In Praise of Whisker-Menu

Puppy related raves and general interest that doesn't fit anywhere else
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mikeslr
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In Praise of Whisker-Menu

#1 Post by mikeslr »

Edit October 18, 2017: If you think this analysis makes sense, try radky's latest PupMenu (Version 6.1 as of this writing), http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 540#611540 or battleshooter's XFCE-4.12r5.pet, http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 759#966759 :D

Why Whisker-menu:

if a Picture is worth a thousand words, see attached.

But that's not my style. :)

IMHO, with the exception of memorizing key-board short-cuts [not even sure that a key-board short-cut to open a specific application is even possible], being able to open frequently used applications using one movement committed to “muscle-memory
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musher0
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#2 Post by musher0 »

Woh, mikeslr!

This is not a post, this is a chapter!!! ;) I'll have to set an evening aside to read it in full!

For now a quick answer about key combos:

Yes it is possible to set a hot key or key combo for any app represented
by an icon on your ROX desktop.

You right-click on the icon and then click on edit. You then click on the long
rectangle box just above the word "locked".

A dialog box appears in the middle of your screen and you type the key
combination you wish to have associated with that application.

You then click "ok" to have the key combo saved.

Worthy of note: in ROX, key combos only work if you already have a
window displayed on your screen.

IHTH. BFN.
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rufwoof
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#3 Post by rufwoof »

Hi Mike.

Brightside hot corners and set the top left to toggle show/hide desktop is a low muscle memory method to quickly get to your 'favourites' i.e. your choice of desktop icons/arrangement. A desktop file manager that opens up /usr/share/applications can enable easy access to many others, especially if that file manager includes typing in to highlight filenames (type galc ... for instance to see galculator highlighted).

The Windows/Special key set to pop up a preemptive command launcher is yet another method (WIN, type gal ... ENTER). FreeBSD's Mate version of that 'run' is quite nice as its also like a menu i.e. listbox of all programs that narrows down as you type ... or can be scrolled through to click a particular program to launch.

Menu's .... ugh! Better off as a last resort choice IMO, if even present at all. Prior to having switched over to FreeBSD I had reduced the MENU button (that I prefer in the top left i.e. panel at top of screen) down to just logoff, restart, shutdown ...type menu items only (under FreeBSD Mate I've just left the default menu as I hardly ever even use that).

Panels are ok, but take up real-estate and auto hide panels aren't that much better than simply move mouse to top-left to reveal the desktop icons ready to be activated.

Gnome 3 like in some ways, but more like gnome 2 layout, with gnome 3 hot corner activation and where the revealed icons are selected and arranged as you desire.

What is somewhat lacking is having different wallpapers and icon sets on each desktop as reveal desktop (top left corner) and select desktop (pager) would support divisioning/grouping ... but not many distros cater for such different icons per desktop. But then again few probably have the need for that many desktop icons to fill up more than one desktop anyway.
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dancytron
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#4 Post by dancytron »

How is this related to/different from/the same as the XFCE application finder?

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tallboy
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#5 Post by tallboy »

mikeslr, you provide a fascinating insight into daily actions we really don't think about, what a joy to read! :D
But, and there is a BUT, we have a condition that is becoming a serious problem to society; dementia, often in the form of Altzheimers disease. It is extremely demanding on personell and resources. A parallell is military action; a battle is not won by how many you kill, but by how many you wound seriously enough to set in motion a big apparatus, to follow up those wounded. It cost money and people.
The problem is, more of us live longer now. And the cost of care (at least in countries with a functioning healthcare..) will rice to astronomical levels, if the current trend is not halted. One of the little things you can do to actively fight the early onset of Altzheimers, besides some physical activity and a healthier lifestyle, is to constantly activate the small grey ones. Learn something new all the time, for us maybe a new programming language, or a spoken language. Do crosswords, go rediscover those memory-based board games that were so popular some years ago. You mentioned typing, the constant switch between composing and typing is actually an extremely demanding process for the brain, so is every other thing we do with our hands. If we see past the outcome of the process, an instrument builder use far more parts of the brain, and a greater number of braincells, than a professor do. Let the brain work! Hard!
I prefer to avoid clicking the mouse, I prefer the key actions when available. I never use bookmarks in my browsers, I log in and out after every session at a website, manually by using my memory and fingertips.
My personal 'facebook' is a place in my brain that couples the faces of people I have physically met, with their names and addresses and phone numbers, and maybe a web address too! I don't have a single virtual friend, I actually know them all!
So, while I really admire you making an effort in a field you believe is important, for my part I'll postpone the use of extreme shortcut panels until my finger joints demand a slowdown. :D

And to those who disagree, excellent! Keeps your brain active... :lol:

tallboy

BTW, take a look at some of the new functions in the latest version of JWM
True freedom is a live Puppy on a multisession CD/DVD.

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mikeslr
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#6 Post by mikeslr »

Hi All,

musher0, thanks for the info about key combinations. It had occurred to me that rox might have some way to manage it. The thing is I was spoiled by Word Perfect Office Suite. What its creators did was first develop a programming language which they then used to build their applications. Installation of the Suite actually gave you a supplemental operating system. From any application you could initiate any other application, not only those within the Suite. Macros, to do anything your system was capable of, could be assigned to Keyboard Shortcuts. Unfortunately, the companies which acquired Word Perfect Office from its creators didn't understand the power of the tool they purchased, did not spend the money necessary to hire competent programmers who could learn the language and adapt it to a changing environment. The result was a 'poor man's version' of Microsoft Office Suite.

dancytron, Whisker-Menu is only slightly different than AppFinder. Frankly, as far as I can tell just by looking at the two and typing into their respective search boxes they perform exactly alike. My guess is that Whisker-Menu has App Finder's mechanism built in.

The difference appears to be when you've placed Whisker-Menu's search box at the bottom of its "GUI", getting your mouse-cursor into the Search box requires just a nudge. AppFinder, on the other hand, opens somewhere else on your desktop. You have to scroll into it. It may not be at the same location each time. So, getting the mouse-cursor into App Finder's search box requires some thought and a little more time. Bio-feedback can handle the former, but not the latter. Minute differences, but

tallboy,

I'd rather make use of my mind thinking about a problem and how to clearly present it than thinking about how to use the tools at my disposal to do so.

I agree with you. Altzheimers is an increasingly prevalent problem. Among its side affects is disorientation and the frustration resulting from not being able to remember. I don't know if its exactly the same, but for more than a year I suffered from clinical depression until it was diagnosed, I was prescribed and finally received the 'standard medication' and waited the 2 weeks it took for me to become nominally functional. Fortunately, it helped sufficiently that I was able to research and find something, an over-the-counter-supplement which actually worked: 5HTP, a serotonin precursor which no doctor prescribes (it isn't "approved by Med Associations"), and few know about because Big Pharma can't patent it, and make money from it, so Drug Reps don't tell doctors about it. At the depth of my illness, if I put a pencil down to answer the 'phone, I then have to spend 5 minutes looking for it. So I know something about having one's train of thought interrupted. One of the things I now do is have a fixed place for things, and a fixed routine for routine actions. That's one of the two suggestions which I'm aware to assist those who suffer from Altzheimers. And the second is clear and distinct displays on closets doors as to what will be found behind them.

mikesLr
Last edited by mikeslr on Fri 21 Jul 2017, 04:08, edited 1 time in total.

radky
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#7 Post by radky »

Hi mikeslr,

Adding the xfce panel to supplement other panels in the Puppy environment is certainly an intriguing prospect. But, you might be interested in the upcoming release of PupMenu (in final beta testing) which offers much of the appearance and functionality of the Whisker menu. The new mid-view GUI of PupMenu is shown below, and it integrates with any panel -- much like Whisker does in xfce.

Thanks for the interesting discussion!
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Moat
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#8 Post by Moat »

Hi mikeslr -

When opening the Whisker menu, does not your (blinking) text cursor automatically exist, already focused inside the search field? I know it does on a number of Xfce/Whisker installs I have going... I vaguely recall it was either a feature or bugfix release from a while back (reading through Graeme Gott's blog, IIRC).

Nice writeup - thanks! 8)

Thought I'd mention that Whisker's search field also can do a web search (lead with a "?") or run a terminal command (lead with a "!") - among a few other features. It's an excellent, functionally near-perfect little menu app!

https://gottcode.org/xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin/

Bob

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mikeslr
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#9 Post by mikeslr »

Hi radky,

I was hoping you would. I had even written an ending to with the mournful phrase "until Radky incorporates something like Whisker-menu", but decided that would be too pushy as I didn't know how interested you would be, what constrains the 'real world' may impose on you, and --as I was thinking FbBox--
whether it had the capability. Frankly, you've made my day. :D I look forward to putting it to use.

@ moat, You're right. The cursor is in the Search box. :oops: I've only just started configuring Whisker-menu to place the Search box at the bottom and, actually, using it. Thanks for the other info.

mikesLr

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tallboy
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#10 Post by tallboy »

mikeslr, I am sorry to hear about your condition. The good thing is that it is treatable, and that you sooner or later can be healed.
I have the care for mother well into her 90s, so I see the constant decrease of brain functions, slow but persistent, but that is kind of expected at that age. My primary worries come from a younger brother's fight against the same problems with loss of memory, very much like your own problems. His short-term memory is almost absent because of strong pain-killers after surgery on his back. He used to make detailed task lists for each new job at his workplace, but had to quit his job because he couldn't remember if he had ticked a box or not.... Both those situations made me take a different view at my own future, and I have done some small changes to my daily life, to try to prevent such future problems.

So please don't misunderstand, intellectual work is just as challenging to the brain, so keep it up! I try to read all new forum posts when time permits, and I enjoy very much to read about all improvements to Puppy. even if I prefer not to use them myself.

tallboy
True freedom is a live Puppy on a multisession CD/DVD.

musher0
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#11 Post by musher0 »

Hello again mikeslr.

You presented us with a brilliant, logical and reasoned description of the
gestures we do to launch an app. Thanks for this.

You should be a developer! And conversely, developers could use more
of your type of deductive logic!

I have nothing to add to what other members have said above, except

1) some additional information on key combos (aka "hot keys"):

Lucid Puppies and perhaps the Precise ones had a utility called xbindkeys
with which you can associate any key combination with the launch of any
program. I suggest that xbindkeys be again included in modern Puppies.

Also this general site about keybindings is useful to jog our memory about
key combos that already exist in the Linux environment.

and

2) about the discover-as-you-type approach for launching applications:
dmenu has been proposing it as a stand-alone utility for some time.

BFN.
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rufwoof
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#12 Post by rufwoof »

musher0 wrote:1) some additional information on key combos (aka "hot keys"):
/root/.jwm/jwmrc-personal ... is the place in Puppy you can define keybindings

For example to have the WIN (special) key launch the main menu on a UK keyboard

<Key keycode="115">root:3</Key>

The default Tahr key bindings are ...

Code: Select all

<!-- Key bindings -->
<Key key="Up">up</Key>
<Key key="Down">down</Key>
<Key key="Right">right</Key>
<Key key="Left">left</Key>
<Key key="h">left</Key>
<Key key="j">down</Key>
<Key key="k">up</Key>
<Key key="l">right</Key>
<Key key="Return">select</Key>
<Key key="Escape">escape</Key>	
<Key key="F12">root:3</Key>

<Key mask="A" key="Tab">next</Key>
<Key mask="A" key="F4">close</Key>
<Key mask="A" key="F10">maximize</Key>
<Key mask="A" key="F6">minimize</Key>
<Key mask="A" key="#">desktop#</Key>
<Key mask="A" key="F1">root:3</Key>
<Key mask="A" key="F2">window</Key>

<Key keycode="160">exec:amixer sset Master toggle</Key>
<Key keycode="176">exec:amixer sset Master 1+,1+</Key>
<Key keycode="174">exec:amixer sset Master 1-,1-</Key>
<Key keycode="178">exec:defaultbrowser</Key>
<Key keycode="236">exec:defaultbrowser</Key>
<Key keycode="111">exec:defaultscreenshot</Key>
Key codes can differ however, for example the WIN key might be 91 on other keyboards

Not forgetting bash autocomplete ... where you type one or more letters, press TAB ... and you'll get a list of all matching commands from your PATH. I have my WIN key set to run gmrun and in gmrun you can type a few characters and press tab to get a list of available programs
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musher0
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#13 Post by musher0 »

rufwoof wrote:
musher0 wrote:1) some additional information on key combos (aka "hot keys"):
/root/.jwm/jwmrc-personal ... is the place in Puppy you can define keybindings

For example to have the WIN (special) key launch the main menu on a UK keyboard

<Key keycode="115">root:3</Key>
(...)
Key codes can differ however, for example the WIN key might be 91 on other keyboards
One important thing you're forgetting, rufwoof: those keybindings are only
good for the person who likes to use the jwm window manager. :)
Whereas the key bindings defined in xbindkeys will work with any WM.
rufwoof wrote:Not forgetting bash autocomplete ... where you type one or more letters,
press TAB ... and you'll get a list of all matching commands from your
PATH. I have my WIN key set to run gmrun and in gmrun you can type a
few characters and press tab to get a list of available programs
Yeah, autocomplete is pretty handy in bash. But you don't actually need
gmrun or similar if you make yourself a dedicated urxvt window and label
it "Launcher" or "Run".

Something like this:

Code: Select all

#!/bin/bash
# $MBINS/terminaux/console-tres-mince.sh ou /usr/local/bin/defaultrun
# Requiert un urxvt récent. / Requires a recent urxvt.
####
[ "${LANG:0:2}" = "fr" ] && RuN="Exécuter" || RuN="Run"
psawk () { ps | awk '$0 ~ /'$RuN'/ && $4=="urxvt" { print $1 }'; }

if [ "`psawk`" ];then kill -s 15 `psawk` &>/dev/null
else Geom="g 78x2+200-200";COL="bg #271F0C -fg wheat";FadE="fade 70 -fadecolor "#94A495""
	TRNSP="tr -tint SaddleBrown -sh 49";FNT="fn xft:Monaco:pixelsize=13:antialias=true:hinting=true"
	CADR="w 15 -b 15 -cr cornsilk -pr cornsilk -bd AntiqueWhite1"
	urxvt +sb -title "$RuN" -$FadE -$CADR -$COL -$TRNSP -$FNT -$Geom -cd /root &>/dev/null &
fi
gmrun and cousins are simply dress-ups for bash's autocomplete and
history features, IMO.

BFN.
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belham2
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#14 Post by belham2 »

You guys may not realize this, but in the multiple Oscar-winng film: "Hers", Mikeslr was originally cast into the lead male role. But things didn't pan out as the Director and Mike clashed over whether Scarlet J.'s-real-human love-fill-in should wear some "whiskers" or not . :wink: :lol:

P.S. I just stuck some "whiskers" in my Slacko64s. Thanks, Mike!! Don't know what you're missing until you don't know and now I know. Whiskers for Next President (well, at least until radky releases the new PupMenu----then the race is on, which hopefully the Russians won't interfere in the election of)!

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torm
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#15 Post by torm »

For devs.. just try it with sixpack, if it doesn't make any sense, just kill it.
Puppy is not all about advanced.. servers, terminal, etc.
Remember "sudo"?
No?
Try it for a day... or so. :D
XFCE is all about being better than XP.
The first time I saw win10 I was thinkinking "..wtf, how sick can Ubuntu go?? Oops, that is not Ubuntu (?) ... sry... :shock: "

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