,  and  the concept for interfacing
       this module to the Window Manager, are all  original  work
       by Robert Nation

       No  guarantees  or  warranties or anything are provided or
       implied in any way whatsoever. Use this  program  at  your
       own  risk.  Permission to use this program for any purpose
       is given, as long as the copyright is kept intact.




INITIALIZATION

       During initialization, Wharf will search for a  configura-
       tion  file  which  describes  the  button  panel geometry,
       color, icons, and actions. The format of this file will be
       described  later.  The  configuration file will be the one
       which afterstep used during its initialization.

       If the Wharf executable is linked to another name,  ie  ln
       -s  Wharf  Peir,  then  another  module called Peir can be
       started, with a completely  different  configuration  than


CONFIGURATION OPTIONS

       The following options can be placed in the .steprc file


       *WharfGeometry geometry
              Specifies the Wharf window location and/or size. If
              the  size  is  not  specified, Wharf will auto-size
              itself in a reasonable manner.  The geometry  is  a
              standard  X11  window geometry specification.  This
              option is pre-set in the NEXSTEP style section  for
              a  consistent  look  and  feel with NEXTSTEP.  Sec-
              ondary Wharf invocations from links may have  their
              own geometry.


       *WharfColumns columns
              Specifies  the  number  of columns of buttons to be
              created. If unspecified, the number of columns will
              be  set  to  1.  If the columns are set to a number
              greater than 1 then there will be  that  number  of
              columns  with  enough rows to satisfy the requested
              number of buttons.


       *Wharf label icon command
              Specifies a window  manager  built-in  command,  as
              described  in  the afterstep man page, which should
              be executed when a button  is  pressed.  The  label
              field is an internal item that is still around from
              the GoodStuff module.  The icon field specifies  an
              X11  bitmap file or XPM color icon file, containing
              the icon to  display  on  the  button.  Wharf  will
              search  through the path specified in the afterstep
              IconPath or PixmapPath configuration items to  find
              the icon file.

              NOTE!  The XPM icons must be no larger than 48 pix-
              els by 48 pixels in size.  Also the icons must have
              one transparent pixel or the definition of a trans-
              parent color in order to be used.

              If command is an afterstep Exec command,  then  the
              button will appear pushed in until the mouse button
              is released.

              A single extension to the afterstep  built-in  com-
              mand set is provided.  A command of the form:
              *Wharf junk clock.xpm Swallow "Clock" asclock -shape -12 &
              will cause Wharf to spawn an rclock process, and capture
              the first window whose name or resource is "Clock", and display it in
              the button-bar. This is handy for applications like xclock, xbiff, and
              xload. Modules can be swallowed by specifying  SwallowModule instead
              look activated.



SAMPLE CONFIGURATION

       The  following  are  excepts  from  a  .steprc  file which
       describe Wharf initialization commands:


       ##############################################################
       # Load any modules which should be started during
       # AFterStep initialization
       ModulePath /usr/lib/X11/afterstep:/usr/bin/X11
       Module Wharf

       Module                  Wharf
       NoTitle             Wharf
       NoBorder                Wharf
       Sticky              Wharf
       StaysOnTop          Wharf
       WindowListSkip           Wharf
       *WharfGeometry          63x384-1+3
       *WharfColumns           1

       #button definitions
       *Wharf Dopey rterm.xpm Exec "big_win" xterm -T big_win -geometry 80x50&
       *Wharf Snoopy rterm.xpm Exec "small_win" xterm -T small_wi &
       *Wharf Xcalc   rcalc.xpm Exec "Calculator" xcalc &
       *Wharf XMag mag_glass2.xpm Exec "xmag" xmag &
       *Wharf Mail mail2.xpm   Exec "xmh" xmh &
       *Wharf - whatever SwallowModule "Pager" Pager 0 3
       *Wharf Recycler recycle.xpm Restart




AUTHORS

       Frank Fejes <frank@nina.dorknet.com> -- continued develop-
       ment  &  upgrades  Dan  Weeks <dan@mango.sfasu.edu> -- man
       pages

Wharf                        May 1996                           3