Special Panel Objects

There are several special panel objects which are not considered menus, applets, or launchers. These special objects are described below.

The Lock Button

Figure 12. The Lock Button

The Lock Button is a panel button which begins a screensaver which locks the screen. In order to remove the screensaver and access the GNOME session again, you must supply your password. This is typically used when you must leave your computer for a while and do not want to log out or allow other people to use your computer. To lock your screen, simply click on the Lock Button.

Screensavers and The Lock Button: The Lock Button uses a feature of the xscreensaver program. This is the same program that the Control Center uses to set your screensaver. In order for the Lock Button to work properly, you must have a screensaver enabled in the Control Center.

The Logout Button

Figure 13. The Logout Button

The Logout button is used to exit the GNOME desktop environment. It initiates the logout sequence, bringing up the Logout Dialog, as described in the section called Logging Out.

Swallowed Applications

The GNOME panel allows you to run applications which are not applets inside the panel as if they were applets. Applications which you pull into the panel, even though they are not GNOME applets are called "swallowed applications". Applications do not have to be GNOME-compliant to be swallowed. In general, the only constraints for swallowing an application are that the application must be small enough to fit in your panel and you must know the title of the window you would like to swallow.

Figure 14. Create Swallowed Application Dialog

The "Title of application to swallow" is the window title, typically displayed on the top left edge of the window. The width and height determine the size of the swallowed application in the panel in pixels; they must be at least as large as the application window, otherwise the application can't be swallowed. The optional "Command" entry is used to execute a command before swallowing the application. This can be used to start an application which you will then swallow.

Status Dock

The Status Dock is a Panel object which can hold Status Docklets - small windows which applications place in the Status Dock to provide status information. GNOME currently does not have many applications which place Status Docklets in the Status Dock. However, GNOME's Status Dock is compatible with that on KDE, so KDE applications (eg: kscd) may place Status Docklets in GNOME's Status Dock. Future versions of GNOME applications will make use of this recently added Panel object.

Figure 15. Example Status Dock With Docklet