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4. Using KDE

4.1 When I ``iconify'' a window, it disappears. Where does it go?

With many X GUI's, the iconofy button (a little dot) will erase the window that the program is running in and create, instead, an icon on the desktop. KDE does not do this. Instead, when a window is ``iconified'' it is simply hidden (but the program is still running). There are two ways to get the window back: (1) If you're running the taskbar part of kpanel (see the Panel --> Configure menu entry), you can choose to have a list of tasks displayed on you desktop. Iconified tasks have their names surrounded by parenthesis. (2) If you click the middle mouse button on the root window, kwm will give you a list of all available tasks (and again, the names of iconified tasks are bracketed).

4.2 How can I get kvt to do a login by default (ie. do ``kvt -ls'' when I select UNIX from kpanel)?

Like all kde applications, information about how to run kvt (the UNIX option in kpanel) is stored in it's .kdelnk file in the apps directory of your KDEDIR. To make it launch from icons or kpanel with a login by default, just edit KDEDIR/apps/Utilities/UNIX.kdelnk and make it look something like this:

        [KDE Desktop Entry]
        Type=Application
        Exec=kvt -ls
        Icon=UNIX.xpm
        DocPath=kvt.html
        Info=Terminal Emulation (kvt)
        Terminal=0
        

4.3 I want to add a kpanel icon to lauch a non-KDE application. How can this be done?

Here's one way to do it, although there may be a more KDEish method (?). We'll use the example of creating an entry for a news reader called knews (it starts with a k, but it is not a KDE application). Fire up kfm and create a directory called myapps inside your HOME/.kde directory. Change into this directory and select File --> New --> Program.kdelnk. Enter knews.kdelnk for the name. A new item will appear in the KDE window called knews. Click on the icon with the third mouse button and select properties from the pop-up menu. Click on the Execute tab in the window that appears, and enter knews in the Execute input area. You can also choose a different icon here, select a working directory, and so on. To make this new program entry available from kpanel, just drag from the kfm window to the kpanel bar. Voila!

4.4 How does kpanel know what structure to use for it's launching menu? Can I alter it?

The KDE directory hierarchy (located under KDEDIR) includes a directory called apps. The layout of this directory is what kpanel uses to create its menu structure. Thus, you must choose System --> kdisplay to run kdisplay because the kdisplay.kdelnk file exists in the System sudirectory of KDEDIR/apps. Any change to this directory structure will alter the layout of kpanel's menu.

4.5 kfm uses the unkown file icon for a lot of file types. Are there more icons available?

There are some additional icons available in the dev directory of the ftp site(s). Install these in KDEDIR/lib/pics/ to make them available for use. If you think they're unattractive, then design really nice ones and upload them.

4.6 I have many other KDE ussage questions. Where can I found out more?

All KDE applications ship with html documentation. It can be accessed by selecting help from within the relevant application, running kdehelp on its own, or by looking around in KDEDIR/doc/HTML/.


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