Application windows placement

[VaclavC]

I have tried to run Bricscad (https://www.bricsys.com/) under xwayland-satellite. This app wants to place various small windows to specific positions (context "Quad" window under cursor, another one at the bottom of viewport, some tool paletes from ribbon etc). But xwayland-satellite places them simply to the center of the screen.

I decided that I may try to improve this. Can anybody give me some guidance where to start?

[Supreeeme]

There is no real universal way to solve this from satellite itself. Wayland simply does not provide a way for an application to place windows where it likes (for now), and xwayland-satellite is limited to whatever a standard Wayland client can do. Your options are to:

1. Use a rootful Xwayland session, launch an X11 window manager inside, and launch the application inside of that
2. Launch a nested Wayland compositor that allows X11 applications to place windows wherever they want and launch the application in there
3. Use your compositor's scripting abilities to manually place the windows with satellite.
4. Simply live with poor window positioning

[VaclavC]

Understood. But it works under Gnome/Wayland so there must be some way how to do it. Should I take it as that it must be a part of compositor then? And it can't be solved outside compositor itself?

BTW, currently I'am using option 1 - Xwayland with Openbox window manager under Niri compositor.

[Supreeeme]

Yes, positioning of windows is (currently) only possible via compositor integration. In compositors with built in Xwayland integration, Xwayland windows are typically given special privileges, like positioning, that normal Wayland windows aren't. Since satellite operates as a normal Wayland client from the compositor's point of view, it doesn't get these privileges.

(The ability to position Wayland windows may change in the future but I wouldn't hold my breath.)

[VaclavC]

OK, thank you for the explanation.