Controlling Window Styles
For readability, the commands in this section are not sorted alphabetically. The description of the Style command can be found at the end of this section.
31.7.1. FocusStyle
FocusStyle stylename options
works exactly like the Style command, but accepts only the focus policy related styles beginning with "FP". The prefix can be removed, but at the cost of a little bit of time. FocusStyle is meant to make the configuration file more readable. Example:
FocusStyle * EnterToFocus, !LeaveToUnfocus
is equivalent to
Style * FPEnterToFocus, !FPLeaveToUnfocus
31.7.2. DestroyStyle
DestroyStyle style
deletes the style named style. The changes take effect immediately. Note that style is not a wild-carded search string, but rather a case-sensitive string that should exactly match the original Style command.
Destroying style "*" can be done, but isn't really to be recommended. For example:
DestroyStyle Application*
This removes all settings for the style named "Application*", NOT all styles starting with "Application".
31.7.3. DestroyWindowStyle
DestroyWindowStyle
deletes the styles set by the WindowStyle command on the selected window. The changes take effect immediately.
31.7.4. UpdateStyles
UpdateStyles
All pending updates of all windows' styles and looks are applied immediately. E.g. if Style, WindowStyle or TitleStyle commands were issued inside a fvwm function.
31.7.5. Style
Style stylename options...
The Style command is used to set attributes of a window to values other than the default or to set the window manager default styles.
stylename can be a window's name, class, visible name, or resource string. It may contain the wildcards '*' and '?', which are matched in the usual Unix filename manner. Multiple style options in a single Style command are read from left to right as if they were issued one after each other in separate commands. A given style always overrides all conflicting styles that have been issued earlier (or further left on the same style line).
Note: windows that have no name (WM_NAME) are given a name of "Untitled", and windows that do not have a class (WM_CLASS, res_class) are given class "NoClass" and those that do not have a resource (WM_CLASS, res_name) are given resource "NoResource".
If a window has the resource "fvwmstyle" set, the value of that resource is used in addition to any window names when selecting the style.
options is a comma separated list containing one or more of the following keywords. Each group of style names is separated by slashes ('/'). The last style in these groups is the default. BorderWidth, HandleWidth, !Icon / Icon, MiniIcon, IconBox, IconGrid, IconFill, IconSize, !Title / Title, TitleAtBottom / TitleAtLeft / TitleAtRight / TitleAtTop, LeftTitleRotatedCW / LeftTitleRotatedCCW, RightTitleRotatedCCW / RightTitleRotatedCW, TopTitleRotated / TopTitleNotRotated, BottomTitleRotated / BottomTitleNotRotated, !UseTitleDecorRotation / UseTitleDecorRotation, StippledTitle / !StippledTitle, StippledIconTitle / !StippledIconTitle, IndexedWindowName / ExactWindowName, IndexedIconName / ExactIconName, !Borders / Borders, !Handles / Handles, WindowListSkip / WindowListHit, CirculateSkip / CirculateHit, CirculateSkipShaded / CirculateHitShaded, CirculateSkipIcon / CirculateHitIcon, Layer, StaysOnTop / StaysOnBottom / StaysPut, Sticky / Slippery, StickyAcrossPages / !StickyAcrossPages, StickyAcrossDesks / !StickyAcrossDesks, !StickyStippledTitle / StickyStippledTitle, !StickyStippledIconTitle / StickyStippledIconTitle, StartIconic / StartNormal, Color, ForeColor, BackColor, Colorset, HilightFore, HilightBack, HilightColorset, BorderColorset, HilightBorderColorset, IconTitleColorset, HilightIconTitleColorset, IconBackgroundColorset, IconTitleRelief, IconBackgroundRelief, IconBackgroundPadding, Font, IconFont, StartsOnDesk / StartsOnPage / StartsAnyWhere, StartsOnScreen, StartShaded / !StartShaded, ManualPlacementHonorsStartsOnPage / ManualPlacementIgnoresStartsOnPage, CaptureHonorsStartsOnPage / CaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage, RecaptureHonorsStartsOnPage / RecaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage, StartsOnPageIncludesTransients / StartsOnPageIgnoresTransients, IconTitle / !IconTitle, MwmButtons / FvwmButtons, MwmBorder / FvwmBorder, MwmDecor / !MwmDecor, MwmFunctions / !MwmFunctions, HintOverride / !HintOverride, !Button / Button, ResizeHintOverride / !ResizeHintOverride, OLDecor / !OLDecor, GNOMEUseHints / GNOMEIgnoreHints, StickyIcon / SlipperyIcon, StickyAcrossPagesIcon / !StickyAcrossPagesIcon, StickyAcrossDesksIcon / !StickyAcrossDesksIcon, ManualPlacement / CascadePlacement / MinOverlapPlacement / MinOverlapPercentPlacement / TileManualPlacement / TileCascadePlacement / PositionPlacement, MinOverlapPlacementPenalties, MinOverlapPercentPlacementPenalties, DecorateTransient / NakedTransient, DontRaiseTransient / RaiseTransient, DontLowerTransient / LowerTransient, DontStackTransientParent / StackTransientParent, SkipMapping / ShowMapping, ScatterWindowGroups / KeepWindowGroupsOnDesk, UseDecor, UseStyle, !UsePPosition / NoPPosition / UsePPosition, !UseUSPosition, NoUSPosition / UseUSPosition, !UseTransientPPosition, NoTransientPPosition / UseTransientPPosition, !UseTransientUSPosition / NoTransientUSPosition / UseTransientUSPosition, !UseIconPosition / NoIconPosition / UseIconPosition, Lenience / !Lenience, ClickToFocus / SloppyFocus / MouseFocus|FocusFollowsMouse / NeverFocus, ClickToFocusPassesClickOff / ClickToFocusPassesClick, ClickToFocusRaisesOff / ClickToFocusRaises, MouseFocusClickRaises / MouseFocusClickRaisesOff, GrabFocus / GrabFocusOff, GrabFocusTransientOff / GrabFocusTransient, FPFocusClickButtons, FPFocusClickModifiers, !FPSortWindowlistByFocus / FPSortWindowlistByFocus, FPClickRaisesFocused / !FPClickRaisesFocused, FPClickDecorRaisesFocused / !FPClickDecorRaisesFocused, FPClickIconRaisesFocused / !FPClickIconRaisesFocused, !FPClickRaisesUnfocused / FPClickRaisesUnfocused, FPClickDecorRaisesUnfocused / !FPClickDecorRaisesUnfocused, FPClickIconRaisesUnfocused / !FPClickIconRaisesUnfocused, FPClickToFocus / !FPClickToFocus, FPClickDecorToFocus / !FPClickDecorToFocus, FPClickIconToFocus / !FPClickIconToFocus, !FPEnterToFocus / FPEnterToFocus, !FPLeaveToUnfocus / FPLeaveToUnfocus, !FPFocusByProgram / FPFocusByProgram, !FPFocusByFunction / FPFocusByFunction, FPFocusByFunctionWarpPointer / !FPFocusByFunctionWarpPointer, FPLenient / !FPLenient, !FPPassFocusClick / FPPassFocusClick, !FPPassRaiseClick / FPPassRaiseClick, FPIgnoreFocusClickMotion / !FPIgnoreFocusClickMotion, FPIgnoreRaiseClickMotion / !FPIgnoreRaiseClickMotion, !FPAllowFocusClickFunction / FPAllowFocusClickFunction, !FPAllowRaiseClickFunction / FPAllowRaiseClickFunction, FPGrabFocus / !FPGrabFocus, !FPGrabFocusTransient / FPGrabFocusTransient, FPOverrideGrabFocus / !FPOverrideGrabFocus, FPReleaseFocus / !FPReleaseFocus, !FPReleaseFocusTransient / FPReleaseFocusTransient, FPOverrideReleaseFocus / !FPOverrideReleaseFocus, StartsLowered / StartsRaised, IgnoreRestack / AllowRestack, FixedPosition / VariablePosition, FixedUSPosition / VariableUSPosition, FixedPPosition / VariablePPosition, FixedSize / VariableSize, FixedUSSize / VariableUSSize, FixedPSize / VariablePSize, !Closable / Closable, !Iconifiable / Iconifiable, !Maximizable / Maximizable, !AllowMaximizeFixedSize / AllowMaximizeFixedSize, IconOverride / NoIconOverride / NoActiveIconOverride, DepressableBorder / FirmBorder, MinWindowSize, MaxWindowSize, IconifyWindowGroups / IconifyWindowGroupsOff, ResizeOpaque / ResizeOutline, BackingStore / BackingStoreOff / BackingStoreWindowDefault, Opacity / ParentalRelativity, SaveUnder / SaveUnderOff, WindowShadeShrinks / WindowShadeScrolls, WindowShadeSteps, WindowShadeAlwaysLazy / WindowShadeBusy / WindowShadeLazy, EWMHDonateIcon / EWMHDontDonateIcon, EWMHDonateMiniIcon / EWMHDontDonateMiniIcon, EWMHMiniIconOverride / EWMHNoMiniIconOverride, EWMHUseStackingOrderHints / EWMHIgnoreStackingOrderHints, EWMHIgnoreStateHints / EWMHUseStateHints, EWMHIgnoreStrutHints / EWMHUseStrutHints, EWMHIgnoreWindowType / !EWMHIgnoreWindowType, EWMHMaximizeIgnoreWorkingArea / EWMHMaximizeUseWorkingArea / EWMHMaximizeUseDynamicWorkingArea, EWMHPlacementIgnoreWorkingArea / EWMHPlacementUseWorkingArea / EWMHPlacementUseDynamicWorkingArea, MoveByProgramMethod, Unmanaged, State, SnapGrid, SnapAttraction, EdgeMoveDelay, EdgeResizeDelay. EdgeMoveResistance, InitialMapCommand
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.
31.7.5.1. Focus policy
ClickToFocus instructs fvwm to give the focus to a window when it is clicked in. The default MouseFocus (or its alias FocusFollowsMouse) tells fvwm to give a 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 the root 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. A window with the style NeverFocus never receives the focus. This is useful for modules like FvwmButtons. for example. Note: Once any of the "FP..." styles has been used, the defaults that come with the basic focus policies are not restored when the latter are used again. For example, once !FPGrabFocus has been used, using ClickToFocus does not restore FPGrabFocus.
The focus model can be augmented with several additional options. In fvwm-2.5.3 and later, there are a large number of advanced options beginning with "FP" or "!FP". These options shall replace the older options one day and are described first. Using any of these new options may limit compatibility with older releases. In general, options beginning with "FP" turn a feature on, while those beginning with "!FP" turn it off.
31.7.5.2. Focusing the window
With FPEnterToFocus, when the pointer enters a window it receives focus.
With FPLeaveToUnfocus a window loses focus when the pointer leaves it.
With FPClickToFocus, FPClickDecorToFocus or FPClickIconToFocus, a window receives focus when the inside of the window or the decorations or its icon is clicked.
The FPFocusByProgram style allows windows to take the focus themselves.
The !FPFocusByFunction style forbids that a window receives the focus via the Focus and FlipFocus commands.
The FPFocusByFunctionWarpPointer style controls if the pointer is warped to a selected window when the Focus command is used.
FPLenient allows focus on windows that do not want it, like FvwmPager or xclock.
The FPFocusClickButtons style takes a list of mouse buttons that can be clicked to focus or raise a window when the appropriate style is used. The default is to use the first three buttons ("123").
The FPFocusClickModifiers style takes a list of modifier keys just like the Key command. The exact combination of modifier keys must be pressed for the click to focus or raise a window to work. The default is to use no modifiers ("N").
With the FPPassFocusClick style, the click that was used to focus a window is passed to the application.
With the FPAllowFocusClickFunction style, the click that was used to focus a window can also trigger a normal action that was bound to the window with the Mouse command).
If the FPIgnoreFocusClickMotion style is used, clicking in a window and then dragging the pointer with the button held down does not count as the click to focus the window. Instead, the application processes these events normally. This is useful to select text in a terminal window with the mouse without raising the window. However, mouse bindings on the client window are not guaranteed to work anymore (see Mouse command). This style forces the initial click to be passed to the application. The distance that the pointer must be moved to trigger this is controlled by the MoveThreshold command.
The FPSortWindowlistByFocus and !FPSortWindowlistByFocus styles control whether the internal window list is sorted in the order the windows were focused or in the order they were created. The latter is the default for ClickToFocus and SloppyFocus.
Clicking the window to raise
The styles FPClickRaisesFocused, FPClickDecorRaisesFocused and FPClickIconRaisesFocused allow to raise the window when the interior or the decorations or the icon of the window is clicked while the window is already focused.
The styles FPClickRaisesUnfocused, FPClickDecorRaisesUnfocused and FPClickIconRaisesUnfocused allow to raise the window when the interior or the decorations or the icon of the window is clicked while the window is not yet focused.
With the FPPassRaiseClick style, the click that was used to raise the window is passed to the application.
With the FPAllowRaiseClickFunction style, the click that was used to raise the window can also trigger a normal action that was bound to the window with the Mouse command.
If the FPIgnoreRaiseClickMotion style is used, clicking in a window and then dragging the pointer with the button held down does not count as the click to raise the window. Instead, the application processes these events normally. This is useful to select text in a terminal window with the mouse without raising the window. However, mouse bindings on the client window are not guaranteed to work anymore (see Mouse command. Note that this style forces that the initial click is passed to the application. The distance that the pointer must be moved to trigger this is controlled by the MoveThreshold command.
Grabbing the focus when a new window is created
New normal or transient windows with the FPGrabFocus or FPGrabFocusTransient style automatically receive the focus when they are created. FPGrabFocus is the default for windows with the ClickToFocus style. Note that even if these styles are disabled, the application may take the focus itself. Fvwm can not prevent this.
The OverrideGrabFocus style instructs fvwm to never take away the focus from such a window via the GrabFocus or GrabFocusTransient styles. This can be useful if you like to have transient windows receive the focus immediately, for example in a web browser, but not while you are working in a terminal window or a text processor.
The above three styles are accompanied by FPReleaseFocus, FPReleaseFocusTransient and FPOverrideReleaseFocus. These control if the focus is returned to another window when the window is closed. Otherwise no window or the window under the pointer receives the focus.
ClickToFocusPassesClickOff and ClickToFocusPassesClick controls whether a mouse click to focus a window is sent to the application or not. Similarly, ClickToFocusRaisesOff/MouseFocusClickRaisesOff and ClickToFocusRaises/MouseFocusClickRaises control if the window is raised (but depending on the focus model).
Note: in fvwm versions prior to 2.5.3, the "Click..." options applied only to windows with ClickToFocus while the "Mouse..." options applied to windows with a different focus policy. This is no longer the case.
The old GrabFocus style is equivalent to using FPGrabFocus + FPReleaseFocus.
The old GrabFocusTransient style is equivalent to using FPGrabFocusTransient + FPReleaseFocusTransient.
Lenience is equivalent to the new style FPLenient.
31.7.5.3. Window title
The Title and !Title options determine if the window has a title-bar or not. By default all windows have a title-bar. NoTitle is equivalent to !Title but is deprecated.
Windows with the TitleAtBottom, TitleAtLeft or TitleAtRight style have a title-bar below, to the left or to the right of the window instead of above as usual. The TitleAtTop style restores the default placement. Even if the window has the !Title style set, this affects the WindowShade command. Please check the WindowShade command for interactions between that command and these styles. Titles on the left or right side of the windows are augmented by the following styles:
Normally, the text in titles on the left side of a window is rotated counterclockwise by 90 degrees from the normal upright position and 90 degrees clockwise for titles on the right side. It can also be rotated in the opposite directions with LeftTitleRotatedCW if TitleAtLeft is used, and with RightTitleRotatedCCW if TitleAtRight is used. The defaults can be restored with LeftTitleRotatedCCW and RightTitleRotatedCW. A normal horizontal text may be rotated as well with TopTitleRotated if TitleAtTop is used, and with BottomTitleRotated if TitleAtBottom is used. The defaults can be restored with TopTitleNotRotated and BottomTitleNotRotated.
By default the title bar decoration defined using the TitleStyle command is rotated following the title text rotation (see the previous paragraph). This can be disabled by using the !UseTitleDecorRotation style. UseTitleDecorRotation reverts back to the default.
With the StippledTitle style, titles are drawn with the same effect that is usually reserved for windows with the Sticky, StickyAcrossPages or StickyAcrossDesks style. !StippledTitle reverts back to normal titles. StippledTitleOff is equivalent to !StippledTitle but is deprecated.
Color takes two arguments. The first is the window-label text color and the second is the window decorations normal background color. The two colors are separated with a slash. If the use of a slash causes problems then the separate ForeColor and BackColor options can be used.
Colorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and overrides the colors set by Color. Instead, the corresponding colors from the given colorset are used. Note that all other features of a colorset are not used. Use the Colorset decoration style in the TitleStyle and ButtonStyle command for that. To stop using the colorset, the colorset number is omitted.
The HilightFore, HilightBack and HilightColorset style options work exactly like ForeColor, BackColor and Colorset but are used only if the window has the focus. These styles replace the old commands HilightColor and HilightColorset.
BorderColorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and overrides the colors set by Color or Colorset. for the window border. To stop using a colorset, the argument is omitted.
The HilightBorderColorset style option works similarly to BorderColorset but is used when the window has the focus.
!IconTitle disables displaying icon labels while the opposite style IconTitle enables icon labels (default behaviour). NoIconTitle is equivalent to !IconTitle but is deprecated.
IconTitleColorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and overrides the colors set by Color or Colorset. To stop using this colorset, the argument is omitted.
HilightIconTitleColorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and overrides the colors set by HilightColor or HilightColorset. To stop using this colorset, the argument is omitted.
IconBackgroundColorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and uses it to set a background for the icon picture. By default the icon picture is not drawn onto a background image. To restore the default, the argument is omitted.
IconTitleRelief takes one numeric argument that may be between -50 and +50 pixels and defines the thickness of the 3D relief drawn around the icon title. With negative values the icon title gets a pressed in look. The default is 2 and it is restored if the argument is omitted.
IconBackgroundRelief takes one numeric argument that may be between -50 and +50 pixels and defines the thickness of the 3D relief drawn around the icon picture background (if any). With negative values the icon background gets a pressed in look. The default is 2 and it is restored if the argument is omitted.
IconBackgroundPadding takes one numeric argument that may be between 0 and 50 pixels and defines the amount of free space between the relief of the icon background picture (if any) and the icon picture. The default is 2 and it is restored if the argument is omitted.
The Font and IconFont options take the name of a font as their sole argument. This font is used in the window or icon title. By default the font given in the DefaultFont command is used. To revert back to the default, use the style without the name argument. These styles replace the older WindowFont and IconFont commands.
The IndexedWindowName style causes fvwm to use window titles in the form
name (i)
where name is the exact window name and i is an integer which represents the i th window with name as window name. ExactWindowName restores the default which is to use the exact window name. IndexedIconName and ExactIconName work the same as IndexedWindowName and ExactWindowName styles but for the icon titles.
31.7.5.4. Title buttons
Button and !Button take a numeric argument which is the number of the title-bar button which is to be shown or omitted. NoButton is equivalent to !Button but is deprecated.
MwmButtons makes the Maximize button look pressed-in when the window is maximized. See the MwmDecorMax flag in ButtonStyle for more information. To switch this style off again, use the FvwmButtons style.
31.7.5.5. Borders
!Borders suppresses the window border (but not the title) completely. The Borders style enables them again. Without borders, all other styles affecting window borders are meaningless.
MwmBorder makes the 3D bevel more closely match Mwm's. FvwmBorder turns off the previous option.
With the !Handles style, the window does not get the handles in the window corners that are commonly used to resize it. With !Handles, the width from the BorderWidth style is used. By default, or if Handles is specified, the width from the HandleWidth style is used. NoHandles is equivalent to !Handles but is deprecated.
HandleWidth takes a numeric argument which is the width of the border to place the window if it does have resize-handles. Using HandleWidth without an argument restores the default.
BorderWidth takes a numeric argument which is the width of the border to place the window if it does not have resize-handles. It is used only if the !Handles style is specified too. Using BorderWidth without an argument restores the default.
DepressableBorder makes the border parts of the window decoration look sunken in when a button is pressed over them. This can be disabled again with the FirmBorder style.
31.7.5.6. Icons, shading, maximizing, movement, resizing
Icon takes an (optional) unquoted string argument which is the icon bitmap or pixmap to use. Icons specified this way override pixmap icons, but not icon windows or the ewmh icon, provided by the client in the application (with the WM_HINTS property or with the ewmh _NET_WM_ICON property). The IconOverride style changes the behavior to override any client-provided icons; the NoIconOverride style changes the behavior to not override any client-provided icons; the default overriding behavior can be activated with the NoActiveIconOverride style. With this style, fvwm uses application provided icons if the icon is changed but uses the icon provided in the configuration file until then.
There is one exception to these rules, namely
Style * Icon unknown.xpm
doesn't force the unknown.xpm icon on every window, it just sets the default icon like the DefaultIcon command. If you really want all windows to have the same icon, you can use
Style ** Icon unknown.xpm
If the NoIcon attribute is set then the specified window simply disappears when 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 no icon is specified. An example which allows only the FvwmPager module icon to exist:
Style * NoIcon
Style FvwmPager Icon
IconBox takes no argument, four numeric arguments (plus optionally a screen specification), an X11 geometry string or the string "none":
IconBox [screen scr-spec] 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. If the first argument is the word screen, the scr-spec argument specifies the Xinerama screen on which the IconBox is defined. It can be the usual screen Xinerama specification, 'p', ´c', 'g', a screen number or the additional 'w' for the screen where the window center is located. This is only useful with multiple Xinerama screens. The "l t r b" specification is more flexible than an X11 geometry. For example:
IconBox -80 240 -1 -1
defines a box that is 80 pixels wide from the right edge, 240 pixels down from the top, and continues to the bottom of the screen.
Perhaps it is easier to use is an X11 geometry string though:
IconBox 1000x70-1-1
places an 1000 by 70 pixel icon box on the bottom of the screen starting in the lower right hand corner of the screen. One way to figure out a geometry like this is to use a window that resizes in pixel increments, for example, xv. Then resize and place the xv window where you want the iconbox. Then use FvwmIdent to read the windows geometry. The icon box is a region of the screen where fvwm attempts to put icons 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 box is full, the second one is filled. All the icon boxes for one style must be defined in one Style command. For example:
Style * IconBox -80 240 -1 -1, \
IconBox 1000x70-1-1
A Style command with the IconBox option replaces any icon box defined previously by another Style command for the same style. Thats why the backslash in the previous example is required.
Note: The geometry for the icon box command takes the additional screen specifier "@w" in case a Xinerama setup is used. This designates the screen where the window center is located. The additional screen specifier is not allowed anywhere else.
If you never define an icon box, or you fill all the icon boxes, fvwm has a default icon box that covers the screen, it fills top to bottom, then left to right, and has an 80x80 pixel grid. To disable all but the default icon box you can use IconBox without arguments in a separate Style command. To disable all icon boxes including the default icon box, the argument "none" can be specified.
Hint: You can auto arrange your icons in the icon box with a simple fvwm function. Put the "DeiconifyAndRearrange" function below in your configuration file:
AddToFunc DeiconifyAndRearrange
+ C Iconify off
+ C All (CurrentPage, Iconic) PlaceAgain Icon
And then replace all places where you call the Iconify command to de-iconify an icon with a call to the new function. For example replace
AddToFunc IconFunc
+ C Iconify off
+ M Raise
+ M Move
+ D Iconify off
Mouse 1 I A Iconify off
with
AddToFunc IconFunc
+ C DeiconifyAndRearrange
+ M Raise
+ M Move
+ D DeiconifyAndRearrange
Mouse 1 I A DeiconifyAndRearrange
IconGrid takes 2 numeric arguments greater than zero.
IconGrid x y
Icons are placed in an icon box by stepping through the icon box using the x and y 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 regular appearance use a grid larger than your largest icon. Use the IconSize definition 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 90
IconFill takes 2 arguments.
IconFill Bottom Right
Icons are placed in an icon box by stepping through the icon box using these arguments to control the direction the box is filled in. By default the direction is left to right, then top to bottom. This would be expressed as:
IconFill left top
To 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
IconSize sets limits on the size of an icon image. Both user-provided and application-provided icon images are affected.
IconSize [ width height [ maxwidth maxheight ] ]
All arguments are measured in pixels. When all four arguments are passed to IconSize, width and height represent the minimum size of an icon, and maxwidth and maxheight represent the maximum size of an icon. Icon images that are smaller than the minimum size are padded. Icon images that are bigger than the maximum size are clipped.
If only two arguments are passed to IconSize, width and height represent the absolute size of an icon. Icons covered by this style are padded or clipped to achieve the given size.
If no arguments are specified, the default values are used for each dimension. This effectively places no limits on the size of an icon.
The value of "-1" can be used in place of any of the arguments to specify the default value for that dimension.
Note that application-provided icon windows are not affected.
MiniIcon specifies a pixmap to use as the miniature icon for the window. This miniature 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.
WindowShadeShrinks and WindowShadeScrolls control if the contents of a window that is being shaded with the WindowShade command are scrolled (default) or if they stay in place. The shrinking mode is a bit faster
The WindowShadeSteps option selects the number of steps for animation when shading a window with WindowShade. It takes one number as its argument. If the number has a trailing 'p' it sets the number of pixels to use as the step size instead of a fixed number of steps. 0 disables the animation. This happens too if the argument is omitted or invalid.
The WindowShade command has two modes of operation: busy and lazy shading. Busy shading can be 50% slower than lazy shading, but the latter can look strange under some conditions, for example, if the window borders, buttons or the title are filled with a tiled pixmap. Also, the window handles are not drawn in lazy mode and the border relief may only be drawn partially right before the window reaches the shaded state or tight after leaves the unshaded state. By default, fvwm uses lazy mode if there are no bad visual effects (not counting the window handles) and busy mode otherwise. Use the WindowShadeAlwaysLazy or WindowShadeBusy to force using the lazy or busy mode. The default setting is restored with WindowShadeLazy.
ResizeOpaque instructs fvwm to resize the corresponding windows with their contents visible instead of using an outline. Since this causes the application to redraw frequently it can be quite slow and make the window flicker excessively, depending on the amount of graphics the application redraws. The ResizeOutline style (default) negates the ResizeOpaque style. Many applications do not like their windows being resized opaque, e.g. XEmacs, Netscape or terminals with a pixmap background. If you do not like the result, do not use the ResizeOpaque style for these windows. To exempt certain windows from opaque resizing you could use these lines in your configuration file:
Style * ResizeOpaque
Style rxvt ResizeOutline
Style emacs ResizeOutline
Sticky makes the window sticky, i.e. it is always visible on each page and each desk. The opposite style, Slippery reverts back to the default.
StickyIcon makes the window sticky when it's iconified. It de-iconifies on top the active desktop. SlipperyIcon reverts back to the default.
StickyAcrossPages and StickyAcrossPagesIcon work like Sticky and StickyIcon, but stick the window only across pages, not desks while StickyAcrossDesks and StickyAcrossDesksIcon works the other way round.
Windows that have been marked as Sticky or StickyAcrossDesks or StickyAcrossPages will have stipples drawn on the titlebar. This can be negated with the !StickyStippledTitle style. The style StickyStippledTitle puts back the stipples where that window has also been marked as Sticky. Note that this is the default style for Sticky windows. Sticky icons will have stipples drawn on the icon title. This can be disabled in the same way with the !StickyStippledIconTitle style.
Windows with the StartIconic style are shown as icons initially. Note that some applications counteract that by deiconifying themselves. The default is to not iconify windows and can be set with the StartNormal style.
StickyIcon makes the window sticky when it's iconified. It de-iconifies on top the active desktop. SlipperyIcon reverts back to the default.
StickyIconPage works like StickyIcon, but sticks the icon only across pages, not desks while StickyIconDesk works the other way round.
StippledIconTitle works like StippledTitle in that it draws stipples on the titles of icons but doesn't make the icon sticky.
IgnoreRestack makes fvwm ignore attempts of clients to raise or lower their own windows. By default, the opposite style, AllowRestack is active.
FixedPosition and FixedUSPosition make fvwm ignore attempts of the user to move the window. It is still possible to move the window by resizing it. To allow the user to move windows, use the VariablePosition or VariableUSPosition style.
FixedSize and FixedUSSize make fvwm ignore attempts of the user to resize the window. To allow the user to resize windows, use the VariableSize or VariableUSSize style.
FixedPPosition and FixedPSize make fvwm ignore attempts of the program to move or resize its windows. To allow this kind of actions, use the VariablePPosition or VariablePSize style. These styles may sometimes affect the initial placement and dimensions of new windows (depending on the application). If windows are created at strange places, try either the VariablePPosition or NoPPosition styles. The FixedPSize style may screw up window dimensions for some applications. Do Not use this style in this case.
MoveByProgramMethod affects how fvwm reacts to requests by the application to move its windows. By default, fvwm tries to detect which method to use, but it sometimes detects the wrong method. You may come across a window that travels across the screen by a few pixels when the application resizes it, moves to a screen border with the frame decorations off screen, that remembers its position for the next time it starts but appears in a slighly shifted position, or that attepmts to become full screen but has the. Try out both options, UseGravity and IgnoreGravity on the window (and that window only) and see if that helps. By default, fvwm uses the AutoDetect method. Once the method was detected, it is never changed again. As long as fvwm can not detect the proper method, it uses IgnoreGravity. To force fvwm to retry the detection, use one of the other two options first and then use AutoDetect again.
Note: This option was introduced to alleviate a problem with the ICCCM specification. The ICCCM clearly states that the UseGravity option should be used, but traditionally applications ignored this rule.
Closable enables the functions Close, Delete and Destroy to be performed on the windows. This is on by default. The opposite, !Closable, inhibits the window to be closed.
Iconifiable enables the function Iconify to be performed on the windows. This is on by default. The opposite, !Iconifiable, inhibits the window from being iconified.
Maximizable enables the function Maximize to be performed on the windows. This is on by default. The opposite, !Maximizable, inhibits the window from being maximized.
AllowMaximizeFixedSize enables the function Maximize to be performed on windows that are not resizable, unless maximization has been disabled either using the style !Maximizable or through WM hints. This is on by default. The opposite, !AllowMaximizeFixedSize, inhibits all windows that are not resizable from being maximized.
ResizeHintOverride instructs fvwm to ignore the program supplied minimum and maximum size as well as the resize step size (the character size in many applications). This can be handy for broken applications that refuse to be resized. Do not use it if you do not need it. The default (opposite) style is NoResizeOverride.
MinWindowSize [ width [ p ] height [ p ] ] Tells fvwm the minimum width and height of a window. The values are the percentage of the total screen area. If the letter 'p' is appended to either of the values, the numbers are interpreted as pixels. This command is useful for certain versions of xemacs which freak out if their windows become too small. If you omit he parameters or their values are invalid, both limits are set to 0 pixels (which is the default value).
MaxWindowSize [ width [ p ] height [ p ] ] Tells fvwm the maximum width and height of a window. The values are the percentage of the total screen area. If the letter 'p' is appended to either of the values, the numbers are interpreted as pixels. This command is useful to force large application windows to be fully visible. Neither height nor width may be less than 100 pixels. If you omit the parameters or their values are invalid, both limits are set to 32767 pixels (which is the default).
With IconifyWindowGroups all windows in the same window group are iconified and deiconified at once when any window in the group is (de)iconified. The default is IconifyWindowGroupsOff, which disables this behavior. Although a number of applications use the window group hint, it is rarely used in a proper way, so it is probably best to use IconifyWindowGroups only for selected applications.
The option SnapAttraction affects interactive window movement: If during an interactive move the window or icon comes within proximity pixels of another the window or icon, it is moved to make the borders adjoin. The default of 0 means that no snapping happens. Calling this command without arguments turns off snap attraction and restores the default behavior. Please refer also to the SnapGrid command.
The second argument determined is optional and may be set to one of the five following values: With All both icons and windows snap to other windows and other icons. SameType lets windows snap only to windows, and icons snap only to icons. With Windows windows snap only to other windows. Similarly with Icons icons snap only to other icons. With None no snapping takes place. This option can be useful in conjunction with the following argument if you only want to snap against the screen edges. The default behavior is All.
The third and last optional argument may be set to one of the four following values:
With Screen the already snapping icons or windows, which is controlled by the second argument, will snap now also to the screen edges.
ScreenWindows snaps only windows to the screen edges.
ScreenIcons snaps only icons to the screen edges.
ScreenAll snaps windows and icons to the screen edges.
The option SnapGrid defines an invisible grid on the screen. During an interactive move a window or icon is positioned such that its location (top left corner) is coincident 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 results in the window being moved to be adjacent to the nearest window border (if within snap proximity) or grid position. The window moves 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. Using this style without arguments reinstates the default settings.
The styles EdgeMoveDelay and EdgeResizeDelay tells how hard it should be to change the desktop viewport by moving or resizing a window over the edge of the screen. The parameter tells how many milliseconds the pointer must spend on the screen edge before fvwm moves the viewport. The command EdgeScroll determines how far the viewport is scrolled. If -1 is given as the delay, page flipping is disabled completely. The defaults are no delay for moving (0) and no flipping for resizing (-1). Using these styles without any argument restores the default settings. Note that, with
EdgeScroll 0 0
it is still possible to move or resize windows across the edge of the current screen. See also EdgeThickness.
The option EdgeMoveResistance makes it easier to place a window directly adjacent to the screen's or xinerama screen's border. It takes one or two parameters. The first 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. The optional second parameter does the same as the first, but for individual Xinerama screens. If omitted, the value of the first parameter is assumed for this type of movement. Set the second parameter to 0 to zero to ignore individual xinerama screen edges. Note that the center of the window being moved determines the xinerama screen on which the window should be kept. Both values are 0 by default. To restore the defaults, the option EdgeMoveResistance can be used without any parameters.
The option InitialMapCommand allows for any valid fvwm command or function to run when the window is initially mapped by fvwm. Example:
Style MyWindow StartsOnPage 0 0, InitialMapCommand Iconify
This would hence place the window called MyWindow on page 0 0 for the current desk, and immediately run the Iconify command on that window.
Note that should InitialMapCommand be used as a global option for all windows, but there is a need that some windows should not have this command applied, then an action of Nop can be used on those windows, as in the following example:
Style * InitialMapCommand Iconify
Style XTeddy InitialMapCommand Nop
31.7.5.7. Window Manager placement
Applications can place windows at a particular spot on the screen either by window manager hints or a geometry specification. When they do neither, then the window manager steps in to find a place for the window. Fvwm knows several ways to deal with this situation. The default is TileCascadePlacement.
PositionPlacement [Center|UnderMouse|move-arguments] When used without an argument, new windows are placed in the top left corner of the display. With the argument Center, all new window appear at the center of the screen, and with UnderMouse, windows are centered under the mouse pointer where possible. If the window is unable to fit on the screen because the pointer is at the edge of the screen, then the window is forced on-screen using this option. If any other move-arguments are given, they are interpreted exactly as the Move command does (with the exception that references to the current window position do not work as the window has not been placed yet).
CascadePlacement automatically place new windows in a cascading fashion.
TileCascadePlacement automatically places new windows in a smart location - a location in which they do not overlap any other windows on the screen. If no such position can be found CascadePlacement is used as a fall-back method.
TileManualPlacement This is the same as TileCascadePlacement, but uses ManualPlacement as the fall-back method.
MinOverlapPlacement automatically places new windows in a location in which the overlapping area in pixels of other windows is minimized. By default this placement policy tries to avoid overlapping icons and windows on higher layers. This can be configured with the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties style.
MinOverlapPercentPlacement is similar to MinOverlapPlacement but tries to minimize the overlapped percentages of other windows instead of the overlapped area in pixels. This placement policy tries to avoid covering other windows completely and tries even harder not to cover small windows. This can be configured with the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties and MinOverlapPercentPlacementPenalties styles.
MinOverlapPlacementPenalties takes at most 6 positive or null decimal arguments:
normal ontop icon sticky below strut
if trailing arguments are missing the default is used which is:
1 5 10 1 0.05 50
To reset this style to the default values, prefix it with a '!'. This style configures the MinOverlapPlacement and MinOverlapPercentPlacement placement policy. The normal factor affects normal windows, the ontop factor affects windows with a greater layer than the window being placed, the icon factor affects icons, the sticky factor affects sticky windows, the below factor affects windows with a smaller layer than the window being placed, the strut factor affects the complement of the EWMH working area if the window being placed has the EWMHPlacementUseWorkingArea style and windows with an EWMH strut hint (i.e., a "please do not cover me" hint) if the window being placed has the EWMHPlacementUseDynamicWorkingArea style. These factors represent the amount of area that these types of windows (or area) are counted as, when a new window is placed. For example, by default the area of ontop windows is counted 5 times as much as normal windows. So MinOverlapPlacement and MinOverlapPercentPlacement covers 5 times as much area of another window before it will cover an ontop window. To treat ontop windows the same as other windows, set this to 1. To really, really avoid putting windows under ontop windows, set this to a high value, say 1000. This style affects the window already mapped and not the window which is currently placed. There is one exception to this rule: in the case of the window being placed has the EWMHPlacementUseWorkingArea style the strut factor affects the placed window.
MinOverlapPercentPlacementPenalties takes at most 4 positive or null integer arguments:
cover_100 cover_95 cover_85 cover_75
if trailing arguments are missing the defaults are used which are:
12 6 4 1
To reset this style to the default values, prefix it with a '!'. This style affects the MinOverlapPercentPlacement placement policy and is similar to the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties style. The cover_xx factor is used when the window being placed covers at least xx percent of the window. This factor is added to the factor determined by the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties style.
ManualPlacement (aka active placement). The user is required to place every new window manually. The window only shows as a rubber band until a place is selected manually. The window is placed when a mouse button or any key except Escape is pressed. Escape aborts manual placement which places the window in the top left corner of the screen. If mouse button 2 is pressed during the initial placement of a window (respectively Shift and mouse button 1 in case Mwm emulation has been enabled with the Emulate command), the user is asked to resize the window too.
It is possible to define buttons usable to place windows with the Move command and the special context 'P' for placement (see Move command). However, you can't redefine the way to also resize the window other than the way it is affected by the Emulate command. The button used for placing the window can be checked with the PlacedByButton condition (see Current command).
Example:
Style * ManualPlacement
*FvwmEvent: PassID
*FvwmEvent: add_window GrowDownFunc
AddToFunc StartFunction
+ I FvwmEvent
AddToFunc GrowDownFunc
+ I windowid $0 (PlacedByButton 3) \
Resize bottomright keep -0p
Now, whenever a window is created and the user presses button 3 to finish initial placement, the window is automatically enlarged until it hits the bottom screen border.
Old placement styles DumbPlacement / SmartPlacement / SmartPlacementOff, CleverPlacement / CleverPlacementOff, ActivePlacement / RandomPlacement, ActivePlacementsHonorsStartsOnPage / ActivePlacementsHonorsStartsOnPageOff, GlobalOpts SmartPlacementIsReallySmart / GlobalOpts SmartPlacementIsNormal are still supported but will be removed in the future. The old and new styles can be translated according to the following table:
GlobalOpts SmartPlacementIsReallySmart
Style * SmartPlacement
-->
Style * SmartPlacement, CleverPlacement
GlobalOpts SmartPlacementIsNormal
Style * SmartPlacement
-->
Style * SmartPlacement, CleverPlacementOff
Style * DumbPlacement, RandomPlacement
-->
Style * CascadePlacement
Style * DumbPlacement, ActivePlacement
-->
Style * ManualPlacement
Style * SmartPlacement, \
RandomPlacement, CleverPlacementOff
-->
Style * TileCascadePlacement
Style * SmartPlacement, \
ActivePlacement, CleverPlacementOff
-->
Style * TileManualPlacement
Style * SmartPlacement, CleverPlacement
-->
Style * MinOverlapPlacement
Style * SmartPlacement, \
ActivePlacement, CleverPlacement
-->
Style * MinOverlapPercentPlacement
Style * ActivePlacementsHonorsStartsOnPage
-->
Style * ManualPlacementsHonorsStartsOnPage
Style * ActivePlacementsHonorsStartsOnPageOff
-->
Style * ManualPlacementsHonorsStartsOnPageOff
31.7.5.8. Placement policy options and window stacking
NoUsePPosition instructs fvwm to ignore the program specified position (PPosition hint) when adding new windows. Using PPosition is required for some applications, but if you do not have one of those it's a real headache. Many programs set PPosition to something obnoxious like 0,0 (upper left corner). Note: !UsePPosition is equivalent to the deprecated option NoPPosition
NoUseUSPosition works like !UsePPosition but applies suppresses using the user specified position indicated by the program (USPosition hint). It is generally a bad thing to override the user's choice, but some applications misuse the USPosition hint to force their windows to a certain spot on the screen without the user's consent. Note: !UseUSPosition is equivalent to the deprecated option !USPosition
NoUseTransientPPosition and UseTransientPPosition work like !UsePPosition and UsePPosition but apply only to transient windows. Note: !UseTransientPPosition is equivalent to the deprecated option !TransientPPosition
NoUseIconPosition instructs fvwm to ignore the program specified icon position (IconPosition hint) when iconifying the window. Note: !UseIconPosition is equivalent to the deprecated option !IconPosition
StartsOnDesk takes a numeric argument which is the desktop number on which the window should be initially placed. Note that standard Xt programs can also specify this via a resource (e.g. "-xrm '*Desk: 1'").
StartsOnPage takes 1, 2, or 3 numeric arguments. If one or three arguments are given, 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 which understand this usage, the starting desk/page can also be specified via a resource (e.g., "-xrm '*page: 1 0 2'"). StartsOnPage in conjunction with SkipMapping is a useful technique when you want to start an app on some other page and continue with what you were doing, rather than waiting for it to appear.
StartsOnScreen takes one argument. It can be 'p' for the primary screen, 'c' for the current screen (containing the mouse pointer), 'g' for the global screen or the screen number itself (counting from zero). A new window is placed on the specified Xinerama screen. The default is to place windows on the screen that contains the mouse pointer at the time the window is created. However, those windows which are not placed by fvwm (i.e., those with a USPosition hint from a user specified geometry) are normally placed in a position relative to the global screen. The StartsOnScreen style is also useful to cause these windows to be placed relative to a specific Xinerama screen. For example:
Style * StartsOnScreen c
Would cause all windows, including those with their own geometry to be placed relative to the current Xinerama screen rather than the global screen. For those standard Xt programs which understand this usage, the starting desk/page can also be specified via a resource (e.g., "-xrm '*fvwmscreen: c'"). ('fvwmscreen' was chosen because some applications already use ´.screen' for other purposes.)
StartsOnPageIncludesTransients causes the StartsOnPage style to be applied even for transient windows. This is not usually useful, since transients are usually pop ups that you want to appear in your visible viewport; but occasionally an application uses a transient for something like a startup window that needs to be coerced into place.
ManualPlacementIgnoresStartsOnPage suppresses StartsOnPage or StartsOnDesk placement in the event that both ManualPlacement 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. ManualPlacementHonorsStartsOnPage allows this to happen anyway. The option has no effect if SkipMapping is not in effect, because fvwm switches to the proper desk/page to perform interactive placement. The default is ManualPlacementIgnoresStartsOnPage; ManualPlacementHonorsStartsOnPage matches the way the old StartsOnDesk style used to handle the situation.
CaptureHonorsStartsOnPage causes the initial capture (of an already existing window) at startup to place the window according to the StartsOnPage and StartsOnScreen desk, page and Xinerama screen specification. CaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage causes fvwm to ignore these settings (including StartsOnDesk) on initial capture. The default is CaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage.
RecaptureHonorsStartsOnPage causes a window to be placed according to, or revert to, the StartsOnPage and StartsOnScreen desk, page and Xinerama screen specification on Restart or Recapture. RecaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage causes fvwm to respect the current window position on Restart or Recapture. The default is RecaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage.
Layer accepts one optional argument: a non-negative integer. This is the layer the window is put in. If no argument is given, any previously set value is deleted and the default layer is implied.
StaysOnTop puts the window in the top layer. This layer can be changed by the command DefaultLayers; the default is 6.
StaysPut puts the window in the put layer. This layer can be changed by the command DefaultLayers; the default is 4.
StaysOnBottom puts the window in the bottom layer. This layer can be changed by the command DefaultLayers; the default is 2.
StartsLowered instructs fvwm to put the window initially at the bottom of its layer rather than the default StartsRaised.
StartShaded tells fvwm to shade the window. An optional direction argument may be given, which can be one of "North", "South", "West", "East", "NorthWest", "NorthEast", "SouthWest", "SouthEast" or if no direction is given, the default is to shade north.
SkipMapping tells fvwm not to switch to the desk the window is on when it gets mapped initially (useful with StartsOnDesk or StartsOnPage).
KeepWindowGroupsOnDesk makes new windows that have the window group hint set appear on the same desk as the other windows of the same group. Since this behavior may be confusing, the default setting is ScatterWindowGroups. The window group hint is ignored when placing windows in this case.
31.7.5.9. Transient windows
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. You can only bind keys or mouse buttons to the sides and the client part of an undecorated window ('S' and ´W' contexts in bindings, see Mouse and Key commands).
A window with the RaiseTransient style that has transient windows raises all its transients when it is raised. The DontRaiseTransient style disables this behavior. All windows are then treated as if they had no transients.
A window with the LowerTransient style that has transient windows lowers all its transients when it is lowered. The DontLowerTransient style disables this behavior. All windows are then treated as if they had no transients.
The StackTransientParent style augments RaiseTransient and LowerTransient styles. Raising a window with StackTransientParent style transfers the raise action to the main window if the window being raised is a transient and its main window has RaiseTransient style; this effect makes raise on a transient act just like raise on its main - the whole group is raised. Similar behavior holds for lowering a whole group of transients when the main has LowerTransient style. DontStackTransientParent turns this behavior off. (Dont)StackTransientParent has no effect if RaiseTransient and LowerTransient are not used.
A reasonable emulation of Motif raise/lower on transients is possible like this
Style * RaiseTransient
Style * LowerTransient
Style * StackTransientParent
31.7.5.10. Extended Window Manager Hints styles
To understand the used terminology in this sub section, please read the Extended Window Manager Hints section.
EWMHDonateIcon instructs fvwm to set the application ewmh icon hint with the icon that is used by fvwm if the application does not provide such hint (and if the icon used by fvwm is not an icon window). EWMHDonateMiniIcon does the same thing for mini icons. This allows compliant pager, taskbar, iconbox ...etc to display the same (mini) icons as fvwm. Note that on some hardware (e.g., 8-bit displays) these styles can slow down window mapping and that in general only one of these styles is needed by a compliant application. EWMHDontDonateIcon and EWMHDontDonateMiniIcon restore the defaults which are to not set any ewmh (mini) icons hints.
By default, if an application provides an ewmh icon hint of small size (i.e., height and width less than or equal to 22), then fvwm uses this icon as its mini icon. EWMHMiniIconOverride instructs fvwm to ignore ewmh icons and to use the mini icon provided by the MiniIcon style. EWMHNoMiniIconOverride restores the default.
EWMHUseStackingOrderHints causes fvwm to use EWMH hints and respect EWMH hints which change the window layer. EWMHIgnoreStackingOrderHints causes fvwm to ignore EWMH layer hints.
An application can ask for some reserved space on the desktop by a hint. In the EWMH terminology such a hint is called a strut and it is used to compute the working area and may be used for window placement and in the maximize command. EWMHIgnoreStrutHints causes fvwm to ignore such hints, as EWMHUseStrutHints, causes fvwm to use it which is the default.
EWMHIgnoreStateHints causes fvwm to ignore initial EWMH state hints when a new window is mapped. The default EWMHUseStateHints causes fvwm to accept such hints.
EWMHIgnoreWindowType causes fvwm to ignore EWMH window type specification. The default !EWMHIgnoreWindowType causes fvwm to style windows of specified types as such.
EWMHMaximizeIgnoreWorkingArea causes fvwm to ignore the EWMH working area when it executes a Maximize command. With EWMHMaximizeUseWorkingArea the EWMH working area is used as with EWMHMaximizeUseDynamicWorkingArea the EWMH dynamic working area is used (the default).
EWMHPlacementIgnoreWorkingArea causes fvwm to ignore the EWMH working area when it places (or places again) a window. With EWMHPlacementUseWorkingArea the EWMH working area is taken in account as with EWMHPlacementUseDynamicWorkingArea the EWMH dynamic working area is taken in account (the default). Note that with the MinOverlapPlacement and MinOverlapPercentPlacement placement policy, the way the EWMH (dynamic) working area is taken in account is configurable with the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties style.
31.7.5.11. Miscellaneous
The BackingStore, BackingStoreOff and BackingStoreWindowDefault determine if the X server uses backing store for the window or not. BackingStore means that the X server tries to keep the obscured parts of a window in memory. This is usually slower if the client runs on the same machine as the X server, but can be much faster if the connection is slow (see also SaveUnder below). BackingStoreOff disables backing store for the window. By default, fvwm does not enable or disable backing store itself but leaves is as the window requested it. To revert back to the application's choice, use the BackingStoreWindowDefault style.
Note: This style is useless if the X server does not allow backing store.
SaveUnder enables the corresponding window attribute in the X server. For a window using this style, the X server tries to store the graphics below it in memory which is usually slower if the client runs on the same machine as the X server. SaveUnder may speed up fvwm if the connection to the X server is slow (e.g. over a modem link). To disable save under, use the SaveUnderOff style. This is the default. See also BackingStore above.
Note: This style is useless if the X server does not allow save under.
ParentalRelativity enables clients that use a background pixmap of type ParentRelative to achieve transparency. Fvwm modules that support transparent colorsets require this setting. Opacity is the default and should be used for all non-transparent clients for better performance.
MwmDecor makes fvwm attempt to recognize and respect the mwm decoration hints that applications occasionally use. To switch this style off, use the NoDecorHint style.
MwmFunctions makes fvwm attempt to recognize and respect the mwm prohibited operations hints that applications occasionally use. HintOverride makes fvwm shade out operations that mwm would prohibit, but it lets you perform the operation anyway. NoFuncHint allows turns off the mwm hints completely.
OLDecor makes fvwm attempt to recognize and respect the olwm and olvwm hints that many older XView and OLIT applications use. Switch this option off with NoOLDecor.
With GNOMEIgnoreHints fvwm ignores all GNOME hints for the window, even if GNOME compliance is compiled in. This is useful for those pesky applications that try to be more clever than the user and use GNOME hints to force the window manager to ignore the user's preferences. The GNOMEUseHints style switches back to the default behavior.
UseDecor This style is deprecated and will be removed in the future. There are plans to replace it with a more flexible solution in fvwm-3.0.
UseDecor accepts one argument: the name of a decor created with AddToDecor. If no decor name is 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 are visible for all windows which are assigned to it. The decor for a window can be reassigned with ChangeDecor.
UseStyle This style is deprecated and will be removed in the future. There are plans to replace it with a more flexible solution in fvwm-3.0.
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
Warning: If a style is built from one or more parent styles and the parent styles are changed, the derived style is not modified. To achieve this you have to issue the UseStyle line again.
Unmanaged Windows with the Unmanaged style option are ignored by fvwm. They are not decorated, can not be moved or resized, etc. You probably want to use Bugopts RaiseOverUnmanaged too. This option can be turned off with the !Unmanaged style. However, windows that are already ignored at the time when the option is set must be recaptured with the Recapture command in order to become managed.
State sets the initial value of one of the 32 user defined states which are associated with each window. The state number ranges from 0 to 31 and must be given as an argument. The states have no meaning in fvwm, but they can be checked in conditional commands like Next with the State condition and manipulated with the State command.
# turn on state 11 for xterms ...
Style xterm State 11
# ... but not for rxvts.
Style rxvt !State 11
Windows with the WindowListSkip styles do not appear in the menu that is created with the WindowList command or the lists shown in several modules like FvwmIconMan or FvwmWinList. In the modules, the style can usually be ignored with an option. Please refer to the man page of the module in question for further information. To disable this feature, use the default style WindowListHit.
The styles CirculateSkip and CirculateHit control whether the window is considered by conditional commands, for example Next, Prev or All. Windows with CirculateSkip, are never selected by conditional commands. However, the styles can be overridden explicitly in the condition with the CirculateHit, CirculateHitIcon or CirculateHitShaded conditions, and some conditional commands, e.g. Current and All, do this by default. The styles CirculateSkipIcon, CirculateHitIcon, CirculateSkipShaded and CirculateHitShaded work like CirculateSkip and CirculateHit but apply only to iconic or shaded windows. Note: if multiple ...Skip... options are combined, windows are only selected if they match none of the given conditions. So, with
Style * CirculateSkipIcon, CirculateSkipShaded
only windows that are neither iconic nor shaded are selected. Note: For historical reasons, the conditional commands understand the names of these styles as condition names. Take care not to confuse them.
31.7.5.12. Examples
# Change default fvwm behavior to no title-
# bars on windows! Also define a default icon.
Style * !Title, \
Icon unknown1.xpm, \
BorderWidth 4, \
HandleWidth 5
# now, window specific changes:
Style Fvwm* !Handles, Sticky, \
WindowListSkip, \
BorderWidth 0
Style FvwmPager StaysOnTop, BorderWidth 0
Style *lock !Handles, Sticky, \
StaysOnTop, WindowListSkip
Style xbiff Sticky, WindowListSkip
Style FvwmButtons !Handles, Sticky, \
WindowListSkip
Style sxpm !Handles
# 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 do not
# bother me with it...
Style Netscape* SkipMapping, \
StartsOnPage 1 1 1
Note that all properties for a window are or'ed together. In the above example "FvwmPager" gets the property StaysOnTop via an exact window name match but also gets !Handles, Sticky and WindowListSkip by a match to "Fvwm*". It gets !Title by virtue of a match to "*". If conflicting styles are specified for a window, then the last style specified is used.
31.7.6. WindowStyle
WindowStyle options
sets attributes (styles) on the selected window. The options are exactly the same as for the Style command.
For readability, the commands in this section are not sorted alphabetically. The description of the Style command can be found at the end of this section.
31.7.1. FocusStyle
FocusStyle stylename options
works exactly like the Style command, but accepts only the focus policy related styles beginning with "FP". The prefix can be removed, but at the cost of a little bit of time. FocusStyle is meant to make the configuration file more readable. Example:
FocusStyle * EnterToFocus, !LeaveToUnfocus
is equivalent to
Style * FPEnterToFocus, !FPLeaveToUnfocus
31.7.2. DestroyStyle
DestroyStyle style
deletes the style named style. The changes take effect immediately. Note that style is not a wild-carded search string, but rather a case-sensitive string that should exactly match the original Style command.
Destroying style "*" can be done, but isn't really to be recommended. For example:
DestroyStyle Application*
This removes all settings for the style named "Application*", NOT all styles starting with "Application".
31.7.3. DestroyWindowStyle
DestroyWindowStyle
deletes the styles set by the WindowStyle command on the selected window. The changes take effect immediately.
31.7.4. UpdateStyles
UpdateStyles
All pending updates of all windows' styles and looks are applied immediately. E.g. if Style, WindowStyle or TitleStyle commands were issued inside a fvwm function.
31.7.5. Style
Style stylename options...
The Style command is used to set attributes of a window to values other than the default or to set the window manager default styles.
stylename can be a window's name, class, visible name, or resource string. It may contain the wildcards '*' and '?', which are matched in the usual Unix filename manner. Multiple style options in a single Style command are read from left to right as if they were issued one after each other in separate commands. A given style always overrides all conflicting styles that have been issued earlier (or further left on the same style line).
Note: windows that have no name (WM_NAME) are given a name of "Untitled", and windows that do not have a class (WM_CLASS, res_class) are given class "NoClass" and those that do not have a resource (WM_CLASS, res_name) are given resource "NoResource".
If a window has the resource "fvwmstyle" set, the value of that resource is used in addition to any window names when selecting the style.
options is a comma separated list containing one or more of the following keywords. Each group of style names is separated by slashes ('/'). The last style in these groups is the default. BorderWidth, HandleWidth, !Icon / Icon, MiniIcon, IconBox, IconGrid, IconFill, IconSize, !Title / Title, TitleAtBottom / TitleAtLeft / TitleAtRight / TitleAtTop, LeftTitleRotatedCW / LeftTitleRotatedCCW, RightTitleRotatedCCW / RightTitleRotatedCW, TopTitleRotated / TopTitleNotRotated, BottomTitleRotated / BottomTitleNotRotated, !UseTitleDecorRotation / UseTitleDecorRotation, StippledTitle / !StippledTitle, StippledIconTitle / !StippledIconTitle, IndexedWindowName / ExactWindowName, IndexedIconName / ExactIconName, !Borders / Borders, !Handles / Handles, WindowListSkip / WindowListHit, CirculateSkip / CirculateHit, CirculateSkipShaded / CirculateHitShaded, CirculateSkipIcon / CirculateHitIcon, Layer, StaysOnTop / StaysOnBottom / StaysPut, Sticky / Slippery, StickyAcrossPages / !StickyAcrossPages, StickyAcrossDesks / !StickyAcrossDesks, !StickyStippledTitle / StickyStippledTitle, !StickyStippledIconTitle / StickyStippledIconTitle, StartIconic / StartNormal, Color, ForeColor, BackColor, Colorset, HilightFore, HilightBack, HilightColorset, BorderColorset, HilightBorderColorset, IconTitleColorset, HilightIconTitleColorset, IconBackgroundColorset, IconTitleRelief, IconBackgroundRelief, IconBackgroundPadding, Font, IconFont, StartsOnDesk / StartsOnPage / StartsAnyWhere, StartsOnScreen, StartShaded / !StartShaded, ManualPlacementHonorsStartsOnPage / ManualPlacementIgnoresStartsOnPage, CaptureHonorsStartsOnPage / CaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage, RecaptureHonorsStartsOnPage / RecaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage, StartsOnPageIncludesTransients / StartsOnPageIgnoresTransients, IconTitle / !IconTitle, MwmButtons / FvwmButtons, MwmBorder / FvwmBorder, MwmDecor / !MwmDecor, MwmFunctions / !MwmFunctions, HintOverride / !HintOverride, !Button / Button, ResizeHintOverride / !ResizeHintOverride, OLDecor / !OLDecor, GNOMEUseHints / GNOMEIgnoreHints, StickyIcon / SlipperyIcon, StickyAcrossPagesIcon / !StickyAcrossPagesIcon, StickyAcrossDesksIcon / !StickyAcrossDesksIcon, ManualPlacement / CascadePlacement / MinOverlapPlacement / MinOverlapPercentPlacement / TileManualPlacement / TileCascadePlacement / PositionPlacement, MinOverlapPlacementPenalties, MinOverlapPercentPlacementPenalties, DecorateTransient / NakedTransient, DontRaiseTransient / RaiseTransient, DontLowerTransient / LowerTransient, DontStackTransientParent / StackTransientParent, SkipMapping / ShowMapping, ScatterWindowGroups / KeepWindowGroupsOnDesk, UseDecor, UseStyle, !UsePPosition / NoPPosition / UsePPosition, !UseUSPosition, NoUSPosition / UseUSPosition, !UseTransientPPosition, NoTransientPPosition / UseTransientPPosition, !UseTransientUSPosition / NoTransientUSPosition / UseTransientUSPosition, !UseIconPosition / NoIconPosition / UseIconPosition, Lenience / !Lenience, ClickToFocus / SloppyFocus / MouseFocus|FocusFollowsMouse / NeverFocus, ClickToFocusPassesClickOff / ClickToFocusPassesClick, ClickToFocusRaisesOff / ClickToFocusRaises, MouseFocusClickRaises / MouseFocusClickRaisesOff, GrabFocus / GrabFocusOff, GrabFocusTransientOff / GrabFocusTransient, FPFocusClickButtons, FPFocusClickModifiers, !FPSortWindowlistByFocus / FPSortWindowlistByFocus, FPClickRaisesFocused / !FPClickRaisesFocused, FPClickDecorRaisesFocused / !FPClickDecorRaisesFocused, FPClickIconRaisesFocused / !FPClickIconRaisesFocused, !FPClickRaisesUnfocused / FPClickRaisesUnfocused, FPClickDecorRaisesUnfocused / !FPClickDecorRaisesUnfocused, FPClickIconRaisesUnfocused / !FPClickIconRaisesUnfocused, FPClickToFocus / !FPClickToFocus, FPClickDecorToFocus / !FPClickDecorToFocus, FPClickIconToFocus / !FPClickIconToFocus, !FPEnterToFocus / FPEnterToFocus, !FPLeaveToUnfocus / FPLeaveToUnfocus, !FPFocusByProgram / FPFocusByProgram, !FPFocusByFunction / FPFocusByFunction, FPFocusByFunctionWarpPointer / !FPFocusByFunctionWarpPointer, FPLenient / !FPLenient, !FPPassFocusClick / FPPassFocusClick, !FPPassRaiseClick / FPPassRaiseClick, FPIgnoreFocusClickMotion / !FPIgnoreFocusClickMotion, FPIgnoreRaiseClickMotion / !FPIgnoreRaiseClickMotion, !FPAllowFocusClickFunction / FPAllowFocusClickFunction, !FPAllowRaiseClickFunction / FPAllowRaiseClickFunction, FPGrabFocus / !FPGrabFocus, !FPGrabFocusTransient / FPGrabFocusTransient, FPOverrideGrabFocus / !FPOverrideGrabFocus, FPReleaseFocus / !FPReleaseFocus, !FPReleaseFocusTransient / FPReleaseFocusTransient, FPOverrideReleaseFocus / !FPOverrideReleaseFocus, StartsLowered / StartsRaised, IgnoreRestack / AllowRestack, FixedPosition / VariablePosition, FixedUSPosition / VariableUSPosition, FixedPPosition / VariablePPosition, FixedSize / VariableSize, FixedUSSize / VariableUSSize, FixedPSize / VariablePSize, !Closable / Closable, !Iconifiable / Iconifiable, !Maximizable / Maximizable, !AllowMaximizeFixedSize / AllowMaximizeFixedSize, IconOverride / NoIconOverride / NoActiveIconOverride, DepressableBorder / FirmBorder, MinWindowSize, MaxWindowSize, IconifyWindowGroups / IconifyWindowGroupsOff, ResizeOpaque / ResizeOutline, BackingStore / BackingStoreOff / BackingStoreWindowDefault, Opacity / ParentalRelativity, SaveUnder / SaveUnderOff, WindowShadeShrinks / WindowShadeScrolls, WindowShadeSteps, WindowShadeAlwaysLazy / WindowShadeBusy / WindowShadeLazy, EWMHDonateIcon / EWMHDontDonateIcon, EWMHDonateMiniIcon / EWMHDontDonateMiniIcon, EWMHMiniIconOverride / EWMHNoMiniIconOverride, EWMHUseStackingOrderHints / EWMHIgnoreStackingOrderHints, EWMHIgnoreStateHints / EWMHUseStateHints, EWMHIgnoreStrutHints / EWMHUseStrutHints, EWMHIgnoreWindowType / !EWMHIgnoreWindowType, EWMHMaximizeIgnoreWorkingArea / EWMHMaximizeUseWorkingArea / EWMHMaximizeUseDynamicWorkingArea, EWMHPlacementIgnoreWorkingArea / EWMHPlacementUseWorkingArea / EWMHPlacementUseDynamicWorkingArea, MoveByProgramMethod, Unmanaged, State, SnapGrid, SnapAttraction, EdgeMoveDelay, EdgeResizeDelay. EdgeMoveResistance, InitialMapCommand
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.
31.7.5.1. Focus policy
ClickToFocus instructs fvwm to give the focus to a window when it is clicked in. The default MouseFocus (or its alias FocusFollowsMouse) tells fvwm to give a 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 the root 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. A window with the style NeverFocus never receives the focus. This is useful for modules like FvwmButtons. for example. Note: Once any of the "FP..." styles has been used, the defaults that come with the basic focus policies are not restored when the latter are used again. For example, once !FPGrabFocus has been used, using ClickToFocus does not restore FPGrabFocus.
The focus model can be augmented with several additional options. In fvwm-2.5.3 and later, there are a large number of advanced options beginning with "FP" or "!FP". These options shall replace the older options one day and are described first. Using any of these new options may limit compatibility with older releases. In general, options beginning with "FP" turn a feature on, while those beginning with "!FP" turn it off.
31.7.5.2. Focusing the window
With FPEnterToFocus, when the pointer enters a window it receives focus.
With FPLeaveToUnfocus a window loses focus when the pointer leaves it.
With FPClickToFocus, FPClickDecorToFocus or FPClickIconToFocus, a window receives focus when the inside of the window or the decorations or its icon is clicked.
The FPFocusByProgram style allows windows to take the focus themselves.
The !FPFocusByFunction style forbids that a window receives the focus via the Focus and FlipFocus commands.
The FPFocusByFunctionWarpPointer style controls if the pointer is warped to a selected window when the Focus command is used.
FPLenient allows focus on windows that do not want it, like FvwmPager or xclock.
The FPFocusClickButtons style takes a list of mouse buttons that can be clicked to focus or raise a window when the appropriate style is used. The default is to use the first three buttons ("123").
The FPFocusClickModifiers style takes a list of modifier keys just like the Key command. The exact combination of modifier keys must be pressed for the click to focus or raise a window to work. The default is to use no modifiers ("N").
With the FPPassFocusClick style, the click that was used to focus a window is passed to the application.
With the FPAllowFocusClickFunction style, the click that was used to focus a window can also trigger a normal action that was bound to the window with the Mouse command).
If the FPIgnoreFocusClickMotion style is used, clicking in a window and then dragging the pointer with the button held down does not count as the click to focus the window. Instead, the application processes these events normally. This is useful to select text in a terminal window with the mouse without raising the window. However, mouse bindings on the client window are not guaranteed to work anymore (see Mouse command). This style forces the initial click to be passed to the application. The distance that the pointer must be moved to trigger this is controlled by the MoveThreshold command.
The FPSortWindowlistByFocus and !FPSortWindowlistByFocus styles control whether the internal window list is sorted in the order the windows were focused or in the order they were created. The latter is the default for ClickToFocus and SloppyFocus.
Clicking the window to raise
The styles FPClickRaisesFocused, FPClickDecorRaisesFocused and FPClickIconRaisesFocused allow to raise the window when the interior or the decorations or the icon of the window is clicked while the window is already focused.
The styles FPClickRaisesUnfocused, FPClickDecorRaisesUnfocused and FPClickIconRaisesUnfocused allow to raise the window when the interior or the decorations or the icon of the window is clicked while the window is not yet focused.
With the FPPassRaiseClick style, the click that was used to raise the window is passed to the application.
With the FPAllowRaiseClickFunction style, the click that was used to raise the window can also trigger a normal action that was bound to the window with the Mouse command.
If the FPIgnoreRaiseClickMotion style is used, clicking in a window and then dragging the pointer with the button held down does not count as the click to raise the window. Instead, the application processes these events normally. This is useful to select text in a terminal window with the mouse without raising the window. However, mouse bindings on the client window are not guaranteed to work anymore (see Mouse command. Note that this style forces that the initial click is passed to the application. The distance that the pointer must be moved to trigger this is controlled by the MoveThreshold command.
Grabbing the focus when a new window is created
New normal or transient windows with the FPGrabFocus or FPGrabFocusTransient style automatically receive the focus when they are created. FPGrabFocus is the default for windows with the ClickToFocus style. Note that even if these styles are disabled, the application may take the focus itself. Fvwm can not prevent this.
The OverrideGrabFocus style instructs fvwm to never take away the focus from such a window via the GrabFocus or GrabFocusTransient styles. This can be useful if you like to have transient windows receive the focus immediately, for example in a web browser, but not while you are working in a terminal window or a text processor.
The above three styles are accompanied by FPReleaseFocus, FPReleaseFocusTransient and FPOverrideReleaseFocus. These control if the focus is returned to another window when the window is closed. Otherwise no window or the window under the pointer receives the focus.
ClickToFocusPassesClickOff and ClickToFocusPassesClick controls whether a mouse click to focus a window is sent to the application or not. Similarly, ClickToFocusRaisesOff/MouseFocusClickRaisesOff and ClickToFocusRaises/MouseFocusClickRaises control if the window is raised (but depending on the focus model).
Note: in fvwm versions prior to 2.5.3, the "Click..." options applied only to windows with ClickToFocus while the "Mouse..." options applied to windows with a different focus policy. This is no longer the case.
The old GrabFocus style is equivalent to using FPGrabFocus + FPReleaseFocus.
The old GrabFocusTransient style is equivalent to using FPGrabFocusTransient + FPReleaseFocusTransient.
Lenience is equivalent to the new style FPLenient.
31.7.5.3. Window title
The Title and !Title options determine if the window has a title-bar or not. By default all windows have a title-bar. NoTitle is equivalent to !Title but is deprecated.
Windows with the TitleAtBottom, TitleAtLeft or TitleAtRight style have a title-bar below, to the left or to the right of the window instead of above as usual. The TitleAtTop style restores the default placement. Even if the window has the !Title style set, this affects the WindowShade command. Please check the WindowShade command for interactions between that command and these styles. Titles on the left or right side of the windows are augmented by the following styles:
Normally, the text in titles on the left side of a window is rotated counterclockwise by 90 degrees from the normal upright position and 90 degrees clockwise for titles on the right side. It can also be rotated in the opposite directions with LeftTitleRotatedCW if TitleAtLeft is used, and with RightTitleRotatedCCW if TitleAtRight is used. The defaults can be restored with LeftTitleRotatedCCW and RightTitleRotatedCW. A normal horizontal text may be rotated as well with TopTitleRotated if TitleAtTop is used, and with BottomTitleRotated if TitleAtBottom is used. The defaults can be restored with TopTitleNotRotated and BottomTitleNotRotated.
By default the title bar decoration defined using the TitleStyle command is rotated following the title text rotation (see the previous paragraph). This can be disabled by using the !UseTitleDecorRotation style. UseTitleDecorRotation reverts back to the default.
With the StippledTitle style, titles are drawn with the same effect that is usually reserved for windows with the Sticky, StickyAcrossPages or StickyAcrossDesks style. !StippledTitle reverts back to normal titles. StippledTitleOff is equivalent to !StippledTitle but is deprecated.
Color takes two arguments. The first is the window-label text color and the second is the window decorations normal background color. The two colors are separated with a slash. If the use of a slash causes problems then the separate ForeColor and BackColor options can be used.
Colorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and overrides the colors set by Color. Instead, the corresponding colors from the given colorset are used. Note that all other features of a colorset are not used. Use the Colorset decoration style in the TitleStyle and ButtonStyle command for that. To stop using the colorset, the colorset number is omitted.
The HilightFore, HilightBack and HilightColorset style options work exactly like ForeColor, BackColor and Colorset but are used only if the window has the focus. These styles replace the old commands HilightColor and HilightColorset.
BorderColorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and overrides the colors set by Color or Colorset. for the window border. To stop using a colorset, the argument is omitted.
The HilightBorderColorset style option works similarly to BorderColorset but is used when the window has the focus.
!IconTitle disables displaying icon labels while the opposite style IconTitle enables icon labels (default behaviour). NoIconTitle is equivalent to !IconTitle but is deprecated.
IconTitleColorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and overrides the colors set by Color or Colorset. To stop using this colorset, the argument is omitted.
HilightIconTitleColorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and overrides the colors set by HilightColor or HilightColorset. To stop using this colorset, the argument is omitted.
IconBackgroundColorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and uses it to set a background for the icon picture. By default the icon picture is not drawn onto a background image. To restore the default, the argument is omitted.
IconTitleRelief takes one numeric argument that may be between -50 and +50 pixels and defines the thickness of the 3D relief drawn around the icon title. With negative values the icon title gets a pressed in look. The default is 2 and it is restored if the argument is omitted.
IconBackgroundRelief takes one numeric argument that may be between -50 and +50 pixels and defines the thickness of the 3D relief drawn around the icon picture background (if any). With negative values the icon background gets a pressed in look. The default is 2 and it is restored if the argument is omitted.
IconBackgroundPadding takes one numeric argument that may be between 0 and 50 pixels and defines the amount of free space between the relief of the icon background picture (if any) and the icon picture. The default is 2 and it is restored if the argument is omitted.
The Font and IconFont options take the name of a font as their sole argument. This font is used in the window or icon title. By default the font given in the DefaultFont command is used. To revert back to the default, use the style without the name argument. These styles replace the older WindowFont and IconFont commands.
The IndexedWindowName style causes fvwm to use window titles in the form
name (i)
where name is the exact window name and i is an integer which represents the i th window with name as window name. ExactWindowName restores the default which is to use the exact window name. IndexedIconName and ExactIconName work the same as IndexedWindowName and ExactWindowName styles but for the icon titles.
31.7.5.4. Title buttons
Button and !Button take a numeric argument which is the number of the title-bar button which is to be shown or omitted. NoButton is equivalent to !Button but is deprecated.
MwmButtons makes the Maximize button look pressed-in when the window is maximized. See the MwmDecorMax flag in ButtonStyle for more information. To switch this style off again, use the FvwmButtons style.
31.7.5.5. Borders
!Borders suppresses the window border (but not the title) completely. The Borders style enables them again. Without borders, all other styles affecting window borders are meaningless.
MwmBorder makes the 3D bevel more closely match Mwm's. FvwmBorder turns off the previous option.
With the !Handles style, the window does not get the handles in the window corners that are commonly used to resize it. With !Handles, the width from the BorderWidth style is used. By default, or if Handles is specified, the width from the HandleWidth style is used. NoHandles is equivalent to !Handles but is deprecated.
HandleWidth takes a numeric argument which is the width of the border to place the window if it does have resize-handles. Using HandleWidth without an argument restores the default.
BorderWidth takes a numeric argument which is the width of the border to place the window if it does not have resize-handles. It is used only if the !Handles style is specified too. Using BorderWidth without an argument restores the default.
DepressableBorder makes the border parts of the window decoration look sunken in when a button is pressed over them. This can be disabled again with the FirmBorder style.
31.7.5.6. Icons, shading, maximizing, movement, resizing
Icon takes an (optional) unquoted string argument which is the icon bitmap or pixmap to use. Icons specified this way override pixmap icons, but not icon windows or the ewmh icon, provided by the client in the application (with the WM_HINTS property or with the ewmh _NET_WM_ICON property). The IconOverride style changes the behavior to override any client-provided icons; the NoIconOverride style changes the behavior to not override any client-provided icons; the default overriding behavior can be activated with the NoActiveIconOverride style. With this style, fvwm uses application provided icons if the icon is changed but uses the icon provided in the configuration file until then.
There is one exception to these rules, namely
Style * Icon unknown.xpm
doesn't force the unknown.xpm icon on every window, it just sets the default icon like the DefaultIcon command. If you really want all windows to have the same icon, you can use
Style ** Icon unknown.xpm
If the NoIcon attribute is set then the specified window simply disappears when 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 no icon is specified. An example which allows only the FvwmPager module icon to exist:
Style * NoIcon
Style FvwmPager Icon
IconBox takes no argument, four numeric arguments (plus optionally a screen specification), an X11 geometry string or the string "none":
IconBox [screen scr-spec] 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. If the first argument is the word screen, the scr-spec argument specifies the Xinerama screen on which the IconBox is defined. It can be the usual screen Xinerama specification, 'p', ´c', 'g', a screen number or the additional 'w' for the screen where the window center is located. This is only useful with multiple Xinerama screens. The "l t r b" specification is more flexible than an X11 geometry. For example:
IconBox -80 240 -1 -1
defines a box that is 80 pixels wide from the right edge, 240 pixels down from the top, and continues to the bottom of the screen.
Perhaps it is easier to use is an X11 geometry string though:
IconBox 1000x70-1-1
places an 1000 by 70 pixel icon box on the bottom of the screen starting in the lower right hand corner of the screen. One way to figure out a geometry like this is to use a window that resizes in pixel increments, for example, xv. Then resize and place the xv window where you want the iconbox. Then use FvwmIdent to read the windows geometry. The icon box is a region of the screen where fvwm attempts to put icons 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 box is full, the second one is filled. All the icon boxes for one style must be defined in one Style command. For example:
Style * IconBox -80 240 -1 -1, \
IconBox 1000x70-1-1
A Style command with the IconBox option replaces any icon box defined previously by another Style command for the same style. Thats why the backslash in the previous example is required.
Note: The geometry for the icon box command takes the additional screen specifier "@w" in case a Xinerama setup is used. This designates the screen where the window center is located. The additional screen specifier is not allowed anywhere else.
If you never define an icon box, or you fill all the icon boxes, fvwm has a default icon box that covers the screen, it fills top to bottom, then left to right, and has an 80x80 pixel grid. To disable all but the default icon box you can use IconBox without arguments in a separate Style command. To disable all icon boxes including the default icon box, the argument "none" can be specified.
Hint: You can auto arrange your icons in the icon box with a simple fvwm function. Put the "DeiconifyAndRearrange" function below in your configuration file:
AddToFunc DeiconifyAndRearrange
+ C Iconify off
+ C All (CurrentPage, Iconic) PlaceAgain Icon
And then replace all places where you call the Iconify command to de-iconify an icon with a call to the new function. For example replace
AddToFunc IconFunc
+ C Iconify off
+ M Raise
+ M Move
+ D Iconify off
Mouse 1 I A Iconify off
with
AddToFunc IconFunc
+ C DeiconifyAndRearrange
+ M Raise
+ M Move
+ D DeiconifyAndRearrange
Mouse 1 I A DeiconifyAndRearrange
IconGrid takes 2 numeric arguments greater than zero.
IconGrid x y
Icons are placed in an icon box by stepping through the icon box using the x and y 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 regular appearance use a grid larger than your largest icon. Use the IconSize definition 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 90
IconFill takes 2 arguments.
IconFill Bottom Right
Icons are placed in an icon box by stepping through the icon box using these arguments to control the direction the box is filled in. By default the direction is left to right, then top to bottom. This would be expressed as:
IconFill left top
To 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
IconSize sets limits on the size of an icon image. Both user-provided and application-provided icon images are affected.
IconSize [ width height [ maxwidth maxheight ] ]
All arguments are measured in pixels. When all four arguments are passed to IconSize, width and height represent the minimum size of an icon, and maxwidth and maxheight represent the maximum size of an icon. Icon images that are smaller than the minimum size are padded. Icon images that are bigger than the maximum size are clipped.
If only two arguments are passed to IconSize, width and height represent the absolute size of an icon. Icons covered by this style are padded or clipped to achieve the given size.
If no arguments are specified, the default values are used for each dimension. This effectively places no limits on the size of an icon.
The value of "-1" can be used in place of any of the arguments to specify the default value for that dimension.
Note that application-provided icon windows are not affected.
MiniIcon specifies a pixmap to use as the miniature icon for the window. This miniature 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.
WindowShadeShrinks and WindowShadeScrolls control if the contents of a window that is being shaded with the WindowShade command are scrolled (default) or if they stay in place. The shrinking mode is a bit faster
The WindowShadeSteps option selects the number of steps for animation when shading a window with WindowShade. It takes one number as its argument. If the number has a trailing 'p' it sets the number of pixels to use as the step size instead of a fixed number of steps. 0 disables the animation. This happens too if the argument is omitted or invalid.
The WindowShade command has two modes of operation: busy and lazy shading. Busy shading can be 50% slower than lazy shading, but the latter can look strange under some conditions, for example, if the window borders, buttons or the title are filled with a tiled pixmap. Also, the window handles are not drawn in lazy mode and the border relief may only be drawn partially right before the window reaches the shaded state or tight after leaves the unshaded state. By default, fvwm uses lazy mode if there are no bad visual effects (not counting the window handles) and busy mode otherwise. Use the WindowShadeAlwaysLazy or WindowShadeBusy to force using the lazy or busy mode. The default setting is restored with WindowShadeLazy.
ResizeOpaque instructs fvwm to resize the corresponding windows with their contents visible instead of using an outline. Since this causes the application to redraw frequently it can be quite slow and make the window flicker excessively, depending on the amount of graphics the application redraws. The ResizeOutline style (default) negates the ResizeOpaque style. Many applications do not like their windows being resized opaque, e.g. XEmacs, Netscape or terminals with a pixmap background. If you do not like the result, do not use the ResizeOpaque style for these windows. To exempt certain windows from opaque resizing you could use these lines in your configuration file:
Style * ResizeOpaque
Style rxvt ResizeOutline
Style emacs ResizeOutline
Sticky makes the window sticky, i.e. it is always visible on each page and each desk. The opposite style, Slippery reverts back to the default.
StickyIcon makes the window sticky when it's iconified. It de-iconifies on top the active desktop. SlipperyIcon reverts back to the default.
StickyAcrossPages and StickyAcrossPagesIcon work like Sticky and StickyIcon, but stick the window only across pages, not desks while StickyAcrossDesks and StickyAcrossDesksIcon works the other way round.
Windows that have been marked as Sticky or StickyAcrossDesks or StickyAcrossPages will have stipples drawn on the titlebar. This can be negated with the !StickyStippledTitle style. The style StickyStippledTitle puts back the stipples where that window has also been marked as Sticky. Note that this is the default style for Sticky windows. Sticky icons will have stipples drawn on the icon title. This can be disabled in the same way with the !StickyStippledIconTitle style.
Windows with the StartIconic style are shown as icons initially. Note that some applications counteract that by deiconifying themselves. The default is to not iconify windows and can be set with the StartNormal style.
StickyIcon makes the window sticky when it's iconified. It de-iconifies on top the active desktop. SlipperyIcon reverts back to the default.
StickyIconPage works like StickyIcon, but sticks the icon only across pages, not desks while StickyIconDesk works the other way round.
StippledIconTitle works like StippledTitle in that it draws stipples on the titles of icons but doesn't make the icon sticky.
IgnoreRestack makes fvwm ignore attempts of clients to raise or lower their own windows. By default, the opposite style, AllowRestack is active.
FixedPosition and FixedUSPosition make fvwm ignore attempts of the user to move the window. It is still possible to move the window by resizing it. To allow the user to move windows, use the VariablePosition or VariableUSPosition style.
FixedSize and FixedUSSize make fvwm ignore attempts of the user to resize the window. To allow the user to resize windows, use the VariableSize or VariableUSSize style.
FixedPPosition and FixedPSize make fvwm ignore attempts of the program to move or resize its windows. To allow this kind of actions, use the VariablePPosition or VariablePSize style. These styles may sometimes affect the initial placement and dimensions of new windows (depending on the application). If windows are created at strange places, try either the VariablePPosition or NoPPosition styles. The FixedPSize style may screw up window dimensions for some applications. Do Not use this style in this case.
MoveByProgramMethod affects how fvwm reacts to requests by the application to move its windows. By default, fvwm tries to detect which method to use, but it sometimes detects the wrong method. You may come across a window that travels across the screen by a few pixels when the application resizes it, moves to a screen border with the frame decorations off screen, that remembers its position for the next time it starts but appears in a slighly shifted position, or that attepmts to become full screen but has the. Try out both options, UseGravity and IgnoreGravity on the window (and that window only) and see if that helps. By default, fvwm uses the AutoDetect method. Once the method was detected, it is never changed again. As long as fvwm can not detect the proper method, it uses IgnoreGravity. To force fvwm to retry the detection, use one of the other two options first and then use AutoDetect again.
Note: This option was introduced to alleviate a problem with the ICCCM specification. The ICCCM clearly states that the UseGravity option should be used, but traditionally applications ignored this rule.
Closable enables the functions Close, Delete and Destroy to be performed on the windows. This is on by default. The opposite, !Closable, inhibits the window to be closed.
Iconifiable enables the function Iconify to be performed on the windows. This is on by default. The opposite, !Iconifiable, inhibits the window from being iconified.
Maximizable enables the function Maximize to be performed on the windows. This is on by default. The opposite, !Maximizable, inhibits the window from being maximized.
AllowMaximizeFixedSize enables the function Maximize to be performed on windows that are not resizable, unless maximization has been disabled either using the style !Maximizable or through WM hints. This is on by default. The opposite, !AllowMaximizeFixedSize, inhibits all windows that are not resizable from being maximized.
ResizeHintOverride instructs fvwm to ignore the program supplied minimum and maximum size as well as the resize step size (the character size in many applications). This can be handy for broken applications that refuse to be resized. Do not use it if you do not need it. The default (opposite) style is NoResizeOverride.
MinWindowSize [ width [ p ] height [ p ] ] Tells fvwm the minimum width and height of a window. The values are the percentage of the total screen area. If the letter 'p' is appended to either of the values, the numbers are interpreted as pixels. This command is useful for certain versions of xemacs which freak out if their windows become too small. If you omit he parameters or their values are invalid, both limits are set to 0 pixels (which is the default value).
MaxWindowSize [ width [ p ] height [ p ] ] Tells fvwm the maximum width and height of a window. The values are the percentage of the total screen area. If the letter 'p' is appended to either of the values, the numbers are interpreted as pixels. This command is useful to force large application windows to be fully visible. Neither height nor width may be less than 100 pixels. If you omit the parameters or their values are invalid, both limits are set to 32767 pixels (which is the default).
With IconifyWindowGroups all windows in the same window group are iconified and deiconified at once when any window in the group is (de)iconified. The default is IconifyWindowGroupsOff, which disables this behavior. Although a number of applications use the window group hint, it is rarely used in a proper way, so it is probably best to use IconifyWindowGroups only for selected applications.
The option SnapAttraction affects interactive window movement: If during an interactive move the window or icon comes within proximity pixels of another the window or icon, it is moved to make the borders adjoin. The default of 0 means that no snapping happens. Calling this command without arguments turns off snap attraction and restores the default behavior. Please refer also to the SnapGrid command.
The second argument determined is optional and may be set to one of the five following values: With All both icons and windows snap to other windows and other icons. SameType lets windows snap only to windows, and icons snap only to icons. With Windows windows snap only to other windows. Similarly with Icons icons snap only to other icons. With None no snapping takes place. This option can be useful in conjunction with the following argument if you only want to snap against the screen edges. The default behavior is All.
The third and last optional argument may be set to one of the four following values:
With Screen the already snapping icons or windows, which is controlled by the second argument, will snap now also to the screen edges.
ScreenWindows snaps only windows to the screen edges.
ScreenIcons snaps only icons to the screen edges.
ScreenAll snaps windows and icons to the screen edges.
The option SnapGrid defines an invisible grid on the screen. During an interactive move a window or icon is positioned such that its location (top left corner) is coincident 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 results in the window being moved to be adjacent to the nearest window border (if within snap proximity) or grid position. The window moves 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. Using this style without arguments reinstates the default settings.
The styles EdgeMoveDelay and EdgeResizeDelay tells how hard it should be to change the desktop viewport by moving or resizing a window over the edge of the screen. The parameter tells how many milliseconds the pointer must spend on the screen edge before fvwm moves the viewport. The command EdgeScroll determines how far the viewport is scrolled. If -1 is given as the delay, page flipping is disabled completely. The defaults are no delay for moving (0) and no flipping for resizing (-1). Using these styles without any argument restores the default settings. Note that, with
EdgeScroll 0 0
it is still possible to move or resize windows across the edge of the current screen. See also EdgeThickness.
The option EdgeMoveResistance makes it easier to place a window directly adjacent to the screen's or xinerama screen's border. It takes one or two parameters. The first 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. The optional second parameter does the same as the first, but for individual Xinerama screens. If omitted, the value of the first parameter is assumed for this type of movement. Set the second parameter to 0 to zero to ignore individual xinerama screen edges. Note that the center of the window being moved determines the xinerama screen on which the window should be kept. Both values are 0 by default. To restore the defaults, the option EdgeMoveResistance can be used without any parameters.
The option InitialMapCommand allows for any valid fvwm command or function to run when the window is initially mapped by fvwm. Example:
Style MyWindow StartsOnPage 0 0, InitialMapCommand Iconify
This would hence place the window called MyWindow on page 0 0 for the current desk, and immediately run the Iconify command on that window.
Note that should InitialMapCommand be used as a global option for all windows, but there is a need that some windows should not have this command applied, then an action of Nop can be used on those windows, as in the following example:
Style * InitialMapCommand Iconify
Style XTeddy InitialMapCommand Nop
31.7.5.7. Window Manager placement
Applications can place windows at a particular spot on the screen either by window manager hints or a geometry specification. When they do neither, then the window manager steps in to find a place for the window. Fvwm knows several ways to deal with this situation. The default is TileCascadePlacement.
PositionPlacement [Center|UnderMouse|move-arguments] When used without an argument, new windows are placed in the top left corner of the display. With the argument Center, all new window appear at the center of the screen, and with UnderMouse, windows are centered under the mouse pointer where possible. If the window is unable to fit on the screen because the pointer is at the edge of the screen, then the window is forced on-screen using this option. If any other move-arguments are given, they are interpreted exactly as the Move command does (with the exception that references to the current window position do not work as the window has not been placed yet).
CascadePlacement automatically place new windows in a cascading fashion.
TileCascadePlacement automatically places new windows in a smart location - a location in which they do not overlap any other windows on the screen. If no such position can be found CascadePlacement is used as a fall-back method.
TileManualPlacement This is the same as TileCascadePlacement, but uses ManualPlacement as the fall-back method.
MinOverlapPlacement automatically places new windows in a location in which the overlapping area in pixels of other windows is minimized. By default this placement policy tries to avoid overlapping icons and windows on higher layers. This can be configured with the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties style.
MinOverlapPercentPlacement is similar to MinOverlapPlacement but tries to minimize the overlapped percentages of other windows instead of the overlapped area in pixels. This placement policy tries to avoid covering other windows completely and tries even harder not to cover small windows. This can be configured with the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties and MinOverlapPercentPlacementPenalties styles.
MinOverlapPlacementPenalties takes at most 6 positive or null decimal arguments:
normal ontop icon sticky below strut
if trailing arguments are missing the default is used which is:
1 5 10 1 0.05 50
To reset this style to the default values, prefix it with a '!'. This style configures the MinOverlapPlacement and MinOverlapPercentPlacement placement policy. The normal factor affects normal windows, the ontop factor affects windows with a greater layer than the window being placed, the icon factor affects icons, the sticky factor affects sticky windows, the below factor affects windows with a smaller layer than the window being placed, the strut factor affects the complement of the EWMH working area if the window being placed has the EWMHPlacementUseWorkingArea style and windows with an EWMH strut hint (i.e., a "please do not cover me" hint) if the window being placed has the EWMHPlacementUseDynamicWorkingArea style. These factors represent the amount of area that these types of windows (or area) are counted as, when a new window is placed. For example, by default the area of ontop windows is counted 5 times as much as normal windows. So MinOverlapPlacement and MinOverlapPercentPlacement covers 5 times as much area of another window before it will cover an ontop window. To treat ontop windows the same as other windows, set this to 1. To really, really avoid putting windows under ontop windows, set this to a high value, say 1000. This style affects the window already mapped and not the window which is currently placed. There is one exception to this rule: in the case of the window being placed has the EWMHPlacementUseWorkingArea style the strut factor affects the placed window.
MinOverlapPercentPlacementPenalties takes at most 4 positive or null integer arguments:
cover_100 cover_95 cover_85 cover_75
if trailing arguments are missing the defaults are used which are:
12 6 4 1
To reset this style to the default values, prefix it with a '!'. This style affects the MinOverlapPercentPlacement placement policy and is similar to the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties style. The cover_xx factor is used when the window being placed covers at least xx percent of the window. This factor is added to the factor determined by the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties style.
ManualPlacement (aka active placement). The user is required to place every new window manually. The window only shows as a rubber band until a place is selected manually. The window is placed when a mouse button or any key except Escape is pressed. Escape aborts manual placement which places the window in the top left corner of the screen. If mouse button 2 is pressed during the initial placement of a window (respectively Shift and mouse button 1 in case Mwm emulation has been enabled with the Emulate command), the user is asked to resize the window too.
It is possible to define buttons usable to place windows with the Move command and the special context 'P' for placement (see Move command). However, you can't redefine the way to also resize the window other than the way it is affected by the Emulate command. The button used for placing the window can be checked with the PlacedByButton condition (see Current command).
Example:
Style * ManualPlacement
*FvwmEvent: PassID
*FvwmEvent: add_window GrowDownFunc
AddToFunc StartFunction
+ I FvwmEvent
AddToFunc GrowDownFunc
+ I windowid $0 (PlacedByButton 3) \
Resize bottomright keep -0p
Now, whenever a window is created and the user presses button 3 to finish initial placement, the window is automatically enlarged until it hits the bottom screen border.
Old placement styles DumbPlacement / SmartPlacement / SmartPlacementOff, CleverPlacement / CleverPlacementOff, ActivePlacement / RandomPlacement, ActivePlacementsHonorsStartsOnPage / ActivePlacementsHonorsStartsOnPageOff, GlobalOpts SmartPlacementIsReallySmart / GlobalOpts SmartPlacementIsNormal are still supported but will be removed in the future. The old and new styles can be translated according to the following table:
GlobalOpts SmartPlacementIsReallySmart
Style * SmartPlacement
-->
Style * SmartPlacement, CleverPlacement
GlobalOpts SmartPlacementIsNormal
Style * SmartPlacement
-->
Style * SmartPlacement, CleverPlacementOff
Style * DumbPlacement, RandomPlacement
-->
Style * CascadePlacement
Style * DumbPlacement, ActivePlacement
-->
Style * ManualPlacement
Style * SmartPlacement, \
RandomPlacement, CleverPlacementOff
-->
Style * TileCascadePlacement
Style * SmartPlacement, \
ActivePlacement, CleverPlacementOff
-->
Style * TileManualPlacement
Style * SmartPlacement, CleverPlacement
-->
Style * MinOverlapPlacement
Style * SmartPlacement, \
ActivePlacement, CleverPlacement
-->
Style * MinOverlapPercentPlacement
Style * ActivePlacementsHonorsStartsOnPage
-->
Style * ManualPlacementsHonorsStartsOnPage
Style * ActivePlacementsHonorsStartsOnPageOff
-->
Style * ManualPlacementsHonorsStartsOnPageOff
31.7.5.8. Placement policy options and window stacking
NoUsePPosition instructs fvwm to ignore the program specified position (PPosition hint) when adding new windows. Using PPosition is required for some applications, but if you do not have one of those it's a real headache. Many programs set PPosition to something obnoxious like 0,0 (upper left corner). Note: !UsePPosition is equivalent to the deprecated option NoPPosition
NoUseUSPosition works like !UsePPosition but applies suppresses using the user specified position indicated by the program (USPosition hint). It is generally a bad thing to override the user's choice, but some applications misuse the USPosition hint to force their windows to a certain spot on the screen without the user's consent. Note: !UseUSPosition is equivalent to the deprecated option !USPosition
NoUseTransientPPosition and UseTransientPPosition work like !UsePPosition and UsePPosition but apply only to transient windows. Note: !UseTransientPPosition is equivalent to the deprecated option !TransientPPosition
NoUseIconPosition instructs fvwm to ignore the program specified icon position (IconPosition hint) when iconifying the window. Note: !UseIconPosition is equivalent to the deprecated option !IconPosition
StartsOnDesk takes a numeric argument which is the desktop number on which the window should be initially placed. Note that standard Xt programs can also specify this via a resource (e.g. "-xrm '*Desk: 1'").
StartsOnPage takes 1, 2, or 3 numeric arguments. If one or three arguments are given, 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 which understand this usage, the starting desk/page can also be specified via a resource (e.g., "-xrm '*page: 1 0 2'"). StartsOnPage in conjunction with SkipMapping is a useful technique when you want to start an app on some other page and continue with what you were doing, rather than waiting for it to appear.
StartsOnScreen takes one argument. It can be 'p' for the primary screen, 'c' for the current screen (containing the mouse pointer), 'g' for the global screen or the screen number itself (counting from zero). A new window is placed on the specified Xinerama screen. The default is to place windows on the screen that contains the mouse pointer at the time the window is created. However, those windows which are not placed by fvwm (i.e., those with a USPosition hint from a user specified geometry) are normally placed in a position relative to the global screen. The StartsOnScreen style is also useful to cause these windows to be placed relative to a specific Xinerama screen. For example:
Style * StartsOnScreen c
Would cause all windows, including those with their own geometry to be placed relative to the current Xinerama screen rather than the global screen. For those standard Xt programs which understand this usage, the starting desk/page can also be specified via a resource (e.g., "-xrm '*fvwmscreen: c'"). ('fvwmscreen' was chosen because some applications already use ´.screen' for other purposes.)
StartsOnPageIncludesTransients causes the StartsOnPage style to be applied even for transient windows. This is not usually useful, since transients are usually pop ups that you want to appear in your visible viewport; but occasionally an application uses a transient for something like a startup window that needs to be coerced into place.
ManualPlacementIgnoresStartsOnPage suppresses StartsOnPage or StartsOnDesk placement in the event that both ManualPlacement 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. ManualPlacementHonorsStartsOnPage allows this to happen anyway. The option has no effect if SkipMapping is not in effect, because fvwm switches to the proper desk/page to perform interactive placement. The default is ManualPlacementIgnoresStartsOnPage; ManualPlacementHonorsStartsOnPage matches the way the old StartsOnDesk style used to handle the situation.
CaptureHonorsStartsOnPage causes the initial capture (of an already existing window) at startup to place the window according to the StartsOnPage and StartsOnScreen desk, page and Xinerama screen specification. CaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage causes fvwm to ignore these settings (including StartsOnDesk) on initial capture. The default is CaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage.
RecaptureHonorsStartsOnPage causes a window to be placed according to, or revert to, the StartsOnPage and StartsOnScreen desk, page and Xinerama screen specification on Restart or Recapture. RecaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage causes fvwm to respect the current window position on Restart or Recapture. The default is RecaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage.
Layer accepts one optional argument: a non-negative integer. This is the layer the window is put in. If no argument is given, any previously set value is deleted and the default layer is implied.
StaysOnTop puts the window in the top layer. This layer can be changed by the command DefaultLayers; the default is 6.
StaysPut puts the window in the put layer. This layer can be changed by the command DefaultLayers; the default is 4.
StaysOnBottom puts the window in the bottom layer. This layer can be changed by the command DefaultLayers; the default is 2.
StartsLowered instructs fvwm to put the window initially at the bottom of its layer rather than the default StartsRaised.
StartShaded tells fvwm to shade the window. An optional direction argument may be given, which can be one of "North", "South", "West", "East", "NorthWest", "NorthEast", "SouthWest", "SouthEast" or if no direction is given, the default is to shade north.
SkipMapping tells fvwm not to switch to the desk the window is on when it gets mapped initially (useful with StartsOnDesk or StartsOnPage).
KeepWindowGroupsOnDesk makes new windows that have the window group hint set appear on the same desk as the other windows of the same group. Since this behavior may be confusing, the default setting is ScatterWindowGroups. The window group hint is ignored when placing windows in this case.
31.7.5.9. Transient windows
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. You can only bind keys or mouse buttons to the sides and the client part of an undecorated window ('S' and ´W' contexts in bindings, see Mouse and Key commands).
A window with the RaiseTransient style that has transient windows raises all its transients when it is raised. The DontRaiseTransient style disables this behavior. All windows are then treated as if they had no transients.
A window with the LowerTransient style that has transient windows lowers all its transients when it is lowered. The DontLowerTransient style disables this behavior. All windows are then treated as if they had no transients.
The StackTransientParent style augments RaiseTransient and LowerTransient styles. Raising a window with StackTransientParent style transfers the raise action to the main window if the window being raised is a transient and its main window has RaiseTransient style; this effect makes raise on a transient act just like raise on its main - the whole group is raised. Similar behavior holds for lowering a whole group of transients when the main has LowerTransient style. DontStackTransientParent turns this behavior off. (Dont)StackTransientParent has no effect if RaiseTransient and LowerTransient are not used.
A reasonable emulation of Motif raise/lower on transients is possible like this
Style * RaiseTransient
Style * LowerTransient
Style * StackTransientParent
31.7.5.10. Extended Window Manager Hints styles
To understand the used terminology in this sub section, please read the Extended Window Manager Hints section.
EWMHDonateIcon instructs fvwm to set the application ewmh icon hint with the icon that is used by fvwm if the application does not provide such hint (and if the icon used by fvwm is not an icon window). EWMHDonateMiniIcon does the same thing for mini icons. This allows compliant pager, taskbar, iconbox ...etc to display the same (mini) icons as fvwm. Note that on some hardware (e.g., 8-bit displays) these styles can slow down window mapping and that in general only one of these styles is needed by a compliant application. EWMHDontDonateIcon and EWMHDontDonateMiniIcon restore the defaults which are to not set any ewmh (mini) icons hints.
By default, if an application provides an ewmh icon hint of small size (i.e., height and width less than or equal to 22), then fvwm uses this icon as its mini icon. EWMHMiniIconOverride instructs fvwm to ignore ewmh icons and to use the mini icon provided by the MiniIcon style. EWMHNoMiniIconOverride restores the default.
EWMHUseStackingOrderHints causes fvwm to use EWMH hints and respect EWMH hints which change the window layer. EWMHIgnoreStackingOrderHints causes fvwm to ignore EWMH layer hints.
An application can ask for some reserved space on the desktop by a hint. In the EWMH terminology such a hint is called a strut and it is used to compute the working area and may be used for window placement and in the maximize command. EWMHIgnoreStrutHints causes fvwm to ignore such hints, as EWMHUseStrutHints, causes fvwm to use it which is the default.
EWMHIgnoreStateHints causes fvwm to ignore initial EWMH state hints when a new window is mapped. The default EWMHUseStateHints causes fvwm to accept such hints.
EWMHIgnoreWindowType causes fvwm to ignore EWMH window type specification. The default !EWMHIgnoreWindowType causes fvwm to style windows of specified types as such.
EWMHMaximizeIgnoreWorkingArea causes fvwm to ignore the EWMH working area when it executes a Maximize command. With EWMHMaximizeUseWorkingArea the EWMH working area is used as with EWMHMaximizeUseDynamicWorkingArea the EWMH dynamic working area is used (the default).
EWMHPlacementIgnoreWorkingArea causes fvwm to ignore the EWMH working area when it places (or places again) a window. With EWMHPlacementUseWorkingArea the EWMH working area is taken in account as with EWMHPlacementUseDynamicWorkingArea the EWMH dynamic working area is taken in account (the default). Note that with the MinOverlapPlacement and MinOverlapPercentPlacement placement policy, the way the EWMH (dynamic) working area is taken in account is configurable with the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties style.
31.7.5.11. Miscellaneous
The BackingStore, BackingStoreOff and BackingStoreWindowDefault determine if the X server uses backing store for the window or not. BackingStore means that the X server tries to keep the obscured parts of a window in memory. This is usually slower if the client runs on the same machine as the X server, but can be much faster if the connection is slow (see also SaveUnder below). BackingStoreOff disables backing store for the window. By default, fvwm does not enable or disable backing store itself but leaves is as the window requested it. To revert back to the application's choice, use the BackingStoreWindowDefault style.
Note: This style is useless if the X server does not allow backing store.
SaveUnder enables the corresponding window attribute in the X server. For a window using this style, the X server tries to store the graphics below it in memory which is usually slower if the client runs on the same machine as the X server. SaveUnder may speed up fvwm if the connection to the X server is slow (e.g. over a modem link). To disable save under, use the SaveUnderOff style. This is the default. See also BackingStore above.
Note: This style is useless if the X server does not allow save under.
ParentalRelativity enables clients that use a background pixmap of type ParentRelative to achieve transparency. Fvwm modules that support transparent colorsets require this setting. Opacity is the default and should be used for all non-transparent clients for better performance.
MwmDecor makes fvwm attempt to recognize and respect the mwm decoration hints that applications occasionally use. To switch this style off, use the NoDecorHint style.
MwmFunctions makes fvwm attempt to recognize and respect the mwm prohibited operations hints that applications occasionally use. HintOverride makes fvwm shade out operations that mwm would prohibit, but it lets you perform the operation anyway. NoFuncHint allows turns off the mwm hints completely.
OLDecor makes fvwm attempt to recognize and respect the olwm and olvwm hints that many older XView and OLIT applications use. Switch this option off with NoOLDecor.
With GNOMEIgnoreHints fvwm ignores all GNOME hints for the window, even if GNOME compliance is compiled in. This is useful for those pesky applications that try to be more clever than the user and use GNOME hints to force the window manager to ignore the user's preferences. The GNOMEUseHints style switches back to the default behavior.
UseDecor This style is deprecated and will be removed in the future. There are plans to replace it with a more flexible solution in fvwm-3.0.
UseDecor accepts one argument: the name of a decor created with AddToDecor. If no decor name is 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 are visible for all windows which are assigned to it. The decor for a window can be reassigned with ChangeDecor.
UseStyle This style is deprecated and will be removed in the future. There are plans to replace it with a more flexible solution in fvwm-3.0.
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
Warning: If a style is built from one or more parent styles and the parent styles are changed, the derived style is not modified. To achieve this you have to issue the UseStyle line again.
Unmanaged Windows with the Unmanaged style option are ignored by fvwm. They are not decorated, can not be moved or resized, etc. You probably want to use Bugopts RaiseOverUnmanaged too. This option can be turned off with the !Unmanaged style. However, windows that are already ignored at the time when the option is set must be recaptured with the Recapture command in order to become managed.
State sets the initial value of one of the 32 user defined states which are associated with each window. The state number ranges from 0 to 31 and must be given as an argument. The states have no meaning in fvwm, but they can be checked in conditional commands like Next with the State condition and manipulated with the State command.
# turn on state 11 for xterms ...
Style xterm State 11
# ... but not for rxvts.
Style rxvt !State 11
Windows with the WindowListSkip styles do not appear in the menu that is created with the WindowList command or the lists shown in several modules like FvwmIconMan or FvwmWinList. In the modules, the style can usually be ignored with an option. Please refer to the man page of the module in question for further information. To disable this feature, use the default style WindowListHit.
The styles CirculateSkip and CirculateHit control whether the window is considered by conditional commands, for example Next, Prev or All. Windows with CirculateSkip, are never selected by conditional commands. However, the styles can be overridden explicitly in the condition with the CirculateHit, CirculateHitIcon or CirculateHitShaded conditions, and some conditional commands, e.g. Current and All, do this by default. The styles CirculateSkipIcon, CirculateHitIcon, CirculateSkipShaded and CirculateHitShaded work like CirculateSkip and CirculateHit but apply only to iconic or shaded windows. Note: if multiple ...Skip... options are combined, windows are only selected if they match none of the given conditions. So, with
Style * CirculateSkipIcon, CirculateSkipShaded
only windows that are neither iconic nor shaded are selected. Note: For historical reasons, the conditional commands understand the names of these styles as condition names. Take care not to confuse them.
31.7.5.12. Examples
# Change default fvwm behavior to no title-
# bars on windows! Also define a default icon.
Style * !Title, \
Icon unknown1.xpm, \
BorderWidth 4, \
HandleWidth 5
# now, window specific changes:
Style Fvwm* !Handles, Sticky, \
WindowListSkip, \
BorderWidth 0
Style FvwmPager StaysOnTop, BorderWidth 0
Style *lock !Handles, Sticky, \
StaysOnTop, WindowListSkip
Style xbiff Sticky, WindowListSkip
Style FvwmButtons !Handles, Sticky, \
WindowListSkip
Style sxpm !Handles
# 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 do not
# bother me with it...
Style Netscape* SkipMapping, \
StartsOnPage 1 1 1
Note that all properties for a window are or'ed together. In the above example "FvwmPager" gets the property StaysOnTop via an exact window name match but also gets !Handles, Sticky and WindowListSkip by a match to "Fvwm*". It gets !Title by virtue of a match to "*". If conflicting styles are specified for a window, then the last style specified is used.
31.7.6. WindowStyle
WindowStyle options
sets attributes (styles) on the selected window. The options are exactly the same as for the Style command.