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
195 In xterm, for example, one needs to add the following line
196 .Pa xterm.urgentOnBell: true
199 .It Cm window_name_enabled
200 Enable or disable displaying the window name in the status bar.
201 Enable by setting to 1.
202 .It Cm verbose_layout
203 Enable or disable displaying the current master and stack values in the status
205 Enable by setting to 1.
208 Mod1 is generally the ALT key and Mod4 is the windows key on a PC.
212 will make the window manager focus the window
213 under the mouse when switching workspaces and creating windows.
214 .It Cm disable_border
215 Remove border when bar is disabled and there is only one window on the screen.
217 Set window border thickness in pixels.
218 Disable all borders by setting to 0.
219 .It Cm program Ns Bq Ar p
220 Define new action to spawn a program
225 .It Cm bind Ns Bq Ar x
226 Bind key combo to action
231 .It Cm quirk Ns Bq Ar c:n
232 Add "quirk" for windows with class
241 Colors need to be specified per the
243 specification and fonts need to be specified per the
247 To list the available fonts in your system see
254 application can help you to show the X Logical Font Description ("XLFD") used
255 as setting in the keyword
259 allows you to define custom actions to launch programs of your choice and then
260 bind them the same as with built-in actions.
265 The default programs are described below:
267 .Bl -tag -width "screenshot_wind" -offset indent -compact
270 .It Cm screenshot_all
272 .It Cm screenshot_wind
279 dmenu_run \-fn $bar_font \-nb $bar_color \-nf $bar_font_color \-sb $bar_border \-sf $bar_color
282 Custom programs in the configuration file are specified as follows:
284 .Dl program[<name>] = <progpath> [<arg> [... <arg>]]
287 is any identifier that does not conflict with a built-in action or keyword,
289 is the desired program, and
291 is zero or more arguments to the program.
293 The following variables represent settable values in
296 .Sx CONFIGURATION FILES
298 and may be used in the
300 fields and will be substituted for values at the time the program is spawned:
302 .Bl -tag -width "$bar_font_color" -offset indent -compact
306 .It Cm $bar_font_color
308 .It Cm $color_unfocus
312 .Bd -literal -offset indent
313 program[ff] = /usr/local/bin/firefox http://scrotwm.org/
314 bind[ff] = Mod+f # Now Mod+F launched firefox
317 To undo the previous:
318 .Bd -literal -offset indent
324 provides many functions (or actions) accessed via key or mouse bindings.
326 The current mouse bindings are described below:
328 .Bl -tag -width "M-j, M-<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
336 Resize window while maintaining it centered
339 The default key bindings are described below:
341 .Bl -tag -width "M-j, M-<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
342 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Return
350 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Space
352 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Space
366 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Return
375 .Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm TAB
392 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Ar n
394 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Right
396 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Left
400 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Right
402 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Left
412 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Delete
442 The action names and descriptions are listed below:
444 .Bl -tag -width "M-j, M-<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
470 Add windows to master area.
472 Remove windows from master area.
474 Add columns/rows to stacking area.
476 Remove columns/rows from stacking area.
478 Move current window to master area.
480 Focus next window in workspace.
482 Focus previous window in workspace.
484 Focus on main window in workspace.
486 Swap with next window in workspace.
488 Swap with previous window in workspace.
490 Toggle status bar in all workspaces.
492 Delete current window in workspace.
494 Destroy current window in workspace.
502 Move current window to workspace
508 Switch to next workspace with a window in it.
510 Switch to previous workspace with a window in it.
512 Switch to last visited workspace.
514 Move pointer to next region.
516 Move pointer to previous region.
517 .It Cm screenshot_all
518 Take screenshot of entire screen (if enabled)
522 .It Cm screenshot_wind
523 Take screenshot of selected window (if enabled)
528 Toggle version in status bar.
530 Toggle focused window between tiled and floating.
537 Reinitialize physical screens
542 Minimize (unmap) currently focused window.
544 Maximize (map) window returned by dmenu selection.
546 When set tiled windows are allowed to obscure floating windows.
548 Fake a middle mouse button click (mouse button 2).
550 Shrink the width of a floating window.
552 Grow the width of a floating window.
554 Shrink the height of a floating window.
556 Grow the height of a floating window.
558 Move a floating window a step to the left.
560 Move a floating window a step to the right.
562 Move a floating window a step upwards.
564 Move a floating window a step downwards.
567 Custom bindings in the configuration file are specified as follows:
569 .Dl bind[<action>] = <keys>
572 is one of the actions listed above (or empty) and
574 is in the form of zero or more modifier keys
575 (MOD, Mod1, Shift, etc.) and one or more normal keys
576 (b, space, etc.), separated by "+".
578 .Bd -literal -offset indent
579 bind[reset] = Mod4+q # bind Windows-key + q to reset
580 bind[] = Mod1+q # unbind Alt + q
583 Multiple key combinations may be bound to the same action.
584 .Sh KEYBOARD MAPPING FILES
585 Keyboard mapping files for several keyboard layouts are listed
587 These files can be used with the
589 setting to load pre-defined key bindings for the specified
592 .Bl -tag -width "scrotwm_XX.confXXX" -offset indent -compact
593 .It Cm scrotwm_cz.conf
594 Czech Republic keyboard layout
595 .It Cm scrotwm_es.conf
596 Spanish keyboard layout
597 .It Cm scrotwm_fr.conf
598 French keyboard layout
599 .It Cm scrotwm_us.conf
600 United States keyboard layout
604 provides "quirks" which handle windows that must be treated specially
605 in a tiling window manager, such as some dialogs and fullscreen apps.
607 The default quirks are described below:
609 .Bl -tag -width "OpenOffice.org N.M:VCLSalFrame<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
610 .It Firefox\-bin:firefox\-bin
617 FLOAT + FULLSCREEN + FOCUSPREV
618 .It OpenOffice.org 2.4:VCLSalFrame
620 .It OpenOffice.org 3.1:VCLSalFrame
628 .It xine:xine Video Fullscreen Window
638 The quirks themselves are described below:
640 .Bl -tag -width "XTERM_FONTADJ<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
642 This window should not be tiled, but allowed to float freely.
644 Adjusts size on transient windows that are too small using dialog_ratio
646 .Sx CONFIGURATION FILES ) .
648 Allow window to position itself, uncentered.
650 Adjust xterm fonts when resizing.
652 Remove border to allow window to use full screen size.
654 On exit force focus on previously focused application not previous application
658 Custom quirks in the configuration file are specified as follows:
660 .Dl quirk[<class>:<name>] = <quirk> [ + <quirk> ... ]
665 specify the window to which the quirk(s) apply, and
667 is one of the quirks from the list above.
669 .Bd -literal -offset indent
670 quirk[MPlayer:xv] = FLOAT + FULLSCREEN + FOCUSPREV
671 quirk[pcb:pcb] = NONE # remove existing quirk
678 by running xprop(1) and then clicking on the desired window.
679 In the following example the main window of Firefox was clicked:
680 .Bd -literal -offset indent
681 $ xprop | grep WM_CLASS
682 WM_CLASS(STRING) = "Navigator", "Firefox"
685 Note that grepping for WM_CLASS flips class and name.
686 In the example above the quirk entry would be:
687 .Bd -literal -offset indent
688 quirk[Firefox:Navigator] = FLOAT
692 also automatically assigns quirks to windows based on the value
693 of the window's _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE property as follows:
695 .Bl -tag -width "_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_TOOLBAR<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
696 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DOCK
698 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_TOOLBAR
700 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_UTILITY
702 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_SPLASH
704 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DIALOG
708 In all other cases, no automatic quirks are assigned to the window.
709 Quirks specified in the configuration file override the automatic quirks.
712 partially implements the Extended Window Manager Hints (EWMH) specification.
713 This enables controlling windows as well as
715 itself from external scripts and programs.
718 responding to certain ClientMessage events.
719 From the terminal these events
720 can be conveniently sent using tools such as
725 actual format of these ClientMessage events, see the EWMH specification.
727 The id of the currently focused window is stored in the _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW
728 property of the root window.
729 This can be used for example to retrieve the
730 title of the currently active window with
734 .Bd -literal -offset indent
735 $ WINDOWID=`xprop \-root _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW | grep \-o "0x.*"`
736 $ xprop \-id $WINDOWID WM_NAME | grep \-o "\\".*\\""
739 A window can be focused by sending a _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW client message
744 (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window to be focused):
745 .Bd -literal -offset indent
746 $ wmctrl \-i \-a 0x4a0000b
749 Windows can be closed by sending a _NET_CLOSE_WINDOW client message
754 (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window to be closed):
755 .Bd -literal -offset indent
756 $ wmctrl \-i \-c 0x4a0000b
759 Windows can be floated and un-floated by adding or removing the
760 _NET_WM_STATE_ABOVE atom from the _NET_WM_STATE property of the window.
761 This can be achieved by sending a _NET_WM_STATE client message to the
763 For example, the following toggles the floating state of
766 to send the message (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window floated
768 .Bd -literal -offset indent
769 $ wmctrl \-i \-r 0x4a0000b \-b toggle,_NET_WM_STATE_ABOVE
772 Floating windows can also be resized and moved by sending a
773 _NET_MOVERESIZE_WINDOW client message to the root window.
777 to send the message (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of
778 the window to be resize/moved):
779 .Bd -literal -offset indent
780 $ wmctrl \-i \-r 0x4a0000b \-e 0,100,50,640,480
783 This moves the window to (100,50) and resizes it to 640x480.
785 Any _NET_MOVERESIZE_WINDOW events received for stacked windows are ignored.
789 a HUP signal will restart it.
791 .Bl -tag -width "/etc/scrotwm.confXXX" -compact
792 .It Pa ~/.scrotwm.conf
794 user specific settings.
795 .It Pa /etc/scrotwm.conf
801 was inspired by xmonad & dwm.
807 .Bl -tag -width "Ryan Thomas McBride Aq mcbride@countersiege.com " -offset indent -compact
808 .It Cm Marco Peereboom Aq marco@peereboom.us
809 .It Cm Ryan Thomas McBride Aq mcbride@countersiege.com
810 .It Cm Darrin Chandler Aq dwchandler@stilyagin.com
811 .It Cm Pierre-Yves Ritschard Aq pyr@spootnik.org
812 .It Cm Tuukka Kataja Aq stuge@xor.fi
813 .It Cm Jason L. Wright Aq jason@thought.net
816 Currently the menu, invoked with