[Geany] Per-workspace instance of Geany

[Dimitar Zhekov]

On Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:12:05 +1100
Lex Trotman <elextr at gmail.com> wrote:

> > To answer both a and b, nobody wins. For the preferences and project
> > files, the single instance sm works like hybernate-and-restore: each
> > instance preserves it's own configuration, and neither geany.conf nor
> > the project files are saved.
> 
> Oh ok, its unchanged wins :-), ie thats what is left in the
> prefs/project files for use by any new instance started up.  Or
> another way to look at it is the most recently closed Geany wins,
> assuming a user eventually closes one or more of the instances.

I'm not sure what "unchanged wins" means, but as you know, the projects
and settings in Geany are saved either when you edit them via the
respective dialog and confirm, or when you close an instance. The
single instance sm does not change that in any way - it's a session
saver/restorer that adheres to Geany logic, not a solver for any for
any multiply instance problems.

> > (For the document files it asks if to save, of course. XSMP suggests
> > that a modified file may be saved into a temporary file, and then
> > reloaded and remarked as modified, but I have yet to see a progam
> > impementing THAT idea.)
> 
> For saving files, and to some extent projects, the problem is not the
> software, its the liveware behind the keyboard, an example scenario:
> I have f.txt open and modified in two instances (perhaps on different
> workspaces and I've forgotten about having two). At logout the session
> management makes Geany instance one pop-up a "save modified file
> f.txt?" box, I say yes/no, then instance two does the same [...]

KDE will switch you to the respective workspace if needed and raise
the instance that requests interaction, IIRC.

GNOME will display the popup messages at once (again IIRC), you'll see
the messages for the current workspace, and any other workspaces that
need interaction will be "flashed" in the pager.

Xfce 4.6 does not work properly with 2+ programs that request
interaction. You'll receive a popup for one of the instances, answer it,
and then the logout will stop. When you manually close the 2nd and
subsequent instances (Save and close, or Close and answer the
save prompt), the logout will continue. Haven't checked Xfce 4.8.

(IMHO, if you modify a file in 2+ instances and close them one by one,
you will get confused anyway. And that's a border case.)

> BTW how does that dialog box identify the instance?

If you expect identification like "Geany-<number>" or something, it
won't be really helpful. The right thing is to raise the top-level
window of the application requesting XSMP iteraction. Normally that
should be done by the window manager.

> Might be a nice idea to post the required patch(s) again so
> Nick/Enrico don't have to search the archives

I still have no response for the "save find settions" patch from 3 days
ago, so that seems pointless. The list really feels unresponsive. :(

-- 
E-gards: Jimmy