Re: Make wider selectable edge in Mate windows

[David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk>]

On Sun 19 Sep 2021 at 10:22:24 (+0800), Jeremy Ardley wrote:
> On 19/9/21 9:55 am, Dedeco Balaco wrote:
> > Em 18/09/2021 22:42, Jeremy Ardley escreveu:
> > > I'm running Mate on Debian 10.
> > > 
> > > The problem is that the width of the window edge that you pull to change
> > > the size of a window seems to be only 1 pixel wide.
> > > 
> > > I've heard of this problem in gnome along with some fixes, but I've not
> > > found any solution for Mate.
> > > 
> > > Suggestions?
> > > 
> > > 
> > I also use Mate. Until a few days ago, I was in Debian 9. Now, i updated
> > to Debian 11. Most things in Mate are basically the same, for me.
> > 
> > The issue with 1 pixel borders is not for every window. Mate terminal
> > has wider lines to resize it; Thunderbird 52 too; Pluma too; gcalculator
> > too; vim too; Telegram too; snes9x too; vivaldi too.
> > 
> > In my opinion, there are *bad programs* that do not build their window
> > with best practices. I have seen a program that has 1 pixel borders, but
> > has bigger corners to resize the window. Have you tried the corners? I
> > do not remember which program it was. All i tested, right now, are good
> > with their borders.
> > 
> 
> Testing a few just now, Mate Terminal, Thunderbird, Google Chrome all
> have the 1 pixel border, even in the corner.
> 
> My Mate version is 1.20.4 but this problem has been around for
> versions as long as I remember.

Perhaps it's in the themes? I've never used Mate, but
I downloaded bullseye mate-themes, and see files like
/usr/share/themes/Green-Submarine/metacity-1/metacity-theme-1.xml:

$ head -n 24 metacity-theme-1.xml 
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!--    $Id: metacity-theme-1.xml,v 1.4 2003/12/10 13:57:58 jimmac Exp $         -->
<metacity_theme>
<info>
  <name>Green-Submarine</name>
  <author>Wolfgang Ulbrich</author>
  <copyright>&#194; 2013</copyright>
  <date>Apil, 2013</date>
  <description>Dark theme based on Gilouche legacy.</description>
  <!-- based on the Gilouche theme -->
</info>
 
<frame_geometry name="normal" rounded_top_left="true" rounded_top_right="true" rounded_bottom_left="false" rounded_bottom_right="false">
  <distance name="left_width" value="1"/>
  <distance name="right_width" value="1"/>
  <distance name="bottom_height" value="1"/>
  <distance name="left_titlebar_edge" value="4"/>
  <distance name="right_titlebar_edge" value="4"/>
  <aspect_ratio name="button" value="1"/>
  <distance name="title_vertical_pad" value="1"/>
  <border name="title_border" left="1" right="1" top="2" bottom="3"/>
  <border name="button_border" left="1" right="1" top="4" bottom="2"/>
</frame_geometry>

$ 

whereas /usr/share/themes/TraditionalGreen/metacity-1/metacity-theme-1.xml:

$ head -n 24 metacity-theme-1.xml 
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!--    $Id$     -->
<metacity_theme>
<info>
        <name>TraditionalGreen</name>
        <author>Wolfgang Ulbrich &lt;chat-to-me@raveit.de&gt;</author>
        <copyright>&#194; 2013 Wolfgang Ulbrich</copyright>
        <date>March, 2013</date>
        <description>The Traditional Green Metacity Theme</description>
</info>

<!-- ::: GEOMETRY ::: -->
<frame_geometry name="normal" rounded_top_left="true" rounded_top_right="true" rounded_bottom_left="false" rounded_bottom_right="false">
        <distance name="left_width" value="4"/>
        <distance name="right_width" value="4"/>
        <distance name="bottom_height" value="4"/>
        <distance name="left_titlebar_edge" value="4"/>
        <distance name="right_titlebar_edge" value="4"/>
        <aspect_ratio name="button" value="1.0"/>
        <distance name="title_vertical_pad" value="0"/>
        <border name="title_border" left="2" right="2" top="4" bottom="3"/>
        <border name="button_border" left="1" right="1" top="2" bottom="2"/>
</frame_geometry>

$ 

"4 is greater than 1".

So perhaps confirm whether this is the answer by changing themes,
and then see whether you can modify your own theme, either the
"official" way or by hacking it. Of course, hacking it might
require a self-consistent set of changes further down the file. (Or
files: I have no idea of the significance of metacity-theme-[1-3].xml)

Cheers,
David.