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 Enable or disable displaying the current stacking algorithm in the status bar.
114 Enable or disable displaying the clock in the status bar.
115 Disable by setting to 0
116 so a custom clock could be used in the
120 Some applications have dialogue windows that are too small to be useful.
121 This ratio is the screen size to what they will be resized.
122 For example, 0.6 is 60% of the physical screen size.
123 .It Cm keyboard_mapping
124 Clear all key bindings and load new key bindings from the specified file.
125 This allows you to load pre-defined key bindings for your keyboard layout.
127 .Sx KEYBOARD MAPPING FILES
128 section below for a list of keyboard mapping files that have been provided
129 for several keyboard layouts.
131 Select layout to use at start-of-day.
132 Defined in the format
133 ws[idx]:master_grow:master_add:stack_inc:layout:always_raise:stack_mode, e.g.
134 ws[2]:-4:0:1:0:horizontal sets worskspace 2 to the horizontal stack mode and
135 shrinks the master area by 4 ticks and adds one window to the stack, while
136 maintaining default floating window behavior.
137 Possible stack_mode values are
152 for more information.
153 Note that the stacking options are complicated and have side-effects.
154 One should familiarize oneself with these commands before experimenting with the
158 This setting is not retained at restart.
160 Allocates a custom region, removing any autodetected regions which occupy the same
162 Defined in the format screen[<idx>]:WIDTHxHEIGHT+X+Y,
163 e.g.\& screen[1]:800x1200+0+0.
165 To make a screen span multiple monitors, create a region big enough to cover
166 them all, e.g. screen[1]:2048x768+0+0 makes the screen span two monitors with
167 1024x768 resolution sitting one next to the other.
169 Set a preferred minimum width for the terminal.
170 If this value is greater than 0,
172 will attempt to adjust the font sizes in the terminal to keep the terminal
173 width above this number as the window is resized.
176 is currently supported.
179 binary must not be setuid or setgid, which it is by default on most systems.
180 Users may need to set program[term] (see the
182 section) to use an alternate copy of the
184 binary without the setgid bit set.
185 .It Cm title_class_enabled
186 Enable or disable displaying the window class in the status bar.
187 Enable by setting to 1.
188 .It Cm title_name_enabled
189 Enable or disable displaying the window title in the status bar.
190 Enable by setting to 1.
191 .It Cm urgent_enabled
192 Enable or disable the urgency hint.
193 Note that many terminal emulators require this to be enabled for it to
194 propagate. In xterm, for example, one needs to add the following line
195 .Pa xterm.urgentOnBell: true
198 .It Cm window_name_enabled
199 Enable or disable displaying the window name in the status bar.
200 Enable by setting to 1.
201 .It Cm verbose_layout
202 Enable or disable displaying the current master and stack values in the status
204 Enable by setting to 1.
207 Mod1 is generally the ALT key and Mod4 is the windows key on a PC.
211 will make the window manager focus the window
212 under the mouse when switching workspaces and creating windows.
213 .It Cm disable_border
214 Remove border when bar is disabled and there is only one window on the screen.
216 Set window border thickness in pixels.
217 Disable all borders by setting to 0.
218 .It Cm program Ns Bq Ar p
219 Define new action to spawn a program
224 .It Cm bind Ns Bq Ar x
225 Bind key combo to action
230 .It Cm quirk Ns Bq Ar c:n
231 Add "quirk" for windows with class
240 Colors need to be specified per the
242 specification and fonts need to be specified per the
246 To list the available fonts in your system see
253 application can help you to show the X Logical Font Description ("XLFD") used
254 as setting in the keyword
258 allows you to define custom actions to launch programs of your choice and then
259 bind them the same as with built-in actions.
264 The default programs are described below:
266 .Bl -tag -width "screenshot_wind" -offset indent -compact
269 .It Cm screenshot_all
271 .It Cm screenshot_wind
278 dmenu_run \-fn $bar_font \-nb $bar_color \-nf $bar_font_color \-sb $bar_border \-sf $bar_color
281 Custom programs in the configuration file are specified as follows:
283 .Dl program[<name>] = <progpath> [<arg> [... <arg>]]
286 is any identifier that does not conflict with a built-in action or keyword,
288 is the desired program, and
290 is zero or more arguments to the program.
292 The following variables represent settable values in
295 .Sx CONFIGURATION FILES
297 and may be used in the
299 fields and will be substituted for values at the time the program is spawned:
301 .Bl -tag -width "$bar_font_color" -offset indent -compact
305 .It Cm $bar_font_color
307 .It Cm $color_unfocus
311 .Bd -literal -offset indent
312 program[ff] = /usr/local/bin/firefox http://scrotwm.org/
313 bind[ff] = Mod+f # Now Mod+F launched firefox
316 To undo the previous:
317 .Bd -literal -offset indent
323 provides many functions (or actions) accessed via key or mouse bindings.
325 The current mouse bindings are described below:
327 .Bl -tag -width "M-j, M-<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
335 Resize window while maintaining it centered
338 The default key bindings are described below:
340 .Bl -tag -width "M-j, M-<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
341 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Return
349 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Space
351 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Space
365 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Return
374 .Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm TAB
391 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Ar n
393 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Right
395 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Left
399 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Right
401 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Left
411 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Delete
441 The action names and descriptions are listed below:
443 .Bl -tag -width "M-j, M-<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
469 Add windows to master area.
471 Remove windows from master area.
473 Add columns/rows to stacking area.
475 Remove columns/rows from stacking area.
477 Move current window to master area.
479 Focus next window in workspace.
481 Focus previous window in workspace.
483 Focus on main window in workspace.
485 Swap with next window in workspace.
487 Swap with previous window in workspace.
489 Toggle status bar in all workspaces.
491 Delete current window in workspace.
493 Destroy current window in workspace.
501 Move current window to workspace
507 Switch to next workspace with a window in it.
509 Switch to previous workspace with a window in it.
511 Switch to last visited workspace.
513 Move pointer to next region.
515 Move pointer to previous region.
516 .It Cm screenshot_all
517 Take screenshot of entire screen (if enabled)
521 .It Cm screenshot_wind
522 Take screenshot of selected window (if enabled)
527 Toggle version in status bar.
529 Toggle focused window between tiled and floating.
536 Reinitialize physical screens
541 Minimize (unmap) currently focused window.
543 Maximize (map) window returned by dmenu selection.
545 When set tiled windows are allowed to obscure floating windows.
547 Fake a middle mouse button click (mouse button 2).
549 Shrink the width of a floating window.
551 Grow the width of a floating window.
553 Shrink the height of a floating window.
555 Grow the height of a floating window.
557 Move a floating window a step to the left.
559 Move a floating window a step to the right.
561 Move a floating window a step upwards.
563 Move a floating window a step downwards.
566 Custom bindings in the configuration file are specified as follows:
568 .Dl bind[<action>] = <keys>
571 is one of the actions listed above (or empty) and
573 is in the form of zero or more modifier keys
574 (MOD, Mod1, Shift, etc.) and one or more normal keys
575 (b, space, etc.), separated by "+".
577 .Bd -literal -offset indent
578 bind[reset] = Mod4+q # bind Windows-key + q to reset
579 bind[] = Mod1+q # unbind Alt + q
582 Multiple key combinations may be bound to the same action.
583 .Sh KEYBOARD MAPPING FILES
584 Keyboard mapping files for several keyboard layouts are listed
585 below. These files can be used with the
587 setting to load pre-defined key bindings for the specified
590 .Bl -tag -width "scrotwm_XX.confXXX" -offset indent -compact
591 .It Cm scrotwm_cz.conf
592 Czech Republic keyboard layout
593 .It Cm scrotwm_es.conf
594 Spanish keyboard layout
595 .It Cm scrotwm_fr.conf
596 French keyboard layout
597 .It Cm scrotwm_us.conf
598 United States keyboard layout
602 provides "quirks" which handle windows that must be treated specially
603 in a tiling window manager, such as some dialogs and fullscreen apps.
605 The default quirks are described below:
607 .Bl -tag -width "OpenOffice.org N.M:VCLSalFrame<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
608 .It Firefox\-bin:firefox\-bin
615 FLOAT + FULLSCREEN + FOCUSPREV
616 .It OpenOffice.org 2.4:VCLSalFrame
618 .It OpenOffice.org 3.1:VCLSalFrame
626 .It xine:xine Video Fullscreen Window
636 The quirks themselves are described below:
638 .Bl -tag -width "XTERM_FONTADJ<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
640 This window should not be tiled, but allowed to float freely.
642 Adjusts size on transient windows that are too small using dialog_ratio
644 .Sx CONFIGURATION FILES ) .
646 Allow window to position itself, uncentered.
648 Adjust xterm fonts when resizing.
650 Remove border to allow window to use full screen size.
652 On exit force focus on previously focused application not previous application
656 Custom quirks in the configuration file are specified as follows:
658 .Dl quirk[<class>:<name>] = <quirk> [ + <quirk> ... ]
663 specify the window to which the quirk(s) apply, and
665 is one of the quirks from the list above.
667 .Bd -literal -offset indent
668 quirk[MPlayer:xv] = FLOAT + FULLSCREEN + FOCUSPREV
669 quirk[pcb:pcb] = NONE # remove existing quirk
676 by running xprop(1) and then clicking on the desired window.
677 In the following example the main window of Firefox was clicked:
678 .Bd -literal -offset indent
679 $ xprop | grep WM_CLASS
680 WM_CLASS(STRING) = "Navigator", "Firefox"
683 Note that grepping for WM_CLASS flips class and name.
684 In the example above the quirk entry would be:
685 .Bd -literal -offset indent
686 quirk[Firefox:Navigator] = FLOAT
690 also automatically assigns quirks to windows based on the value
691 of the window's _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE property as follows:
693 .Bl -tag -width "_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_TOOLBAR<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
694 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DOCK
696 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_TOOLBAR
698 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_UTILITY
700 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_SPLASH
702 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DIALOG
706 In all other cases, no automatic quirks are assigned to the window.
707 Quirks specified in the configuration file override the automatic quirks.
710 partially implements the Extended Window Manager Hints (EWMH) specification.
711 This enables controlling windows as well as
713 itself from external scripts and programs. This is achieved by
715 responding to certain ClientMessage events. From the terminal these events
716 can be conveniently sent using tools such as
721 actual format of these ClientMessage events, see the EWMH specification.
723 The id of the currently focused window is stored in the _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW
724 property of the root window. This can be used for example to retrieve the
725 title of the currently active window with
729 .Bd -literal -offset indent
730 $ WINDOWID=`xprop \-root _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW | grep \-o "0x.*"`
731 $ xprop \-id $WINDOWID WM_NAME | grep \-o "\\".*\\""
734 A window can be focused by sending a _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW client message
735 to the root window. For example, using
738 (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window to be focused):
739 .Bd -literal -offset indent
740 $ wmctrl \-i \-a 0x4a0000b
743 Windows can be closed by sending a _NET_CLOSE_WINDOW client message
744 to the root window. For example, using
747 (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window to be closed):
748 .Bd -literal -offset indent
749 $ wmctrl \-i \-c 0x4a0000b
752 Windows can be floated and un-floated by adding or removing the
753 _NET_WM_STATE_ABOVE atom from the _NET_WM_STATE property of the window.
754 This can be achieved by sending a _NET_WM_STATE client message to the
755 root window. For example, the following toggles the floating state of
758 to send the message (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window floated
760 .Bd -literal -offset indent
761 $ wmctrl \-i \-r 0x4a0000b \-b toggle,_NET_WM_STATE_ABOVE
764 Floating windows can also be resized and moved by sending a
765 _NET_MOVERESIZE_WINDOW client message to the root window. For example,
768 to send the message (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of
769 the window to be resize/moved):
770 .Bd -literal -offset indent
771 $ wmctrl \-i \-r 0x4a0000b \-e 0,100,50,640,480
774 This moves the window to (100,50) and resizes it to 640x480.
776 Any _NET_MOVERESIZE_WINDOW events received for stacked windows are ignored.
780 a HUP signal will restart it.
782 .Bl -tag -width "/etc/scrotwm.confXXX" -compact
783 .It Pa ~/.scrotwm.conf
785 user specific settings.
786 .It Pa /etc/scrotwm.conf
792 was inspired by xmonad & dwm.
798 .Bl -tag -width "Ryan Thomas McBride Aq mcbride@countersiege.com " -offset indent -compact
799 .It Cm Marco Peereboom Aq marco@peereboom.us
800 .It Cm Ryan Thomas McBride Aq mcbride@countersiege.com
801 .It Cm Darrin Chandler Aq dwchandler@stilyagin.com
802 .It Cm Pierre-Yves Ritschard Aq pyr@spootnik.org
803 .It Cm Tuukka Kataja Aq stuge@xor.fi
804 .It Cm Jason L. Wright Aq jason@thought.net
807 Currently the menu, invoked with