1 .\" Copyright (c) 2009 Marco Peereboom <marco@peereboom.us>
2 .\" Copyright (c) 2009 Darrin Chandler <dwchandler@stilyagin.com>
4 .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
5 .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
6 .\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
8 .\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
9 .\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
10 .\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
11 .\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
12 .\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
13 .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
14 .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
16 .Dd $Mdocdate: November 11 2011 $
21 .Nd window manager for X11
26 is a minimalistic window manager that tries to stay out of the way so that
27 valuable screen real estate can be used for much more important stuff.
28 It has sane defaults and does not require one to learn a language to do any
30 It was written by hackers for hackers and it strives to be small, compact and
35 starts up, it reads settings from its configuration file,
38 .Sx CONFIGURATION FILES
41 The following notation is used throughout this page:
43 .Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
57 is very simple in its use.
58 Most of the actions are initiated via key or mouse bindings.
61 section below for defaults and customizations.
62 .Sh CONFIGURATION FILES
64 first tries to open the user specific file,
66 If that file is unavailable,
67 it then tries to open the global configuration file
68 .Pa /etc/scrotwm.conf .
70 The format of the file is \*(Ltkeyword\*(Gt = \*(Ltsetting\*(Gt.
75 Enabling or disabling an option is done by using 1 or 0 respectively.
77 The file supports the following keywords:
79 .Bl -tag -width "title_class_enabledXXX" -offset indent -compact
81 Launch an application in a specified workspace at start-of-day.
82 Defined in the format ws[<idx>]:application, e.g. ws[2]:xterm launches an
85 Border color of the currently focussed window.
87 Border color of unfocussed windows.
89 Enable or disable status bar.
90 .It Cm bar_border Ns Bq Ar x
91 Color of the status bar border in screen
93 .It Cm bar_border_width
94 Set status bar border thickness in pixels.
95 Disable border by setting to 0.
96 .It Cm bar_color Ns Bq Ar x
97 Color of the status bar window in screen
99 .It Cm bar_font_color Ns Bq Ar x
100 Color of the font in status bar in screen
105 External script that populates additional information in the status bar,
106 such as battery life.
108 Update frequency, in seconds, of external script that populates the status bar.
110 Place the statusbar at the bottom of each region instead of the top.
112 Justify the status bar text. Possible values are
118 Enable or disable displaying the current stacking algorithm in the status bar.
120 Enable or disable displaying the clock in the status bar.
121 Disable by setting to 0
122 so a custom clock could be used in the
126 Some applications have dialogue windows that are too small to be useful.
127 This ratio is the screen size to what they will be resized.
128 For example, 0.6 is 60% of the physical screen size.
129 .It Cm keyboard_mapping
130 Clear all key bindings and load new key bindings from the specified file.
131 This allows you to load pre-defined key bindings for your keyboard layout.
133 .Sx KEYBOARD MAPPING FILES
134 section below for a list of keyboard mapping files that have been provided
135 for several keyboard layouts.
137 Select layout to use at start-of-day.
138 Defined in the format
139 ws[idx]:master_grow:master_add:stack_inc:layout:always_raise:stack_mode, e.g.
140 ws[2]:-4:0:1:0:horizontal sets worskspace 2 to the horizontal stack mode and
141 shrinks the master area by 4 ticks and adds one window to the stack, while
142 maintaining default floating window behavior.
143 Possible stack_mode values are
158 for more information.
159 Note that the stacking options are complicated and have side-effects.
160 One should familiarize oneself with these commands before experimenting with the
164 This setting is not retained at restart.
166 Allocates a custom region, removing any autodetected regions which occupy the same
168 Defined in the format screen[<idx>]:WIDTHxHEIGHT+X+Y,
169 e.g.\& screen[1]:800x1200+0+0.
171 To make a screen span multiple monitors, create a region big enough to cover
172 them all, e.g. screen[1]:2048x768+0+0 makes the screen span two monitors with
173 1024x768 resolution sitting one next to the other.
175 Set a preferred minimum width for the terminal.
176 If this value is greater than 0,
178 will attempt to adjust the font sizes in the terminal to keep the terminal
179 width above this number as the window is resized.
182 is currently supported.
185 binary must not be setuid or setgid, which it is by default on most systems.
186 Users may need to set program[term] (see the
188 section) to use an alternate copy of the
190 binary without the setgid bit set.
191 .It Cm title_class_enabled
192 Enable or disable displaying the window class in the status bar.
193 Enable by setting to 1.
194 .It Cm title_name_enabled
195 Enable or disable displaying the window title in the status bar.
196 Enable by setting to 1.
197 .It Cm urgent_enabled
198 Enable or disable the urgency hint.
199 Note that many terminal emulators require this to be enabled for it to
201 In xterm, for example, one needs to add the following line
202 .Pa xterm.urgentOnBell: true
205 .It Cm window_name_enabled
206 Enable or disable displaying the window name in the status bar.
207 Enable by setting to 1.
208 .It Cm verbose_layout
209 Enable or disable displaying the current master and stack values in the status
211 Enable by setting to 1.
214 Mod1 is generally the ALT key and Mod4 is the windows key on a PC.
218 will make the window manager focus the window
219 under the mouse when switching workspaces and creating windows.
220 .It Cm disable_border
221 Remove border when bar is disabled and there is only one window on the screen.
223 Set window border thickness in pixels.
224 Disable all borders by setting to 0.
225 .It Cm program Ns Bq Ar p
226 Define new action to spawn a program
231 .It Cm bind Ns Bq Ar x
232 Bind key combo to action
237 .It Cm quirk Ns Bq Ar c:n
238 Add "quirk" for windows with class
247 Colors need to be specified per the
249 specification and fonts need to be specified per the
253 To list the available fonts in your system see
260 application can help you to show the X Logical Font Description ("XLFD") used
261 as setting in the keyword
265 allows you to define custom actions to launch programs of your choice and then
266 bind them the same as with built-in actions.
271 The default programs are described below:
273 .Bl -tag -width "screenshot_wind" -offset indent -compact
276 .It Cm screenshot_all
278 .It Cm screenshot_wind
285 dmenu_run \-fn $bar_font \-nb $bar_color \-nf $bar_font_color \-sb $bar_border \-sf $bar_color
288 Custom programs in the configuration file are specified as follows:
290 .Dl program[<name>] = <progpath> [<arg> [... <arg>]]
293 is any identifier that does not conflict with a built-in action or keyword,
295 is the desired program, and
297 is zero or more arguments to the program.
299 The following variables represent settable values in
302 .Sx CONFIGURATION FILES
304 and may be used in the
306 fields and will be substituted for values at the time the program is spawned:
308 .Bl -tag -width "$bar_font_color" -offset indent -compact
312 .It Cm $bar_font_color
314 .It Cm $color_unfocus
318 .Bd -literal -offset indent
319 program[ff] = /usr/local/bin/firefox http://scrotwm.org/
320 bind[ff] = Mod+f # Now Mod+F launched firefox
323 To undo the previous:
324 .Bd -literal -offset indent
330 provides many functions (or actions) accessed via key or mouse bindings.
332 The current mouse bindings are described below:
334 .Bl -tag -width "M-j, M-<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
342 Resize window while maintaining it centered
345 The default key bindings are described below:
347 .Bl -tag -width "M-j, M-<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
348 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Return
356 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Space
358 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Space
372 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Return
381 .Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm TAB
398 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Ar n
400 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Right
402 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Left
406 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Right
408 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Left
418 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Delete
448 The action names and descriptions are listed below:
450 .Bl -tag -width "M-j, M-<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
476 Add windows to master area.
478 Remove windows from master area.
480 Add columns/rows to stacking area.
482 Remove columns/rows from stacking area.
484 Move current window to master area.
486 Focus next window in workspace.
488 Focus previous window in workspace.
490 Focus on main window in workspace.
492 Swap with next window in workspace.
494 Swap with previous window in workspace.
496 Toggle status bar in all workspaces.
498 Delete current window in workspace.
500 Destroy current window in workspace.
508 Move current window to workspace
514 Switch to next workspace with a window in it.
516 Switch to previous workspace with a window in it.
518 Switch to last visited workspace.
520 Move pointer to next region.
522 Move pointer to previous region.
523 .It Cm screenshot_all
524 Take screenshot of entire screen (if enabled)
528 .It Cm screenshot_wind
529 Take screenshot of selected window (if enabled)
534 Toggle version in status bar.
536 Toggle focused window between tiled and floating.
543 Reinitialize physical screens
548 Minimize (unmap) currently focused window.
550 Maximize (map) window returned by dmenu selection.
552 When set tiled windows are allowed to obscure floating windows.
554 Fake a middle mouse button click (mouse button 2).
556 Shrink the width of a floating window.
558 Grow the width of a floating window.
560 Shrink the height of a floating window.
562 Grow the height of a floating window.
564 Move a floating window a step to the left.
566 Move a floating window a step to the right.
568 Move a floating window a step upwards.
570 Move a floating window a step downwards.
573 Custom bindings in the configuration file are specified as follows:
575 .Dl bind[<action>] = <keys>
578 is one of the actions listed above (or empty) and
580 is in the form of zero or more modifier keys
581 (MOD, Mod1, Shift, etc.) and one or more normal keys
582 (b, space, etc.), separated by "+".
584 .Bd -literal -offset indent
585 bind[reset] = Mod4+q # bind Windows-key + q to reset
586 bind[] = Mod1+q # unbind Alt + q
589 Multiple key combinations may be bound to the same action.
590 .Sh KEYBOARD MAPPING FILES
591 Keyboard mapping files for several keyboard layouts are listed
593 These files can be used with the
595 setting to load pre-defined key bindings for the specified
598 .Bl -tag -width "scrotwm_XX.confXXX" -offset indent -compact
599 .It Cm scrotwm_cz.conf
600 Czech Republic keyboard layout
601 .It Cm scrotwm_es.conf
602 Spanish keyboard layout
603 .It Cm scrotwm_fr.conf
604 French keyboard layout
605 .It Cm scrotwm_us.conf
606 United States keyboard layout
610 provides "quirks" which handle windows that must be treated specially
611 in a tiling window manager, such as some dialogs and fullscreen apps.
613 The default quirks are described below:
615 .Bl -tag -width "OpenOffice.org N.M:VCLSalFrame<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
616 .It Firefox\-bin:firefox\-bin
623 FLOAT + FULLSCREEN + FOCUSPREV
624 .It OpenOffice.org 2.4:VCLSalFrame
626 .It OpenOffice.org 3.1:VCLSalFrame
634 .It xine:xine Video Fullscreen Window
644 The quirks themselves are described below:
646 .Bl -tag -width "XTERM_FONTADJ<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
648 This window should not be tiled, but allowed to float freely.
650 Adjusts size on transient windows that are too small using dialog_ratio
652 .Sx CONFIGURATION FILES ) .
654 Allow window to position itself, uncentered.
656 Adjust xterm fonts when resizing.
658 Remove border to allow window to use full screen size.
660 On exit force focus on previously focused application not previous application
664 Custom quirks in the configuration file are specified as follows:
666 .Dl quirk[<class>:<name>] = <quirk> [ + <quirk> ... ]
671 specify the window to which the quirk(s) apply, and
673 is one of the quirks from the list above.
675 .Bd -literal -offset indent
676 quirk[MPlayer:xv] = FLOAT + FULLSCREEN + FOCUSPREV
677 quirk[pcb:pcb] = NONE # remove existing quirk
684 by running xprop(1) and then clicking on the desired window.
685 In the following example the main window of Firefox was clicked:
686 .Bd -literal -offset indent
687 $ xprop | grep WM_CLASS
688 WM_CLASS(STRING) = "Navigator", "Firefox"
691 Note that grepping for WM_CLASS flips class and name.
692 In the example above the quirk entry would be:
693 .Bd -literal -offset indent
694 quirk[Firefox:Navigator] = FLOAT
698 also automatically assigns quirks to windows based on the value
699 of the window's _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE property as follows:
701 .Bl -tag -width "_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_TOOLBAR<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
702 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DOCK
704 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_TOOLBAR
706 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_UTILITY
708 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_SPLASH
710 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DIALOG
714 In all other cases, no automatic quirks are assigned to the window.
715 Quirks specified in the configuration file override the automatic quirks.
718 partially implements the Extended Window Manager Hints (EWMH) specification.
719 This enables controlling windows as well as
721 itself from external scripts and programs.
724 responding to certain ClientMessage events.
725 From the terminal these events
726 can be conveniently sent using tools such as
731 actual format of these ClientMessage events, see the EWMH specification.
733 The id of the currently focused window is stored in the _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW
734 property of the root window.
735 This can be used for example to retrieve the
736 title of the currently active window with
740 .Bd -literal -offset indent
741 $ WINDOWID=`xprop \-root _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW | grep \-o "0x.*"`
742 $ xprop \-id $WINDOWID WM_NAME | grep \-o "\\".*\\""
745 A window can be focused by sending a _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW client message
750 (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window to be focused):
751 .Bd -literal -offset indent
752 $ wmctrl \-i \-a 0x4a0000b
755 Windows can be closed by sending a _NET_CLOSE_WINDOW client message
760 (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window to be closed):
761 .Bd -literal -offset indent
762 $ wmctrl \-i \-c 0x4a0000b
765 Windows can be floated and un-floated by adding or removing the
766 _NET_WM_STATE_ABOVE atom from the _NET_WM_STATE property of the window.
767 This can be achieved by sending a _NET_WM_STATE client message to the
769 For example, the following toggles the floating state of
772 to send the message (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window floated
774 .Bd -literal -offset indent
775 $ wmctrl \-i \-r 0x4a0000b \-b toggle,_NET_WM_STATE_ABOVE
778 Floating windows can also be resized and moved by sending a
779 _NET_MOVERESIZE_WINDOW client message to the root window.
783 to send the message (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of
784 the window to be resize/moved):
785 .Bd -literal -offset indent
786 $ wmctrl \-i \-r 0x4a0000b \-e 0,100,50,640,480
789 This moves the window to (100,50) and resizes it to 640x480.
791 Any _NET_MOVERESIZE_WINDOW events received for stacked windows are ignored.
795 a HUP signal will restart it.
797 .Bl -tag -width "/etc/scrotwm.confXXX" -compact
798 .It Pa ~/.scrotwm.conf
800 user specific settings.
801 .It Pa /etc/scrotwm.conf
807 was inspired by xmonad & dwm.
813 .Bl -tag -width "Ryan Thomas McBride Aq mcbride@countersiege.com " -offset indent -compact
814 .It Cm Marco Peereboom Aq marco@peereboom.us
815 .It Cm Ryan Thomas McBride Aq mcbride@countersiege.com
816 .It Cm Darrin Chandler Aq dwchandler@stilyagin.com
817 .It Cm Pierre-Yves Ritschard Aq pyr@spootnik.org
818 .It Cm Tuukka Kataja Aq stuge@xor.fi
819 .It Cm Jason L. Wright Aq jason@thought.net
822 Currently the menu, invoked with