Flexible Deskbar width

[humdinger]

This is hrev33939.

Here's an idea for implementing a flexible width for Deskbar. As monitors became wider, many may like to use a little wider Deskbar.

Advantages:

• larger clickable are for the Deskbar menu

• if it's just wide enough, all first-level entries (Applications, Preferences,...) could possibly open to the right side like Demos now. That would look neater, the arrow symbols would fit (in standard position) and less of the rest of the screen would be obscured.

• more space in the Tray

• less trunkating of apps and window names

The first two advantages are marginal, of course. The last two much greater.

Instead of some kind of border-dragging with the mouse, I propose another value setting in the Deskbar Preferences panel under Window:

"Width: {n} chars"

Possibly done with a dial widget like in the Time Preferences.

By using the number of characters being displayed without trunkating introduces another advantage: it will make the Deskbar font-size sensitive. Use a larger font size and the Deskbar grows accordingly.
The fact that it's only an approximation, because normally proportional fonts are used, doesn't matter. It's just a convenient metric.

Changes should be live, like all settings in the Deskbar Preferences already are, so a user sees when the Deskbar fits her needs.

[axeld]

I wouldn't like this setting; a method to change the size via mouse makes much more sense to me, at least (eventually, the only thing needed for this would be to be able to resize with the window modifiers ctrl-alt).

The Deskbar would then only need to remember its size.

[humdinger]

Fair enough. On second thought, this automatic growing of the width when changing font size wouldn't be used often anyway. Who keeps changing the system font size?

So, scratch that Deskbar Preferences setting, do the resizing directly.

[luroh]

Fixed?

[humdinger]

Yes. Thanks for checking. :) It even works with CTRL+ALT+right-click-drag now. I missed that addition...

[nielx]

Assign tickets with status=closed and resolution=fixed within the R1/beta2 development window to the R1/beta2 Milestone