1 .\" Copyright (c) 2009-2012 Marco Peereboom <marco@peereboom.us>
2 .\" Copyright (c) 2009 Darrin Chandler <dwchandler@stilyagin.com>
3 .\" Copyright (c) 2011-2013 Reginald Kennedy <rk@rejii.com>
4 .\" Copyright (c) 2011-2012 Lawrence Teo <lteo@lteo.net>
5 .\" Copyright (c) 2011-2012 Tiago Cunha <tcunha@gmx.com>
6 .\" Copyright (c) 2012 David Hill <dhill@mindcry.org>
8 .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
9 .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
10 .\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
12 .\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
13 .\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
14 .\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
15 .\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
16 .\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
17 .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
18 .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
20 .Dd $Mdocdate: February 15 2012 $
25 .Nd window manager for X11
30 is a minimalistic window manager that tries to stay out of the way so that
31 valuable screen real estate can be used for much more important stuff.
32 It has sane defaults and does not require one to learn a language to do any
34 It was written by hackers for hackers and it strives to be small, compact and
39 starts up, it reads settings from its configuration file,
42 .Sx CONFIGURATION FILES
45 The following notation is used throughout this page:
47 .Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
61 is very simple in its use.
62 Most of the actions are initiated via key or mouse bindings.
65 section below for defaults and customizations.
66 .Sh CONFIGURATION FILES
68 first tries to open the user specific file,
69 .Pa ~/.spectrwm.conf .
70 If that file is unavailable,
71 it then tries to open the global configuration file
72 .Pa /etc/spectrwm.conf .
74 The format of the file is \*(Ltkeyword\*(Gt = \*(Ltsetting\*(Gt.
79 Enabling or disabling an option is done by using 1 or 0 respectively.
81 Colors need to be specified per the
85 Comments begin with a #. When a literal '#' is desired in an option, then it
86 must be escaped with a backslash. i.e. \e#
88 The file supports the following keywords:
91 Launch an application in a specified workspace at start-of-day.
92 Defined in the format ws[<idx>]:application, e.g. ws[2]:xterm launches an
95 External script that populates additional information in the status bar,
98 Place the statusbar at the bottom of each region instead of the top.
99 .It Ic bar_border Ns Bq Ar x
100 Border color of the status bar(s) in screen
102 .It Ic bar_border_unfocus Ns Bq Ar x
103 Border color of the status bar(s) on unfocused region(s) in screen
105 .It Ic bar_border_width
106 Set status bar border thickness in pixels.
107 Disable border by setting to 0.
108 .It Ic bar_color Ns Bq Ar x
109 Background color of the status bar(s) in screen
115 .It Ic bar_enabled_ws Ns Bq Ar x
122 Font used in the status bar. Either Xft or X Logical Font Description (XLFD)
123 may be used to specify fonts. Fallback fonts may be specified by separating
124 each font with a comma. If all entries are XLFD syntax, font set will be
125 used. If at least one entry is Xft, Xft will be used. Note that if Xft is in
126 use, only the first font that successfully loads will be used regardless of
127 missing glyphs. The default is to use font set. Also note that dmenu does
128 not support Xft fonts.
131 .Bd -literal -offset indent
132 bar_font = Terminus:style=Regular:pixelsize=14:antialias=true
134 bar_font = -*-profont-medium-*-*-*-11-*-*-*-*-*-*-*,Terminus:pixelsize=14,\
135 -*-clean-medium-*-*-*-12-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
139 .Bd -literal -offset indent
140 bar_font = -*-terminus-medium-*-*-*-14-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
142 bar_font = -*-profont-medium-*-*-*-11-*-*-*-*-*-*-*,\
143 -*-terminus-medium-*-*-*-14-*-*-*-*-*-*-*,\
144 -*-clean-medium-*-*-*-12-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
147 To list the available fonts in your system see
154 application can help with the XLFD setting.
156 .It Ic bar_font_color Ns Bq Ar x
157 Color of the font in status bar in screen
160 Set the bar_format string and overrides
165 The format is passed through
168 It may contain the following character sequences:
169 .Bl -column "Character sequence" "Replaced with" -offset indent
170 .It Sy "Character sequence" Ta Sy "Replaced with"
171 .It Li "+<" Ta "Pad with a space"
172 .It Li "+A" Ta "Output of the external script"
173 .It Li "+C" Ta "Window class"
174 .It Li "+D" Ta "Workspace name"
175 .It Li "+F" Ta "Floating indicator"
176 .It Li "+I" Ta "Workspace index"
177 .It Li "+N" Ta "Screen number"
178 .It Li "+P" Ta "Window class and title separated by a colon"
179 .It Li "+S" Ta "Stacking algorithm"
180 .It Li "+T" Ta "Window title"
181 .It Li "+U" Ta "Urgency hint"
182 .It Li "+V" Ta "Program version"
183 .It Li "+W" Ta "Window name"
184 .It Li "++" Ta "A literal" Ql +
187 All character sequences may limit its output to a specific length, for
188 example +64A. Any characters that don't match the specification are copied
191 Justify the status bar text. Possible values are
197 Note that if the output is not
199 justified, it may not be properly aligned in some circumstances, due to the
200 white-spaces in the default static format.
203 option for more details.
204 .It Ic bind Ns Bq Ar x
205 Bind key combo to action
211 Set window border thickness in pixels.
212 Disable all borders by setting to 0.
214 Enable or disable displaying the clock in the status bar.
215 Disable by setting to 0
216 so a custom clock could be used in the
220 Border color of the currently focussed window.
222 Border color of unfocussed windows.
224 Some applications have dialogue windows that are too small to be useful.
225 This ratio is the screen size to what they will be resized.
226 For example, 0.6 is 60% of the physical screen size.
227 .It Ic disable_border
228 Remove border when bar is disabled and there is only one window on the
231 Window to put focus when the focused window is closed.
241 are relative to the window that is closed.
242 .It Ic focus_close_wrap
243 Whether to allow the focus to jump to the last window when the first window
244 is closed or vice versa. Disable by setting to 0.
246 Window to put focus when no window has been focused. Possible values are
252 Window focus behavior with respect to the mouse cursor. Possible values:
254 .Bl -tag -width "default" -offset indent -compact
256 Set window focus on border crossings caused by cursor motion and
259 Set window focus on all cursor border crossings, including workspace switches
260 and changes to layout.
262 Set window focus on window interaction only.
264 .It Ic keyboard_mapping
265 Clear all key bindings and load new key bindings from the specified file.
266 This allows you to load pre-defined key bindings for your keyboard layout.
268 .Sx KEYBOARD MAPPING FILES
269 section below for a list of keyboard mapping files that have been provided
270 for several keyboard layouts.
272 Select layout to use at start-of-day. Defined in the format
273 ws[idx]:master_grow:master_add:stack_inc:layout:always_raise:stack_mode, e.g.
274 ws[2]:-4:0:1:0:horizontal sets worskspace 2 to the horizontal stack mode and
275 shrinks the master area by 4 ticks and adds one window to the stack, while
276 maintaining default floating window behavior.
277 Possible stack_mode values are
294 for more information.
295 Note that the stacking options are complicated and have side-effects. One
296 should familiarize oneself with these commands before experimenting with the
300 This setting is not retained at restart.
303 Mod1 is generally the ALT key and Mod4 is the windows key on a PC.
304 .It Ic program Ns Bq Ar p
305 Define new action to spawn a program
310 .It Ic quirk Ns Bq Ar c:n
311 Add "quirk" for windows with class
319 Allocates a custom region, removing any autodetected regions which occupy the
320 same space on the screen.
321 Defined in the format screen[<idx>]:WIDTHxHEIGHT+X+Y,
322 e.g.\& screen[1]:800x1200+0+0.
324 To make a region span multiple monitors, create a region big enough to cover
325 them all, e.g. screen[1]:2048x768+0+0 makes the region span two monitors with
326 1024x768 resolution sitting one next to the other.
327 .It Ic region_padding
328 Pixel width of empty space within region borders.
329 Disable by setting to 0.
330 .It Ic spawn_position
331 Position in stack to place newly spawned windows.
342 are relative to the focused window.
344 Enable or disable displaying the current stacking algorithm in the status
347 Set a preferred minimum width for the terminal.
348 If this value is greater than 0,
350 will attempt to adjust the font sizes in the terminal to keep the terminal
351 width above this number as the window is resized.
354 is currently supported.
357 binary must not be setuid or setgid, which it is by default on most systems.
358 Users may need to set program[term] (see the
360 section) to use an alternate copy of the
362 binary without the setgid bit set.
364 Pixel width of empty space between tiled windows.
365 Disable by setting to 0.
366 .It Ic title_class_enabled
367 Enable or disable displaying the window class in the status bar.
368 Enable by setting to 1.
369 .It Ic title_name_enabled
370 Enable or disable displaying the window title in the status bar.
371 Enable by setting to 1.
372 .It Ic urgent_enabled
373 Enable or disable the urgency hint.
374 Note that many terminal emulators require this to be enabled for it to
376 In xterm, for example, one needs to add the following line
377 .Pa xterm.bellIsUrgent: true
380 .It Ic verbose_layout
381 Enable or disable displaying the current master window count and stack column/row
382 count in the status bar.
383 Enable by setting to 1.
390 for more information.
391 .It Ic window_name_enabled
392 Enable or disable displaying the window name in the status bar.
393 Enable by setting to 1.
395 To prevent excessively large window names from pushing the remaining text off
396 the bar, it's limited to 64 characters, by default.
399 option for more details.
400 .It Ic workspace_limit
401 Set the total number of workspaces available. Minimum is 1, maximum is 22,
406 allows you to define custom actions to launch programs of your choice and
407 then bind them the same as with built-in actions.
412 Custom programs in the configuration file are specified as follows:
414 .Dl program[<action>] = <progpath> [<arg> [... <arg>]]
417 is any identifier that does not conflict with a built-in action or keyword,
419 is the desired program, and
421 is zero or more arguments to the program.
423 Remember that when using # in your program call, it must be escaped with a
426 The following argument variables will be substituted for values at the time the program
429 .Bl -tag -width "$bar_font_color" -offset indent -compact
433 .It Cm $bar_font_color
435 .It Cm $color_unfocus
437 .It Cm $workspace_index
441 .Bd -literal -offset indent
442 program[ff] = /usr/local/bin/firefox http://spectrwm.org/
443 bind[ff] = Mod+Shift+b # Now M-S-b launches firefox
446 To cancel the previous, unbind it:
447 .Bd -literal -offset indent
452 .Bl -tag -width "screenshot_wind" -offset indent -compact
456 dmenu_run \-fn $bar_font \-nb $bar_color \-nf $bar_font_color \-sb
457 $bar_border \-sf $bar_color
461 initscreen.sh # optional
462 .It Cm screenshot_all
463 screenshot.sh full # optional
464 .It Cm screenshot_wind
465 screenshot.sh window # optional
468 Note that optional default programs will not be validated unless overridden.
469 If a default program fails validation, you can resolve the exception
470 by installing the program, modifying the program call or disabling the program
471 by freeing the respective key binding.
473 For example, to override
475 .Bd -literal -offset indent
476 program[lock] = xscreensaver-command --lock
481 and prevent it from being validated:
482 .Bd -literal -offset indent
483 bind[] = MOD+Shift+Delete
487 provides many functions (or actions) accessed via key or mouse bindings.
489 The current mouse bindings are described below:
491 .Bl -tag -width "M-j, M-<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
499 Resize window while maintaining it centered
502 The default key bindings are described below:
504 .Bl -tag -width "M-j, M-<TAB>XXXXXX" -offset indent -compact
505 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Return
513 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Space
515 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm \e
517 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Space
531 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Return
540 .Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm TAB
557 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Ar 1-9,0,F1-F12
559 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Ar 1-9,0,F1-F12
560 .Pf mvws_ Ns Aq Ar 1-22
561 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Ar Keypad 1-9
563 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Ar Keypad 1-9
565 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Right
567 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Left
569 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Up
571 .It Cm M- Ns Aq Cm Down
575 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Left
577 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Up
579 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Right
581 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Left
591 .It Cm M-S- Ns Aq Cm Delete
627 The action names and descriptions are listed below:
629 .Bl -tag -width "M-j, M-<TAB>XXXX" -offset indent -compact
649 Swap the master and stacking areas.
657 Add windows to master area.
659 Remove windows from master area.
661 Add columns/rows to stacking area.
663 Remove columns/rows from stacking area.
665 Move current window to master area.
667 Focus next window in workspace.
669 Focus previous window in workspace.
671 Focus on main window in workspace.
673 Swap with next window in workspace.
675 Swap with previous window in workspace.
677 Toggle overall visibility of status bars.
679 Toggle status bar on current workspace.
681 Delete current window in workspace.
683 Destroy current window in workspace.
689 is 1 through workspace_limit.
691 Move current window to workspace
695 is 1 through workspace_limit.
703 Move current window to region
709 Switch to next workspace with a window in it.
711 Switch to previous workspace with a window in it.
713 Switch to next workspace.
715 Switch to previous workspace.
717 Switch to next workspace with the current window.
719 Switch to previous workspace with the current window.
721 Switch to last visited workspace.
723 Switch to next region.
725 Switch to previous region.
726 .It Cm screenshot_all
727 Take screenshot of entire screen (if enabled)
731 .It Cm screenshot_wind
732 Take screenshot of selected window (if enabled)
737 Toggle version in status bar.
739 Toggle focused window between tiled and floating.
746 Reinitialize physical screens
751 Minimize (unmap) currently focused window.
753 Maximize (map) window returned by dmenu selection.
755 When set tiled windows are allowed to obscure floating windows.
757 Fake a middle mouse button click (mouse button 2).
759 Shrink the width of a floating window.
761 Grow the width of a floating window.
763 Shrink the height of a floating window.
765 Grow the height of a floating window.
767 Move a floating window a step to the left.
769 Move a floating window a step to the right.
771 Move a floating window a step upwards.
773 Move a floating window a step downwards.
774 .It Cm name_workspace
775 Name the current workspace.
776 .It Cm search_workspace
777 Search for a workspace.
779 Search the windows in the current workspace.
782 Custom bindings in the configuration file are specified as follows:
784 .Dl bind[<action>] = <keys>
787 is one of the actions listed above (or empty to unbind) and
789 is in the form of zero or more modifier keys
790 (MOD, Mod1, Shift, etc.) and one or more normal keys
791 (b, space, etc.), separated by "+".
794 .Bd -literal -offset indent
795 bind[reset] = Mod4+q # bind Windows-key + q to reset
796 bind[] = Mod1+q # unbind Alt + q
799 To use the currently defined
801 specify MOD as the modifier key.
803 Multiple key combinations may be bound to the same action.
805 To bind non-latin characters such as å or π you must enter the xkb
806 character name instead of the character itself. Run xev, focus the window
807 and press the specific key and in the terminal output read the symbol name.
808 In the fallowing example for å:
809 .Bd -literal -offset indent
810 KeyPress event, serial 41, synthetic NO, window 0x2600001,
811 root 0x15a, subw 0x0, time 106213808, (11,5), root:(359,823),
812 state 0x0, keycode 24 (keysym 0xe5, aring), same_screen YES,
813 XLookupString gives 2 bytes: (c3 a5) "å"
814 XmbLookupString gives 2 bytes: (c3 a5) "å"
815 XFilterEvent returns: False
818 The xkb name is aring. In other words, in .spectrwm.conf add:
819 .Bd -literal -offset indent
820 bind[program] = MOD+aring
822 .Sh KEYBOARD MAPPING FILES
823 Keyboard mapping files for several keyboard layouts are listed
825 These files can be used with the
827 setting to load pre-defined key bindings for the specified
830 .Bl -tag -width "spectrwm_XX.confXXX" -offset indent -compact
831 .It Cm spectrwm_cz.conf
832 Czech Republic keyboard layout
833 .It Cm spectrwm_es.conf
834 Spanish keyboard layout
835 .It Cm spectrwm_fr.conf
836 French keyboard layout
837 .It Cm spectrwm_fr_ch.conf
838 Swiss French keyboard layout
839 .It Cm spectrwm_se.conf
840 Swedish keyboard layout
841 .It Cm spectrwm_us.conf
842 United States keyboard layout
846 provides "quirks" which handle windows that must be treated specially
847 in a tiling window manager, such as some dialogs and fullscreen apps.
849 The default quirks are described below:
851 .Bl -tag -width "OpenOffice.org N.M:VCLSalFrame<TAB>XXX" -offset indent \
853 .It Firefox\-bin:firefox\-bin
860 FLOAT + FULLSCREEN + FOCUSPREV
861 .It OpenOffice.org 2.4:VCLSalFrame
863 .It OpenOffice.org 3.1:VCLSalFrame
871 .It xine:xine Video Fullscreen Window
881 The quirks themselves are described below:
883 .Bl -tag -width "XTERM_FONTADJ<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
885 This window should not be tiled, but allowed to float freely.
887 Adjusts size on transient windows that are too small using dialog_ratio
889 .Sx CONFIGURATION FILES ) .
891 Allow window to position itself, uncentered.
893 Adjust xterm fonts when resizing.
895 Remove border to allow window to use full region size.
897 On exit force focus on previously focused application not previous
898 application in the stack.
900 Don't change focus to the window when it first appears on the screen.
904 .It FOCUSONMAP_SINGLE
905 When the window first appears on the screen, change focus to the window
906 if there are no other windows on the workspace with the same class/name.
912 Custom quirks in the configuration file are specified as follows:
914 .Dl quirk[<class>:<name>] = <quirk> [ + <quirk> ... ]
919 specify the window to which the quirk(s) apply, and
921 is one of the quirks from the list above.
923 .Bd -literal -offset indent
924 quirk[MPlayer:xv] = FLOAT + FULLSCREEN + FOCUSPREV
925 quirk[pcb:pcb] = NONE # remove existing quirk
934 and then clicking on the desired window.
935 In the following example the main window of Firefox was clicked:
936 .Bd -literal -offset indent
937 $ xprop | grep WM_CLASS
938 WM_CLASS(STRING) = "Navigator", "Firefox"
941 Note that grepping for WM_CLASS flips class and name.
942 In the example above the quirk entry would be:
943 .Bd -literal -offset indent
944 quirk[Firefox:Navigator] = FLOAT
948 also automatically assigns quirks to windows based on the value
949 of the window's _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE property as follows:
951 .Bl -tag -width "_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_TOOLBAR<TAB>XXX" -offset indent -compact
952 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DOCK
954 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_TOOLBAR
956 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_UTILITY
958 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_SPLASH
960 .It _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DIALOG
964 In all other cases, no automatic quirks are assigned to the window.
965 Quirks specified in the configuration file override the automatic quirks.
968 partially implements the Extended Window Manager Hints (EWMH) specification.
969 This enables controlling windows as well as
971 itself from external scripts and programs.
974 responding to certain ClientMessage events.
975 From the terminal these events
976 can be conveniently sent using tools such as
981 actual format of these ClientMessage events, see the EWMH specification.
983 The id of the currently focused window is stored in the _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW
984 property of the root window.
985 This can be used for example to retrieve the
986 title of the currently active window with
990 .Bd -literal -offset indent
991 $ WINDOWID=`xprop \-root _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW | grep \-o "0x.*"`
992 $ xprop \-id $WINDOWID WM_NAME | grep \-o "\\".*\\""
995 A window can be focused by sending a _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW client message
1000 (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window to be focused):
1001 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1002 $ wmctrl \-i \-a 0x4a0000b
1005 Windows can be closed by sending a _NET_CLOSE_WINDOW client message
1010 (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window to be closed):
1011 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1012 $ wmctrl \-i \-c 0x4a0000b
1015 Windows can be floated and un-floated by adding or removing the
1016 _NET_WM_STATE_ABOVE atom from the _NET_WM_STATE property of the window.
1017 This can be achieved by sending a _NET_WM_STATE client message to the
1019 For example, the following toggles the floating state of
1022 to send the message (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window floated
1024 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1025 $ wmctrl \-i \-r 0x4a0000b \-b toggle,_NET_WM_STATE_ABOVE
1028 Floating windows can also be resized and moved by sending a
1029 _NET_MOVERESIZE_WINDOW client message to the root window.
1033 to send the message (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of
1034 the window to be resize/moved):
1035 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1036 $ wmctrl \-i \-r 0x4a0000b \-e 0,100,50,640,480
1039 This moves the window to (100,50) and resizes it to 640x480.
1041 Any _NET_MOVERESIZE_WINDOW events received for stacked windows are ignored.
1045 a HUP signal will restart it.
1047 .Bl -tag -width "/etc/spectrwm.confXXX" -compact
1048 .It Pa ~/.spectrwm.conf
1050 user specific settings.
1051 .It Pa /etc/spectrwm.conf
1057 was inspired by xmonad & dwm.
1063 .Bl -tag -width "Ryan Thomas McBride Aq mcbride@countersiege.com " -offset \
1065 .It Cm Marco Peereboom Aq marco@peereboom.us
1066 .It Cm Ryan Thomas McBride Aq mcbride@countersiege.com
1067 .It Cm Darrin Chandler Aq dwchandler@stilyagin.com
1068 .It Cm Pierre-Yves Ritschard Aq pyr@spootnik.org
1069 .It Cm Tuukka Kataja Aq stuge@xor.fi
1070 .It Cm Jason L. Wright Aq jason@thought.net
1071 .It Cm Reginald Kennedy Aq rk@rejii.com
1072 .It Cm Lawrence Teo Aq lteo@lteo.net
1073 .It Cm Tiago Cunha Aq tcunha@gmx.com
1074 .It Cm David Hill Aq dhill@mindcry.org