Re: "connect" two windows

On 2007-05-15, Pascal Ehlert <[email protected]> wrote:
> I've another question.. Is it somewhat possible to "connect" two windows 
> in different frames (are they called frames btw?) .
> To make it a little clearer let's assume I have an instant messenger and 
> the buddy list is in one frame, the actual conversation in another.. If 
> I now switch to the messanger's buddy list in the first frame, I would 
> like the conversation to appear automatically in the second frame.

As already mentioned, you can create such fixed policies with 
"winprops" or ("kludges" or some like to call them, by the name
of the configuration file that contains some defaults), by matching
against the windows' classes, roles and instances, supposing the
application provides such information. Too few applications do
these days.

More flexible policies could perhaps be implemented, if someone
could be arsed to write that FDO startup spec support module, that
I've been suggesting quite a few times. (I won't do it, as I seldom
use applications that would both have the support and could be 
improved by Ion supporting it too. Most importantly xterm and the
shell don't. Plus the protocol is painful, like all FDO shit.) 
Then, supposing that the application supports it too, and sets the
LAUNCHED_BY property, you could have rules like "windows opened by 
windows in this frame go to a nearby frame" or "windows opened by 
this window go in another frame". 

Perhaps it might in this case also be possible to use the "window
groups" of ICCCM, if the application does set the group leader 
suitably, but I don't know if they do (never used any IM, and don't
plan to... unless IRC counts), and I've never bothered with window 
groups. (Applications, or more appropriately "documents", should 
generally have only one window as far as I'm concerned! And the 
prototypical use for window groups is grouping of separate toolbox
windows and such abominations with the main document(s). Perhaps a 
conversion window is a different document from a buddy list, but 
would belong in the same group nevertheless. But does such a group
have a natural leader, which the ICCCM window groups suppose?)

-- 
Tuomo