Tray icons for new applications not supported?

xfce4_1 · 2014-03-06 21:34:00

Greetings,
I'm unable to get tray icons to show up for several applications. They show up fine
in the Tray menu, but I only get a generic icon in the tray, once the application is
launched (I'd attach a screen clip, but they don't allow that here) sad .
Anyway, I've built icons of all sizes (16,22,24,32,48,64,128), I placed the icons within
all the icon themes that I use with Xfce. I've even rebuilt the icon caches. It appears
that Xfce doesn't support the addition of application Icons very well. sad
Any thoughts?

Thank you for all your consideration.

--Chris

P.S. Xfce 4.10 / FreeBSD (amd64)

Last edited by xfce4_1 (2014-03-06 22:50:36)

ToZ · 2014-03-07 01:30:14

You can use an image hosting site like zimagez.com to host the image and post the link to it here.

It might also be helpful if you told us which applications are doing this and which icon theme you are using.

xfce4_1 · 2014-03-07 21:47:38

ToZ wrote:

You can use an image hosting site like zimagez.com to host the image and post the link to it here.

Register at the Xfce forums, then register at another service, so I can use the Xfce forums. Ugh.

ToZ wrote:

It might also be helpful if you told us which applications are doing this and which icon theme you are using.

OK. Here's the deal. I'll try to keep it simple, so it'll be easier to isolate. smile
The one I think easiest to isolate is the application: aterm -- Xterm with transparency support, and almost as old as Xterm.
Anyway, aterm doesn't install, or come with an icon. So I simply grabbed the one that it uses, when it's installed on a NeXT / AfterStep system. I created a aterm.desktop file that was an exact copy of the one installed, and used for Xtem. I only changed the Application name, Icon, and Comment fields/lines. Xterm only installs icons (.png, and .xpm files) in the share/pixmap folder. Xterm shows an Icon in the Xface4 panel main menu, and when run, also in the Xfce panel. Aterm shows it's assigned icon in the Xfce4 main menu, but only exibits a "generic" icon in the Xfce4 panel, when it's launched (see image below). So, just to be sure, I mimicked the way Xterm installs it's icons, as best I could follow. I also created appropriate sizes in all the Icon themes installed on this system. The Xfce4 Main menu displays it's icon, but the Xfce4 panel does not.
Following is a screen section illustrating the problem:

Bad Icon

Thank you for all your time, and consideration.

--Chris

Last edited by xfce4_1 (2014-03-07 21:49:19)

ToZ · 2014-03-08 01:13:39

Not sure if you can change that icon - it might be hard coded (or at least I can't change it). However, you can use xseticon to change the panel/window icon of your aterm window. Adding:

[ $(ps -p $(ps -p $$ -o ppid=) -o comm=) = "aterm" ] && xseticon -id "$WINDOWID" /path/to/icon/file.png

...to the end of your .bashrc file (assuming you use bash), will force it to use that icon.

xfce4_1 · 2014-03-08 02:47:52

@ToZ,
Thank you for your thoughtful response.
I've got to say; while I'm sure your suggestion will work. It feels to me, a bit of a kludge.
Having carefully examined the Xterm source, as well as the Aterm source; I know that there isn't an Icon
embedded in Xterm. So the question becomes: how does Xfce4 decide what Icons, and where the Icons
it chooses, show up in the Xfce4 panel? That seems the best direction to travel, in an effort to
get the proper Icon to show up in the Xfce4 panel, no? I haven't yet examined the Xfce Panel source.
But it also occurs to me that it might also not be Xfce4 that makes that decision. Do you know?

Well, I guess I'll just have to keep on snooping, until I find the real truth to the matter. I was sure
Xfce4 would know the answer. tongue

Thank you again, ToZ, for taking the time to help. smile

--Chris

MountainDewManiac · 2014-03-13 04:39:33

xfce4_1 wrote:

ToZ wrote:
You can use an image hosting site like zimagez.com to host the image and post the link to it here.
Register at the Xfce forums, then register at another service, so I can use the Xfce forums. Ugh.

I'm guessing that he suggested ZimageZ as an image host because one of XFCE's default PrintScreen app's options is to host it there, so a lot of XFCE users presumably use that service. But I'd also guess that any of the image hosting sites which allow one to upload images without first registering are also acceptable.

xfce4_1 wrote:

ToZ wrote:
It might also be helpful if you told us which applications are doing this and which icon theme you are using.
OK. Here's the deal. I'll try to keep it simple, so it'll be easier to isolate.
The one I think easiest to isolate is the application: aterm -- Xterm with transparency support, and almost as old as Xterm.
Anyway, aterm doesn't install, or come with an icon. So I simply grabbed the one that it uses, when it's installed on a NeXT / AfterStep system. I created a aterm.desktop file that was an exact copy of the one installed, and used for Xtem. I only changed the Application name, Icon, and Comment fields/lines. Xterm only installs icons (.png, and .xpm files) in the share/pixmap folder. Xterm shows an Icon in the Xface4 panel main menu, and when run, also in the Xfce panel. Aterm shows it's assigned icon in the Xfce4 main menu, but only exibits a "generic" icon in the Xfce4 panel, when it's launched (see image below). So, just to be sure, I mimicked the way Xterm installs it's icons, as best I could follow. I also created appropriate sizes in all the Icon themes installed on this system. The Xfce4 Main menu displays it's icon, but the Xfce4 panel does not.
Following is a screen section illustrating the problem:
http://img.CyberSewage.com/Xfce4/bad-icon_514x513.png
Thank you for all your time, and consideration.
--Chris

Did you try changing icon themes after doing so (even if only to immediately change it back to the previous one)? I'd assume that any caches/etc. get cleared and recreated upon logout/login - or at least upon reboot - but, then again, the /home/{user}/.thumbnails directory doesn't (and, IIRC, if the user modifies one of the thumbnail images, it'll stay modified until es deletes the directory and the system recreates the image), so it might be worth a try.

I briefly installed aterm in order to see if I saw the same generic icon on my system. I did (didn't really expect anything else). Although generic, I wouldn't have realized had I not read this thread, lol - I took one look at it and thought, "Yep, terminal."

Grasping at straws here, but did you do your icon creation activities immediately after installing aterm, or did you run the application first? It probably makes no difference if you ran it first, I suppose?

I found a man page for aterm at

http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/hardy/man1/aterm-ml.1.html

and read this:

-name name
Specify the application name under which resources are to be
obtained, rather than the default executable file name. Name
should not contain ‘.´ or ‘*´ characters. Also sets the icon
and title name.

and briefly thought that option was used to set the icon - as in, "Also sets the icon. (and) Also sets the title name." But then I reread it and guessed that in a more logical language than English, it would have read something like, "Also sets both the icon name and title names." IDK?

I only have a few choices for different icon themes on my system, so I tried them while I had aterm installed. None of the choices changed aterm's icon in the Window Buttons panel applet; I was also running Firefox at the time to see whether or not changing icon themes changed its icon (yes) - and, upon switching back to my original icon theme, noticed that the icons(?) within Firefox (the home, page back, page forward, reload page) were now different <ARGH!>. So maybe there's something to my idea that the icon theme might have a persistent cache after all that only gets modified - and then "noticed" by the system - when the user changes themes, after all? Or maybe it's just another quirk of running a modern OS on an 11-year old laptop that only makes it to the OS selection menu half the time, the login menu about one in five or six times, and only runs for more than a few minutes without pooching "occasionally," lol?

I was somewhat surprised, when I installed aterm, that I was unable to run it by hitting Alt-F2 (or Alt-F3) and typing aterm; I had to run xfce4-terminal and then run aterm from within it. Therefore, I have concluded that the "Application Finder" is incorrectly named; it doesn't find applications, after all, but instead must simply just reference a list that apparently has no guaranteed concrete relationship to reality. I was rather disappointed to learn this, and suggest that "Application Finder" be renamed to something more appropriate to its actual function for the sake of honesty. "Applications That Have Been Specifically Listed as Being Available to Be Run From This Application-of-Questionable-Utility (Flip a Coin) NOTE: If You Attempt to Run an Application With This and Find Yourself Unable to Do So, It In No Way Shape or Form Can Be Taken As Evidence That Said Application Is Not Installed on This System." Or, if the developer feels that this name, whilst being far more truthful than "Application Finder," is somewhat unwieldy, es can simply fix the thing instead of renaming it. (Thanks!) After all, the usefulness of an "Application Finder" that only finds applications which are already listed in XFCE's menu is right up there with the proverbial teats on a boar hog. But that might be somewhat off-topic to the topic at hand, so I shall type no more about it.

Regards,
MDM

Xfce Forum

Sub domains

#1 2014-03-06 21:34:00

Tray icons for new applications not supported?

#2 2014-03-07 01:30:14

Re: Tray icons for new applications not supported?

#3 2014-03-07 21:47:38

Re: Tray icons for new applications not supported?

#4 2014-03-08 01:13:39

Re: Tray icons for new applications not supported?

#5 2014-03-08 02:47:52

Re: Tray icons for new applications not supported?

#6 2014-03-13 04:39:33

Re: Tray icons for new applications not supported?

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