====== PyHoca-GUI  ======

The name PyHoca is a word play combining two powerful entities: Python and Phoca (mascot of X2go, Latin species name for seals).

PyHoca-GUI is a client implementation for X2Go using [[wiki:libs:python-x2go|the project's Python X2Go client API]] (a Python module). PyHoca-GUI uses wxPython for rendering graphical desktop elements (menus, dialog boxes etc.).

PyHoca-GUI is designed as a very minimal GUI that behaves very similar to GNOME's network manager applet (nm-applet). It appears as a small Phoca icon (a little seal) that docks to your systray panel (also called notification area) and allows you to manage multiple X2go sessions simultaneously.


===== Command Line Arguments =====

PyHoca-GUI has a man page. Considering that it actually is a GUI there are quite some command line options to choose from.

On your GNU/Linux system execute 

     $ man pyhoca-gui

An always up-to-date html version of the pyhoca-gui man page can be be retrieved from the X2go Git repository: [[http://code.x2go.org/doc/pyhoca-gui/man/man1/pyhoca-gui.1.html|man pyhoca-gui]].


===== Launching PyHoca-GUI =====

You can launch PyHoca-GUI by typing ''pyhoca-gui'' on the command line (from a terminal) or by starting it from your desktop's application menu (topic: Internet). 

PyHoca-GUI will appear on your desktop as a small icon that docks into your systray (as the GNOME applet for Network Manager does). Find this icon---it looks like a little white seal on grey background.

Note that on Ubuntu 12.04 or later, the Unity interface does not allow PyHoca-gui to create the systray icon. To enable this, we need to edit the gsettings. To allow all applications in the systray, type this in the terminal.
<code>
  $ gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Panel systray-whitelist "['all']"
</code>

If you would rather whitelist a set of applications, use this command instead, where YOUR_APPLICATION is 'pyhoca-gui'

<code>
$ gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Panel systray-whitelist \
      "['JavaEmbeddedFrame', 'Mumble', 'Wine', 'Skype', 'hp-systray', 'YOUR_APPLICATION']"
</code>


==== Profile Manager ====

PyHoca-GUI on Linux uses the same configuration files as X2Go Client. (The Windows version of X2Go Client writes its session profiles into HKCU of the Windows registry).
Thus PyHoca-GUI should work out of the box for most setups and user profiles on a (Linux) system with a working X2Go Client configuration.

If you are new to X2Go and try PyHoca-GUI for the first time, then you have to add a session profile for your (first) X2Go server by right-clicking on the PyHoca-GUI systray icon.

If you //right-click// on the PyHoca-GUI icon you are offered a sub-menu called //Profile Manager//. From there, you can create new X2Go session profiles and access all your already defined X2Go session profiles, as well.

<note important>When selection the Session type in the profile manager, note that newer versions of the GNOME 3 and UNITY desktop environments have compatibility issues with X2Go. See the page [[doc:de-compat|Desktop Environment Compatibility]] for more details.</note>


==== Starting Sessions ====

The usage logic of PyHoca-GUI is a little bit different from that of X2Go Client. In PyHoca-GUI you //first// authenticate to an X2Go Server and //then// you start/resume sessions. It takes a little time to get used to that different concept, but you will soon get to like the advantages of this two-step session startup logic.

To start a PyHoca-GUI session //left-click// on the PyHoca icon and then choose **Authenticate X2go Server** to be presented with a list of existing session profiles. 

After you have authenticated against one of your configured server session profiles, you can access the authenticated session profile by //left-clicking// the PyHoca-GUI icon. Navigate through the GUI's menu from there, most of it should be self-explanatory.

===== Further Readings =====

For further readings, please also consult the README and TODO documentation files in the PyHoca-GUI source tree on the [[http://code.x2go.org/gitweb?p=pyhoca-gui.git;a=tree|X2Go upstream Git site]].