<!-- DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V4.1//EN" -->

<chapter label="2" id="panel">

<title>XFce Panel</title>

<para>The functions of the main panel are:</para>

<itemizedlist>
  <listitem><para>Launch applications</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>Open popup menus</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>Switch virtual desktop</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>Give access to the configuration of the desktop</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<figure>
  <title>Main panel</title>
  <screenshot>
    <screeninfo>Panel screenshot</screeninfo>
    <graphic fileref="../images/xfce_panel">
  </screenshot>
</figure>

<para>
The clock has no function other than showing the time. You can select an
analog or digital clock by clicking with the right mouse button on the 
clock.
</para>
     
<para>
The icons are used to launch applications.To modify an icon on the main 
panel, or associate a command to an icon, click on the corresponding icon
with the right mouse button.
</para>

<para>
Some text based applications, such as "vi" require a terminal (xterm) to be 
opened. You can use the keyword "term" to start a terminal before running
the command.
</para>

<programlisting>
<command>term <replaceable>vi</replaceable></command>
</programlisting>

<para>
The number of virtual desktops is user configurable, from 2 to 10 desktops.
See <link linkend="setup">Setup Dialog</link> later in this manual for more
details.
</para>

<para>
To change the label of a virtual screen button, click on the button
using the right mouse button.
</para>

<para>
On top of each icon, there is a little tiny arrow. Each of these buttons 
opens a popup menu. 
</para>
     
<figure>
  <title>Pop-up menu</title>
  <screenshot>
    <screeninfo>Pop-up screenshot</screeninfo>
    <graphic fileref="../images/xfce_popup">
  </screenshot>
</figure>

<para>
Popup menus are another way of launching applications from the XFce panel.
Each entry is associated with an application that is launched when the menu
entry is selected. Drag and drop from various file managers (XFTree 
included, of course) is supported. For example, you can drag a C source 
file onto the X-Edit entry and xedit will be started and open the specified
file. 
</para>

<para>
An existing entry can be modified by using the right mouse button. The item
on the top of the menu, called "Add icon...", is used to add new entries to 
the menu. Drag and drop is also supported, but it does not trigger the same 
action. In fact, when you drop a file (preferably an executable) an entry 
is automatically added to the corresponding menu with a default icon. You 
can later change this icon by using the right mouse button.
</para>

<para>
By clicking on the line at the bottom of the menu you can "detach"
the menu. Once a menu is detached you can move it around your
screen and it stays opened even if an entry is selected, which can
be very convenient. This only works when the option "Use tear-off
menu" is enabled.
</para>

</chapter>