Simple lxde lubuntu aero snap with working obkey keyboard editor
Aero snap is actually pretty cool, and I despise Windows so that says a lot for the feature... In lxde / lubuntu its not really available.
So after scouring the internet again I came up with a pretty cool solution.
OBKEY is optional if you don't wish to install it you can skip over this section and jump down to the "time for aero snap feature"
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Editing keyboard shortcuts is easy in lxde with obkey.. however obkey doesn't work out of the box with lubuntu... but a minor tweak gets it going.
download the best version for you from here or maybe try sudo apt-get install obkey ... it might be in there... depending on your system and repos.
After install go to your run menu or in the terminal and paste the following
gksu leafpad /usr/bin/obkey
find the line
/.config/openbox/rc.xml
change it to
/.config/openbox/lubuntu-rc.xml
save file and close
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OK now although obkey is install and working.. we are not actually going to use it to setup aerosnap.... why not? because its a bit too hard to explain but its nice to have and you will use it at the end. (kinda)
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Time for the aero snap feature
open run or a terminal and enter the following
gksu leafpad ~/.config/openbox/lubuntu-rc.xml
find the line
<chainQuitKey>C-g</chainQuitKey>
underneath that line copy and paste the following
Code:
<!-- Aero Snap for Openbox Begin Code-->
<keybind key="W-Left"> # HalfLeftScreen
<action name="UnmaximizeFull"/>
<action name="MoveResizeTo">
<x>0</x>
<y>0</y>
<height>97%</height>
<width>50%</width>
</action>
</keybind>
<keybind key="W-Right"> # HalfRightScreen
<action name="UnmaximizeFull"/>
<action name="MoveResizeTo">
<x>-0</x>
<y>0</y>
<height>97%</height>
<width>50%</width>
</action>
</keybind>
<keybind key="W-Up"> # HalfUpperScreen
<action name="UnmaximizeFull"/>
<action name="MoveResizeTo">
<x>0</x>
<y>0</y>
<width>100%</width>
<height>50%</height>
</action>
</keybind>
<keybind key="W-Down"> # HalfLowerScreen
<action name="UnmaximizeFull"/>
<action name="MoveResizeTo">
<x>0</x>
<y>-0</y>
<width>100%</width>
<height>50%</height>
</action>
</keybind>
<!-- Aero Snap for Openbox End Code-->
*****Minor update applied so the panel does not cover any portion of the expanded windows, code above has been updated*****
save and close
now open up obkey (preferences menu) and you will notice four new entries for the super key and arrows..
go ahead and close it,,, (obkey is really easy to edit your shortcuts although we really didn't use it in this situation but it is nice to have)
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Now open run or copy and paste this in the terminal: openbox --restart
Now how do you use it?? Well you can't drag you windows to a corner and expect them to snap in place... It won't work but what you can do is pretty sweet even though it manual
Select any window and hold the super key (windows key) and press either left, right, up or down...
and you'll get the hint immediately..
work very well,
ad no extra bloat to the system either..
enjoy.
http://www.unleashpc.com/aerosnaplxde.png
*****
I will be providing a series of easy solutions and linking to them below
lxde simple weather
lxde wallpaper changer
expose feature for lubuntu
Re: Simple lxde lubuntu aero snap with working obkey keyboard editor
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ronniew
...
Now open run or copy and paste this in the terminal: openbox --restart
...
I use
Code:
openbox --reconfigure
Re: Simple lxde lubuntu aero snap with working obkey keyboard editor
did openbox --restart not work? if not I'll change the above instruction to what you used.
Re: Simple lxde lubuntu aero snap with working obkey keyboard editor
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ronniew
did openbox --restart not work? if not I'll change the above instruction to what you used.
Sorry, I never tried that. It just so happened that I've usually seen the code I use recommended to get changes to lubuntu-rc.xml to take effect and have been using that. Maybe the two are equivalent?
One more point, I've been messing with various things in Lubuntu 12.10 to get things the way I want and haven't yet needed to install obkey.
Re: Simple lxde lubuntu aero snap with working obkey keyboard editor
This is what openbox --help has:
Code:
[06:13 PM] ~ $ openbox --help
Syntax: openbox [options]
Options:
--help Display this help and exit
--version Display the version and exit
--replace Replace the currently running window manager
--config-file FILE Specify the path to the config file to use
--sm-disable Disable connection to the session manager
Passing messages to a running Openbox instance:
--reconfigure Reload Openbox's configuration
--restart Restart Openbox
--exit Exit Openbox
Debugging options:
--sync Run in synchronous mode
--startup CMD Run CMD after starting
--debug Display debugging output
--debug-focus Display debugging output for focus handling
--debug-session Display debugging output for session management
--debug-xinerama Split the display into fake xinerama screens
Please report bugs at http://bugzilla.icculus.org
BTW, both "UnmaximizeFull" and "Unmaximize" seem to work equally well. Do you know of any difference that may be significant?
Since Lubuntu 12.10 has Openbox 3.5, I was searching for documentation for 3.5, but most of what I found is for 3.4.
Edit: It was 3.5. For some reason, I thought it was 3.4 :(
And 3.5 has Unmaximize rather than UnmaximizeFull and that seems logical to me.
Re: Simple lxde lubuntu aero snap with working obkey keyboard editor
Thank you for the guide, waiting patiently for this to be published on http://lubuntublog.blogspot.com/p/tips-tricks.html
One question: Is it possible to restore a snapped window to its original size and position, or just any size but place it in the center of the screen instead?
Re: Simple lxde lubuntu aero snap with working obkey keyboard editor
Quote:
Originally Posted by
vanlong441
Thank you for the guide, waiting patiently for this to be published on
http://lubuntublog.blogspot.com/p/tips-tricks.html
One question: Is it possible to restore a snapped window to its original size and position, or just any size but place it in the center of the screen instead?
I think this is not possible, using this trick, as LXDE doesn't really recognize the "snapped left" as another STATE, it sees it the same as if you had manually moved it there, so there's nowhere to restore to. I assume the other wm's are maintaining two states for each window (snappedOrMaxed, userState) so you can go between the two... Once you use this method it is as if you have dragged the window there with your mouse...
This is a far from perfect solution, but I added another keybinding using the author's method, that makes a 50%x50% window somewhere close to the middle of the screen.
<keybind key="W-space "> # middleScreen
<action name="UnmaximizeFull"/>
<action name="MoveResizeTo">
<x>500</x>
<y>300</y>
<height>50%</height>
<width>50%</width>
</action>
</keybind>
It isn't perfect, but on my resolution it's not too bad.
