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pauljohn32
Asked: 2016-08-28 10:05:52 +0800 CST

Allow windows to overlap the panel on top or bottom

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I often want to have just the top or the bottom of a window on screen. I don't want one program to hog the whole screen. For example, I need to refer to a calculation that is displayed in the bottom of a large window. To refer to that calculation, and then write about that in another window, I want to reposition the calculation so that only the very bottom part of the calculation window is showing. (I don't need to see its titlebar or pull-down menus, or even the first 2/3 of the calculation panel).

At the current time, so far as I know, all of the "desktops" for Linux enforce a restriction that makes it impossible to reposition a window so that it is half-off the screen on the top or the bottom.

In the golden days of window mangers (WindowMaker was awesome!), this was not a problem. There were no enforced "boundaries" protecting panels from being covered, so far as I can remember. The problem began with Gnome and KDE, as I recall. When Compiz came along, it enforced a policy that a window could not be repositioned so that its titlebar was off the screen, but ccsm had an option to allow an eager user to change that (called "constrain-Y" as I recall). When I started using OpenBox and XFWM4 based systems, I missed that ability.

It seemed to me that the authors of panels were protecting the primacy of their product too aggressively. I just don't need to see the Gnome or XFCE4 panels when I'm busy writing something.

Edit: I made a screenshot as I was typing the answer to comment below. See here: Screenshot with bottom part of Firefox showing

xfce

1 Answers

  1. Some time ago, I found a solution that I want to share. This uses wmctrl, a program available for Debian/Ubuntu which can interact with any EWMH/NetWM compatible X Window Manager. I have success with this in OpenBox, XFWM4, and, any other NetWM standards compliant window manager.

    Here is a 2 line bash script I call ``togglePanelBelow.sh

    #!/bin/bash
wmctrl -l | grep panel |  awk '{print "wmctrl -v -i -r " $1 " -b remove,above"}' | bash
wmctrl -l | grep panel |  awk '{print "wmctrl -v -i -r " $1 " -b add,below"}' | bash

    That allows ordinary windows to be repositioned so they overlap the panel.

    This uses wmctl to list the existing windows, filters for ones with "panel" in the name, and then uses wmctrl again to tell those panels to go below the stack of windows. There are two steps because, at some point in 2015, the script quit working because properties could not be altered. They must be removed and then re-set.

    If you decide you want to see the panel on top of ordinary windows, as it was before, run togglePanelAbove.sh.

    #!/bin/bash
wmctrl -l | grep panel |  awk '{print "wmctrl -v -i -r " $1 " -b remove,below"}' | bash
wmctrl -l | grep panel |  awk '{print "wmctrl -v -i -r " $1 " -b add,above"}' | bash

    If you position a window half-on the screen, and then run togglePanelAbove, then the panel overlaps the window.

    I configured shortcut keys for that and it has never caused any trouble.

    This is not really a question, just a "look at this neat thing I found" post. Maybe a question would be: does this work in your chosen window manager? Can you confirm it is OK in OpenBox and XFWM4, what about others? I've not had enthusiasm to test it in Enlightenment, for example.

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