FVWM(1)FVWM(1)NAMEfvwm - F(?) Virtual Window Manager (version 2.xx) for X11
SYNOPSISfvwm [ options ]
DESCRIPTION
Fvwm is a window manager for X11. It is a derivative of twm,
redesigned to minimize memory consumption, provide a 3-D look to window
frames, and provide a simple virtual desktop. Version 2.xx uses only
slightly more memory than 1.xx, mostly due to some global options being
able to be window specific now.
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 which allow you to perform most
window-manager functions, including moving and resizing windows, and
operating the window-manager's menus, using keyboard shortcuts.
Fvwm has also blurred the distinction between configuration commands
and built-in commands that most window-managers make. Configuration
commands typically set fonts, colors, menu contents, key and mouse
function bindings, while built-in commands typically do things like
raise and lower windows. Fvwm makes no such distinction, and allows,
to the extent that is practical, anything to be changed at any time.
Other noteworthy differences between Fvwm and other X11 window managers
are the introduction of the SloppyFocus and per-window focus methods.
SloppyFocus is focus-follows-mouse, but focus is not removed from
windows when the mouse leaves a window and enters the root window.
When sloppy focus is used as the default focus style, it is nice to
make windows in which you do not typically type into (xmag, xman,
xgraph, xclock, xbiff, etc) click-to-focus, so that your terminal
window doesn't lose focus unnecessarily.
COPYRIGHTS
Since fvwm is derived from twm code it shares twm's copyrights. Since
nearly every line of twm code has been changed, the twm copyright has
been removed from most of the individual code files. I do still
recognize the influence of twm code in the overall package, so fvwm's
copyright is still considered to be the same as twm's.
Please consult the COPYING file that has come with your distribution
for details.
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.
Unless the standard defaults files are modified, pressing mouse button
1 in the title or side-bars will begin a move operation on the window.
Pressing button 1 in the corner frame pieces will begin a resize
operation. Pressing button 2 anywhere in the border brings up an
extensive list of window operations.
Up to ten title-bar buttons may exist. Their use is completely user
definable. The default configuration has a title-bar button on each
side of the title-bar. The one on the left is used to bring up a list
of window options, regardless of which mouse button is used. The one
on the right is used to iconify the window. The number of title-bar
buttons used depends on which ones have mouse actions bound to them.
See the section on the "Mouse" configuration parameter below.
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 built-in command. All
virtual desktops must be (are) the same size. The total number of
distinct desktops need not be specified, but is limited to
approximately 4 billion total. All windows on a range of desktops can
be viewed in the Pager, 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, along with
their geometries, in a window list, accessible as a pop-up menu, or as
a separate window, called the FvwmWinList (another module).
"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 xbiff's, 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
will always show up 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, then invoking:
xterm -geometry +1000+1000
will place the 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 thescreen and waiting for it to scroll into view.A geometry specified as something like: xterm -geometry -5-5will generally place the window's lower right hand corner 5 pixels from thelower right corner of the visible portion of the screen. Not all applicationssupport window geometries with negative offsets. Some will place the window'supper right hand corner 5 pixels above and to the left of the upper left handcorner 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 otherthan 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 currentviewport: the window will 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 or desk from the currentlymapped viewport is to use the StartsOnPage style specification (the successorto the older StartsOnDesk style) in the .fvwmrc configuration file. Theplacement is consistent: it does not depend on your current location on thevirtual desktop.Some applications that understand standard Xt command line arguments and Xresources, like xterm and xfontsel, allow the user to specify the start-up
desk or page on the command line: xterm -xrm "*Desk:1"
will start an xterm on desk number 1; xterm -xrm "*Page:3 2 1"
will start an xterm two pages to the right and one down from the upper lefthand page of desk number 3. Not all applications understand the use of theseoptions, however.
You could achieve the same results with the following lines in yourXTerm*Desk: 1or XTerm*Page: 3 2 1INITIALIZATION
During initialization, fvwm will search for a configuration file which
describes key and button bindings, and a few other things. The format
of these files will be described later. First, fvwm will search for a
file named .fvwmrc in the user's home directory, then in ${sysconfdir}
(typically /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fvwm). Failing that, it will look for
system.fvwmrc in ${sysconfdir} for system-wide defaults. If that file
is not found, fvwm will be basically useless.
Fvwm will set two environment variables which will be 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 rsh to another machine, so $HOSTDISPLAY will
also be set and will use a network-ready description of the display.
$HOSTDISPLAY will always use 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.
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 may be customized in a
user's rc file via the AddToFunc facility (described later) to start up
modules, xterms, or whatever you'd like to have started by fvwm.
Fvwm also has a special exit function: ExitFunction, executed when
exiting or restarting before actually quitting or anything else. It
could be used to explicitly kill modules, etc.
COMPILATION OPTIONS
Fvwm has a number of compile-time options to reduce memory usage by
limiting the use of certain features. 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.
ICONS
The basic Fvwm configuration uses monochrome bitmap icons, similar to
twm. If XPM extensions are compiled in, then color icons similar to
ctwm, MS-Windows, or the Macintosh icons can be used. In order to use
these options you will need the XPM package, as described in the
INSTALL.fvwm file.
If both the SHAPE and XPM options are compiled in you will get shaped
color icons, which are very spiffy.
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 will already be
open for the module when it starts and the file descriptors for the
pipes are provided as command line arguments.
Modules can be spawned during fvwm at any time during the X session by
use of the Module built-in 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 will close the
communication pipes and wait 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 will exit 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 text commands to the fvwm built-in command
engine. Text commands are formatted just as in the case of a mouse
binding in the .fvwmrc setup file. Certain auxiliary information is
also transmitted, as in the sample module FvwmButtons. The FvwmButtons
module is documented in its own man page.
ICCCM COMPLIANCE
Fvwm attempts to be ICCCM 1.1 compliant. 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 fvwm2 and another fvwm2
running within Xnest (a nested X server). 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 will allow fvwm to overlook this ICCCM rule.
M4 PREPROCESSING
M4 pre-processing is handled by a module in fvwm-2.0. To get more
details, try man FvwmM4. In short, if you want fvwm to parse your
files with m4, then replace the word "Read" with "FvwmM4" in your
.fvwmrc file (if it appears at all), and start fvwm with the command
fvwm-cmd "FvwmM4 .fvwmrc"
CPP PREPROCESSING
Cpp is the C-language pre-processor. fvwm-2.0 offers cpp processing
which mirrors the m4 pre-processing. To find out about it, re-read the
M4 section above, but replace "m4" with "cpp".
AUTO-RAISE
Windows can be automatically raised when it receives focus, or some
number of milliseconds after it receives focus, by using the auto-raise
module, FvwmAuto.
OPTIONS
These are the command line options that are recognized by fvwm:
-blackout
The screen is blacked out during window recaptures and startup.
This option is provided for backwards compatibility only.
-cmd config_command
Causes fvwm to use config_command instead of "Read .fvwmrc" as
its initialization command. (Note that up to 10 -f and -cmd
parameters can be given, and they are executed in the order
specified.)
-d displayname
Manage the display called "displayname" instead of the name
obtained from the environment variable $DISPLAY.
-debug Puts X transactions in synchronous mode, which dramatically
slows things down, but guarantees that fvwm's internal error
messages are correct. Also causes fvwm to output debug messages
while running.
-f config_file
Causes fvwm to Read config_file instead of ".fvwmrc" as its
initialization file. This is equivalent to -cmd "Read
config_file".
-h A short usage description is printed.
-s On a multi-screen display, run fvwm only on the screen named in
the $DISPLAY environment variable or provided through the -d
option. Normally, fvwm will attempt to start up on all screens
of a multi-screen display.
-version
Print the version of fvwm to stderr.
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 ".fvwmrc". By
using the "Read" built-in, it is easy to read in new configuration
files as you go.
Lines beginning with '#' will be ignored by fvwm. Lines starting with
'*' are expected to contain module configuration commands (rather than
configuration commands for fvwm itself).
Fvwm makes no distinction between configuration commands and built-in
commands, so anything mentioned in the built-in 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.
BUILT IN FUNCTIONS
Fvwm supports a set of built-in functions which can be bound to
keyboard or mouse buttons. If fvwm expects to find a built-in function
in a command, but fails, it will check 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 .fvwmrc file contains the line "HelpMe". Fvwm will look
for a built-in command called "HelpMe", and will fail. Next it will
look for a user-defined complex function called "HelpMe". If no such
user defined function exists, Fvwm will try to execute a module called
"HelpMe".
In previous versions of fvwm, quoting was critical and irrational in
the .fvwmrc file. As of fvwm-2, most of this has been cleared up.
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 don't need quotes: Popup Window-Ops, but if you
replace the dash with a space, then you need quotes: Popup "Window
Ops".
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" or "Inactive." If state is omitted, then the style
is added to every state. If the button 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 ButtonStyle, 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 state.
AddTitleStyle [ state ] [ style ] [ -- [!]flag ... ]
Adds a title style to the title bar. state should be one of
"ActiveUp," "ActiveDown," or "Inactive." 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 (see above).
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
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, border styles, hilight colors, and window
fonts. If decor does not exist it is created; otherwise the
existing decor is modified.
Created decors start out exactly like the default fvwm 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 will affect 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,
BorderStyle, HilightColor and WindowFont commands. Decors
created with AddToDecor can be manipulated with ChangeDecor,
DestroyDecor, UpdateDecor, and the UseDecor Style option.
The following example creates a decor and style, both named
"flatness." Despite having the same name, they are distinct
entities: AddToDecor flatness
+ ButtonStyle All ActiveUp (-- flat) \
Inactive (-- flat)
+ TitleStyle -- flat
+ BorderStyle -- HiddenHandles NoInset
+ HilightColor white navy Style "flatness" UseDecor flatness,
\
Color white/grey40,HandleWidth 4
Style "xterm" UseStyle flatness
An existing window's decor may be reassigned with ChangeDecor, or a
Style command followed by a Recapture. The decorations of all
windows or of a specific decor can be updated with UpdateDecor
(useful after decorations are modified; changing Style options
requires a Recapture instead). A decor can be destroyed with
DestroyDecor.
AddToFunc [ name [ trigger action] ]
Begins or add to a function definition. Here's an example:
AddToFunc Move-or-Raise "I" Raise
+ "M" Move
+ "D" Lower
The function name is Move-or-Raise, and could be invoked from a menu
or a mouse binding or key binding: Mouse 1 TS A Move-or-Raise
The quoted portion of the function tells what kind of action will trigger
the command which follows it. "I" stands for Immediate, and is executed
as soon as the function is invoked. "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 in a short period of time (ClickTime
milliseconds). "D" stands for double-click. The action "I" will cause an
action to be performed on the button-press, if the function is invoked
with prior knowledge of which window to act on.
The special symbols $d, $w and $0 through $9 are available in the
ComplexFunctions or Macros, or whatever you want to call them. Within a
macro, $w is expanded to the window-id (expressed in hex, i.e. 0x10023c)
of the window for which the macro was called and $d is expanded to the
current desk number. $0 through $9 are the arguments to the macro, so if
you call Key F10 R A Function MailFunction \
xmh "-font fixed"
and MailFunction isAddToFunc MailFunction
+ "I" Next ($0) Iconify -1
+ "I" Next ($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. I could use Key F11 R AFunction MailFunction \
zmail "-bg pink"
in the same .fvwmrc, if I wanted. An example of using $w is: AddToFunc
PrintFunction
+ "I" Raise
+ "I" Exec xdpr -id $w
Note that $$ is expanded to $.
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 .fvwmrc file. The quoted portion in the above
examples is the menu-label, which will appear in the menu when the user pops
it up. The remaining portion is a built-in command which should be executed
if the user selects that menu item. An empty menu-label ("") and the Nop
function can be used to insert a separator into the menu.Titles can be used within the menu. If you add the option "top" behind thekeyword "Title", the title will be added to the top of the menu. If there was
a title already, it is overwritten.
AddToMenu Utilities "Tools" Title topAll text up to the first TAB in the menu label is aligned to the left side ofthe menu, all text right of the first TAB is aligned to the right side. All
other TABs are replaced by spaces.If the menu-label contains an ampersand ('&'), the next character is taken as
a hotkey for the menu item. Hotkeys are underlined in the label. To get aliteral '&', insert '&&'.
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 xpm-icon or
bitmap-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 aboveit. 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 anxpm-icon or bitmap-file to insert to the left of the menu label. 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 theleft. 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 xpm
or bitmap file to draw along the left side of the menu (a "side pixmap"). Youwill probably 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 contains also a sub-string set of by '^'s, then the text
between '^'s is expected to be the name a of X11 color and the column
containing the side picture will be colorized with that color. You can setthis color for a menu style using the SideColor option of the MenuStylecommand. To get a literal '^', insert AddToMenu
"StartMenu@linux-menu.xpm@^blue^"
creates a menu with a picture in its bottom left corner and colorizes withblue 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.
AnimatedMove x y [ Warp ]
Move a window in an animated way. Similar to Move command,
below. 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.
Beep As might be expected, this makes the terminal beep.
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 ButtonStyles, and can only be
TiledPixmap (uniform pixmaps which match the bevel colors work
best this way). If an "!" is prefixed to any flag, flag
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 NoHandle
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, this flag has no effect.
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).
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 section (see below). 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
unpressed and pressed states for buttons on active windows;
while the "Inactive" state denotes buttons on inactive windows.
If state is ActiveUp, ActiveDown, or Inactive, 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 2For any given button, multiple state definitions can be given on one line by
enclosing the style and flags in parentheses. If only one definition per lineis given the parentheses can be omitted.flags affect the specified state. If an "!" is prefixed to any flag, its
behavior is negated. The available state-dependent flags for all styles are
described here (the next 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 button's 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 mutuallyexclusive (both can be off however). The default is Raised with bothUseBorderStyle and UseTitleStyle left unset.There is an important note for the ActiveDown state. When a button ispressed, the relief is inverted. Because of this, to obtain a sunken
ActiveDown state you must specify the opposite of the desired relief (i.e. toobtain a pressed-in look which is raised, specify Sunk for ActiveDown). This
behavior is consistent, but may seem confusing at first.
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 and their arguments now follow (depending on compilationoptions, some button styles may be unavailable).
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 whichspecifies the default button number to load. If the style command given isButtonStyle or AddButtonStyle, the argument is optional (if given, will
override the current button). If a command other than ButtonStyle orAddButtonStyle 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 should be specified as a single argument.
This style is fully destructive.The "Vector" style draws a line pattern. Since this is a standard buttonstyle, the keyword "Vector" is optional. The specification is a little
cumbersome: ButtonStyle 2 Vector 4 50x30@1 70x70@0 \
30x70@0 50x30@1
then the button 2 decoration will use 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 sample .fvwmrc for a few examples. This style is
partially destructive.The "VGradient" and "HGradient" styles denote gradient styles. The H and V
prefixes denote both horizontal and vertical directions.This style has two forms:
The first form specifies a linear gradient. Arguments: total number of
colors to allocate (between 2 and 128), the initial color, and the final
color.
The second form specifies a nonlinear gradient. Arguments: total number of
colors to allocate (between 2 and 128), then the number of segments. For
each segment, specify the starting color, percentage to increment, then
ending color. Each subsequent segment begins with the color of the last
segment. All of the percentages must add up to 100.
Example: TitleStyle VGradient 16 3 Red 20 Blue 30 \
Black 50 Grey
The gradient styles are fully destructive.The "Pixmap" style displays a pixmap. A pixmap should be specified as anargument. For example, the following would give button 2 the same pixmap for
both states, and button 4 different pixmaps for the up, down and inactive
states. ButtonStyle 2 Pixmap my_pixmap.xpm ButtonStyle 4 ActiveUp (Pixmap
up.xpm) \
ActiveDown (Pixmap down.xpm) ButtonStyle 4 Inactive Pixmap inactive.xpm
The pixmap specification can be given as an absolute or relative pathname (seePixmapPath). 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." Thisstyle is partially 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 styleaccepts no arguments. Example: Style "*" MiniIcon mini-bx2.xpm Style
"xterm" MiniIcon mini-term.xpm Style "Emacs" MiniIcon mini-doc.xpm
ButtonStyle 1 MiniIconThe "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.
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 an "!" is prefixed to the flag then
the flag 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. 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 will be 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 will be 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 will be hidden.
ChangeDecor decor
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 will be allowed to select the target
window. ChangeDecor only affects attributes which can be set
using the AddToDecor command. ChangeDecor "CustomDecor1"
ChangeMenuStyle menustyle menu ...
Changes the menu style of "menu" to "menustyle", you may
specified more than one menu in each ChangeMenuStyle.
ChangeMenuStyle pixmap1 Screensavers ScreenLock
ClickTime [ delay ]
Specifies the maximum delay (in milliseconds) between a button
press and a button release for the Function built-in to consider
the action a mouse click. The default delay is 150
milliseconds. Omitting the delay value resets the ClickTime to
the default.
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.
ColorLimit limit
Specifies a limit on the colors used in pixmaps used by fvwm.
Zero (the default) sets no limit. Fvwm uses pixmaps
for icons, mini-icons, and pixmap borders and titles. This
command limits pixmap colors to a set of colors that starts
out with common colors. The current list contains about 60
colors and starts with white, black, grey, green, blue,
red, cyan, yellow, and magenta. The command "ColorLimit 9"
would limit pixmaps to these 9 colors.
It makes the most sense to put this command at the front of the
definitions that contain mini-icons.
Solid frame and title colors (including shadows and gradients)
are not controlled by this command.
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 will be the one for the window that currently
has the keyboard focus.
Current (conditions) command
Performs command on the current window if it satisfies all
conditions. Conditions include "Iconic", "!Iconic", "Visible",
"!Visible", "Sticky", "!Sticky", "Maximized", "!Maximized",
"Transient", "!Transient", "Raised", "!Raised", "CurrentDesk",
"CurrentPage", and "CurrentPageAnyDesk". In addition, the
condition may include a window name to match to. The window
name may include the wildcards * and ?. The window name, icon
name, class, and resource will be considered when attempting to
find a match. The window name can begin with ! which will
prevent command if any of the window name, icon name, class or
resource match.
Note that earlier versions of fvwm2 required the conditions to
be enclosed in brackets instead of parentheses (this is still
supported for backwards compatibility).
CursorMove horizontal vertical
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. 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.
CursorStyle context cursornum
Defines a new cursor for the specified context. The various
contexts are:
POSITION (XC_top_left_corner)
used when initially placing windows
TITLE (XC_top_left_arrow)
used in a window title-bar
DEFAULT (XC_top_left_arrow)
used in windows that don't set their cursor
SYS (XC_hand2)
used in one of the title-bar buttons
MOVE (XC_fleur)
used when moving or resizing windows
WAIT (XC_watch)
used during an EXEC builtin command
MENU (XC_sb_left_arrow)
used in menus
SELECT (XC_dot)
used for various builtin commands such as iconify
DESTROY (XC_pirate)
used for DESTROY, CLOSE, and DELETE built-ins
TOP (XC_top_side)
used in the top side-bar of a window
RIGHT (XC_right_side)
used in the right side-bar of a window
BOTTOM (XC_bottom_side)
used in the bottom side-bar of a window
LEFT (XC_left_side)
used in the left side-bar of a window
TOP_LEFT (XC_top_left_corner)
used in the top left corner of a window
TOP_RIGHT (XC_top_right_corner)
used in the top right corner of a window
BOTTOM_LEFT (XC_bottom_left_corner)
used in the bottom left corner of a window
BOTTOM_RIGHT (XC_bottom_right_corner)
used in the bottom right corner of a window
And the cursornum is the numeric value of the cursor as defined
in the include file X11/cursorfont.h. An example: # make the
kill cursor be XC_gumby: CursorStyle DESTROY 56
The defaults are shown in parenthesis above.
DefaultColors [ foreground background ]
DefaultColors sets the default forground 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 don't want to change one color or the other, use - as its
color name. To revert to the builtin default colors omit both
color names. Note that the default colors are not used in menus,
window titles or icon titles.
DefaultFont [ fontname ]
DefaultFont sets the default font to font fontname. The default
font is used by fvwm2 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 WindowFont, IconFont or MenuStyle
commands.
Delete Sends a message to a window asking that it remove itself,
frequently causing the application to exit.
Desk 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 arg1 is non zero then the next desktop number will be the
current desktop number plus arg1.
If arg1 is zero then the new desktop number will be arg2. (If
arg2 is not present, then the command has no effect.)
If min and max are given, the new desktop number will be 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?).
DeskTopSize HorizontalxVertical
Defines the virtual desktop size in units of the physical screen
size.
Destroy
Destroys an application window, which usually causes the
application to crash and burn.
DestroyDecor decor
Deletes the decor defined with AddToDecor, so that subsequent
references to it are no longer valid. Windows using this decor
revert to the default fvwm decor. The decor named "Default"
cannot be destroyed. DestroyDecor "CustomDecor1"
DestroyFunc
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 an fvwm session. The function can be rebuilt
using AddToFunc. DestroyFunc "PrintFunction"
DestroyMenu
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. 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. DestroyMenuStyle pixamp1
DestroyModuleConfig
Deletes module configuration entries, so that new configuration
lines may be entered instead. You can use this to change the
the way a module runs during an fvwm session without restarting.
Wildcards can be used for portions of the name as well.
DestroyModuleConfig FvwmFormFore DestroyModuleConfig
FvwmButtons*
Direction direction (conditions) command
Performs command (typically Focus) on a window in the given
direction which satisfies all conditions. Conditions are the
same as for Current. The direction may be one of North,
Northeast, East, Southeast, South, Southwest, West and
Northwest. Which window Direction selects depends on angle and
distance between the centerpoints of the windows. Closer windows
are considered a better match than those farther away.
Echo string
Prints a message to stderr. Potentially useful for debugging
things in your .fvwmrc. Echo Beginning style defs...
EdgeResistance scrolling moving
Tells how hard it should be to change the desktop viewport by
moving the mouse over the edge of the screen and how hard it
should be to move a window over the edge of the screen.
The first parameter tells how milliseconds the pointer must
spend on the screen edge before fvwm will move the viewport.
This is intended for people who use "EdgeScroll 100 100" but
find themselves accidentally flipping pages when they don't want
to.
The second 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. By default the viewport is moved a
full page in the requested direction, but if you used EdgeScroll
and set any values other than zero they will be used instead.
Note that, with "EdgeScroll 0 0", it is still possible to move
or resize windows across the edge of the current screen. By
making the first parameter to EdgeResistance 10000 this type of
motion is impossible. With EdgeResistance less than 10000 but
greater than 0 moving over pages becomes difficult but not
impossible. See also, EdgeThickness.
EdgeScroll horizontal vertical
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 don't want any paging
or scrolling when you hit the edge of a page include "EdgeScroll
0 0" in your .fvwmrc 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 then scrolling will wrap around at the edge of the desktop.
If "EdgeScroll 100000 100000" is used fvwm will scroll 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 fvwm2
creates on the edges of the screen that are used for the
edgescrolling feature.
A value of zero 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 stradles aa pan frame, clicks on the window, near the
edge of the screen are treated as clicks on the root window.
Emulate fvwm|mwm|win
This command affects how miscellaneous things are done by fvwm.
For example where the move/resize feedback window appears
depends on this command. To have more MWM- or WIN-like behavior
you can call Emulate with "MWM" or "WIN" as its argument.
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 will stay 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 F1 in the root window,
with no modifiers, to the exec function. The program rxvt will
be 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
won't work reliably.
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
FlipFocus
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 Moves the viewport or window as needed to make the selected
window visible. Sets the keyboard focus to the selected window.
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.
To raise and warp a pointer together with Focus or FlipFocus,
use a function: AddToFunc SelectWindow + I Focus + I Raise + I
WarpToWindow 50 8p
Function nctionName
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
will execute to move-or-raise function whenever button 1 is
pressed in a window title-bar. Mouse 1 T A Function
Move-or-Raise
The keyword "Function" may be omitted if "FunctionName" does not
coincide with an fvwm built-in function name
GlobalOpts [ options ]
This is a TEMPORARY command used to set some global options
which will later be handled as Style parms (or options to Style
parms). It currently handles the following:
SmartPlacementIsReallySmart/SmartPlacementIsNormal,
ClickToFocusDoesntPassClick/ClickToFocusPassesClick,
ClickToFocusDoesntRaise/ClickToFocusRaises,
MouseFocusClickDoesntRaise/MouseFocusClickRaises,
CaptureHonorsStartsOnPage/CaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage,
RecaptureHonorsStartsOnPage/RecaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage,
ActivePlacementHonorsStartsOnPage/ActivePlacementIgnoresStartsOnPage,
NoStipledTitles/StipledTitles
Example: GlobalOpts ClickToFocusDoesntPassClick, \
ClickToFocusDoesntRaise
RecaptureHonorsStartsOnPage causes a window to be placed according
to, or revert to, the StartsOnPage desk and page specification on
Restart or Recapture. RecaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage causes fvwm to
respect the current window position on Restart or Recapture. The
default is RecaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage.
CaptureHonorsStartsOnPage causes the initial capture (of an already
existing window) at startup to place the window according to the
StartsOnPage desk and page specification. CaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage
causes fvwm to ignore these settings (including StartsOnDesk) on
initial capture. The default is CaptureHonorsStartsOnPage.
ActivePlacementIgnoresStartsOnPage suppresses StartsOnPage or
StartsOnDesk placement in the event that both ActivePlacement 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.
ActivePlacementHonorsStartsOnPage allows this to happen anyway. The
option has no effect if SkipMapping is not in effect, because fvwm
will switch to the proper desk/page to perform interactive placement.
The default is ActivePlacementHonorsStartsOnPage, which matches the
way StartsOnDesk handled the situation.
GotoPage x y
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. The GotoPage function should not be
used in a pop-up menu.
HilightColor textcolor backgroundcolor
Specifies the text and background colors for the decorations on
the window which currently has the keyboard focus.
IconFont [ fontname ]
Makes fvwm use font fontname for icon labels. To reset this font
to the default font (see DefaultFont) you may omit fontname.
Iconify [ value ]
Iconifies a window if it is not already iconified or
de-iconifies it if it is already iconified. If the optional
argument value is positive only iconification will be allowed.
If the optional argument is negative only de-iconification will
be allowed.
IconPath path
Specifies a colon separated list of full path names of
directories where bitmap (monochrome) icons can be found. Each
path should start with a slash. Environment variables can be
used here as well (i.e. $HOME or ${HOME}).
Note: if the FvwmM4 is used to parse your rc files, then m4 may
want to mangle the word "include" which will frequently show up
in the IconPath or PixmapPath command. To fix this add
undefine(`include') prior to the IconPath command, or better use
the '-m4-prefix' option to force all m4 directives to have a
prefix of "m4_" (see the FvwmM4 man page).
ImagePath path
Specifies a colon separated list of directories in which to
search for images (both monochrome and pixmap).
NOTE: ImagePath makes obsolete IconPath and PixmapPath commands
in the next fvwm versions. In this version all of the three
commands are allowed.
The ImagePath 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: ImagePath $HOME/icons:+:/usr/X11R6/include/bitmaps
Key keyname Context Modifiers Function
Binds a keyboard key to a specified fvwm built-in function, or
removes the binding if Function is '-'. Definition is the same
as for a mouse binding except that the mouse button number is
replaced with a key name. The keyname is one of the entries
from /usr/X11R6/include/X11/keysymdef.h, with the leading XK_
omitted. 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).
The following example binds the built in window list to pop up
when Alt-Ctrl-Shift-F11 is hit, no matter where the mouse
pointer is: Key F11 A SCM WindowList
Binding a key to a title-bar button will not cause that button to
appear unless a mouse binding also exists.
KillModule name
Causes the module which was invoked with name name to be killed.
name may include wild-cards.
Lower Allows the user to lower a window.
Maximize [ horizontal vertical ]
Without its optional arguments Maximize causes the window to
alternately switch from a full-screen size to its normal size.
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. If horizontal is greater than 0
then the horizontal dimension of the window will be set to
horizontal*screen_width/100. The vertical resizing is similar.
For example, the following will add 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
Values larger than 100 can be used with caution.If the letter "p" is appended to each coordinate (horizontal and/or vertical),
then the scroll amount will be measured in pixels.
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 will stay up. The
command double-click-action will be invoked if the user
double-clicks (or hits the key rapidly twice if the menu is
bound to a key) when bringing the menu up.
Several other commands affect menu operation. See MenuStyle and
SetAnimation. When in a menu, keyboard shortcuts work as
expected. Cursor keystrokes are also allowed. Specifically,
Cursor-Down, Ctrl-N, and Ctrl-J all move to the next item;
Cursor-Up, Ctrl-P, and Ctrl-K all move to the prior item;
Cursor-Left and Ctrl-B return to the prior menu; Cursor-Right
and Ctrl-F popup the next menu; Ctrl-Cursor-Up and
Ctrl-Cursor-Down move up and down five items, respectively;
Shift-Cursor-Up and Shift-Cursor-Down move to the first and last
items, respectively; Enter executes the current item; Escape
exits the current sequence of menus.
The pointer will be warped to where it was when the menu was
invoked if it was both invoked and terminated with a keystroke.
The position arguments allow to place 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.
Mouse
a 1x1 rectangle at the mouse position.
Window
the window with the focus.
Interior
the inside of the focused window.
Title
the title of the focused window or icon.
Button<n>
button #n of the focused window.
Icon
the focused icon.
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 "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 it's
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 threir
predecessor but 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 will be moved to overlap at the specified
position before any other offsets are applied. The menu and the
rectangle will be 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
A prefix of 'c' is equivalent of '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 vertially 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 submenu 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 submenu the menu will
stay up.
The special-options:
The "animated" and "mwm" or "win" meny 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 submenu to appear when you click on it's 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.
The pointer is warped to the title of a submenu whenever the pointer
would be on an item when the submenu is popped up ("fvwm" menu style)
or never warped to thetitle at all ("mwm" or "win" menu styles). You
can force (forbid) warping whenever the submenu 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, Foreground, Background, Greyed,
HilightBack/HilightBackOff, ActiveFore/ActiveForeOff,
Hilight3DThick/Hilight3DThin/Hilight3DOff,
Animation/AnimationOff, Font, MenuFace, PopupDelay, PopupOffset,
TitleWarp/TitleWarpOff,
TitleUnderlines0/TitleUnderlines1/TitleUnderlines2,
SeparatorsLong/SeparatorsShort, TrianglesSolid/TrianglesRelief,
PopupImmediately/PopupDelayed, DoubleClickTime, SidePic,
SideColor.
In the above list some options are listed as option pairs or
triples with a / in between. These options exclude each other.
FVWM, MWM, WIN reset all options to the style with the same name
in former versions of fvwm2. The default for new menu styles is
FVWM style. These options override all others except Foreground,
Background, Greyed, HilightBack, HilightFore and PopupDelay, so
they should be used only as the first option specified for a
menu style or to reset the style to defined bahavior. 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 HilightBackOff, Hilight3DThin,
ActiveForeOff, AnimationOff, Font, MenuFace, PopupOffset 0 67,
TitleWarp, TitleUnderlines1, SeparatorsShort, TriangleRelief,
PopupDelayed.
MWM style is equivalent to HilightBackOff, Hilight3DThick,
ActiveForeOff, AnimationOff, Font, MenuFace, PopupOffset -3 100,
TitleWarpOff, TitleUnderlines2, SeparatorsLong, TriangleRelief,
PopupImmediately.
WIN style is equivalent to HilightBack, Hilight3DOff,
ActiveForeOff, AnimationOff, Font, MenuFace, PopupOffset -5 100,
TitleWarpOff, TitleUnderlines1, SeparatorsShort, TriangleSolid,
PopupImmediately.
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 HilightBackOff 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.
ActiveFore and ActiveForeOff 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 name has the same effet as using
ActiveForeOff.
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.
Animation and AnimationOff turn menu animation on or off. When
animation is on, sub-menus that don't fit on the screen cause
the parent menu to be shifted to the left so the sub-menu can be
seen.
Font takes 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.
MenuFace enforces a fancy background upon the menus. You can use
the same options for MenuFace as for ButtonStyle plus DGradient,
(top-left to down-right) and BGradient (down-left to top-right).
See ButtonStyle for more info. 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
If you encounter performance problems with gradient backgrounds you
can try one or all of the following:
Turn Hilighting of the active menu item other than forground color
off:
MenuStyle <stylename> Hilight3DOff, HilightBackOff MenuStyle
ActiveFore <preferred color>
Make sure submenus do not overlap the parent menu. This can prevent menus
being redrawn every time a submenu pops up or down.
MenuStyle <stylename> PopupOffset 1 100
Run you X server with backing storage. If your Xserver is started with the -bs
option, turn it off. If not try the -wm option.
startx -- -wm
You may have to adapt this example to your system (e.g. if you use xinit tostart X).PopupDelay requires one numeric argument. This value is the delay inmilliseconds 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 automatical pop up is done.
If the argument is omitted the built in default is used. Note that the popupdelay has no effect if the PopupImmediately option is used since sub-menus pop
up immediately then. The PopupDelay option should only be applied to thedefault style ('*') since it is a global setting and affects all menus.PopupImmediately makes menu items with sub menus pop up it up as soon as thepointer enters the item. The PopupDelay is ignored then. If PopupDelayed isused fvwm2 looks at the PopupDelay option if or when this automatic popuphappens.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.TitleWarp and TitleWarpOff affect if the pointer warps to the menu title whena sub-menu is opened or not. Not that regardless of this setting the pointer
will not be 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. Longseparators run from the left edge all the way to the right edge. Shortseparators leave a few pixels to the edges of the menu.TrianglesSolid and TrianglesRelief affect how the small triangles forsub-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 inmilliseconds between two mouse clicks in a menu to be considered as a doubleclick. The default is 450 milliseconds. If the argument is omitted the doucle
click time is reset to this default. The DoubleClickTime option should only beapplied to the default style ('*') since it is a global setting and affectsall menus.SidePic takes the name of an xpm or bitmap file as an argument. The picture
is drawn along the left side of the menu. The SidePic option can be overriddenby a menu specific side pixmap (see AddToMenu). If the file name is omitted anexisting side pixmap is remove from the menu style.SideColor takes the name of an X11 color as an argument. This color is used tocolorize the column containing the side picture (see above). The SideColoroption can be overridden by a menu specific side color (see AddToMenu). If thecolor name is omitted the side color option is switched off.Examples:MenuStyle * mwm MenuStyle * Foreground Black, Background gray40 MenuStyle *
Greyed gray70, ActiveFore White MenuStyle * HilightBackOff, Hilight3DOff
MenuStyle * Font lucidasanstypewriter-14 MenuStyle * MenuFace DGradient 64
darkgray MidnightBlueMenuStyle gred mwm MenuStyle gred Foreground Yellow, Background Maroon
MenuStyle gred Greyed Red, ActiveFore Red MenuStyle gred HilightBackOff,
Hilight3DOff MenuStyle gred Font lucidasanstypewriter-12 MenuStyle gred
MenuFace DGradient 64 Red BlackNote that all style options could be placed on a single line for each stylename.
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 shade-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. The style option
is either "fvwm" "mwm" or "win", which changes the appearance
and operation of the menus and where the feedback window appears
during resizes and moves.
"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.
"mwm" resize and move feedback windows are in the center of the
screen, instead of the upper left corner.
The "anim" option is either "anim" or blank. When this option
is "anim", sub-menus that don't 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.
Module ModuleName
Specifies a module which should be spawned during
initialization. At the current time the available modules
(included with fvwm) are FvwmAnimate (fancy animation of
(de)iconification) FvwmAudio (makes sounds to go with window
manager actions), FvwmAuto (an auto raise module), FvwmBacker
(to change the background when you change desktops), FvwmBanner
(to display a spiffy XPM), FvwmButtons (brings up a customizable
tool bar), FvwmCpp (to preprocess your .fvwmrc with cpp),
FvwmEvent (trigger various actions by events), FvwmForm (to
bring up dialogs), FvwmIconBox (like the mwm IconBox),
FvwmIconMan (like the twm icon manager), FvwmIdent (to get
window info), FvwmM4 (to preprocess your .fvwmrc with m4),
FvwmPager (a mini version of the desktop), FvwmSave (saves the
desktop state in .xinitrc style), FvwmSaveDesk (saves the
desktop state in fvwm commands), FvwmScroll (puts scrollbars on
any window), FvwmTalk (to interactively run fvwm commands), and
FvwmWinList (a window list), FvwmAnimate (produces animation
effects when a window is iconified or deiconifed). These
modules have their own man pages. There are 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 will be 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 built-in and function names.
ModulePath
Specifies a colon separated list of paths for fvwm to search
when looking for a module to load. Individual directories do
not need trailing slashes. Environment variables can be used
here as well (i.e. $HOME or ${HOME}). The builtin module path
is available via the environment variable $FVWM_MODULEDIR.
Mouse Button Context Modifiers Function
Defines a mouse binding, or removes the binding if Function is
zero then any button will perform the specified function.
Context describes where the binding applies. Valid contexts are
R for the root window, W for an application window, T for a
window title bar, S for a window side, top, or bottom bar, F for
a window frame (the corners), I for an Icon window, or 0 through
9 for title-bar buttons, or any combination of these letters. A
is for any context except for title-bar buttons. For instance,
a context of FST will apply when the mouse is anywhere in a
window's border except the title-bar buttons.
Modifiers is any combination of N for no modifiers, C for
control, S for shift, M for Meta, or A for any modifier. For
example, a modifier of SM will apply when both the Meta and
Shift keys are down. X11 modifiers mod1 through mod5 are
represented as the digits 1 through 5.
Function is one of fvwm's built-in functions.
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 or right side
buttons which are drawn. Actions can be bound to either mouse
buttons or keyboard keys.
Move [ x y [ Warp ] ]
Allows the user to move a window. If called from somewhere in a
window or its border, then that window will be moved. If called
from the root window then the user will be allowed to select the
target window. If the optional argument Warp is specified the
pointer is warped with the window.
The operation can be aborted with Escape or by pressing any
mouse button (except button 1 which confirms the move).
If the optional arguments x and y are provided, then the window
will be moved immediately without user interaction. Each
argument 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".
Simple Examples: # Interactive move Mouse 1 T A Move # Move
window so 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 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
See also the "AnimatedMove" command, above.
MoveToDesk arg1 [ arg2 ] [ min max ]
Moves the selected window to another desktop (workspace, room).
The arguments are the same as for the Desk command. MoveToDesk
is a replacement for the old WindowsDesk command, which can no
longer be used.
MoveToPage [ x y ]
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. 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. 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).
Next (conditions) command
Performs command (typically Focus) on the next window which
satisfies all conditions. Conditions are the same as for
Current with the addition of CirculateHit which overrides the
CirculateSkip style attribute and CirculateHitIcon which
overrides the CirculateSkipIcon style attribute for iconified
windows.
None (conditions) command
Performs command if no window which satisfies all conditions
exists. Conditions are the same as for Next.
Nop Does nothing. This is used to insert a blank line or separator
in a menu. If the menu item specification is 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.
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. With "OpaqueMoveSize 0" all windows will be moved
using the traditional rubber-band outline. With "OpaqueMoveSize
100" all windows will be move 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.
PipeRead cmd option
Causes fvwm to read commands output from the program named cmd.
Useful for building up dynamic menu entries based on a
directories contents, for example.
PixmapPath path
Specifies a colon separated list of full path names of
directories where pixmap (color) icons can be found. Each path
should start with a slash. Environment variables can be used
here as well (i.e. $HOME or ${HOME}).
Popup PopupName [ position ] [ default-action ]
This built-in 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 will be 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).
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 will pop 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 built in.
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 Fvwm2" Restart fvwm2
+ "Restart Fvwm 1.xx" Restart fvwm
+ "" Nop
+ "No, Don't Quit" Nop
AddToMenu RootMenu "Root Menu" Title
+ "Open XTerm Window" Popup NewWindowMenu
+ "Login as Root" Exec exec xterm \
-fg green -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 (*) Focus
+ "Next Focus" Next (*) Focus
+ "" Nop
+ "Refresh screen" Refresh
+ "Recapture screen" Recapture
+ "" 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 Twm style popup-menus, which are a little hard on the
wrist. Menu provides Motif or Microsoft-Windows style menus which will
stay up on a click action. See menu for an explanation of the interactive
behaviour of menus.
Prev (conditions) command
Performs command (typically Focus) on the previous window which
satisfies all conditions. Conditions are the same as for Next.
Quit Exits fvwm, generally causing X to exit too.
QuitScreen
Causes fvwm to stop managing the screen on which the command was
issued.
Raise Allows the user to raise a window.
RaiseLower
Alternately raises and lowers a window.
Read filename [ option ]
Causes fvwm to read commands from the file named filename. If
the option following the filename is "Quiet", no message is
produced if the file is not found.
Recapture
Causes fvwm to recapture all of its windows. This ensures that
the latest style parameters will be used. The recapture
operation is visually disturbing.
Refresh
Causes all windows on the screen to redraw themselves.
RefreshWindow
Causes current (or chosen) window to redraw itself.
Resize [ x y ]
Allows the user to resize a window. If called from somewhere in
a window or its border, then that window will be resized. If
called from the root window then the user will be allowed to
select the target window.
The operation can be aborted with Escape or by pressing any
mouse button (except button 1 which confirms the resize).
If the optional arguments x and y are provided, then the window
will be resized so that its dimensions are x by y). The units
of x and y are percent-of-screen, unless a letter "p" is
appended to each coordinate, in which case the location is
specified in pixels.
Restart WindowManagerName
Causes fvwm to restart itself if WindowManagerName is "fvwm2",
or to switch to an alternate window manager if WindowManagerName
is other than "fvwm2". If the window manager is not in your
default search path, then you should use the full path name for
WindowManagerName.
This command should not have a trailing ampersand or any command
line arguments and should not make use of any environmental
variables. Of the following examples, the first two are sure
losers, but the third is OK: Key F1 R N Restart fvwm & Key F1 R
N Restart $(HOME)/bin/fvwm Key F1 R N Restart
/home/nation/bin/fvwm
Scroll horizonal vertical
Scrolls the virtual desktop's viewport by horizontal pages in
the x-direction and vertical pages in the y-direction. 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 left by one full page. "Scroll 50 25"
means to scroll left 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 multiplied by
1000 then scrolling will wrap around at the edge of the desktop.
If "Scroll 100000 0" is executed over and over fvwm will move to
the next desktop page on each execution and will wrap 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 will be measured in
pixels.
SendToModule modulename string
Sends an arbitrary string (no quotes required) to all modules
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.
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).
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 10ms, and sets the positions of the
16 frames of the animation motion. Notice that 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.
SetEnv varname stringvalue
Set an environment variable to a new value, similar to shell's
export or setenv command. The variable and its value are
inherited by processes started directly by fvwm2. This can be
especially useful in conjunction with the FvwmM4 module; e.g.
"SetEnv height HEIGHT" will make the FvwmM4-set variable
"HEIGHT" usable by processes started by fvwm2 as the environment
variable "$height". If stringvalue includes whitespace, you
should enclose it in quotes.
SnapAttraction proximity [ behavior ]
If during an interactive move the window (or icon) comes within
proximity pixels of another the window (or icon) will be moved
to make the borders adjoin. The default of -1 means that no
snapping will happen. A setting of 0 does indeed snap when the
distance is zero pixels. This is relevant when the SnapGrid
command is used.
The behavior argument is optional and may be set to one of the
four following values:
With All both icons and windows snap to other windows and other
icons.
SameType lets snap windows only to other windows and icons only
to other icons.
With Windows windows snap only to other windows. Icons do not
snap.
Similarly with Icons icons snap to only other icons and windows
do not snap.
The default SnapAttraction setting for behavior is "All".
SnapGrid x-grid-size y-grid-size
During an interactive move a window (or icon) will be positioned
such that its location (top left corner) will be coincindent
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
in effect will result in the window being moved to be adjacent
to the nearest window border (if within snap proximity) or grid
position. In other words, the window will move 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.
Stick Makes a window sticky if it is not already sticky, or non-sticky
if it is already sticky.
Style windowname options
This command is intended to replace the old fvwm 1.xx global
commands NoBorder, NoTitle, StartsOnDesk, Sticky, StaysOnTop,
Icon, WindowListSkip, CirculateSkip, SuppressIcons,
BoundaryWidth, NoBoundaryWidth, StdForeColor, and StdBackColor
with a single flexible and comprehensive window(s) specific
command. This command is used to set attributes of a window to
values other than the default or to set the window manager
default styles.
windowname can be a window's name, class, or resource string.
It can contain the wildcards * and/or ?, which are matched in
the usual Unix filename manner. They are searched in the
reverse order stated, so that Style commands based on the name
override or augment those based on the class, which override or
augment those based on the resource string.
Note - windows that have no name (WM_NAME) are given a name of
"Untitled", and windows that don't have a class (WM_CLASS,
res_class) are given Class = "NoClass" and those that don't have
a resource (WM_CLASS, res_name) are given Resource =
"NoResource".
options is a comma separated list containing some or all of the
keywords BorderWidth, HandleWidth, NoIcon/Icon, MiniIcon,
IconBox, IconGrid, IconFill, NoTitle/Title, NoHandles/Handles,
WindowListSkip/WindowListHit, CirculateSkip/CirculateHit,
StaysOnTop/StaysPut, Sticky/Slippery, StartIconic/StartNormal,
Color, ForeColor, BackColor,
StartsOnDesk/StartsOnPage/StartsAnyWhere, IconTitle/NoIconTitle,
MWMButtons/FvwmButtons, MWMBorder/FvwmBorder,
MWMDecor/NoDecorHint, MWMFunctions/NoFuncHint,
HintOverride/NoOverride, NoButton/Button, OLDecor/NoOLDecor,
StickyIcon/SlipperyIcon, SmartPlacement/DumbPlacement,
RandomPlacement/ActivePlacement,
DecorateTransient/NakedTransient, SkipMapping/ShowMapping,
UseDecor, UseStyle, NoPPosition/UsePPosition,
Lenience/NoLenience,
ClickToFocus/SloppyFocus/MouseFocus|FocusFollowsMouse.
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.
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.
Icon takes an (optional) unquoted string argument which is the
icon bitmap or pixmap to use.
IconBox takes four numeric arguments or an X11 geometry string:
IconBox 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. Perhaps easier to use is an X11 Geometry string: IconBox
-80x200-1-1Which would place an 80 by 240 pixel iconbox in the lower right hand corner ofthe screen. The iconbox is a region of the screen where fvwm attempts to puticons 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 boxis filled, the second one is filled. All the icon boxes for one style must be
defined in one command. For example: Style "*" IconBox -80x200-1-1, \
IconBox 1000x70-1-1
IconGrid takes 2 numeric arguments greater than zero. IconGrid x yIcons are placed in an icon box by stepping thru the icon box using the x andy 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 regularappearance use a grid larger than your largest icon. Currently there is noway to clip 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 90IconFill takes 2 arguments. IconFill Bottom RightIcons are placed in an icon box by stepping thru the icon box using thesearguments to control the direction the box is filled in. By default thedirection is left to right, then top to bottom. This would be expressed as:
IconFill left bottomTo 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
MiniIcon specifies a pixmap to use as the miniature icon for the window. Thisminiature icon can be drawn in a title-bar button (see ButtonStyle), and can
be used by various fvwm modules (FvwmWinList, FvwmIconMan, and FvwmTaskBar).
It takes the name of a pixmap as an argument.StartsOnDesk takes a numeric argument which is the desktop number on which thewindow should be initially placed. Note that standard Xt programs can alsospecify this via a resource (e.g. "-xrm '*Desk: 1'").
StartsOnPage takes 1, 2, or 3 numeric arguments. If one or three arguments are
givem, 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 whichunderstand this usage, the starting desk/page can also be specified via a
resource (e.g., "-xrm 'Fvwm.Page: 1 0 2'").
StartsOnPage in conjunction with SkipMapping is a useful technique when youwant to start an app on some other page and continue with what you were doing,
rather than waiting for it to appear.StaysOnTop makes the window always try to stay on top of the other windows.This might be handy for clocks or mailboxes that you would always like to bevisible. If the window is explicitly lowered it will not try to force its wayback to the top until it is explicitly raised. StaysPut (the default) allows
the window to be obscured and stay that way.BorderWidth takes a numeric argument which is the width of the border to placethe window if it does not have resize-handles.
HandleWidth takes a numeric argument which is the width of the border to placethe window if it does have resize-handles.
Button and NoButton take a numeric argument which is the number of thetitle-bar button which is to be included/omitted.
StickyIcon makes the window sticky when its iconified. It will deiconify on
top the active desktop.MWMButtons makes the Maximize button look pressed-in when the window is
maximized. See the MWMButton flag in ButtonStyle for more information.MWMBorder makes the 3-D bevel more closely match mwm's.
MWMDecor makes fvwm attempt to recognize and respect the mwm decoration hintsthat applications occasionally use.MWMFunctions makes fvwm attempt to recognize and respect the mwm prohibitedoperations hints that applications occasionally use. HintOverride makes fvwmshade out operations that mwm would prohibit, but it lets you perform the
operation anyway.OLDecor makes fvwm attempt to recognize and respect the olwm and olvwm hintsthat many older XView and OLIT applications use.Color takes two arguments. The first is the window-label text color and the
second is the window decoration's normal background color. The two colors areseparated with a slash. If the use of a slash causes problems then the
separate ForeColor and BackColor options can be used.UseDecor accepts one argument: the name of a decor created with AddToDecor.If UseDecor is not 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 will be visible for all windows
which are assigned to it. The decor for a window can be reassigned withChangeDecor.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"'.SkipMapping tells fvwm not to switch to the desk the window is on when it getsmapped initially (useful with StartsOnDesk or StartsOnPage).Lenience instructs fvwm to ignore the convention in the ICCCM which statesthat if an application sets the input field of the wm_hints structure toFalse, then it never wants the window manager to give it the input focus. The
only application that I know of which needs this is sxpm, and that is a silly
bug with a trivial fix and has no overall effect on the program anyway. Rumor
is that some older applications have problems too.ClickToFocus instructs fvwm to give the focus to the window when it is clickedin. The default MouseFocus (or its alias FocusFollowsMouse) tells fvwm togive the 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 theroot 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.NoPPosition instructs fvwm to ignore the PPosition field when adding newwindows. Adherence to the PPosition field is required for some applications,
but if you don't have one of those its a real headache.RandomPlacement causes windows which would normally require user placement tobe automatically placed in ever-so-slightly random locations. For the best of
all possible worlds use both RandomPlacement and SmartPlacement.SmartPlacement causes windows which would normally require user placement tobe automatically placed in a smart location - a location in which they do not
overlap any other windows on the screen. If no such position can be founduser placement or random placement (if specified) will be used as a fall-back
method. For the best of all possible worlds use both RandomPlacement and
SmartPlacement.An example: # Change default fvwm behavior to no title- # bars on windows!
Also define a default icon. Style "*" NoTitle, \
Icon unknown1.xpm, \
BorderWidth 4, \
HandleWidth 5
# now, window specific changes: Style "Fvwm*" NoHandles, Sticky, \
WindowListSkip, \
BorderWidth 0 Style "Fvwm Pager" StaysOnTop, BorderWidth
0 Style "*lock" NoHandles, Sticky, \
StaysOnTop, WindowListSkip Style "xbiff" Sticky,
WindowListSkip Style "FvwmButtons" NoHandles, Sticky, \
WindowListSkip Style "sxpm" NoHandles Style
"makerkit"
# 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 don't # bother me with it... Style "Netscape*" SkipMapping,
\
StartsOnPage 1 1 1
Note that all properties for a window will be OR'ed together. In the aboveexample "FvwmPager" gets the property StaysOnTop via an exact window namematch but also gets NoHandles, Sticky, and WindowListSkip by a match to
"Fvwm*". It will get NoTitle by virtue of a match to "*". If conflicting
styles are specified for a window, then the last style specified will be used.
If the NoIcon attribute is set then the specified window will simply disappearwhen 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 noicon is specified. An example which allows only the FvwmPager module icon toexist: Style "*" NoIcon Style "Fvwm Pager" Icon
Title Does nothing. This is used to insert a title line in a popup or
menu.
TitleStyle [ justification ] [ height 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. Defaults are
Centered and WindowFont height. The height parameter must be
set after a WindowFont command since WindowFont resets the
height to the default for the specified font. Example:
TitleStyle LeftJustified Height 24
TitleStyle [ state ] [ style ] [ -- [!]flag ... ]
Sets the style for the title bar. state can be one of
"ActiveUp," "ActiveDown," or "Inactive." 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 an "!" 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) Inactive (-- Flat)
This sets the ActiveUp state to a horizontal gradient, the ActiveDown
state to solid red, and the Inactive state to a tiled wood pixmap.
Finally, ActiveUp is 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 Inactive is set to flat as well.
An example which sets flags for all states: TitleStyle -- flat
For a flattened look: TitleStyle -- flat ButtonStyle All ActiveUp (--
flat) Inactive \
(-- flat)
UpdateDecor [ decor ]
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 will be 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. This command is less disturbing than Recapture, but
does not affect window style options as Recapture does.
Wait name
This built-in is intended to be used in fvwm functions only. It
causes execution of a function to pause until a new window name
name appears. Fvwm remains fully functional during a wait. This
is particularly useful in the InitFunction if you are trying to
start windows on specific desktops: AddToFunc InitFunction
+ "I" exec xterm -geometry 80x64+0+0
+ "I" Wait xterm
+ "I" Desk 0 2
+ "I" Exec exec xmh -font fixed -geometry \
507x750+0+0
+ "I" Wait xmh
+ "I" Desk 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.
WarpToWindow x y
Warps the cursor to the associated window. 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).
WindowFont [ fontname ]
Makes fvwm use font fontname instead of "fixed" for window
title-bars. To reset this font to the default font (see
DefaultFont) you may omit fontname.
WindowId id func
The WindowId function is similar to the Next and Prev funcs,
except that it looks for a specific window id and runs the
specified func on it. WindowId 0x34567890 Raise WindowId
0x34567890 WarpToWindow 50 50
Mostly this is useful for functions used with the WindowList builtin.
WindowList [ 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 desk top are
shown. The geometry of iconified windows is shown in
parenthesis. Selecting an item from the window list pop-up menu
will by default cause the interpreted function WindowListFunc to
be run with the window id of that window passed in as $0. By
default the WindowListFunc looks like this: AddToFunc
WindowListFunc
+ "I" WindowId $0 Iconify -1
+ "I" WindowId $0 FlipFocus
+ "I" WindowId $0 Raise
+ "I" WindowId $0 WarpToWindow 5p 5p
You can Destroy the builtin WindowListFunc and create your own if
these defaults do not suit you.
The position arguments are the same as for Menu. The command
double-click-action will be 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: Key Tab A
M WindowList "Prev FlipFocus"
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.
The options passed to WindowList can be "NoGeometry", "Function
<funcname>", "Desk <desknum>", "CurrentDesk", "NoIcons", "Icons",
"OnlyIcons", "NoNormal", "Normal", "OnlyNormal", "NoSticky", "Sticky",
"OnlySticky", "NoOnTop", "OnTop", "OnlyOnTop", "NoDeskSort",
"UseIconName", "Alphabetic", "NotAlphabetic".
(Note - normal means not iconic, sticky, or ontop)
If you pass in a function via "Function <funcname>", $0 is the window id:
AddToFunc IFunc "I" WindowId $0 Iconify WindowList Function IFunc,
NoSticky, \
CurrentDesk, NoIcons
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...)
WindowsDesk arg1 [ arg2 ]
Moves the selected window to another desktop (workspace, room).
This command has been removed and must be replaced by
MoveToDesk, the arguments for which are the same as for the Desk
command. Note: 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 will have to change it to
"MoveToDesk 0 n".
WindowShade [ opt ]
Toggles the window shade feature for titled windows. Windows in
the shaded state only display a title bar. If opt is not given,
the window shade state is toggled. If opt is 1, the window is
forced to the shaded state. If opt is 2, then the window is
forced to the non-shaded state. Maximized windows and windows
without titles cannot be shaded.
XORvalue number
Changes the value with which bits are XOR'ed when doing
rubber-band window moving or resizing. Setting this value is a
trial-and-error process.
+ Used to continue adding to the last specified decor, function or
menu. See the discussion for AddToDecor, AddToFunc, and
AddToMenu.
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
All (I think) window manager operations can be performed from the
keyboard so mouseless operation should be possible. In addition to
scrolling around the virtual desktop by binding the Scroll built-in to
appropriate keys, pop-ups, move, resize, and most other built-ins can
be bound to keys. Once a built-in function 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 will cause
the pointer movement to go in larger steps and holding down the control
key will cause the cursor movement to go in smaller steps. Standard
emacs and vi cursor movement controls (^n, ^p, ^f, ^b, and ^j, ^k, ^h,
^l) can be used instead of the arrow keys.
SUPPLIED CONFIGURATION
A sample configuration file, .fvwmrc, is supplied with the fvwm
distribution. It is well commented and can be used as a source of
examples for fvwm configuration.
USE ON MULTI-SCREEN DISPLAYS
If the -s command line argument is not given, fvwm will automatically
start 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.
ENVIRONMENT
DISPLAY
Fvwm starts on this display unless the -display option is given.
FVWM_MODULEDIR
Set by fvwm to the directory containing the standard fvwm
modules.
BUGS
As of fvwm 2.2 there were exactly 46.144 unidentified bugs. Identified
bugs have mostly been fixed, though. Since then 12.25 bugs have been
fixed. Assuming that there are at least 10 unidentified bugs for every
identified one, that leaves us with 46.144 - 12.25 + 10 * 12.25 =
156.395 unidentified bugs. If we follow this to its logical conclusion
we will have an infinite number of unidentified bugs before the number
of bugs can start to diminish, at which point the program will be
bug-free. Since this is a computer program infinity = 3.4028e+38 if
you don't insist on double-precision. At the current rate of bug
discovery we should expect to achieve this point in 4.27e+27 years. I
guess I better plan on passing this thing on to my children....
Known bugs can be found in the BUGS file in the distribution, in the
fvwm bug tracking system (accessible from the fvwm home page) and in
the TO-DO list.
Bug reports can be sent to the FVWM workers' mailing list (see the
FAQ).
AUTHOR
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 maintained by a number of
people on the fvwm-workers mailing list (Dan Espen, Steve Robbins, Paul
Smith, Jason Tibbitts, Dominik Vogt, Bob Woodside and others).
The official FVWM homepage is http://www.fvwm.org/.
3rd Berkeley Distribution late 20th century
