[LAU] question about qjackctl explicitly setting the wm class name

All,

This one is a bit convoluted so please stick with me while I try to explain.

The problem manifests itself on Ubuntu using Unity (I know, I know, some
will claim they don't care about it and I fully appreciate that, but I
am not entirely sure this is about Unity).

As I've learned by working on pd-l2ork, it appears that Unity assigns
windows under the appropriate icon based on window class name (at least
that is how tcl/tk calls it). If no class name is specified, Unity gives
window class name based on the name of the shortcut that started the app
(.desktop file) and herein lies the problem.

While typically .desktop files will have the same name as the app, and
starting them as such will not be a problem, I have a a shell script
built for L2Ork participants that appears as a desktop shortcut.
Double-clicking on the shortcut starts the bash script that detects
whether qjackctl is already running and if not starts it, then it starts
pd-l2ork and uses optional argument to open the right piece. Since I
made pd-l2ork explicitly set its own window class using the following
command:

toplevel $window -class <name>

all pd-l2ork windows appear under the icon that I pinned on the Unity
launcher. The important thing is this was not the case until I
explicitly set the window class name. Before I did this, it would appear
under the name of the .desktop file name since Unity did not find any
other explicit information on the program, resulting in a new question
mark icon that appears on the launcher and program window(s) being
pegged under this new icon. On the other hand, since qjackctl does not
explicitly set its window class name, it continues to (mis)behave like
pd-l2ork used to prior to explicitly setting its window class names.
Namely, when I click on the shortcut in Unity launcher/menu, its newly
spawned window is pegged under qjackctl icon (as it should). However,
when I run qjackctl through the script, it is pegged under the new
question marked icon bearing the name of the .desktop shortcut.

So, here's the question that's been bugging me: is there a way to
explicitly set the window class name in qt as is the case with tcl/tk
(FWIW, I would be seriously surprised if one couldn't since I consider
qt far superior to tcl/tk) and if so, would it be possible to add this
to the future releases of qjackctl?

Another completely unrelated qjackctl wishlist question is would it be
possible to disable popping up message window and the pop-up error
window in the event the qjackctl does not connect successfully connect
to jackd via a preferences option as it can be quite annoying for new
users to click through those two windows every time attempted start of
jackd fails...

Many thanks!

-- 
Ivica Ico Bukvic, D.M.A
Composition, Music Technology
Director, DISIS Interactive Sound & Intermedia Studio
Director, L2Ork Linux Laptop Orchestra
Head, ICAT IMPACT Studio
Virginia Tech
Department of Music
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0240
(540) 231-6139
(540) 231-5034 (fax)
disis.music.vt.edu
l2ork.music.vt.edu
ico.bukvic.net

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Received on Fri Nov 30 20:15:04 2012