Customizing the desktop

Changing the background image

To change the background image or color, you need to:

1. Edit ~/.config/weston.ini. Look for these parameters under the [shell] heading in the file, where each parameter is described below:

   background-image=/usr/share/backgrounds/qnx/background_robotics_720p.png
   #background-color=0xff002244
   background-type=scale-crop

2. Restart the desktop by logging out.
3. Relaunch the desktop from the demolauncher.

Each of the parameters do the following:

background-image

Points to most background images under /usr/share/backgrounds or its subfolders. To view the pre-installed backgrounds, open the file manager and navigate to /usr/share/backgrounds:

You can transfer in any .jpg or .png background to apply to the desktop. The qnx folder also contains some QNX brand backgrounds to choose from:

You can also point this parameter to a background image stored in your home directory.

To change the background image:

1. Open the file manager.
2. Browse to the folder with the background image.
3. Right-click the icon and select Copy.
4. Edit ~/.config/weston.ini to change the value of this setting by deleting the old value and pasting the new filename in its place.
5. Restart the desktop for the changes to take effect.

background-color

Set this attribute to a 32-bit RGBA value, in hexadecimal, if you prefer a solid background or wish to frame a smaller image against a solid color.

background-type

Controls how the background image is applied. The parameter is set to scale-crop by default, which scales the image to completely fill the screen and crops any excess.

Refer to the Arch Linux documentation on weston.ini for more information about possible values: https://man.archlinux.org/man/weston.ini.5.en#background-type=

Customizing the taskbar

The current desktop is a hybrid configuration containing some elements of the XFCE4 desktop combined with a Weston compositor, and a custom QNX shell for Weston that backs the taskbar at the bottom of the screen.

This taskbar displays icons for applications that are open, and clicking those icons can restore minimized application windows. The taskbar has been pre-configured with icons for all of the applications integrated in the Application menu; if you need more, add new launcher entries in ~/.config/weston.ini. For example:

[launcher]
icon=/usr/share/icons/hicolor/16x16/apps/org.xfce.appfinder.png
appid=xfce4-appfinder

The appid parameter refers to the pop-up that appears when hovering over the icons. The icon paramater points to the path to the icon you want to display in the taskbar for the application.

You need to render applications that don't have an icon with the taskbar_default_icon parameter in the ~/.config/weston.ini file. The taskbar properties are described below. You must restart the desktop for the taskbar changes to take effect:

taskbar-colour=0x88f4ebe1
taskbar-position=bottom
taskbar_default_icon=/usr/share/icons/gnome/16x16/categories/applications-other.png

taskbar-color

Set this attribute to a 32-bit ARGB value, in hexadecimal. Ensure the first two alphanumeric characters are non-zero if you want the background to show through the taskbar.

taskbar-position

Specify the position of the taskbar. By default, the taskbar is positioned at the bottom of the screen.

Note:

It's not recommended to change this property.

taskbar_default_icon

Points to the path of the icon to be displayed if no launcher is available for an open application.

Changing the top bar configuration

1. Select Applications > Settings > Panel:

   
   
   
   
   

2. To rearrange the top bar items, select the Items tab. Select individual items to edit their appearance:

   
   
   

3. To change the top bar color scheme, select the Appearance tab:

   
   
   

4. Toggle the dark mode button:

   
   
   

5. Set the background to none (for system default):

   
   
   

Adjusting the appearance of desktop applications

1. Open the appearance settings by selecting Applications > Appearance:

   
   
   

2. Navigate to the Icons tab to view the current icon theme:

   
   
   

3. Navigate to the Fonts tab to adjust the default font and monospace font that the desktop apps use:

   
   
   

Adjusting the Applications menu

The Applications menu is controlled by an XML file located in ~/.etc/xdg/menus/xfce-applications.menu, unless it's overriden in ~/.config/menus/xfce-applications.menu. If you install an application and don't see it in the menu, then the desktop file the application installed has a category that isn't configured to appear in the XML file.

Desktop files are installed in /usr/share/applications, but you can customize these applications by adding an override desktop file in ~/.local/share/applications.

For example, the Accessories menu is configured to include any applications whose desktop file contains the categories:

• Accessibility
• Core
• Legacy
• Utility

However, the menu excludes the XFCE4 File Manager, Terminal, About, and Run applications because they already appear elsewhere in the menus:

<Menu>
    <Name>Accessories</Name>
    <Directory>xfce-accessories.directory</Directory>
    <Include>
        <Category>Accessibility</Category>
        <Category>Core</Category>
        <Category>Legacy</Category>
        <Category>Utility</Category>
    </Include>
    <Exclude>
        <Or>
            <Filename>xfce4-file-manager.desktop</Filename>
            <Filename>xfce4-terminal-emulator.desktop</Filename>
            <Filename>xfce4-about.desktop</Filename>
            <Filename>xfce4-run.desktop</Filename>
        </Or>
    </Exclude>
</Menu>

Adjusting application desktop files

You can override the standard desktop files (e.g., change or hide the icons):

1. Copy the desktop file from /usr/share/applications to ~/.local/share/applications.

2. Edit the desktop file:

   1. Change the icon (to change the appearance)
   2. Change the name
   3. Add NoDisplay=true (to hide the application)
   4. Remove NoDisplay=true to unhide the application

3. Log out and log back in to see changes take effect.

Themes

The QNX Developer Desktop doesn't provide an option to switch easily between dark and light mode. However, you can make a few customizations to change the theme.