Ubuntu Manpage: icewm - lightweight X11 window manager

NAME

        icewm - lightweight X11 window manager

SYNOPSIS

       icewm [OPTIONS]

DESCRIPTION

icewm is a lightweight window manager for the X11 window system. It aims to be small,
fast and familiar to new users. icewm is called a re-parenting window manager, because it
draws small frames around application windows. Windows are manipulated via the mouse by
dragging or resizing this frame. It is also called a stacking window manager, because
windows can overlap. Many windows may exist, some hidden behind others, while interaction
takes place with the currently visible ones. icewm supports a configurable number of
virtual desktops. It provides a task bar for monitoring applications and a pager to
switch between desktops. icewm is largely compliant with the ICCCM 2.0, WinWM/WMH and
NetWM/EWMH window manager specifications.

icewm was originally designed to emulate the look of Motif, OS/2 Warp 4, OS/2 Warp 3 and
Windows 95. Since it has a theme engine other styles are possible. The installation
comes with several configured themes. A menu allows to choose between themes.

Generally, it tries to make all functions available by both keyboard and mouse.
Configuration is very good through various preferences files. However, configuring is not
required: it works fine out of the box.

PROGRAMS
The icewm package includes several programs:

icewm(1)
The actual window manager. It positions application windows on screen and decorates
them with borders. It gives input focus to the current active application. icewm
supports different focus modes, which are explained below. It draws a small task bar
at the bottom of the screen, which gives easy access to programs, to virtual desktops,
to active applications, and to a small set of monitoring applets.

icewmbg(1)
The background setting application. It can assign plain background color or images in
different formats to the X background. Each work space can have its own background.
It supports semi-transparency. Semitransparent background image and colour can be
configured. When the background image has changed then icewmbg(1) can be notified to
update the background. Multi-head monitor setups are fully supported. This program
should be started before icewm. See the icewmbg(1) man page for details.

icewm-session(1)
icewm-session(1) is the preferred program to start the IceWM system. It first loads
additional environment variables from the optional env file. Then it starts icewmbg(1)
and icewm. It also runs the startup script and implements basic session management.
On termination the shutdown script will be run first, then icewm-session(1) will
terminate icewm and icewmbg(1). icewm-session(1) will also start the optional
icesound(1) if you give it the --sound option. See icewm-session(1).

icesh(1)
A powerful tool to control window properties and to interact with the window manager.
It is typically used in shell scripts. See icesh(1).

icehelp(1)
A small document browser, which is used by icewm to display the 'IceWM manual' and
some man pages.

icewmhint(1)
A utility for passing IceWM-specific window options to icewm. The options are used to
configure the first application which is started subsequently. See icewmhint(1).

icesound(1)
Plays audio files on GUI events which are raised by icewm. It supports ALSA, AO and
OSS. See the icesound(1) man page.

icewm-menu-fdo(1)
Generate an icewm menu with executable desktop applications according to XDG
specifications. See the icewm-menu-fdo(1) man page.

icewm-set-gnomewm(1)
Configures GNOME to start IceWM instead of its own WM.

OPTIONS

COMMON OPTIONS
Each of the IceWM executables supports the following options:

-c, --config=FILE
Use FILE as the source of configuration options. By default icewm looks for a file
named preferences. Typically this file is stored as one of
$ICEWM_PRIVCFG/preferences, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm/preferences, or
$HOME/.icewm/preferences, or in one of the configuration directories explained below.
It contains a long list of options which allow the user to tweak the behaviour of
icewm to ones taste. A default preferences file contains comments about the purpose
of each option, the range of useful values and the current or default value. A
preferences file is a readable text file which can be modified with the help of a text
editor. If this option is given to icewm-session(1) then it is passed on to icewm. If
icewm is started independently then this option can be given to icewm directly.
However, usually one will want to use a preferences file from a default location.

-t, --theme=NAME
Use NAME as the name of the icewm theme to use. A theme defines the look and feel of
icewm, like colours, fonts, buttons and button behaviour. Originally a theme defined
options to emulate the appearance of other desktop environments, like Motif, OS/2
Warp, or Windows. Over the years many new original themes have been designed with
beautiful icons and backgrounds, which advance the state of the art in desktop look
and feel. Many of them can be downloaded from the website <https://www.box-look.org/>
and stored in one of the directories $ICEWM_PRIVCFG/icewm/themes/,
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm/themes/ or in $HOME/.icewm/themes/. You can then activate such
a theme via the menu in the lower left corner of the display. A default theme is
specified in one of $ICEWM_PRIVCFG/icewm/theme, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm/theme, or in
$HOME/.icewm/theme. When a new theme is selected then this value is overwritten, so
that the next time icewm is started this choice is reused.

--display=DISPLAY
DISPLAY specifies the connection to the X11 server. If this option is missing, as is
usually the case, then DISPLAY is read from the environment variable "DISPLAY".

--sync
This option is sometimes used in software development of icewm. It specifies to use a
slower synchronous communication mode with the X11 server. This is irrelevant for
normal use of icewm.

-h, --help
Gives a complete list of all the available command line options with some very brief
explanation.

-V, --version
Shows the software release version for this program.

ICEWM OPTIONS
The icewm program supports some additional options:

-a, --alpha
Use a 32-bit visual for translucency. This can also be set in the preferences file as
"Alpha=1".

--replace
Instructs icewm to replace an existing window manager. Provided that the window
manager being replaced is ICCCM 2.0 compliant, once it notices that it is to be
replaced it will cease operations and typically stop execution. This allows icewm to
establish itself as the only active window manager.

-r, --restart
Tell icewm to restart itself. This reloads the configuration from file.

-s, --splash=IMAGE
Briefly show IMAGE on startup in the center of the screen. This can also be set in
the preferences file as Splash="image.jpg".

--configured
Shows a list of configuration options which were enabled when icewm was compiled from
source code. This can be helpful if one suspects some functionality may be missing.

--directories
Gives a list of directories where icewm will look for configuration data. This list
is printed in the actual order in which icewm uses it to search for configuration
files.

-l, --list-themes
icewm will search all the configuration directories for theme files and print a list
of all found themes.

-p, --postpreferences
This gives a long list of all the internal icewm options with their actual values
after icewm has processed all of the configuration and theme files. In some advanced
scenarios this can be helpful to inspect which configuration was chosen or whether
option formatting was correct.

--extensions
Give a list of the current X extensions, their versions and status.

--trace=conf,icon,prog
Enable tracing of the paths which are used to load configuration, and/or icons, and/or
executed programs.

USAGE

TASKBAR
On startup icewm launches the task bar at the bottom of the screen. The task bar consists
from left to right of the following components:

The Menu button in the lower left corner gives access to the icewm root menu. This menu
has sub-menus to start applications, to control icewm settings, and the icewm Logout menu.

The Show Desktop button unmaps all application windows to fully uncover the desktop.

The Window List Menu button gives access to a menu with a list of active windows for the
current work space and a list of work spaces with sub-menus for their active application
windows.

The Toolbar is a list of icons for applications which are defined in the toolbar
configuration file.

The Workspace List shows one button for each work space. The current work space is
indicated by a pressed button. Pressing another work space button switches to that work
space. The work spaces are defined in the preferences file. When "PagerShowPreview" is
turned on a small graphical summary for each workspace is shown.

The Task Pane consists of a list of wide buttons for each application which is running on
the current work space. Each task button shows the application icon and the application
title. The active application is indicated by a pressed button. This is the application
which has input focus. Pressing another button activates that application: it is brought
to the foreground and receives input focus. Other mouse controlled activities on the
window buttons are dragging window buttons to (temporarily) rearrange the order (with left
mouse button) or closing the application window (with middle button while pressing and
holding "Alt").

If there are not many application buttons then a stretch of plain task bar is visible.
Clicking on it with the right mouse button gives the task bar menu. Even with a full task
pane, this menu can be usually accessed by right-clicking the bottom right corner of the
taskbar.

The Tray Applet shows system tray objects.

The APM Applet shows battery power status.

The Net Applet shows network activity. Network devices to monitor are given by the
"NetworkStatusDevice" option.

The Memory Applet monitors memory usage.

The CPU Applet monitors processor utilization.

The Mailbox Applet monitors mailbox status changes. The location of the mailbox is given
by the "MailBoxPath" preferences option or else by the "MAILPATH" or "MAIL" environment
variables. It can be the path of a local mail spool file or the specification of a remote
POP3 or IMAP location. For example:

MailBoxPath="pop3://myname:password@host.com/"

The Clock Applet shows the current time and date. It is configured by the "TimeFormat"
option.

The Task Bar Collapse button collapses the task bar and hides it.

Not all icewm applets may show up on the task bar. They must have been enabled during
configuration of the icewm software. Their appearance is also controlled by options in
the preferences file.

INPUT FOCUS
Of all visible windows only one can be the active window. This is the window which has
input focus. It is the primary receiver of keyboard and mouse events and hence one can
interact with the application which created that window. A primary task of a window
manager is to allow the user to switch input focus between different windows. The primary
means to do this is the mouse pointer. By moving the mouse pointer over the screen to
another window, and perhaps also by clicking on a window, input focus can be directed.

The "FocusMode" option controls the way icewm gives input focus to applications. It is
initialized by the focus_mode configuration file. The focus mode is set via the Focus
menu. icewm supports six focus models:

1. Click-to-focus
The default focus mode. In this mode changing input focus requires to click a window
with the left mouse button. The window is raised if needed. When an application
requests focus its task pane button flashes. This gives the option to honor this
request or to ignore it. When a new application window appears it automatically
receives focus. Also when a hidden application raises to the front it receives focus.

2. Sloppy-mouse-focus
Sets input focus merely by moving the mouse pointer over a window. It is called
sloppy, because if the mouse then leaves the window and moves to the desktop
background the input focus remains with the last active window. When a window
receives focus it is raised. When an application requests focus its task pane button
flashes. A new application or an application which raises to the front automatically
receives focus.

3. Explicit-focus
Focus is even more user-controlled than Click-to-focus. When a window receives focus
it is not raised by default, unless the frame border is clicked. No flashing occurs
when an application requests focus. When a new application window appears it does not
receive focus. Only by explicit clicking on a window is focus directed.

4. Strict-mouse-focus
Like Sloppy but focus remains with the last window. New applications don't receive
focus and are mapped behind other windows. When an application raises to the front it
still does not get focus.

5. Quiet-sloppy-focus
Like Sloppy but no disturbing flashing occurs on the task bar when an application
requests focus.

6. Custom-mode
A focus mode which is defined in detail by ten options in the preferences file. These
are: "ClickToFocus", "FocusOnAppRaise", "RequestFocusOnAppRaise", "RaiseOnFocus",
"RaiseOnClickClient", "FocusChangesWorkspace", "FocusOnMap", "FocusOnMapTransient",
"FocusOnMapTransientActive", "MapInactiveOnTop".

All non-Custom focus modes override these ten options.

Apart from the mouse, icewm supports changing input focus in two other ways. Both involve
the keyboard. The first uses the "QuickSwitch" window. It is activated by pressing
"Alt+Tab" or "Alt+Shift+Tab". A window pops up in the centre of the screen with a narrow
band over the next or previous window which will receive input focus when the "Alt" key is
released. By repeatedly pressing "Alt+Tab" or "Alt+Shift+Tab" one can cycle through all
windows.

The second keyboard method involves pressing "Alt+Esc" or "Alt+Shift+Esc". Input focus is
immediately changed to the next or previous window, which will be raised to make it fully
visible.

And finally, there is another way which is a hybrid of keyboard and mouse control. It
involves the "QuickSwitch" popup explained before, after pressing "Alt+Tab" and while
still holding "Alt" a left click on one of the list items causes the activation of the
related window.

WINDOW PLACEMENT
A second important task of a window manager is to place new windows on the screen. By
default icewm chooses a placement with minimal overlap, but this is determined by the
"SmartPlacement" option in the preferences file. If "SmartPlacement" is turned off then
windows are placed in sequence from left to right and top to bottom. One can also turn on
"ManualPlacement". Then new windows appear initially in the top left corner and the mouse
cursor changes into a fist. By moving the fist cursor to a suitable location and clicking
the new window will appear at the mouse click location.

WINDOW LAYERS
Windows can overlap. Which window appears on top is determined by three features. Newer
windows appear over older windows. By clicking on a window it is raised to the top. But
both are overruled by the window layer. Windows can be placed in different layers via the
Layers menu. Click with the right mouse button on the window frame and select Layer.
From there choose one of seven window layers. These are ordered from higher to lower.
Windows in higher layers appear over windows in lower layers.

WORKSPACES
icewm supports multiple virtual desktops called work spaces. A work space is like a
screen where a subset of all application windows are mapped. Thanks to multiple work
spaces we can more easily manage a large number of applications. The number of work
spaces and their names are configurable in the preferences file through the
"WorkspaceNames" option. By default four workspaces are created with the names 1, 2, 3
and 4 thus:

WorkspaceNames=" 1 ", " 2 ", " 3 ", " 4 "

This syntax is typical for icewm options which receive multiple values. It is a list of
comma separated values each of which can be quoted.

The work spaces are visible on the toolbar. One can switch to a different work space by
pressing the work space button in the toolbar, but after becoming familiar with the
'keyboard shortcuts' below one will want to use a hotkey to choose a work space. If the
"EdgeSwitch" options is enabled in the preferences file (with sub-options
"HorizontalEdgeSwitch" and "VerticalEdgeSwitch") then one can move to the next or previous
workspace by moving the mouse to the edge of the screen. The "ContinuousEdgeSwitch"
option enables continuous movement to subsequent workspaces. The "EdgeSwitchDelay" option
says how long to wait before a change of workspace occurs.

To move an application window to a different work space one can use a keyboard shortcut.
Another option is to select the Move To submenu in the window menu of the window frame.

ADDRESS BAR
If EnableAddressBar=1 then KeySysAddressBar="Alt+Ctrl+Space" activates the address bar in
the task bar. If ShowAddressBar=1 it is always shown. This is a command line in the task
bar where a shell command can be typed. Pressing "Enter" will execute the command.
AddressBarCommand="/bin/sh" will be used to execute the command. On "Control+Enter" the
command is executed in a terminal as given by TerminalCommand. The address bar maintains
a history which is navigable by the Up and Down keys. It supports file completion using
"Tab" or "Ctrl+I". A rich set of editing operations is supported, including
cut-/copy-/paste-operations.

KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
icewm supports a large number of hotkeys to activate some behaviour with a single key
combination. These are all configurable in the preferences file. Here we give their
default values, followed by their preferences names and short descriptions of their
effect:

"Alt+F1"
"KeyWinRaise" raises the window which currently has input focus.

"Alt+F2"
"KeyWinOccupyAll" makes the active window occupy all work spaces.

"Alt+F3"
"KeyWinLower" lowers the window which currently has input focus.

"Alt+F4"
"KeyWinClose" closes the active window.

"Alt+F5"
"KeyWinRestore" restores the active window to its visible state.

"Alt+F6"
"KeyWinNext" switches focus to the next window.

"Alt+Shift+F6"
"KeyWinPrev" switches focus to the previous window.

"Alt+F7"
"KeyWinMove" starts movement of the active window.

"Alt+F8"
"KeyWinSize" starts resizing of the active window.

"Alt+F9"
"KeyWinMinimize" iconifies the active window.

"Alt+F10"
"KeyWinMaximize" maximizes the active window with borders.

"Alt+Shift+F10"
"KeyWinMaximizeVert" maximizes the active window vertically.

"undefined"
"KeyWinMaximizeHoriz" maximizes the active window horizontally.

"Alt+F11"
"KeyWinFullscreen" maximizes the active window without borders.

"Alt+F12"
"KeyWinRollup" rolls up the active window.

"Alt+Shift+F12"
"KeyWinHide" hides the active window.

"Alt+Space"
"KeyWinMenu" posts the window menu.

"Ctrl+Alt+KP_7"
"KeyWinArrangeNW" moves the active window to the top left corner of the screen.

"Ctrl+Alt+KP_8"
"KeyWinArrangeN" moves the active window to the top middle of the screen.

"Ctrl+Alt+KP_9"
"KeyWinArrangeNE" moves the active window to the top right of the screen.

"Ctrl+Alt+KP_6"
"KeyWinArrangeE" moves the active window to the middle right of the screen.

"Ctrl+Alt+KP_3"
"KeyWinArrangeSE" moves the active window to the bottom right of the screen.

"Ctrl+Alt+KP_2"
"KeyWinArrangeS" moves the active window to the bottom middle of the screen.

"Ctrl+Alt+KP_1"
"KeyWinArrangeSW" moves the active window to the bottom left of the screen.

"Ctrl+Alt+KP_4"
"KeyWinArrangeW" moves the active window to the middle left of the screen.

"Ctrl+Alt+KP_5"
"KeyWinArrangeC" moves the active window to the center of the screen.

"Shift+Esc"
"KeySysWinMenu" posts the system window menu.

"Alt+Esc"
"KeySysWinNext" give focus to the next window and raise it.

"Alt+Shift+Esc"
"KeySysWinPrev" give focus to the previous window and raise it.

"Alt+Ctrl+Del"
"KeySysDialog" opens the IceWM system dialog in the center of the screen.

"Ctrl+Esc"
"KeySysMenu" activates the IceWM root menu in the lower left corner.

"Alt+Ctrl+Esc"
"KeySysWindowList" opens the IceWM system window list in the center of the screen.

"Alt+Ctrl+Space"
"KeySysAddressBar" opens the address bar in the task bar where a command can be typed.

"Alt+Ctrl+Left"
"KeySysWorkspacePrev" goes one workspace to the left.

"Alt+Ctrl+Right"
"KeySysWorkspaceNext" goes one workspace to the right.

"Alt+Ctrl+Down"
"KeySysWorkspaceLast" goes to the previous workspace.

"Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Left"
"KeySysWorkspacePrevTakeWin" takes the active window one workspace to the left.

"Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Right"
"KeySysWorkspaceNextTakeWin" takes the active window one workspace to the right.

"Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Down"
"KeySysWorkspaceLastTakeWin" takes the active window to the previous workspace.

"Alt+Ctrl+1"
"KeySysWorkspace1" goes to workspace 1.

"Alt+Ctrl+2"
"KeySysWorkspace2" goes to workspace 2.

"Alt+Ctrl+3"
"KeySysWorkspace3" goes to workspace 3.

"Alt+Ctrl+4"
"KeySysWorkspace4" goes to workspace 4.

"Alt+Ctrl+5"
"KeySysWorkspace5" goes to workspace 5.

"Alt+Ctrl+6"
"KeySysWorkspace6" goes to workspace 6.

"Alt+Ctrl+7"
"KeySysWorkspace7" goes to workspace 7.

"Alt+Ctrl+8"
"KeySysWorkspace8" goes to workspace 8.

"Alt+Ctrl+9"
"KeySysWorkspace9" goes to workspace 9.

"Alt+Ctrl+0"
"KeySysWorkspace10" goes to workspace 10.

"Alt+Ctrl+bracketleft"
"KeySysWorkspace11" goes to workspace 11.

"Alt+Ctrl+bracketright"
"KeySysWorkspace12" goes to workspace 12.

"Alt+Ctrl+Shift+1"
"KeySysWorkspace1TakeWin" takes the active window to workspace 1.

"Alt+Ctrl+Shift+2"
"KeySysWorkspace2TakeWin" takes the active window to workspace 2.

"Alt+Ctrl+Shift+3"
"KeySysWorkspace3TakeWin" takes the active window to workspace 3.

"Alt+Ctrl+Shift+4"
"KeySysWorkspace4TakeWin" takes the active window to workspace 4.

"Alt+Ctrl+Shift+5"
"KeySysWorkspace5TakeWin" takes the active window to workspace 5.

"Alt+Ctrl+Shift+6"
"KeySysWorkspace6TakeWin" takes the active window to workspace 6.

"Alt+Ctrl+Shift+7"
"KeySysWorkspace7TakeWin" takes the active window to workspace 7.

"Alt+Ctrl+Shift+8"
"KeySysWorkspace8TakeWin" takes the active window to workspace 8.

"Alt+Ctrl+Shift+9"
"KeySysWorkspace9TakeWin" takes the active window to workspace 9.

"Alt+Ctrl+Shift+0"
"KeySysWorkspace10TakeWin" takes the active window to workspace 10.

"Alt+Ctrl+Shift+bracketleft"
"KeySysWorkspace11TakeWin" takes the active window to workspace 11.

"Alt+Ctrl+Shift+bracketright"
"KeySysWorkspace12TakeWin" takes the active window to workspace 12.

"Alt+Shift+F2"
"KeySysTileVertical" tiles all windows from left to right maximized vertically.

"Alt+Shift+F3"
"KeySysTileHorizontal" tiles all windows from top to bottom maximized horizontally.

"Alt+Shift+F4"
"KeySysCascade" makes a horizontal cascade of all windows which are maximized
vertically.

"Alt+Shift+F5"
"KeySysArrange" rearranges the windows.

"Alt+Shift+F7"
"KeySysUndoArrange" undoes arrangement.

"Alt+Shift+F8"
"KeySysArrangeIcons" rearranges icons.

"Alt+Shift+F9"
"KeySysMinimizeAll" minimizes all windows.

"Alt+Shift+F11"
"KeySysHideAll" hides all windows.

"Alt+Ctrl+d"
"KeySysShowDesktop" unmaps all windows to show the desktop.

"Alt+Ctrl+h"
"KeySysCollapseTaskBar" hides the task bar.

"undefined"
"KeyTaskBarSwitchNext" switches to the next window in the task bar.

"undefined"
"KeyTaskBarSwitchPrev" switches to the previous window in the task bar.

"undefined"
"KeyTaskBarMoveNext" moves the task bar button of the current window right.

"undefined"
"KeyTaskBarMovePrev" moves the task bar button of the current window left.

"undefined"
"KeySysWinListMenu" shows the window list menu.

"Alt+Tab"
"KeySysSwitchNext" opens the "QuickSwitch" popup (see "INPUT FOCUS") and/or moves the
selector in the "QuickSwitch" popup.

"Alt+Shift+Tab"
"KeySysSwitchLast" works like "KeySysSwitchNext" but moving in the opposite direction.

"Alt+grave"
"KeySysSwitchClass" is like "KeySysSwitchNext" but only for windows with the same
WM_CLASS property as the currently focused window.

MOUSE BINDINGS
You can control windows by a modified mouse button press:

"Alt+Pointer_Button1"
"MouseWinMove" moves the window under the mouse over the screen.

"Alt+Pointer_Button3"
"MouseWinSize" resizes the window. Keep the key and button pressed. To enlarge the
window move the mouse button away from the center. To shrink it move towards the
centre.

"Ctrl+Alt+Pointer_Button1"
"MouseWinRaise" raises the window under the mouse.

"Ctrl+Alt+Pointer_Button1"
"MouseWinLower" lowers the window under the mouse. If this is equal to
"MouseWinRaise" and the window can be raised then "MouseWinRaise" takes preference
over "MouseWinLower".

Clicking on the desktop activates a menu. The middle button shows the window list
("DesktopWinListButton=2"). The right button shows the root menu ("DesktopMenuButton=3").

The title frame of a window also listens for mouse clicks. Left double clicking maximizes
the window ("TitleBarMaximizeButton=1"). Middle double clicking rolls up the window
("TitleBarRollupButton=2"). Pressing a mouse button and moving it will move the window.
"Alt+left" button lowers the window.

When the mouse is on the window frame then a left click raises the window. Dragging with
the left button down resizes the window. Clicking the right button pops up the context
menu. Dragging with the right button moves the window.

SIGNALS

       icewm supports the following signals:

       SIGHUP
           icewm will restart itself. It is a way to reload the configuration.

       SIGINT, SIGTERM
           icewm will cease to manage application windows and terminate.

       SIGQUIT
           icewm will initiate the logout procedure.  If a "LogoutCommand" preferences option was
           configured it will be executed.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       ICEWM_PRIVCFG
           The directory for user private configuration files.  When this environment variable is
           not specified, the default directory is $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm when that directory
           exists, otherwise the default value is $HOME/.icewm.

       DISPLAY
           The name of the X11 server.  See Xorg(1) or Xserver(1).  This value can be overridden
           by the --display option.

       MAILPATH, MAIL
           Gives the location of your mailbox.  If the schema is omitted the local "file" schema
           is assumed.  This is used by the mailbox applet in the task bar to show the status of
           your mailbox.  If the "MailBoxPath" option in the preferences file is set, then that
           one takes precedence.

FILES

icewm looks for configuration files in the following directories, in the given order,
until it finds one:

$ICEWM_PRIVCFG/
Contains user-specific configurations. When ICEWM_PRIVCFG is specified, this
directory takes precedence over $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm and $HOME/.icewm.

$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm/
Contains user-specific configurations. When this directory exists it take precedence
over $HOME/.icewm.

$HOME/.icewm/
Contains user-specific configurations. This is the historical default directory.

/etc/icewm/
Contains system-wide customized defaults. Please note that your local installation
may have been configured to use a different system location. The output of "icewm
--directories" will show this location.

/usr/share/icewm/
Default local installation settings.

CONFIGURATION FILES
env icewm-session(1) loads additional environment variables from the file env. Each line
is subjected to POSIX shell expansion by wordexp(3). Comment lines starting by a
hash-sign ("#") are ignored. icewm-session(1) will load those expanded lines which
contain a name, followed by an equals sign, followed by the value (which may be
empty).

See icewm-env(5).

focus_mode
Defines the initial value for "FocusMode". Its default value is "FocusMode=1" (Click-
to-focus). This can be changed via the menu. icewm will save the Focus menu choice
in this file.

See icewm-focus_mode(5).

keys
Global keybindings to launch applications, which need not be window manager related.
Each non-empty line starts with the word "key". After one or more spaces follows a
double-quoted string of the bound X11 key combination like "Alt+Ctrl+Shift+X". Then
after at least one space follows a shell command line which will be executed by icewm
whenever this key combination is pressed. For example, the following line creates a
hotkey to reload the icewm configuration:

key "Ctrl+Shift+r" icesh restart

See icewm-keys(5).

menu
A menu of applications; usually customized by the user. icewm provides the
icewm-menu-fdo(1) program to generate a default menu. Similar programs are
xdg_menu(1), mmaker(1) (MenuMaker), xde-menu(1), xdgmenumaker(1).

See icewm-menu(5).

preferences
Contains general settings like paths, colors and fonts, but also options to control
the icewm focus behaviour and the applets which are started in the task bar. The
icewm installation will provide a default preferences file, which can be copied to the
icewm user configuration directory and modified.

See icewm-preferences(5).

prefoverride
Settings which override the settings from a theme. Some of the icewm configuration
options from the preferences file which control the look-and-feel may be overridden by
the theme, if the theme designer thinks this is desirable. However, this prefoverride
file will again override this for a few specific options of your choosing. It is safe
to leave this file empty initially.

See icewm-prefoverride(5).

programs
An automatically generated menu of applications. This could be used by wmconfig(1),
menu or similar programs to give easy access to all the desktop applications which are
installed on the system.

See icewm-programs(5).

theme
This file contains the name of the default theme. On startup icewm reads this file to
obtain the theme name, unless icewm was started with the --theme option. Whenever a
different theme is selected from the icewm Menu then the theme file is overwritten
with the name of the selected theme. This theme file contains the keyword "Theme",
followed by an equals sign, followed by a double-quoted string with the theme name.
The theme name is the name of the theme directory, followed by a slash, followed by
the theme file. Usually the theme file is just default.theme, but a theme may have
alternatives. Alternatives are small tweaks of a theme. These are specified in their
own .theme file, which replaces default.theme. If no theme file exists then icewm
will use the default setting of "Theme="default/default.theme"".

See icewm-theme(5).

toolbar
Contains names of quick to launch applications with icons for the task bar. Each non-
empty non-comment line starts with the keyword prog. After one or more spaces follows
a name, which is displayed in a tool tip whenever the mouse cursor hovers over the
toolbar icon. This name may be a double quoted string. Then follows the bare name of
the icon to use without extensions. This icon will be shown in the toolbar. The last
component is a shell command line which will be executed whenever the user presses the
icon in the toolbar. For example, the following line in toolbar will create a button
with tool tip "Mozilla Firefox" with the firefox icon which launches firefox(1) when
clicked:

prog "Mozilla Firefox" firefox /usr/bin/firefox --private-window

See icewm-toolbar(5).

winoptions
Contains settings to control window appearance and behaviour which are specific to
applications or groups of applications. Options can control the border, whether it
appears on the task bar, the window list, the system tray and the work spaces. Also
its layer, geometry, whether it can be moved, resized and closed.

See icewm-winoptions(5).

startup
Contains commands to be executed on icewm startup. This is an executable script with
commands to tweak X11 settings and launch some applications which need to be active
whenever icewm is started. It is run by icewm-session(1) when icewm starts.

See icewm-startup(5).

shutdown
Contains commands to be executed on icewm shutdown. This is an executable script with
commands to be executed in the last stage of icewm termination. Typically they may
undo some of the effects of the startup script. It is run by icewm-session(1) when
icewm terminates.

See icewm-shutdown(5).

CONFIGURATION SUBDIRECTORIES
icons
Contains icons which are used to identify applications. Usually these files are in
the XPM format, but the PNG and SVG image formats are also supported. The names of
icon files may follow a specific naming pattern, like app_32x32.xpm. They start with
a base name, usually this is just a single word. Then follows an underscore, followed
by a size specification in the format "SIZExSIZE". This is followed by a dot and the
file extension, where the extension denotes the icon image format. Common sizes are
16, 32 and 48 for small, large and huge icons. This depends on the respective
"IconSize" preferences options.

ledclock
Pictures of digits for the LED clock which is displayed in the bottom-right corner of
the task bar. These can be seen when the "TaskBarShowClock" and "TaskBarClockLeds"
options are both set to 1.

mailbox
Icons which are used to display different states of the mailbox applet in the task
bar. There are five states and each has its own icon: mail.xpm, newmail.xpm,
unreadmail.xpm, nomail.xpm, errmail.xpm.

sounds
Audio files which are played by icesound(1) on GUI events. These are: startup.wav,
shutdown.wav, restart.wav, launchApp.wav, workspaceChange.wav, windowOpen.wav,
windowClose.wav, dialogOpen.wav, dialogClose.wav, windowMax.wav, windowRestore.wav,
windowMin.wav, windowHide.wav, windowRollup.wav, windowMoved.wav, windowSized.wav,
windowLower.wav.

taskbar
Pictures to customize the look of the task bar. These include: taskbarbg.xpm,
taskbuttonactive.xpm, taskbuttonbg.xpm, taskbuttonminimized.xpm, toolbuttonbg.xpm,
workspacebuttonactive.xpm, workspacebuttonbg.xpm.

themes
A directory to store themes. Each theme is stored in its own sub-directory in the
themes directory. A theme contains at least a default.theme file, and optionally theme
alternatives which are additional files which have a .theme file name extension and
which contain tweaks of the default.theme file. How to create a theme is explained in
the IceWM Theme Creation Howto.

OPACITY
IceWM supports window opacity and transparency in connection with an external compositor
like compton(1). If a client window sets the "_NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY" property on its
window then icewm will copy this to the outer frame window where compton will read it to
adjust the opacity of the client window. The opacity can also be controlled by icewm when
this is configured in the icewm-winoptions(5) file. Another way is to use icewmhint(1) to
preset the opacity level immediately before starting the application. The opacity level
of running applications can always be queried or modified by icesh(1).

The _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE properties which icewm sets on its windows are DIALOG,
NOTIFICATION, POPUP_MENU and TOOLTIP. The output of "icesh windows" shows their WM_CLASS
values. These can be helpful to configure compton.

EXAMPLES

       Examples of the above configuration files can be found in the default installation path or
       in the system-wide defaults.  See the output of "icewm --directories" for their locations.

CONFORMING TO

       ICCCM 2.0: partial.  NetWM/EWMH: extensive.  See the file COMPLIANCE in the distribution
       for full details.

BUGS

       icewm had no known bugs at the time of release.  Please report bugs for current versions
       to the source code repository at <https://github.com/bbidulock/icewm/issues>.

AUTHOR

       Brian Bidulock <mailto:bidulock@openss7.org>.

       See --copying for full copyright notice and copying permissions.

LICENSE

       IceWM is licensed under the GNU Library General Public License.  See the COPYING file in
       the distribution or use the --copying flag to display copying permissions.