Provided by: fvwm3_1.0.4+ds-1build1_amd64 
NAME
fvwm3 - F? Virtual Window Manager for X11
SYNOPSIS
fvwm3 [-c config-command] [-d displayname] [-f config-file] [-r] [-s [screen_num]] [-V]
[-C visual-class | -I visual-id] [-l colors [-L] [-A] [-S] [-P]] [-D] [-h] [-i client-id]
[-F state-file] [--debug-stack-ring] [-blackout]
DESCRIPTION
Fvwm is a window manager for X11. It is designed to minimize memory consumption, provide a
3D look to window frames, and a virtual desktop.
Note that there are several window managers around that have "fvwm" in their name. Fvwm3
is the successor to fvwm2, which preceded the 1.x versions of fvwm. This version is simply
called fvwm throughout this document, while the main executable is named fvwm3.
Fvwm is intended to have a small memory footprint but a rich feature set, be extremely
customizable and extendible, and have a high degree of Motif mwm compatibility. Fvwm
provides both a large virtual desktop and multiple disjoint desktops which can be used
separately or together. The virtual desktop allows you to pretend that your video screen
is really quite large, and you can scroll around within the desktop. The multiple disjoint
desktops allow you to pretend that you really have several screens to work at, but each
screen is completely unrelated to the others.
Fvwm provides keyboard accelerators that allow you to perform most window manager
functions, including moving and resizing windows and operating the menus, using keyboard
shortcuts.
Fvwm has also overcome the distinction between configuration commands and action commands
that most window managers make. Configuration commands typically set fonts, colors, menu
contents, and key and mouse function bindings, while action commands do things like raise
and lower windows. Fvwm makes no such distinction and allows anything to be changed at any
time.
Other noteworthy differences between fvwm and other X11 window managers are the
introduction of the SloppyFocus and NeverFocus focus methods. Focus policy can be
separately specified for different window groups. Windows using SloppyFocus acquire focus
when the pointer moves into them and retain focus until some other window acquires it.
Such windows do not lose focus when the pointer moves into the root window. The NeverFocus
policy is provided for use with windows into which one never types (e.g. xclock, oclock,
xbiff, xeyes, tuxeyes) - for example, if a SloppyFocus terminal window has focus, moving
the pointer over a NeverFocus decoration window does not deprive the terminal of focus.
OPTIONS
These are the command line options that are recognized by fvwm:
-i | --clientid id
This option is used when fvwm is started by a session manager. Should not be used by a
user.
-c | --cmd config-command
Causes fvwm to use config-command instead of 'Read config' (or 'Read .fvwm2rc') as its
initialization command. (Note that up to 10 -f and -c parameters can be given, and
they are executed in the order specified.)
Any module started by command line arguments is assumed to be a module that sends back
config commands. All command line modules have to quit before fvwm proceeds on to the
StartFunction and setting border decorations and styles. There is a potential deadlock
if you start a module other than FvwmCpp/FvwmM4/FvwmPerl but there is a timeout so
fvwm eventually gets going.
As an example, starting the pager this way hangs fvwm until the timeout, but the
following should work well:
fvwm -c "AddToFunc StartFunction I Module FvwmPager"
-d | --display displayname
Manage the display called displayname instead of the name obtained from the
environment variable $DISPLAY.
-D | --debug
Puts X transactions in synchronous mode, which dramatically slows things down, but
guarantees that fvwm’s internal error messages are correct.
-f config-file
Causes fvwm to read config-file instead of ~/.fvwm/config as its initialization file.
$FVWM_USERDIR can also be used to change location of default user directory ~/.fvwm.
-h | --help
A short usage description is printed.
-r | --replace
Try to take over from a previously running wm. This does not work unless the other wm
is ICCCM2 2.0 compliant.
-F | --restore state-file
This option is used when fvwm is started by a session manager. Should not be used by a
user.
-s | --single-screen [screen_num]
On a multi-screen display, run fvwm only on the screen named in the $DISPLAY
environment variable or provided through the -d option. The optional argument
screen_num should be positive or null and override the screen number. Normally, fvwm
attempts to start up on all screens of a multi-screen display.
-V | --version
Prints the version of fvwm to stderr. Also prints an information about the compiled in
support for readline, xpm, png, svg, GNOME hints, EWMH hints, session management,
bidirectional text, multibyte characters, RandR and Xft aa font rendering.
-C | --visual visual-class
Causes fvwm to use visual-class for the window borders and menus. visual-class can be
"StaticGray", "GrayScale", "StaticColor", "PseudoColor", "TrueColor" or "DirectColor".
-I | --visualid id
Causes fvwm to use id as the visual id for the window borders and menus. id can be
specified as N for decimal or 0xN for hexadecimal. See man page of xdpyinfo for a list
of supported visuals.
-l | --color-limit limit
Specifies a limit on the colors used in image, gradient and possibly simple colors
used by fvwm. In fact, fvwm (and all the modules) uses a palette with at most limit
colors. This option is only useful with screens that display 256 colors (or less) with
a dynamic visual (PseudoColor, GrayScale or DirectColor). The default depends on your
X server and how you run fvwm. In most case this default is reasonable. The -l option
should be used only if you encounter problems with colors. By default, fvwm tries to
detect large pre-allocated palettes. If such a palette is detected fvwm uses it and a
priori the -l must not be used. Moreover, in this case the -A and -S options are
forced. Note that XFree-4.2 pre-allocates 244 colors (if you use a driver with Render
support) leaving only a few free colors. This may lead to some color problems (and
nothing can be done). XFree-4.3 or better pre-allocate only 85 colors. If no
pre-allocated palette is auto detected the defaults are as follow:
Display depth 8 (256 colors)
PseudoColor: 68 (4x4x4 color cube + 4 grey)
GrayScale: 64 regular grey
DirectColor: 32 (3x3x3 color cube + 5 grey)
Display depth 4 (16 colors)
PseudoColor: 10 (2x2x2 color cube + 2 grey)
GrayScale: 8 regular grey
DirectColor: 10 (2x2x2 color cube + 2 grey)
Note that if you use a private color map (i.e., fvwm is started with the -C or the -I
options), then other defaults are used.
Now what to do if you encounter problems with colors? The first thing to do is to
check if you really cannot run your X server with depth 15, 16 or better. Check your X
server documentation. Note that some hardware can support two different depths on the
same screen (typically depth 8 and depth 24). If depth 8 is the default, you can force
fvwm to use the best depth by using the -C option with TrueColor as argument. So now
we assume that you are forced to run in depth 8 with a dynamic visual because your
hardware/driver cannot do better or because you need to use an application which needs
to run under this mode (e.g., because this application needs read-write colors). What
it should be understand is that you have only 256 colors and that all the applications
which use the default color map must share these colors. The main problem is that
there are applications which use a lot or even all the colors. If you use such
application you may have no more free colors and some applications (which used only a
few colors) may fail to start or are unusable. There are three things that can be done
(and fvwm does not really play a particular role, all applications are concerned). The
first is to run the applications which waste your (default) color map with a private
color map. For example, run netscape with the -install option, run KDE or QT
applications with the --cmap option, use the -C option for fvwm. The disadvantage of
this method is that it is visually disturbing (see the ColormapFocus command for a
better control of the color maps switching). The second method is to limit the number
of colors that the applications use. Again, some applications have options to specify
a given color limit. With fvwm you may try various values, 61 (a special "visual"
palette), 56 (a 4x4x3 color cube plus 6 grey), 29 (a 3x3x3 color cube plus 2 grey), 10
or 9. Also, you may use the -L option. However, limiting the number of colors is not
the definitive solution. The definitive solution is to try cause applications which
use a lot of colors use the same colors. This is a difficult task as there are no
formal standards for this goal. However, some toolkits as QT and GTK use color cubes
as palettes. So, the idea is to configure your applications/toolkits to all use the
same color cube. Moreover, you can use the colors in this color cube in your X
resources configuration files and/or as arguments to colors options. Fvwm can use any
color cube of the form RxGxB with 2 ⇐ R ⇐ 6, R = G, R-1 =< B ⇐ R and B >= 2. To get an
RxGxB color cube give an argument to -l an integer c >= R*G*B and < (R+1)(G+1)*B if
B=R and < R*G(B+1) if B < R (and different from 61). If c > R*G*B, then some grey may
be added to the color cube. You can use the PrintInfo Colors [1] command to get
information on your fvwm colors setting. In particular, this command prints the
palette used by fvwm in rgb format (the last integer gives the number of times fvwm
has allocated the colors).
-L | --strict-color-limit
If the screen displays 256 colors (or less) and has a dynamic visual, causes fvwm to
use its palette for all the colors. By default, the palette is used only for images
and gradients.
-P | --visual-palette
If the screen displays 256 colors (or less) and has a dynamic visual, this option
causes fvwm to use a palette designed for limiting the "visual" color distance between
the points of the palette. Moreover, for better color sharing, if possible colors with
a name in the X rgb data base are used for defining the colors (with the hope that
applications and images prefer to use named colors). If the -l option is not used this
palette has 61 colors. This palette is also automatically selected if 61 or 9 is used
as argument to the -l option.
-A | --allocate-palette
If the screen displays 256 colors (or less) and has a dynamic visual this option
causes fvwm to allocate all the colors of its palette at start up for reserving these
colors for future use. This option forces the -static-palette option. By default, fvwm
allocates (reserves) a color in its palette only if it needs this color.
-S | --static-palette
If the screen displays 256 colors (or less) and has a dynamic visual this option
causes fvwm to never free the colors in its palette. By default, when fvwm does not
need a color any more it frees this color so that a new color can be used. This option
may speed up image loading and save a few bits of memory.
-blackout
This option is provided for backward compatibility only. Blacking out the screen
during startup is not necessary (and doesn’t work) anymore. This option will be
removed in the future.
--debug-stack-ring
Enables stack ring debugging. This option is only intended for internal debugging and
should only be used by developers.
-v
Enables debug logging. Writes in append mode to fvwm log file, which is
~/.fvwm/fvwm3-output.log by default. See ENVIRONMENT section on how to override this
location on fvwm3 startup using $FVWM_USERDIR or $FVWM3_LOGFILE .
Logging can also be dynamically toggled on and off using signals:
SIGUSR1 : used as a signal to restart Fvwm
SIGUSR2 : used as a signal to toggle opening/closing debug log file
ANATOMY OF A WINDOW
Fvwm puts a decorative border around most windows. This border consists of a bar on each
side and a small L-shaped section on each corner. There is an additional top bar called
the title-bar which is used to display the name of the window. In addition, there are up
to 10 title-bar buttons. The top, side, and bottom bars are collectively known as the
side-bars. The corner pieces are called the frame.
With the built-in minimal configuration, dragging mouse button 1 in the frame or side-bars
begins a resize operation on the window. Dragging mouse button 2 in the frame or side-bars
begins a move operation. There are raise/lower operations bound to a single clicking on
borders. Similarly for the window title.
Up to ten title-bar buttons may exist. Their use is completely user definable. One popular
configuration uses one button on the left that is used to bring up a list of window
options and two buttons on the right used to iconify and maximize the window. Another
popular configuration adds a close button to the right. The number of title-bar buttons
used depends on which ones have mouse actions bound to them. See the Mouse command.
THE VIRTUAL DESKTOP
Fvwm provides multiple virtual desktops for users who wish to use them. The screen is a
viewport onto a desktop which may be larger than the screen. Several distinct desktops can
be accessed (concept: one desktop for each project, or one desktop for each application,
when view applications are distinct). Since each desktop can be larger than the physical
screen, divided into m by n pages which are each the size of the physical screen, windows
which are larger than the screen or large groups of related windows can easily be viewed.
The (m by n) size (i.e. number of pages) of the virtual desktops can be changed any time,
by using the DesktopSize command. All virtual desktops must be (are) the same size. The
total number of distinct desktops does not need to be specified, but is limited to
approximately 4 billion total. All windows on a range of desktops can be viewed in the
FvwmPager, a miniature view of the desktops. The pager is an accessory program, called a
module, which is not essential for the window manager to operate. Windows may also be
listed using the WindowList command or the FvwmIconMan module.
Fvwm keeps the windows on the desktop in a layered stacking order; a window in a lower
layer never obscures a window in a higher layer. The layer of a window can be changed by
using the Layer command. The concept of layers is a generalization of the StaysOnTop flag
of older fvwm versions. The StaysOnTop and StaysPut Style options are now implemented by
putting the windows in suitable layers and the previously missing StaysOnBottom Style
option has been added.
Sticky windows are windows which transcend the virtual desktop by "Sticking to the
screen’s glass". They always stay put on the screen. This is convenient for things like
clocks and xbiffs, so you only need to run one such gadget and it always stays with you.
Icons can also be made to stick to the glass, if desired.
Window geometries are specified relative to the current viewport. That is:
xterm -geometry +0+0
creates a window in the upper left hand corner of the visible portion of the screen. It is
permissible to specify geometries which place windows on the virtual desktop, but off the
screen. For example, if the visible screen is 1000 by 1000 pixels, and the desktop size is
3x3, and the current viewport is at the upper left hand corner of the desktop, invoking:
xterm -geometry +1000+1000
places a window just off of the lower right hand corner of the screen. It can be found by
moving the mouse to the lower right hand corner of the screen and waiting for it to scroll
into view. A geometry specified as something like:
xterm -geometry -5-5
places the window’s lower right hand corner 5 pixels from the lower right corner of the
visible portion of the screen. Not all applications support window geometries with
negative offsets. Some applications place the window’s upper right hand corner 5 pixels
above and to the left of the upper left hand corner of the screen; others may do just
plain bizarre things.
There are several ways to cause a window to map onto a desktop or page other than the
currently active one. The geometry technique mentioned above (specifying x,y coordinates
larger than the physical screen size), however, suffers from the limitation of being
interpreted relative to the current viewport: the window may not consistently appear on a
specific page, unless you always invoke the application from the same page.
A better way to place windows on a different page, screen or desk from the currently
mapped viewport is to use the StartsOnPage or StartsOnScreen style specification (the
successors to the older StartsOnDesk style) in your config file. The placement is
consistent: it does not depend on your current location on the virtual desktop.
Some applications that understand standard Xt command line arguments and X resources, like
xterm and xfontsel, allow the user to specify the start-up desk or page on the command
line:
xterm -xrm "*Desk:1"
starts an xterm on desk number 1;
xterm -xrm "*Page:3 2 1"
starts an xterm two pages to the right and one down from the upper left hand page of desk
number 3. Not all applications understand the use of these options, however. You could
achieve the same results with the following lines in your .Xdefaults file:
XTerm*Desk: 1
or
XTerm*Page: 3 2 1
USE ON MULTI-SCREEN DISPLAYS
If the -s command line argument is not given, fvwm automatically starts up on every screen
on the specified display. After fvwm starts each screen is treated independently. Restarts
of fvwm need to be performed separately on each screen. The use of
EdgeScroll 0 0
is strongly recommended for multi-screen displays. You may need to quit on each screen to
quit from the X session completely. This is not to be confused with RandR support.
RANDR SUPPORT
Fvwm supports the RandR X11 protocol. If Fvwm has been compiled wiith RandR support then
it tracks the outputs (displays) which it finds. These outputs are stored by name, which
can be found by running using the xrand(1) command.
In doing so, Fvwm tracks events from RandR, such as when a given output changes size, or
has been removed. In such cases, Fvwm will react by moving windows. If an output is
removed, those windows on that removed output will be moved to the next active output (the
output which contains the mouse pointer). If the same output reappears, Fvwm will move
those windows back again.
In addition to specific FvwmEvent conditions which can be used to track a monitor’s
change, there is a function called RandRFunc which the user can define to be run when a
screen event occurs (such as enabling/disabling/resolution change):
DestroyFunc RandRFunc
AddToFunc RandRFunc
+ I Exec exec xmessage "A screen changed"
DESKTOP BEHAVIOUR
Because Fvwm has the capability to track outputs, Fvwm can be told how to handle those.
This is controlled via the DesktopConfiguration command. By default, Fvwm treats all
outputs it finds as one large screen, although Fvwm can be told to treat screens
indepedantly of each other.
INITIALIZATION
During initialization, fvwm searches for a configuration file which describes key and
button bindings, and many other things. The format of these files is described later. Fvwm
first searches for configuration files using the command
Read config
This looks for file config in $FVWM_USERDIR and $FVWM_DATADIR directories, as described in
Read. If this fails more files are queried for backward compatibility. Here is the
complete list of all file locations queried in the default installation (only the first
found file is used):
$HOME/.fvwm/config
/usr/local/share/fvwm/config
$HOME/.fvwm/.fvwm2rc
$HOME/.fvwm2rc
/usr/local/share/fvwm/.fvwm2rc
/usr/local/share/fvwm/system.fvwm2rc
/etc/system.fvwm2rc
Please note, the last 5 locations are not guaranteed to be supported in the future.
If a configuration file is not found, the left mouse button, or
or
keys on the root window bring up menus and forms that can create a starting configuration
file.
Fvwm sets two environment variables which are inherited by its children. These are
$DISPLAY which describes the display on which fvwm is running. $DISPLAY may be unix:0.0 or
:0.0, which doesn’t work too well when passed through ssh to another machine, so
$HOSTDISPLAY is set to a network-ready description of the display. $HOSTDISPLAY always
uses the TCP/IP transport protocol (even for a local connection) so $DISPLAY should be
used for local connections, as it may use Unix-domain sockets, which are faster.
If you want to start some applications or modules with fvwm, you can simply put
Exec app
or
Module FvwmXxx
into your config, but it is not recommended; do this only if you know what you are doing.
It is usually important to start applications or modules after the entire config is read,
because it contains styles or module configurations which can affect window appearance and
functionality.
The standard way to start applications or modules on fvwm’s start up is to add them to an
initialization function (usually StartFunction or InitFunction). This way they are only
started after fvwm finishes to read and execute config file.
Fvwm has three special functions for initialization: StartFunction, which is executed on
startups and restarts; InitFunction and RestartFunction, which are executed during
initialization and restarts (respectively) just after StartFunction. These functions may
be customized in a user’s config file using the AddToFunc command (described later) to
start up modules, xterms, or whatever you’d like to have started by fvwm.
Fvwm has also a special exit function: ExitFunction, executed when exiting or restarting
before actually quitting. It could be used to explicitly kill modules, etc.
If fvwm is run under a session manager, functions SessionInitFunction and
SessionRestartFunction are executed instead of InitFunction and RestartFunction. This
helps to define the user’s config file to be good for both running under a session manager
and without it. Generally it is a bad idea to start xterms or other applications in
"Session*" functions. Also someone can decide to start different modules while running
under a session manager or not. For the similar purposes SessionExitFunction is used
instead of ExitFunction.
DestroyFunc StartFunction
AddToFunc StartFunction
+ I Module FvwmPager * *
+ I Module FvwmButtons
DestroyFunc InitFunction
AddToFunc InitFunction
+ I Module FvwmBanner
+ I Module FvwmIconMan
+ I Exec xsetroot -solid cyan
+ I Exec xterm
+ I Exec netscape
DestroyFunc RestartFunction
AddToFunc RestartFunction
+ I Module FvwmIconMan
DestroyFunc SessionInitFunction
AddToFunc SessionInitFunction
+ I Module FvwmBanner
DestroyFunc SessionRestartFunction
AddToFunc SessionRestartFunction
+ I Nop
You do not need to define all special functions if some are empty. Also note, all these
special functions may be emulated now using StartFunction and ExitFunction, like this:
DestroyFunc StartFunction
AddToFunc StartFunction
+ I Test (Init) Module FvwmBanner
+ I Module FvwmPager * *
+ I Test (Restart) Beep
DestroyFunc ExitFunction
AddToFunc ExitFunction
+ I Test (Quit) Echo Bye-bye
+ I KillModule MyBuggyModule
+ I Test (ToRestart) Beep
COMPILATION OPTIONS
Fvwm has a number of compile-time options. If you have trouble using a certain command or
feature, check to see if support for it was included at compile time. Optional features
are described in the config.h file that is generated during compilation.
ICONS AND IMAGES
Fvwm can load .xbm, .xpm, .png and .svg images. XBM images are monochrome. Fvwm can always
display XBM files. XPM and PNG formats are color images. SVG is a vector graphics image
format. Compile-time options determine whether fvwm can display XPM, PNG or SVG icons and
images. See the INSTALL.fvwm file for more information.
The related SHAPE compile-time option can make fvwm display spiffy shaped icons.
SVG rendering options
SVG images are generated from (XML) text files. A really simple SVG file might look
something like this:
<svg width="120" height="80">
<rect fill="red" width="40" height="40" x="0" y="0" />
<rect fill="lime" width="40" height="40" x="40" y="0" />
<rect fill="blue" width="40" height="40" x="80" y="0" />
<rect fill="cyan" width="40" height="40" x="0" y="40" />
<rect fill="magenta" width="40" height="40" x="40" y="40" />
<rect fill="yellow" width="40" height="40" x="80" y="40" />
</svg>
By default, SVG images are rendered as the image creator intended them to. But since SVG
is a vector graphics format, the images can be rendered at any chosen size and rotation,
e.g. making it possible to use the same icon file rendered at different sizes for the Icon
and MiniIcon styles.
The rendering options are specified as a string appended to the SVG filename as follows:
_image.svg_:[!] [(1) _size_] [(2) _position_] [(3) _rotation_] [(4)
_scale_] ...
{empty}(1) [-]_width_{x}[-]_height_
{empty}(2) {- | +}_xpos_{- | +}_ypos_
{empty}(3) @[-]_angle_
{empty}(4) {* | }[-]_factor_[x | y]
The option string always starts with a colon (':') to separate it from the filename. An
empty option string can skip this colon, but it might still be a good idea to include it
to prevent ambiguity if the filename contains any colon.
filename_without_colon.svg
filename:with:colon.svg:
An exclamation point ('!') transposes the entire final image (including the rendering
area), i.e. all the horizontal and all the vertical coordinates are swapped with each
other.
image.svg:!
width and height specifies the dimensions of the rendering area in pixels, i.e. the
dimensions of the resulting image. The actual image is fitted to fill the entire rendering
area.
image.svg:60x60
Use a width or height value of 0 to keep the aspect ratio.
image.svg:0x60
image.svg:60x0
A '-' before width mirrors the rendering area horizontally.
image.svg:-0x0
A '-' before height mirrors the rendering area vertically.
image.svg:0x-0
xpos and ypos specifies a translation of the image in pixels. A positive xpos value moves
the image to the right. A positive ypos value moves it down. Moving it partially outside
of the rendering area results in a cropped image.
image.svg:-30-0
image.svg:-0+10
image.svg:-30+10
angle specifies a rotation around the actual image center in degrees. This might result in
a cropped image. A positive value rotates the image clockwise. Floating point values are
recognized.
image.svg:@180
image.svg:@-90
image.svg:@30
image.svg:@57.3
factor specifes a scaling of the actual image (not the rendering area). Scaling it up
results in a cropped image. Floating point values are recognized. Division by zero is
ignored. If factor is directly followed by a 'x' or a 'y', the scaling is horizontal or
vertical respectively. Otherwise the scaling is uniform.
image.svg:*2
image.svg:/2
image.svg:/3x
image.svg:/2y
Scaling down a translated or rotated image can prevent cropping.
image.svg:@30*0.6
Repeated usage of translation, rotation, and scaling is allowed. Translation and rotation
are additive. Scaling is multiplicative.
image.svg:*2/3
image.svg:/3x/2y
When combining affine transformations, the scaling is always done first, then the
rotation, and finally the translation.
image.svg:-30+10@30/3x/2y
Use a negative scale factor to mirror the actual image.
image.svg:-30+10@30/-3x/2y
Mirroring of the rendering area is done after any scaling, rotation or translation of the
image.
image.svg:-0x0-30+10@30/3x/2y
Transposing is done last of all, after everything else.
image.svg:!-0x0-30+10@30/3x/2y
MODULES
A module is a separate program which runs as a separate Unix process but transmits
commands to fvwm to execute. Users can write their own modules to do any weird or bizarre
manipulations without bloating or affecting the integrity of fvwm itself.
Modules must be spawned by fvwm so that it can set up two pipes for fvwm and the module to
communicate with. The pipes are already open for the module when it starts and the file
descriptors for the pipes are provided as command line arguments.
Modules can be spawned by fvwm at any time during the X session by use of the Module
command. Modules can exist for the duration of the X session, or can perform a single task
and exit. If the module is still active when fvwm is told to quit, then fvwm closes the
communication pipes and waits to receive a SIGCHLD from the module, indicating that it has
detected the pipe closure and has exited. If modules fail to detect the pipe closure fvwm
exits after approximately 30 seconds anyway. The number of simultaneously executing
modules is limited by the operating system’s maximum number of simultaneously open files,
usually between 60 and 256.
Modules simply transmit commands to the fvwm command engine. Commands are formatted just
as in the case of a mouse binding in the config setup file. Certain auxiliary information
is also transmitted, as in the sample module FvwmButtons.
Please refer to the Module Commands section for details.
ICCCM COMPLIANCE
Fvwm attempts to be ICCCM 2.0 compliant. Check http://tronche.com/gui/x/icccm/ for more
info. In addition, ICCCM states that it should be possible for applications to receive any
keystroke, which is not consistent with the keyboard shortcut approach used in fvwm and
most other window managers. In particular you cannot have the same keyboard shortcuts
working with your fvwm and another fvwm running within Xnest (a nested X server running in
a window). The same problem exists with mouse bindings.
The ICCCM states that windows possessing the property
WM_HINTS(WM_HINTS):
Client accepts input or input focus: False
should not be given the keyboard input focus by the window manager. These windows can take
the input focus by themselves, however. A number of applications set this property, and
yet expect the window manager to give them the keyboard focus anyway, so fvwm provides a
window style, Lenience, which allows fvwm to overlook this ICCCM rule. Even with this
window style it is not guaranteed that the application accepts focus.
The differences between ICCCM 1.1 and 2.0 include the ability to take over from a running
ICCCM 2.0 compliant window manager; thus
fvwm; vi ~/.fvwm/config; fvwm -replace
resembles the Restart command. It is not exactly the same, since killing the previously
running wm may terminate your X session, if the wm was started as the last client in your
.Xclients or .Xsession file.
Further additions are support for client-side colormap installation (see the ICCCM for
details) and the urgency hint. Clients can set this hint in the WM_HINTS property of their
window and expect the window manager to attract the user’s attention to the window. Fvwm
has two re-definable functions for this purpose, "UrgencyFunc" and "UrgencyDoneFunc",
which are executed when the flag is set/cleared. Their default definitions are:
AddToFunc UrgencyFunc
+ I Iconify off
+ I FlipFocus
+ I Raise
+ I WarpToWindow !raise 5p 5p
AddToFunc UrgencyDoneFunc
+ I Nop
GNOME COMPLIANCE
Fvwm attempts to be GNOME (version 1) compliant. Check http://www.gnome.org for what that
may mean. To disable GNOME hints for some or all windows, the GNOMEIgnoreHints style can
be used.
EXTENDED WINDOW MANAGER HINTS
Fvwm attempts to respect the extended window manager hints (ewmh or EWMH for short)
specification: https://specifications.freedesktop.org/wm-spec/wm-spec-1.3.html and some
extensions of this specification. This allows fvwm to work with KDE version >= 2, GNOME
version 2 and other applications which respect this specification (any application based
on GTK+ version 2). Applications which respect this specification are called ewmh
compliant applications.
This support is configurable with styles and commands. These styles and commands have EWMH
as the prefix (so you can find them easily in this man page).
There is a new Context 'D' for the Key, PointerKey, Mouse commands. This context is for
desktop applications (such as kdesktop and Nautilus desktop).
When a compliant taskbar asks fvwm to activate a window (typically when you click on a
button which represents a window in such a taskbar), then fvwm calls the complex function
EWMHActivateWindowFunc which by default is Iconify Off, Focus and Raise. You can redefine
this function. For example:
DestroyFunc EWMHActivateWindowFunc
AddToFunc EWMHActivateWindowFunc I Iconify Off
+ I Focus
+ I Raise
+ I WarpToWindow 50 50
additionally warps the pointer to the center of the window.
The EWMH specification introduces the notion of Working Area. Without ewmh support the
Working Area is the full visible screen (or all your screens if you have a multi head
setup with RandR). However, compliant applications (such as a panel) can ask to reserve
space at the edge of the screen. If this is the case, the Working Area is your full
visible screen minus these reserved spaces. If a panel can be hidden by clicking on a
button the Working Area does not change (as you can unhide the panel at any time), but the
Dynamic Working Area is updated: the space reserved by the panel is removed (and added
again if you pop up the panel). The Dynamic Working Area may be used when fvwm places or
maximizes a window. To know if an application reserves space you can type "xprop | grep
_NET_WM_STRUT" in a terminal and select the application. If four numbers appear then these
numbers define the reserved space as explained in the EwmhBaseStruts command.
MWM COMPATIBILITY
Fvwm provides options to emulate Motif Window Manager (Mwm) as well as possible. Please
refer to the Emulate command as well as to the Mwm specific options of the Style and
MenuStyle commands for details.
OPEN LOOK AND XVIEW COMPATIBILITY
Fvwm supports all the Open Look decoration hints (except pushpins). Should you use any
such application, please add the following line to your config:
Style * OLDecor
Most (perhaps all) Open Look applications have a strange notion of keyboard focus
handling. Although a lot of work went into fvwm to work well with these, you may still
encounter problems. It is recommended to use the NeverFocus focus policy and the Lenience
style for all such applications (the windows still get the focus):
Style <application name> NeverFocus, Lenience
But in case you can not live with that focus policy, you can try using one of the other
focus policies in combination with the Lenience style:
Style <application name> MouseFocus, Lenience
Style <application name> SloppyFocus, Lenience
Style <application name> ClickToFocus, Lenience
CONFIGURATION
Configuration Files
The configuration file is used to describe mouse and button bindings, colors, the virtual
display size, and related items. The initialization configuration file is typically called
config (or .fvwm2rc). By using the Read command, it is easy to read in new configuration
files as you go.
Lines beginning with '#' are ignored by fvwm. Lines starting with '*' are expected to
contain module configuration commands (rather than configuration commands for fvwm
itself). Like in shell scripts embedded newlines in a configuration file line can be
quoted by preceding them with a backslash. All lines linked in this fashion are treated as
a single line. The newline itself is ignored.
Fvwm makes no distinction between configuration commands and action commands, so anything
mentioned in the fvwm commands section can be placed on a line by itself for fvwm to
execute as it reads the configuration file, or it can be placed as an executable command
in a menu or bound to a mouse button or a keyboard key. It is left as an exercise for the
user to decide which function make sense for initialization and which ones make sense for
run-time.
Supplied Configuration
A sample configuration file, is supplied with the fvwm distribution. It is well commented
and can be used as a source of examples for fvwm configuration. It may be copied from
/usr/local/share/fvwm/config file.
Alternatively, the built-in menu (accessible when no configuration file is found) has
options to create an initial config file for the user.
FONTS
Font names and font loading
The fonts used for the text of a window title, icon titles, menus and geometry window can
be specified by using the Font and IconFont Style, the Font MenuStyle and the DefaultFont
commands. Also, all the Modules which use text have configuration command(s) to specify
font(s). All these styles and commands take a font name as an argument. This section
explains what is a font name for fvwm and which fonts fvwm loads.
First, you can use what we can call a usual font name, for example,
-adobe-courier-bold-r-normal--10-100-75-75-m-60-ISO8859-1
-adobe-courier-bold-r-normal--10-*
-*-fixed-medium-o-normal--14-*-ISO8859-15
That is, you can use an X Logical Font Description (XLFD for short). Then the "first" font
which matches the description is loaded and used. This "first" font depends of your font
path and also of your locale. Fonts which match the locale charset are loaded in priority
order. For example with
-adobe-courier-bold-r-normal--10-*
if the locale charset is ISO8859-1, then fvwm tries to load a font which matches
-adobe-courier-bold-r-normal--10-*-ISO8859-1
with the locale charset ISO8859-15 fvwm tries to load
-adobe-courier-bold-r-normal--10-*-ISO8859-15.
A font name can be given as an extended XLFD. This is a comma separated list of (simple)
XLFD font names, for example:
-adobe-courier-bold-r-normal--14-*,-*-courier-medium-r-normal--14-*
Each simple font name is tried until a matching font with the locale charset is found and
if this fails each simple font name is tried without constraint on the charset.
More details on the XLFD can be found in the X manual page, the X Logical Font Description
Conventions document (called xlfd) and the XLoadFont and XCreateFontSet manual pages. Some
useful font utilities are: xlsfonts, xfontsel, xfd and xset.
If you have Xft support you can specify an Xft font name (description) of a true type (or
Type1) font prefixed by "xft:", for example:
"xft:Luxi Mono"
"xft:Luxi Mono:Medium:Roman:size=14:encoding=iso8859-1"
The "first" font which matches the description is loaded. This first font depends on the
XftConfig configuration file with Xft1 and on the /etc/fonts/fonts.conf file with Xft2.
One may read the Xft manual page and the fontconfig man page with Xft2. The first string
which follows "xft:" is always considered as the family. With the second example Luxi Mono
is the Family (Other XFree TTF families: "Luxi Serif", "Luxi Sans"), Medium is the Weight
(other possible weights: Light, DemiBold, Bold, Black), Roman is the slant or the style
(other possibilities: Regular, Oblique, Italic) size specifies the point size (for a pixel
size use pixelsize=), encoding allows for enforce a charset (iso8859-1 or iso10646-1 only;
if no encoding is given the locale charset is assumed). An important parameter is
"minspace=bool" where bool is True or False. If bool is False (the default?) Xft gives a
greater font height to fvwm than if bool is True. This may modify text placement, icon and
window title height, line spacing in menus and FvwmIdent, button height in some fvwm
modules ...etc. With a LCD monitor you may try to add "rgba=mode" where mode is either
rgb, bgr, vrgb or vbgr to enable subpixel rendering. The best mode depends on the way your
LCD cells are arranged. You can pass other specifications in between ":", as
"foundry=foundry_name", "spacing=type" where type can be monospace, proportional or
charcell, "charwidth=integer", "charheight=integer" or "antialias=bool" where bool is True
or False. It seems that these parameters are not always taken in account.
To determine which Xft fonts are really loaded you can export XFT_DEBUG=1 before starting
fvwm and take a look to the error log. With Xft2 you may use fc-list to list the available
fonts. Anyway, Xft support is experimental (from the X and the fvwm point of view) and the
quality of the rendering depends on number of parameters (the XFree and the freetype
versions and your video card(s)).
After an Xft font name you can add after a ";" an XLFD font name (simple or extended) as:
xft:Verdana:pixelsize=14;-adobe-courier-bold-r-normal--14-*
then, if either loading the Xft font fails or fvwm has no Xft support, fvwm loads the font
"-adobe-courier-bold-r-normal—14-*". This allows for writing portable configuration files.
Font and string encoding
Once a font is loaded, fvwm finds its encoding (or charset) using its name (the last two
fields of the name). fvwm assumes that the strings which are displayed with this font use
this encoding (an exception is that if an iso10646-1 font is loaded, then UTF-8 is assumed
for string encoding). In a normal situation, (i) a font is loaded by giving a font name
without specifying the encoding, (ii) the encoding of the loaded font is the locale
encoding, and then (iii) the strings in the fvwm configuration files should use the locale
encoding as well as the window and icon name. With Xft the situation is bit different as
Xft supports only iso10646-1 and iso8859-1. If you do not specify one of these encodings
in the Xft font name, then fvwm does strings conversion using (iii). Note that with
multibyte fonts (and in particular with "CJK" fonts) for good text rendering, the locale
encoding should be the charset of the font.
To override the previous rules, it is possible to specify the string encoding in the
beginning of a font description as follow:
StringEncoding=enc:_full_font_name_
where enc is an encoding supported by fvwm (usually font name charset plus some unicode
encodings: UTF-8, USC-2, USC-4 and UTF-16).
For example, you may use an iso8859-1 locale charset and have an FvwmForm in Russian using
koi8-r encoding. In this case, you just have to ask FvwmForm to load a koi8-r font by
specifying the encoding in the font name. With a multibyte language, (as multibyte font
works well only if the locale encoding is the charset of the font), you should use an
iso10646-1 font:
StringEncoding=jisx0208.1983-0:-*-fixed-medium-r-*-ja-*-iso10646-1
or
"StringEncoding=jisx0208.1983-0:xft:Bitstream Cyberbit"
if your FvwmForm configuration uses jisx0208.1983-0 encoding. Another possibility is to
use UTF-8 encoding for your FvwmForm configuration and use an iso10646-1 font:
-*-fixed-medium-r-*-ja-*-iso10646-1
or
"StringEncoding=UTF-8:xft:Bitstream Cyberbit"
or equivalently
"xft:Bitstream Cyberbit:encoding=iso10646-1"
In general iso10646-1 fonts together with UTF-8 string encoding allows the display of any
characters in a given menu, FvwmForm etc.
More and more, unicode is used and text files use UTF-8 encoding. However, in practice the
characters used range over your locale charset (this is the case when you generate a menu
with fvwm-menu-desktop with recent versions of KDE and GNOME). For saving memory (an
iso10646-1 font may have a very large number of characters) or because you have a pretty
font without an iso10646-1 charset, you can specify the string encoding to be UTF-8 and
use a font in the locale charset:
StringEncoding=UTF-8:-*-pretty_font-*-12-*
In most cases, fvwm correctly determines the encoding of the font. However, some fonts do
not end with valid encoding names. When the font name isn’t normal, for example:
-misc-fixed-*--20-*-my_utf8-36
you need to add the encoding after the font name using a slash as a delimiter. For
example:
MenuStyle * Font -misc-fixed-*--20-*-my_utf8-36/iso10646-1
If fvwm finds an encoding, fvwm uses the iconv system functions to do conversion between
encodings. Unfortunately, there are no standards. For conversion between iso8859-1 and
UTF-8: a GNU system uses "ISO-8859-1" and other systems use "iso881" to define the
converters (these two names are supported by fvwm). Moreover, in some cases it may be
necessary to use machine specific converters. So, if you experience problems you can try
to get information on your iconv implementation ("man iconv" may help) and put the name
which defines the converter between the font encoding and UTF-8 at the end of the font
name after the encoding hint and a / (another possible solution is to use GNU libiconv).
For example use:
Style * Font -misc-fixed-*--14-*-iso8859-1/*/latin1
to use latin1 for defining the converter for the iso8859-1 encoding. The "*" in between
the "/" says to fvwm to determine the encoding from the end of the font name. Use:
Style * Font \
-misc-fixed-*--14-*-local8859-6/iso8859-6/local_iso8859_6_iconv
to force fvwm to use the font with iso8859-6 as the encoding (this is useful for
bi-directionality) and to use local_iso8859_6_iconv for defining the converters.
Font Shadow Effects
Fonts can be given 3d effects. At the beginning of the font name (or just after a possible
StringEncoding specification) add
Shadow=size [offset] [directions]]:
size is a positive integer which specifies the number of pixels of shadow. offset is an
optional positive integer which defines the number of pixels to offset the shadow from the
edge of the character. The default offset is zero. directions is an optional set of
directions the shadow emanates from the character. The directions are a space separated
list of fvwm directions:
N, North, Top, t, Up, u, -
E, East, Right, r, Right, r, ]
S, South, Bottom, b, Down, d, _
W, West, Left, l, Left, l, [
NE, NorthEast, TopRight, tr, UpRight, ur, ^
SE, SouthEast, BottomRight, br, DownRight, dr, >
SW, SouthWest, BottomLeft, bl, DownLeft, dl, v
NW, NorthWest, TopLeft, tl, UpLeft, ul, <
C, Center, Centre, .
A shadow is displayed in each given direction. All is equivalent to all the directions.
The default direction is BottomRight. With the Center direction, the shadow surrounds the
whole string. Since this is a super set of all other directions, it is a waste of time to
specify this along with any other directions.
The shadow effect only works with colorsets. The color of the shadow is defined by using
the fgsh option of the Colorset command. Please refer to the Colorsets section for details
about colorsets.
Note: It can be difficult to find the font, fg, fgsh and bg colors to make this effect
look good, but it can look quite good.
BI-DIRECTIONAL TEXT
Arabic and Hebrew text require bi-directional text support to be displayed correctly, this
means that logical strings should be converted before their visual presentation, so
left-to-right and right-to-left sub-strings are determined and reshuffled. In fvwm this is
done automatically in window titles, menus, module labels and other places if the fonts
used for displaying the text are of one of the charsets that require bidi (bi-directional)
support. For example, this includes iso8859-6, iso8859-8 and iso10646-1 (unicode), but not
other iso8859-* fonts.
This bi-directional text support is done using the fribidi library compile time option,
see INSTALL.fvwm.
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
Almost all window manager operations can be performed from the keyboard so mouse-less
operation should be possible. In addition to scrolling around the virtual desktop by
binding the Scroll command to appropriate keys, Popup, Move, Resize, and any other command
can be bound to keys. Once a command is started the pointer is moved by using the up,
down, left, and right arrows, and the action is terminated by pressing return. Holding
down the Shift key causes the pointer movement to go in larger steps and holding down the
control key causes the pointer movement to go in smaller steps. Standard emacs and vi
cursor movement controls can be used instead of the arrow keys.
SESSION MANAGEMENT
Fvwm supports session management according to the X Session Management Protocol. It saves
and restores window position, size, stacking order, desk, stickiness, shadiness,
maximizedness, iconifiedness for all windows. Furthermore, some global state is saved.
Fvwm doesn’t save any information regarding styles, decors, functions or menus. If you
change any of these resources during a session (e.g. by issuing Style commands or by using
various modules), these changes are lost after saving and restarting the session. To
become permanent, such changes have to be added to the configuration file.
Note further that the current implementation has the following anomaly when used on a
multi-screen display: Starting fvwm for the first time, fvwm manages all screens by
forking a copy of itself for each screen. Every copy knows its parent and issuing a Quit
command to any instance of fvwm kills the master and thus all copies of fvwm. When you
save and restart the session, the session manager brings up a copy of fvwm on each screen,
but this time they are started as individual instances managing one screen only. Thus a
Quit kills only the copy it was sent to. This is probably not a very serious problem,
since with session management, you are supposed to quit a session through the session
manager anyway. If it is really needed,
Exec exec killall fvwm
still kills all copies of fvwm. Your system must have the killall command though.
BOOLEAN ARGUMENTS
A number of commands take one or several boolean arguments. These take a few equivalent
inputs: "yes", "on", "true", "t" and "y" all evaluate to true while "no", "off", "false",
"f" and "n" evaluate to false. Some commands allow "toggle" too which means that the
feature is disabled if it is currently enabled and vice versa.
BUILTIN KEY AND MOUSE BINDINGS
The following commands are built-in to fvwm:
Key Help R A Popup MenuFvwmRoot
Key F1 R A Popup MenuFvwmRoot
Key Tab A M WindowList Root c c NoDeskSort
Key Escape A MC EscapeFunc
Mouse 1 R A Menu MenuFvwmRoot
Mouse 1 T A FuncFvwmRaiseLowerX Move
Mouse 1 FS A FuncFvwmRaiseLowerX Resize
Mouse 2 FST A FuncFvwmRaiseLowerX Move
AddToFunc FuncFvwmRaiseLowerX
+ I Raise
+ M $0
+ D Lower
The Help and F1 keys invoke a built-in menu that fvwm creates. This is primarily for new
users that have not created their own configuration file. Either key on the root
(background) window pops up an menu to help you get started.
The Tab key pressed anywhere with the Alt key (same as the key on PC keyboards) held down
pop-ups a window list.
Mouse button 1 on the title-bar or side frame can move, raise or lower a window.
Mouse button 1 on the window corners can resize, raise or lower a window.
You can override or remove these bindings. To remove the window list binding, use this:
Key Tab A M -
COMMAND EXECUTION
Module and Function Commands
If fvwm encounters a command that it doesn’t recognize, it checks to see if the specified
command should have been
Function (rest of command)
or
Module (rest of command)
This allows complex functions or modules to be invoked in a manner which is fairly
transparent to the configuration file.
Example: the config file contains the line
HelpMe
Fvwm looks for an fvwm command called "HelpMe", and fails. Next it looks for a
user-defined complex function called "HelpMe". If no such function exists, fvwm tries to
execute a module called "HelpMe".
Delayed Execution of Commands
Note: There are many commands that affect look and feel of specific, some or all windows,
like Style, Mouse, Colorset, TitleStyle and many others. For performance reasons such
changes are not applied immediately but only when fvwm is idle, i.e. no user interaction
or module input is pending. Specifically, new Style options that are set in a function are
not applied until after the function has completed. This can sometimes lead to unwanted
effects.
To force that all pending changes are applied immediately, use the UpdateStyles, Refresh
or RefreshWindow commands.
QUOTING
Quotes are required only when needed to make fvwm consider two or more words to be a
single argument. Unnecessary quoting is allowed. If you want a quote character in your
text, you must escape it by using the backslash character. For example, if you have a
pop-up menu called "Window-Ops", then you do not need quotes:
Popup Window-Ops
but if you replace the dash with a space, then you need quotes:
Popup "Window Ops"
The supported quoting characters are double quotes, single quotes and reverse single
quotes. All three kinds of quotes are treated in the same way. Single characters can be
quoted with a preceding backslash. Quoting single characters works even inside other kinds
of quotes.
COMMAND EXPANSION
Whenever an fvwm command line is executed, fvwm performs parameter expansion. A parameter
is a '$' followed by a word enclosed in brackets ($[...]) or a single special character.
If fvwm encounters an unquoted parameter on the command line it expands it to a string
indicated by the parameter name. Unknown parameters are left untouched. Parameter
expansion is performed before quoting. To get a literal '$' use "$$".
If a command is prefixed with a '-' parameter expansion isn’t performed. This applies to
the command immediately following the '-', in which the expansion normally would have
taken place. When uesed together with other prefix commands it must be added before the
other prefix.
Example:
Pick -Exec exec xmessage '$[w.name]'
opens an xmessage dialog with "$[w.name]" unexpanded.
The longer variables may contain additional variables inside the name, which are expanded
before the outer variable.
In earlier versions of fvwm, some single letter variables were supported. It is deprecated
now, since they cause a number of problems. You should use the longer substitutes instead.
Example:
# Print the current desk number, horizontal page number
# and the window's class (unexpanded here, no window).
Echo $[desk.n] $[page.nx] $[w.class]
Note: If the command is called outside a window context, it prints "$[w.class]" instead of
the class name. It is usually not enough to have the pointer over a window to have a
context window. To force using the window with the focus, the Current command can be used:
Current Echo $[desk.n] $[page.nx] $[w.class]
The parameters known by fvwm are:
$$
A literal '$'.
$.
The absolute directory of the currently Read file. Intended for creating relative and
relocatable configuration trees. If used outside of any read file, the returned value
is '.'.
$0 to $9
The positional parameters given to a complex function (a function that has been
defined with the AddToFunc command). "$0" is replaced with the first parameter, "$1"
with the second parameter and so on. If the corresponding parameter is undefined, the
"$..." is deleted from the command line.
$*
All positional parameters given to a complex function. This includes parameters that
follow after "$9".
$[n]
The n:th positional parameter given to a complex function, counting from 0. If the
corresponding parameter is undefined, the "$[n]" is deleted from the command line. The
parameter is expanded unquoted.
$[n-m]
The positional parameters given to a complex function, starting with parameter n and
ending with parameter m. If all the corresponding parameters are undefined, the
"$[...]" is deleted from the command line. If only some of the parameters are defined,
all defined parameters are expanded, and the remaining silently ignored. All
parameters are expanded unquoted.
$[n-]
All the positional parameters given to a complex function, starting with parameter n.
If all the corresponding parameters are undefined, the "$[...]" is deleted from the
command line. All parameters are expanded unquoted.
$[*]
All the positional parameters given to a complex function. This is equivalent of
$[0-].
$[version.num]
The version number, like "2.6.0".
$[version.info]
The version info, which contains the SHA of the latest commit (if compiled from git),
or "(relesaed)" if a compiled from a release tarball.
$[version.line]
The first line printed by the --version command line option.
$[vp.x] $[vp.y] $[vp.width] $[vp.height]
Either coordinate or the width or height of the current viewport.
$[wa.x] $[wa.y] $[wa.width] $[wa.height]
Either coordinate or the width or height of the EWMH working area.
$[dwa.x] $[dwa.y] $[dwa.width] $[dwa.height]
Either coordinate or the width or height of the dynamic EWMH working area.
$[desk.n]
The current desk number.
$[desk.name<n>]
These parameters are replaced with the name of the desktop number <n> that is defined
with the DesktopName command. If no name is defined, then the default name is
returned.
$[desk.width] $[desk.height]
The width or height of the whole desktop, i.e. the width or height multiplied by the
number of pages in x or y direction.
$[desk.pagesx] $[desk.pagesy]
The number of total pages in a desk in x or y direction. This is the same as the
values set by DesktopSize.
$[page.nx] $[page.ny]
The current page numbers, by X and Y axes, starting from 0. page is equivalent to area
in the GNOME terminology.
$[w.id]
The window-id (expressed in hex, e.g. 0x10023c) of the window the command was called
for or "$[w.id]" if no window is associated with the command.
$[w.name] $[w.iconname] $[w.class] $[w.resource] $[w.visiblename] $[w.iconfile]
$[w.miniiconfile] $[w.iconfile.svgopts] $[w.miniiconfile.svgopts]
The window’s name, icon name, resource class and resource name, visible name, file
name of its icon or mini icon defined with the Icon or MiniIcon style (including the
full path if the file was found on disk), and (if fvwm is compiled with SVG support)
the icon or mini icon svg rendering options (including the leading colon), or
unexpanded "$[w.<attribute>]" string if no window is associated with the command.
Note, the first 5 variables may include any kind of characters, so these variables are
quoted. It means that the value is surrounded by single quote characters and any
contained single quote is prefixed with a backslash. This guarantees that commands
like:
Style $[w.resource] Icon norm/network.png
work correctly, regardless of any special symbols the value may contain, like spaces
and different kinds of quotes.
In the case of the window’s visible name, this is the value returned from the literal
title of the window shown in the titlebar. Typically this will be the same as
$[w.name] once expanded, although in the case of using IndexedWindowName then this is
more useful a distinction, and allows for referencing the specific window by its
visible name for inclusion in things like Style commands.
$[w.x] $[w.y] $[w.width] $[w.height]
Either coordinate or the width or height of the current window if it is not iconified.
If no window is associated with the command or the window is iconified, the string is
left as is.
$[w.pagex] $[w.pagey]
The X or Y page the window is on.
$[w.desk]
The number of the desk on which the window is shown. If the window is sticky the
current desk number is used.
$[w.layer]
The layer of the window.
$[w.screen]
The screen name the window is on. If RandR is not present, this does not expand.
$[cw.x] $[cw.y] $[cw.width] $[cw.height]
These work like $[w.…] but return the geometry of the client part of the window. In
other words: the border and title of the window is not taken into account.
$[i.x], $[it.x], $[ip.x] $[i.y], $[it.y], $[ip.y] $[i.width], $[it.width], $[ip.width]
$[i.height], $[it.height], $[ip.height]
These work like $[w.…] but return the geometry of the icon ($[i.…]), the icon title
($[it.…]) or the icon picture ($[ip.…]).
$[pointer.x] $[pointer.y]
These return the position of the pointer on the screen. If the pointer is not on the
screen, these variables are not expanded.
$[pointer.wx] $[pointer.wy]
These return the position of the pointer in the selected window. If the pointer is not
on the screen, the window is iconified or no window is selected, these variables are
not expanded.
$[pointer.cx] $[pointer.cy]
These return the position of the pointer in the client portion of the selected window.
If the pointer is not on the screen, the window is shaded or iconified or no window is
selected, these variables are not expanded.
$[pointer.screen]
The screen name the pointer is currently on. No expansion if RandR is not enabled.
This command is deprecated; use $[monitor.current] instead.
$[monitor.<n>.x], $[monitor.<n>.y], $[monitor.<n>.width], $[monitor.<n>.height],
$[monitor.<n>.desk], $[monitor.<n>.pagex], $[monitor.<n>.pagey] $[monitor.primary],
$[monitor.current], $[monitor.output], $[monitor.count], $[monitor.<n>.prev_desk],
$[monitor.<n>.prev_pagex], $[monitor.<n>.prev_pagey]
Returns information about the selected monitor. These can be nested, for example:
$[monitor.$[monitor.primary].width]
<n> should be a valid xrandr(1) output name.
"x" returns the monitor’s x position; "y" returns the monitor’s y position; "width"
returns the monitor’s width (in pixels); "height" returns the monitor’s height (in
pixels)
"current" is the same as the deprecated $[screen.pointer] variable; the monitor which
has the mouse pointer.
"count" returns the number of active monitors.
"desk" returns the current desk displayed on the referenced monitor.
"pagex" returns the X page on the referenced monitor.
"pagey" returns the Y page of the referenced monitor.
"primary" is the name of the output set as primary via xrandr(1).
"prev_desk" returns the previous desk on the referenced monitor.
"prev_pagex" returns the previous X page on the referenced monitor.
"prev_pagey" returns the previous Y page on the referenced monitor.
$[screen]
The screen number fvwm is running on. Useful for setups with multiple screens.
$[screen.count]
The total number of screens detected. Assumes RandR.
This is deprecated; use $[monitor.count] instead.
$[fg.cs<n>] $[bg.cs<n>] $[hilight.cs<n>] $[shadow.cs<n>] $[fgsh.cs<n>]
These parameters are replaced with the name of the foreground (fg), background (bg),
hilight (hilight), shadow (shadow), or the font shadow (fgsh) color that is defined in
colorset <n> (replace <n> with zero or a positive integer). For example "$[fg.cs3]" is
expanded to the name of the foreground color of colorset 3 (in rgb:rrrr/gggg/bbbb
form).
If .lighten<p> or .darken<p> is appended to the parameters, they are instead replaced
with a color that is lighter or darker than the one defined in colorset <n> by a
percentage value <p> (between 0 and 100). For example "$[bg.cs3.lighten15]" is
expanded to the background color of colorset 3 and then lightened 15% (in
rgb:rrrr/gggg/bbbb form).
If .hash is appened to the end the color output will use #rrggbb form (instead of
rgb:rrrr/gggg/bbbb). For example, $[bg.cs3.hash] or $[bg.cs3.lighten15.hash].
Please refer to the Colorsets section for details about colorsets.
$[schedule.last]
This is replaced by the id of the last command that was scheduled with the Schedule
command, even if this command was already executed.
$[schedule.next]
This is replaced by the id the next command used with Schedule will get (unless a
different id is specified explicitly).
$[cond.rc]
The return code of the last conditional command. This variable is only valid inside a
function and can not be used in a conditional command. Please refer to the section
Conditional Commands in the command list.
$[func.context]
The context character of the running command as used in the Mouse, Key or PointerKey
command. This is useful for example with:
Mouse 3 FS N WindowShade $$[func.context]
$[debuglog.state]
Either 0 (debug log closed) or 1. Indicates the current state of debugging and logging
facility.
$[gt.str]
return the translation of str by looking in the current locale catalogs. If no
translation is found str is returned as is. See the LocalePath command.
$[infostore.key]
Return the value of the item stored in the InfoStore at the given key. If no key is
present, the unexpanded string is returned.
$[...]
If the string within the braces is neither of the above, fvwm tries to find an
environment variable with this name and replaces its value if one is found
(e.g. "$[PAGER]" could be replaced by "more"). Otherwise the string is left as is.
Some examples can be found in the description of the AddToFunc command.
SCRIPTING & COMPLEX FUNCTIONS
To achieve the more complex effects, fvwm has a number of commands that improve its
scripting abilities. Scripts can be read from a file with Read, from the output of a
command with PipeRead or written as a complex function with the AddToFunc command. For the
curious, section 7 of the fvwm FAQ shows some real life applications of scripting. Please
refer to the sections User Functions and Shell Commands and Conditional Commands for
details. A word of warning: during execution of complex functions, fvwm needs to take all
input from the mouse pointer (the pointer is "grabbed" in the slang of X). No other
programs can receive any input from the pointer while a function is run. This can confuse
some programs. For example, the xwd program refuses to make screen shots when run from a
complex function. To achieve the same functionality you can use the Read or PipeRead
command instead.
LIST OF FVWM COMMANDS
The command descriptions below are grouped together in the following sections. The
sections are hopefully sorted in order of usefulness to the newcomer.
• Menu commands
• Miscellaneous commands
• Commands affecting window movement and placement
• Commands for focus and mouse movement
• Commands controlling window state
• Commands for mouse and key bindings
• The Style command (controlling window styles)
• Other commands controlling window styles
• Commands controlling the virtual desktop
• Commands for user functions and shell commands
• Conditional commands
• Module commands
• Quit, restart and session management commands
• Colorsets
• Color gradients
Menus
Before a menu can be opened, it has to be populated with menu items using the AddToMenu
command and bound to a key or mouse button with the Key, PointerKey or Mouse command
(there are many other ways to invoke a menu too). This is usually done in the
configuration file.
Fvwm menus are extremely configurable in look and feel. Even the slightest nuances can be
changed to the user’s liking, including the menu item fonts, the background, delays before
popping up sub menus, generating menus dynamically and many other features. Please refer
to the MenuStyle command to learn more.
Types of Menus
In fvwm there are four slightly different types of menus:
Popup menus can appear everywhere on the screen on their own or attached to a part of
a window. The Popup command opens popup menus. If the popup menu was invoked with a
mouse button held down, it is closed when the button is released. The item under the
pointer is then activated and the associated action is executed.
Menu is a very similar command, but the menus it opens are slightly less transient.
When invoked by clicking a mouse button, it stays open and can be navigated with no
button held. But if it is invoked by a button press followed by mouse motion, it
behaves exactly like a popup menu.
Tear off menus or Pin up menus are menus from either of the above two commands that
have been "torn off" their original context and pinned on the desktop like a normal
window. They are created from other menus by certain key presses or mouse sequences or
with the TearMenuOff command from inside a menu.
Sub menus are menus inside menus. When a menu item that has the Popup command as its
action is selected, the named menu is opened as an inferior menu to the parent. Any
type of menu can have sub menus.
Menu Anatomy
Menus consist of any number of titles which are inactive menu items that usually
appear at the top of the menu, normal items triggering various actions when selected,
separator lines between the items, tear off bars (a horizontal broken line) that tear
off the menu when selected, and sub menu items indicated with a triangle pointing left
or right, depending on the direction in which the sub menu appears. All the above menu
items are optional.
Additionally, if the menu is too long to fit on the screen, the excess menu items are
put in a continuation menu and a sub menu with the string "More..." is placed at the
bottom of the menu. The "More..." string honors the locale settings.
Finally, there may be a picture running up either side of the menu (a "side bar").
Menu Navigation
Menus can be navigated either with the keyboard or with the mouse. Many people prefer
to use the mouse, but it can be rather tedious. Once you get the hang of it, keyboard
navigation can be much faster. While fvwm displays a menu, it can do nothing else. For
example, new windows do not appear before the menu is closed. However, this is not
exactly true for tear off menus. See the Tear Off Menus section for details.
Mouse Navigation
Moving the pointer over a menu selects the item below it. Normally this is indicated
by a 3d border around the item, but not all parts of a menu can be selected. Pressing
any mouse button while a menu is open by default activates the item below it. Items of
a popup menu are also activated by releasing a held mouse button. In case of an item
that hides a sub menu, the sub menu is displayed if the pointer hovers over the item
long enough or moves close to the triangle indicating the sub menu. This behaviour can
be tuned with menu styles.
Scrolling a mouse wheel over a menu either wraps the pointer along the menu (default),
scrolls the menu under the pointer or act as if the menu was clicked depending on the
MouseWheel menu style.
Clicking on a selected item activates it - what happens exactly depends on the type of
the item.
Clicking on a title, a separator, the side bar, or outside the menu closes the menu
(exception: tear off menus can not be closed this way). Pressing mouse button 2 over a
menu title or activating a tear off bar creates a tear off menu from the current menu.
Clicking on a normal menu item invokes the command that is bound to it, and clicking
on a sub menu item either closes all open menus and replaces them with the sub menu or
posts the menu (default).
Posting menus is meant to ease mouse navigation. Once a sub menu is posted, only items
from that sub menu can be selected. This can be very useful to navigate the menu if
the pointer tends to stray off the menu. To unpost the menu and revert back to normal
operation, either click on the same sub menu item or press any key.
Keyboard Navigation
Just like with mouse navigation, the item below the pointer is selected. This is
achieved by warping the pointer to the menu items when necessary. While a menu is
open, all key presses are intercepted by the menu. No other application can get
keyboard input (although this is not the case for tear off menus).
Items can be selected directly by pressing a hotkey that can be configured
individually for each menu item. The hotkey is indicated by underlining it in the menu
item label. With the AutomaticHotkeys menu style fvwm automatically assigns hotkeys to
all menu items.
The most basic keys to navigate through menus are the cursor keys (move up or down one
item, enter or leave a sub menu),
(activate item) and
(close menu). Numerous other keys can be used to navigate through menus by default:
Enter, Return, Space activate the current item.
Escape, Delete, Ctrl-G exit the current sequence of menus or destroy a tear off menu.
J, N, Cursor-Down, Tab, Meta-Tab, Ctrl-F, move to the next item.
K, P, Cursor-Up, Shift-Tab, Shift-Meta-Tab, Ctrl-B, move to the prior item.
L, Cursor-Right, F enter a sub menu.
H, Cursor-Left, B return to the prior menu.
Ctrl-Cursor-Up, Ctrl-K Ctrl-P, Shift-Ctrl-Meta-Tab, Page-Up move up five items.
Ctrl-Cursor-Down, Ctrl-J Ctrl-N, Ctrl-Meta-Tab Page-Down move down five items.
Shift-P, Home, Shift-Cursor-Up, Ctrl-A move to the first item.
Shift-N, End, Shift-Cursor-Down, Ctrl-E move to the last item.
Meta-P, Meta-Cursor-Up, Ctrl-Cursor-Left, Shift-Ctrl-Tab, move up just below the next
separator.
Meta-N, Meta-Cursor-Down, Ctrl-Cursor-Right, Ctrl-Tab, move down just below the next
separator.
Insert opens the "More..." sub menu if any.
Backspace tears off the menu.
Menu Bindings
The keys and mouse buttons used to navigate the menu can be configured using the Key
and Mouse commands with the special context 'M', possible combined with 'T' for the
menu title, 'I' for other menu items, 'S' for any border or sidepic, '[' for left
border including a left sidepic, ']' for right border including a right sidepic, '-'
for top border, '' for bottom border. The menu context uses its own set of actions
that can be bound to keys and mouse buttons. These are _MenuClose, MenuCloseAndExec,
MenuEnterContinuation, MenuEnterSubmenu, MenuLeaveSubmenu, MenuMoveCursor,
MenuCursorLeft, MenuCursorRight, MenuSelectItem, MenuScroll and MenuTearOff.
It is not possible to override the key Escape with no modifiers for closing the menu.
Neither is it possible to undefine mouse button 1, the arrow keys or the enter key for
minimal navigation.
MenuClose exits from the current sequence of menus or destroys a tear off menu.
MenuCloseAndExec exits from the current sequence of menus or destroys a tear off menu
and executes the rest of the line as a command.
MenuEnterContinuation opens the "More..." sub menu if any.
MenuEnterSubmenu enters a sub menu.
MenuLeaveSubmenu returns to the prior menu.
MenuMoveCursor n [m] moves the selection to another item. If the first argument is
zero the second argument specifies an absolute item in the menu to move the pointer
to. Negative items are counted from the end of the menu. If the first argument is
non-zero, the second argument must be omitted, and the first argument specifies a
relative change in the selected item. The positions may be suffixed with a 's' to
indicate that the items should refer only to the first items after separators.
MenuCursorLeft enters a sub menu with the SubmenusLeft menu style, and returns to the
prior menu with the SubmenusRight menu style.
MenuCursorRight enters a sub menu with the SubmenusRight menu style, and returns to
the prior menu with the SubmenusLeft menu style.
MenuSelectItem triggers the action for the menu item.
MenuScroll n performs menu scrolling according to the MouseWheel menu style with n
items. The distance can be suffixed with an 's' to indicate the items should refer
only to the first items after separators.
MenuTearOff turns a normal menu into a "torn off" menu. See Tear Off Menus for
details.
Tear Off Menus
A tear off menu is any menu that has been "torn off" the window it was attached to and
pinned to the root window. There are three ways to tear off a menu: click on the menu
title with mouse button 2, press
in the menu or activate its tear off bar (a horizontal bar with a broken line). Tear
off bars must be added to the menu as any other item by assigning them the command
TearMenuOff.
The builtin tear off actions can be overridden by undefining the builtin menu actions
bound to tear off. To remove the builtin mouse button 2 binding, use:
Mouse 2 MT A -
and to remove the builtin backspace binding, use:
Key Backspace M A -
See the section Menu Bindings for details on how to assign other bindings for tear
off.
Note that prior to fvwm 2.5.20 the tear off mouse bindings were redefined in different
way, which no longer work.
The window containing the menu is placed as any other window would be. If you find it
confusing to have your tear off menus appear at random positions on the screen, put
this line in your configuration file:
Style fvwm_menu UsePPosition
To remove borders and buttons from a tear-off menu but keep the menu title, you can
use
Style fvwm_menu !Button 0, !Button 1
Style fvwm_menu !Button 2, !Button 3
Style fvwm_menu !Button 4, !Button 5
Style fvwm_menu !Button 6, !Button 7
Style fvwm_menu !Button 8, !Button 9
Style fvwm_menu Title, HandleWidth 0
A tear off menu is a cross breeding between a window and a menu. The menu is swallowed
by a window and its title is stripped off and displayed in the window title. The main
advantage is that the menu becomes permanent - activating an item does not close the
menu. Therefore, it can be used multiple times without reopening it. To destroy such a
menu, close its window or press the Escape key.
Tear off menus behave somewhat differently than normal menus and windows. They do not
take the keyboard focus, but while the pointer is over one of them, all key presses
are sent to the menu. Other fvwm key bindings are disabled as long as the pointer is
inside the tear off menu or one of its sub menus. When the pointer leaves this area,
all sub menus are closed immediately. Note that the window containing a tear off menu
is never hilighted as if it had the focus.
A tear off menu is an independent copy of the menu it originated from. As such, it is
not affected by adding items to that menu or changing its menu style.
To create a tear off menu without opening the normal menu first, the option
TearOffImmediately can be added to the Menu or Popup command.
AddToMenu menu-name [menu-label action]
Begins or adds to a menu definition. Typically a menu definition looks like this:
AddToMenu Utilities Utilities Title
+ Xterm Exec exec xterm -e tcsh
+ Rxvt Exec exec rxvt
+ "Remote Logins" Popup Remote-Logins
+ Top Exec exec rxvt -T Top -n Top -e top
+ Calculator Exec exec xcalc
+ Xman Exec exec xman
+ Xmag Exec exec xmag
+ emacs Exec exec xemacs
+ Mail MailFunction xmh "-font fixed"
+ "" Nop
+ Modules Popup Module-Popup
+ "" Nop
+ Exit Fvwm Popup Quit-Verify
The menu could be invoked via
Mouse 1 R A Menu Utilities Nop
or
Mouse 1 R A Popup Utilities
There is no end-of-menu symbol. Menus do not have to be defined in a contiguous region
of the config file. The quoted (or first word) portion in the above examples is the
menu label, which appears in the menu when the user pops it up. The remaining portion
is an fvwm command which is executed if the user selects that menu item. An empty
menu-label ("") and the Nop function are used to insert a separator into the menu.
The keywords DynamicPopUpAction and DynamicPopDownAction have a special meaning when
used as the name of a menu item. The action following the keyword is executed whenever
the menu is popped up or down. This way you can implement dynamic menus. It is even
possible to destroy itself with DestroyMenu and the rebuild from scratch. When the
menu has been destroyed (unless you used the recreate option when destroying the
menu), do not forget to add the dynamic action again.
Note: Do not trigger actions that require user interaction. They may fail and may
screw up your menus. See the Silent command.
Warning Do not issue MenuStyle commands as dynamic menu actions. Chances are good that
this crashes fvwm.
The keyword Greyed will still render the menu item, but will grey it out making the
option unselectable.
There are several configurable scripts installed together with fvwm for automatic menu
generation. They have their own man pages. Some of them, specifically
fvwm-menu-directory and fvwm-menu-desktop, may be used with DynamicPopupAction to
create a directory listing or GNOME/KDE application listing.
Example (File browser):
# You can find the shell script fvwm_make_browse_menu.sh
# in the utils/ directory of the distribution.
AddToMenu BrowseMenu
+ DynamicPopupAction PipeRead \
'fvwm_make_browse_menu.sh BrowseMenu'
Example (Picture menu):
# Build a menu of all .jpg files in
# $HOME/Pictures
AddToMenu JpgMenu foo title
+ DynamicPopupAction Function MakeJpgMenu
AddToFunc MakeJpgMenu
+ I DestroyMenu recreate JpgMenu
+ I AddToMenu JpgMenu Pictures Title
+ I PipeRead 'for i in $HOME/Pictures/*.jpg; \
do echo AddToMenu JpgMenu "`basename $i`" Exec xv $i; done'
The keyword MissingSubmenuFunction has a similar meaning. It is executed whenever you
try to pop up a sub menu that does not exist. With this function you can define and
destroy menus on the fly. You can use any command after the keyword, but if the name
of an item (that is a submenu) defined with AddToFunc follows it, fvwm executes this
command:
Function <function-name> <submenu-name>
i.e. the name is passed to the function as its first argument and can be referred to
with "$0".
The fvwm-menu-directory script mentioned above may be used with MissingSubmenuFunction
to create an up to date recursive directory listing.
Example:
# There is another shell script fvwm_make_directory_menu.sh
# in the utils/ directory of the distribution. To use it,
# define this function in your configuration file:
DestroyFunc MakeMissingDirectoryMenu
AddToFunc MakeMissingDirectoryMenu
+ I PipeRead fvwm_make_directory_menu.sh $0
DestroyMenu SomeMenu
AddToMenu SomeMenu
+ MissingSubmenuFunction MakeMissingDirectoryMenu
+ "Root directory" Popup /
This is another implementation of the file browser that uses sub menus for
subdirectories.
Titles can be used within the menu. If you add the option top behind the keyword
Title, the title is added to the top of the menu. If there was a title already, it is
overwritten.
AddToMenu Utilities Tools Title top
All text up to the first Tab in the menu label is aligned to the left side of t the
menu, all text right of the first is aligned to the left in a second column and all
text thereafter is placed right aligned in the third column. All other s are replaced
by spaces. Note that you can change this format with the ItemFormat option of the
MenuStyle command.
If the menu-label contains an ampersand ('&'), the next character is taken as a
hot-key for the menu item. Hot-keys are underlined in the label. To get a literal '&',
insert "&&". Pressing the hot-key moves through the list of menu items with this
hot-key or selects an item that is the only one with this hot-key.
If the menu-label contains a sub-string which is set off by stars, then the text
between the stars is expected to be the name of an image file to insert in the menu.
To get a literal '', insert "*". For example
+ Calculator*xcalc.xpm* Exec exec xcalc
inserts a menu item labeled "Calculator" with a picture of a calculator above it. The
following:
+ *xcalc.xpm* Exec exec xcalc
Omits the "Calculator" label, but leaves the picture.
If the menu-label contains a sub-string which is set off by percent signs, then the
text between the percent signs is expected to be the name of image file (a so called
mini icon to insert to the left of the menu label. A second mini icon that is drawn at
the right side of the menu can be given in the same way. To get a literal '%', insert
"%%". For example
+ Calculator%xcalc.xpm% Exec exec xcalc
inserts a menu item labeled "Calculator" with a picture of a calculator to the left.
The following:
+ %xcalc.xpm% Exec exec xcalc
Omits the "Calculator" label, but leaves the picture. The pictures used with this
feature should be small (perhaps 16x16).
If the menu-name (not the label) contains a sub-string which is set off by at signs
('@'), then the text between them is expected to be the name of an image file to draw
along the left side of the menu (a side pixmap). You may want to use the SidePic
option of the MenuStyle command instead. To get a literal '@', insert "@@". For
example
AddToMenu StartMenu@linux-menu.xpm@
creates a menu with a picture in its bottom left corner.
If the menu-name also contains a sub-string surrounded by '^'s, then the text between
'^'s is expected to be the name of an X11 color and the column containing the side
picture is colored with that color. You can set this color for a menu style using the
SideColor option of the MenuStyle command. To get a literal '^', insert "^^". Example:
AddToMenu StartMenu@linux-menu.xpm@^blue^
creates a menu with a picture in its bottom left corner and colors with blue the
region of the menu containing the picture.
In all the above cases, the name of the resulting menu is name specified, stripped of
the substrings between the various delimiters.
ChangeMenuStyle menustyle menu ...
Changes the menu style of menu to menustyle. You may specify more than one menu in
each call of ChangeMenuStyle.
CopyMenuStyle orig-menustyle dest-menustyle
Copy orig-menustyle to dest-menustyle, where orig-menustyle is an existing menu style.
If the menu style dest_menustyle does not exist, then it is created.
DestroyMenu [recreate] menu
Deletes a menu, so that subsequent references to it are no longer valid. You can use
this to change the contents of a menu during an fvwm session. The menu can be rebuilt
using AddToMenu. The optional parameter recreate tells fvwm not to throw away the menu
completely but to throw away all the menu items (including the title).
DestroyMenu Utilities
DestroyMenuStyle menustyle
Deletes the menu style named menustyle and changes all menus using this style to the
default style, you cannot destroy the default menu style.
DestroyMenuStyle pixmap1
Menu menu-name [position] [double-click-action]
Causes a previously defined menu to be popped up in a sticky manner. That is, if the
user invokes the menu with a click action instead of a drag action, the menu stays up.
The command double-click-action is invoked if the user double-clicks a button (or hits
the key rapidly twice if the menu is bound to a key) when bringing up the menu. If the
double click action is not specified, double clicking on the menu does nothing.
However, if the menu begins with a menu item (i.e. not with a title or a separator)
and the double click action is not given, double clicking invokes the first item of
the menu (but only if the pointer really was over the item).
The pointer is warped to where it was when the menu was invoked if it was both invoked
and closed with a keystroke.
The position arguments allow placement of the menu somewhere on the screen, for
example centered on the visible screen or above a title bar. Basically it works like
this: you specify a context-rectangle and an offset to this rectangle by which the
upper left corner of the menu is moved from the upper left corner of the rectangle.
The position arguments consist of several parts:
[context-rectangle] x y [special-options]
The context-rectangle can be one of:
Root
the root window of the current screen.
Mouse
a 1x1 rectangle at the mouse position.
Window
the frame of the context window.
Interior
the inside of the context window.
Title
the title of the context window or icon.
Button<n>, Icon
the icon of the context window.
Menu
the current menu.
Item
the current menu item.
Context
the current window, menu or icon.
This
whatever widget the pointer is on (e.g. a corner of a window or the root window).
Rectangle <geometry>
the rectangle defined by <geometry> in X geometry format. Width and height default
to 1 if omitted.
If the context-rectangle is omitted or illegal (e.g. "item" on a window), "Mouse" is the
default. Note that not all of these make sense under all circumstances (e.g. "Icon" if the
pointer is on a menu).
The offset values x and y specify how far the menu is moved from its default position. By
default, the numeric value given is interpreted as a percentage of the context rectangle’s
width (height), but with a trailing 'm' the menu’s width (height) is used instead.
Furthermore a trailing 'p' changes the interpretation to mean pixels.
Instead of a single value you can use a list of values. All additional numbers after the
first one are separated from their predecessor by their sign. Do not use any other
separators.
If x or y are prefixed with "'o<number>" where <number> is an integer, the menu and the
rectangle are moved to overlap at the specified position before any other offsets are
applied. The menu and the rectangle are placed so that the pixel at <number> percent of
the rectangle’s width/height is right over the pixel at <number> percent of the menu’s
width/height. So "o0" means that the top/left borders of the menu and the rectangle
overlap, with "o100" it’s the bottom/right borders and if you use "o50" they are centered
upon each other (try it and you will see it is much simpler than this description). The
default is "o0". The prefix "o<number>" is an abbreviation for "+<number>-<number>m".
A prefix of 'c' is equivalent to "o50". Examples:
# window list in the middle of the screen
WindowList Root c c
# menu to the left of a window
Menu name window -100m c+0
# popup menu 8 pixels above the mouse pointer
Popup name mouse c -100m-8p
# somewhere on the screen
Menu name rectangle 512x384+1+1 +0 +0
# centered vertically around a menu item
AddToMenu foobar-menu
+ "first item" Nop
+ "special item" Popup "another menu" item +100 c
+ "last item" Nop
# above the first menu item
AddToMenu foobar-menu
+ "first item" Popup "another menu" item +0 -100m
Note that you can put a sub menu far off the current menu so you could not reach it with
the mouse without leaving the menu. If the pointer leaves the current menu in the general
direction of the sub menu the menu stays up.
The special-options:
To create a tear off menu without opening the normal menu, add the option
TearOffImmediately. Normally the menu opens in normal state for a split second before
being torn off. As tearing off places the menu like any other window, a position should be
specified explicitly:
# Forbid fvwm to place the menu window
Style <name of menu> UsePPosition
# Menu at top left corner of screen
Menu Root 0p 0p TearOffImmediately
The Animated and Mwm or Win menu styles may move a menu somewhere else on the screen. If
you do not want this you can add Fixed as an option. This might happen for example if you
want the menu always in the top right corner of the screen.
Where do you want a menu to appear when you click on its menu item? The default is to
place the title under the cursor, but if you want it where the position arguments say, use
the SelectInPlace option. If you want the pointer on the title of the menu, use SelectWarp
too. Note that these options apply only if the PopupAsRootMenu MenuStyle option is used.
The pointer is warped to the title of a sub menu whenever the pointer would be on an item
when the sub menu is popped up (fvwm menu style) or never warped to the title at all (Mwm
or Win menu styles). You can force (forbid) warping whenever the sub menu is opened with
the WarpTitle (NoWarp) option.
Note that the special-options do work with a normal menu that has no other position
arguments. MenuStyle stylename [options]:: Sets a new menu style or changes a previously
defined style. The stylename is the style name; if it contains spaces or tabs it has to be
quoted. The name "" is reserved for the default menu style. The default menu style is used
for every menu-like object (e.g. the window created by the *WindowList command) that had
not be assigned a style using the ChangeMenuStyle. See also DestroyMenuStyle. When using
monochrome color options are ignored.
options is a comma separated list containing some of the keywords Fvwm / Mwm / Win,
BorderWidth, Foreground, Background, Greyed, HilightBack / !HilightBack, HilightTitleBack,
ActiveFore / !ActiveFore, MenuColorset, ActiveColorset, GreyedColorset, TitleColorset,
Hilight3DThick / Hilight3DThin / Hilight3DOff, Hilight3DThickness, Animation / !Animation,
Font, TitleFont, MenuFace, PopupDelay, PopupOffset, TitleWarp / !TitleWarp,
TitleUnderlines0 / TitleUnderlines1 / TitleUnderlines2, SeparatorsLong / SeparatorsShort,
TrianglesSolid / TrianglesRelief, PopupImmediately / PopupDelayed, PopdownImmediately /
PopdownDelayed, PopupActiveArea, DoubleClickTime, SidePic, SideColor, PopupAsRootMenu /
PopupAsSubmenu / PopupIgnore / PopupClose, RemoveSubmenus / HoldSubmenus, SubmenusRight /
SubmenusLeft, SelectOnRelease, ItemFormat, VerticalItemSpacing, VerticalMargins,
VerticalTitleSpacing, AutomaticHotkeys / !AutomaticHotkeys, UniqueHotkeyActivatesImmediate
/ !UniqueHotkeyActivatesImmediate, MouseWheel, ScrollOffPage / !ScrollOffPage,
TrianglesUseFore / !TrianglesUseFore.
In the above list some options are listed as option pairs or triples with a '/' in
between. These options exclude each other. All paired options can be negated to have the
effect of the counterpart option by prefixing ! to the option.
Some options are now negated by prefixing ! to the option. This is the preferred form for
all such options. The other negative forms are now deprecated and will be removed in the
future.
This is a list of MenuStyle deprecated negative options: ActiveForeOff, AnimationOff,
AutomaticHotkeysOff, HilightBackOff, TitleWarpOff
Fvwm, Mwm, Win reset all options to the style with the same name in former versions of
fvwm. The default for new menu styles is Fvwm style. These options override all others
except Foreground, Background, Greyed, HilightBack, ActiveFore and PopupDelay, so they
should be used only as the first option specified for a menu style or to reset the style
to defined behavior. The same effect can be created by setting all the other options one
by one.
Mwm and Win style menus popup sub menus automatically. Win menus indicate the current menu
item by changing the background to dark. Fvwm sub menus overlap the parent menu, Mwm and
Win style menus never overlap the parent menu.
Fvwm style is equivalent to !HilightBack, Hilight3DThin, !ActiveFore, !Animation, Font,
MenuFace, PopupOffset 0 67, TitleWarp, TitleUnderlines1, SeparatorsShort, TrianglesRelief,
PopupDelayed, PopdownDelayed, PopupDelay 150, PopdownDelay 150, PopupAsSubmenu,
HoldSubmenus, SubmenusRight, BorderWidth 2, !AutomaticHotkeys,
UniqueHotkeyActivatesImmediate, PopupActiveArea 75.
Mwm style is equivalent to !HilightBack, Hilight3DThick, !ActiveFore, !Animation, Font,
MenuFace, PopupOffset -3 100, !TitleWarp, TitleUnderlines2, SeparatorsLong,
TrianglesRelief, PopupImmediately, PopdownDelayed, PopdownDelay 150, PopupAsSubmenu,
HoldSubmenus, SubmenusRight, BorderWidth 2, UniqueHotkeyActivatesImmediate,
!AutomaticHotkeys, PopupActiveArea 75.
Win style is equivalent to HilightBack, Hilight3DOff, ActiveFore, !Animation, Font,
MenuFace, PopupOffset -5 100, !TitleWarp, TitleUnderlines1, SeparatorsShort,
TrianglesSolid, PopupImmediately, PopdownDelayed, PopdownDelay 150, PopupAsSubmenu,
RemoveSubmenus, SubmenusRight, BorderWidth 2, UniqueHotkeyActivatesImmediate,
!AutomaticHotkeys, PopupActiveArea 75.
BorderWidth takes the thickness of the border around the menus in pixels. It may be zero
to 50 pixels. The default is 2. Using an illegal value reverts the border width to the
default.
Foreground and Background may have a color name as an argument. This color is used for
menu text or the menu’s background. You can omit the color name to reset these colors to
the built-in default.
Greyed may have a color name as an argument. This color is the one used to draw a
menu-selection which is prohibited (or not recommended) by the Mwm hints which an
application has specified. If the color is omitted the color of greyed menu entries is
based on the background color of the menu.
HilightBack and !HilightBack switch hilighting the background of the selected menu item on
and off. A specific background color may be used by providing the color name as an
argument to HilightBack. If you use this option without an argument the color is based on
the menu’s background color. The ActiveColorset option overrides the specified color. If
the colorset has a non solid background it is used for the hilighting.
HilightTitleBack switches hilighting the background of menu titles on. If a TitleColorset
was used, the background colour is taken from there. Otherwise the color is based on the
menu’s background color. If the colorset has a non solid background it is used for the
hilighting.
ActiveFore and !ActiveFore switch hilighting the foreground of the selected menu item on
and off. A specific foreground color may be used by providing the color name as an
argument to ActiveFore. Omitting the color turns hilighting on when an ActiveColorset is
used. ActiveFore turns off hilighting the foreground completely. The ActiveColorset option
overrides the specified color.
MenuColorset controls if a colorset is used instead of the Foreground, Background and
MenuFace menu styles. If the MenuColorset keyword is followed by a number equal to zero or
greater, this number is taken as the number of the colorset to use. If the number is
omitted, the colorset is switched off and the regular menu styles are used again. The
foreground and background colors of the menu items are replaced by the colors from the
colorset. If the colorset has a pixmap defined, this pixmap is used as the background of
the menu. Note that the MenuFace menu style has been optimized for memory consumption and
may use less memory than the background from a colorset. The shape mask from the colorset
is used to shape the menu. Please refer to the Colorsets section for details about
colorsets.
ActiveColorset works exactly like MenuColorset, but the foreground from the colorset
replaces the color given with the ActiveFore menu style and the colorset’s background
color replaces the color given with the HilightBack command (to turn on background
hilighting you have to use the HilightBack menu style too). If specified, the hilight and
shadow colors from the colorset are used too. The pixmap and shape mask from the colorset
are not used. Hilighting the background or foreground can be turned off individually with
the !ActiveFore or !HilightBack menu styles.
GreyedColorset works exactly like MenuColorset, but the foreground from the colorset
replaces the color given with the Greyed menu style. No other parts of the colorset are
used.
TitleColorset works exactly like MenuColorset, but is used only for menu titles.
Hilight3DThick, Hilight3DThin and Hilight3DOff determine if the selected menu item is
hilighted with a 3D relief. Thick reliefs are two pixels wide, thin reliefs are one pixel
wide.
Hilight3DThickness takes one numeric argument that may be between -50 and +50 pixels. With
negative values the menu item gets a pressed in look. The above three commands are
equivalent to a thickness of 2, 1 and 0.
Animation and !Animation turn menu animation on or off. When animation is on, sub menus
that do not fit on the screen cause the parent menu to be shifted to the left so the sub
menu can be seen.
Font and TitleFont take a font name as an argument. If a font by this name exists it is
used for the text of all menu items. If it does not exist or if the name is left blank the
built-in default is used. If a TitleFont is given, it is used for all menu titles instead
of the normal font.
MenuFace enforces a fancy background upon the menus. You can use the same options for
MenuFace as for the ButtonStyle. See description of ButtonStyle command and the Color
Gradients sections for more information. If you use MenuFace without arguments the style
is reverted back to normal.
Some examples of MenuFaces are:
MenuFace DGradient 128 2 lightgrey 50 blue 50 white
MenuFace TiledPixmap texture10.xpm
MenuFace HGradient 128 2 Red 40 Maroon 60 White
MenuFace Solid Maroon
Note: The gradient styles H, V, B and D are optimized for high speed and low memory
consumption in menus. This is not the case for all the other gradient styles. They may be
slow and consume huge amounts of memory, so if you encounter performance problems with
them you may be better off by not using them. To improve performance you can try one or
all of the following:
Turn hilighting of the active menu item other than foreground color off:
MenuStyle <style> Hilight3DOff, !HilightBack
MenuStyle <style> ActiveFore <preferred color>
Make sure sub menus do not overlap the parent menu. This can prevent menus being redrawn
every time a sub menu pops up or down.
MenuStyle <style> PopupOffset 1 100
Run your X server with backing storage. If your X Server is started with the -bs option,
turn it off. If not try the -wm and +bs options:
startx -- -wm +bs
You may have to adapt this example to your system (e.g. if you use xinit to start X).
PopupDelay requires one numeric argument. This value is the delay in milliseconds before a
sub menu is popped up when the pointer moves over a menu item that has a sub menu. If the
value is zero no automatic pop up is done. If the argument is omitted the built-in default
is used. Note that the popup delay has no effect if the PopupImmediately option is used
since sub menus pop up immediately then.
PopupImmediately makes menu items with sub menus pop up it up as soon as the pointer
enters the item. The PopupDelay option is ignored then. If PopupDelayed is used fvwm looks
at the PopupDelay option if or when this automatic popup happens.
PopdownDelay works exactly like PopupDelay but determines the timeout of the PopupDelayed
style.
PopdownImmediately makes sub menus vanish as soon as the pointer leaves the sub menu and
the correspondent item in the parent menu. With the opposite option PopdownDelayed the sub
menu only pops down after the time specified with the PopdownDelay option. This comes
handy when the pointer often strays off the menu item when trying to move into the sub
menu. Whenever there is a conflict between the PopupImmediately, PopupDelayed, PopupDelay
styles and the PopdownImmediately, PopdownDelayed, PopdownDelay styles, the Popup...
styles win when using mouse navigation and the Popdown... styles win when navigating with
the keyboard.
PopupOffset requires two integer arguments. Both values affect where sub menus are placed
relative to the parent menu. If both values are zero, the left edge of the sub menu
overlaps the left edge of the parent menu. If the first value is non-zero the sub menu is
shifted that many pixels to the right (or left if negative). If the second value is
non-zero the menu is moved by that many percent of the parent menu’s width to the right or
left.
PopupActiveArea requires an integer value between 51 and 100. Normally, when the pointer
is over a menu item with a sub menu and the pointer enters the area that starts at 75% of
the menu width, the sub menu is shown immediately. This percentage can be changed with
PopupActiveArea. Setting this value to 100 disables this kind of automatic popups
altogether. The default value is restored if no or an illegal value is given.
TitleWarp and !TitleWarp affect if the pointer warps to the menu title when a sub menu is
opened or not. Note that regardless of this setting the pointer is not warped if the menu
does not pop up under the pointer.
TitleUnderlines0, TitleUnderlines1 and TitleUnderlines2 specify how many lines are drawn
below a menu title.
SeparatorsLong and SeparatorsShort set the length of menu separators. Long separators run
from the left edge all the way to the right edge. Short separators leave a few pixels to
the edges of the menu.
TrianglesSolid and TrianglesRelief affect how the small triangles for sub menus is drawn.
Solid triangles are filled with a color while relief triangles are hollow.
DoubleClickTime requires one numeric argument. This value is the time in milliseconds
between two mouse clicks in a menu to be considered as a double click. The default is 450
milliseconds. If the argument is omitted the double click time is reset to this default.
SidePic takes the name of an image file as an argument. The picture is drawn along the
left side of the menu. The SidePic option can be overridden by a menu specific side pixmap
(see AddToMenu). If the file name is omitted an existing side pixmap is removed from the
menu style.
SideColor takes the name of an X11 color as an argument. This color is used to color the
column containing the side picture (see above). The SideColor option can be overridden by
a menu specific side color (see AddToMenu). If the color name is omitted the side color
option is switched off.
PopupAsRootMenu, PopupAsSubmenu, PopupIgnore and PopupClose change the behavior when you
click on a menu item that opens a sub menu. With PopupAsRootMenu the original menu is
closed before the sub menu appears, with PopupAsSubmenu it is not, so you can navigate
back into the parent menu. Furthermore, with PopupAsSubmenu the sub menu is held open
(posted) regardless of where you move the mouse. Depending on your menu style this may
simplify navigating through the menu. Any keystroke while a menu is posted reverts the
menu back to the normal behavior. With PopupClose the menu is closed when a sub menu item
is activated, and the menu stays open if PopupIgnore is used (even if the menu was invoked
with the Popup command). PopupAsSubmenu is the default.
RemoveSubmenus instructs fvwm to remove sub menu when you move back into the parent menu.
With HoldSubmenus the sub menu remains visible. You probably want to use HoldSubmenus if
you are using the PopupDelayed style. RemoveSubmenus affects menu navigation with the
keyboard.
SelectOnRelease takes an optional key name as an argument. If the given key is released in
a menu using this style, the current menu item is selected. This is intended for
WindowList navigation. The key name is a standard X11 key name as defined in
/usr/include/X11/keysymdef.h, (without the XK_ prefix), or the keysym database
/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/XKeysymDB. To disable this behavior, omit the key name.
Note: Some X servers do not support KeyRelease events. SelectOnRelease does not work on
such a machine.
ItemFormat takes a special string as its argument that determines the layout of the menu
items. Think of the format string as if it were a menu item. All you have to do is tell
fvwm where to place the different parts of the menu item (i.e. the labels, the triangle
denoting a sub menu, the mini icons and the side pic) in the blank area. The string
consists of spaces,
characters and formatting directives beginning with '%'. Any illegal characters and
formatting directives are silently ignored:
%l, %c and %r
Insert the next item label. Up to three labels can be used. The item column is
left-aligned (%l), centered (%c) or right-aligned (%r).
%i
Inserts the mini icon.
%> and %<
Insert the sub menu triangle pointing either to the right (%>) or to the left (%<).
%|
The first %| denotes the beginning of the area that is highlighted either with a
background color or a relief (or both). The second %| marks the end of this area. %|
can be used up to twice in the string. If you do not add one or both of them, fvwm
sets the margins to the margins of the whole item (not counting the side picture).
%s
Places the side picture either at the beginning or the end of the menu. This directive
may be used only once and only as the first or last in the format string. If the %s is
not at the beginning of the string, menus are not drawn properly.
Space, Tab, %Space and %Tab
Add gap of one space, or a tab, using the width of the menu font. When using a tab,
the size of the gap can be one to 8 spaces since the tab position is a multiple of 8
from the edge of the menu. The whole string must be quoted if spaces or tabs are used.
%p
Like Space and Tab %p inserts an empty area into the item, but with better control of
its size (see below).
You can define an additional space before and after each of the objects like this:
%left.rightp
This means: if the object is defined in the menu (e.g. if it is %s and you use a side
picture, or it is %l for the third column and there are items defined that actually have a
third column), then add left pixels before the object and right pixels after it. You may
leave out the left or the .right parts if you do not need them. All values up to the
screen width are allowed. Even negative values can be used with care. The p may be
replaced with any other formatting directives described above.
Note: Only items defined in the format string are visible in the menus. So if you do not
put a %s in there you do not see a side picture, even if one is specified.
Note: The SubmenusLeft style changes the default ItemFormat string, but if it was set
manually it is not modified.
Note: If any unformatted title of the menu is wider than the widest menu item, the spaces
between the different parts of the menu items are enlarged to match the width of the
title. Leading left aligned objects in the format string (%l, %i, %<, first %|) stick to
the left edge of the menu and trailing right aligned objects (%r, %i, %>, second %|) stick
to the right edge. The gaps between the remaining items are enlarged equally.
Examples:
MenuStyle * ItemFormat "%.4s%.1|%.5i%.5l%.5l%.5r%.5i%2.3>%1|"
Is the default string used by fvwm: (side picture + 4 pixels gap) (beginning of the
hilighted area + 1 pixel gap) (mini icon + 5p) (first column left aligned + 5p) (second
column left aligned + 5p) (third column right aligned + 5p) (second mini icon + 5p) (2p +
sub menu triangle + 3p) (1p + end of hilighted area).
MenuStyle * ItemFormat "%.1|%3.2<%5i%5l%5l%5r%5i%1|%4s"
Is used by fvwm with the SubmenusLeft option below.
VerticalItemSpacing and VerticalTitleSpacing control the vertical spacing of menu items
and titles like ItemFormat controls the horizontal spacing. Both take two numeric
arguments that may range from -100 to +100. The first is the gap in pixels above a normal
menu item (or a menu title), the second is the gap in pixels below it. Negative numbers do
not make much sense and may screw up the menu completely. If no arguments are given or the
given arguments are invalid, the built-in defaults are used: one pixel above the item or
title and two below.
VerticalMargins can be used to add some padding at the top and bottom of menus. It takes
two numeric arguments that must be positive integers (or zero). If the number of arguments
or its values are incorrect, fvwm defaults both to 0, which means no padding at all. If
the values are correct, the first one is used for the top margin, and the second one is
used for the bottom margin.
SubmenusLeft mirrors the menu layout and behavior. Sub menus pop up to the left, the sub
menu triangle is drawn left and the mini icon and side picture are drawn at the right side
of the menu. The default is SubmenusRight. The position hints of a menu are also affected
by this setting, i.e. position hints using item or menu as context rectangle and position
hints using m offsets.
AutomaticHotkeys and !AutomaticHotkeys control the menu’s ability to automatically provide
hot-keys on the first character of each menu item’s label. This behavior is always
overridden if an explicit hot-key is assigned in the AddToMenu command.
UniqueHotkeyActivatesImmediate and !UniqueHotkeyActivatesImmediate controls how menu items
are invoked when used with hotkeys. By default, if a given menu entry only has one
completeable match for a given hotkey, the action for that menu entry is invoked and the
menu is closed. This is due to the UniqueHotkeyActivatesImmediate option. However, the
menu can be told to remain open, waiting for the user to invoke the selected item instead
when there is only one matched item for a given hotkey, by using the
!UniqueHotkeyActivatesImmediate option.
MouseWheel controls the ability to scroll the menu using a mouse wheel. It takes one
argument, that can be one of ScrollsPointer, ScrollsMenu, ScrollsMenuBackwards or
ActivatesItem. ScrollsPointer makes the mouse wheel scroll the pointer over a menu. This
is the default. ScrollsMenu and ScrollsMenuBackwards scroll the menu beneath the pointer.
ActivatesItem disables scrolling by mouse wheel and makes the use of a mouse wheel act as
if the menu was clicked. If no argument is supplied the default setting is restored.
ScrollOffPage allows a menu to be scrolled out of the visible area if MouseWheel is set to
ScrollsMenu or ScrollsMenuBackwards. This is the default. The opposite, !ScrollOffPage
disables this behaviour.
TrianglesUseFore draws sub menu triangles with the foreground color of the menu colorset
(normally drawn with the hilight color). !TrianglesUseFore disables this behaviour.
Examples:
MenuStyle * Mwm
MenuStyle * Foreground Black, Background gray40
MenuStyle * Greyed gray70, ActiveFore White
MenuStyle * !HilightBack, Hilight3DOff
MenuStyle * Font lucidasanstypewriter-14
MenuStyle * MenuFace DGradient 64 darkgray MidnightBlue
MenuStyle red Mwm
MenuStyle red Foreground Yellow
MenuStyle red Background Maroon
MenuStyle red Greyed Red, ActiveFore Red
MenuStyle red !HilightBack, Hilight3DOff
MenuStyle red Font lucidasanstypewriter-12
MenuStyle red MenuFace DGradient 64 Red Black
Note that all style options could be placed on a single line for each style name.
MenuStyle forecolor backcolor shadecolor font style [anim]
This is the old syntax of the MenuStyle command. It is obsolete and may be removed in
the future. Please use the new syntax as described above.
Sets the menu style. When using monochrome the colors are ignored. The shadecolor is
the one used to draw a menu-selection which is prohibited (or not recommended) by the
Mwm hints which an application has specified. The style option is either Fvwm, Mwm or
Win, which changes the appearance and operation of the menus.
Mwm and Win style menus popup sub menus automatically. Win menus indicate the current
menu item by changing the background to black. Fvwm sub menus overlap the parent menu,
Mwm and Win style menus never overlap the parent menu.
When the anim option is given, sub menus that do not fit on the screen cause the
parent menu to be shifted to the left so the sub menu can be seen. See also
SetAnimation command.
Popup PopupName [position] [default-action]
This command has two purposes: to bind a menu to a key or mouse button, and to bind a
sub menu into a menu. The formats for the two purposes differ slightly. The position
arguments are the same as for Menu. The command default-action is invoked if the user
clicks a button to invoke the menu and releases it immediately again (or hits the key
rapidly twice if the menu is bound to a key). If the default action is not specified,
double clicking on the menu does nothing. However, if the menu begins with a menu item
(i.e. not with a title or a separator) and the default action is not given, double
clicking invokes the first item of the menu (but only if the pointer really was over
the item).
To bind a previously defined pop-up menu to a key or mouse button:
The following example binds mouse buttons 2 and 3 to a pop-up called "Window Ops". The
menu pops up if the buttons 2 or 3 are pressed in the window frame, side-bar, or
title-bar, with no modifiers (none of shift, control, or meta).
Mouse 2 FST N Popup "Window Ops"
Mouse 3 FST N Popup "Window Ops"
Pop-ups can be bound to keys through the use of the Key command. Pop-ups can be
operated without using the mouse by binding to keys and operating via the up arrow,
down arrow, and enter keys.
To bind a previously defined pop-up menu to another menu, for use as a sub menu:
The following example defines a sub menu "Quit-Verify" and binds it into a main menu,
called "RootMenu":
AddToMenu Quit-Verify
+ "Really Quit Fvwm?" Title
+ "Yes, Really Quit" Quit
+ "Restart Fvwm" Restart
+ "Restart Fvwm 1.xx" Restart fvwm1 -s
+ "" Nop
+ "No, Don't Quit" Nop
AddToMenu RootMenu "Root Menu" Title
+ "Open XTerm Window" Popup NewWindowMenu
+ "Login as Root" Exec exec xterm -T Root -n Root -e su -
+ "Login as Anyone" Popup AnyoneMenu
+ "Remote Hosts" Popup HostMenu
+ "" Nop
+ "X utilities" Popup Xutils
+ "" Nop
+ "Fvwm Modules" Popup Module-Popup
+ "Fvwm Window Ops" Popup Window-Ops
+ "" Nop
+ "Previous Focus" Prev (AcceptsFocus) Focus
+ "Next Focus" Next (AcceptsFocus) Focus
+ "" Nop
+ "Refresh screen" Refresh
+ "" Nop
+ "Reset X defaults" Exec xrdb -load \
$HOME/.Xdefaults
+ "" Nop
+ "" Nop
+ Quit Popup Quit-Verify
Popup differs from Menu in that pop-ups do not stay up if the user simply clicks.
These are popup-menus, which are a little hard on the wrist. Menu menus stay up on a
click action. See the Menu command for an explanation of the interactive behavior of
menus. A menu can be open up to ten times at once, so a menu may even use itself or
any of its predecessors as a sub menu.
TearMenuOff
When assigned to a menu item, it inserts a tear off bar into the menu (a horizontal
broken line). Activating that item tears off the menu. If the menu item has a label,
it is shown instead of the broken line. If used outside menus, this command does
nothing. Examples:
AddToMenu WindowMenu
+ I "" TearMenuOff
AddToMenu RootMenu
+ I "click here to tear me off" TearMenuOff
Title
Does nothing This is used to insert a title line in a popup or menu.
Miscellaneous Commands
BugOpts [option [bool]], ...
This command controls several workarounds for bugs in third party programs. The
individual options are separated by commas. The optional argument bool is a boolean
argument and controls if the bug workaround is enabled or not. It can either be "True"
or "False" to turn the option on or off, or "toggle" to switch is back and forth. If
bool is omitted, the default setting is restored.
FlickeringMoveWorkaround disables ConfigureNotify events that are usually sent to an
application while it is moved. If some windows flicker annoyingly while being moved,
this option may help you. Note that if this problem occurs it is not an fvwm bug, it
is a problem of the application.
MixedVisualWorkaround makes fvwm install the root colormap before it does some
operations using the root window visuals. This is only useful when the -visual option
is used to start fvwm and then only with some configurations of some servers
(e.g. Exceed 6.0 with an 8 bit PseudoColor root and fvwm using a 24 bit TrueColor
visual).
The ModalityIsEvil option controls whether Motif applications have the ability to have
modal dialogs (dialogs that force you to close them first before you can do anything
else). The default is to not allow applications to have modal dialogs. Use this option
with care. Once this option is turned on, you have to restart fvwm to turn it off.
RaiseOverNativeWindows makes fvwm try to raise the windows it manages over native
windows of the X server’s host system. This is needed for some X servers running under
Windows, Windows NT or Mac OS X. Fvwm tries to detect if it is running under such an X
server and initializes the flag accordingly.
RaiseOverUnmanaged makes fvwm try to raise the windows it manages over
override_redirect windows. This is used to cope with ill-mannered applications that
use long-lived windows of this sort, contrary to ICCCM conventions. It is useful with
the Unmanaged style option too.
FlickeringQtDialogsWorkaround suppresses flickering of the focused window in some
modules when using KDE or QT applications with application modal dialog windows. By
default this option is turned on. This option may be visually disturbing for other
applications using windows not managed by fvwm. Since these applications are rare it
is most likely safe to leave this option at its default.
QtDragnDropWorkaround suppresses the forwarding of unknown ClientEvent messages to
windows — usually this is harmless, but Qt has problems handling unrecognised
ClientEvent messages. Enabling this option might therefore help for Qt applications
using DragnDrop. This option is off by default.
EWMHIconicStateWorkaround is needed by EWMH compliant pagers or taskbars which
represent windows which are on a different desktops as iconified. These pagers and
taskbars use a version of the EWMH specification before version 1.2 (the current KDE 2
& 3 versions). These pagers and taskbars use the IconicState WM_STATE state to
determine if an application is iconified. This state, according to the ICCCM, does not
imply that a window is iconified (in the usual sense). Turning on this option forces
fvwm to establish an equivalence between the IconicState WM_STATE state and the
iconified window. This violates ICCCM compliance but should not cause big problems. By
default this option is off.
With the DisplayNewWindowNames enabled, fvwm prints the name, icon name (if
available), resource and class of new windows to the console. This can help in finding
the correct strings to use in the Style command.
When the ExplainWindowPlacement option is enabled, fvwm prints a message to the
console whenever a new window is placed or PlaceAgain, is used. The message explains
on which desk, page, screen and position it was placed and why. This option can be
used to figure out why a specific window does not appear where you think it should.
The DebugCRMotionMethod option enables some debugging code in the ConfigureRequest
handling routines of fvwm. It is not helpful for the user, but if you report a bug to
the fvwm team we may ask you to enable this option.
The TransliterateUtf8 option enables transliteration during conversions from utf-8
strings. By default fvwm will not transliterate during conversion, but will fall back
to alternate strings provided by the clients if conversion from utf-8 fails due to
characters which have no direct correspondence in the target charecter set. Some
clients however neglect to set non utf-8 properties correctly in which case this
option may help.
BusyCursor [Option bool], ...
This command controls the cursor during the execution of certain commands. Option can
be DynamicMenu, ModuleSynchronous, Read, Wait or *. An option must be followed by a
boolean argument bool. You can use commas to separate individual options. If you set
an option to "True", then when the corresponding command is run, fvwm displays the
cursor of the WAIT context of the CursorStyle command. "False" forces to not display
the cursor. The default is:
BusyCursor DynamicMenu False, ModuleSynchronous False, \
Read False, Wait False
The * option refers to all available options.
The Read option controls the PipeRead command.
The DynamicMenu option affects the DynamicPopupAction and MissingSubmenuFunction
options of the AddToMenu command. If this option is set to "False", then the busy
cursor is not displayed during a dynamic menu command even if this command is a Read
or PipeRead command and the Read option is set to "True".
The ModuleSynchronous option affects the ModuleSynchronous command. If this option is
set to "False", then the busy cursor is not displayed while fvwm waits for a module
started by ModuleSynchronous to complete its startup.
The Wait option affects only the root cursor. During a wait pause the root cursor is
replaced by the busy cursor and fvwm is still fully functional (you can escape from
the pause, see the EscapeFunc command). If you want to use this option and if you do
not use the default root cursor, you must set your root cursor with the CursorStyle
command.
ClickTime [delay]
Specifies the maximum delay in milliseconds between a button press and a button
release for the Function command to consider the action a mouse click. The default
delay is 150 milliseconds. Omitting the delay value resets the ClickTime to the
default.
ClickTime also specifies the delay between two clicks to be interpreted as a
double-click.
ColorLimit limit
This command is obsolete. See the --color-limit option to fvwm.
ColormapFocus FollowsMouse | FollowsFocus
By default, fvwm installs the colormap of the window that the cursor is in. If you use
ColormapFocus FollowsFocus
then the installed colormap is the one for the window that currently has the keyboard
focus.
CursorStyle context [num | name | None | Tiny | file [x y] [fg bg]]
Defines a new cursor for the specified context. Note that this command can not control
the shapes an applications uses, for example, to indicate that it is busy. The various
contexts are:
POSITION (top_left_corner)
used when initially placing windows
TITLE (top_left_arrow)
used in a window title-bar
DEFAULT (top_left_arrow)
used in windows that do not set their cursor
SYS (hand2)
used in one of the title-bar buttons
MOVE (fleur)
used when moving or resizing windows
RESIZE (sizing)
used when moving or resizing windows
WAIT (watch)
used during certain fvwm commands (see BusyCursor for details)
MENU (top_left_arrow)
used in menus
SELECT (crosshair)
used when the user is required to select a window
DESTROY (pirate)
used for Destroy, Close, and Delete commands
TOP (top_side)
used in the top side-bar of a window
RIGHT (right_side)
used in the right side-bar of a window
BOTTOM (bottom_side)
used in the bottom side-bar of a window
LEFT (left_side)
used in the left side-bar of a window
TOP_LEFT (top_left_corner)
used in the top left corner of a window
TOP_RIGHT (top_right_corner)
used in the top right corner of a window
BOTTOM_LEFT (bottom_left_corner)
used in the bottom left corner of a window
BOTTOM_RIGHT (bottom_right_corner)
used in the bottom right corner of a window
TOP_EDGE (top_side)
used at the top edge of the screen
RIGHT_EDGE (right_side)
used at the right edge of the screen
BOTTOM_EDGE (bottom_side)
used at the bottom edge of the screen
LEFT_EDGE (left_side)
used at the left edge of the screen
ROOT (left_ptr)
used as the root cursor
The defaults are shown in parentheses above. If you ever want to restore the default
cursor for a specific context you can omit the second argument.
The second argument is either the numeric value of the cursor as defined in the include
file X11/cursorfont.h or its name (without the XC_ prefix). Alternatively, the xpm file
name may be specified. The name can also be None (no cursor) or Tiny (a single pixel as
the cursor).
# make the kill cursor be XC_gumby (both forms work):
CursorStyle DESTROY 56
CursorStyle DESTROY gumby
Alternatively, the cursor can be loaded from an (XPM, PNG or SVG) image file. If fvwm is
compiled with Xcursor support, full ARGB is used, and (possibly animated) cursor files
made with the xcursorgen program can be loaded. Otherwise the cursor is converted to
monochrome.
The optional x and y arguments (following a file argument) specifies the hot-spot
coordinate with 0 0 as the top left corner of the image. Coordinates within the image
boundary are valid and overrides any hot-spot defined in the (XPM/Xcursor) image file. An
invalid or undefined hot-spot is placed in the center of the image.
CursorStyle ROOT cursor_image.png 0 0
The optional fg and bg arguments specify the foreground and background colors for the
cursor, defaulting to black and white (reverse video compared to the actual bitmap). These
colors are only used with monochrome cursors. Otherwise they are silently ignored.
CursorStyle ROOT nice_arrow.xpm yellow black
DefaultColors [foreground] [background]
DefaultColors sets the default foreground and background colors used in miscellaneous
windows created by fvwm, for example in the geometry feedback windows during a move or
resize operation. If you do not want to change one color or the other, use - as its
color name. To revert to the built-in default colors omit both color names. Note that
the default colors are not used in menus, window titles or icon titles.
DefaultColorset [num]
DefaultColorset sets the colorset used by the windows controlled by the DefaultColors
command. To revert back to the DefaultColors colors use
DefaultColorset -1
or any variant of the DefaultColors command.
DefaultFont [fontname]
DefaultFont sets the default font to font fontname. The default font is used by fvwm
whenever no other font has been specified. To reset the default font to the built-in
default, omit the argument. The default font is used for menus, window titles, icon
titles as well as the geometry feedback windows during a move or resize operation. To
override the default font in a specific context, use the Style * Font, Style *
IconFont, or MenuStyle commands.
DefaultIcon filename
Sets the default icon which is used if a window has neither an client-supplied icon
nor an icon supplied via the Icon option of the Style command.
DefaultLayers bottom put top
Changes the layers that are used for the StaysOnBottom, StaysPut, StaysOnTop Style
options. Initially, the layers 2, 4 and 6 are used.
Deschedule [command_id]
Removes all commands that were scheduled with the id command_id with the Schedule
command from the list of commands to be executed unless they were already executed. If
the command_id is omitted, the value of the variable $[schedule.last] is used as the
id.
Emulate Fvwm | Mwm | Win
This command is a catch all for how miscellaneous things are done by fvwm. Right now
this command affects where the move/resize feedback window appears and how window
placement is aborted. To have more Mwm- or Win-like behavior you can call Emulate with
Mwm or Win as its argument. With Mwm resize and move feedback windows are in the
center of the screen, instead of the upper left corner. This also affects how manual
placement is aborted. See the ManualPlacement description.
EscapeFunc
By default the key sequence Ctrl-Alt-Escape allows for escaping from a Wait pause and
from a locked ModuleSynchronous command. The EscapeFunc command used with the Key
command allows for configuring this key sequence. An example:
Key Escape A MC -
Key Escape A S EscapeFunc
replaces the Ctrl-Alt-Escape key sequence with Shift-Escape for aborting a Wait pause
and ModuleSynchronous command. EscapeFunc used outside the Key command does nothing.
FakeClick [command value] ...
This command is mainly intended for debugging fvwm and no guarantees are made that it
works for you. FakeClick can simulate mouse button press and release events and pass
them to fvwm or the applications. The parameters are a list of commands which consist
of pairs of command tokens and integer values, The press and release commands are
followed by the appropriate mouse button number and generate a button press or release
event on the window below the pointer. The wait commands pauses fvwm for the given
number of milliseconds. The modifiers command simulates pressing or releasing modifier
keys. The values 1 to 5 are mapped to Mod1 to Mod5 while 6, 7 and 8 are mapped to
Shift, Lock and Control. The modifier is set for any further button events. To release
a modifier key, use the corresponding negative number. The depth command determines to
which window the button events are sent. With a depth of 1, all events go to the root
window, regardless of the pointer’s position. With 2, the event is passed to the top
level window under the pointer which is usually the frame window. With 3, events go to
the client window. Higher numbers go to successive sub windows. Zero (0) goes to the
smallest window that contains the pointer. Note that events propagate upward.
FakeClick depth 2 press 1 wait 250 release 1
This simulates a click with button 1 in the parent window (depth 2) with a delay of
250 milliseconds between the press and the release. Note: all command names can be
abbreviated with their first letter.
FakeKeypress [command value] ...
This command is mainly intended for debugging fvwm and no guarantees are made that it
works for you. FakeKeypress can simulate key press and release events and pass them to
fvwm or applications. The parameters are a list of commands which consist of pairs of
command tokens and values. The press and release commands are followed by a key name.
The key name is a standard X11 key name as defined in /usr/include/X11/keysymdef.h,
(without the XK_ prefix), or the keysym database /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/XKeysymDB. The
wait, modifiers and depth commands are the same as those used by FakeClick.
Save all GVim sessions with: "Esc:w\n"
All (gvim) FakeKeypress press Escape \
press colon \
press w \
press Return
Save & exit all GVim sessions with: "Esc:wq\n"
All (gvim) FakeKeypress press Escape \
press colon \
press w \
press q \
press Return
Send A to a specific window:
WindowId 0x3800002 FakeKeypress press A
Note: all command names can be abbreviated with their first letter.
GlobalOpts [options]
This command is obsolete. Please replace the global options in your configuration file
according to the following table:
GlobalOpts WindowShadeShrinks
-->
Style * WindowShadeShrinks
GlobalOpts WindowShadeScrolls
-->
Style * WindowShadeScrolls
GlobalOpts SmartPlacementIsReallySmart
-->
Style * MinOverlapPlacement
GlobalOpts SmartPlacementIsNormal
-->
Style * TileCascadePlacement
GlobalOpts ClickToFocusDoesntPassClick
-->
Style * ClickToFocusPassesClickOff
GlobalOpts ClickToFocusPassesClick
-->
Style * ClickToFocusPassesClick
GlobalOpts ClickToFocusDoesntRaise
-->
Style * ClickToFocusRaisesOff
GlobalOpts ClickToFocusRaises
-->
Style * ClickToFocusRaises
GlobalOpts MouseFocusClickDoesntRaise
-->
Style * MouseFocusClickRaisesOff
GlobalOpts MouseFocusClickRaises
-->
Style * MouseFocusClickRaises
GlobalOpts NoStipledTitles
-->
Style * !StippledTitle
GlobalOpts StipledTitles
-->
Style * StippledTitle
GlobalOpts CaptureHonorsStartsOnPage
-->
Style * CaptureHonorsStartsOnPage
GlobalOpts CaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage
-->
Style * CaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage
GlobalOpts RecaptureHonorsStartsOnPage
-->
Style * RecaptureHonorsStartsOnPage
GlobalOpts RecaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage
-->
Style * RecaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage
GlobalOpts ActivePlacementHonorsStartsOnPage
-->
Style * ManualPlacementHonorsStartsOnPage
GlobalOpts ActivePlacementIgnoresStartsOnPage
-->
Style * ManualPlacementIgnoresStartsOnPage
GlobalOpts RaiseOverNativeWindows
-->
BugOpts RaiseOverNativeWindows on
GlobalOpts IgnoreNativeWindows
-->
BugOpts RaiseOverNativeWindows off
HilightColor textcolor backgroundcolor
This command is obsoleted by the Style options HilightFore and HilightBack. Please use
Style * HilightFore textcolor, HilightBack backgroundcolor
instead.
HilightColorset [num]
This command is obsoleted by the Style option HilightColorset. Please use
Style * HilightColorset num
instead.
IconFont [fontname]
This command is obsoleted by the Style option IconFont. Please use
Style * IconFont fontname
instead.
IconPath path
This command is obsolete. Please use ImagePath instead.
ImagePath path
Specifies a colon separated list of directories in which to search for images (both
monochrome and pixmap). To find an image given by a relative pathname, fvwm looks into
each directory listed in turn, and uses the first file found.
If a directory is given in the form "/some/dir;.ext", this means all images in this
directory have the extension ".ext" that should be forced. The original image name
(that may contain another extension or no extension at all) is not probed, instead
".ext" is added or replaces the original extension. This is useful, for example, if a
user has some image directories with ".xpm" images and other image directories with
the same names, but ".png" images.
The path may contain environment variables such as $HOME (or ${HOME}). Further, a '+'
in the path is expanded to the previous value of the path, allowing appending or
prepending to the path easily.
For example:
ImagePath $HOME/icons:+:/usr/include/X11/bitmaps
Note: if the FvwmM4 module is used to parse your config files, then m4 may want to
mangle the word "include" which frequently shows up in the ImagePath command. To fix
this one may add
undefine(`include')
prior to the ImagePath command, or better: use the -m4-prefix option to force all m4
directives to have a prefix of "m4_" (see the FvwmM4 man page).
LocalePath path
Specifies a colon separated list of "locale path" in which to search for string
translations. A locale path is constituted by a directory path and a text domain
separated by a semicolon (';'). As an example the default locale path is:
/install_prefix/share/locale;fvwm
where install_prefix is the fvwm installation directory. With such a locale path
translations are searched for in
/install_prefix/share/locale/lang/LC_MESSAGES/fvwm.mo
where lang depends on the locale. If no directory is given the default directory path
is assumed. If no text domain is given, fvwm is assumed. Without argument the default
locale path is restored.
As for the ImagePath command, path may contain environment variables and a '+' to
append or prepend the locale path easily.
For example, the fvwm-themes package uses
LocalePath ";fvwm-themes:+"
to add locale catalogs.
The default fvwm catalog contains a few strings used by the fvwm executable itself
(Desk and Geometry) and strings used in some default configuration files and FvwmForm
configuration. You can take a look at the po/ subdirectory of the fvwm source to get
the list of the strings with a possible translation in various languages. At present,
very few languages are supported.
The main use of locale catalogs is via the "$[gt.string]" parameter:
DestroyMenu MenuFvwmWindowOps
AddToMenu MenuFvwmWindowOps "$[gt.Window Ops]" Title
+ "$[gt.&Move]" Move
+ "$[gt.&Resize]" Resize
+ "$[gt.R&aise]" Raise
+ "$[gt.&Lower]" Lower
+ "$[gt.(De)&Iconify]" Iconify
+ "$[gt.(Un)&Stick]" Stick
+ "$[gt.(Un)Ma&ximize]" Maximize
+ "" Nop
+ "$[gt.&Close]" Close
+ "$[gt.&Destroy]" Destroy
gives a menu in the locale languages if translations are available.
Note that the FvwmScript module has a set of special instructions for string
translation. It is out of the scope of this discussion to explain how to build locale
catalogs. Please refer to the GNU gettext documentation.
PixmapPath path
This command is obsolete. Please use ImagePath instead.
PrintInfo subject [verbose]
Print information on subject to debug log file, which defaults to
$HOME/.fvwm/fvwm3-output.log . Environment variables $FVWM_USERDIR and $FVWM3_LOGFILE
can alter this default. For this logfile to be written, either fvwm3 has to be started
with -v option or SIGUSR2 signal can be used to toggle opening/closing debug log file.
An optional integer argument to debug log file, which defaults to
$HOME/.fvwm/fvwm3-output.log . Environment variables $FVWM_USERDIR and $FVWM3_LOGFILE
can alter this default. For this logfile to be written, either fvwm3 has to be started
with -v option or SIGUSR2 signal can be used to toggle opening/closing debug log file.
An optional integer argument verbose defines the level of information which is given.
The current valid subjects are:
Colors which prints information about the colors used by fvwm. This useful on screens
which can only display 256 (or less) colors at once. If verbose is one or greater the
palette used by fvwm is printed. If you have a limited color palette, and you run out
of colors, this command might be helpful.
ImageCache which prints information about the images loaded by fvwm. If verbose is one
or greater all images in the cache will be listed together with their respective
reuse.
Locale which prints information on your locale and the fonts that fvwm used. verbose
can be 1 or 2.
nls which prints information on the locale catalogs that fvwm used
style which prints information on fvwm styles. verbose can be 1.
bindings which prints information on all the bindings fvwm has: key and mouse
bindings. verbose has no effect with this option.
infostore which prints information on all entries in the infostore, listing the key
and its value. verbose has no effect with this option.
Repeat
When the Repeat command is invoked, the last command that was executed by fvwm is
executed again. This happens regardless of whether it was triggered by user
interaction, a module or by an X event. Commands that are executed from a function
defined with the Function command, from the Read or PipeRead commands or by a menu are
not repeated. Instead, the function, menu or the Read or PipeRead command is executed
again.
Schedule [Periodic] delay_ms [command_id] command
The command is executed after about delay_ms milliseconds. This may be useful in
some tricky setups. The command is executed in the same context window as the Schedule
command. An optional integer argument command_id may be given in decimal, hexadecimal
or octal format. This id can be used with the Deschedule command to remove the
scheduled command before it is executed. If no id is given, fvwm uses negative id
numbers, starting with -1 and decreasing by one with each use of the Schedule command.
Note that the Schedule command and its arguments undergo the usual command line
expansion, and, when command is finally executed, it is expanded again. It may
therefore be necessary to quote the parts of the command that must not be expanded
twice.
Note: A window’s id as it is returned with $[w.id] can be used as the command_id.
Example:
Current Schedule 1000 $[w.id] WindowShade
The Schedule command also supports the optional keyword Periodic which indicates that
the command should be executed every delay_ms. Example:
Schedule Periodic 10000 PipeRead '[ -N "$MAIL" ] && echo \
Echo You have mail'
Use the Deschedule command to stop periodic commands.
State state [bool]
Sets, clears or toggles one of the 32 user defined states which are associated with
each window. The state is a number ranging from 0 to 31. The states have no meaning in
fvwm, but they can be checked in conditional commands like Next with the State
condition. The optional argument bool is a boolean argument. "True" sets the given
state, while "False" clears it. Using "toggle" switches to the opposite state. If the
bool argument is not given, the state is toggled.
WindowFont [fontname]
This command is obsoleted by the Style option Font. Please use
Style * Font fontname
instead.
WindowList [(conditions)] [position] [options] [double-click-action]
Generates a pop-up menu (and pops it up) in which the title and geometry of each of
the windows currently on the desktop are shown.
The format of the geometry part is: desk(layer): x-geometry sticky, where desk and
layer are the corresponding numbers and sticky is empty or a capital S. The geometry
of iconified windows is shown in parentheses. Selecting an item from the window list
pop-up menu causes the interpreted function "WindowListFunc" to be run with the window
id of that window passed in as $0. The default "WindowListFunc" looks like this:
AddToFunc WindowListFunc
+ I Iconify off
+ I FlipFocus
+ I Raise
+ I WarpToWindow 5p 5p
You can destroy the built-in "WindowListFunc" and create your own if these defaults do
not suit you.
The window list menu uses the "WindowList" menu style if it is defined (see MenuStyle
command). Otherwise the default menu style is used. To switch back to the default menu
style, issue the command
DestroyMenuStyle WindowList
Example:
MenuStyle WindowList SelectOnRelease Meta_L
The conditions can be used to exclude certain windows from the window list. Please
refer to the Current command for details. Only windows that match the given conditions
are displayed in the window list. The options below work vice versa: windows that
would otherwise not be included in the window list can be selected with them. The
conditions always override the options.
The position arguments are the same as for Menu. The command double-click-action is
invoked if the user double-clicks (or hits the key rapidly twice if the menu is bound
to a key) when bringing the window list. The double-click-action must be quoted if it
consists of more than one word.
The double-click-action is useful to define a default window if you have bound the
window list to a key (or button) like this:
# Here we call an existing function, but
# it may be different. See the default
# WindowListFunc definition earlier in this
# man page.
AddToFunc SwitchToWindow
+ I WindowListFunc
Key Tab A M WindowList "Prev SwitchToWindow"
Hitting Alt-Tab once it brings up the window list, if you hit it twice the focus is
flipped between the current and the last focused window. With the proper
SelectOnRelease menu style (see example above) a window is selected as soon as you
release the Alt key.
The options passed to WindowList are separated by commas and can be Geometry /
NoGeometry / NoGeometryWithInfo, NoDeskNum, NoLayer, NoNumInDeskTitle,
NoCurrentDeskTitle, MaxLabelWidth width, TitleForAllDesks, Function funcname, Desk
desknum, CurrentDesk, NoIcons / Icons / OnlyIcons, NoNormal / Normal / OnlyNormal,
NoSticky / Sticky / OnlySticky, NoStickyAcrossPages / StickyAcrossPages /
OnlyStickyAcrossPages, NoStickyAcrossDesks / StickyAcrossDesks /
OnlyStickyAcrossDesks, NoOnTop / OnTop / OnlyOnTop, NoOnBottom / OnBottom /
OnlyOnBottom, Layer m [n], UseSkipList / OnlySkipList, NoDeskSort, ReverseOrder,
CurrentAtEnd, IconifiedAtEnd, UseIconName, Alphabetic / NotAlphabetic, SortByResource,
SortByClass, NoHotkeys, SelectOnRelease.
(Note - normal means not iconic, sticky, or on top)
With the SortByResource option windows are alphabetically sorted first by resource
class, then by resource name and then by window name (or icon name if UseIconName is
specified). ReverseOrder also works in the expected manner.
With the SortByClass option windows are sorted just like with SortByResource, but the
resource name is not taken into account, only the resource class.
The SelectOnRelease option works exactly like the MenuStyle option with the same name,
but overrides the option given in a menu style. By default, this option is set to the
left
key. To switch it off, use SelectOnRelease without a key name.
If you pass in a function via Function funcname, it is called within a window context
of the selected window:
AddToFunc IFunc I Iconify toggle
WindowList Function IFunc, NoSticky, CurrentDesk, NoIcons
If you use the Layer m [n] option, only windows in layers between m and n are
displayed. n defaults to m. With the ReverseOrder option the order of the windows in
the list is reversed.
With the CurrentAtEnd option the currently focused window (if any) is shown at the
bottom of the list. This is mostly intended for simulating the Alt-Tab behavior in
another GUI.
IconifiedAtEnd makes iconified windows be moved to the end of the list. This is also
from another GUI.
The NoGeometry option causes fvwm to not display the geometries as well as the
separators which indicate the different desktops. NoGeometryWithInfo removes the
geometries, but keep the desktop information and indicates iconic windows. NoDeskNum
causes fvwm to not display the desktop number in the geometry or before the window
title with the NoGeometryWithInfo option. NoNumInDeskTitle is only useful if a desktop
name is defined with the DesktopName command. It causes fvwm to not display the
desktop number before the desktop name. By default, the WindowList menu have a title
which indicates the current desk or the selected desktop if the Desk condition is
used. The NoCurrentDeskTitle option removes this title. TitleForAllDesks causes fvwm
to add a menu title with the desk name and/or number before each group of windows on
the same desk. With NoLayer, the layer of the window is not displayed. The options
ShowPage, ShowPageX and ShowPageY enable displaying the page of the window rounded
multiples of the display size. With ShowScreen, the window’s screen name is displayed.
The MaxLabelWidth option takes the number of characters to print as its argument. No
more than that many characters of the window name are visible.
If you wanted to use the WindowList as an icon manager, you could invoke the
following:
WindowList OnlyIcons, Sticky, OnTop, Geometry
(Note - the Only options essentially wipe out all other ones... but the OnlyListSkip
option which just causes WindowList to only consider the windows with WindowListSkip
style.)
XSync
When XSync is called, the X function with the same name is used to send all pending X
requests to the server. This command is intended for debugging only.
XSynchronize [bool]
The XSynchronize command controls whether X requests are sent to the X server
immediately or not. Normally, requests are sent in larger batches to save unnecessary
communication. To send requests immediately, use "True" as the argument, to disable
this use "False" or to toggle between both methods use "Toggle" or omit the bool
argument. Fvwm defaults to synchronized requests when started with the --debug option.
This command is intended for debugging only.
+
Used to continue adding to the last specified decor, function or menu. See the
discussion for AddToDecor, AddToFunc, and AddToMenu.
Window Movement and Placement
AnimatedMove x y [Warp]
Move a window in an animated fashion. Similar to Move command. The options are the
same, except they are required, since it doesn’t make sense to have a user move the
window interactively and animatedly. If the optional argument Warp is specified the
pointer is warped with the window.
GeometryWindow Hide | Show | Colorset n | Position x y | Screen S
Configures the position or size window that is usually shown when a window is moved or
resized interactively. This can be used to hide, show, change the colorset, change the
location, or change the screen of the geometry window. Multiple options can be set at
once separated by spaces. Details of each option are described below.
GeometryWindow Hide [Never | Move | Resize]
Hides or switches off the geometry window. If the optional parameters Move or Resize
are given, it will only hide the geometry window during the respective operation. The
parameter Never will switch the geometry back on again (equivalent to Show).
GeometryWindow Show [Never | Move | Resize]
Shows or switches on the geometry window (equivalent to Hide Never). If the optional
parameters Move or Resize are given, it will only show the geometry window during the
respective operation. The parameter Never will switch the geometry window off
(equivalent to Hide).
GeometryWindow Colorset cset
Sets colorset of the gometry window to cset. Use the literal option default for cset
to use the default colorset.
GeometryWindow Position [+|-]x[p] [+|-]y[p]
Configures the position the geometry window appears. x and y are the relative
coordinates as a percentage of the screen size. If a leading '-' is provided the
coordinates are computed from the left/bottom of the screen respectively. If the
coordinates are appended with a 'p', they are interpreted as the number of pixels from
the respective screen edge. If no position arguments are given, the geometry window’s
position will return to its default state of the upper left corner or the center if
emulating MWM.
GeometryWindow Screen RANDRNAME
Configure which screen the geometry window is shown on. By default the geometry window
is shown on the current screen. If a valid RANDRNAME is provided, the geometry window
will always be shown on that screen. Use current as the RANDRNAME to return the
default.
Examples:
# Position the geometry window in the center of the screen
GeometryWindow Position 50 50
# Position the geometry window next to the RightPanel
GeometryWindow Position -120p 0
# Use colorset 2 for the geometry window
GeometryWindow Colorset 2
# Only show the geometry window on the primary monitor
GeometryWindow Screen $[monitor.primary]
# Hide the geometry window
GeometryWindow Hide
HideGeometryWindow [Never | Move | Resize]
This command has been depreciated and is now obsolete. Use GeometryWindow Hide
instead.
Layer [arg1 arg2] | [default]
Puts the current window in a new layer. If arg1 is non zero then the next layer is the
current layer number plus arg1. If arg1 is zero then the new layer is arg2.
As a special case, default puts the window in its default layer, i.e. the layer it was
initially in. The same happens if no or invalid arguments are specified.
Lower
Allows the user to lower a window. Note that this lowers a window only in its layer.
To bring a window to the absolute bottom, use
AddToFunc lower-to-bottom
+ I Layer 0 0
+ I Lower
Move [options]
Allows the user to move a window. If called from somewhere in a window or its border,
then that window is moved. If called from the root window, then the user is allowed to
select the target window. Move can be called with various options to either start an
interactive move, specify the position to move, or a direction.
Calling Move by itself with no options starts an interactive move. When moving a
window interactively, the window may snap to other windows and screen boundaries,
configurable via the SnapAttraction style. Holding down Alt whilst moving the window
will disable snap attraction during the move. Moving a window to the edge of the
screen can be used to drag the window to other pages, see EdgeScroll, and the
EdgeMoveDelay style for more information.
The interactive move operation can be aborted with Escape or any mouse button not set
to place the window. By default mouse button 2 is set to cancel the move operation. To
change this you may use the Mouse command with special context 'P' for Placement.
The window condition PlacedByButton can be used to check if a specific button was
pressed to place the window (see Current command).
If the single argument pointer is given, the top left corner of the window is moved to
the pointer position before starting an interactive move; this is mainly intended for
internal use by modules like FvwmPager.
Move pointer
To move a window in a given direction until it hits another window, icon, or screen
boundary use:
Move shuffle [Warp] [snap type] [layers min max] direction(s)
The direction can be North/N/Up/U, East/E/Right/R, South/S/Down/D, or West/W/Left/L.
The window will move in the given direction until it hits another window, the
EwmhBaseStruts, or the screen boundary. If multiple direction(s) are given, the window
will move the directions in the order of the sequence stated.
The literal option Warp will warp the mouse pointer to the window. If the literal
option snap followed by a snap type of windows, icons, or same is given, then the
window will only stop if it hits another window, icon, or the same type. If the
literal option layers followed by a min layer and max layer is given, then only
windows on the layers between min and max layers will stop the window. For example:
# Shuffle the window Right.
Move shuffle Right
# Shuffle Up, only consider windows on Layer 3.
Move shuffle layers 3 3 Up
# Shuffle Left then Up
Move shuffle Left Up
# Shuffle Up then Left (may not be same position as above)
Move shuffle Up Left
Move can be used to moved a window to a specified position:
Move [screen S] [w | m]x[p | w] [w | m]y[p | w] [Warp] [ewmhiwa]
This will move the window to the x and y position (see below). By default, the EWMH
working area is honoured. If he trailing option ewmhiwa is given, then the window
position will ignore the working area (such as ignoring any values set via
EwmhBaseStruts). If the option Warp is given then the pointer is warped to the window.
If the literal option screen followed by a RandR screen name S is specified, the
coordinates are interpreted as relative to the given screen. The width and height of
the screen are used for the calculations instead of the display dimensions. The screen
is interpreted as in the MoveToScreen command.
The positional arguments x and y can specify an absolute or relative position from
either the left/top or right/bottom of the screen. By default, the numeric value given
is interpreted as a percentage of the screen width/height, but a trailing 'p' changes
the interpretation to mean pixels, while a trailing 'w' means percent of the window
width/height. To move the window relative to its current position, add the 'w' (for
"window") prefix before the x and/or y value. To move the window to a position
relative to the current location of the pointer, add the 'm' (for "mouse") prefix. To
leave either coordinate unchanged, "keep" can be specified in place of x or y.
For advanced uses, the arguments x and y can be used multiple times, but without the
prefix 'm' or 'w'. (See complex examples below).
Simple Examples:
# Interactive move
Mouse 1 T A Move
# Move window to top left is at (10%,10%)
Mouse 2 T A Move 10 10
# Move top left to (10pixels,10pixels)
Mouse 3 T A Move 10p 10p
More complex examples (these can be bound as actions to keystrokes, etc.; only the
command is shown, though):
# Move window so bottom right is at bottom
# right of screen
Move -0 -0
# Move window so top left corner is 10 pixels
# off the top left screen edge
Move +-10 +-10
# Move window 5% to the right, and to the
# middle vertically
Move w+5 50
# Move window up 10 pixels, and so left edge
# is at x=40 pixels
Move 40p w-10p
# Move window to the mouse pointer location
Move m+0 m+0
# Move window to center of screen (50% of screen
# position minus 50% of widow size).
Move 50-50w 50-50w
See also the AnimatedMove command.
MoveToDesk [prev | arg1 [arg2] [min max]]
Moves the selected window to another desktop. The arguments are the same as for the
GotoDesk command. Without any arguments, the window is moved to the current desk.
MoveToDesk is a replacement for the obsolete WindowsDesk command, which can no longer
be used.
MoveThreshold [pixels]
When the user presses a mouse button upon an object fvwm waits to see if the action is
a click or a drag. If the mouse moves by more than pixels pixels it is assumed to be a
drag.
Previous versions of fvwm hardwired pixels to 3, which is now the default value. If
pixels is negative or omitted the default value (which might be increased when
16000x9000 pixel displays become affordable) is restored.
MoveToPage [options] [x[p | w] y[p | w]] | [prev]
Moves the selected window to another page (x,y). The upper left page is (0,0), the
upper right is (M,0), where M is one less than the current number of horizontal pages
specified in the DesktopSize command. Similarly the lower left page is (0,N), and the
lower right page is (M,N). Negative page numbers refer to pages from the
rightmost/lowest page. If x and y are not given, the window is moved to the current
page (a window that has the focus but is off-screen can be retrieved with this).
Moving windows to a page relative to the current page can be achieved by adding a
trailing 'p' after any or both numerical arguments. To move the window relative to its
current location, add a trailing 'w'. To move a window to the previous page use prev
as the single argument.
Windows are usually not moved beyond desk boundaries.
Possible options are wrapx and wrapy to wrap around the x or y coordinate when the
window is moved beyond the border of the desktop. For example, with wrapx, when the
window moves past the right edge of the desktop, it reappears on the left edge. The
options nodesklimitx and nodesklimity allow moving windows beyond the desk boundaries
in x and y direction (disabling the wrapx and wrapy options).
Examples:
# Move window to page (2,3)
MoveToPage 2 3
# Move window to lowest and rightmost page
MoveToPage -1 -1
# Move window to last page visited
MoveToPage prev
# Move window two pages to the right and one
# page up, wrap at desk boundaries
MoveToPage wrapx wrapy +2p -1p
MoveToScreen [screen]
Moves the selected window to another screen. The screen argument must be a valid RandR
name.
OpaqueMoveSize [percentage]
Tells fvwm the maximum size window with which opaque window movement should be used.
The percentage is percent of the total screen area (may be greater than 100). With
OpaqueMoveSize 0
all windows are moved using the traditional rubber-band outline. With
OpaqueMoveSize unlimited
or if a negative percentage is given all windows are moved as solid windows. The
default is
OpaqueMoveSize 5
which allows small windows to be moved in an opaque manner but large windows are moved
as rubber-bands. If percentage is omitted or invalid the default value is set. To
resize windows in an opaque manner you can use the ResizeOpaque style. See the Style
command.
PlaceAgain [Anim] [Icon]
Causes the current window’s position to be re-computed using the initial window
placement logic. The window is moved to where it would have been if it were a new
window that had just appeared. Most useful with Smart or Clever (ReallySmart)
placement. With the optional argument Anim an animated move is used to place the
window in its new position. With the additional option Icon, the icon is placed again
instead.
Raise
Allows the user to raise a window. Note that this raises a window only in its layer.
To bring a window to the absolute top, use
AddToFunc raise-to-top
+ I Layer 0 ontop
+ I Raise
where ontop is the highest layer used in your setup.
RaiseLower
Alternately raises and lowers a window. The window is raised if it is obscured by any
window (except for its own transients when RaiseTransient style is used; see the Style
command) otherwise it is lowered.
Resize [[frame] [direction dir] [warptoborder automatic] [fixeddirection] width[p | c | wa
| da] height[p | c]]
Allows for resizing a window. If called from somewhere in a window or its border, then
that window is resized. If called from the root window then the user is allowed to
select the target window.
The operation can be aborted with
or by pressing any mouse button (except button 1 which confirms it).
If the optional arguments width and height are provided, then the window is resized so
that its dimensions are width by height. The units of width and height are
percent-of-screen, unless a letter 'p' is appended to one or both coordinates, in
which case the location is specified in pixels. With a 'c' suffix the unit defined by
the client application (hence the c) is used. With the suffix 'wa' the value is a
percentage of the width or height size of the EWMH working area, and with the suffix
'da' it is a percentage of the width or height of the EWMH dynamic working area. So
you can say
Resize 80c 24c
to make a terminal window just big enough for 80x24 characters.
If the width or height is prefixed with the letter 'w' the size is not taken as an
absolute value but added to the current size of the window. Example:
# Enlarge window by one line
Resize keep w+1c
Both, width and height can be negative. In this case the new size is the screen size
minus the given value. If either value is "keep", the corresponding dimension of the
window is left untouched. The new size is the size of the client window, thus
Resize 100 100
may make the window bigger than the screen. To base the new size on the size of the
whole fvwm window, add the frame option after the command. The options fixeddirection,
direction and warptoborder are only used in interactive move operations. With
fixeddirection the same border is moved even if the pointer moves past the opposite
border. The direction option must be followed by a direction name such as "NorthWest",
"South" or "East" (you get the idea). Resizing is started immediately, even if the
pointer is not on a border. If the special option automatic is given as a direction
argument, then the direction to resize is calculated based on the position of the
pointer in the window. If the pointer is in the middle of the window, then no
direction is calculated. The warptoborder option can be used to warp the pointer to
the direction indicated. As with the automatic option for direction, the border to
warp to is calculated based on the pointer’s proximity to a given border. Also, if
resizing is started by clicking on the window border, the pointer is warped to the
outer edge of the border.
AddToFunc ResizeSE I Resize Direction SE
Mouse 3 A M ResizeSE
Resize [bottomright | br x y]
An alternate syntax is used if the keyword bottomright or in short br follows the
command name. In this case, the arguments x and y specify the desired position of the
bottom right corner of the window. They are interpreted exactly like the x and y
arguments of the Move command. Actually, any of the options accepted by the Move
command can be used.
ResizeMaximize [resize-arguments]
Combines the effects of Resize and Maximize in a single command. When used on a
maximized window, the window is resized and is still in the maximized state
afterwards. When used on an unmaximized window, the window is resized and put into the
maximized state afterwards. This is useful if the user wants to resize the window
temporarily and then return to the original geometry. The resize-arguments are the
same as for the Resize command.
ResizeMove resize-arguments move-arguments
This command does the same as the Resize and Move commands, but in a single call which
is less visually disturbing. The resize-arguments are exactly the same arguments as
for the Resize command and the move-arguments are exactly the same arguments as for
the Move command except the pointer option which is not supported by the ResizeMove
command.
Examples:
# Move window to top left corner and cover
# most of the screen
ResizeMove -10p -20p 0 0
# Grow the focused window towards the top of screen
Current Resize keep w+$[w.y]p keep 0
Note: Fvwm may not be able to parse the command properly if the option bottomright of
the Resize command is used.
ResizeMoveMaximize resize-arguments move-arguments
Combines the effects of ResizeMove and Maximize in a single command. When used on a
maximized window, the window is resized and moved and is still in the maximized state
afterwards. When used on an unmaximized window, the window is resized and put into the
maximized state afterwards. This is useful if the user wants to resize the window
temporarily and then return to the original geometry. The resize-arguments and
move-arguments are the same as for the ResizeMove command.
RestackTransients
This command regroups the transients of a window close to it in the stacking order as
if the window had just been lowered and then raised. The position of the window itself
is not altered. Only windows that use either the RaiseTransient or LowerTransient
style are affected at all. When RestackTransients is used on a transient window with
the StackTransientParent style set, it is redirected to the parent window.
SetAnimation milliseconds-delay [fractions-to-move-list]
Sets the time between frames and the list of fractional offsets to customize the
animated moves of the AnimatedMove command and the animation of menus (if the menu
style is set to animated; see MenuStyle command). If the fractions-to-move-list is
omitted, only the time between frames is altered. The fractions-to-move-list specifies
how far the window should be offset at each successive frame as a fraction of the
difference between the starting location and the ending location. e.g.:
SetAnimation 10 -.01 0 .01 .03 .08 .18 .3 \
.45 .6 .75 .85 .90 .94 .97 .99 1.0
Sets the delay between frames to 10 milliseconds, and sets the positions of the 16
frames of the animation motion. Negative values are allowed, and in particular can be
used to make the motion appear more cartoonish, by briefly moving slightly in the
opposite direction of the main motion. The above settings are the default.
SnapAttraction [proximity [behaviour] [Screen]]
The SnapAttraction command is obsolete. It has been replaced by the Style command
option SnapAttraction.
SnapGrid [x-grid-size y-grid-size]
The SnapGrid command is obsolete. It has been replaced by the Style command option
SnapGrid.
WindowsDesk arg1 [arg2]
Moves the selected window to another desktop.
This command has been removed and must be replaced by MoveToDesk, the arguments for
which are the same as for the GotoDesk command.
+
*Important*
You cannot simply change the name of the command: the syntax has changed. If you used:
WindowsDesk n
to move a window to desk n, you have to change it to:
MoveToDesk 0 n
XorPixmap [pixmap]
Selects the pixmap with which bits are xor’ed when doing rubber-band window moving or
resizing. This has a better chance of making the rubber-band visible if XorValue does
not give good results. An example pixmap resize.rainbow.xpm is provided with the icon
distribution. To turn the XorPixmap off again use the XorValue command or omit the
pixmap argument.
XorValue [number]
Changes the value with which bits are xor’ed when doing rubber-band window moving or
resizing. Valid values range from zero to the maximum value of an unsigned long
integer on your system. Setting this value is a trial-and-error process. The default
value 0 tries to find a value that gives a good contrast to black and white. The
default value is used if the given number is omitted or invalid.
Focus & Mouse Movement
CursorMove horizontal[p] vertical[p]
Moves the mouse pointer by horizontal pages in the X direction and vertical pages in
the Y direction. Either or both entries may be negative. CursorMove can only move the
mouse cursor to a relative position. To move the mouse cursor to an absolute position,
see WarpToWindow. Both horizontal and vertical values are expressed in percent of
pages, so
CursorMove 100 100
means to move down and right by one full page.
CursorMove 50 25
means to move right half a page and down a quarter of a page. Alternatively, the
distance can be specified in pixels by appending a 'p' to the horizontal and/or
vertical specification. For example
CursorMove -10p -10p
means move ten pixels up and ten pixels left. The CursorMove function should not be
called from pop-up menus.
FlipFocus [NoWarp]
Executes a Focus command as if the user had used the pointer to select the window.
This command alters the order of the WindowList in the same way as clicking in a
window to focus, i.e. the target window is removed from the WindowList and placed at
the start. This command is recommended for use with the Direction command and in the
function invoked from WindowList.
Focus [NoWarp]
Sets the keyboard focus to the selected window. If the NoWarp argument is given, this
is all it does. Otherwise it also moves the viewport or window as needed to make the
selected window visible. This command does not automatically raise the window. Does
not warp the pointer into the selected window (see WarpToWindow function). Does not
de-iconify. This command does not alter the order of the WindowList, it rotates the
WindowList around so that the target window is at the start.
When the NoWarp argument is given, Focus cannot transfer the keyboard focus to windows
on other desks.
To raise and/or warp a pointer to a window together with Focus or FlipFocus, use a
function, like:
AddToFunc SelectWindow
+ I Focus
+ I Iconify false
+ I Raise
+ I WarpToWindow 50 8p
WarpToWindow [!raise | raise] x[p] y[p]
Warps the cursor to the associated window and raises it (unless the option !raise is
present). The parameters x and y default to percentage of window down and in from the
upper left hand corner (or number of pixels down and in if 'p' is appended to the
numbers). If a number is negative the opposite edge is used and the direction
reversed. This command works also with windows that are not managed by fvwm. In this
case fvwm does not bring the window onto the screen if it is not visible. For example
it is possible to warp the pointer to the center of the root window on screen 1:
WindowId root 1 WarpToWindow 50 50
Window State
Close
If the window accepts the delete window protocol a message is sent to the window
asking it to gracefully remove itself. If the window does not understand the delete
window protocol then the window is destroyed as with the Destroy command. Note: if the
window accepts the delete window protocol but does not close itself in response, the
window is not deleted.
Delete
Sends a message to a window asking that it remove itself, frequently causing the
application to exit.
Destroy
Destroys an application window, which usually causes the application to crash and
burn.
Iconify [bool]
Iconifies a window if it is not already iconified or de-iconifies it if it is already
iconified. The optional argument bool is a boolean argument. "True" means only
iconification is allowed, while "False" forces de-iconification. Using "toggle"
switches between iconified and de-iconified states.
There are a number of Style options which influence the appearance and behavior of
icons (e.g. StickyIcon, NoIcon).
For backward compatibility, the optional argument may also be a positive number
instead of "True", or a negative number instead of "False". Note that this syntax is
obsolete, and will be removed in the future.
Maximize [flags] [bool | forget] [horizontal[p]] [vertical[p]]
Without its optional arguments (or if the bool bit has the value "toggle") Maximize
causes the window to alternately switch from a full-screen size to its normal size. To
force a window into maximized (normal) state you can use a "True" or "False" value for
the bool argument.
With just the parameter "forget" a maximized window reverts back into normal state but
keeps its current maximized size. This can be useful in conjunction with the commands
ResizeMaximize and ResizeMoveMaximize. If the window is not maximized, nothing
happens.
With the optional arguments horizontal and vertical, which are expressed as percentage
of a full screen, the user can control the new size of the window. An optional suffix
'p' can be used to indicate pixels instead of percents of the screen size. If
horizontal is greater than 0 then the horizontal dimension of the window is set to
horizontal*screen_width/100. If the value is smaller than 0 the size is subtracted
from the screen width, i.e. -25 is the same as 75. If horizontal is "grow", it is
maximized to curren available space until finding any obstacle. The vertical resizing
is similar. If both horizontal and vertical values are "grow", it expands vertically
first, then horizontally to find space. Instead of the horizontal "grow" argument,
"growleft" or "growright" can be used respectively "growup" and "growdown". The
optional flags argument is a space separated list containing the following key words:
fullscreen, ewmhiwa, growonwindowlayer, growonlayers and screen. fullscreen causes the
window to become fullscreened if the appropriate EWMH hint is set. ewmhiwa causes fvwm
to ignore the EWMH working area. growonwindowlayer causes the various grow methods to
ignore windows with a layer other than the current layer of the window which is
maximized. The growonlayers option must have two integer arguments. The first one is
the minimum layer and the second one the maximum layer to use. Windows that are
outside of this range of layers are ignored by the grow methods. A negative value as
the first or second argument means to assume no minimum or maximum layer. screen must
have an argument which specifies the screen on which to operate.
Here are some examples. The following adds a title-bar button to switch a window to
the full vertical size of the screen:
Mouse 0 4 A Maximize 0 100
The following causes windows to be stretched to the full width:
Mouse 0 4 A Maximize 100 0
This makes a window that is half the screen size in each direction:
Mouse 0 4 A Maximize 50 50
To expand a window horizontally until any other window is found:
Mouse 0 4 A Maximize 0 grow
To expand a window until any other window on the same or a higher layer is hit.
Mouse 0 4 A Maximize growonlayers $[w.layer] -1 grow grow
To expand a window but leave the lower 60 pixels of the screen unoccupied:
Mouse 0 4 A Maximize 100 -60p
Values larger than 100 can be used with caution.
Refresh
Causes all windows on the screen to redraw themselves. All pending updates of all
windows' styles and looks are applied immediately. E.g. if Style or TitleStyle
commands were issued inside a fvwm function.
RefreshWindow
Causes the chosen window to redraw itself. All pending updates of the window’s style
and look are applied immediately. E.g. if Style or TitleStyle commands were issued
inside a fvwm function.
Stick [bool]
If the bool argument is empty or "toggle", the Stick command makes a window sticky if
it is not already sticky, or non-sticky if it is already sticky. To make a window
sticky regardless of its current state the bool argument must be "True". To make it
non-sticky use "False".
StickAcrossPages [bool]
Works like Stick but only sticks a window across pages, not across desks.
StickAcrossDesks [bool]
Works like Stick but only sticks a window across desks, not across pages.
WindowShade [bool] | [[ShadeAgain] direction]
Toggles the window shade feature for titled windows. Windows in the shaded state only
display a title-bar. If bool is not given or "toggle", the window shade state is
toggled. If bool is "True", the window is forced to the shaded state. If bool is
"False", then the window is forced to the non-shaded state. To force shading in a
certain direction, the direction argument can be used. Any of the strings "North",
"South", "West", "East", "NorthWest", "NorthEast", "SouthWest", "SouthEast" or "Last"
can be given. The direction can be abbreviated with the usual one or two letters "N",
"NW", etc. Using a direction on a window that was already shaded unshades the window.
To shade it in a different direction, use the ShadeAgain option. The direction Last
shades the window in the direction it last was shaded. If the window has never been
shaded before it is shaded as if no direction had been given. Windows without titles
can be shaded too. Please refer also to the options WindowShadeSteps,
WindowShadeShrinks, WindowShadeScrolls, WindowShadeLazy, WindowShadeAlwaysLazy and
WindowShadeBusy options of the Style command. Examples:
Style * WindowShadeShrinks, WindowShadeSteps 20, \
WindowShadeLazy
Mouse 1 - S WindowShade North
Mouse 1 [ S WindowShade West
Mouse 1 ] S WindowShade E
Mouse 1 _ S WindowShade S
Note: When a window that has been shaded with a direction argument changes the
direction of the window title (see TitleAtTop Style option), the shading direction
does not change. This may look very strange. Windows that were shaded without a
direction argument stay shaded in the direction of the title bar.
For backward compatibility, the optional argument may also be 1 to signify "on", and 2
to signify "off". Note that this syntax is obsolete, and will be removed in the
future.
WindowShadeAnimate [steps [p]]
This command is obsolete. Please use the WindowShadeSteps option of the Style command
instead.
Mouse & Key Bindings
IgnoreModifiers [Modifiers]
Tells fvwm which modifiers to ignore when matching Mouse or Key bindings.
IgnoreModifiers affects the ClickToFocus style too. This command belongs into your
config. If you issue it when your fvwm session is already up and running the results
are unpredictable. The should appear before any applications or modules are started in
your config file (e.g. with the Exec command).
Modifiers has the same syntax as in the Mouse or Key bindings, with the addition of
'L' meaning the caps lock key. The default is "L". Modifiers can be omitted, meaning
no modifiers are ignored. This command comes in handy if the num-lock and scroll-lock
keys interfere with your shortcuts. With XFree86 '2' usually is the num-lock modifier
and '5' refers to the scroll-lock key. To turn all these pesky modifiers off you can
use this command:
IgnoreModifiers L25
If the Modifiers argument is the string "default", fvwm reverts back to the default
value "L".
Important This command creates a lot of extra network traffic, depending on your CPU,
network connection, the number of Key or Mouse commands in your configuration file and
the number of modifiers you want to ignore. If you do not have a lightning fast
machine or very few bindings you should not ignore more than two modifiers. I.e. do
not ignore
if you have no problem with it. In the FAQ you can find a better solution of this
problem.
EdgeCommand [screen RANDRNAME] [direction [Function]]
Binds a specified fvwm command Function to an edge of the screen. Direction may be one
of "North", "Top", "West", "Left", "South", "Bottom", "Right" and "East". If Function
is omitted the binding for this edge is removed. If EdgeCommand is called without any
arguments all edge bindings are removed. If the literal option screen followed by a
RandR screen name RANDRNAME is given, the command is set only for the given monitor.
Function is executed when the mouse pointer enters the invisible pan frames that
surround the visible screen. The binding works only if EdgeThickness is set to a value
greater than 0. If a function is bound to an edge, scrolling specified by EdgeScroll
is disabled for this edge. It is possible to bind a function only to some edges and
use the other edges for scrolling. This command is intended to raise or lower certain
windows when the mouse pointer enters an edge. FvwmAuto can be used get a delay when
raising or lowering windows. The following example raises FvwmButtons if the mouse
pointer enters the top edge of the screen.
# Disable EdgeScrolling but make it possible
# to move windows over the screen edge
EdgeResistance -1
Style * EdgeMoveDelay 250
Style * EdgeMoveResistance 20
# Set thickness of the edge of the screen to 1
EdgeThickness 1
# Give focus to FvwmButtons if the mouse
# hits top edge
EdgeCommand Top Next (FvwmButtons) Focus
# Make sure the Next command matches the window
Style FvwmButtons CirculateHit
Module FvwmButtons
Module FvwmAuto 100 "Silent AutoRaiseFunction" \
"Silent AutoLowerFunction"
# If any window except FvwmButtons has
# focus when calling this function
# FvwmButtons are lowered
DestroyFunc AutoLowerFunction
AddToFunc AutoLowerFunction
+ I Current (!FvwmButtons) All (FvwmButtons) Lower
# If FvwmButtons has focus when calling this function raise it
DestroyFunc AutoRaiseFunction
AddToFunc AutoRaiseFunction
+ I Current (FvwmButtons) Raise
Normally, the invisible pan frames are only on the screen edges that border virtual
pages. If a screen edge has a command bound to it, the pan frame is always created on
that edge.
EdgeLeaveCommand [screen RANDRNAME] [direction [Function]]
Binds a specified fvwm command Function to an edge of the screen. Direction may be one
of "North", "Top", "West", "Left", "South", "Bottom", "Right" and "East". If Function
is omitted the binding for this edge is removed. If EdgeLeaveCommand is called without
any arguments all edge bindings are removed. If the literal option screen followed by
a RandR screen name RANDRNAME is given, the command is set only for the given monitor.
Function is executed when the mouse pointer leaves the invisible pan frames that
surround the visible screen. The binding works only if EdgeThickness is set to a value
greater than 0. If a function is bound to an edge, scrolling specified by EdgeScroll
is disabled for this edge. It is possible to bind a function only to some edges and
use the other edges for scrolling. This command is intended to raise or lower certain
windows when the mouse pointer leaves an edge. FvwmAuto can be used get a delay when
raising or lowering windows. See example for EdgeCommand
Normally, the invisible pan frames are only on the screen edges that border virtual
pages. If a screen edge has a command bound to it, the pan frame is always created on
that edge.
Key [(window)] Keyname Context Modifiers Function
Binds a keyboard key to a specified fvwm command, or removes the binding if Function
is '-'. The syntax is the same as for a Mouse binding except that the mouse button
number is replaced with a Keyname. Normally, the key binding is activated when the key
is pressed. Keyname is a standard X11 key name as defined in
/usr/include/X11/keysymdef.h, (without the XK_ prefix), or the keysym database
/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/XKeysymDB. Only key names that are generated with no modifier keys
or with just the
key held are guaranteed to work. The Context and Modifiers fields are defined as in
the Mouse binding. However, when you press a key the context window is the window that
has the keyboard focus. That is not necessarily the same as the window the pointer is
over (with SloppyFocus or ClickToFocus). Note that key bindings with the 'R' (root
window) context do not work properly with SloppyFocus and ClickToFocus. If you
encounter problems, use the PointerKey command instead. If you want to bind keys to a
window with SloppyFocus or ClickToFocus that are supposed to work when the pointer is
not over the window, fvwm assumes the pointer is over the client window (i.e. you have
to use the 'W' context).
The special context 'M' for menus can be used to (re)define the menu controls. It be
used alone or together with 'T', 'S', 'I', '[', ']', '-' and '_'. See the Menu
Bindings section for details.
The following example binds the built-in window list to pop up when
is hit, no matter where the mouse pointer is:
Key F11 A SCM WindowList
Binding a key to a title-bar button causes that button to appear. Please refer to the
Mouse command for details.
Mouse [(window)] Button Context Modifiers Function
Defines a mouse binding, or removes the binding if Function is '-'. Button is the
mouse button number. If Button is zero then any button performs the specified
function. Note that only mouse buttons 1 to 5 are fully supported by X11. Any number
above this works only partially. Complex functions can not be used with these buttons
and neither any operation that requires dragging the pointer with the button held.
This is due to limitations of X11. By default, the highest allowed button number is 9.
Context describes where the binding applies. Valid contexts are 'R' for the root
window, 'W' for an application window, 'D' for a desktop application (as kdesktop or
Nautilus desktop), 'T' for a window title-bar, 'S' for a window side, top, or bottom
bar, '[', ']', '-' and '_' for the left, right, top or bottom side only, 'F' for a
window frame (the corners), '<', '^', '>' and 'v' for the top left, top right, bottom
right or bottom left corner, 'I' for an icon window, or '0' through '9' for title-bar
buttons, or any combination of these letters. 'A' is for any context. For instance, a
context of "FST" applies when the mouse is anywhere in a window’s border except the
title-bar buttons. Only 'S' and 'W' are valid for an undecorated window.
The special context 'M' for menus can be used to (re)define the menu controls. It can
be used alone or together with 'T', 'S', 'I', '[', ']', '-' and '_'. See the Menu
Bindings section for details.
The special context 'P' controls what buttons that can be used to place a window. When
using this context no modifiers are allowed (Modifiers must be N), no window is
allowed, and the Function must be one of PlaceWindow, PlaceWindowDrag,
PlaceWindowInteractive, CancelPlacement, CancelPlacementDrag,
CancelPlacementInteractive or -.
PlaceWindow makes Button usable for window placement, both for interactive and drag
move. CancelPlacement does the inverse. That is makes Button to cancel move for both
interactive and drag move. It may however not override how new windows are resized
after being placed. This is controlled by the Emulate command. Also a window being
dragged can always be placed by releasing the button hold while dragging, regardless
of if it is set to PlaceWindow or not.
PlaceWindowDrag and PlaceWindowInteractive/CancelPlacementDrag and
CancelPlacementInteractive work as PlaceWindow/CancelPlacement with the exception that
they only affect either windows dragged / placed interactively.
- is equivalent to CancelPlacement.
The following example makes all buttons but button 3 usable for interactive placement
and makes drag moves started by other buttons than one cancel if button 1 is pressed
before finishing the move:
Mouse 0 P N PlaceWindow
Mouse 3 P N CancelPlacement
Mouse 1 P N CancelPlacementDrag
By default, the binding applies to all windows. You can specify that a binding only
applies to specific windows by specifying the window name in brackets. The window name
is a wildcard pattern specifying the class, resource or name of the window you want
the binding to apply to.
The following example shows how the same key-binding can be used to perform different
functions depending on the window that is focused:
Key (rxvt) V A C Echo ctrl-V-in-RXVT
Key (*term) V A C Echo ctrl-V-in-Term
Key (*vim) V A C --
Key V A C Echo ctrl-V-elsewhere
A '--' action indicates that the event should be propagated to the specified window to
handle. This is only a valid action for window-specific bindings.
This example shows how to display the WindowList when Button 3 is pressed on an rxvt
window:
Mouse (rxvt) 3 A A WindowList
Note that Fvwm actually intercepts all events for a window-specific binding and (if
the focused window doesn’t match any of the bindings) sends a synthetic copy of the
event to the window. This should be transparent to most applications, however (for
security reasons) some programs ignore these synthetic events by default - xterm is
one of them. To enable handling of these events, add the following line to your
~/.Xdefaults file:
XTerm*allowSendEvents: true
Modifiers is any combination of 'N' for no modifiers, 'C' for control, 'S' for shift,
'M' for Meta, 'L' for Caps-Lock or 'A' for any modifier. For example, a modifier of
"SM" applies when both the
and
keys are down. X11 modifiers mod1 through mod5 are represented as the digits '1'
through '5'. The modifier 'L' is ignored by default. To turn it on, use the
IgnoreModifiers command.
Function is one of fvwm’s commands.
The title-bar buttons are numbered with odd numbered buttons on the left side of the
title-bar and even numbers on the right. Smaller-numbered buttons are displayed toward
the outside of the window while larger-numbered buttons appear toward the middle of
the window (0 is short for 10). In summary, the buttons are numbered:
1 3 5 7 9 0 8 6 4 2
The highest odd numbered button which has an action bound to it determines the number
of buttons drawn on the left side of the title bar. The highest even number determines
the number of right side buttons which are drawn. Actions can be bound to either mouse
buttons or keyboard keys.
PointerKey [(window)] Keyname Context Modifiers Function
This command works exactly like the Key command. The only difference is that the
binding operates on the window under the pointer. Normal key bindings operate on the
focused window instead. The PointerKey command can for example be used to bind keys to
the root window if you are using SloppyFocus or ClickToFocus. However, some
applications (xterm is one example) are unable to handle this key anymore, even if the
pointer is over the xterm window. It is recommended to use the PointerKey command only
for key combinations that are not needed in any application window.
Example:
Style * SloppyFocus
PointerKey f1 a m Menu MainMenu
Controlling Window Styles
For readability, the commands in this section are not sorted alphabetically. The
description of the Style command can be found at the end of this section.
FocusStyle stylename options
works exactly like the Style command, but accepts only the focus policy related styles
beginning with "FP". The prefix can be removed, but at the cost of a little bit of
time. FocusStyle is meant to make the configuration file more readable. Example:
FocusStyle * EnterToFocus, !LeaveToUnfocus
is equivalent to
Style * FPEnterToFocus, !FPLeaveToUnfocus
DestroyStyle style
deletes the style named style. The changes take effect immediately. Note that style is
not a wild-carded search string, but rather a case-sensitive string that should
exactly match the original Style command.
Destroying style "*" can be done, but isn’t really to be recommended. For example:
DestroyStyle Application*
This removes all settings for the style named "Application*", NOT all styles starting
with "Application".
DestroyWindowStyle
deletes the styles set by the WindowStyle command on the selected window. The changes
take effect immediately.
UpdateStyles
All pending updates of all windows' styles and looks are applied immediately. E.g. if
Style, WindowStyle or TitleStyle commands were issued inside a fvwm function.
Style stylename options ...
The Style command is used to set attributes of a window to values other than the
default or to set the window manager default styles.
stylename can be a window’s name, class, visible name, or resource string. It may
contain the wildcards '' and '?', which are matched in the usual Unix filename manner.
Multiple style options in a single *Style command are read from left to right as if
they were issued one after each other in separate commands. A given style always
overrides all conflicting styles that have been issued earlier (or further left on the
same style line).
Note: windows that have no name (WM_NAME) are given a name of "Untitled", and windows
that do not have a class (WM_CLASS, res_class) are given class "NoClass" and those
that do not have a resource (WM_CLASS, res_name) are given resource "NoResource".
If a window has the resource "fvwmstyle" set, the value of that resource is used in
addition to any window names when selecting the style.
options is a comma separated list containing one or more of the following keywords.
Each group of style names is separated by slashes ('/'). The last style in these
groups is the default. BorderWidth, HandleWidth, !Icon / Icon, MiniIcon, IconBox,
IconGrid, IconFill, IconSize, !Title / Title, TitleAtBottom / TitleAtLeft /
TitleAtRight / TitleAtTop, LeftTitleRotatedCW / LeftTitleRotatedCCW,
RightTitleRotatedCCW / RightTitleRotatedCW, TopTitleRotated / TopTitleNotRotated,
BottomTitleRotated / BottomTitleNotRotated, !UseTitleDecorRotation /
UseTitleDecorRotation, StippledTitle / !StippledTitle, StippledIconTitle /
!StippledIconTitle, IndexedWindowName / ExactWindowName, IndexedIconName /
ExactIconName, TitleFormat / IconTitleFormat / !Borders / Borders, !Handles / Handles,
WindowListSkip / WindowListHit, CirculateSkip / CirculateHit, CirculateSkipShaded /
CirculateHitShaded, CirculateSkipIcon / CirculateHitIcon, Layer, StaysOnTop /
StaysOnBottom / StaysPut, Sticky / Slippery, StickyAcrossPages / !StickyAcrossPages,
StickyAcrossDesks / !StickyAcrossDesks, !StickyStippledTitle / StickyStippledTitle,
!StickyStippledIconTitle / StickyStippledIconTitle, StartIconic / StartNormal, Color,
ForeColor, BackColor, Colorset, HilightFore, HilightBack, HilightColorset,
BorderColorset, HilightBorderColorset, IconTitleColorset, HilightIconTitleColorset,
IconBackgroundColorset, IconTitleRelief, IconBackgroundRelief, IconBackgroundPadding,
Font, IconFont, StartsOnDesk / StartsOnPage / StartsAnyWhere, StartsOnScreen,
StartShaded / !StartShaded, ManualPlacementHonorsStartsOnPage /
ManualPlacementIgnoresStartsOnPage, CaptureHonorsStartsOnPage /
CaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage, RecaptureHonorsStartsOnPage /
RecaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage, StartsOnPageIncludesTransients /
StartsOnPageIgnoresTransients, IconTitle / !IconTitle, MwmButtons / FvwmButtons,
MwmBorder / FvwmBorder, MwmDecor / !MwmDecor, MwmFunctions / !MwmFunctions,
HintOverride / !HintOverride, !Button / Button, ResizeHintOverride /
!ResizeHintOverride, OLDecor / !OLDecor, GNOMEUseHints / GNOMEIgnoreHints, StickyIcon
/ SlipperyIcon, StickyAcrossPagesIcon / !StickyAcrossPagesIcon, StickyAcrossDesksIcon
/ !StickyAcrossDesksIcon, ManualPlacement / CascadePlacement / MinOverlapPlacement /
MinOverlapPercentPlacement / TileManualPlacement / TileCascadePlacement /
PositionPlacement, MinOverlapPlacementPenalties, MinOverlapPercentPlacementPenalties,
DecorateTransient / NakedTransient, DontRaiseTransient / RaiseTransient,
DontLowerTransient / LowerTransient, DontStackTransientParent / StackTransientParent,
SkipMapping / ShowMapping, ScatterWindowGroups / KeepWindowGroupsOnDesk, UseDecor,
UseStyle, !UsePPosition / NoPPosition / UsePPosition, !UseUSPosition, NoUSPosition /
UseUSPosition, !UseTransientPPosition, NoTransientPPosition / UseTransientPPosition,
!UseTransientUSPosition / NoTransientUSPosition / UseTransientUSPosition,
!UseIconPosition / NoIconPosition / UseIconPosition, Lenience / !Lenience,
ClickToFocus / SloppyFocus / MouseFocus|FocusFollowsMouse / NeverFocus,
ClickToFocusPassesClickOff / ClickToFocusPassesClick, ClickToFocusRaisesOff /
ClickToFocusRaises, MouseFocusClickRaises / MouseFocusClickRaisesOff, GrabFocus /
GrabFocusOff, GrabFocusTransientOff / GrabFocusTransient, FPFocusClickButtons,
FPFocusClickModifiers, !FPSortWindowlistByFocus / FPSortWindowlistByFocus,
FPClickRaisesFocused / !FPClickRaisesFocused, FPClickDecorRaisesFocused /
!FPClickDecorRaisesFocused, FPClickIconRaisesFocused / !FPClickIconRaisesFocused,
!FPClickRaisesUnfocused / FPClickRaisesUnfocused, FPClickDecorRaisesUnfocused /
!FPClickDecorRaisesUnfocused, FPClickIconRaisesUnfocused /
!FPClickIconRaisesUnfocused, FPClickToFocus / !FPClickToFocus, FPClickDecorToFocus /
!FPClickDecorToFocus, FPClickIconToFocus / !FPClickIconToFocus, !FPEnterToFocus /
FPEnterToFocus, !FPLeaveToUnfocus / FPLeaveToUnfocus, !FPFocusByProgram /
FPFocusByProgram, !FPFocusByFunction / FPFocusByFunction, FPFocusByFunctionWarpPointer
/ !FPFocusByFunctionWarpPointer, FPLenient / !FPLenient, !FPPassFocusClick /
FPPassFocusClick, !FPPassRaiseClick / FPPassRaiseClick, FPIgnoreFocusClickMotion /
!FPIgnoreFocusClickMotion, FPIgnoreRaiseClickMotion / !FPIgnoreRaiseClickMotion,
!FPAllowFocusClickFunction / FPAllowFocusClickFunction, !FPAllowRaiseClickFunction /
FPAllowRaiseClickFunction, FPGrabFocus / !FPGrabFocus, !FPGrabFocusTransient /
FPGrabFocusTransient, FPOverrideGrabFocus / !FPOverrideGrabFocus, FPReleaseFocus /
!FPReleaseFocus, !FPReleaseFocusTransient / FPReleaseFocusTransient,
FPOverrideReleaseFocus / !FPOverrideReleaseFocus, StartsLowered / StartsRaised,
IgnoreRestack / AllowRestack, FixedPosition / VariablePosition, FixedUSPosition /
VariableUSPosition, FixedPPosition / VariablePPosition, FixedSize / VariableSize,
FixedUSSize / VariableUSSize, FixedPSize / VariablePSize, !Closable / Closable,
!Iconifiable / Iconifiable, !Maximizable / Maximizable, !AllowMaximizeFixedSize /
AllowMaximizeFixedSize, IconOverride / NoIconOverride / NoActiveIconOverride,
DepressableBorder / FirmBorder, MinWindowSize, MaxWindowSize, IconifyWindowGroups /
IconifyWindowGroupsOff, ResizeOpaque / ResizeOutline, BackingStore / BackingStoreOff /
BackingStoreWindowDefault, Opacity / ParentalRelativity, SaveUnder / SaveUnderOff,
WindowShadeShrinks / WindowShadeScrolls, WindowShadeSteps, WindowShadeAlwaysLazy /
WindowShadeBusy / WindowShadeLazy, EWMHDonateIcon / EWMHDontDonateIcon,
EWMHDonateMiniIcon / EWMHDontDonateMiniIcon, EWMHMiniIconOverride /
EWMHNoMiniIconOverride, EWMHUseStackingOrderHints / EWMHIgnoreStackingOrderHints,
EWMHIgnoreStateHints / EWMHUseStateHints, EWMHIgnoreStrutHints / EWMHUseStrutHints,
EWMHIgnoreWindowType / !EWMHIgnoreWindowType, EWMHMaximizeIgnoreWorkingArea /
EWMHMaximizeUseWorkingArea / EWMHMaximizeUseDynamicWorkingArea,
EWMHPlacementIgnoreWorkingArea / EWMHPlacementUseWorkingArea /
EWMHPlacementUseDynamicWorkingArea, MoveByProgramMethod, Unmanaged, State, SnapGrid,
SnapAttraction, EdgeMoveDelay, EdgeResizeDelay. EdgeMoveResistance, InitialMapCommand
In the above list some options are listed as style-option/opposite-style-option. The
opposite-style-option for entries that have them describes the fvwm default behavior
and can be used if you want to change the fvwm default behavior.
Focus policy
ClickToFocus instructs fvwm to give the focus to a window when it is clicked in.
The default MouseFocus (or its alias FocusFollowsMouse) tells fvwm to give a
window the focus as soon as the pointer enters the window, and take it away when
the pointer leaves the window. SloppyFocus is similar, but doesn’t give up the
focus if the pointer leaves the window to pass over the root window or a
ClickToFocus window (unless you click on it, that is), which makes it possible to
move the mouse out of the way without losing focus. A window with the style
NeverFocus never receives the focus. This is useful for modules like FvwmButtons.
for example. Note: Once any of the "FP..." styles has been used, the defaults that
come with the basic focus policies are not restored when the latter are used
again. For example, once !FPGrabFocus has been used, using ClickToFocus does not
restore FPGrabFocus.
The focus model can be augmented with several additional options. In fvwm-2.5.3
and later, there are a large number of advanced options beginning with "FP" or
"!FP". These options shall replace the older options one day and are described
first. Using any of these new options may limit compatibility with older releases.
In general, options beginning with "FP" turn a feature on, while those beginning
with "!FP" turn it off.
Focusing the window
With FPEnterToFocus, when the pointer enters a window it receives focus.
With FPLeaveToUnfocus a window loses focus when the pointer leaves it.
With FPClickToFocus, FPClickDecorToFocus or FPClickIconToFocus, a window receives
focus when the inside of the window or the decorations or its icon is clicked.
The FPFocusByProgram style allows windows to take the focus themselves.
The !FPFocusByFunction style forbids that a window receives the focus via the
Focus and FlipFocus commands.
The FPFocusByFunctionWarpPointer style controls if the pointer is warped to a
selected window when the Focus command is used.
FPLenient allows focus on windows that do not want it, like FvwmPager or xclock.
The FPFocusClickButtons style takes a list of mouse buttons that can be clicked to
focus or raise a window when the appropriate style is used. The default is to use
the first three buttons ("123").
The FPFocusClickModifiers style takes a list of modifier keys just like the Key
command. The exact combination of modifier keys must be pressed for the click to
focus or raise a window to work. The default is to use no modifiers ("N").
With the FPPassFocusClick style, the click that was used to focus a window is
passed to the application.
With the FPAllowFocusClickFunction style, the click that was used to focus a
window can also trigger a normal action that was bound to the window with the
Mouse command).
If the FPIgnoreFocusClickMotion style is used, clicking in a window and then
dragging the pointer with the button held down does not count as the click to
focus the window. Instead, the application processes these events normally. This
is useful to select text in a terminal window with the mouse without raising the
window. However, mouse bindings on the client window are not guaranteed to work
anymore (see Mouse command). This style forces the initial click to be passed to
the application. The distance that the pointer must be moved to trigger this is
controlled by the MoveThreshold command.
The FPSortWindowlistByFocus and !FPSortWindowlistByFocus styles control whether
the internal window list is sorted in the order the windows were focused or in the
order they were created. The latter is the default for ClickToFocus and
SloppyFocus.
Clicking the window to raise
The styles FPClickRaisesFocused, FPClickDecorRaisesFocused and
FPClickIconRaisesFocused allow one to raise the window when the interior or the
decorations or the icon of the window is clicked while the window is already
focused.
The styles FPClickRaisesUnfocused, FPClickDecorRaisesUnfocused and
FPClickIconRaisesUnfocused allow one to raise the window when the interior or the
decorations or the icon of the window is clicked while the window is not yet
focused.
With the FPPassRaiseClick style, the click that was used to raise the window is
passed to the application.
With the FPAllowRaiseClickFunction style, the click that was used to raise the
window can also trigger a normal action that was bound to the window with the
Mouse command.
If the FPIgnoreRaiseClickMotion style is used, clicking in a window and then
dragging the pointer with the button held down does not count as the click to
raise the window. Instead, the application processes these events normally. This
is useful to select text in a terminal window with the mouse without raising the
window. However, mouse bindings on the client window are not guaranteed to work
anymore (see Mouse command. Note that this style forces that the initial click is
passed to the application. The distance that the pointer must be moved to trigger
this is controlled by the MoveThreshold command.
Grabbing the focus when a new window is created
New normal or transient windows with the FPGrabFocus or FPGrabFocusTransient style
automatically receive the focus when they are created. FPGrabFocus is the default
for windows with the ClickToFocus style. Note that even if these styles are
disabled, the application may take the focus itself. Fvwm can not prevent this.
The OverrideGrabFocus style instructs fvwm to never take away the focus from such
a window via the GrabFocus or GrabFocusTransient styles. This can be useful if you
like to have transient windows receive the focus immediately, for example in a web
browser, but not while you are working in a terminal window or a text processor.
The above three styles are accompanied by FPReleaseFocus, FPReleaseFocusTransient
and FPOverrideReleaseFocus. These control if the focus is returned to another
window when the window is closed. Otherwise no window or the window under the
pointer receives the focus.
ClickToFocusPassesClickOff and ClickToFocusPassesClick controls whether a mouse
click to focus a window is sent to the application or not. Similarly,
ClickToFocusRaisesOff/MouseFocusClickRaisesOff and
ClickToFocusRaises/MouseFocusClickRaises control if the window is raised (but
depending on the focus model).
Note: in fvwm versions prior to 2.5.3, the "Click..." options applied only to
windows with ClickToFocus while the "Mouse..." options applied to windows with a
different focus policy. This is no longer the case.
The old GrabFocus style is equivalent to using FPGrabFocus
FPReleaseFocus.
The old GrabFocusTransient style is equivalent to using FPGrabFocusTransient +
FPReleaseFocusTransient.
Lenience is equivalent to the new style FPLenient.
Window title
The Title and !Title options determine if the window has a title-bar or not. By
default all windows have a title-bar. NoTitle is equivalent to !Title but is
deprecated.
Windows with the TitleAtBottom, TitleAtLeft or TitleAtRight style have a title-bar
below, to the left or to the right of the window instead of above as usual. The
TitleAtTop style restores the default placement. Even if the window has the !Title
style set, this affects the WindowShade command. Please check the WindowShade command
for interactions between that command and these styles. Titles on the left or right
side of the windows are augmented by the following styles:
Normally, the text in titles on the left side of a window is rotated counterclockwise
by 90 degrees from the normal upright position and 90 degrees clockwise for titles on
the right side. It can also be rotated in the opposite directions with
LeftTitleRotatedCW if TitleAtLeft is used, and with RightTitleRotatedCCW if
TitleAtRight is used. The defaults can be restored with LeftTitleRotatedCCW and
RightTitleRotatedCW. A normal horizontal text may be rotated as well with
TopTitleRotated if TitleAtTop is used, and with BottomTitleRotated if TitleAtBottom is
used. The defaults can be restored with TopTitleNotRotated and BottomTitleNotRotated.
By default the title bar decoration defined using the TitleStyle command is rotated
following the title text rotation (see the previous paragraph). This can be disabled
by using the !UseTitleDecorRotation style. UseTitleDecorRotation reverts back to the
default.
With the StippledTitle style, titles are drawn with the same effect that is usually
reserved for windows with the Sticky, StickyAcrossPages or StickyAcrossDesks style.
!StippledTitle reverts back to normal titles. StippledTitleOff is equivalent to
!StippledTitle but is deprecated.
Color takes two arguments. The first is the window-label text color and the second is
the window decorations normal background color. The two colors are separated with a
slash. If the use of a slash causes problems then the separate ForeColor and BackColor
options can be used.
Colorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and overrides the colors set
by Color. Instead, the corresponding colors from the given colorset are used. Note
that all other features of a colorset are not used. Use the Colorset decoration style
in the TitleStyle and ButtonStyle command for that. To stop using the colorset, the
colorset number is omitted.
The HilightFore, HilightBack and HilightColorset style options work exactly like
ForeColor, BackColor and Colorset but are used only if the window has the focus. These
styles replace the old commands HilightColor and HilightColorset.
BorderColorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and overrides the colors
set by Color or Colorset. for the window border. To stop using a colorset, the
argument is omitted.
The HilightBorderColorset style option works similarly to BorderColorset but is used
when the window has the focus.
!IconTitle disables displaying icon labels while the opposite style IconTitle enables
icon labels (default behaviour). NoIconTitle is equivalent to !IconTitle but is
deprecated.
IconTitleColorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and overrides the
colors set by Color or Colorset. To stop using this colorset, the argument is omitted.
HilightIconTitleColorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and overrides
the colors set by HilightColor or HilightColorset. To stop using this colorset, the
argument is omitted.
IconBackgroundColorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and uses it to
set a background for the icon picture. By default the icon picture is not drawn onto a
background image. To restore the default, the argument is omitted.
IconTitleRelief takes one numeric argument that may be between -50 and +50 pixels and
defines the thickness of the 3D relief drawn around the icon title. With negative
values the icon title gets a pressed in look. The default is 2 and it is restored if
the argument is omitted.
IconBackgroundRelief takes one numeric argument that may be between -50 and +50 pixels
and defines the thickness of the 3D relief drawn around the icon picture background
(if any). With negative values the icon background gets a pressed in look. The default
is 2 and it is restored if the argument is omitted.
IconBackgroundPadding takes one numeric argument that may be between 0 and 50 pixels
and defines the amount of free space between the relief of the icon background picture
(if any) and the icon picture. The default is 2 and it is restored if the argument is
omitted.
The Font and IconFont options take the name of a font as their sole argument. This
font is used in the window or icon title. By default the font given in the DefaultFont
command is used. To revert back to the default, use the style without the name
argument. These styles replace the older WindowFont and IconFont commands.
The deprecated IndexedWindowName style causes fvwm to use window titles in the form
name (i)
where name is the exact window name and i is an integer which represents the i th
window with name as window name. This has been replaced with:
TitleFormat %n (%t)
ExactWindowName restores the default which is to use the exact window name. Deprecated
in favour of:
TitleFormat %n
IndexedIconName and ExactIconName work the same as IndexedWindowName and
ExactWindowName styles but for the icon titles. Both are deprecated in favour of:
IconTitleFormat %n (%t)
IconTitleFormat %n
TitleFormat describes what the visible name of a window should look like, with the
following placeholders being valid:
%n
Insert the window’s name.
%i
Insert the window’s icon name.
%c
Insert the window’s class name.
%r
Insert the window’s resource name.
%t
Insert the window count.
%I
Insert the window ID.
%%
Insert a literal '%' character.
Any amount of whitespace may be used, along with other characters to make up the
string — but a valid TitleFormat string must contain at least one of the
placeholders mentioned. No quote stripping is performed on the string, so for
example the following is printed verbatim:
TitleFormat " %n " -> [%t] -> [%c]
Note: It’s perfectly possible to use a TitleFormat which can result in wiping out
the visible title altogether. For example:
TitleFormat %z
Simply because the placeholder '%z' isn’t supported. This is not a bug but rather a
facet of how the formatting parser works.
+ IconTitleFormat describes what the visible icon name of a window should look like,
with the options being the same as TitleFormat.
Title buttons
Button and !Button take a numeric argument which is the number of the title-bar button
which is to be shown or omitted. NoButton is equivalent to !Button but is deprecated.
MwmButtons makes the Maximize button look pressed-in when the window is maximized. See
the MwmDecorMax flag in ButtonStyle for more information. To switch this style off
again, use the FvwmButtons style.
Borders
!Borders suppresses the window border (but not the title) completely. The Borders
style enables them again. Without borders, all other styles affecting window borders
are meaningless.
MwmBorder makes the 3D bevel more closely match Mwm’s. FvwmBorder turns off the
previous option.
With the !Handles style, the window does not get the handles in the window corners
that are commonly used to resize it. With !Handles, the width from the BorderWidth
style is used. By default, or if Handles is specified, the width from the HandleWidth
style is used. NoHandles is equivalent to !Handles but is deprecated.
HandleWidth takes a numeric argument which is the width of the border to place the
window if it does have resize-handles. Using HandleWidth without an argument restores
the default.
BorderWidth takes a numeric argument which is the width of the border to place the
window if it does not have resize-handles. It is used only if the !Handles style is
specified too. Using BorderWidth without an argument restores the default.
DepressableBorder makes the border parts of the window decoration look sunken in when
a button is pressed over them. This can be disabled again with the FirmBorder style.
Icons, shading, maximizing, movement, resizing
Icon takes an (optional) unquoted string argument which is the icon bitmap or pixmap
to use. Icons specified this way override pixmap icons, but not icon windows or the
ewmh icon, provided by the client in the application (with the WM_HINTS property or
with the ewmh NET_WM_ICON property). The _IconOverride style changes the behavior to
override any client-provided icons; the NoIconOverride style changes the behavior to
not override any client-provided icons; the default overriding behavior can be
activated with the NoActiveIconOverride style. With this style, fvwm uses application
provided icons if the icon is changed but uses the icon provided in the configuration
file until then.
There is one exception to these rules, namely
Style * Icon unknown.xpm
doesn’t force the unknown.xpm icon on every window, it just sets the default icon like
the DefaultIcon command. If you really want all windows to have the same icon, you can
use
Style ** Icon unknown.xpm
If the NoIcon attribute is set then the specified window simply disappears when it is
iconified. The window can be recovered through the window-list. If Icon is set without
an argument then the NoIcon attribute is cleared but no icon is specified. An example
which allows only the FvwmPager module icon to exist:
Style * NoIcon
Style FvwmPager Icon
IconBox takes no argument, four numeric arguments (plus optionally a screen
specification), an X11 geometry string or the string "none":
IconBox [screen scr-spec] l t r b
or
IconBox geometry
Where l is the left coordinate, t is the top, r is right and b is bottom. Negative
coordinates indicate distance from the right or bottom of the screen. If the first
argument is the word screen, the scr-spec argument specifies the RandR screen on which
the IconBox is defined ´or the additional 'w' for the screen where the window center
is located. This is only useful with multiple screens. The "l t r b" specification is
more flexible than an X11 geometry. For example:
IconBox -80 240 -1 -1
defines a box that is 80 pixels wide from the right edge, 240 pixels down from the
top, and continues to the bottom of the screen.
Perhaps it is easier to use is an X11 geometry string though:
IconBox 1000x70-1-1
places an 1000 by 70 pixel icon box on the bottom of the screen starting in the lower
right hand corner of the screen. One way to figure out a geometry like this is to use
a window that resizes in pixel increments, for example, xv. Then resize and place the
xv window where you want the iconbox. Then use FvwmIdent to read the windows geometry.
The icon box is a region of the screen where fvwm attempts to put icons for any
matching window, as long as they do not overlap other icons. Multiple icon boxes can
be defined as overflow areas. When the first icon box is full, the second one is
filled. All the icon boxes for one style must be defined in one Style command. For
example:
Style * IconBox -80 240 -1 -1, \
IconBox 1000x70-1-1
A Style command with the IconBox option replaces any icon box defined previously by
another Style command for the same style. That’s why the backslash in the previous
example is required.
Note: The geometry for the icon box command takes the additional screen specifier "@w"
in case RandR isused. This designates the screen where the window center is located.
The additional screen specifier is not allowed anywhere else.
If you never define an icon box, or you fill all the icon boxes, fvwm has a default
icon box that covers the screen, it fills top to bottom, then left to right, and has
an 80x80 pixel grid. To disable all but the default icon box you can use IconBox
without arguments in a separate Style command. To disable all icon boxes including the
default icon box, the argument "none" can be specified.
Hint: You can auto arrange your icons in the icon box with a simple fvwm function. Put
the "DeiconifyAndRearrange" function below in your configuration file:
AddToFunc DeiconifyAndRearrange
+ C Iconify off
+ C All (CurrentPage, Iconic) PlaceAgain Icon
And then replace all places where you call the Iconify command to de-iconify an icon
with a call to the new function. For example replace
AddToFunc IconFunc
+ C Iconify off
+ M Raise
+ M Move
+ D Iconify off
Mouse 1 I A Iconify off
with
AddToFunc IconFunc
+ C DeiconifyAndRearrange
+ M Raise
+ M Move
+ D DeiconifyAndRearrange
Mouse 1 I A DeiconifyAndRearrange
IconGrid takes 2 numeric arguments greater than zero.
IconGrid x y
Icons are placed in an icon box by stepping through the icon box using the x and y
values for the icon grid, looking for a free space. The default grid is 3 by 3 pixels
which gives a tightly packed appearance. To get a more regular appearance use a grid
larger than your largest icon. Use the IconSize argument to clip or stretch an icon to
a maximum size. An IconGrid definition must follow the IconBox definition that it
applies to:
Style * IconBox -80x240-1-1, IconGrid 90 90
IconFill takes 2 arguments.
IconFill Bottom Right
Icons are placed in an icon box by stepping through the icon box using these arguments
to control the direction the box is filled in. By default the direction is left to
right, then top to bottom. This would be expressed as:
IconFill left top
To fill an icon box in columns instead of rows, specify the vertical direction (top or
bottom) first. The directions can be abbreviated or spelled out as follows: "t",
"top", "b", "bot", "bottom", "l", "lft", "left", "r", "rgt", "right". An IconFill
definition must follow the IconBox definition that it applies to:
Style * IconBox -80x240-1-1, IconFill b r
IconSize sets limits on the size of an icon image. Both user-provided and
application-provided icon images are affected.
IconSize [ width height [ maxwidth maxheight ] ]
All arguments are measured in pixels. When all four arguments are passed to IconSize,
width and height represent the minimum size of an icon, and maxwidth and maxheight
represent the maximum size of an icon. Icon images that are smaller than the minimum
size are padded. Icon images that are bigger than the maximum size are clipped.
If only two arguments are passed to IconSize, width and height represent the absolute
size of an icon. Icons covered by this style are padded or clipped to achieve the
given size.
If no arguments are specified, the default values are used for each dimension. This
effectively places no limits on the size of an icon.
The value of "-1" can be used in place of any of the arguments to specify the default
value for that dimension.
In addition to the numeric arguments, 1 additional argument can be "Stretched",
"Adjusted", or "Shrunk".
Note that module provided icon managers are not affected by this style.
MiniIcon specifies a pixmap to use as the miniature icon for the window. This
miniature icon can be drawn in a title-bar button (see ButtonStyle), and can be used
by various fvwm modules (FvwmIconMan and FvwmPager). It takes the name of a pixmap as
an argument.
WindowShadeShrinks and WindowShadeScrolls control if the contents of a window that is
being shaded with the WindowShade command are scrolled (default) or if they stay in
place. The shrinking mode is a bit faster
The WindowShadeSteps option selects the number of steps for animation when shading a
window with WindowShade. It takes one number as its argument. If the number has a
trailing 'p' it sets the number of pixels to use as the step size instead of a fixed
number of steps. 0 disables the animation. This happens too if the argument is omitted
or invalid.
The WindowShade command has two modes of operation: busy and lazy shading. Busy
shading can be 50% slower than lazy shading, but the latter can look strange under
some conditions, for example, if the window borders, buttons or the title are filled
with a tiled pixmap. Also, the window handles are not drawn in lazy mode and the
border relief may only be drawn partially right before the window reaches the shaded
state or tight after leaves the unshaded state. By default, fvwm uses lazy mode if
there are no bad visual effects (not counting the window handles) and busy mode
otherwise. Use the WindowShadeAlwaysLazy or WindowShadeBusy to force using the lazy or
busy mode. The default setting is restored with WindowShadeLazy.
ResizeOpaque instructs fvwm to resize the corresponding windows with their contents
visible instead of using an outline. Since this causes the application to redraw
frequently it can be quite slow and make the window flicker excessively, depending on
the amount of graphics the application redraws. The ResizeOutline style (default)
negates the ResizeOpaque style. Many applications do not like their windows being
resized opaque, e.g. XEmacs, Netscape or terminals with a pixmap background. If you do
not like the result, do not use the ResizeOpaque style for these windows. To exempt
certain windows from opaque resizing you could use these lines in your configuration
file:
Style * ResizeOpaque
Style rxvt ResizeOutline
Style emacs ResizeOutline
Sticky makes the window sticky, i.e. it is always visible on each page and each desk.
The opposite style, Slippery reverts back to the default.
StickyIcon makes the window sticky when it’s iconified. It de-iconifies on top the
active desktop. SlipperyIcon reverts back to the default.
StickyAcrossPages and StickyAcrossPagesIcon work like Sticky and StickyIcon, but stick
the window only across pages, not desks while StickyAcrossDesks and
StickyAcrossDesksIcon works the other way round.
Windows that have been marked as Sticky or StickyAcrossDesks or StickyAcrossPages will
have stipples drawn on the titlebar. This can be negated with the !StickyStippledTitle
style. The style StickyStippledTitle puts back the stipples where that window has also
been marked as Sticky. Note that this is the default style for Sticky windows. Sticky
icons will have stipples drawn on the icon title. This can be disabled in the same way
with the !StickyStippledIconTitle style.
Windows with the StartIconic style are shown as icons initially. Note that some
applications counteract that by deiconifying themselves. The default is to not iconify
windows and can be set with the StartNormal style.
StickyIcon makes the window sticky when it’s iconified. It de-iconifies on top the
active desktop. SlipperyIcon reverts back to the default.
StickyIconPage works like StickyIcon, but sticks the icon only across pages, not desks
while StickyIconDesk works the other way round.
StippledIconTitle works like StippledTitle in that it draws stipples on the titles of
icons but doesn’t make the icon sticky.
IgnoreRestack makes fvwm ignore attempts of clients to raise or lower their own
windows. By default, the opposite style, AllowRestack is active.
FixedPosition and FixedUSPosition make fvwm ignore attempts of the user to move the
window. It is still possible to move the window by resizing it. To allow the user to
move windows, use the VariablePosition or VariableUSPosition style.
FixedSize and FixedUSSize make fvwm ignore attempts of the user to resize the window.
To allow the user to resize windows, use the VariableSize or VariableUSSize style.
FixedPPosition and FixedPSize make fvwm ignore attempts of the program to move or
resize its windows. To allow this kind of actions, use the VariablePPosition or
VariablePSize style. These styles may sometimes affect the initial placement and
dimensions of new windows (depending on the application). If windows are created at
strange places, try either the VariablePPosition or !UsePPosition styles. The
FixedPSize style may screw up window dimensions for some applications. Do Not use this
style in this case.
MoveByProgramMethod affects how fvwm reacts to requests by the application to move its
windows. By default, fvwm tries to detect which method to use, but it sometimes
detects the wrong method. You may come across a window that travels across the screen
by a few pixels when the application resizes it, moves to a screen border with the
frame decorations off screen, that remembers its position for the next time it starts
but appears in a slighly shifted position, or that attepmts to become full screen but
has the. Try out both options, UseGravity and IgnoreGravity on the window (and that
window only) and see if that helps. By default, fvwm uses the AutoDetect method. Once
the method was detected, it is never changed again. As long as fvwm can not detect the
proper method, it uses IgnoreGravity. To force fvwm to retry the detection, use one of
the other two options first and then use AutoDetect again.
Note: This option was introduced to alleviate a problem with the ICCCM specification.
The ICCCM clearly states that the UseGravity option should be used, but traditionally
applications ignored this rule.
Closable enables the functions Close, Delete and Destroy to be performed on the
windows. This is on by default. The opposite, !Closable, inhibits the window to be
closed.
Iconifiable enables the function Iconify to be performed on the windows. This is on by
default. The opposite, !Iconifiable, inhibits the window from being iconified.
Maximizable enables the function Maximize to be performed on the windows. This is on
by default. The opposite, !Maximizable, inhibits the window from being maximized.
AllowMaximizeFixedSize enables the function Maximize to be performed on windows that
are not resizable, unless maximization has been disabled either using the style
!Maximizable or through WM hints. This is on by default. The opposite,
!AllowMaximizeFixedSize, inhibits all windows that are not resizable from being
maximized.
ResizeHintOverride instructs fvwm to ignore the program supplied minimum and maximum
size as well as the resize step size (the character size in many applications). This
can be handy for broken applications that refuse to be resized. Do not use it if you
do not need it. The default (opposite) style is NoResizeOverride.
MinWindowSize [ width [ p | c ] height [ p | c ] ] Tells fvwm the minimum width and
height of a window. The values are the percentage of the total screen area. If the
letter 'p' is appended to either of the values, the numbers are interpreted as pixels.
If the letter 'c' is appended to either of the values, the numbers are in terms of the
client window’s size hints, which can be useful for windows such as terminals to
specify the number of rows or columns. This command is useful to deal with windows
that freak out if their window becomes too small. If you omit the parameters or their
values are invalid, both limits are set to 0 pixels (which is the default value).
MaxWindowSize [ width [ p | c ] height [ p | c ] ] Tells fvwm the maximum width and
height of a window. The values are the percentage of the total screen area. If the
letter 'p' is appended to either of the values, the numbers are interpreted as pixels.
If the letter 'c' is appended to either of the values, the numbers are in terms of the
client window’s size hints, which can be useful for windows such as terminals to
specify the number of rows or columns. This command is useful to force large
application windows to be fully visible. Neither height nor width may be less than 100
pixels. If you omit the parameters or their values are invalid, both limits are set to
32767 pixels (which is the default).
With IconifyWindowGroups all windows in the same window group are iconified and
deiconified at once when any window in the group is (de)iconified. The default is
IconifyWindowGroupsOff, which disables this behavior. Although a number of
applications use the window group hint, it is rarely used in a proper way, so it is
probably best to use IconifyWindowGroups only for selected applications.
The option SnapAttraction affects interactive window movement: If during an
interactive move the window or icon comes within proximity pixels of another the
window or icon, it is moved to make the borders adjoin. The default of 0 means that no
snapping happens. Calling this command without arguments turns off snap attraction and
restores the default behavior. Please refer also to the SnapGrid command.
The second argument determined is optional and may be set to one of the five following
values: With All both icons and windows snap to other windows and other icons.
SameType lets windows snap only to windows, and icons snap only to icons. With Windows
windows snap only to other windows. Similarly with Icons icons snap only to other
icons. With None no snapping takes place. This option can be useful in conjunction
with the following argument if you only want to snap against the screen edges. The
default behavior is All.
The third and last optional argument may be set to one of the four following values:
• With Screen the already snapping icons or windows, which is controlled by the
second argument, will snap now also to the screen edges.
• ScreenWindows snaps only windows to the screen edges.
• ScreenIcons snaps only icons to the screen edges.
• ScreenAll snaps windows and icons to the screen edges.
The option SnapGrid defines an invisible grid on the screen. During an interactive move a
window or icon is positioned such that its location (top left corner) is coincident with
the nearest grid point. The default x-grid-size and y-grid-size setting are both 1, which
is effectively no grid all.
An interactive move with both SnapGrid and SnapAttraction results in the window being
moved to be adjacent to the nearest window border (if within snap proximity) or grid
position. The window moves the shortest distance possible to satisfy both SnapGrid and
SnapAttraction. Note that the x and y coordinates are not coupled. For example, a window
may snap to another window on the x axis while snapping to a grid point on the y axis.
Using this style without arguments reinstates the default settings.
The styles EdgeMoveDelay and EdgeResizeDelay tells how hard it should be to change the
desktop viewport by moving or resizing a window over the edge of the screen. The parameter
tells how many milliseconds the pointer must spend on the screen edge before fvwm moves
the viewport. The command EdgeScroll determines how far the viewport is scrolled. If -1 is
given as the delay, page flipping is disabled completely. The defaults are no delay for
moving (0) and no flipping for resizing (-1). Using these styles without any argument
restores the default settings. Note that, with
EdgeScroll 0 0
it is still possible to move or resize windows across the edge of the current screen. See
also EdgeThickness.
The option EdgeMoveResistance makes it easier to place a window directly adjacent to the
screen’s or xinerama screen’s border. It takes one or two parameters. The first parameter
tells how many pixels over the edge of the screen a window’s edge must move before it
actually moves partially off the screen. The optional second parameter does the same as
the first, but for individual RandR screens. If omitted, the value of the first parameter
is assumed for this type of movement. Set the second parameter to 0 to zero to ignore
individual RandR screen edges. Note that the center of the window being moved determines
the screen on which the window should be kept. Both values are 0 by default. To restore
the defaults, the option EdgeMoveResistance can be used without any parameters.
The option InitialMapCommand allows for any valid fvwm command or function to run when the
window is initially mapped by fvwm. Example:
Style MyWindow StartsOnPage 0 0, InitialMapCommand Iconify
This would hence place the window called MyWindow on page 0 0 for the current desk, and
immediately run the Iconify command on that window.
Note that should InitialMapCommand be used as a global option for all windows, but there
is a need that some windows should not have this command applied, then an action of Nop
can be used on those windows, as in the following example:
Style * InitialMapCommand Iconify
Style XTeddy InitialMapCommand Nop
Window Manager placement
Applications can place windows at a particular spot on the screen either by window
manager hints or a geometry specification. When they do neither, then the window
manager steps in to find a place for the window. Fvwm knows several ways to deal with
this situation. The default is TileCascadePlacement.
PositionPlacement [Center|UnderMouse|move-arguments] When used without an argument,
new windows are placed in the top left corner of the display. With the argument
Center, all new window appear at the center of the screen, and with UnderMouse,
windows are centered under the mouse pointer where possible. If the window is unable
to fit on the screen because the pointer is at the edge of the screen, then the window
is forced on-screen using this option. If any other move-arguments are given, they are
interpreted exactly as the Move command does (with the exception that references to
the current window position do not work as the window has not been placed yet).
CascadePlacement automatically place new windows in a cascading fashion.
TileCascadePlacement automatically places new windows in a smart location - a location
in which they do not overlap any other windows on the screen. If no such position can
be found CascadePlacement is used as a fall-back method.
TileManualPlacement This is the same as TileCascadePlacement, but uses ManualPlacement
as the fall-back method.
MinOverlapPlacement automatically places new windows in a location in which the
overlapping area in pixels of other windows is minimized. By default this placement
policy tries to avoid overlapping icons and windows on higher layers. This can be
configured with the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties style.
MinOverlapPercentPlacement is similar to MinOverlapPlacement but tries to minimize the
overlapped percentages of other windows instead of the overlapped area in pixels. This
placement policy tries to avoid covering other windows completely and tries even
harder not to cover small windows. This can be configured with the
MinOverlapPlacementPenalties and MinOverlapPercentPlacementPenalties styles.
MinOverlapPlacementPenalties takes at most 6 positive or null decimal arguments:
normal ontop icon sticky below strut
if trailing arguments are missing the default is used which is:
1 5 10 1 0.05 50
To reset this style to the default values, prefix it with a '!'. This style configures
the MinOverlapPlacement and MinOverlapPercentPlacement placement policy. The normal
factor affects normal windows, the ontop factor affects windows with a greater layer
than the window being placed, the icon factor affects icons, the sticky factor affects
sticky windows, the below factor affects windows with a smaller layer than the window
being placed, the strut factor affects the complement of the EWMH working area if the
window being placed has the EWMHPlacementUseWorkingArea style and windows with an EWMH
strut hint (i.e., a "please do not cover me" hint) if the window being placed has the
EWMHPlacementUseDynamicWorkingArea style. These factors represent the amount of area
that these types of windows (or area) are counted as, when a new window is placed. For
example, by default the area of ontop windows is counted 5 times as much as normal
windows. So MinOverlapPlacement and MinOverlapPercentPlacement covers 5 times as much
area of another window before it will cover an ontop window. To treat ontop windows
the same as other windows, set this to 1. To really, really avoid putting windows
under ontop windows, set this to a high value, say 1000. This style affects the window
already mapped and not the window which is currently placed. There is one exception to
this rule: in the case of the window being placed has the EWMHPlacementUseWorkingArea
style the strut factor affects the placed window.
MinOverlapPercentPlacementPenalties takes at most 4 positive or null integer
arguments:
cover_100 cover_95 cover_85 cover_75
if trailing arguments are missing the defaults are used which are:
12 6 4 1
To reset this style to the default values, prefix it with a '!'. This style affects
the MinOverlapPercentPlacement placement policy and is similar to the
MinOverlapPlacementPenalties style. The cover_xx factor is used when the window being
placed covers at least xx percent of the window. This factor is added to the factor
determined by the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties style.
ManualPlacement (aka active placement). The user is required to place every new window
manually. The window only shows as a rubber band until a place is selected manually.
The window is placed when a mouse button or any key except Escape is pressed. Escape
aborts manual placement which places the window in the top left corner of the screen.
If mouse button 2 is pressed during the initial placement of a window (respectively
Shift and mouse button 1 in case Mwm emulation has been enabled with the Emulate
command), the user is asked to resize the window too.
It is possible to define buttons usable to place windows with the Move command and the
special context 'P' for placement (see Move command). However, you can’t redefine the
way to also resize the window other than the way it is affected by the Emulate
command. The button used for placing the window can be checked with the PlacedByButton
condition (see Current command).
Example:
Style * ManualPlacement
*FvwmEvent: PassID
*FvwmEvent: add_window GrowDownFunc
AddToFunc StartFunction
+ I FvwmEvent
AddToFunc GrowDownFunc
+ I windowid $0 (PlacedByButton 3) \
Resize bottomright keep -0p
Now, whenever a window is created and the user presses button 3 to finish initial
placement, the window is automatically enlarged until it hits the bottom screen
border.
Old placement styles DumbPlacement / SmartPlacement / SmartPlacementOff,
CleverPlacement / CleverPlacementOff, ActivePlacement / RandomPlacement,
ActivePlacementsHonorsStartsOnPage / ActivePlacementsHonorsStartsOnPageOff, GlobalOpts
SmartPlacementIsReallySmart / GlobalOpts SmartPlacementIsNormal are still supported
but will be removed in the future. The old and new styles can be translated according
to the following table:
GlobalOpts SmartPlacementIsReallySmart
Style * SmartPlacement
-->
Style * SmartPlacement, CleverPlacement
GlobalOpts SmartPlacementIsNormal
Style * SmartPlacement
-->
Style * SmartPlacement, CleverPlacementOff
Style * DumbPlacement, RandomPlacement
-->
Style * CascadePlacement
Style * DumbPlacement, ActivePlacement
-->
Style * ManualPlacement
Style * SmartPlacement, \
RandomPlacement, CleverPlacementOff
-->
Style * TileCascadePlacement
Style * SmartPlacement, \
ActivePlacement, CleverPlacementOff
-->
Style * TileManualPlacement
Style * SmartPlacement, CleverPlacement
-->
Style * MinOverlapPlacement
Style * SmartPlacement, \
ActivePlacement, CleverPlacement
-->
Style * MinOverlapPercentPlacement
Style * ActivePlacementsHonorsStartsOnPage
-->
Style * ManualPlacementsHonorsStartsOnPage
Style * ActivePlacementsHonorsStartsOnPageOff
-->
Style * ManualPlacementsHonorsStartsOnPageOff
Placement policy options and window stacking
!UsePPosition instructs fvwm to ignore the program specified position (PPosition hint)
when adding new windows. Using PPosition is required for some applications, but if you
do not have one of those it’s a real headache. Many programs set PPosition to
something obnoxious like 0,0 (upper left corner). Note: !UsePPosition is equivalent to
the deprecated option !UsePPosition
!UseUSPosition works like !UsePPosition but applies suppresses using the user
specified position indicated by the program (USPosition hint). It is generally a bad
thing to override the user’s choice, but some applications misuse the USPosition hint
to force their windows to a certain spot on the screen without the user’s consent.
Note: !UseUSPosition is equivalent to the deprecated option !USPosition
NoUseTransientPPosition and UseTransientPPosition work like !UsePPosition and
UsePPosition but apply only to transient windows. Note: !UseTransientPPosition is
equivalent to the deprecated option !TransientPPosition
NoUseIconPosition instructs fvwm to ignore the program specified icon position
(IconPosition hint) when iconifying the window. Note: !UseIconPosition is equivalent
to the deprecated option !IconPosition
StartsOnDesk takes a numeric argument which is the desktop number on which the window
should be initially placed. Note that standard Xt programs can also specify this via a
resource (e.g. "-xrm '*Desk: 1'").
StartsOnPage takes 1, 2, or 3 numeric arguments. If one or three arguments are given,
the first (or only) argument is the desktop number. If three arguments are given, the
2nd and 3rd arguments identify the x,y page position on the virtual window. If two
arguments are given, they specify the page position, and indicate no desk preference.
If only one argument is given, StartsOnPage functions exactly like StartsOnDesk. For
those standard Xt programs which understand this usage, the starting desk/page can
also be specified via a resource (e.g., "-xrm '*page: 1 0 2'"). StartsOnPage in
conjunction with SkipMapping is a useful technique when you want to start an app on
some other page and continue with what you were doing, rather than waiting for it to
appear.
StartsOnScreen takes one argument. It must be a valid RandR name. A new window is
placed on the specified screen. The default is to place windows on the screen that
contains the mouse pointer at the time the window is created. However, those windows
which are not placed by fvwm (i.e., those with a USPosition hint from a user specified
geometry) are normally placed in a position relative to all identified screens.
StartsOnPageIncludesTransients causes the StartsOnPage style to be applied even for
transient windows. This is not usually useful, since transients are usually pop ups
that you want to appear in your visible viewport; but occasionally an application uses
a transient for something like a startup window that needs to be coerced into place.
ManualPlacementIgnoresStartsOnPage suppresses StartsOnPage or StartsOnDesk placement
in the event that both ManualPlacement and SkipMapping are in effect when a window is
created. This prevents you from interactively placing a window and then wondering
where it disappeared to, because it got placed on a different desk or page.
ManualPlacementHonorsStartsOnPage allows this to happen anyway. The option has no
effect if SkipMapping is not in effect, because fvwm switches to the proper desk/page
to perform interactive placement. The default is ManualPlacementIgnoresStartsOnPage;
ManualPlacementHonorsStartsOnPage matches the way the old StartsOnDesk style used to
handle the situation.
CaptureHonorsStartsOnPage causes the initial capture (of an already existing window)
at startup to place the window according to the StartsOnPage and StartsOnScreen desk,
page and screen specification. CaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage causes fvwm to ignore these
settings (including StartsOnDesk) on initial capture. The default is
CaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage.
RecaptureHonorsStartsOnPage causes a window to be placed according to, or revert to,
the StartsOnPage and StartsOnScreen desk, page and screen specification on Restart.
RecaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage causes fvwm to respect the current window position on
Restart. The default is RecaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage.
Layer accepts one optional argument: a non-negative integer. This is the layer the
window is put in. If no argument is given, any previously set value is deleted and the
default layer is implied.
StaysOnTop puts the window in the top layer. This layer can be changed by the command
DefaultLayers; the default is 6.
StaysPut puts the window in the put layer. This layer can be changed by the command
DefaultLayers; the default is 4.
StaysOnBottom puts the window in the bottom layer. This layer can be changed by the
command DefaultLayers; the default is 2.
StartsLowered instructs fvwm to put the window initially at the bottom of its layer
rather than the default StartsRaised.
StartShaded tells fvwm to shade the window. An optional direction argument may be
given, which can be one of "North", "South", "West", "East", "NorthWest", "NorthEast",
"SouthWest", "SouthEast" or if no direction is given, the default is to shade north.
SkipMapping tells fvwm not to switch to the desk the window is on when it gets mapped
initially (useful with StartsOnDesk or StartsOnPage).
KeepWindowGroupsOnDesk makes new windows that have the window group hint set appear on
the same desk as the other windows of the same group. Since this behavior may be
confusing, the default setting is ScatterWindowGroups. The window group hint is
ignored when placing windows in this case.
Transient windows
DecorateTransient causes transient windows, which are normally left undecorated, to be
given the usual fvwm decorations (title bar, buttons, etc.). Note that some pop-up
windows, such as the xterm menus, are not managed by the window manager and still do
not receive decorations. NakedTransient (the default) causes transient windows not to
be given the standard decorations. You can only bind keys or mouse buttons to the
sides and the client part of an undecorated window ('S' and ´W' contexts in bindings,
see Mouse and Key commands).
A window with the RaiseTransient style that has transient windows raises all its
transients when it is raised. The DontRaiseTransient style disables this behavior. All
windows are then treated as if they had no transients.
A window with the LowerTransient style that has transient windows lowers all its
transients when it is lowered. The DontLowerTransient style disables this behavior.
All windows are then treated as if they had no transients.
The StackTransientParent style augments RaiseTransient and LowerTransient styles.
Raising a window with StackTransientParent style transfers the raise action to the
main window if the window being raised is a transient and its main window has
RaiseTransient style; this effect makes raise on a transient act just like raise on
its main - the whole group is raised. Similar behavior holds for lowering a whole
group of transients when the main has LowerTransient style. DontStackTransientParent
turns this behavior off. (Dont)StackTransientParent has no effect if RaiseTransient
and LowerTransient are not used.
A reasonable emulation of Motif raise/lower on transients is possible like this
Style * RaiseTransient
Style * LowerTransient
Style * StackTransientParent
Extended Window Manager Hints styles
To understand the used terminology in this sub section, please read the Extended
Window Manager Hints section.
EWMHDonateIcon instructs fvwm to set the application ewmh icon hint with the icon that
is used by fvwm if the application does not provide such hint (and if the icon used by
fvwm is not an icon window). EWMHDonateMiniIcon does the same thing for mini icons.
This allows compliant pager, taskbar, iconbox ...etc to display the same (mini) icons
as fvwm. Note that on some hardware (e.g., 8-bit displays) these styles can slow down
window mapping and that in general only one of these styles is needed by a compliant
application. EWMHDontDonateIcon and EWMHDontDonateMiniIcon restore the defaults which
are to not set any ewmh (mini) icons hints.
By default, if an application provides an ewmh icon hint of small size (i.e., height
and width less than or equal to 22), then fvwm uses this icon as its mini icon.
EWMHMiniIconOverride instructs fvwm to ignore ewmh icons and to use the mini icon
provided by the MiniIcon style. EWMHNoMiniIconOverride restores the default.
EWMHUseStackingOrderHints causes fvwm to use EWMH hints and respect EWMH hints which
change the window layer. EWMHIgnoreStackingOrderHints causes fvwm to ignore EWMH layer
hints.
An application can ask for some reserved space on the desktop by a hint. In the EWMH
terminology such a hint is called a strut and it is used to compute the working area
and may be used for window placement and in the maximize command. EWMHIgnoreStrutHints
causes fvwm to ignore such hints, as EWMHUseStrutHints, causes fvwm to use it which is
the default.
EWMHIgnoreStateHints causes fvwm to ignore initial EWMH state hints when a new window
is mapped. The default EWMHUseStateHints causes fvwm to accept such hints.
EWMHIgnoreWindowType causes fvwm to ignore EWMH window type specification. The default
!EWMHIgnoreWindowType causes fvwm to style windows of specified types as such.
EWMHMaximizeIgnoreWorkingArea causes fvwm to ignore the EWMH working area when it
executes a Maximize command. With EWMHMaximizeUseWorkingArea the EWMH working area is
used as with EWMHMaximizeUseDynamicWorkingArea the EWMH dynamic working area is used
(the default).
EWMHPlacementIgnoreWorkingArea causes fvwm to ignore the EWMH working area when it
places (or places again) a window. With EWMHPlacementUseWorkingArea the EWMH working
area is taken in account as with EWMHPlacementUseDynamicWorkingArea the EWMH dynamic
working area is taken in account (the default). Note that with the MinOverlapPlacement
and MinOverlapPercentPlacement placement policy, the way the EWMH (dynamic) working
area is taken in account is configurable with the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties style.
Miscellaneous
The BackingStore, BackingStoreOff and BackingStoreWindowDefault determine if the X
server uses backing store for the window or not. BackingStore means that the X server
tries to keep the obscured parts of a window in memory. This is usually slower if the
client runs on the same machine as the X server, but can be much faster if the
connection is slow (see also SaveUnder below). BackingStoreOff disables backing store
for the window. By default, fvwm does not enable or disable backing store itself but
leaves is as the window requested it. To revert back to the application’s choice, use
the BackingStoreWindowDefault style.
Note: This style is useless if the X server does not allow backing store.
SaveUnder enables the corresponding window attribute in the X server. For a window
using this style, the X server tries to store the graphics below it in memory which is
usually slower if the client runs on the same machine as the X server. SaveUnder may
speed up fvwm if the connection to the X server is slow (e.g. over a modem link). To
disable save under, use the SaveUnderOff style. This is the default. See also
BackingStore above.
Note: This style is useless if the X server does not allow save under.
ParentalRelativity enables clients that use a background pixmap of type ParentRelative
to achieve transparency. Fvwm modules that support transparent colorsets require this
setting. Opacity is the default and should be used for all non-transparent clients for
better performance.
MwmDecor makes fvwm attempt to recognize and respect the mwm decoration hints that
applications occasionally use. To switch this style off, use the NoDecorHint style.
MwmFunctions makes fvwm attempt to recognize and respect the mwm prohibited operations
hints that applications occasionally use. HintOverride makes fvwm shade out operations
that mwm would prohibit, but it lets you perform the operation anyway. NoFuncHint
allows turns off the mwm hints completely.
OLDecor makes fvwm attempt to recognize and respect the olwm and olvwm hints that many
older XView and OLIT applications use. Switch this option off with NoOLDecor.
With GNOMEIgnoreHints fvwm ignores all GNOME hints for the window, even if GNOME
compliance is compiled in. This is useful for those pesky applications that try to be
more clever than the user and use GNOME hints to force the window manager to ignore
the user’s preferences. The GNOMEUseHints style switches back to the default behavior.
UseDecor This style is deprecated and will be removed in the future. There are plans
to replace it with a more flexible solution in fvwm-3.0.
UseDecor accepts one argument: the name of a decor created with AddToDecor. If no
decor name is specified, the "Default" decor is used. Windows do not actually contain
decors, but are always assigned to one. If the decor is later modified with
AddToDecor, the changes are visible for all windows which are assigned to it. The
decor for a window can be reassigned with ChangeDecor.
UseStyle This style is deprecated and will be removed in the future. There are plans
to replace it with a more flexible solution in fvwm-3.0.
UseStyle takes one arg, which is the name of another style. That way you can have
unrelated window names easily inherit similar traits without retyping. For example:
Style rxvt UseStyle XTerm
Warning: If a style is built from one or more parent styles and the parent styles are
changed, the derived style is not modified. To achieve this you have to issue the
UseStyle line again.
Unmanaged Windows with the Unmanaged style option are ignored by fvwm. They are not
decorated, can not be moved or resized, etc. You probably want to use Bugopts
RaiseOverUnmanaged too. This option can be turned off with the !Unmanaged style.
State sets the initial value of one of the 32 user defined states which are associated
with each window. The state number ranges from 0 to 31 and must be given as an
argument. The states have no meaning in fvwm, but they can be checked in conditional
commands like Next with the State condition and manipulated with the State command.
# turn on state 11 for xterms ...
Style xterm State 11
# ... but not for rxvts.
Style rxvt !State 11
Windows with the WindowListSkip styles do not appear in the menu that is created with
the WindowList command or the lists shown in modules like FvwmIconMan. In the modules,
the style can usually be ignored with an option. Please refer to the man page of the
module in question for further information. To disable this feature, use the default
style WindowListHit.
The styles CirculateSkip and CirculateHit control whether the window is considered by
conditional commands, for example Next, Prev or All. Windows with CirculateSkip, are
never selected by conditional commands. However, the styles can be overridden
explicitly in the condition with the CirculateHit, CirculateHitIcon or
CirculateHitShaded conditions, and some conditional commands, e.g. Current and All, do
this by default. The styles CirculateSkipIcon, CirculateHitIcon, CirculateSkipShaded
and CirculateHitShaded work like CirculateSkip and CirculateHit but apply only to
iconic or shaded windows. Note: if multiple ...Skip... options are combined, windows
are only selected if they match none of the given conditions. So, with
Style * CirculateSkipIcon, CirculateSkipShaded
only windows that are neither iconic nor shaded are selected. Note: For historical
reasons, the conditional commands understand the names of these styles as condition
names. Take care not to confuse them.
Examples
# Change default fvwm behavior to no title-
# bars on windows! Also define a default icon.
Style * !Title, \
Icon unknown1.xpm, \
BorderWidth 4, \
HandleWidth 5
# now, window specific changes:
Style Fvwm* !Handles, Sticky, \
WindowListSkip, \
BorderWidth 0
Style FvwmPager StaysOnTop, BorderWidth 0
Style *lock !Handles, Sticky, \
StaysOnTop, WindowListSkip
Style xbiff Sticky, WindowListSkip
Style FvwmButtons !Handles, Sticky, \
WindowListSkip
Style sxpm !Handles
# Put title-bars back on xterms only!
Style xterm Title, Color black/grey
Style rxvt Icon term.xpm
Style xterm Icon rterm.xpm
Style xcalc Icon xcalc.xpm
Style xbiff Icon mail1.xpm
Style xmh Icon mail1.xpm, \
StartsOnDesk 2
Style xman Icon xman.xpm
Style matlab Icon math4.xpm, \
StartsOnDesk 3
Style xmag Icon magnifying_glass2.xpm
Style xgraph Icon graphs.xpm
Style FvwmButtons Icon toolbox.xpm
Style Maker StartsOnDesk 1
Style signal StartsOnDesk 3
# Fire up Netscape on the second desk, in the
# middle of my 3x3 virtual desktop, and do not
# bother me with it...
Style Netscape* SkipMapping, \
StartsOnPage 1 1 1
Note that all properties for a window are or’ed together. In the above example "FvwmPager"
gets the property StaysOnTop via an exact window name match but also gets !Handles, Sticky
and WindowListSkip by a match to "Fvwm*". It gets !Title by virtue of a match to "*". If
conflicting styles are specified for a window, then the last style specified is used.
WindowStyle options
sets attributes (styles) on the selected window. The options are exactly the same as
for the Style command.
Window Styles
AddButtonStyle button [state] [style] flag ...]
Adds a button style to button. button can be a button number, or one of "All", "Left"
or "Right". state can be "ActiveUp", "ActiveDown", "InactiveUp" or "InactiveDown", or
"Active" (the same as both "ActiveUp" and "ActiveDown") or "Inactive" (the same as
both "InactiveUp" and "InactiveDown") or any of these 6 with "Toggled" prepended. The
"Active" states apply to the focused window, the "Inactive" ones apply to all other
windows. The "Up" states apply to the non pressed buttons, the "Down" ones apply to
pressed buttons. The "Toggled" prefix refers to maximized, shaded or sticky windows
that have the corresponding MwmDecor... button style set. Additionally, the following
shortcuts may be used: "AllNormal", "AllToggled", "AllActive", "AllInactive", "AllUp",
"AllDown". They are actually different masks for 4 individual states from 8 total.
These are supported too: "AllActiveUp", "AllActiveDown", "AllInactiveUp",
"AllInactiveDown".
If state is omitted, then the style is added to every state. If the style and flags
are enclosed in parentheses, then multiple state definitions can be placed on a single
line. Flags for additional button styles cannot be changed after definition.
Buttons are drawn in the order of definition, beginning with the most recent button
style, followed by those added with AddButtonStyle. To clear the button style stack,
change style flags, or for descriptions of available styles and flags, see the
ButtonStyle command.
Examples:
**ButtonStyle** 1 Pixmap led.xpm -- Top Left
**ButtonStyle** 1 ActiveDown HGradient 8 grey black
**ButtonStyle All** -- UseTitleStyle
AddButtonStyle 1 \
ActiveUp (Pixmap a.xpm) \
ActiveDown (Pixmap b.xpm -- Top)
AddButtonStyle 1 Vector 4 50x30@1 70x70@0 30x70@0 50x30@1
Initially for this example all button states are set to a pixmap. The second line
replaces the "ActiveDown" state with a gradient (it overrides the pixmap assigned to
it in the line before, which assigned the same style to every state). Then, the
UseTitleStyle flag is set for all buttons, which causes fvwm to draw any styles set
with TitleStyle before drawing the buttons. Finally, AddButtonStyle is used to place
additional pixmaps for both "ActiveUp" and "ActiveDown" states and a vector button
style is drawn on top of all states.
AddTitleStyle [state] [style] flag ...]
Adds a title style to the title-bar. state can be "ActiveUp", "ActiveDown",
"InactiveUp" or "InactiveDown", or "Active" (the same as both "ActiveUp" and
"ActiveDown") or "Inactive" (the same as both "InactiveUp" and "InactiveDown") or any
of these 6 with "Toggled" prepended. If state is omitted, then the style is added to
every state. If the style and flags are enclosed in parentheses, then multiple state
definitions can be placed on a single line. This command is quite similar to the
AddButtonStyle command.
Title-bars are drawn in the order of definition, beginning with the most recent
TitleStyle, followed by those added with AddTitleStyle. To clear the title style
stack, change style flags, or for the descriptions of available styles and flags, see
the TitleStyle and ButtonStyle commands.
AddToDecor decor
This command is deprecated and will be removed in the future. There are plans to
replace it with a more flexible solution in fvwm-3.0.
Add or divert commands to the decor named decor. A decor is a name given to the set of
commands which affect button styles, title-bar styles and border styles. If decor does
not exist it is created; otherwise the existing decor is modified. Note: Earlier
versions allowed to use the HilightColor, HilightColorset and WindowFont commands in
decors. This is no longer possible. Please use the Style command with the Hilight...
and Font options.
New decors start out exactly like the "default" decor without any style definitions. A
given decor may be applied to a set of windows with the UseDecor option of the Style
command. Modifying an existing decor affects all windows which are currently assigned
to it.
AddToDecor is similar in usage to the AddToMenu and AddToFunc commands, except that
menus and functions are replaced by ButtonStyle, AddButtonStyle, TitleStyle,
AddTitleStyle and BorderStyle commands. Decors created with AddToDecor can be
manipulated with ChangeDecor, DestroyDecor, UpdateDecor and the Style option.
The following example creates a decor "FlatDecor" and style "FlatStyle". They are
distinct entities:
AddToDecor FlatDecor
+ ButtonStyle All Active (-- flat) Inactive (-- flat)
+ TitleStyle -- flat
+ BorderStyle -- HiddenHandles NoInset
Style FlatStyle \
UseDecor FlatDecor, HandleWidth 4, ForeColor white, \
BackColor grey40, HilightFore black, HilightBack grey70
Style xterm UseStyle FlatStyle
An existing window’s decor may be reassigned with ChangeDecor. A decor can be
destroyed with DestroyDecor.
DestroyDecor FlatDecor
AddToDecor FlatDecor ...
Style FlatStyle UseDecor FlatDecor
and now apply the style again:
Style xterm UseStyle FlatStyle
BorderStyle state [style] flag ...]
Defines a border style for windows. state can be either "Active" or "Inactive". If
state is omitted, then the style is set for both states. If the style and flags are
enclosed in parentheses, then multiple state definitions can be specified per line.
style is a subset of the available button styles, and can only be TiledPixmap (uniform
pixmaps which match the bevel colors work best this way) or Colorset. If a '!' is
prefixed to any flag, the behavior is negated. If style is not specified, then one can
change flags without resetting the style.
The HiddenHandles flag hides the corner handle dividing lines on windows with handles
(this option has no effect for !Handles windows). By default, HiddenHandles is
disabled.
The NoInset flag supplements HiddenHandles. If given, the inner bevel around the
window frame is not drawn. If HiddenHandles is not specified, the frame looks a little
strange.
Raised causes a raised relief pattern to be drawn (default). Sunk causes a sunken
relief pattern to be drawn. Flat inhibits the relief pattern from being drawn.
To decorate the active and inactive window borders with a textured pixmap, one might
specify:
BorderStyle Active TiledPixmap marble.xpm
BorderStyle Inactive TiledPixmap granite.xpm
BorderStyle Active -- HiddenHandles NoInset
To clear the style for both states:
BorderStyle Simple
To clear for a single state:
BorderStyle Active Simple
To unset a flag for a given state:
BorderStyle Inactive -- !NoInset
title-bar buttons can inherit the border style with the UseBorderStyle flag (see
ButtonStyle).
ButtonState [ActiveDown bool] [Inactive bool] [InactiveDown bool]
The ButtonState command controls which states of the window titles and title buttons
are used. The default is to use all four states: "ActiveUp", "ActiveDown",
"InactiveUp" and "InactiveDown" (see ButtonStyle and TitleStyle commands). The bool
argument after the key word controls if the designated state is used ("True") or not
("False"). The bool flag is the same as other commands, and not limited to just "True"
or "False"; "Yes" and "No" may also be used. The "ActiveUp" state cannot be
deactivated. If no arguments are provided or the given arguments are illegal, the
default is restored.
If ActiveDown argument is "False", no different button style for the pressed down
buttons used, instead "ActiveUp" state is used even when button is pressed.
If Inactive argument is "False", focused and unfocused windows look similarly, the
corresponding "Active" states are always used.
If InactiveDown argument is "False" (only applied when Inactive is "True"), the
pressed titles and title buttons in non-focused windows are drawn using "InactiveUp"
or "ActiveUp" states depending on the values of the other key words.
ButtonStyle button [state] [style] flag ...]
Sets the button style for a title-bar button. button is the title-bar button number
between 0 and 9, or one of "All", "Left", "Right", or "Reset". Button numbering is
described in the Mouse command section. If the style and flags are enclosed in
parentheses, then multiple state definitions can be specified per line.
state refers to which button state should be set. Button states are defined as
follows: "ActiveUp" and "ActiveDown" refer to the un-pressed and pressed states for
buttons on active windows; while the "InactiveUp" and "InactiveDown" states denote
buttons on inactive windows. The shortcut "Active" denotes both "ActiveUp" and
"ActiveDown" states. Shortcut "Inactive" denotes both "InactiveUp" and "InactiveDown"
states. The similar state names like just described, but with the "Toggled" prefix are
used instead for title buttons which have one of the MwmDecorMax, MwmDecorShade,
MwmDecorStick or MwmDecorLayer hints, if the window is maximized, shaded, sticky or
placed on specific layer, respectively.
AddToDecor Default
+ ButtonStyle 6 \
Vector 4 50x25@1 85x75@0 15x75@0 50x25@1
+ ButtonStyle 6 ToggledActiveUp \
Vector 4 50x75@0 85x25@1 15x25@0 50x75@0
+ ButtonStyle 6 ToggledActiveDown \
Vector 4 50x75@0 85x25@1 15x25@0 50x75@0
+ ButtonStyle 6 ToggledInactive \
Vector 4 50x75@0 85x25@1 15x25@0 50x75@0
+ ButtonStyle 6 - MwmDecorShade
Mouse 0 6 N WindowShade
Additionally, the following shortcuts may be used: "AllNormal", "AllToggled",
"AllActive", "AllInactive", "AllUp", "AllDown". They are actually different masks for
4 individual states from 8 total. These are supported too: "AllActiveUp",
"AllActiveDown", "AllInactiveUp", "AllInactiveDown".
If state is specified, that particular button state is set. If state is omitted, every
state is set. Specifying a style destroys the current style (use AddButtonStyle to
avoid this).
If style is omitted, then state-dependent flags can be set for the primary button
style without destroying the current style. Examples (each line should be considered
independent):
ButtonStyle Left -- flat
ButtonStyle All ActiveUp (-- flat) Inactive (-- flat)
The first line sets every state of the left buttons to flat, while the second sets
only the "ActiveUp" and "Inactive" states of every button to flat (only flags are
changed; the buttons' individual styles are not changed).
If you want to reset all buttons to their defaults:
ButtonStyle Reset
To reset the "ActiveUp" button state of button 1 to the default:
ButtonStyle 1 ActiveUp Default
To reset all button states of button 1 to the default of button number 2:
ButtonStyle 1 Default 2
For any button, multiple state definitions can be given on one line by enclosing the
style and flags in parentheses. If only one definition per line is given the
parentheses can be omitted.
flags affect the specified state. If a '!' is prefixed to any flag, its behavior is
negated. The available state-dependent flags for all styles are described here (the
ButtonStyle entry deals with state-independent flags).
Raised causes a raised relief pattern to be drawn.
Sunk causes a sunken relief pattern to be drawn.
Flat inhibits the relief pattern from being drawn.
UseTitleStyle causes the given button state to render the current title style before
rendering the buttons' own styles. The Raised, Flat and Sunk TitleStyle flags are
ignored since they are redundant in this context.
UseBorderStyle causes the button to inherit the decorated BorderStyle options.
Raised, Sunk and Flat are mutually exclusive, and can be specified for the initial
ButtonStyle only. UseTitleStyle and UseBorderStyle are also mutually exclusive (both
can be off however). The default is Raised with both UseBorderStyle and UseTitleStyle
left unset.
Important
for the "ActiveDown" and "InactiveDown" states: When a button is pressed, the relief
is inverted. Because of this, to obtain the raised look in "ActiveDown" or
"InactiveDown" states you must specify the opposite of the desired relief (i.e. Sunk
for "ActiveDown" or "InactiveDown"). This behavior is consistent, but may seem
confusing at first. The same applies to the "Toggled" states.
Button styles are classified as non-destructive, partially destructive, or fully
destructive. Non-destructive styles do not affect the image. Partially destructive
styles can obscure some or all parts of the underlying image (i.e. Pixmap). Fully
destructive styles obscure the entire underlying image (i.e. Solid or one of the
gradient styles). Thus, if stacking styles with AddButtonStyle (or AddTitleStyle for
title-bars), use care in sequencing styles to minimize redraw.
The available styles are:
Simple, Default, Solid, Colorset, Vector, ?Gradient, Pixmap, AdjustedPixmap,
ShrunkPixmap, StretchedPixmap, TiledPixmap, MiniIcon
The description of these styles and their arguments follow:
The Simple style does nothing. There are no arguments, and this style is an example of
a non-destructive button style.
The Default style conditionally accepts one argument: a number which specifies the
default button number to load. If the style command given is ButtonStyle or
AddButtonStyle, the argument is optional (if given, it overrides the current button).
If a command other than ButtonStyle or AddButtonStyle is used, the number must be
specified.
The Solid style fills the button with a solid color. The relief border color is not
affected. The color is specified as a single argument. This style is fully
destructive.
The Colorset cs [alpha] style fills the button with the Colorset cs. The optional
alpha argument is a percentage between 0 and 100. It causes fvwm to merge the colorset
background onto the button using this percentage. If the percentage is 0 the colorset
background is hidden and if it is 100 the colorset background is fully applied. The
default is 100. So, the destructiveness depends on the alpha argument.
The Vector num X[offsetp]xY[offsetp]@C ... style draws a line pattern. Since this is a
standard button style, the keyword Vector is optional, num is a number of point
specifications of the form X[offsetp]xY[offsetp]@C ... X and Y are point coordinates
inside the button, given in percents (from 0 to 100). An optional absolute offset in
pixels, can be given as "+<offset>p" for a positive or "-<offset>p" for a negative
offset.
C specifies a line color (0 - the shadow color, 1 - the highlight color, 2 - the
background color, 3 - the foreground color, 4 - only move the point, do not draw). The
first point color is not used. You can use up to 10000 points in a line pattern. This
style is partially destructive.
The specification is a little cumbersome:
ButtonStyle 2 Vector 4 50x30@1 70x70@0 30x70@0 50x30@1
then the button 2 decoration uses a 4-point pattern consisting of a line from
(x=50,y=30) to (70,70) in the shadow color (@0), and then to (30,70) in the shadow
color, and finally to (50,30) in the highlight color (@1). Is that too confusing? See
the fvwm web pages for some examples with screenshots.
A more complex example of Vector:
ButtonStyle 8 Vector 10 45x65@2 45x75@3 \
20x75@3 20x50@3 35x50@3 35x65@1 35x25@1 \
75x25@1 75x65@0 35x65@0
ButtonStyle 0 Vector 10 45x65@2 45x75@0 \
20x75@0 20x50@1 45x50@1 45x65@0 75x65@3 \
75x25@3 35x25@3 35x47@3
The ?Gradient styles denote color gradients. Fill in the question mark with any one of
the defined gradient types. Please refer to the Color Gradients section for a
description of the gradient syntax. The gradient styles are fully destructive.
The Pixmap style displays a pixmap. A pixmap should be specified as an argument. For
example, the following would give button number 2 the same pixmap for all 4 states (2
active and 2 inactive), and button number 4 all different pixmaps.
ButtonStyle 2 Pixmap my_pixmap.xpm
ButtonStyle 4 \
ActiveUp (Pixmap activeup.xpm) \
ActiveDown (Pixmap activedown.xpm) \
Inactive (Pixmap inactiveup.xpm)
ButtonStyle 4 \
InactiveDown Pixmap inactivedown.xpm
The pixmap specification can be given as an absolute or relative pathname (see
ImagePath). If the pixmap cannot be found, the button style reverts to Simple. Flags
specific to the Pixmap style are Left, Right, Top, and Bottom. These can be used to
justify the pixmap (default is centered for both directions). Pixmap transparency is
used for the color "None." This style is partially destructive.
The AdjustedPixmap style is similar to the Pixmap style. But the image is resized to
exactly fit the button.
The ShrunkPixmap style is similar to the Pixmap style. But if the image is bigger than
the button the image is resized to fit into the button.
The StretchedPixmap style is similar to the Pixmap style. But if the image is smaller
than the button the image is resized to cover the button.
The TiledPixmap style accepts a pixmap to be tiled as the button background. One
pixmap is specified as an argument. Pixmap transparency is not used. This style is
fully destructive.
The MiniIcon style draws the window’s miniature icon in the button, which is specified
with the MiniIcon option of the Style command. This button style accepts no arguments.
Example:
Style * MiniIcon mini-bx2.xpm
Style xterm MiniIcon mini-term.xpm
Style Emacs MiniIcon mini-doc.xpm
ButtonStyle 1 MiniIcon
ButtonStyle button - flag ...
Sets state-independent flags for the specified button. State-independent flags affect
button behavior. Each flag is separated by a space. If a '!' is prefixed to the flag
then the behavior is negated. The special flag Clear clears any existing flags.
The following flags are usually used to tell fvwm which buttons should be affected by
mwm function hints (see MwmFunctions option of the Style command. This is not done
automatically since you might have buttons bound to complex functions, for instance.
MwmDecorMenu should be assigned to title-bar buttons which display a menu. The default
assignment is the leftmost button. When a window with the MwmFunctions Style option
requests not to show this button, it is hidden.
MwmDecorMin should be assigned to title-bar buttons which minimize or iconify the
window. The default assignment is the second button over from the rightmost button.
When a window with the MwmFunctions Style option requests not to show this button, it
is hidden.
MwmDecorMax should be assigned to title-bar buttons which maximize the window. The
default assignment is the rightmost button. When a window with the MwmFunctions Style
option requests not to show this button, it is hidden. When the window is maximized,
the vector pattern on the button looks pressed in.
MwmDecorShade should be assigned to title-bar buttons which shade the window (see
WindowShade command). When the window is shaded, the vector pattern on the button
looks pressed in.
MwmDecorStick should be assigned to title-bar buttons which make the window sticky.
When the window is sticky, the vector pattern on the button looks pressed in.
The flag MwmDecorLayer layer should be assigned to title-bar buttons which place the
window in the layer numbered layer. When the window is on that specific layer, the
vector pattern on the button looks pressed in.
ChangeDecor decor
This command is deprecated and will be removed in the future. There are plans to
replace it with a more flexible solution in fvwm-3.0.
Changes the decor of a window to decor. decor is "Default" or the name of a decor
defined with AddToDecor. If decor is invalid, nothing occurs. If called from somewhere
in a window or its border, then that window is affected. If called from the root
window the user is allowed to select the target window. ChangeDecor only affects
attributes which can be set using the AddToDecor command.
ChangeDecor CustomDecor1
DestroyDecor [recreate] decor
This command is deprecated and will be removed in the future. There are plans to
replace it with a more flexible solution in fvwm-3.0.
Deletes the decor defined with AddToDecor, so that subsequent references to it are no
longer valid. Windows using this decor revert to the "Default" decor. The optional
parameter recreate tells fvwm not to throw away the decor completely but to throw away
only its contents. If the decor is created again later, windows do not use it before
the UseDecor style is applied again unless the decor was destroyed with the recreate
option. The decor named "Default" cannot be destroyed.
DestroyDecor CustomDecor1
TitleStyle [justification] [Height [num]] [MinHeight [num]]
Sets attributes for the title-bar. Justifications can be Centered, RightJustified or
LeftJustified. Height sets the title bar’s height to an amount in pixels. MinHeight
sets the minimal height in pixels of the title bar. Defaults are Centered, the
window’s font height and no minimal height. To reset the font height to the default
value, omit the num argument after the Height keyword. The MinHeight height is reset
by Height or if given with no argument. Example:
TitleStyle LeftJustified Height 24
TitleStyle [state] [style] flag ...]
Sets the style for the title-bar. See also AddTitleStyle and ButtonStyle state can be
one of "ActiveUp", "ActiveDown", "InactiveUp", or "InactiveDown". Shortcuts like
"Active" and "Inactive" are allowed. The states with the "Toggled" prefix are allowed
too, the title itself does not use "Toggled" states, but these states are used for the
buttons with ButtonStyle UseTitleStyle. If state is omitted, then the style is added
to every state. If parentheses are placed around the style and flags, then multiple
state definitions can be given per line. style can be omitted so that flags can be set
while not destroying the current style.
If a '!' is prefixed to any flag, its behavior is negated. Valid flags for each state
include Raised, Flat and Sunk (these are mutually exclusive). The default is Raised.
See the note in ButtonStyle regarding the "ActiveDown" state. Examples:
TitleStyle ActiveUp HGradient 16 navy black
TitleStyle \
ActiveDown (Solid red -- flat) \
Inactive (TiledPixmap wood.xpm)
TitleStyle \
ActiveUp (-- Flat) \
ActiveDown (-- Raised) \
InactiveUp (-- Flat) \
InactiveDown (-- Sunk)
This sets the "ActiveUp" state to a horizontal gradient, the "ActiveDown" state to
solid red, and the "Inactive" states to a tiled wood pixmap. Finally, "ActiveUp" and
"InactiveUp" are set to look flat, while "ActiveDown" set to be sunk (the Raised flag
for the "ActiveDown" state causes it to appear sunk due to relief inversion), and
"InactiveDown" is set to look raised. An example which sets flags for all states:
TitleStyle -- flat
For a flattened look:
TitleStyle -- flat
ButtonStyle All Active (-- flat) Inactive (-- flat)
TitleStyle accepts all the ButtonStyle styles and arguments:
Simple, Default, Solid, Colorset, Vector, ?Gradient, Pixmap, AdjustedPixmap,
ShrunkPixmap, StretchedPixmap, TiledPixmap, MiniIcon.
See the ButtonStyle command for a description of all these styles and their arguments.
In addition to these styles TitleStyle accepts a powerful MultiPixmap option. This
allows you to specify different pixmaps, colorsets or colors for different parts of
the titlebar. Some of them are tiled or stretched to fit a particular space; others
are discrete "transition" images. The definable sections are:
Main
The full titlebar
LeftMain
Left of title text
RightMain
Right of title text
UnderText
Underneath title text
LeftOfText
just to the left of the title text
RightOfText
just to the right of the title text
LeftEnd
at the far left end of the titlebar (just after left buttons if any)
RightEnd
at the far right end of the titlebar (just before right buttons if any)
Buttons
under buttons in case of UseTitleStyle
LeftButtons
under left buttons in case of UseTitleStyle
RightButtons
under right buttons in case of UseTitleStyle
None of these are mandatory except for Main (or, if you do not define Main you must define
both LeftMain and RightMain). If no Buttons pixmaps are defined and UseTitleStyle is
specified for one or more buttons, Main, LeftMain or RightMain are used as appropriate.
The syntax for this style type is:
MultiPixmap section style arg, ...
continuing for whatever you want to define. The style can be either TiledPixmap,
AdjustedPixmap, Colorset or Solid. See the ButtonStyle command for the description of
these styles. In the case of a transition section, LeftEnd, LeftOfText, RightOfText or
RightEnd, AdjustedPixmap only resize the pixmap in the "y" direction. For the Colorset and
Solid styles a width of the half of the title bar height is assumed for the transition
sections.
An example:
MultiPixmap Main AdjustedPixmap foo.xpm, \
UnderText TiledPixmap bar.xpm, \
Buttons Colorset 2
Note that the old syntax is still supported: if the style is omitted, TiledPixmap is
assumed and adding "(stretched)" between the section and the file name implies
AdjustedPixmap. UpdateDecor [decor]:: This command is deprecated and will be removed in
the future. There are plans to replace it with a more flexible solution in fvwm-3.0.
This command is kept mainly for backward compatibility. Since all elements of a decor are
updated immediately when they are changed, this command is mostly useless.
Updates window decorations. decor is an optional argument which specifies the decor to
update. If given, only windows which are assigned to that particular decor are updated.
This command is useful, for instance, after a ButtonStyle, TitleStyle or BorderStyle
(possibly used in conjunction with AddToDecor). Specifying an invalid decor results in all
windows being updated.
Controlling the Virtual Desktop
Desk arg1 [arg2] [min max]
This command has been renamed. Please see GotoDesk command.
DesktopName desk name
Defines the name of the desktop number desk to name. This name is used in the
WindowList command and in the FvwmPager where it override the Label configuration
option. Moreover, if consecutive names starting from desktop 0 are defined, then these
names can be used by any EWMH compliant application (as a pager).
DesktopConfiguration global | per-monitor | shared
This command controls the behaviour of how desktops should be managed by FVWM. By
default, for all screens detected by FVWM through RandR support, the option of global
means that all windows on the same desk across monitors is treated as one — hence,
when a change of desktop/page happens, the same change occurs across all monitors.
With per-monitor , each RandR monitor has a separate copy of desktops, and hence
function independently of one another when switching desks/pages.
When shared is set, the desktops are shared amongst all monitors. So for example, with
the following number of desktops defined with two monitors ([] is monitor1, and <> is
monitor2):
[0] 1 2 <3> 4
Moving between desktops would still honor the monitor the desktop is being requested
on. If monitor1 wanted to switch to desktop 3, then that desktop is exchanged with
monitor2 such that the following showed the active desktop on both monitors:
<0> 1 2 [3] 4
This concept is similar to how spectrwm or xmonad handles desktops.
Note: these each DesktopConfiguration mode can be changed on-the-fly.
DesktopSize Horizontalx_Vertical_
Defines the virtual desktop size in units of the physical screen size.
EdgeResistance delayEdgeResistance scrolling moving [screen-scrolling]
Tells how hard it should be to change the desktop viewport by moving the mouse over
the edge of the screen. The parameter tells how many milliseconds the pointer must
spend on the screen edge before fvwm moves the viewport. This is intended for people
who use
EdgeScroll 100 100
but find themselves accidentally flipping pages when they do not want to. If -1 is
given as the delay, scrolling is disabled completely.
The second form of invocation with two or three arguments is obsolete and should be
replaced with the following three commands as needed:
EdgeResistance scrolling
Style * EdgeMoveDelay scrolling
Style * EdgeMoveResistance moving
or
Style * EdgeMoveResistance moving screen-scrolling
Fvwm does this substitution automatically and prints a warning.
EdgeScroll horizontal[p] vertical[p] [wrap | wrapx | wrapy]
Specifies the percentage of a page to scroll when the cursor hits the edge of a page.
A trailing 'p' changes the interpretation to mean pixels. If you do not want any
paging or scrolling when you hit the edge of a page include
EdgeScroll 0 0
in your config file, or possibly better, set the EdgeThickness to zero. See the
EdgeThickness command. If you want whole pages, use
EdgeScroll 100 100
Both horizontal and vertical should be positive numbers.
If the horizontal and vertical percentages are multiplied by 1000 or one of the
keywords wrap, wrapx and wrapy is given then scrolling wraps around at the edge of the
desktop. If
EdgeScroll 100000 100000
is used fvwm scrolls by whole pages, wrapping around at the edge of the desktop.
EdgeThickness 0 | 1 | 2
This is the width or height of the invisible window that fvwm creates on the edges of
the screen that are used for the edge scrolling feature.
In order to enable page scrolling via the mouse, four windows called the "pan frames"
are placed at the very edge of the screen. This is how fvwm detects the mouse’s
presence at the window edge. Because of the way this works, they need to be at the top
of the stack and eat mouse events, so if you have any kind of error along the lines
of: "mouse clicks at the edge of the screen do the wrong thing" you’re having trouble
with the pan frames and (assuming you do not use the mouse to flip between pages)
should set the EdgeThickness to 0.
A value of 0 completely disables mouse edge scrolling, even while dragging a window. 1
gives the smallest pan frames, which seem to work best except on some servers.
2 is the default.
Pan frames of 1 or 2 pixels can sometimes be confusing, for example, if you drag a
window over the edge of the screen, so that it straddles a pan frame, clicks on the
window, near the edge of the screen are treated as clicks on the root window.
EwmhBaseStruts screen RANDRNAME left right top bottom
Where left, right, top and bottom are positive or null integers which define bands at
the edge of the screen. If screen is given, followed by the RANDRNAME of a given
display, then the EwmhBaseStruts are defined for just RANDRNAME. left defines a band
on the left of your screen of width left, right defines a band on the right of your
screen of width right, top defines a band on the top of your screen of height top and
bottom defines a band on the bottom of your screen of height bottom. The unit is the
pixel and the default is 0 0 0 0. These areas define additional reserved space to the
reserved space defined by some ewmh compliant applications. This is used to compute
the Working Area. See the Extended Window Manager Hints section for a definition of
the Working Area.
EwmhNumberOfDesktops num [max]
This command is useful only for an ewmh compliant pager or taskbar (as kpager or
kicker taskbar) and not for fvwm modules ( FvwmPager or FvwmIconMan). It causes a
compliant application to consider at least num desktops (desktop 0 to desktop num-1).
The optional argument max causes a compliant application to never consider more than
max desktops. If max is 0 (the default) there is no limitation. The actual number of
desktops is determined dynamically. It is at least num, but it can be d if there is a
window on desktop d-1 (or if the current desktop is desktop d-1) and d is less or
equal to max or max is null. Moreover, a compliant pager can ask to change num itself.
This is accepted by fvwm only if this number is less than or equal to max or if max is
null. Note that negative desktops are not supported by the ewmh specification. The
default is 4 0.
GotoDesk [prev | arg1 [arg2] [min max]]
Switches the current viewport to another desktop (workspace, room).
The command takes 1, 2, 3, or 4 arguments. A single argument is interpreted as a
relative desk number. Two arguments are understood as a relative and an absolute desk
number. Three arguments specify a relative desk and the minimum and maximum of the
allowable range. Four arguments specify the relative, absolute, minimum and maximum
values. (Desktop numbers can be negative). If a literal prev is given as the single
argument, the last visited desk number is used.
If arg1 is non zero then the next desktop number is the current desktop number plus
arg1.
If arg1 is zero then the new desktop number is arg2. (If arg2 is not present, then the
command has no effect.)
If min and max are given, the new desktop number is no smaller than min and no bigger
than max. Values out of this range are truncated (if you gave an absolute desk number)
or wrapped around (if you gave a relative desk number).
The syntax is the same as for MoveToDesk, which moves a window to a different desktop.
The number of active desktops is determined dynamically. Only desktops which contain
windows or are currently being displayed are active. Desktop numbers must be between
2147483647 and -2147483648 (is that enough?).
GotoDeskAndPage screen | prev | desk xpage ypage
Switches the current viewport to another desktop and page, similar to the GotoDesk and
GotoPage commands. The new desk is desk and the new page is (xpage,ypage).
GotoPage screen | prev | [options] x[p] y[p]
Moves the desktop viewport to page (x,y). The upper left page is (0,0), the upper
right is (M,0), where M is one less than the current number of horizontal pages
specified in the DesktopSize command. The lower left page is (0,N), and the lower
right page is (M,N), where N is the desktop’s vertical size as specified in the
DesktopSize command. To switch to a page relative to the current one add a trailing
'p' after any or both numerical arguments.
Possible options are wrapx and wrapy to wrap around the x or y coordinate when the
viewport is moved beyond the border of the desktop.
The name of the RandR screen.
To go to the last visited page use prev as the first argument. The GotoPage function
should not be used in a pop-up menu.
Examples:
# Go to page (2,3)
GotoPage 2 3
# Go to lowest and rightmost page
GotoPage -1 -1
# Go to last page visited
GotoPage prev
# Go two pages to the right and one page up
GotoPage +2p -1p
Scroll [screen RANDRNAME] [horizonal[p] vertical[p] | reverse]
Scrolls the virtual desktop’s viewport by horizontal pages in the x-direction and
vertical pages in the y-direction or starts interactive scrolling of the viewport.
Either or both entries may be negative. Both horizontal and vertical values are
expressed in percent of pages, so
Scroll 100 100
means to scroll down and right by one full page.
Scroll 50 25
means to scroll right half a page and down a quarter of a page. The Scroll function
should not be called from pop-up menus. Normally, scrolling stops at the edge of the
desktop.
If the horizontal and vertical percentages are 100 or more and are multiplied by 1000
then scrolling wraps around at the edge of the desktop. If
Scroll 100000 0
is executed over and over fvwm moves to the next desktop page on each execution and
wraps around at the edge of the desktop, so that every page is hit in turn.
If the letter 'p' is appended to each coordinate (horizontal and/or vertical), then
the scroll amount is measured in pixels.
Without arguments or if the option reverse is given interactive scrolling takes place.
The viewport scrolls as the mouse is moved. With the reverse option scrolling is done
in opposite direction of the mouse movement, and without it scrolling in the same
direction as the mouse.
The binding
Mouse 1 A CM Scroll reverse
gives an effect of grabbing and dragging the viewport with button 1 if Control and
Meta is pressed.
If screen is given, followed by the RANDRNAME of a given display, then the specified
screen is scrolled. This is only useful if using per-monitor or shared
DesktopConfiguration and wanting to scroll a monitor other than the current monitor.
Interactive scrolling always scrolls the current monitor.
User Functions and Shell Commands
AddToFunc [name [I | J | M | C | H | D action]]
Begins or adds to a function definition. Here is an example:
AddToFunc Move-or-Raise I Raise
+ M Move
+ D Lower
The function name is "Move-or-Raise", and it could be invoked from a menu or a mouse
binding or key binding:
Mouse 1 TS A Move-or-Raise
The name must not contain embedded whitespace. No guarantees are made whether function
names with embedded whitespace work or not. This behavior may also change in the
future without further notice. The letter before the action tells what kind of action
triggers the command which follows it. 'I' stands for "Immediate", and is executed as
soon as the function is invoked. 'J' is similar to "Immediate" but is delayed until a
button is pressed or released or the pointer is moved, or the function completes. It
is always executed before the other function actions. 'M' stands for "Motion", i.e. if
the user starts moving the mouse. 'C' stands for "Click", i.e., if the user presses
and releases the mouse button. 'H' stands for "Hold", i.e. if the user presses a mouse
button and holds it down for more than ClickTime milliseconds. 'D' stands for
"Double-click". The action 'I' causes an action to be performed on the button-press,
if the function is invoked with prior knowledge of which window to act on.
There is a number of predefined symbols that are replaced by certain values if they
appear on the command line. Please refer to the Command Expansion section for details.
Warning Please read the comments on executing complex functions in the section
Scripting and Complex Functions.
Examples:
If you call
Key F10 R A Function MailFunction xmh "-font fixed"
and "MailFunction" is
AddToFunc MailFunction
+ I Next ($0) Iconify off
+ I Next (AcceptsFocus, $0) Focus
+ I None ($0) Exec exec $0 $1
Then the last line of the function becomes
+ I None (xmh) Exec exec xmh -font fixed
The expansion is performed as the function is executed, so you can use the same
function with all sorts of different arguments. You could use
Key F11 R A Function MailFunction zmail "-bg pink"
in the same config, if you wanted. An example of using "$[w.id]" is:
AddToFunc PrintFunction
+ I Raise
+ I Exec xdpr -id $[w.id]
Note that "$$" is expanded to '$'.
Another example: bind right mouse button within the window button number 6 (this is a
minimize button for the win95 theme) to iconify all windows of the same resource:
AddToFunc FuncIconifySameResource "I" All ($0) Iconify on
Mouse 3 6 A FuncIconifySameResource $[w.resource]
Beep
As might be expected, this makes the terminal beep.
DestroyFunc function
Deletes a function, so that subsequent references to it are no longer valid. You can
use this to change the contents of a function during a fvwm session. The function can
be rebuilt using AddToFunc.
DestroyFunc PrintFunction
Echo string
Prints a message to the debug log file, which requires logging to be enabled. See the
-v option or PrintInfo for more information on both enabling debug logging and the log
file location. Potentially useful for debugging things in your config or getting the
value of variables.
Echo Beginning style definitions...
Echo Current desk $[desk.n].
EchoFuncDefinition function
The EchoFuncDefinition is similar to the Echo command but prints the definition for
the given function to the debug log file. It is useful to find out how fvwm handles
quoting and for debugging functions.
Exec command
Executes command. You should not use an ampersand '&' at the end of the command. You
probably want to use an additional "exec" at the beginning of command. Without that,
the shell that fvwm invokes to run your command stays until the command exits. In
effect, you’ll have twice as many processes running as you need. Note that some shells
are smart enough to avoid this, but it never hurts to include the "exec" anyway.
The following example binds function key
in the root window, with no modifiers, to the exec function. The program rxvt is
started with an assortment of options.
Key F1 R N Exec exec rxvt -fg yellow -bg blue \
-e /bin/tcsh
Note that this function doesn’t wait for command to complete, so things like:
Exec "echo AddToMenu ... > /tmp/file"
Read /tmp/file
do not work reliably (see the PipeRead command).
ExecUseShell [shell]
Makes the Exec command use the specified shell, or the value of the $SHELL environment
variable if no shell is specified, instead of the default Bourne shell (/bin/sh).
ExecUseShell
ExecUseShell /usr/local/bin/tcsh
Function FunctionName
Used to bind a previously defined function to a key or mouse button. The following
example binds mouse button 1 to a function called "Move-or-Raise", whose definition
was provided as an example earlier in this man page. After performing this binding
fvwm executes the "move-or-raise" function whenever button 1 is pressed in a window’s
title-bar.
Mouse 1 T A Function Move-or-Raise
The keyword Function may be omitted if FunctionName does not coincide with an fvwm
command.
Warning: Please read the comments on executing complex functions in the section
Scripting and Complex Functions.
InfoStoreAdd key value
Stores the value at the given key. This is useful to store generic information used in
the lifetime of an fvwm config file. For example storing program preferences for
opening video files.
The purpose of this command is to store internal information to fvwm which can be used
bu fvwm functions, or when opening programs of a certain type. Previous to this
command the only way to do this was via SetEnv but this is discouraged because it
places such information in the environment, which pollutes it and makes the
information global to other processes started by fvwm which may then modify them which
might not be what’s wanted. Hence the point of InfoStoreAdd is to still allow for such
information to be stored, but kept internal to fvwm.
In this way, one can build up as many key/value pairs as needed. Recalling the value
of a given key happens through fvwm’s usual expansion mechanism. See the Command
Expansion section for more details. For example:
InfoStoreAdd teddybearprog xteddy
# Echo the value of teddybearprog
Echo $[infostore.teddybearprog]
Removing an entry from the InfoStore is done with the InfoStoreRemove command.
InfoStoreRemove key
Removes an entry at the given key from the InfoStore. Example:
InfoStoreRemove teddybearprog
Nop
Does nothing. This is used to insert a blank line or separator in a menu. If the menu
item specification is
AddToMenu MyMenu " " Nop
then a blank line is inserted. If it looks like
+ "" Nop
then a separator line is inserted. Can also be used as the double-click action for
Menu or Popup.
PipeRead command [quiet]
Causes fvwm to read commands from the output of the command. This command is executed
by /bin/sh as if you typed it on the command line. If the command consists of more
than one word it must be quoted. Useful for building up dynamic menu entries based on
a directories contents, for example. If the keyword Quiet follows the command no
message is produced if the command is not found.
Example:
AddToMenu HomeDirMenu
PipeRead 'for i in $HOME/*; \
do echo "+ $i Exec xterm -e vi $i"; done'
Note: The PipeRead changes the pointer to a watch cursor by default during execution.
However, some commands, for example xwd, need to take control of the pointer
themselves and do not work. To disable the watch cursor, use the command prior to
PipeRead
BusyCursor Read off
The PipeRead command executes synchronously. If you want to Exec something, but need
the command to run synchronously, you might do something like:
PipeRead 'command 1>&2'
The redirection causes any output from the program to go to stderr instead of being
read as a sequence of commands by fvwm. PipeRead returns 1 if the given command could
be executed or -1 if not (see the section Conditional Commands for the meaning of
return codes).
Read filename [quiet]
Causes fvwm to read commands from the file named filename. If the keyword Quiet
follows the command no message is produced if the file is not found. If the file name
does not begin with a slash ('/'), fvwm looks in the user’s data directory, then the
system data directory. The user’s data directory is by default $HOME/.fvwm. It can be
overridden by exporting FVWM_USERDIR set to any other directory. The Read command
returns 1 if the given file could be read or -1 if not (see the section Conditional
Commands for the meaning of return codes).
SetEnv variable value
Set an environment variable to a new value, similar to the shell’s export or setenv
command. The variable and its value are inherited by processes started directly by
fvwm. This can be especially useful in conjunction with the FvwmM4 module. For
example:
SetEnv height HEIGHT
makes the FvwmM4 set variable HEIGHT usable by processes started by fvwm as the
environment variable $height. If value includes whitespace, you should enclose it in
quotes. If no value is given, the variable is deleted.
Silent command
A number of commands require a window to operate on. If no window was selected when
such a function is invoked the user is asked to select a window. Sometimes this
behavior is unwanted, for example if the function was called by a module and the
window that was selected at first does not exist anymore. You can prevent this by
putting Silent in front of the fvwm command. If a function that needs a window is
called with Silent without a window selected, it simply returns without doing
anything. If Silent is used on a user defined function it affects all function and sub
function calls until the original function exits.
Another usage of Silent is with binding commands Key, PointerKey and Mouse, this
disables error messages.
Silent also disables the error message for non-existent commands. Note: This command
is treated as a prefix to its command. Expansion of the command line is done as if
Silent was not there.
Examples:
Silent Move 0 0
Silent User_defined_function
# do not complain on keyboards without "Help" key
Silent Key Help R A Popup HelpMenu
UnsetEnv [variable]
Unset an environment variable, similar to shell’s export or unsetenv command. The
variable then is removed from the environment array inherited by processes started
directly by fvwm.
Wait window
This command is intended to be used in fvwm functions only. It causes execution of a
function to pause until a new window matching window appears. This can be a window’s
name, class, or resource string. It may contain the wildcards '*' and '?', which are
matched in the usual Unix filename manner. This is particularly useful in the
"InitFunction" if you are trying to start windows on specific desktops:
AddToFunc InitFunction
+ I Exec exec xterm -geometry 80x64+0+0
+ I Wait xterm
+ I GotoDesk 0 2
+ I Exec exec xmh -font fixed -geometry \
507x750+0+0
+ I Wait xmh
+ I GotoDesk 0 0
The above function starts an xterm on the current desk, waits for it to map itself,
then switches to desk 2 and starts an xmh. After the xmh window appears control moves
to desk 0.
Fvwm remains partially functional during a wait, but any input from the modules is
queued up and processed only after the window appears or the command is aborted. For
example, windows can not be focused with FvwmIconMan or FvwmPager during a wait.
You can escape from a Wait pause by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Escape (where Alt is the first
modifier). To redefine this key sequence see the EscapeFunc command.
Status On | Off
Turns status either On or Off. This sends information in JSON format down a named pipe
(set via FVWM_STATUS_PIPE env var) about the current desks and number of windows, etc.
This is meant to provide a fast means of supplying third-party tools information about
what’s happening in Fvwm. For example, the JSON could be manipulated and sent to tools
such as lemonbar, polybar, etc.
The format of the JSON blob looks like this:
{
"version": 1,
"current_screen": "HDMI2",
"screens": {
"HDMI2": {
"current_client": "n6tadam@shuttle: ~",
"desktops": {
"0": {
"number": 0,
"is_urgent": false,
"is_current": true,
"number_of_clients": 5
},
},
},
},
}
These sections repeat for all screens/groups/etc, depending on how many there are of
each.
Conditional Commands
Conditional commands are commands that are only executed if certain conditions are met.
Most conditional commands work on windows, like Next, ThisWindow or All. There is one
conditional command, Test, that works on global conditions unrelated to windows. The
syntax of the conditions is described below. For readability, the list of conditions is
located at the end of this section.
Return Codes
All commands in this section (unless specifically stated for the command) also have a
return code that can be 1 (if the condition was met) or 0 (if the condition was not
met). Some commands may return -1 which means that an error occurred and the return
code is useless. The Break command returns -2. Additionally, the return codes of
commands run in a complex functions are passed to the invoking complex function. The
return code is used by the TestRc command. Please refer to the commands' description
for examples. The return code can also be accessed through the variable $[cond.rc].
Non conditional commands do not modify the return code of the last conditional
command. Important note: return codes are only defined inside functions created with
the AddToFunc command and are not inherited by sub functions. To run a command without
altering the return code, the KeepRc command can be used.
The Ring of Windows
Fvwm stores windows in a ring internally. Think of the focused window as a cursor on
the current position in the ring. The Next command and many other commands search
forwards through the ring for a matching window, and Prev searches backwards. The
windows in the ring are either ordered by creation time (if the
!FPSortWindowlistByFocus, NeverFocus or MouseFocus styles are used) or by the last
time they had the focus.
List of Conditional Commands
All [options] [(conditions)] command
Execute command on all windows meeting the conditions. It returns 1 if any window
matches the condition and 0 otherwise. The execution starts at the top of the
window ring and continues towards the bottom. The options can be any combination
of Reverse and UseStack. If the option Reverse is given the execution order is
reversed. The option UseStack makes All use the stacking order instead of the
window ring when walking through windows. See the Conditions section for a list of
conditions.
This command implies the conditions CirculateHit, CirculateHitIcon and
CirculateHitShaded. They can be turned off by specifying !CirculateHit etc.
explicitly.
Any [(conditions)] command
Performs command if any window which satisfies all conditions exists. The command
is run in the context of the root window. See the Conditions section for a list of
conditions.
Break [levels]
If the break command is used in a function, function execution is terminated
immediately. Further commands of the function are not processed. Normally, all
nested invocations of complex functions are left. An optional integer number
levels may be given to break out of the given number of nested functions and
continue execution of a higher level function. The Break command always has the
return code -2. Example:
AddToFunc PickWindowRaiseAndDeiconify
+ I Pick
+ I TestRc (Error) Break
+ I Raise
+ I Iconify off
Current [(conditions)] command
Performs command on the currently focused window if it satisfies all conditions.
See the Conditions section for a list of conditions.
This command implies the conditions CirculateHit, CirculateHitIcon and
CirculateHitShaded. They can be turned off by specifying !CirculateHit etc.
explicitly.
Direction [FromPointer] direction [(conditions)] command
Performs command (typically Focus) on a window in the given direction which
satisfies all conditions. Normally, the center of the currently focused window or
the context window in which the command was invoked is taken as the starting
point. Lacking such a window, or when the FromPointer option is given, the current
position of the pointer is taken as the starting point. The direction may be one
of "North", "Northeast", "East", "Southeast", "South", "Southwest", "West",
"Northwest" and "Center". Which window Direction selects depends on angle and
distance between the center points of the windows. Closer windows are considered a
better match than those farther away. The Center direction simply selects the
window closest to the starting point. Returns -1 if an invalid direction was
given. See the Conditions section for a list of conditions.
KeepRc command
Runs the command but does not alter the return code of the previous command. Note:
KeepRc is treated as a prefix to its command. Expansion of the command line is
done as if KeepRc was not there.
Next [(conditions)] command
Performs command (typically Focus) on the next window which satisfies all
conditions. If the command is running in a window context, it starts looking for a
matching window from there. Otherwise it starts at the focused window. See
Conditions section for a list of conditions.
None [(conditions)] command
Performs command if no window which satisfies all conditions exists. The command
is run in the context of the root window. Returns 1 if no window matches the
conditions and 0 otherwise. See Conditions section for a list of conditions.
This command implies the conditions CirculateHit, CirculateHitIcon and
CirculateHitShaded. They can be turned off by specifying !CirculateHit etc.
explicitly.
NoWindow command
Performs command, but removes the window context if any. This is not really a
conditional command, but a prefix that may be useful in menu items that should
operate without a window even if such menu is bound to window decorations.
Pick [(conditions)] command
Pick works like Function if invoked in the context of a window. If invoked in the
root window, it first asks the user to pick a window and then executes the command
in the context of that window. This avoids annoying multiple selections with
complex functions. The command is executed only if the given conditions are met.
Returns -1 if no window was selected. See Conditions section for a list of
conditions.
This command implies the conditions CirculateHit, CirculateHitIcon and
CirculateHitShaded. They can be turned off by specifying !CirculateHit etc.
explicitly.
PointerWindow [(conditions)] command
Performs command if the window under the pointer satisfies all conditions. Returns
-1 if there is no window under the pointer. See Conditions section for a list of
conditions.
This command implies the conditions CirculateHit, CirculateHitIcon and
CirculateHitShaded. They can be turned off by specifying !CirculateHit etc.
explicitly.
Prev [(conditions)] command
Performs command (typically Focus) on the previous window which satisfies all
conditions. If the command is running in a window context, it starts looking for a
matching window from there. Otherwise it starts at the focused window. See
Conditions section for a list of conditions.
ScanForWindow [FromPointer] dir1 dir2 [(conditions)] command
Performs command (typically Focus) on a window in the given direction which
satisfies all conditions. Normally, the center of the currently focused window or
the context window in which the command was invoked is taken as the starting
point. Lacking such a window, or when the FromPointer option is given, the current
position of the pointer is taken as the starting point. The direction dir1 may be
one of "North", "NorthEast", "East", "SouthEast", "South", "SouthWest", "West",
and "NorthWest". Which window ScanForWindow selects depends first on the position
along the primary axis given by dir1. If any windows have the exact same
coordinate along the primary axis, the secondary direction is used to order the
windows. The direction dir2 may be one of the same set of values as dir1. If dir2
is not perfectly perpendicular to dir1, ScanForWindow returns a failure. When
using ScanForWindow repeatedly with the same arguments, it is guaranteed that all
windows matching the conditions will eventually be found. If the focus reaches a
limit along the primary axis, it will wrap around to the opposite side. Returns -1
if an invalid direction was given. See Conditions section for a list of
conditions.
Test [(test-conditions)] command
Performs command if all test-conditions are satisfied. The test-conditions are
keywords with possible arguments from the list below and are separated by commas
or whitespace. They include: Version operator x.y.z, EnvIsSet varname, EnvMatch
varname pattern, EdgeHasPointer direction, EdgeIsActive direction, Start, Init,
Restart, Exit, Quit, ToRestart, True, False, F, R, W, X and I. A test-condition
prefixed with "!" is negated.
The Version operator x.y.z test-condition is fulfilled if the logical condition of
the expression is true. Valid operator values are: >=, >, ⇐, <, == and !=.
Example:
Test (Version >= 2.5.11) Echo 2.5.11 or later.
The EnvIsSet varname test-condition is true if the given environment variable is
set. The EnvMatch varname pattern test-condition is true if pattern matches the
given environment or infostore variable value. (See InfoStoreAdd). The pattern may
contain special "*" and "?" chars. The "varname" is coded without the leading
dollar sign ($).
The EdgeHasPointer [direction] test-condition is true if the edge in the given
direction currently contains the pointer. The EdgeIsActive [direction]
test-condition is true if the edge in the given direction currently is active. An
edge is active, and can contain a pointer if either a command is bound to it or
edge scroll is available in that direction. The direction may be one of * Any,
North, Top, Up, West, Left, South, Bottom, Down, Right* and * East. If no
direction is specified Any* is assumed.
The Start test-condition is the same as either Init or Restart. It is only true on
startup or restart prior and during StartFunction execution. The Exit
test-condition is the same as either Quit or ToRestart. It is only valid on
shutdown during ExitFunction function execution.
The True and False test-conditions are unconditionally true and false.
Additionally, if a test-condition name is not recognized, the Error return code is
set and the command is not executed.
The F file, R file, W file, X file and I file test-conditions test for existence
of the given [F]ile (possibly with [R]ead/[W]rite permissions), e[X]ecutable (in
$PATH), or the [I]mage (in ImagePath).
Example:
AddToFunc StartFunction I Test (Init) Exec exec xterm
AddToFunc VerifyVersion
+ I Test (Version 2.5.*) Echo 2.5.x detected
+ I TestRc (NoMatch) \
Test (!Version 2.6.*) Echo Future version
+ I TestRc (NoMatch) \
Echo 2.6.x is detected
Test (F $[FVWM_USERDIR]/local-config) Read local-config
Test (X xterm-utf16) Exec exec xterm-utf16
TestRc returncode)] command
Performs command if the last conditional command returned the value returncode.
Instead of the numeric values 0 (no match), 1 (match), -1 (error), and -2 (break)
the symbolic names "NoMatch", "Match", "Error" and "Break" can be used. If no
returncode is given, the default 0 is assumed. If the return code is prefixed with
'!', the command is executed if returncode does not match the value returned by
the conditional command. The TestRc command can only be used inside functions. If
the command is another conditional command, the previous return code is replaced
by the new one. Example:
AddToFunc ToggleXterm
+ I All (my_xtermwindow) Close
+ I TestRc (NoMatch) Exec xterm -T my_xtermwindow
ThisWindow [(conditions)] command
ThisWindow executes the specified command in the context of the current operand
window. If there is no operand window (it is invoked in the root window), the
command is ignored. ThisWindow is never interactive. The command is executed only
if the given conditions are met. It returns -1 if used outside a window context.
See Conditions section for a list of conditions.
This command implies the conditions CirculateHit, CirculateHitIcon and
CirculateHitShaded. They can be turned off by specifying "!CirculateHit" etc.
explicitly.
WindowId [id] [(conditions)] | [root [screen]] command
The WindowId command looks for a specific window id and runs the specified command
on it. The second form of syntax retrieves the window id of the root window of the
given screen. If no screen is given, the current screen is assumed. The window
indicated by id may belong to a window not managed by fvwm or even a window on a
different screen. Although most commands can not operate on such windows, there
are some exceptions, for example the WarpToWindow command. Returns -1 if no window
with the given id exists. See Conditions section for a list of conditions.
This command implies the conditions CirculateHit, CirculateHitIcon and
CirculateHitShaded. They can be turned off by specifying !CirculateHit etc.
explicitly.
Examples:
WindowId 0x34567890 Raise
WindowId root 1 WarpToWindow 50 50
WindowId $0 (Silly_Popup) Delete
In the past this command was mostly useful for functions used with the WindowList
command, or for selective processing of FvwmEvent calls (as in the last example),
but currently these handler functions are called within a window context, so this
command is not really needed in these cases. Still it may be useful if, for
example, the window id should be stored in the environment variable for a further
proceeding.
Pick SetEnv BOOKMARKED_WINDOW $[w.id]
WindowId $[BOOKMARKED_WINDOW] WarpToWindow
Conditions
The conditions that may be given as an argument to any conditional command are a list
of keywords separated by commas, enclosed in parentheses. Unless stated otherwise,
conditional commands accept all the conditions listed below. Note that earlier
versions of fvwm required the conditions to be separated by whitespace instead of
commas and enclosed in brackets instead of parentheses (this is still supported for
backward compatibility).
In addition, the conditions may include one or more window names to match to. If more
than one window name is given, all of them must match. The window name, icon name,
class, and resource are considered when attempting to find a match. Each name may
include the wildcards '*' and '?', and may consist of two or more alternatives,
separated by the character '|', which acts as an OR operator. (If OR operators are
used, they must not be separated by spaces from the names.) Each window name can begin
with '!', which prevents command if any of the window name, icon name, class or
resource match. However, '!' must not be applied to individual names in a group
separated by OR operators; it may only be applied to the beginning of the group, and
then it operates on the whole group.
Examples:
Next ("Netscape|konqueror|Mozilla*") WarpToWindow 99 90
This goes to the next web browser window, no matter which of the three named web
browsers is being used.
Next ("Mozilla*", "Bookmark*") WarpToWindow 99 90
This goes to Mozilla’s bookmark manager window, ignoring other Mozilla windows and
other browsers' bookmark windows.
All ("XTerm|rxvt", !console) Iconify
This iconifies all the xterm and rxvt windows on the current page, except that the one
named "console" (with the -name option to xterm) is excluded.
Next (!"FvwmPager|FvwmForm*|FvwmButtons") Raise
Next (!FvwmPager, !FvwmForm*, !FvwmButtons) Raise
These two commands are equivalent; either one raises the next window which is not one
of the named fvwm modules.
Any condition can be negated by using a an exclamation mark ('!') directly in front of
its name.
AcceptsFocus, AnyScreen, CirculateHit, CirculateHitIcon, CirculateHitShaded, Closable,
CurrentDesk, CurrentGlobalPage, CurrentGlobalPageAnyDesk, CurrentPage,
CurrentPageAnyDesk, CurrentScreen, Desk, FixedPosition, FixedSize, Focused,
HasBorders, HasHandles, HasPointer, HasTitle, TitleAtTop, TitleAtBottom, TitleAtLeft,
TitleAtRight, Iconic, Iconifiable, Layer [n], Maximizable, Maximized, Overlapped,
PlacedByButton n, PlacedByButton3, PlacedByFvwm, Raised, Shaded, State n, Sticky,
StickyAcrossDesks, StickyAcrossPages, StickyIcon, StickyAcrossDesksIcon,
StickyAcrossPagesIcon, Transient, Visible.
The AcceptsFocus condition excludes all windows that do not want the input focus (the
application has set the "Input hints" for the window to False) and do not use the
Lenience option of the Style command. Also, all windows using the NeverFocus style are
ignored. Note: !Lenience is equivalent to the deprecated option NoLenience.
With the AnyScreen condition used together with any of the Current... conditions,
windows that do not intersect the screen containing the mouse pointer are considered
for a match too. For example:
# Focus next window on current page,
# regardless of screen
Next (CurrentPage, AnyScreen) Focus
The CirculateHit and CirculateHitIcon options override the CirculateSkip and
CirculateSkipIcon Style attributes for normal or iconic windows. The
CirculateHitShaded option overrides the CirculateSkipShaded Style. All three options
are turned on by default for the Current command. They can be turned off by specifying
!CirculateHit etc. explicitly. Note: Do not confuse these conditions with the style
options of the same name. Specifically,
Style foo CirculateSkip
Next (foo, CirculateHit) ...
is not the same as
Style foo CirculateHit ...
Next (foo)
The prior selects windows with the name foo only in the Next command. In the second
example, these windows are always matched in all conditional commands.
The Closable condition matches only windows that are allowed to be closed.
The CurrentDesk condition matches only windows that are on the current desk.
The CurrentGlobalPage condition matches only windows that are on the current page of
the current desk, regardless of which screen the window is on. This condition
implicitly activates the CurrentDesk condition.
The CurrentGlobalPageAnyDesk condition matches only windows that are on the current
page of any desk, regardless of RandR screen .
The CurrentPage condition matches only windows that are on the current page of the
current desk. This condition implicitly activates the CurrentDesk condition.
The CurrentPageAnyDesk and CurrentScreen conditions matches only windows that are on
the current page of any desk.
The Screen [name] condition matches only windows which are on the specified screen.
The Desk [n] condition matches only windows which are on the specified desk.
The FixedPosition condition excludes all windows that do not have a fixed position,
either set through WM hints or the Style option FixedPosition. Example:
DestroyFunc ToggleFixedGeometry
AddToFunc ToggleFixedGeometry
+ I Pick (FixedPosition) \
WindowStyle VariablePosition, VariableSize
+ I TestRc (NoMatch) WindowStyle FixedPosition, FixedSize
The FixedSize condition excludes all windows that do not have a fixed size, either set
through WM hints or the Style option FixedSize.
The Focused matches on the window that currently has the keyboard focus. This is not
useful for the Current command but can be used with the other conditional commands.
The HasBorders condition excludes all windows that do not have borders.
The HasHandles condition excludes all windows that do not have resize handles.
The HasPointer condition excludes all windows that do not contain the pointer.
The HasTitle condition excludes all windows that do not have a titlebar.
The TitleAtTop, TitleAtBottom, TitleAtLeft, TitleAtRight conditions test for the
titlebar at that window location.
The Iconic condition matches only iconic windows.
The Iconifiable condition matches only windows that are allowed to be iconified.
The Layer [n] condition matches only windows on the specified layer. The optional
argument of the Layer condition defaults to the layer of the focused window. The
negation !Layer switches off the Layer condition.
The Maximizable condition matches only windows that are allowed to be maximized.
The Maximized condition matches only maximized windows.
The Overlapped condition matches only windows that are overlapped by other windows on
the same layer (or unmanaged windows if the option RaiseOverUnmanaged of the BugOpts
command is used). Note that this condition can be slow if you have many windows or if
RaiseOverUnmanaged is used and the connection to the X server is slow.
The PlacedByButton n condition is fulfilled if the last interactive motion of the
window (with the Move command or as ManualPlacement) was ended by pressing mouse
button n. Example:
Mouse 1 T A Function MoveWindow
DestroyFunc MoveWindow
AddToFunc MoveWindow
+ C Move
+ C ThisWindow (PlacedByButton 5) WindowShade off
+ C TestRc (Match) Maximize on 0 100
+ C ThisWindow (PlacedByButton 4) WindowShade on
The PlacedByButton3 condition has the same meaning as PlacedByButton 3. It remains
only for backward compatibility.
The PlacedByFvwm condition excludes all windows that have been placed manually or by
using the user or program position hint.
The Raised conditions matches only windows that are fully visible on the current
viewport and not overlapped by any other window.
The Shaded conditions matches only shaded windows (see WindowShade command).
The State n or !State n conditions match only windows with the specified integer state
set (or unset). See the State command for details. The argument may range from 0 to
31.
The Sticky, StickyAcrossDesks and StickyAcrossPages match only windows that are
currently sticky, sticky across all desks or sticky across all pages. Please refer to
the Style options with the same name and the commands Stick, StickAcrossDesks and
StickAcrossPages for details.
The StickyIcon, StickyAcrossDesksIcon and StickyAcrossPagesIcon match only windows
that become sticky, sticky across all desks or sticky across all pages when they are
in iconified state.
The Transient condition matches only windows that have the "transient" property set by
the application. This it usually the case for application popup menus and dialogs. The
FvwmIdent module can be used to find out whether a specific window is transient.
The Visible condition matches only windows that are at least partially visible on the
current viewport and not completely overlapped by other windows.
Module Commands
Fvwm maintains a database of module configuration lines in a form
*<ModuleName>: <Config-Resource>
where <ModuleName> is either a real module name or an alias.
This database is initially filled from config file (or from output of -cmd config
command), and can be later modified either by user (via FvwmCommand) or by modules.
When modules are run, they read appropriate portion of database. (The concept of this
database is similar to one used in X resource database).
Commands for manipulating module configuration database are described below.
* module_config_line
Defines a module configuration. module_config_line consists of a module name (or a
module alias) and a module resource line. The new syntax allows a delimiter, a colon
and optional spaces, between the module name and the rest of the line, this is
recommended to avoid conflicts.
*FvwmPager: WindowBorderWidth 1
*FvwmButtons-TopRight: Geometry 100x100-0+0
*FvwmButtons-Bottom: Geometry +0-0
DestroyModuleConfig module_config
Deletes module configuration entries, so that new configuration lines may be entered
instead. This also sometimes the only way to turn back some module settings,
previously defined. This changes the way a module runs during a fvwm session without
restarting. Wildcards can be used for portions of the name as well.
The new non-conflicting syntax allows a delimiter, a colon and optional spaces between
the module name and the rest of the line. In this case a module name (or alias) can’t
have wildcards.
DestroyModuleConfig FvwmButtons*
DestroyModuleConfig FvwmForm: Fore
DestroyModuleConfig FvwmIconMan: Tips*
KillModule modulename [modulealias]
Causes the module which was invoked with name modulename to be killed. The name may
include wildcards. If modulealias is given, only modules started with the given alias
are killed.
# kill all pagers
KillModule FvwmPager
Module FvwmEvent SoundEvent
KillModule FvwmEvent SoundEvent
Module modulename [moduleparams]
Specifies a module with its optional parameters which should be spawned. Currently
several modules, including FvwmButtons, FvwmEvent, FvwmForm, FvwmPager, FvwmScript
support aliases. Aliases are useful if more than one instance of the module should be
spawned. Aliases may be configured separately using * syntax. To start a module
FvwmForm using an alias MyForm, the following syntax may be used:
Module FvwmForm MyForm
At the current time the available modules (included with fvwm) are FvwmAnimate
(produces animation effects when a window is iconified or de-iconified), FvwmAuto (an
auto raise module), FvwmBacker (to change the background when you change desktops),
FvwmBanner (to display a spiffy XBM, XPM, PNG or SVG), FvwmButtons (brings up a
customizable tool bar), FvwmCommandS (a command server to use with shell’s FvwmCommand
client), FvwmConsole (to execute fvwm commands directly), FvwmCpp (to preprocess your
config with cpp), FvwmEvent (trigger various actions by events), FvwmForm (to bring up
dialogs), FvwmIconMan (a flexible icon manager), FvwmIdent (to get window info),
FvwmM4 (to preprocess your config with m4), FvwmPager (a mini version of the desktop),
FvwmPerl (a Perl manipulator and preprocessor), FvwmProxy (to locate and control
obscured windows by using small proxy windows), FvwmRearrange (to rearrange windows),
FvwmScript (another powerful dialog toolkit), These modules have their own man pages.
There may be other modules out on there as well.
Modules can be short lived transient programs or, like FvwmButtons , can remain for
the duration of the X session. Modules are terminated by the window manager prior to
restarts and quits, if possible. See the introductory section on modules. The keyword
Module may be omitted if modulename is distinct from all fvwm commands.
ModuleListenOnly modulename [moduleparams]
This command works like the Module command, but fvwm never sends any messages to the
module. This may be handy to write a module as a shell script that is triggered by
external events without the burden to answer packets sent by fvwm. For example, a
module written as a shell script may change labels of the FvwmButtons module to
implement a simple clock.
ModulePath path
Specifies a colon separated list of directories in which to search for modules. To
find a module, fvwm searches each directory in turn and uses the first file found.
Directory names on the list do not need trailing slashes.
The ModulePath may contain environment variables such as $HOME (or ${HOME}). Further,
a '+' in the path is expanded to the previous value of the path, allowing easy
appending or prepending to the path.
For example:
ModulePath ${HOME}/lib/fvwm/modules:+
The directory containing the standard modules is available via the environment
variable $FVWM_MODULEDIR.
ModuleSynchronous [Expect string] [Timeout secs] modulename
The ModuleSynchronous command is very similar to Module. Fvwm stops processing any
commands and user input until the module sends a string beginning with "NOP FINISHED
STARTUP" back to fvwm. If the optional Timeout is given fvwm gives up if the module
sent no input back to fvwm for secs seconds. If the Expect option is given, fvwm waits
for the given string instead. ModuleSynchronous should only be used during fvwm
startup to enforce the order in which modules are started. This command is intended
for use with the (currently hypothetical) module that should be in place before other
modules are started.
Warning: It is quite easy to hang fvwm with this command, even if a timeout is given.
Be extra careful choosing the string to wait for. Although all modules in the fvwm
distribution send back the "NOP FINISHED STARTUP" string once they have properly
started up, this may not be the case for third party modules. Moreover, you can try to
escape from a locked ModuleSynchronous command by using the key sequence
(see the EscapeFunc).
ModuleTimeout timeout
Specifies how many seconds fvwm waits for a module to respond. If the module does not
respond within the time limit then fvwm kills it. timeout must be greater than zero,
or it is reset to the default value of 30 seconds.
SendToModule modulename string
Sends an arbitrary string (no quotes required) to all modules, whose alias or name
matching modulename, which may contain wildcards. This only makes sense if the module
is set up to understand and deal with these strings though. Can be used for module to
module communication, or implementation of more complex commands in modules.
Session Management Commands
Quit
Exits fvwm, generally causing X to exit too.
QuitScreen
Causes fvwm to stop managing the screen on which the command was issued.
Restart [window_manager [params]]
Causes fvwm to restart itself if window_manager is left blank, or to switch to an
alternate window manager (or other fvwm version) if window_manager is specified. If
the window manager is not in your default search path, then you should use the full
path name for window_manager.
This command should not have a trailing ampersand. The command can have optional
parameters with simple shell-like syntax. You can use ~ (is expanded to the user’s
home directory) and environmental variables $VAR or ${VAR}. Here are several examples:
Key F1 R N Restart
Key F1 R N Restart fvwm -s
Key F1 R N Restart ~/bin/fvwm -f $HOME/.fvwm/main
Key F1 R N Restart fvwm1 -s -f .fvwmrc
Key F1 R N Restart xterm -n '"X console"' \
-T \"X\ console\" -e fvwm1 -s
If you need a native restart, we suggest only to use Restart command without
parameters unless there is a reason not to. If you still use an old command 'Restart
fvwm2' that was correct in 2.2.x, all current command line arguments are lost. On a
restart without parameters or with --pass-args, they are preserved. Here are some
cases when 'Restart fvwm2' or 'Restart fvwm' cause troubles:
• running fvwm under a session manager
• running fvwm with multi headed displays
• having command line arguments, like -f themes-rc or -cmd
• if the first fvwm2 in the $PATH is a different one
This is why we are issuing a warning on an old usage. If you really want to restart to
fvwm with no additional arguments, you may get rid of this warning by using "Restart
fvwm -s" or "Restart /full/path/fvwm".
+ Note, currently with multi headed displays, restart of fvwms on different screens
works independently.
Restart --pass-args window_manager
The same as Restart without parameters but the name for the current window manager is
replaced with the specified window_manager and original arguments are preserved.
This command is useful if you use initial arguments like
-cmd FvwmCpp
and want to switch to another fvwm version without losing the initial arguments.
Restart --dont-preserve-state [other-params]
The same as
Restart [other-params]
but it does not save any window states over the restart.
Without this option, Restart preserves most per-window state by writing it to a file
named .fs-restart-$HOSTDISPLAY in the user’s home directory.
SaveSession
Causes a session manager (if any) to save the session. This command does not work for
xsm, it seems that xsm does not implement this functionality. Use Unix signals to
manage xsm remotely.
SaveQuitSession
Causes a session manager (if any) to save and then shutdown the session. This command
does not work for xsm, it seems that xsm does not implement this functionality. Use
Unix signals to manage xsm remotely.
Colorsets
Colorsets are a powerful method to control colors. Colorsets create appearance resources
that are shared by fvwm and its modules. When a colorset is modified all parts of fvwm
react to that change. A colorset includes a foreground color, background color, shadow and
highlight color (often based on the background color), background face (this includes
images and all kinds of gradients). There is a way to render background face and specify
other color operations.
In the 2.4.x versions a special module FvwmTheme was introduced to manage colorsets.
Starting with the 2.5.x beta version, the FvwmTheme functionality was moved to the core
fvwm, so this module became obsolete. In 2.6.7 the FvwmTheme module was removed.
The old syntax:
DestroyModuleConfig FvwmTheme: *
*FvwmTheme: Colorset 0 fg black, bg rgb:b4/aa/94
*FvwmTheme: Colorset 1 fg black, bg rgb:a1/b2/c8
corresponds to the new syntax:
CleanupColorsets
Colorset 0 fg black, bg rgb:b4/aa/94
Colorset 1 fg black, bg rgb:a1/b2/c8
Colorset num [options]
Creates or modifies colorset num. Colorsets are identified by this number. The number
can start at zero and can be a very large number.
Warning: The highest colorset number used determines memory consumption. Thus, if you
define 'Colorset 100000', the memory for 100001 colorsets is used. Keep your colorset
numbers as small as possible.
By convention, colorsets are numbered like this:
# 0 = Default colors
# 1 = Inactive windows
# 2 = Active windows
# 3 = Inactive menu entry and menu background
# 4 = Active menu entry
# 5 = greyed out menu entry (only bg used)
# 6 = module foreground and background
# 7 = hilight colors
If you need to have more colors and do not want to reinvent the wheel, you may use the
convention used in fvwm-themes, it defines the meaning of the first 40 colorsets for
nearly all purposes:
http://fvwm-themes.sourceforge.net/doc/colorsets
Each colorset has four colors, an optional pixmap and an optional shape mask. The four
colors are used by modules as the foreground, background, highlight and shadow colors.
When a colorset is created it defaults to a foreground of black and background of
gray. The background and foreground are marked as "average" and "contrast" (see later)
so that just specifying a pixmap or gradient gives sensible results.
options is a comma separated list containing some of the keywords: fg, Fore,
Foreground, bg, Back, Background, hi, Hilite, Hilight, sh, Shade, Shadow, fgsh,
Pixmap, TiledPixmap, AspectPixmap, Transparent, RootTransparent, Shape, TiledShape,
AspectShape, NoShape, ?Gradient, Tint, fgTint, bgTint, Alpha, fgAlpha, Dither,
NoDither, IconTint, IconAlpha, Plain.
fg, Fore and Foreground take a color name as an argument and set the foreground color.
The special name Contrast may be used to select a color that contrasts well with the
background color. To reset the foreground color to the default value you can simply
omit the color name.
bg, Back and Background take a color name as an argument and set the background color.
It also sets the highlight and shadow colors to values that give a 3d effect unless
these have been explicitly set with the options below. The special name Average may be
used to select a color that is the average color of the pixmap. If the pixmap is
tinted with the Tint option, the tint is not taken in account in the computation of
the average color. You should use the bgTint option to get the "real" average color.
The background color is reset to the default value if the color name is omitted.
hi, Hilite and Hilight take a color name as an argument and set the highlight color.
If the highlight color is not explicitly set, the default is to calculate it from the
background color. To switch back to the default behavior the color name can be
omitted.
sh, Shade and Shadow take a color name as an argument and set the shadow color. If the
shadow color is not explicitly set, the default is to calculate it from the background
color. To switch back to the default behavior the color name can be omitted.
fgsh takes a color name as an argument and sets the color used by the shadowing font
effect. See the Font Shadow Effects section of the fvwm man page. By default this
color is computed from the foreground and background colors. To switch back to the
default the color name can be omitted.
Pixmap, TiledPixmap and AspectPixmap take a file name as an argument, search the
ImagePath and use it as the background pixmap. Any transparent parts are filled with
the background color. Not specifying a file name removes any existing image from the
colorset. TiledPixmap produces repeated copies of the image with no scaling, Pixmap
causes the image to be stretched to fit whatever object the colorset is applied to and
AspectPixmap stretches to fit but retains the image aspect ratio.
Transparent creates a transparent background pixmap. The pixmap is used as a window
background to achieve root transparency. For this you should use the
ParentalRelativity option to the Style command. A subsequent root background change
may be detected or not, this depends on the program used to set the background. If you
use fvwm-root, xsetbg (xli), FvwmBacker with solid or colorset colors or a recent
version of Esetroot (>= 9.2) a background change is detected. If background changes
are not detected (e.g., if you use xv or xsetroot) you can force detection by using
the -d option of fvwm-root:
xv -root -quit mybg.png; fvwm-root -d
Due to the way X implements transparency no guarantees can be made that the desired
effect can be achieved. The application may even crash. If you experience any problems
with this option, do not use it.
Using outline move and resize (see the OpaqueMoveSize command and the ResizeOpaque
Style option) as well as setting the WindowShadeShrinks style may help. The
transparency achieved with Transparent depends on whether the colorset is applied to
the foreground or the background of a window. In the second case the transparency is
relative to the parent window of the window on which the colorset is defined. For
example:
Colorset 12 VGradient 200 grey30 grey60
Colorset 17 Transparent
*FvwmIconMan: Colorset 12
*FvwmIconMan: PlainColorset 17
gives an IconMan with a vertical grey gradient background and the buttons use the
background (by transparency). To obtain a (root) transparent IconMan:
Colorset 12 Transparent
Colorset 17 Transparent
Colorset 18 Transparent
Colorset 19 Transparent
*FvwmIconMan: Colorset 12
*FvwmIconMan: PlainColorset 17
*FvwmIconMan: FocusColorset 18
*FvwmIconMan: IconColorset 19
The Colorset IconMan option defines the IconMan window background, but the
PlainColorset and the FocusColorset are drawn on the foreground. So, the transparency
of the IconMan buttons is achieved by drawing nothing. Now if this IconMan is
swallowed in an FvwmButtons as:
FvwmButtons:(Colorset 10, Swallow "FvwmIconMan" 'FvwmIconMan')
then, FvwmIconMan becomes a child of FvwmButtons and it is transparent relative to
FvwmButtons. So, in this case FvwmIconMan uses Colorset 10 as background. If you want
root transparency use the RootTransparent option. FvwmButtons FvwmIconMan, and
FvwmIdent, are relatively simple. There is one main colorset option which defines the
background of the window and the other colorsets (if any) are drawn on the foreground.
The case of FvwmProxy is simpler, the two colorsets refer to the window backgrounds.
FvwmPager is more complicated as almost everything in the pager are windows with some
parental relations (the mini windows are the child and the desktops are the parents
and all this is complicated by the hilighted page). So, the colorsets apply to the
background of these windows. You should experiment. For FvwmForm and FvwmScript the
situation is similar. There is a main window (a child of the root window) which
corresponds to the main colorset and most of the widgets are windows which are
children of the main window. Tint may work or not with the Transparent option. When
the colorset is drawn on the foreground Tint should work. In some cases, tinting may
be very slow. Tinting may work with fvwm menu (without animation). Tinting may work
better if your X server has backing store enabled (try xdpyinfo to see if this the
case). There is a chance that the backing store support of your X server does not work
well with the terrible hack used to Tint the ParentRelative Pixmap. So, to get tinted
root transparency it is more safe to use the RootTransparent option.
RootTransparent [ buffer ] creates a root transparent background. To make this option
work, you must use an Esetroot compatible program, fvwm-root with the --retain-pixmap
option or FvwmBacker with the RetainPixmap option (and colorset or solid backgrounds).
The buffer keyword is useful only when the Tint option is used too. This speeds up
creation of windows which use the colorset (useful for fvwm menus) at the cost of
memory usage. It also speeds up opaque move and resize which can be unacceptably slow
without buffer. However, this option may add a lot of memory to your X server
(depending on the size of the image used to set the background). In summary, using
outline move and resize for modules which use such a colorset may be a good idea.
Shape, TiledShape and AspectShape take a file name as an argument, search the
ImagePath and use it as the shape bitmap. TiledShape produces repeated copies of the
bitmap with no scaling, Shape causes the bitmap to be stretched to fit whatever object
the colorset is applied to and AspectShape stretches to fit but retains the bitmap
aspect ratio. If the file is a pixmap in xpm format the shape mask (all opaque pixels)
of the pixmap is used. For png and svg images, the shape mask is equivalent to all not
completely transparent pixels (alpha > 0).
Warning Due to the way X11 implements shapes you cannot take back making windows
shaped. You may have to restart fvwm or the shaped application.
?Gradient ... creates a pixmap and stretches it to fit the window. ?Gradient may be
one of HGradient, VGradient, DGradient, BGradient, SGradient, CGradient, RGradient or
YGradient. The gradient types are as follows: H is horizontal; V is vertical; D is
diagonal from top left to bottom right; B is a backwards diagonal from bottom left to
top right; S is concentric squares; C is concentric circles; R is a radar like pattern
and Y is a Yin Yang style (but without the dots). Please refer to the Color Gradients
section for the syntax of gradients.
Tint takes 2 arguments, a color and a percentage between 0 and 100. It causes the
image defined using ?Pixmap or ?Gradient to be tinted with the specified color using
the percentage. If the image is transparent Tint tints only the image part.
Unfortunately, a colorset background specified using the Transparent option can give
strange results. See the Transparent option for details. With no arguments this option
removes the tint.
fgTint takes 2 arguments, a color and a percentage between 0 and 100. It causes the
color defined using fg to be tinted with the specified color using the percentage.
With no arguments this option removes the tint.
bgTint takes 2 arguments, a color and a percentage between 0 and 100. It causes the
color defined using bg to be tinted with the specified color using the percentage. If
the sh and hi colors are not specified, they are recomputed from the tinted bg color.
With no arguments this option removes the tint.
Alpha takes a percentage between 0 and 100 as an argument. It causes fvwm to merge the
image defined using ?Pixmap or ?Gradient with the bg color using the percentage. If
the percentage is 0 the image is hidden and if it is 100 the image is displayed as
usual (no merge). The default is 100 and it is restored if no argument is given.
fgAlpha takes a percentage between 0 and 100 as an argument. It causes fvwm to merge
the text and the colorset background using the percentage. If the percentage is 0 the
text is hidden and if it is 100 the text is displayed as usual (no merge). This option
has an effect only with fonts loaded by Xft, see the Font Names and Font Loading
section. The default is 100 and it is restored if no argument is given.
Dither causes fvwm to dither the image defined using ?Pixmap or ?Gradient. This is
useful only with displays with depth less than or equal to 16 (i.e., on displays which
can only display less than 65537 colors at once). The dithering effect lets you
simulate having more colors available that you actually have. NoDither causes fvwm to
do not dither the images. Dither is the default if the depth is less than or equal to
8 (a screen with 256 colors or less). In depth 15 (32768 colors) and 16 (65536
colors), the default is NoDither, however this effect can be useful with images which
contain a lot of close colors. For example a fine gradient looks more smooth.
IconTint takes 2 arguments, a color and a percentage between 0 and 100. It causes fvwm
or a module to tint the "icons" which are rendered into the colorset background with
the specified color using a percentage. Here "icons" means, fvwm Icons, fvwm menu
icons, MiniIcons which represent applications in various modules, images loaded by
modules (e.g., images specified by the Icon FvwmButtons button option) ...etc. With no
arguments this option removes the icon tint.
IconAlpha takes a percentage between 0 and 100 as an argument. It causes fvwm to merge the
"icons" which are rendered into the colorset background using this percentage. The default
is 100 and it is restored if no argument is given.
Note: It is equivalent to use "Tint a_color rate" and "Alpha a" if a = 100 and the bg
color is a_color. This equivalence does not hold for IconAlpha and IconTint as the
background can be an image or a gradient (and not a uniform color background). However, in
some cases you can achieve (almost) the same effect by using IconTint in the place of
IconAlpha. This is preferable as, in general, IconAlpha generates more redrawing than
IconTint.
NoShape removes the shape mask from the colorset while Plain removes the background pixmap
or gradient.
Examples
Colorset 3 fg tan, bg navy
If necessary this creates colorsets 0, 1, 2 and 3 and then changes colorset 3 to have a
foreground of tan, a background of navy.
Colorset 3 bg "navy blue"
changes the background color of colorset 3 to navy blue. The foreground and pixmap are
unchanged.
Colorset 3 AspectPixmap large_murky_dungeon.xpm
causes depression.
Colorset 3 bg Average
Sets the background color and the relief colors to match the background pixmap. This is
the default setting but it must be used if a background color was specified and is now not
required.
Colorset 3 YGradient 200 3 blue 1000 navy 1 blue 1000 navy
Adds a Yin Yang gradient background pixmap to colorset 3. If the background is set to
average it is recomputed along with the foreground if that is set to contrast.
#!/bin/sh
FvwmCommand "Colorset 7 fg navy, bg gray"
while true
do
FvwmCommand "Colorset 7 fg gray"
sleep 1
FvwmCommand "Colorset 7 fg navy"
sleep 1
done
Makes colorset 7 blink.
The color names used in colorsets are saved as fvwm variables which can be substituted in
any fvwm command. For example:
AddToFunc InitFunction
+ I Exec exec xterm -fg $[fg.cs0] -bg $[bg.cs0]
Where $[fg.cs0] is the foreground color of colorset zero. Please refer to the Command
Expansion section for more information.
CleanupColorsets
Resets a definition of all colorsets.
Color Gradients
A color gradient is a background that changes its color gradually from one hue to a
different one. Color gradients can be used by various commands and modules of fvwm.
There are eight types of gradients: HGradient is a horizontal gradient, VGradient is
vertical, DGradient is diagonal from top left to bottom right, BGradient is backwards
diagonal from bottom left to top right, SGradient is concentric squares, CGradient is
concentric circles, RGradient is a radar like pattern and YGradient is a Yin Yang
style (but without the dots).
The color gradient syntax has two forms:
?Gradient colors start-color end-color
This form specifies a linear gradient. The arguments denote the total number of colors
to allocate (between 2 and 1000), the initial color and the final color.
Example:
TitleStyle VGradient 20 rgb:b8/ce/bc rgb:5b/85/d0
?Gradient colors segments color length color [length color] ...
The second form specifies a nonlinear gradient. The arguments are: the total number of
colors to allocate (between 2 and 1000), then the number of segments. For each
segment, specify the starting color, a relative length, then the ending color. Each
subsequent segment begins with the second color of the last segment. The lengths may
be any non-negative integers. The length of one segment divided by the sum of all
segments lengths is the fraction of the colors that are used for the segment.
Examples:
MenuStyle * \
MenuFace DGradient 128 2 lightgrey 50 blue 50 white
# 20% gradient from red to blue,
# 30% from blue to black,
# 50% from black to grey
MenuStyle * \
MenuFace DGradient 100 3 Red 20 Blue 30 Black 50 Grey
# 50% from blue to green, then
# 50% from yellow to red
Colorset 0 HGradient 128 3 Blue 1000 Green 1 Yellow 1000 Red
ENVIRONMENT
The environment variables that have an effect on how fvwm operates are the following:
DISPLAY
Fvwm starts on this display unless the -display option is given.
FVWM_USERDIR
Used to determine the user’s data directory for reading and writing files. If this
variable is not already set, it is set by fvwm to $HOME/.fvwm, which is the default
user’s data directory.
FVWM3_LOGFILE
Used to determine the path and filename to log debug information from fvwm3. By
default debug log is written to $FVWM_USERDIR/fvwm3-output.log . If an absolute path
is specified (starting with /) then $FVWM_USERDIR is ignored, otherwise the log is
written to $FVWM_USERDIR/$FVWM3_LOGFILE .
FVWM_DATADIR
Set by fvwm to the directory containing fvwm config and module data.
FVWM_MODULEDIR
Set by fvwm to the directory containing the standard fvwm modules.
SESSION_MANAGER
Fvwm tries to contact this session manager.
SESSION_MANAGER_NAME
This is used mainly to determine xsm running to work around its bug. If this variable
is set to "xsm", DiscardCommand is set as xsm expects it and not as XSMP requires. If
you run fvwm under xsm, you should set this variable to "xsm", otherwise old state
files are not removed.
SM_SAVE_DIR
If this is set, fvwm saves its session data in this directory. Otherwise it uses
$HOME. Note, the state files are named .fs-?????? and normally are removed
automatically when not used anymore.
fvwm-config --info is useful to query fvwm3 compiled-in paths
AUTHORS
Robert Nation with help from many people, based on twm code, which was written by Tom
LaStrange. After Robert Nation came Charles Hines, followed by Brady Montz. Currently fvwm
is developed by a number of people on the fvwm-workers mailing list.
COPYRIGHT
Fvwm and all the modules, scripts and other files coming with the distribution are subject
to the GNU General Public License (GPL). Please refer to the COPYING file that came with
fvwm for details.
BUGS
Bug reports can be sent to the fvwm-workers mailing list at fvwm-workers@fvwm.org
The official fvwm homepage is http://fvwm.org/.
2022-10-07 FVWM3(1)