All,

This one is a bit convoluted so please stick with me while I try to explain.

The problem manifests itself on Ubuntu using Unity (I know, I know, some will claim they don't care about it and I fully appreciate that, but I am not entirely sure this is about Unity).

As I've learned by working on pd-l2ork, it appears that Unity assigns windows under the appropriate icon based on window class name (at least that is how tcl/tk calls it). If no class name is specified, Unity gives window class name based on the name of the shortcut that started the app (.desktop file) and herein lies the problem.

While typically .desktop files will have the same name as the app, and starting them as such will not  be a problem, I have a a shell script built for L2Ork participants that appears as a desktop shortcut. Double-clicking on the shortcut starts the bash script that detects whether qjackctl is already running and if not starts it, then it starts pd-l2ork and uses optional argument to open the right piece. Since I made pd-l2ork explicitly set its own window class using the following command:

toplevel $window -class <name>

all pd-l2ork windows appear under the icon that I pinned on the Unity launcher. The important thing is this was not the case until I explicitly set the window class name. Before I did this, it would appear under the name of the .desktop file name since Unity did not find any other explicit information on the program, resulting in a new question mark icon that appears on the launcher and program window(s) being pegged under this new icon. On the other hand, since qjackctl does not explicitly set its window class name, it continues to (mis)behave like pd-l2ork used to prior to explicitly setting its window class names. Namely, when I click on the shortcut in Unity launcher/menu, its newly spawned window is pegged under qjackctl icon (as it should). However, when I run qjackctl through the script, it is pegged under the new question marked icon bearing the name of the .desktop shortcut.

So, here's the question that's been bugging me: is there a way to explicitly set the window class name in qt as is the case with tcl/tk (FWIW, I would be seriously surprised if one couldn't since I consider qt far superior to tcl/tk) and if so, would it be possible to add this to the future releases of qjackctl?

Another completely unrelated qjackctl wishlist question is would it be possible to disable popping up message window and the pop-up error window in the event the qjackctl does not connect successfully connect to jackd via a preferences option as it can be quite annoying for new users to click through those two windows every time attempted start of jackd fails...

Many thanks!
-- 
Ivica Ico Bukvic, D.M.A
Composition, Music Technology
Director, DISIS Interactive Sound & Intermedia Studio
Director, L2Ork Linux Laptop Orchestra
Head, ICAT IMPACT Studio
Virginia Tech
Department of Music
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0240
(540) 231-6139
(540) 231-5034 (fax)
disis.music.vt.edu
l2ork.music.vt.edu
ico.bukvic.net