NAME

       FvwmBacker - the fvwm background changer module

SYNOPSIS

       Module FvwmBacker

       FvwmBacker can only be invoked by fvwm.  Command line invocation of the FvwmBacker module will not work.

DESCRIPTION

       The  FvwmBacker  module  provides  functionality  to  change  the background when changing desktops.  Any
       command can be executed to change the backgrounds.  Actually, any arbitrary command can be sent  to  fvwm
       to execute, so you could also do things such as changing window border colors, etc.

COPYRIGHTS

       The FvwmBacker module is the original work of Mike Finger.

       Copyright  1994,  Mike  Finger. The author makes no guarantees or warranties of any kind about the use of
       this module.  Use this module at your own risk.  You may freely use this module or any portion of it  for
       any purpose as long as the copyright is kept intact.

INITIALIZATION

       During  initialization,  FvwmBacker  gets  config  info  from  fvwm's  module configuration database (see
       fvwm(1), section MODULE COMMANDS).  Available options are discussed in a later section.

INVOCATION

       FvwmBacker can be invoked by fvwm during initialization by inserting the line

       AddToFunc StartFunction I Module FvwmBacker

       in the .fvwm2rc file.

       FvwmBacker can be started using a 'Module FvwmBacker' command or stopped using a 'KillModule  FvwmBacker'
       command at any time when fvwm is running.

       FvwmBacker  must  reside  in  a  directory  that  is listed in the ModulePath option of fvwm for it to be
       executed by fvwm.

CONFIGURATION OPTIONS

       The following options can be placed in the .fvwm2rc file

       *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk d, Page x y) command
              Specifies the command to execute when the viewport matches the arguments for the desk  d,  page  x
              coordinate  and  y coordinate. Any or all of these three numeric arguments can be replaced with an
              asterisk (*) to indicate that any value matches, in this case Desk or Page parts can be skipped.

              If either the Desk or the Page parts are omitted, the command is not executed if only the desk  or
              the  page  is switched.  If neither is given, the command is executed only once when the module is
              started.  This is not the same as using asterisks for the numeric  arguments:   if  asterisks  are
              used, the command is always executed when only the desk or page changes, if the corresponding part
              is omitted, the command is never executed when only the desk or page changes.

              If the command is -solid FvwmBacker uses the next argument as a color in the X database  and  sets
              the  background to that color without generating a system call to xsetroot (only single word color
              names may be used).

              If the command is colorset FvwmBacker uses the background specified in colorset n  for  the  given
              desk.  Please refer to the fvwm man page for details about colorsets.

              Otherwise the command is sent to fvwm to execute.

       *FvwmBacker: RetainPixmap
              Causes  FvwmBacker  to  retain and publish the Pixmap with which the background has been set. This
              works only for the -solid or colorset commands. This is useful for applications which want to  use
              the  root Pixmap on the background to simulate transparency (for example, Eterm and Aterm use this
              method). This option should also be used for the RootTransparent colorset option.   Note:  with  a
              colorset  background  this command may add a lot of memory to the X server. For example, this adds
              the pixmap width times height bytes with a TiledPixmap  image,  screen_width  times  screen_height
              bytes  with a Pixmap image or a C,B,D,R,S or Y Gradient and screen_width bytes with a VGradient or
              screen height bytes with an HGradient.

       *FvwmBacker: DoNotRetainPixmap
              Cancels the effect of the previous option. This is the default.

RUN-TIME CONFIGURATION

       It it possible to replace FvwmBacker's configuration at run-time, although it  is  not  yet  possible  to
       remove  existing  configuration lines.  This is done by simply removing the old configuration from within
       fvwm and then read a new one.  This can be done in many ways, for example by using an  fvwm  function  or
       one of the modules FvwmCommand or FvwmConsole.

       Example:

       DestroyModuleConfig FvwmBacker*
       *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk 0) -solid black
       *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk 1) -solid blue

OLD-STYLE OPTIONS

       There is continued support for the now deprecated option:

       *FvwmBacker: Desk d command

              It is functionally equivalent to omitting the page coordinates with *FvwmBacker: Command:

              *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk Id) command

SAMPLE CONFIGURATION

       The following are excerpts from an .fvwm2rc file which describe FvwmBacker initialization commands:

       ####
       # Set Up Backgrounds for different desktop pages (2 desks, 3x2 pages).
       ####
       *FvwmBacker: Command (Page 2 *) -solid steelblue
       *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk 0, Page 0 0) Exec fvwm-root $[HOME]/bg2.xpm
       *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk 0, Page 0 1) -solid midnightblue
       *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk 0, Page 1 *) -solid yellow
       *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk 1, Page * 0) -solid navy
       *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk 1, Page * 1) Colorset 5

AUTHOR

       Mike Finger (mfinger@mermaid.micro.umn.edu)
                   (Mike_Finger@atk.com)
                   (doodman on IRC, check the #linux channel)

Modified by

       Andrew Davison (davison@cs.monash.edu.au)

       Michael Han (mikehan@best.com)

       Mikhael Goikhman (migo@homemail.com)