Plugin Help .... plz

[saisrikar]

hello ...
i wanted to ask , How to Use the Downloaded Extra Plugins with COmpiz.
I downloaded the dock plugin and got a .tar.gz file , i dont know how to procede from there. I have two files in the Archive .... "dock.c" and "makefile" ...
How to get this thing working ... ?!?
Im a total Noob at this ... pardon me ... !! :)

[Vasek]

Hello!

You got the C source code of the plugin and are about to compile it. For that, you will need more than standard packaged compiz installation -- ensure you have something like "compiz-devel" or "compiz-dev" installed in your system. Also look at the version of compiz, the additional plugins usually work best with the current one, i.e., 0.3.6. It's considered "development", but so are many of the plugins :)
Then open a shell, go to the directory where these two files reside and type "make". If everything goes OK, it should print out two lines without complains. If it is so, you can execute "make install" now. You don't need any extra permissions for that, it will install into your home directory. At last, you can load your new plugin in compiz, this depends on what tools you use to configure it. The most common way is to open gconf-editor, navigate it to path /apps/compiz/general/allscreens/options and add a line to the list under key active_plugins.
(Now generally:) If the directory contains a *.schema or *.schemas file, one more step is to run a command "gconftool-2 --install-schema-file=[file]". This enables you to configure the plugin in gconf-editor or elsewhere.

Possible problems:
- compiz-devel not available or too old version: sorry, consult your distribution support.
- "make" ending with an error: this most probably means another system part missing, or the code really being wrong.
1) Try to look if there isn't a newer version of the plugin you downloaded.
2) Look on the Internet if anyone experienced the same error and if it was solved.
However, don't continue -- the plugin is not ready to be installed.
- gconf-editor or gconftool-2 missing: they can be optional in your distribution. It's recommended to have them installed as well.
- compiz refuses to load the plugin: this is most commonly caused by some dependencies the plugin can have to other plugins, e.g. it can demand to be loaded before "cube" or so. You will find such information under a corresponding key of gconf - /apps/compiz/plugins/[your plugin].
- compiz becomes unstable: seems that you have found a bug. Report it, you can use this forum (maybe better under Plugin development -> your plugin).

Important: This hint should apply to various extra plugins you will find. But right the "dock" is actually not a good one to begin with - it is very preliminary version, it can be very unstable or behave unexpectedly or not compile at all.
Moreover, since it didn't come with a .schema file, it is probably some old version. Where do you have it from?
A central repository for the current compiz Extra Plugins is at the address
http://www.anykeysoftware.co.uk/compiz/plugins/

Should you find this useful, you can put it somewhere so others can find it :)

[saisrikar]

Looks Complicated , will try out later ....
and thankx for the d website ..... :D
cheers

[mikedee]

The dock plugin does not work very well (or at all)

To install it, just unzip and type make install in the directory. This should install it in your personal plugin directory.