GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 91606
Add a "show desktop" applet
Last modified: 2004-12-22 21:47:04 UTC
One of the gnome todo items on the website is 'minimize all' in the tasklist. In reality, I think what that actually means is 'minimize active workspace'. Patch to follow that implements the above. If it is accepted, I'll submit a patch to the actual tasklist applet to add a 'minimize visible' feature or similar.
Created attachment 10694 [details] [review] Adds a wnck_tasklist_minimize_active_workspace() API call.
After browsing the libwnck source code some more, I'm not 100% certain that the patch does the right thing with respect to 'applications'. If someone can point me in the right direction if the patch *is* wrong, then I'll try and make another.
What is the proposed UI for this feature? (Where does the "minimize all" menu item or button or whatever appear?)
My thoughts were that it would be a button just to the left of the tasklist. So either a simple part of that applet, or a separate tiny applet in its own right? I guess this has to go through a full usability study/approval process though?
no big process, we just need to think it through. I do think we should have a "show desktop" button, I just didn't make the connection with your patch in this context. There's a metacity bug which discusses a bit whether "show desktop" minimizes all open windows, or enters a special "showing desktop" mode as Ctrl+Alt+D in metacity currently does.
Bug #92335 is that bug, see there for more comment.
Ah, I just realized that a hide/show desktop button would use the _NET_SHOWING_DESKTOP thing from the window manager spec. So this patch probably isn't useful, the actual minimization will happen on the window manager side. I think what's needed is a "show desktop" applet in the gnome-panel package.
We already have it in the actions menu, just need a button for everything in the actions menu - see #84740 *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 84740 ***
Alternatively (or probably additionally), might it make sense to integrate "show desktop" it into the workspace switcher applet somehow...? (I don't have any great ideas as to how at the moment, however...)
Playing around with Calum's suggestion (add the show desktop option to the workspace switcher applet), I find myself thinking that the right-click menu on a given workspace has room for such an option. Maybe something like: Preferences <separator> Show desktop Raise/Show windows (depending on how exactly show desktop is supposed to work-- this and the above option would be insensitive when not applicable of course) <separator> Help About ... Or something. Just a thought, grown as I played with the applet in search of space for new options.