Copyright © 2001 by John Fleck
Tasklist applet, shown in , displays a table showing windowed
applications running on your computer. Depending on the options
chosen, you can display either those on the desktop currently in
use, or on all virtual desktops. To add this applet to a
Panel, right-click on the panel and choose
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ->+
+ + + + + + + + ->+
+ .
Tasklist allows you to quickly
navigate the applications running on your computer, displaying
icons and application names for each application that meets the
criteria you've set in the properties window. Clicking
on an icon or application name gives focus to that application,
bringing it to the foreground so it accepts your keyboard input.
Right-clicking with the mouse on an application's icon or
text in the applet brings up the following menu:
-
Iconify reduce the
selected application to a panel icon. When an application
already has been iconified, the menu item changes to
Restore. Clicking on it restores the
application to your desktop.
-
Shade minimize the
application to a single window bar. When an application
has been Shaded, the menu item changes to
Unshade. Clicking on
Unshade restores the application to
full size.
-
Stick make application
"sticky", which means it remains in your field of view when
you change virtual desktops, following you as you go. When
an application is sticky, the menu option
Unstick is displayed, allowing you to
leave an application behind as you continue your virtual
desktop travels.
-
Kill kills the
application. The properties
dialog allows you to
have Tasklist prompt you for
confirmation before causing an application's untimely death.
Tasklist can group icons together when
multiple instances of a program are running. A number in parentheses
appears to next to the application. Clicking on the icon brings up a menu
listing all of the running instances.
Clicking on an item in the list brings that window to the foreground
and gives it focus.
By default, Tasklist groups four or more
applications. You can change this in the properties window.
In addition to the standard menu items (see ), the
right-click pop-up menu has
item This menu
item opens the Properties dialog (see ) which allows you to
customize the appearance and behavior of this applet.
You can configure Tasklist applet by
right-clicking on the applet and choosing the
menu item. This will open the
Properties dialog, shown in .
The Properties dialog allows to you
control which tasks are displayed:
-
Show normal applications
display, in the applet, all applications on the current
desktop that have not been minimized.
-
Show iconified (minimized) applications
show all applications on the current
desktop that have been minimized
-
Show normal applications on all
desktops show all full-sized,
non-minimized applications on all desktops. For this to
work, you must also have checked the Show normal
applications checkbox above.
-
Show iconified (minimized) applications on
all desktops show all applications that
have been minimized on all desktops. For this to work, you
must also have checked Show iconified (minimized)
applications above.
-
Show mini icons Some
applications support a miniature icon. This option displays
it on the Tasklist panel.
-
Confirm before killing windows
have the applet prompt you before you're permitted
to kill an
application.
-
Move iconified tasks to current workspace
when restoring automatically switches
the desktop work area on your screen to the one containing
the application you click on in the
Tasklist panel.
-
Enable task grouping Turns on
Tasklist's grouping feature and controls the number of instances of an application that must be running before they are grouped.
The size properties dialog controls
how much space Tasklist takes up on
your panel:
-
Follow panel size
have Tasklist size
determined automatically based on panel size. This overrides
other size options.
-
Tasklist width (height)
width (or height in vertical panel) of
Tasklist in pixels.
-
Rows of tasks
determines how many rows of task icons
Tasklist displays.
-
Default task size
set the default size for display of a task
item. (This only has effect if Tasklist width is
dynamic is checked below.)
-
Tasklist width (height) is fixed
(dynamic) Have the size of the tasklist
fixed or established by the applet dynamically. Setting it
to "fixed" means that the applet will always take the amount
of space set in "tasklist width", even if there are no
tasks. Setting it to dynamic means that
the applet will take as much space as needed to show all tasks (zero if
there are no tasks), but not more than the value set in
Tasklist width.
-
Only use empty space If width or
height is set to be dynamic, this option forces
Tasklist to use only the available space
on your screen, preventing it from pushing other applets out
of the way and off of your screen.
All Properties dialogs have the following
buttons at the bottom of the dialog:
-
OK
Pressing OK will activate any changes
in the properties you have made and close the
Properties dialog.
-
Apply
Pressing Apply at any time will
make your changes active without closing the
Properties dialog. This is helpful if
you would like to test the effects of the changes you have
made but may want to continue changing the properties.
-
Close
Pressing Close will close the