General Front Panel Configuration

Front Panel's PANEL syntax allows you to:

Change the location of the Front Panel
Change the window decoration
Set general appearance and behavior of controls

The default PANEL description is in /usr/dt/appconfig/types/language/dtwm.fp.

For additional information, see the dtfpfile(4X) man page.

General Steps

Create a new Front Panel configuration file in /etc/dt/appconfig/types/language or HomeDirectory/.dt/types.
Copy the default PANEL description from /usr/dt/types/language/dtwm.fp to the new file.
Edit the PANEL description.

The new PANEL description has precedence over the default one.

To Change the Default Front Panel Location

Use the PANEL_GEOMETRY field in the PANEL definition to specify the location.
For example, the following panel is in the upper right corner.
PANEL SpecialFrontPanel { PANEL_GEOMETRY -1+1 ... }

To Label Controls in the Main Panel

Add the following line to the PANEL definition:
DISPLAY_CONTROL_LABELS True
Add a LABEL field to each control.

The control_name is used if no LABEL is specified.

To Change the Click Behavior of Controls

Use the CONTROL_BEHAVIOR field in the PANEL definition to specify how the user runs a control's PUSH_ACTION. Values for the field are:
single_click
The user clicks the control to run the PUSH_ACTION
double_click
The user double-clicks the control to run the PUSH_ACTION

To Create an Entirely New Front Panel

Creating a new Front Panel may be preferable when you want to make extensive changes.

To avoid conflict with the built-in Front Panel components, an entirely new Front Panel should use new names for the PANEL and other containers.

Create the PANEL component for the new Front Panel. Give it a unique name:
PANEL front_panel_name { ... }
Create the new boxes and controls, using the new container names.
If you want to use existing components, you must copy their definitions and change the CONTAINER_NAME value.
Choose Restart Workspace Manager from the Workspace menu.

Example of Creating a Personal Front Panel with Three Rows

The following example changes the default Front Panel so that its controls are organized into three rows.

Copy /usr/dt/appconfig/types/language/dtwm.fp to HomeDirectory/.dt/types/MyFrontPanel.fp. Give the file write permission.
This is the file you will edit to provide the new Front Panel.
Change the name of the Front Panel:
PANEL NewFrontPanel

Change the name of the box named Top and edit its container name:

BOX NewFrontPanelTop
{
  CONTAINER_NAME     NewFrontPanel
  POSITION_HINTS     first
  ...
}

Add box definitions for the middle and bottom rows:

BOX NewFrontPanelMiddle
{
  CONTAINER_NAME      NewFrontPanel
  POSITION_HINTS      second
}
BOX NewFrontPanelBottom
{
  CONTAINER_NAME      NewFrontPanel
  POSITION_HINTS      second
}

Change the CONTAINER_NAME of the following controls to NewFrontPanelTop:
- Clock
- Date
- Home
- TextEditor
- Mail
Change the CONTAINER_NAME of the following controls to NewFrontPanelBottom:
- Printer
- Style
- Applications
- Info
- Trash
Change the CONTAINER_NAME of the switch to NewFrontPanelMiddle.
Set the resource:
Dtwm*frontPanel*name: NewFrontPanel
Choose Restart Workspace Manager from the Workspace menu.