Dockapps

Window Maker Dock with the dockapps wmclock wmmon wmapmload and wmusic

Dockapps are computer programs which have a tiny graphical interface the size of an icon. They typically reside in a part of the user interface known as the dock, alongside icons of graphical applications that are in a minimized state or which have yet to be started.

Their small size make dockapps well-suited for applications that monitor things in the background and update the icon window with low-priority information. Some applications are:

• Displaying CPU usage
• Displaying computer temperatures
• Displaying network or disk-usage statistics
• Displaying clocks, calendars, moon phases, or weather reports

Support

Support for dockapps is present in Window Maker since 1998. Early 1999 a Dock App Wharehouse hosts 54 open source dockapps. Other window managers quickly followed. In AfterStep in the wharf. In Blackbox and derivatives in the slit. As of 2024 dockapps.net hosts 211 open source dockapps in 14 categories. As a convention their names often start with "wm" to distinguish them from non-dockapp applications.

Protocol

For an application window to be recognized as a dockapp a protocol must be followed. The ICCCM specifies the WM_HINTS property which applications must set. It communicates the desired initial state of a window to the window manager. Common values are Normal and Iconic. For a dockapp that state must be set to Withdrawn. The WM_HINTS also specifies the icon window to be used. Commonly it has a dimension of 64 by 64 pixels.

In 2010 a second method was added to Window Maker. When the Class part of the WM_CLASS property is set to 'DockApp' the window is also recognized as a dockapp. The motivation was that the gtk+ toolkit do not allow creation of windows with the initial state set to Withdrawn. This was copied by other window managers like AfterStep, Fluxbox, Ion, Openbox and IceWM.

See also

• Dock (computing)

External links

• dockapps.net - a central repository for many dockapps
• xdock, icedock - applications that a emulate Window Maker dock in any window manager