Transient

Transient is an internal flag that is set when a client window has the TRANSIENT_FOR X window hint set referring to an existing client (i.e. the parent window).

This is a way for an application to indicate to the window manager that the new window being raised is meant to be a short lived one and this is typically used for dialog boxes, splash screens, etc.

Transient window are treated different to normal windows:

• client rules do not apply to transient windows unless transient specific rules are used
• transient windows are by default floating](Floating)
• transient windows are by default centered within the parent window
• transient windows never swallow terminals

Setting the Transient flag as part of client rules have little to no effect besides preventing the window from swallowing a terminal, as it says nothing to indicate which the parent window is.

Back to Features > Flags.