Re: issues for future version

[Mathias Hasselmann <mathias hasselmann gmx de>]

On Thu, 30 Aug 2001, Sasha_Vasko osca state mo us wrote:

> > Sasha_Vasko osca state mo us wrote:
> >
> > > - Pseudo-Transparency support (aka Root pixmap ID).
> >
> > Could this be implemented using parent-relative backgrounds for the
> > client window and the frame window? The WM would set a hint on the root
> > window to indicate support for this kind of pseudo-transparency. It
> > would work nicely with virtual roots - the virtual root would be the
> > parent of the frame window, so its background would be visible rather
> > than the background of the (possibly obscured) root window. How would
> > the root pixmap ID work with virtual roots?
> 
> But that does not allow you to do shading and more fine-tuned tinting,
> [...]

	Why realtime shading/tinting for a static background image? For
IceWM I added the possibility to announce another pixmap per
ROOT_PIXMAP_ID than displayed on the desktop. Yes that's really waste of
memory. But this approach blasting fast, allows amazing effects (your
imagination is the limit) and people insisting on this eyecandy normally
should have more than enough memory.

	Something that really bugs me is the reaction of some apps on the
destruction of the ROOT_PIXMAP_ID (e.g. when you restart the window
manager): Some apps simply crash if you are not careful enough (e.g.
gnome-terminal). Other apps don't/hardly recover when your are careful
(XChat, Eterm). Being careful in my terms means removing of the
ROOT_PIXMAP_ID as soon as it becomes invalid.

	Yes. We definitly should define the handling of this pseudo
standard property.


Ciao,
Mathias
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