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1 ======================================================================
2 FVWM Frequently Asked Questions
3 ======================================================================
5 Last updated Apr 25, 2002 for unstable release 2.5.2 and stable release 2.4.8.
7 Contents
9 0. *The* most frequently asked question :)
11 0.1 A few minutes after fvwm is started my keyboard and mouse
12 bindings stop working. What can I do?
14 1. About Fvwm
16 1.1 What does FVWM stand for?
17 1.2 Where do I find the current versions of fvwm?
18 1.3 Any WWW Sites about FVWM?
19 1.4 Where do I ask questions about FVWM?
20 1.5 What are the differences between FVWM 1.xx and 2.xx?
21 1.6 What's the relative memory usage for the various window managers
22 out there?
23 1.7 Why the rename of the various files (fvwm2, .fvwm2rc,
24 fvwm2.man)?
25 1.8 When will fvwm release X.Y.Z be ready?
27 2. Installation
29 2.1 I want to use FVWM, but I don't have root access on my
30 machine. Can I still install and run it?
31 2.2 I'm trying to use fvwm under CDE/COSE, but encountering
32 difficulties. Any suggestions?
33 2.3 I'm trying to compile FVWM under SunOS using cc, but the compiler
34 is having lots of problems. What gives?
35 2.4 I want colored icons, but they won't work. Why not?
36 When I run configure, it reports "no" to "Have XPM support?" How
37 can I get XPM support?
38 2.5 I'm a sysadmin, and if I wanted to force fvwm to read a
39 system rc file and then the user's rc file, how would I do
40 that?
41 2.6 I'm a sysadmin, and if I wanted fvwm to look for all of
42 its rc files in a hidden directory, say ~/.fvwm, much like
43 CDE does, how could I do that?
44 2.7 How can I use FVWM with GNOME?
46 3. Features, Configuration, Functions & Commands
48 3.1 I use FVWM on a RedHat Linux system and can't figure out how to
49 change my FVWM configuration. I've read the FVWM man page but when
50 I edit my .fvwm2rc nothing seems to happen. What's going on ?
51 3.2 Is it possible to raise a window when I click into the
52 window itself, not just the border?
53 3.3 How do I get Alt-Tab behavior like another GUI?
54 3.4 What's the difference between the Focus and FlipFocus commands?
55 3.5 You can bind mouse movements to keystrokes, how about mouse
56 presses?
57 3.6 I'd like to bind a key to paste/use the current selection,
58 how can I do that?
59 3.7 Will FVWM ever support a separate colormap for each desktop?
60 3.8 I really like the horizontal bars that appear on the title bars of
61 sticky windows. Can I get those on other windows as well?
62 3.9 How do I set the Sun keyboard key xxxx to an FVWM command?
63 Or more generally, I'm having problems defining key
64 bindings for FVWM - what can I do?
65 3.10 My .fvwmrc from version 1.xx no longer works. What do I do?
66 3.11 What happened to the FVWM 1.xx 'include' command?
67 3.12 How do I get window titles on sub windows of ...
68 3.13 I just upgraded to version >= 2.3.2, and my configuration settings
69 disappeared! How do I get them back?
70 3.14 Some applications (e.g. Eterm) don't use the icon I defined for them.
71 Why?
72 3.15 I don't like the gaps in my icon box when I de-iconify an
73 application. Is there some kind of auto arrange function?
74 3.16 How do I set up an fvwm menu item that shuts down my Linux machine?
75 3.17 Although the Recapture command is obsolete, do I still need it to
76 apply certain style changes?
77 3.18 When my specific window (or all windows) pops up, I want it to
78 get focus/be moved/be resized/be closed/be shaded... How?
79 3.19 When my specific window (or all windows) is closed, I want to
80 switch desks/wrap to my app X/popup a menu/start app X... How?
81 3.20 I have a multi head setup (multiple screens used under X). How
82 can I tell fvwm to use different configurations for the screens?
84 4. Modules
86 4.1 I'm using FvwmButtons (or GoodStuff in 1.xx), and sometimes the
87 buttons stay depressed, and other times they don't. Why is that?
88 4.2 When having FvwmButtons swallow an app, is it possible to
89 have button presses assigned to actions as well? For
90 instance, I'd like to swallow xload and have a button press
91 pop up an xterm, or swallow xbiff and have a button press
92 bring up the list of messages.
93 4.3 I'm seeing odd things when trying to preprocess files with
94 the FvwmM4/Cpp module...
95 4.4 I heard about this FvwmFileMgr module. Where can I find it?
96 4.5 I used to use GoodStuff in FVWM 1.xx, but it's not in the 2.xx
97 distribution. What do I use now?
98 4.6 I want to have the sub panels in FvwmButtons not at their default
99 position near the button but somewhere else on the screen. Is this
100 possible?
102 5. Development, Known Problems & Bug Reports
104 5.1 I'd really like to see neat feature XYZ in FVWM.
105 Wouldn't that be cool? I even have a patch. When can it
106 be added?
107 5.2 How do I create/submit/apply patches?
108 5.3 How do I submit a bug report?
109 5.4 I have a window that is behaving unexpectedly under FVWM, but just
110 fine under (whatever other window manager), or I have just some
111 random bug. What do I do?
112 5.5 Why do NumLock, CapsLock and ScrollLock interfere with
113 ClickToFocus and/or my mouse bindings?
114 5.6 Menus with gradient backgrounds flicker or are very slow.
115 5.7 Why won't the StartIconic style work with {Netscape, etc.}?
116 5.8 How do I capture the output (e.g. errors) of fvwm?
117 5.9 I try to run some program under FVWM, but it dies with an
118 X11 error like BadAccess. The same program works just fine
119 under MWM or OLWM. What's going on?
120 5.10 Every time I update my install, my currently running fvwm
121 session dies. Why is that?
122 5.11 After I restart fvwm certain windows or icons raise above
123 all other windows and cannot be lowered by any means. One
124 example are the shortcuts of KFM (the KDE file manager).
125 What can I do about that?
126 5.12 The StartsOnPage style does not work for me. Why?
127 5.13 Some modules can not be started when I restart fvwm.
128 5.14 I'm running Rational Rose and fvwm ignores its windows.
129 5.15 Although I use the WindowListSkip style for my modules they
130 still show up in FvwmIconMan, FvwmWinList etc.
132 6. Miscellaneous
134 6.1 What exactly is the difference between a DESK, a PAGE, and
135 the SCREEN?
136 6.2 I'd really like {NeXT, Win95, etc} look and feel. Are you
137 going to support that?
138 6.3 Where can I get more XPMs for icons?
139 6.4 Linux XF86 virtual screen size & fvwm interaction...
140 6.5 I know this question doesn't have to do with FVWM, but what
141 happened to to rxvt and rclock which Rob Nation used to
142 support? Where can I find them now?
143 6.6 How do I set the background with fvwm?
144 6.7 When I use Fvwm ... isn't the right color. Whats wrong?
145 6.8 I just got a mouse with 57 buttons. How do I make Fvwm
146 use them?
148 7. Hints and Examples from the Developers
150 7.1 An easy way to test new configurations.
151 7.2 Using shell commands for configuration.
152 7.3 How to start applications on a page or desk other than the
153 current.
154 7.4 How to start applications on a page or desk other than the
155 current without moving the viewport to the new page or desk.
156 7.5 A more efficient MWM menu style.
157 7.6 Placing menus on the screen.
158 7.7 Are you flipping pages by accident when moving the mouse
159 close to the border of the screen?
160 7.8 Lining up your windows and icons.
161 7.9 Moving the mouse/focus/page with the keyboard.
162 7.10 The cat safe desktop :-)
163 7.11 Lowering and moving windows.
164 7.12 Toggling windows on and off.
165 7.13 How do I start applications by clicking on an icon.
166 7.14 How do I define the hot-spot in an XPM cursor.
169 ======================================================================
170 0 - The most frequently asked question
171 ======================================================================
173 0.1 A few minutes after fvwm is started my keyboard and mouse
174 bindings stop working. What can I do?
176 A: Probably your NumLock, CapsLock or ScrollLock key is pressed. See
177 Q 5.5 for more details.
179 Trivia: In all my years as an fvwm developer this has been by far the
180 most frequently asked question. Whoever can solve this problem so
181 that this question is never asked again will be mentioned in big
182 letters on the fvwm home page :-)
184 ======================================================================
185 1 - About Fvwm
186 ======================================================================
188 1.1 What does FVWM stand for?
190 A: "Fill_in_the_blank_with_whatever_f_word_you_like_at_the_time
191 Virtual Window Manager". Rob Nation (the original Author of FVWM)
192 doesn't really remember what the F stood for originally, so we
193 have several potential answers:
195 Feeble, Fabulous, Famous, Fast, Foobar, Fantastic, Flexible,
196 F!@#$%, Flashy, FVWM (the GNU recursive approach), Free, Final,
197 Funky, Fred's (who the heck is Fred?), Freakin', Flawed,
198 Father-of-all, Feivel (the mouse from "An American Tail"),
199 Frungy (hey, where does that come from?), Floppy, Foxy,
200 Frenzied, Funny, Fumbling etc.
202 Just pick your Favorite (hey, there's another one!), which will of
203 course change depending on your mood and whether or not you've run
204 across any bugs recently. I prefer Fabulous or Fantastic myself,
205 although I often use F!@#$% or Freakin' while debugging...
207 Recently 'Feline' is becoming popular. Perhaps this has something
208 to do with the discovery that four of the six core developers have
209 cats (averaging 1.17 cats)? Miaow.
211 Know what? I found another one while stroking my cats: FEEDING :-)
213 Check this link:
214 _+_A HREF="http://fvwm.org/fvwm-cats/"_-_fvwm-cats_+_/A_-_
216 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
218 1.2 Where do I find the current versions of fvwm?
220 A: New main distribution site (official + beta code):
222 ftp://ftp.fvwm.org/pub/fvwm/
224 Alternate sites:
226 USA:
227 ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/X11/window-managers/
228 ftp://ftp.cs.columbia.edu/pub/cheah/
230 Europe:
231 ftp://unix.hensa.ac.uk/pub/walnut.creek/FreeBSD/incoming/
232 ftp://ftp.jussieu.fr/pub/X11/fvwm/
233 ftp://ftp.loria.fr/pub/unix/fvwm/
235 BTW, 1.24r was the last released version of the 1.xx series and the
236 first official release of 2.xx is 2.2. As of 2.2, an odd second
237 digit denotes development releases and even numbers denote stable
238 releases.
240 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
242 1.3 Any WWW Sites about FVWM?
244 A: Yup. The official site is:
246 http://www.fvwm.org/
248 There are links on the official site to other related fvwm sites.
250 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
252 1.4 Where do I ask questions about FVWM?
254 A: If your local FVWM maintainer can't help you, then the newsgroup
255 comp.windows.x.apps is a good place, but the fvwm mailing list is
256 usually better. The new FVWM discussion mailing list address is:
258 fvwm@fvwm.org
260 And there is an announce mailing list as well:
262 fvwm-announce@fvwm.org
264 They are maintained by Jason Tibbitts, and are Majordomo based
265 mailing lists. To subscribe to the list, send "subscribe fvwm" in
266 the body of a message to <list>-request@fvwm.org. For example, to
267 subscribe to the fvwm mailing list, send a request to
268 fvwm-request@fvwm.org.
270 To unsubscribe from a list, send "unsubscribe fvwm" in the body of a
271 message to <list>-request@fvwm.org. To report problems, send mail to
272 fvwm-owner@fvwm.org.
274 Here's the list descriptions and instructions directly from Jason:
276 ------------------------------------------------------------------
277 (fvwm)
279 Description
280 -----------
282 This list is for discussion relating to the FVWM window manager,
283 which is intended to have a small memory footprint and a rich
284 feature set, be extremely customizable and extendable and have a
285 high degree of Motif MWM compatibility. All relevant discussion
286 is encouraged. Posting of binaries or irrelevant discussion is
287 strongly frowned upon. Posting of short patches (less than 200
288 lines) is acceptable, but all patches should also be sent to the
289 fvwm-workers list (see Q5.2, below) for inspection and possible
290 inclusion in the distribution.
293 Instructions
294 ------------
296 To send a message to the list, mail to fvwm@fvwm.org. For help on
297 dealing with the mailing list software (for getting the archives or
298 other files which may be made available) send the message "help" to
299 fvwm-request@fvwm.org. If you have problems with the mailing list
300 itself and need to talk to a human, send mail to fvwm-owner@fvwm.org.
301 This address is for mailing list issues only; reports on the FVWM
302 software will be sent to /dev/null.
304 Archives of previous messages are available; to get them send the
305 above mentioned help message and investigate the "index" and "get"
306 commands or ftp them from ftp://ftp.fvwm.org/pub/fvwm/list-archive/.
309 (fvwm-announce)
311 This list is for announcements relating to the FVWM window manager,
312 which is intended to have a small memory footprint and a rich
313 feature set, be extremely customizable and extendable and have a
314 high degree of Motif MWM compatibility.
316 Replies to messages from this list are set by default to go the
317 FVWM discussion list, fvwm@fvwm.org.
319 The current FVWM distribution is available for ftp at
320 ftp://ftp.fvwm.org/pub/fvwm/
321 ------------------------------------------------------------------
323 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
325 1.5 What are the differences between FVWM 1.xx and 2.xx?
327 A: A lot. To name a few general ones:
328 - Bug fixes. 1.xx is not worked on at all any more.
329 - Better rc file format. No longer order dependent.
330 - More flexible and powerful. For example, many previously
331 global options now operate on a per window group level
332 instead.
333 - More and better modules.
334 - M4 preprocessing is no longer part of the fvwm exec, but
335 rather has been moved to a module. There is also a module
336 to use cpp too. See the FvwmM4 and FvwmCpp man pages.
338 Be sure to check the NEWS file for new or changed features too.
340 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
342 1.6 What's the relative memory usage for the various window managers
343 out there?
345 A: Here's a little table comparing some of them. It was done on an
346 AIX based IBM RS6000 model 355 using the same number of windows (3)
347 and XSession to switch between the window managers, and I used
348 'top' to show the values:
350 SIZE RES
351 545K 652K fvwm2 (fvwm 2.0.35)
352 457K 528K fvwm (fvwm 1.24rb)
353 856K 960K ctwm (ctwm 3.2p1)
354 1004K 1156K mwm (mwm 1.2)
355 543K 632K twm (???)
356 263K 328K aixwm (a simple ugly window manager included w/ aix)
358 Note: This information is terribly outdated.
360 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
362 1.7 Why the rename of the various files (fvwm2, .fvwm2rc, fvwm2.man)?
364 A: Some people find this annoying, but let me say that I did that for
365 several reasons:
367 - so both 1.xx and 2.xx can be installed for use, in case some
368 people at the same site would rather stay at 1.xx
369 - the syntax of the rc files is pretty different and
370 completely incompatible
371 - when people ask questions, if they explicitly mention their
372 .fvwm2rc file I know that they are running one of the 2.xx
373 versions, since they rarely mention exactly what version
374 they are running.
376 Note, starting from 2.5.1, the executable fvwm2 became fvwm again.
378 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
380 1.8 When will fvwm release X.Y.Z be ready?
382 A: This is always a difficult question to answer. We work on fvwm on
383 a volunteer basis. Things get done when we have the time.
385 Joining the fvwm-workers mailing list might prove instructive.
388 ======================================================================
389 2 - Installation
390 ======================================================================
392 2.1 I want to use FVWM, but I don't have root access on my machine.
393 Can I still install and run it?
395 A: Very easily, using the '--prefix' flag at configure time.
397 Suppose your home directory is /home/sam. After unpacking the
398 fvwm sources, do "./configure --prefix=/home/sam [other options as
399 needed]'. Now, after building ("make") and installing ("make
400 install"), you will find the binaries in /home/sam/bin, the
401 man pages in /home/sam/man, etc. The modules will be in
402 /home/sam/libexec, and fvwm binary will have this module path
403 built in.
405 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
407 2.2 I'm trying to use fvwm under CDE/COSE, but encountering
408 difficulties. Any suggestions?
410 A: Sure - here's one from Graeme McCaffery:
412 -----
413 Finally I have found out how to run fvwm properly from CDE 8-))
414 (thanks to Lars Sodergren).
416 First set your home session in Dtwm. That usually is an empty
417 session, though you could have the CDE session manager remember
418 what your desktop was like instead of FvwmSaveDesk etc..
420 Then you have to set two resources in .Xdefaults:
422 Dtsession*wmStartupCommand: /home/orion/spxgm/bin/Fvwm
423 Dtsession*waitWmTimeout: 1
425 In this case I run fvwm from a shell script so that library
426 variables etc are set properly for everyone. The waitWmTimeout
427 tells the session manager how long to wait until it starts the
428 window manager. I've set it to 1 second. By default it's 60 seconds.
430 Finally you have to quit with
432 /usr/dt/bin/dtaction ExitSession (or whatever your path is for dtaction)
434 Now you can happily use CDE programs and fvwm.
435 -----
437 On the other hand, here is a link to a web page that describes how to
438 add multiple window managers to the CDE login menu:
440 _+_A HREF="http://twirl.mcc.ac.uk/~zzassgl/wm.html"_-_CDE login Link_+_/A_-_
442 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
444 2.3 I'm trying to compile FVWM under SunOS using cc, but the compiler
445 is having lots of problems. What gives?
447 A: cc under SunOS is not an ANSI C compiler. Try using acc or gcc
448 instead.
450 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
452 2.4 I want colored icons, but they won't work. Why not?
453 When I run configure, it reports "no" to "Have XPM support?" How
454 can I get XPM support?
456 A: FVWM uses the XPM (X PixMap) library to provide support for colored
457 and shaped icons. XPM doesn't ship with the basic X distribution as
458 provided by The Open Group or XFree86. However, many vendors will
459 bundle it as a standard component anyway. If not, you can get a copy
460 of the source from ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/libraries/ and build it
461 yourself.
463 If you have XPM on your system, there are a number of ways configure
464 could still decide not to use it.
466 First, if you've installed XPM in a non-standard place (not in the
467 normal system or X11 directories--say in /opt/xpm or /usr/local or
468 similar) then you need to tell configure where to look. Use the
469 --with-xpm-library and --with-xpm-includes options (see
470 INSTALL.fvwm). Typically configure will say "Xpm library or header
471 not found" if this is the problem.
473 Second, your version of XPM may be too old. FVWM requires XPM 3.4g
474 or better. Typically configure will say "Xpm library version is too
475 old!" if this is the problem. In that case, you'll need to install a
476 newer version.
478 Third, XPM may be mis-installed on your system. If configure says "
479 Xpm library version and header file version don't match!" then this
480 may be the problem. Either use the --with-xpm-library and
481 --with-xpm-includes options to specify more precisely what you want,
482 or try re-installing XPM.
484 Last, there could be a linker error. This is especially common on
485 systems where XPM may be built as a shared library and installed in a
486 non-standard directory (Solaris is a good example). There are some
487 notes about building using shared libraries in the INSTALL.fvwm
488 file.
490 If you can't figure it out, contact the FVWM mailing list. Please be
491 sure to provide the type of hardware and operating system you're
492 using, how you invoked configure, and extract the lines dealing with
493 XPM from the config.log file and include that.
495 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
497 2.5 I'm a sysadmin, and if I wanted to force fvwm to read a system rc
498 file and then the user's rc file, how would I do that?
500 A: Well, you could probably do something like this:
502 - have the first line of everyone's .fvwm2rc be 'Read
503 global.fvwm2rc' and have global.fvwm2rc reside in your
504 defined "datadir"/fvwm (from the ./configure step).
506 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
508 2.6 I'm a sysadmin, and if I wanted fvwm to look for all of its rc
509 files in a hidden directory, say ~/.fvwm, much like CDE does, how
510 could I do that?
512 A: FVWM now supports ~/.fvwm search directory by default.
514 This could be probably done similarly to Q2.5 above. The system rc
515 file "sysconfdir"/system.fvwm2rc (or "datadir"/fvwm/system.fvwm2rc)
516 could do something like:
518 Read Init quiet
519 Read Decors quiet
520 Read Styles quiet
521 Read Functions quiet
522 Read Menus quiet
523 Read Keys quiet
524 Read Modules quiet
526 or whatever breakdown you deemed appropriate, and you would have
527 default versions of these in {"datadir"}/fvwm/ that it could find in
528 case the user was missing one of them and you wanted to supply defaults.
530 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
532 2.7 How can I use FVWM with GNOME?
534 A: Since the latest fvwm versions are mostly GNOME compliant, you may
535 simply run GNOME applications, like panel, gmc, gnome-terminal and
536 all others on top of the pure FVWM.
538 The included fvwm-menu-desktop script with a massive man page may
539 help you build a list of gnome applications in fvwm menus.
541 To ensure you will run FVWM and not gnome-session, create .Xclients
542 file in your home directory and put a call to fvwm in it.
543 The file ~/.xinitrc can be used for the similar purposes if you want
544 to bypass any system-wide logic put by your distributor or sysadmin.
547 An alternative solution is to run FVWM inside of /usr/bin/gnome-session.
548 After you start gnome-session (don't start FVWM yourself), go to the
549 foot menu in the GNOME panel, then choose
551 System menus / Settings / Desktop / Window Manager
553 and create an entry for FVWM. FVWM supports session management.
555 If you run gnome-session, SessionInitFunction and SessionRestartFunction
556 are called instead of InitFunction and RestartFunction, see the man page.
557 StartFunction, where we suggest to run modules, is called as usual.
560 Here are examples of the GNOME Window Manager hints support in FVWM:
562 o If you run gnome panel inside fvwm without GNOME support, you can't
563 fully use GNOME pager applets (if at all); with such support you can
564 see right pages/desks and move windows between them inside applets.
565 You can also use Tasklist applet and manage your windows using it.
567 o If you run gmc and bind GnomeButton (see the man page), you can pass
568 root clicks to a gnome application (i.e. to gmc in this case).
571 ======================================================================
572 3 - Features, Configuration, Functions & Commands
573 ======================================================================
575 3.1 I use FVWM on a RedHat Linux system and can't figure out how to
576 change my FVWM configuration. I've read the FVWM man page but when
577 I edit my .fvwm2rc nothing seems to happen. What's going on?
579 A: RedHat Linux installs the X server accompanied (by default) by a
580 configuration management system. In earlier releases it was called
581 TheNextLevel and in more recent releases it's called AnotherLevel.
582 For further information about TheNextLevel, consult RedHat's
583 documentation in /usr/doc/TheNextLevel/. For information about
584 AnotherLevel, do a 'man AnotherLevel'.
586 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
588 3.2 Is it possible to raise a window when I click into the window
589 itself, not just the border?
591 A: Any version later than 2.0.46 (i.e. 2.1.0 or later) has this
592 feature. In the 2.2.x series, use:
594 GlobalOpts MouseFocusClickRaises
596 With the later 2.3.x betas and after use:
598 Style * MouseFocusClickRaises
600 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
602 3.3 How do I get Alt-Tab behavior like another GUI?
604 A: The built in command WindowList provides a very close approximation
605 to the Alt-Tab feature found in another GUI. It doesn't look the
606 same but the following .fvwm2rc sample will provide a similar
607 interface:
609 Key Tab A M WindowList Root c c NoDeskSort
611 Starting with release 2.3.2, the above key binding is built-in.
613 Starting with release 2.3.15 you can hold the alt key down and
614 keep hitting tab. A single alt-tab selects the previous window.
615 The remainder of this FAQ entry describes releases prior to 2.3.2.
617 Hitting Alt-Tab will pop up the WindowList menu. Unlike another GUI
618 you should not keep the Alt key held down, the menu will stay up
619 until you hit Return/Enter/Space or Escape. You can change focus to
620 a window on the menu by using the up and down arrow keys to move the
621 menu selection and then hitting Return or Enter. Hitting Escape will
622 close the menu without doing anything. The WindowList menu has hot
623 keys assigned for the first 26 windows and you can use the hot key to
624 go directly to the window.
626 The menu invoked with the above line will show all windows in
627 most recently focused order unless you have used the Focus
628 command (see Q3.4). It shows each windows name and geometry
629 with some extra flags to indicate Sticky, OnTop and iconified
630 windows.
632 A simpler style can be used with the following:
634 Key Tab A M WindowList Root c c CurrentDesk NoGeometry
636 This will just list the windows on the current desk (titles only).
638 The other GUI has the feature of selecting the previous window if
639 Alt-TAB is hit and released quickly. This behavior cannot be exactly
640 duplicated but similar functionality can be assigned to hitting
641 Alt-TAB twice in quick succession (like a double click for keys):
643 DestroyFunc my_dbltab2
644 AddToFunc my_dbltab2 "I" WindowListFunc $w
645 DestroyFunc my_dbltab
646 AddToFunc my_dbltab "I" Prev (CurrentDesk) my_dbltab2
647 Key Tab A M WindowList Root c c CurrentDesk NoGeometry my_dbltab
649 There are a lot of options to the WindowList command to control which
650 windows are listed in which order and it may not be possible to set
651 conditions for the Prev command to reliably select the second item
652 when double keying. The WindowList command has no parallel for
653 CurrentPage, Transient, Visible, Maximized, Raised, and pattern
654 matching. The Prev conditions have no parallel for OnTop, Alphabetic
655 and desk sorting. The WindowList menu respects the WindowListSkip
656 style attribute whereas Prev respects the CirculateSkip and
657 CirculateSkipIcon style attributes.
659 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
661 3.4 What's the difference between the Focus and FlipFocus commands?
663 A: Both of these commands change the keyboard focus to the target
664 window. They differ only in the way they affect the internally held
665 list of windows. This list is used by the Next, Prev and WindowList
666 commands. The list is normally sorted in most recently focused order
667 with new windows being added to the end. The FlipFocus command plucks
668 the target window from the list and inserts it at the beginning, The
669 Focus command rotates the list around until the target window is at
670 the beginning. The behavior of FlipFocus is also used when changing
671 focus with the mouse and the automatic focus changing when using
672 ClickToFocus style.
674 If you never use the Focus command the list will remain in most
675 recently focused order. If you do use the Focus command the list will
676 gradually get back to most recently focused order as you use
677 FlipFocus.
679 The Focus command is very useful in conjunction with the Next and
680 Prev commands. e.g.
682 Key KP_Add A M Next (AcceptsFocus CurrentDesk !Iconic) Focus
683 Key KP_Subtract A M Prev (AcceptsFocus CurrentDesk !Iconic) Focus
685 Or for fvwm versions earlier than 2.4.1:
687 Key KP_Add A M Next [CurrentDesk !Iconic] Focus
688 Key KP_Subtract A M Prev [CurrentDesk !Iconic] Focus
690 These bindings allow you to circulate the focus around the windows on
691 the current desk in both directions. If Prev FlipFocus were used the
692 focus would toggle between the top two windows on the window list.
694 If you have several windows on a desk and you want to set the
695 circulation order for the Next and Prev commands you should focus on
696 the windows using the mouse or FlipFocus in the order you want. Fvwm
697 will learn the order and use it for the Next and Prev commands. If
698 you subsequently use the mouse to focus or FlipFocus the order will
699 be lost.
701 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
703 3.5 You can bind mouse movements to keystrokes, how about mouse
704 presses?
706 A: Although fvwm has commands for binding movements to keystrokes,
707 controlling the pointer with the keyboard should really be handled by
708 the X server. The following is an excerpt of the X FAQ on this topic:
711 If you have the X Keyboard (XKB) Extension, you can enable mouse keys,
712 which makes it possible to generate mouse motion and button events
713 using the keyboard. Events generated by MouseKeys are completely
714 transparent -- they will work with any application that connects to a
715 server that has the X Keyboard Extension, regardless of whether the
716 application itself uses XKB.
718 XKB is enabled by default in X11R6.1.
720 First, set up the Num Lock key so that Shift+Num_Lock toggles mouse keys:
722 xmodmap -e "keysym Num_Lock = Num_Lock Pointer_EnableKeys"
724 (XFree86 3.1.2E is based on R6.1 and has the X Keyboard Extension;
725 it also has a binding to Pointer_EnableKeys in its default keymap.
726 You use Alt+Shift+Num_Lock to toggle MouseKeys on and off. If you
727 are using an earlier release of X or XFree86, you won't have XKB and
728 the instructions will not work. See http://www.XFree86.org/FAQ for
729 more information.)
731 You might also have to turn off server num lock for this to work.
732 Now press "Shift+Num_Lock" to enable MouseKeys. When MouseKeys are on:
734 o) The keypad arrow keys move the pointer
735 o) The keypad '5' key behaves like the 'default' pointer button
736 o) The keypad '0' key locks the default pointer button (for easy
737 dragging)
738 o) The keypad '.' key unlock the default pointer button (to release
739 a drag)
740 o) The keypad '+' key double-clicks the default pointer button.
741 o) The keypad '/' key sets the 'default' button to Button1
742 o) The keypad '*' key sets the default button to Button2
743 o) The keypad '-' key sets the default button to Button3
745 This is the default configuration, but the mechanism allows for nearly
746 infinite configurability.
748 [thanks to Erik Fortune (erik@westworld.engr.sgi.com), 6/96]
752 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
754 3.6 I'd like to bind a key to paste/use the current selection, how can
755 I do that?
757 A: You can't directly with fvwm, but there may be a solution that is
758 more generally applicable - use the program 'xcb' available at
759 ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/utilities/ or from your favorite mirror. It
760 could probably be used to get the desired effect or close to it.
761 This is most useful for running programs and passing the selection to
762 them (e.g. - invoke your favorite browser with the current selection as
763 the URL). To get a semi-generic paste facility to work, you'll
764 probably need to use 'xse' (see Q3.5). If anyone comes up with a
765 good example of this, please send it to the fvwm mailing list for
766 inclusion here.
768 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
770 3.7 Will FVWM ever support a separate colormap for each desktop?
772 A: Doubtful, although I'd like to see it too. I believe that it'd be
773 possible to change the default colormap whenever you switch desks,
774 which would give programs started when that desk is active that
775 colormap, how would you deal with windows being moved across desks?
777 Plus fvwm itself needs certain colormap entries for all of its
778 drawing (borders, menus, etc), so these colors would have to be
779 pre-allocated in all of the colormaps, or something like that.
781 While this all *might* be technically possible, I don't feel that
782 it's really feasible right now (too much code bloat and
783 complexity), especially since most color hog programs (i.e. Netscape)
784 allow you to have them install private colormaps.
786 I may explore this a little at some point in the future though.
788 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
790 3.8 I really like the horizontal bars that appear on the title bars of
791 sticky windows. Can I get those on other windows as well?
793 A: Yes. For release 2.3.14 and after,
794 put the line
796 Style * StippledTitle
798 in your .fvwm2rc. For earlier releases use
800 GlobalOpts StipledTitles
802 (Yes the spelling was inconsistent.)
804 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
806 3.9 How do I set the Sun keyboard key xxxx to an FVWM command? Or
807 more generally, I'm having problems defining key bindings for FVWM
808 - what can I do?
810 A: From Jon Mountjoy, one of FVWM's users:
811 - Function keys on Sun Keyboard on Top Row are F1 - F8
812 - Keys on the function keypad on the Left of the Sun Keyboard
813 are F11 == Stop, F12 == Again, ..., F20 == Cut
815 His Example:
817 # Function keys on Sun Keyboard on Top Row
818 Key F1 A N Exec me(netscape) &
819 Key F2 A N Exec me(netscape -install) &
820 Key F5 A N Exec makex(Adder)
821 Key F6 A N Exec makex(Lambda)
822 Key F7 A N Exec makex(Castor)
823 Key F8 A N Exec xterm -T Local &
825 # Keys on the function keypad on the Left of the Sun Keyboard:
826 # F11 = Stop, F12 = Again, ..., F20 = Cut
827 Key F11 AWF N Next (!iconic CurrentPage) Focus
828 Key F12 AWF N Prev (!iconic CurrentPage) Focus
829 Key F13 WF N Maximize 100 100
830 Key F15 WF N RaiseLower ""
831 Key F17 WIF N Iconify ""
832 Key F18 WF N Stick ""
833 Key F20 WIF N Delete ""
834 Key Help AWF N Iconify ""
836 A more general solution is to use xev (usually distributed w/ X11)
837 or xkeycaps (an X11 interface to xmodmap written by Jamie Zawinski,
838 available from ftp.x.org) to find out what the keysym for whatever
839 key you want REALLY is, and use that for binding fvwm commands.
841 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
843 3.10 My .fvwmrc from version 1.xx no longer works. What do I do?
845 A: Start with a new one or convert your old one. This can be done by
846 hand or with a little help from the 'fvwm-convert-2.2' in the
847 utils directory.
849 And here is a list of rc file command changes compiled by Makoto
850 'MAR_kun' MATSUSHITA <matusita@ics.es.osaka-u.ac.jp>. It may or
851 may not be 100% accurate or complete, especially as changes evolve,
852 but it's a good start.
854 Note that there have been some changes in 2.1.x and up that are
855 not reflected in the conversion script yet.
857 ** Fvwm-1.xx commands ** ** Fvwm-2.0.x equivalent **
859 AppsBackingStore (obsoleted)
860 AutoRaise delay (obsoleted, use FvwmAuto)
861 BackingStore (obsoleted)
862 BoundaryWidth Width Style (BorderWidth width)
863 ButtonStyle button# WidthxHeight <-
864 CenterOnCirculate (obsoleted)
865 CirculateSkip windowname Style (CirculateSkip)
866 CirculateSkipIcons Style (CirculateSkipIcon)
867 ClickTime delay <-
868 ClickToFocus Style (ClickToFocus)
869 Cursor cursor_num cursor_type CursorStyle context cursornum
870 DecorateTransients Style (DecorateTransient)
871 DeskTopScale Scale (obsoleted, use FvwmPager)
872 DeskTopSize HorizontalxVertical <-
873 DontMoveOff (obsoleted)
874 EdgeResistance scrolling moving <-
875 EdgeScroll horizontal vertical <-
876 Font fontname MenuStyle (arg4)
877 Function FunctionName AddToFunc (not compatible)
878 HiBackColor colorname Style (HilightFore color)
879 HiForeColor colorname Style (HilightFore color)
880 Icon windowname bitmap-file Style (Icon iconname-file)
881 IconBox left top right bottom Style (IconBox l t r b)
882 IconFont fontname Style (IconFont fontname)
883 IconPath path ImagePath path
884 Key keyname Context Modifiers Function <-
885 Lenience Style (Lenience)
886 MenuBackColor colorname MenuStyle (arg2)
887 MenuForeColor colorname MenuStyle (arg1)
888 MenuStippleColor colorname MenuStyle (arg3)
889 Module ModuleName <-
890 ModulePath path <-
891 Mouse Button Context Modifiers Function <-
892 MWMBorders Style (MWMBorder)
893 MWMButtons Style (MWMButtons)
894 MWMDecorHints Style (MWMDecor)
895 MWMFunctionHints Style (MWMFunctions)
896 MWMHintOverride Style (HintOverride)
897 MWMMenus MenuStyle (arg5)
898 NoBorder windowname Style (NoBorder)
899 NoBoundaryWidth Width Style (HandleWidth width)
900 NoPPosition Style (NoPPosition)
901 NoTitle windowname Style (NoTitle)
902 OpaqueMove percentage OpaqueMoveSize percentage
903 OpaqueResize (obsoleted)
904 Pager X_Location Y_Location (obsoleted, use FvwmPager)
905 PagerForeColor colorname (obsoleted, use FvwmPager)
906 PagerBackColor colorname (obsoleted, use FvwmPager)
907 PagerFont fontname (obsoleted, use FvwmPager)
908 PagingDefault pagingdefaultvalue (obsoleted)
909 PixmapPath ImagePath path
910 Popup PopupName AddToMenu (not compatible)
911 RandomPlacement Style (RandomPlacement)
912 SaveUnders (obsoleted)
913 SloppyFocus Style (SloppyFocus)
914 SmartPlacement Style (SmartPlacement)
915 StartsOnDesk windowname desk-number Style (StartsOnDesk desk-number)
916 StaysOnTop windowname Style (StaysOnTop)
917 StdBackColor colorname Style (BackColor color)
918 StdForeColor colorname Style (ForeColor color)
919 StickyBackColor colorname (obsoleted)
920 StickyForeColor colorname (obsoleted)
921 Sticky windowname Style (Sticky)
922 StickyIcons Style (StickyIcon)
923 StubbornIcons (obsoleted)
924 StubbornIconPlacement (obsoleted)
925 StubbornPlacement (obsoleted)
926 Style windowname options <-
927 SuppressIcons Style (NoIcon)
928 WindowFont fontname Style (Font fontname)
929 WindowListSkip windowname Style (WindowListSkip)
930 XORvalue number <-
932 ** fvwm-1 built-in functions ***
934 Beep <-
935 CirculateDown [ name window_name ] Next (not compatible)
936 CirculateUp [ name window_name ] Prev (not compatible)
937 Close <-
938 CursorMove horizonal vertical <-
939 Delete <-
940 Desk arg1 arg2 <-
941 Destroy <-
942 Exec name command <-
943 Focus <-
944 Function <-
945 GotoPage x y <-
946 Iconify [ value ] <-
947 Lower <-
948 Maximize [ horizontal vertical ] <-
949 Module name ModuleName Module ModuleName
950 Move [ x y ] <-
951 Nop <-
952 Popup <-
953 Quit <-
954 Raise <-
955 RaiseLower <-
956 Refresh <-
957 Resize [ x y ] <-
958 Restart name WindowManagerName <-
959 Stick <-
960 Scroll horizonal vertical <-
961 Title <-
962 TogglePage (obsoleted)
963 Wait name <-
964 Warp [ name window_name ] Next or Prev (not compatible)
965 WindowsDesk new_desk (obsoleted, use MoveToDesk)
966 WindowList arg1 arg2 <-
968 *** New in fvwm-2 **
970 All
971 AnimatedMove
972 BugOpts
973 BusyCursor
974 DefaultColors
975 DefaultColorset
976 DefaultFont
977 DefaultIcon
978 DefaultLayers
979 Destroy
980 DestroyMenu
981 EdgeThickness
982 Emulate
983 EscapeFunc
984 ExecUseShell
985 HideGeometryWindow
986 KillModule
987 Layer
988 Menu menu-name double-click-action
989 MoveToDesk
990 MoveToPage
991 Next (conditions) command
992 None (arguments) command
993 Pick
994 PointerKey
995 Prev (conditions) command
996 QuitSession
997 Read filename
998 Recapture
999 RecaptureWindow
1000 SaveQuitSession
1001 SaveSession
1002 Silent
1003 SnapAttraction
1004 SnapGrid
1005 StrokeFunc
1006 XORPixmap
1007 +
1008 (more functions are being added from time to time, so please check
1009 the man page and the NEWS file too).
1011 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1013 3.11 What happened to the FVWM 1.xx 'include' command?
1015 A: It was actually part of the M4 preprocessing. You can use the 'Read'
1016 builtin to get the same effect, or use the FvwmM4 module.
1018 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1020 3.12 How do I get window titles on sub windows of ... (e.g. Netscape)?
1022 A: These windows are known as 'transient' windows because of their
1023 short lived nature. To get the window decorations for transient
1024 windows you can use the Style command:
1026 Style * DecorateTransient
1028 or to switch it off:
1030 Style * NakedTransient
1032 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1034 3.13 I just upgraded to version >= 2.3.2, and my configuration settings
1035 disappeared! How do I get them back?
1037 A: The directory for system-wide configuration files changed from
1038 ${sysconfdir} (/usr/local/etc, unless set otherwise at configure time)
1039 to a subdirectory, ${sysconfdir}/fvwm. Move your config files by hand
1040 and restart FVWM.
1042 This change was made because FVWM now installs several files into this
1043 directory.
1045 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1047 3.14 Some applications (e.g. Eterm) don't use the icon I defined for them.
1048 Why?
1050 A: Eterm provides its own icon and fvwm does not know if it is a plain
1051 icon or if Eterm wants to draw into it (like xbiff does when you get
1052 new mail). You can explicitly override the application provided
1053 icon with a style command:
1055 Style <application-name> IconOverride
1057 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1059 3.15 I don't like the gaps in my icon box when I de-iconify an
1060 application. Is there some kind of auto arrange function?
1062 A: Assuming you are using the IconBox option of the Style command
1063 this can be done with a tricky fvwm function. Put the
1064 DeiconifyAndRearrange function below in your configuration file:
1066 AddToFunc DeiconifyAndRearrange
1067 + C Iconify off
1068 + C All (CurrentPage Iconic) PlaceAgain Icon
1070 This works with fvwm-2.5.3 and later. Older fvwm releases can
1071 achieve the same effect with
1073 AddToFunc DeiconifyAndRearrange
1074 + C Iconify off
1075 + C All (CurrentPage Iconic) RecaptureWindow
1077 However, as the Recapture and RecaptureWindow commands may be
1078 removed in the future, please use PlaceAgain instead of
1079 Recapture if possible.
1081 Also, replace all places where you call the Iconify builtin
1082 function to de-iconify an icon with a call to the new function.
1083 For example, replace
1085 AddToFunc IconFunc
1086 + C Iconify off
1087 + M Raise
1088 + M Move
1089 + D Iconify off
1091 with
1093 AddToFunc IconFunc
1094 + C DeiconifyAndRearrange
1095 + M Raise
1096 + M Move
1097 + D DeiconifyAndRearrange
1099 and
1101 Mouse 1 I A Iconify off
1103 with
1105 Mouse 1 I A DeiconifyAndRearrange
1107 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1109 3.16 How do I set up an fvwm menu item that shuts down my Linux machine?
1111 A: Write a little shell script to run the shutdown command.
1113 Install sudo on your system (see the man page, etc.)
1115 Set up the sudoers config file to allow you, your wife, etc. to run
1116 that script with root permissions.
1118 Add a menu item to your FVWM root menu (or wherever) that invokes
1119 "sudo /my/script/name".
1121 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1123 3.17 Although the Recapture command is obsolete, do I still need it to
1124 apply certain style changes?
1126 A: Excerpt from the man page:
1128 There are many commands that affect look and feel of specific,
1129 some or all windows, like Style, Mouse, the FvwmTheme module and
1130 many others. For performance reasons such changes are not applied
1131 immediately but only when fvwm is idle, i.e. no user interaction
1132 or module input is pending. Specifically, new Style options that
1133 are set in a function are not applied until after the function has
1134 completed. This can sometimes lead to unwanted effects. To force
1135 that all pending changes are applied immediately, use the
1136 UpdateStyles, Refresh or RefreshWindow commands.
1138 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1140 3.18 When my specific window (or all windows) pops up, I want it to
1141 get focus/be moved/be resized/be closed/be shaded... How?
1143 A: The following discusses a general solution, you should substitute
1144 the application names used in the examples as well as fvwm commands
1145 (Move, Iconify, Close) with the ones you need. To get resource
1146 names of an application you want to catch, use FvwmIdent module.
1148 The first possible approach to achieve what you want is to have a
1149 separate function to start your application, like:
1151 DestroyFunc StartKedit
1152 AddToFunc StartKedit
1153 + I Exec kedit
1154 + I Wait kedit
1155 + I Next (kedit) Resize 100p 200p
1157 This approach has 3 problems:
1158 1) You need to use StartKedit function to start your application,
1159 this will not work if you start it from the command line.
1160 2) If for some reason the application is not started, FVWM waits
1161 for it in Wait, you will need to press Ctrl-Alt-Esc.
1162 3) If you have more than one kedit window, it is not guaranteed
1163 that the right one is resized.
1165 But this approach has one plus - it also enables any fvwm commands
1166 that you may want to issue before executing your command. For example,
1167 to start kedit window iconic, but not affect its subwindows, you can use:
1169 DestroyFunc StartAppIconic
1170 AddToFunc StartAppIconic
1171 + I Style $0 StartIconic
1172 + I Exec exec $0 $1
1173 + I Wait $0
1174 + I Style $0 StartNormal
1176 StartAppIconic kedit /tmp/my.txt
1179 The second approach is to use FvwmEvent, this solves the first two
1180 problems (in fvwm 2.2) or all three problems (in fvwm 2.3 and later).
1182 The sample to use with fvwm 2.2.3+ versions (this resizes the newly
1183 created window "My Window", supposing you have only one such window):
1185 DestroyModuleConfig FvwmEvent*
1186 *FvwmEvent add_window SetGeometryForMyWindow
1188 DestroyFunc SetGeometryForMyWindow
1189 AddToFunc SetGeometryForMyWindow
1190 + I Next ("My Window") Move +10p +10p
1191 + I Next ("My Window") Resize 100p 200p
1193 AddToFunc StartFunction I Module FvwmEvent
1195 The sample to use with fvwm 2.3.21+ versions (this moves a newly
1196 created window "My Window" only, and switches to all new windows):
1198 *FvwmEvent-NewWindow: Cmd
1199 *FvwmEvent-NewWindow: PassId
1200 *FvwmEvent-NewWindow: StartDelay 4
1201 *FvwmEvent-NewWindow: add_window FuncFocusWindow
1203 DestroyFunc FuncFocusWindow
1204 AddToFunc FuncFocusWindow
1205 + I WindowId $0 ("My Window") Move 200p 100p
1206 + I WindowId $0 Focus
1207 + I WindowId $0 WarpToWindow
1209 AddToFunc StartFunction I FvwmEvent FvwmEvent-NewWindow
1211 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1213 3.19 When my specific window (or all windows) is closed, I want to
1214 switch desks/wrap to my app X/popup a menu/start app X... How?
1216 A: Please read the answer to the previous question to understand better.
1218 Again, there are two approaches. The first is good in one kind of
1219 situations, bad in others:
1221 DestroyFunc StartKedit
1222 AddToFunc StartKedit
1223 + I Exec kedit; xmessage -name DummyWindow -g +10000+10000 "dummy"
1224 + I Wait DummyWindow
1225 + I Exec xmessage -timeout 10 "Sorry, you can't close kedit"
1226 + I StartKedit
1228 The second approach is to use FvwmEvent:
1230 *FvwmEvent-OldWindow: Cmd
1231 *FvwmEvent-OldWindow: PassId
1232 *FvwmEvent-OldWindow: destroy_window FuncPopupMyMenu
1234 DestroyFunc FuncPopupMyMenu
1235 AddToFunc FuncPopupMyMenu
1236 # go to the desk 0 when any window is closed
1237 + I GotoDesk 0
1238 # popup my menu when "panel" is closed
1239 + I WindowId $0 ("panel") Popup MenuFvwmRoot
1241 AddToFunc StartFunction I FvwmEvent FvwmEvent-OldWindow
1243 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1245 3.20 I have a multi head setup (multiple screens used under X). How
1246 can I tell fvwm to use different configurations for the screens?
1248 A: FVWM spawns itself into all found screens unless -s command line
1249 parameter is specified, as explained in the man page. All spawned
1250 fvwm processes by default use the same configuration on each screen.
1251 There are several ways to change the default behavior.
1253 Write your configuration file as you would if you had only one
1254 screen. Then move the screen specific lines into separate
1255 configuration files and call them, for example, .fvwm2rc.<screen>
1256 where <screen> is the screen number. Usually this will be 0 for
1257 the main screen and 1 for the secondary screen. Place the screen
1258 specific files in the $HOME/.fvwm directory or whatever you set
1259 $FVWM_USERDIR to. Now add this line to your .fvwm2rc:
1261 Read .fvwm2rc.$[screen]
1263 The $[screen] will be replaced with the number of the screen each
1264 instance of fvwm is started on.
1267 Another method, which should work for older fvwm versions as well,
1268 is to specify a separate file for each screen explicitly. For this,
1269 start a separate fvwm for each screen in your .xinitrc (or .Xclients):
1271 fvwm -s -d :0.0 -f .fvwm2rc-0 &
1272 fvwm -s -d :0.1 -f .fvwm2rc-1 &
1273 fvwm -s -d :0.2 -f .fvwm2rc-2
1275 Note that only the last command is without a trailing ampersand.
1276 If you wish, .fvwm2rc-* files may all include line
1277 "Read .fvwm2rc-common".
1280 ======================================================================
1281 4 - Modules
1282 ======================================================================
1284 4.1 I'm using FvwmButtons (or GoodStuff in 1.xx), and sometimes the
1285 buttons stay depressed, and other times they don't. Why is that?
1287 A: From the FvwmButtons man page:
1289 If command is an fvwm Exec command, then the button
1290 will remain pushed in until a window whose name or
1291 class matches the quoted portion of the command is
1292 encountered. This is intended to provide visual
1293 feedback to the user that the action he has requested
1294 will be performed. If the quoted portion contains no
1295 characters, then the button will pop out immediately.
1296 Note that users can continue pressing the button, and
1297 re-executing the command, even when it looks "pressed
1298 in."
1300 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1302 4.2 When having FvwmButtons swallow an app, is it possible to have
1303 button presses assigned to actions as well? For instance, I'd
1304 like to swallow xload and have a button press pop up an xterm, or
1305 swallow xbiff and have a button press bring up the list of
1306 messages.
1308 A: Yes, with the alpha release 2.5.0 or any later release. For older
1309 releases, read on.
1311 The button presses normally get passed through to the swallowed
1312 application, but if you put a title on the button, you can
1313 assign actions to that. Here's an example that someone sent to
1314 the mailing list once:
1316 *FvwmButtons(1x4, \
1317 Title 'System Info', \
1318 Swallow "xload" 'Exec xload', \
1319 Action(Mouse 1) 'Exec xosview -cua0 -net 200 -ul -l -geometry 325x325', \
1320 Action(Mouse 2) 'Exec xcpustate -interval 1 -bg "#a4978e" -fg black', \
1321 Action(Mouse 3) 'Exec rxvt -fg "khaki" -bg "dark olive green" \
1322 -fat -n top -T Top -7 -e top' )
1324 And you could come up with something similar for xbiff (untested):
1326 *FvwmButtons(1x2, \
1327 Title 'Check Mail' Swallow "xbiff" 'Exec xbiff', \
1328 Action(Mouse 1) 'Exec from | xmessage -file -' )
1330 plus you could bind another button (say Mouse 3) to run your
1331 mail program.
1333 Sometime in the future I'll probably try and fix it so that you can
1334 actually assign a button press over the application itself...
1336 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1338 4.3 I'm seeing odd things when trying to preprocess files with the
1339 FvwmM4/Cpp module...
1341 (A: This is partly fixed in version 2.2, and virtually fixed in 2.4)
1343 A: Yup, I imagine that you might be. Things like the InitFunction not
1344 being called or windows that were running before FVWM started not
1345 getting their Borders & Style options set, etc.
1347 The reason for all this is because of the fact that FvwmM4 is a
1348 module. Fvwm won't be looking at the commands coming back from
1349 the module until after it hits the main loop of the code, AFTER the
1350 startup is all done and it has already tried to execute the
1351 InitFunction.
1353 There are two possible solutions:
1355 - Start all your applications inside an InitFunction, or
1356 - Put a Recapture in the end of your .fvwm2rc
1358 Version 2.2 has a partial fix that makes FvwmCpp/FvwmM4 work if it is
1359 the only -cmd or -f command line argument specified.
1361 fvwm -cmd "FvwmCpp .fvwmrc.cpp"
1363 will work but the following is unreliable
1365 fvwm -f /usr/local/X11/etc/system.fvwm2rc -cmd "FvwmCpp .fvwmrc.cpp"
1367 Version 2.4 has a more compete fix that makes the above line work
1368 reliably: any module started by command line arguments is assumed to be
1369 a module that sends back config commands. All command line modules
1370 have to quit before fvwm will proceed on to the InitFunction and
1371 setting border decorations and styles. There is a potential deadlock
1372 if you start a module other than FvwmCpp/FvwmM4 but there is a timeout
1373 so fvwm will eventually get going.
1375 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1377 4.4 I heard about this FvwmFileMgr module. Where can I find it?
1379 A: The FvwmFileMgr module disappeared because a file manager doesn't
1380 need to be integrated with a window manager and something like xfm
1381 does a much better job. I recommend you pick that up instead (from
1382 ftp.x.org or your favorite mirror).
1384 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1386 4.5 I used to use GoodStuff in FVWM 1.xx, but it's not in the 2.xx
1387 distribution. What do I use now?
1389 A: GoodStuff was renamed to FvwmButtons. Same module, new name (that
1390 fits in with the other modules naming convention).
1392 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1394 4.6 I want to have the sub panels in FvwmButtons not at their default
1395 position near the button but somewhere else on the screen. Is this
1396 possible?
1398 A: Yes, but not with the current implementation of the panels. Please
1399 read question 7.12 for instructions.
1401 ======================================================================
1402 5 - Development, Known Problems & Bug Reports
1403 ======================================================================
1405 5.1 I'd really like to see neat feature XYZ in FVWM. Wouldn't
1406 that be cool? I even have a patch. When can it be added?
1408 A: If you plan to write a patch, *please*, first of all fetch the
1409 latest development release from our web site or better yet use CVS
1410 as described in http://www.fvwm.org/cvs.html. It is also a good
1411 idea to contact the fvwm-workers list. At times, patches for
1412 older releases may prove completely worthless, e.g. because the
1413 fix has already been integrated, a feature already added or
1414 removed or simply because the code is very different to the code
1415 you patches. You will do yourself and us a great favour.
1416 Otherwise all your hard work may be wasted.
1418 People are always requesting or suggesting new features (many of
1419 which are great ideas and where a lot of the current features came
1420 from). One of the more common ones for example is Windows 95 look
1421 and feel (although since this was first written, that particular
1422 feature has actually been indirectly implemented via several
1423 appearance-affecting features).
1425 I'd like to make a statement about this. FVWM is supposed to be
1426 small, fast, powerful, and flexible, and sometimes tradeoffs have
1427 to be made here. The module interface helps here, as a lot of
1428 features that not everyone wants or needs don't have to be in the
1429 main module consuming resources for those people that don't want or
1430 need them.
1432 So if you have a suggestion (or a patch), please think of a way to
1433 make it as small and generic as possible if you feel it belongs in
1434 the main module. Please have a look at the enhancements that are
1435 listed in our bug tracking system (see Q5.3).
1437 If you plan to make a patch, please contact the fvwm-workers mailing
1438 list first. From time to time we are changing the code in a very
1439 disruptive way and if you create a patch to a version before such
1440 changes were made we will all have a hard time to integrate the
1441 patch. Most of the time we will ask you to update the patch for the
1442 current code anyway.
1444 Bear in mind that we make no guarantees that we'll add any requested
1445 feature or apply any submitted patches to the official version, but
1446 please don't let this dissuade you from submitting them. We like to
1447 get new ideas and we're always curious to see how someone would
1448 implement a given feature, even if we never plan to put it in fvwm.
1449 Also, we may choose to re-implement any patches submitted, which may
1450 change the syntax, functionality, etc. Please don't take offense
1451 from that, as we mean no offense and we generally have a good reason
1452 (at least by our way of thinking) for our actions...
1454 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1456 5.2 How do I create/submit/apply patches?
1458 A: First of all, please read the first section of the answer to Q5.1!
1460 Creating a patch against CVS sources (preferrable) -
1462 1) Execute "cvs update -AdP" to ensure there are no conflicts
1463 with the most recent sources.
1464 2) Don't forget to update the ChangeLog file (see below) and
1465 all manual pages if needed.
1466 3) In the base cvs directory run: cvs diff -u >myfeature.patch
1468 Creating a patch against released sources -
1470 1) Copy the original file(s) to the same name with the
1471 additional extension of .orig (or something like that).
1472 2) Update the ChangeLog file. If you use (x)emacs, move the
1473 cursor into the function you changed and hit <ctrl>-x 4 a.
1474 This will generate an empty ChangeLog entry in the right
1475 file (there are several ChangeLogs). Add a description of
1476 what you did. Do this each time you change a function or
1477 file (for changes outside of functions). You should update
1478 the AUTHORS and NEWS files too if appropriate.
1479 Please take the time to add the ChangeLog entries, it makes
1480 our work a lot easier.
1481 3) Run diff with either the -c (context) or -u (unified)
1482 switch on the sets of files, with the .orig file FIRST. I
1483 prefer unified diff's because they are smaller, but
1484 sometimes they aren't as readable (and some diff versions
1485 don't support unified diffs), so either context or unified
1486 diffs are fine (but please, no "plain" diffs).
1488 ex: cp fvwm.c fvwm.c.orig ; <edit> ; diff -u fvwm.c.orig fvwm.c
1490 Submitting a patch -
1492 Mail it to the fvwm-workers mailing list <fvwm-workers@fvwm.org>.
1494 If your patch is large you should compress it (preferably
1495 with gzip). Should it still be larger than 25k you might want
1496 to to place it on a web page and email the URL to the mailing
1497 list or ask on the fvwm-workers list first.
1499 Be sure to read the answer to Q5.1.
1501 Don't forget the ChangeLog and the documentation.
1503 Applying a patch -
1505 Get a copy of the program 'patch' from your favorite source,
1506 such as ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/patch/, compile it, and then
1507 follow its directions (generally just cd into the appropriate
1508 directory and run 'patch < patchfile').
1510 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1512 5.3 How do I submit a bug report?
1514 A: Please enter a DETAILED description of your problem in our web-based
1515 bug-tracking system. You can find a link on our web page (see Q1.3).
1516 By detailed we mean more than just "my window isn't behaving right" or
1517 "I found a bug":
1519 - First of all: use our bug tracking system! You will find
1520 a link to it on our main web page (see Q1.3). If for some
1521 reason the bug tracking system doesn't work for you, please
1522 use the fvwmbug.sh shell script that comes with fvwm.
1523 - Describe the problem as best you can, preferably with
1524 suggestions on how to reproduce it easily
1525 - If applicable, include information from:
1526 xwininfo (preferably w/ the -all option)
1527 xprop
1528 FvwmIdent
1529 xdpyinfo (maybe)
1530 - What exact version of FVWM you are running.
1531 - What OS & version you are running under
1532 - What version of X11 are you running under, and is it an MIT
1533 server or a vendor specific server (e.g. the OpenWindow X
1534 server under SunOS)
1535 - How was FVWM compiled (compiler & version, options, etc)
1536 - What settings do you have in your .fvwm2rc that may be
1537 pertinent.
1539 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1541 5.4 I have a window that is behaving unexpectedly under FVWM, but just
1542 fine under (whatever other window manager), or I have just some
1543 random bug. What do I do?
1545 A: First, check your rc file and your .Xdefaults to make sure that
1546 something blatantly obvious in there isn't causing the problem.
1547 Second, *PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE* check the FAQ, BUGS, TODO, and man
1548 pages. Finally, check the official WWW page and the mailing list
1549 archives (which have a search facility) stored there.
1551 If you still can't figure it out, report your problem to our bug
1552 tracking system (see Q5.3).
1554 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1556 5.5 Why do NumLock, CapsLock and ScrollLock interfere with
1557 ClickToFocus and/or my mouse bindings?
1559 A: Because they are treated as modifiers. You can use the
1560 IgnoreModifiers command to turn individual modifiers off for
1561 bindings. With XFree86 and fvwm version 2.4.0 or above, the
1562 right command is
1564 IgnoreModifiers L25
1566 If you changed your modifiers manually or are using a different
1567 X server use the 'xmodmap' command to find out which modifiers
1568 correspond to the keys you want to switch off.
1570 This command creates a lot of extra network traffic, depending
1571 on your CPU, network connection, the number of Key, Mouse or
1572 PointerKey commands in your configuration file and the number
1573 of modifiers you want to ignore. If you do not have a
1574 lightning fast machine or very few bindings you should not
1575 ignore more than two modifiers. So do not ignore scroll-lock
1576 if you have no problem with it.
1578 A better way to solve this problem is to modify the keyboard
1579 mapping of your X server. The commands
1581 xmodmap -e "clear Lock"
1582 xmodmap -e "clear Mod2"
1583 xmodmap -e "clear Mod5"
1585 remove the CapsLock, NumLock and ScrollLock from the keyboard
1586 map. Pressing these keys has no effect then. To re-add them
1587 try this:
1589 xmodmap -e "add Lock = Caps_Lock"
1590 xmodmap -e "add Mod2 = Num_Lock"
1591 xmodmap -e "add Mod5 = Scroll_Lock"
1593 Fvwm has to be restarted to use the changes made by
1594 xmodmap. Please refer to the man page of the xmodmap command
1595 for further details. If you disable the CapsLock key in your
1596 keyboard map in this way, you can speed up fvwm a bit by
1597 removing the Lock modifier from the list of ignored modifiers:
1599 IgnoreModifiers
1601 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1603 5.6 Menus with gradient backgrounds flicker or are very slow.
1605 A: The flickering is caused by fvwm constantly redrawing the menus
1606 when a sub menu pops up or down. One way to help this is to use
1607 a X server with backing storage (XFree86 has backing storage
1608 support, I don't know about other servers but I guess that any
1609 decent X server has it). If your Xserver is started with the
1610 -bs option, remove it. If not try the -wm option, for example:
1612 startx -- -wm
1614 You may have to adapt this example to your system (e.g. if you
1615 use xinit to start X).
1617 If that doesn't help, either because your X server does not have
1618 backing storage or because system resources are limited, make
1619 sure sub menus do not overlap the parent menu:
1621 MenuStyle <stylename> PopupOffset 1 100
1623 Unfortunately this does not work properly with the fvwm
1624 menu style.
1626 For the speed problem both suggestions above might help too.
1627 Another thing to try is to turn hilighting of the active menu
1628 item other than by foreground color off. Put these lines in your
1629 .fvwm2rc after the menu styles have been defined:
1631 MenuStyle <stylename> Hilight3DOff, HilightBackOff
1632 MenuStyle <Stylename> ActiveFore <preferred color>
1634 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1636 5.7 Why won't the StartIconic style work with {Netscape, etc.}?
1638 A: The application won't allow it. This has only been observed with
1639 Netscape. When Netscape starts up, FVWM starts the main window in
1640 the iconic state. Netscape immediately issues another MapRequest,
1641 to which the window manager must respond by de-iconifying the
1642 window, according to the ICCCM rules. (Netscape can be persuaded to
1643 start iconic, however, by invoking it with the -iconic command line
1644 flag.)
1646 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1648 5.8 How do I capture the output (e.g. errors) of fvwm?
1650 A: Errors are reported to the standard error file. You can redirect
1651 standard error to a file when fvwm is started: "fvwm 2> fvwm-errors".
1652 X sessions started by xdm often redirect errors to a file named
1653 ".xsession-errors".
1655 Alternatively, FvwmConsole or "FvwmForm FvwmForm-Talk" modules
1656 will display error messages.
1658 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1660 5.9 I try to run some program under FVWM, but it dies with an X11
1661 error like BadAccess. The same program works just fine under MWM
1662 or OLWM. What's going on?
1664 A: The error message usually looks something like this:
1666 X Error of failed request: BadAccess (attempt to access private
1667 resource denied)
1668 Major opcode of failed request: 28 (X_GrabButton)
1669 Serial number of failed request: 1595
1670 Current serial number in output stream: 1596
1672 Well, this is telling you that there is a conflict in key/button
1673 assignments. In your .fvwm2rc you have bound some key/button that
1674 this program really wants to bind to an action, but it can't since
1675 FVWM has already done so (but you weren't doing it in the rc file
1676 for your previous window manager). Figure out what the offending
1677 key binding is and remove it from your .fvwm2rc, or temporarily via
1678 "FvwmForm FvwmForm-Talk" by removing the FVWM binding (see the man
1679 page for the Key & Mouse commands).
1681 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1683 5.10 Every time I update my install, my currently running fvwm session
1684 dies. Why is that?
1686 A: Many OSes swap the program from memory via the image on the disk,
1687 and if you overwrite it, and then the current one tries to swap
1688 something back into memory before you restart, it'll core dump. To
1689 avoid this, rename your old executables or move them to some other
1690 directory. The 'mv' command preserves the inode so it won't
1691 core dump, but then when you restart fvwm it'll pick up the new
1692 copy.
1694 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1696 5.11 After I restart fvwm certain windows or icons raise above
1697 all other windows and cannot be lowered by any means. One
1698 example are the shortcuts of KFM (the KDE file manager).
1699 What can I do about that?
1701 A: Some applications use so called 'override redirect' windows that
1702 are not (and cannot be) managed by the window manager. By
1703 convention as defined in the ICCCM, such windows must only be
1704 displayed for a very short time. KFM and possibly other
1705 applications ignore this convention and use permanent 'override
1706 redirect' windows, e.g. the KFM shortcuts. Fvwm can not easily
1707 detect these windows when it restarts and places the windows
1708 managed by fvwm below them.
1710 However, since fvwm version 2.3.8 there is a command that will
1711 help you, although it might cause trouble with other applications
1712 using 'override redirect' windows. We can't make any promises
1713 since KFM is violating the conventions and the applications may
1714 violate them in different ways.
1716 Now the command. Put this anywhere in your .fvwm2rc file:
1718 BugOpts RaiseOverUnmanaged on
1720 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1722 5.12 The StartsOnPage style does not work for me. Why?
1724 A: Many applications request a specific position where they want to
1725 appear (the so called 'program specified position'). Unless fvwm
1726 is told explicitly to ignore this, the program specified position
1727 overrides the StartsOnPage style. Use this line in your
1728 configuration file:
1730 Style * NoPPosition
1732 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1734 5.13 Some modules can not be started when I restart fvwm.
1736 A: You may see the following error message on the console:
1738 [FVWM][PositiveWrite]: <<ERROR>> Failed to read descriptor:
1739 - data available=N
1740 - terminate signal=N
1742 It means that fvwm has given up waiting for one of its modules to
1743 reply, and so has killed it. The length of the timeout is a
1744 configuration parameter - try adding
1746 ModuleTimeout 10
1748 to your .fvwm2rc file. The units are in seconds and the default
1749 value is 5.
1751 This problem will only occur on slow machines or high system load
1752 (many open windows).
1755 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1757 5.14 I'm running Rational Rose and fvwm ignores its windows.
1759 A: This problem might occur on other applications besides the one
1760 mentioned.
1762 The symptoms as reported by Raymond Toy are:
1764 I've been using FVWM for ages and it's always worked for me just
1765 fine. However, I've started using Rational Rose for Solaris. FVWM
1766 seems to get completely confused.
1768 o FVWM doesn't draw any frames around the Rose window like it does for
1769 all other windows (except for those I explicit said not to).
1771 o The Rose window is always on top. Nothing I do can bring another
1772 window above the Rose window.
1774 o Using FVWM's identify window module shows nothing. No identify
1775 window pops up showing the window info.
1777 o Focus sometimes seems to be lost. (I have focus follows mouse). I
1778 have to move the mouse out of the window and back in to get focus.
1779 Sometimes I also have to click in the window to get focus.
1781 The annoying thing is that this all seems to work with CDE and dtwm.
1782 I don't want to have to switch to dtwm so any hints or pointers on
1783 where to look to get FVWM to understand this window would help me a
1784 lot.
1786 Heres what we found out:
1788 Rational Rose uses software from Mainsoft that lets MS Windows
1789 applications be recompiled to run on UNIX.
1791 There are 2 Mainsoft Knowledgebase pages that relate to UNIX
1792 window managers:
1794 _+_A HREF="http://www.mainsoft.com/kb_mainwin/kbmw0027.html"
1795 _-_http://www.mainsoft.com/kb_mainwin/kbmw0027.html_+_/A_-_
1796 _+_A HREF="http://www.mainsoft.com/kb_mainwin/kbmw0034.html"
1797 _-_http://www.mainsoft.com/kb_mainwin/kbmw0034.html_+_/A_-_
1799 These pages suggest that you export MWWM=allwm or MWWM=MWM before
1800 starting the application.
1802 Raymond reports:
1804 This works just fine! Setting MWWM=allwm, Rose comes
1805 up like a normal X app where the WM draws the borders.
1806 With MWWM=MWM, it works ok too except that for the main
1807 window, no borders are drawn by the WM and Rose draws
1808 it's own borders (I have fvwm respecting MWM decor
1809 hints). (This is correct as mentioned by the
1810 Knowledgebase pages above.) I don't recall what Rose
1811 looks like with dtwm, but I suspect it's quite close to
1812 all MWWM=MWM.
1814 Next we had Klaus Zeitler report that the Rational Rose official
1815 startup script is explictly setting ALLWM to nothing. This makes
1816 it more difficult for an individual user to set this variable.
1817 If you can, you can just modify the script, otherwise, your other
1818 alternative is to copy the script somewhere where you can modify it
1819 and run it from there.
1821 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1823 5.15 Although I use the WIndowListSkip style for my modules they
1824 still show up in FvwmIconMan, FvwmWinList etc.
1826 A: Make sure you have
1828 *FvwmIconMan*UseWinList true
1830 in you .fvwm2rc file. If that does not help, the modules you are
1831 using may not match the fvwm executable. Recompile and reinstall
1832 everything and the problem should go away.
1834 ======================================================================
1835 6 - Miscellaneous
1836 ======================================================================
1838 6.1 What exactly is the difference between a DESK, a PAGE, and the
1839 SCREEN?
1841 A: Our naming convention is sometimes a source of confusion, and when
1842 discussing problems and the like it's good to maintain a consistent
1843 meaning. To illustrate how features of fvwm should be referred to
1844 - fvwm has multiple disjoint DESKTOPS, each of which is comprised
1845 of M by N PAGES, which are each the size of the physical SCREEN.
1846 The physical SCREEN acts as a viewport over one of the PAGES of the
1847 current DESK. Here's a picture to clarify (also, take a look at
1848 the FvwmPager module):
1850 Desk 0 Desk 1
1851 +----------+----------+ +----------+----------+
1852 | | | | | |
1853 | Page 0 0 | Page 1 0 | | | |
1854 | | | | | |
1855 | | | | | |
1856 +----------+----------+ +----------+----------+
1857 |+--------+| | | | |
1858 ||Page 0 1|| Page 1 1 | | | |
1859 || || | | | |
1860 |+--------+| | | | |
1861 +----------+----------+ +----------+----------+
1863 It shows two 2 x 2 DESKTOPS. If the current DESK were number 0,
1864 and the current PAGE were 0 1, the SCREEN would show only the
1865 windows located there, plus any sticky ones.
1867 Desktops are numbered consecutively, beginning with 0. The user is
1868 not responsible for creating new desktops, those details are
1869 handled inside fvwm. To display the different desktops, the user
1870 can configure key bindings that determine which desktop is
1871 displayed. For example, to have the combinations Meta-1 to Meta-4
1872 display desktop numbers 0 to 3, one would add this to .fvwm2rc:
1874 Key 1 A M GotoDesk 0
1875 Key 2 A M GotoDesk 1
1876 Key 3 A M GotoDesk 2
1877 Key 4 A M GotoDesk 3
1879 The same can be done for pages. For example, if each desktop has
1880 a size of 2 by to pages you could bind Meta-F1 to Meta-F4 to
1881 flip pages:
1883 DeskTopSize 2x2
1884 Key F1 A M GotoPage 0 0
1885 Key F2 A M GotoPage 1 0
1886 Key F3 A M GotoPage 0 1
1887 Key F4 A M GotoPage 1 1
1889 It is also a good idea to create a pager that displays several
1890 desktops, side by side. This command displays the first 4 desktops:
1892 Module FvwmPager 0 3
1894 Or if you prefer to see only the current desktop in the pager:
1896 Module FvwmPager * *
1898 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1900 6.2 I'd really like {OpenWindows, NeXT, Win95, Mac, etc} look and
1901 feel. Are you going to support that?
1903 A: This is not our primary mission, but we think fvwm does a pretty
1904 good job of producing these appearances.
1906 You may want to take a look at the
1907 _+_A HREF="http://fvwm-themes.sourceforge.net/"_-_fvwm-themes_+_/A_-_
1908 package.
1910 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1912 6.3 Where can I get more XPMs for icons?
1914 A: If you want more color icons, grab the ones out of the ctwm
1915 distribution (also at ftp.x.org) which has a lot of nice ones. You
1916 can also find more in other distributions at ftp.x.org, and at
1917 http://www.sct.gu.edu.au/~anthony/icons/ (which has a lot, I
1918 believe).
1920 Icons used to be distributed along with fvwm. Now there is a basic
1921 set of icons available at the fvwm web site. You might find some
1922 links at the fvwm web site to other sources of icons.
1924 You may want to take a look at the
1925 _+_A HREF="http://wm-icons.sourceforge.net/"_-_wm-icons_+_/A_-_
1926 package.
1928 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1930 6.4 Linux XF86 virtual screen size & fvwm interaction...
1932 A: Turn off the Linux Virtual Screen stuff in your XF86Config file if
1933 you don't like it. The XFree86 virtual screen feature and hardware
1934 panning support in certain video cards is a pretty useless kludge when
1935 you're using a window manager that implements virtual desktops.
1937 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1939 6.5 I know this question doesn't have to do with FVWM, but what
1940 happened to to rxvt and rclock which Rob Nation used to support?
1941 Where can I find them now?
1943 A: The official home for rxvt is:
1945 http://www.rxvt.org/
1947 and rclock can be found in that rxvt distribution as well.
1949 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1951 6.6 How do I set the background with fvwm?
1953 A: Setting the background image is not really part of the window
1954 manager. If you are using one of the Linux distributions,
1955 most likely, some part of the distribution is setting the background
1956 for you.
1958 There is a program shipped with fvwm (fvwm-root, previously known as
1959 xpmroot) that you can use to set the background to XPM or PNG image.
1960 Other programs like "xv", "xli", "xloadimage", and "display" may be
1961 used too, they support some image formats that fvwm-root does not.
1963 If you just want a static image on your background, you might invoke
1964 one of these programs from your .xsession or .xinitrc file. You can
1965 also invoke one of these programs from the InitFunction in your
1966 .fvwm2rc.
1968 The fvwm module FvwmBacker can be used to change the background
1969 depending on the desk you are currently on.
1971 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1973 6.7 When I use Fvwm ... isn't the right color. Whats wrong?
1975 A: Under this heading we've had questions about FvwmForm being all
1976 white, icons not displaying and messages about being unable to
1977 allocate colors.
1979 Older hardware uses something called 8 bit color. You can also
1980 misconfigure newer hardware so that its only using 8 bit color.
1981 When you use 8 bit color, your display can only have 256 colors on
1982 it at once.
1984 This is explained in excruciating detail in the
1985 _+_A HREF="http://www.sunhelp.org/faq/FrameBuffer.html"_-_Frame Buffer FAQ_+_/A_-_
1987 If your display can support more than 256 colors, that's the way to
1988 go. Look up the documentation for your X server. You may want to
1989 start with "man X".
1991 If you are stuck with 8 bit color, fvwm can help. In the 2.2.x
1992 releases, you can use the "ColorLimit" command to reduce the number
1993 of colors Fvwm uses in icons. In the 2.3.x releases and later,
1994 ColorLimiting is automatic, but you still might want to use this
1995 command to further reduce color use.
1997 Other things you may want to do:
1999 - Always run Netscape with the "-install" argument.
2001 - If you use an image on your screen background, reduce the number
2002 of colors it uses. For xv add the "-nc nn" argument. For
2003 xli use the "-colors nn" argument.
2005 - Don't use color gradients.
2007 - Some applications are color hungry. Beware of anything TK based,
2008 and FrameMaker in its default setting.
2010 If you still have problems after this, try the fvwm mailing list.
2012 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
2014 6.8 I just got a mouse with 57 buttons. How do I make Fvwm use them?
2016 A: OK, 93 is a joke, we know you don't have 93 buttons, but we've
2017 seen reports of up to 7 so far. Starting with Fvwm 2.4.0
2018 Fvwm supports all five mouse buttons that X officially
2019 supports. To increase the number of buttons that Fvwm can handle,
2020 you have to modify the file libs/defaults.h:
2022 Replace
2024 #define NUMBER_OF_MOUSE_BUTTONS 5
2026 with
2028 #define NUMBER_OF_MOUSE_BUTTONS 7
2030 and recompile and reinstall fvwm. However, the buttons with numbers
2031 higher than 5 do not work as well as 1 to 5. This is because X
2032 does not provide the necessary interface to handle more that 5
2033 buttons in all functions. This means that some functionality is
2034 not available with buttons 6 and higher.
2036 The maximum possible number you can use is 31. Any higher value
2037 will probably not work and possibly even crash fvwm or its modules.
2039 ======================================================================
2040 7 - Hints and Examples from the Developers
2041 ======================================================================
2043 7.1 An easy way to test new configurations.
2045 Did you know that you do not need to restart X or fvwm to see what
2046 most configuration commands do? There are several modules
2047 that allow you to issue fvwm commands at any time. Among
2048 these are FvwmCommand, "FvwmForm FvwmForm-Talk" and FvwmConsole.
2049 Personally I use FvwmCommand and FvwmConsole.
2051 When you run FvwmConsole you get a shell like window where you can
2052 type configuration commands that are sent to fvwm. Just add an
2053 entry to some menu that starts it:
2055 AddToMenu main_menu
2056 + "FvwmConsole" Module FvwmConsole
2058 Using FvwmCommand is a bit more tricky. To use it you need to start
2059 a server in your .fvwm2rc by adding this line:
2061 Module FvwmCommandS
2063 Make sure FvwmCommand is in your search path. Now you can enter
2064 commands on the command line of your favorite shell:
2066 FvwmCommand "MenuStyle * Font 6x9"
2068 Note that you have to quote the command. The advantage of
2069 FvwmCommand over FvwmConsole is that you can use your shell with
2070 all its features to run commands (command completion and history
2071 for example). The disadvantage is that it is a bit slow since a new
2072 FvwmCommand has to be started for each command.
2074 Other related modules and commands are FvwmScript and PipeRead.
2076 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
2078 7.2 Using shell commands for configuration.
2080 Sometimes you might want to use the output of a shell command or
2081 script in your .fvwm2rc. For example you might need a menu that has
2082 all filenames in a certain directory as its entries. You can use
2083 the PipeRead command and the FvwmCommand module. I recommend using
2084 PipeRead since creating twenty menu items takes a considerable
2085 amount of time with FvwmCommand.
2087 Example from my .fvwm2rc:
2089 # make the background menu
2090 AddToFunc MakeBackgroundMenu
2091 + "I" DestroyMenu BackgroundMenu
2092 + "I" AddToMenu BackgroundMenu Backgrounds Title
2093 + "I" PipeRead 'for i in `/bin/ls $HOME/.fvwm2/backgrounds/*.bg.*`; \
2094 do echo -e AddToMenu BackgroundMenu `basename $i | sed -e \
2095 "s/\.bg\..*$//"` Function SetDefaultBackground $i; done'
2097 # set the default background
2098 AddToFunc SetDefaultBackground
2099 + "I" Exec echo -e $0 > $HOME/.fvwm2/background
2100 + "I" Function SetBackground
2102 # set a new background
2103 AddToFunc SetBackground
2104 + "I" Exec test -r $HOME/.fvwm2/background && xv -root -quit -viewonly \
2105 `cat $HOME/.fvwm2/background|tr -d "\n"`
2107 # activate setting from last session and build the menu
2108 AddToFunc InitFunction
2109 + "I" Function SetBackground
2110 + "I" Function MakeBackgroundMenu
2113 The MakeBackgroundMenu function builds a menu that contains an item
2114 for every file that matches the pattern "*.bg.*" in the directory
2115 $HOME/.fvwm2/backgrounds. The suffix .bg.* is removed. When I
2116 select an item the file is displayed in the background using xv.
2117 Furthermore the path and filename are stored in
2118 $HOME/.fvwm2/background. When I start my next fvwm session the
2119 filename is fetched from there so I get the background from my last
2120 session.
2122 I have an even more complex setup for color palettes.
2124 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
2126 7.3 How to start applications on a page or desk other than the current.
2128 Use the 'StartsOnDesk' or 'StartsOnPage' style in your .fvwm2rc:
2130 Style Netscape* StartsOnPage 0 1
2132 or
2134 Style Netscape* StartsOnDesk 1
2136 Any window with a title that begins with 'Netscape' will be placed
2137 on page 0 1 (desk 1). You will probably want to use these options
2138 too:
2140 Style * RecaptureHonorsStartsOnPage, CaptureHonorsStartsOnPage
2142 If you want to start applications on a different page in the
2143 background without switching to this page, use the 'SkipMapping'
2144 style:
2146 Style Netscape* StartsOnPage 0 1, SkipMapping
2148 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
2150 7.4 How to start applications on a page or desk other than the current
2151 without moving the viewport to the new page or desk.
2153 Use the SkipMapping style:
2155 Style Netscape* StartsOnPage 0 1, SkipMapping
2157 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
2159 7.5 A more efficient MWM menu style.
2161 Perhaps you have noticed that with the MWM menu style your sub
2162 menus are shown as soon as the pointer enters their menu items, even
2163 if you just want to scroll down the list. You can prevent this with
2164 the 'PopupDelay' and 'PopupDelayed' options of the MenuStyle
2165 command:
2167 MenuStyle mwm
2168 MenuStyle PopupDelayed, PopupDelay 80
2170 The sub menu will be shown 80 milliseconds after the pointer enters
2171 the menu item. You will hardly notice the delay. Note that 80 ms
2172 is just long enough to move through the menu with auto repeat on my
2173 cursor keys. You may have to experiment with this number to get it
2174 right.
2176 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
2178 7.6 Placing menus on the screen.
2180 Do you have to close windows or move the pointer all over the
2181 screen to find some part of the background where you can bring up
2182 your main menu (or any other root menu)?
2184 Then you should use a keyboard shortcut. For example
2186 Key space A M Menu root c c main_menu
2188 in your .fvwm2rc gives you the menu 'main_menu' in the center of
2189 the screen when you press Alt-space. Or you might want a shortcut
2190 to the window menu:
2192 Key space A SM Menu root c c WindowMenu
2194 You can place menus anywhere you like, not just where the mouse
2195 pointer is. Please read the section for the 'Menu' command in the
2196 man page.
2198 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
2200 7.7 Are you flipping pages by accident when moving the mouse close to
2201 the border of the screen?
2203 You can disable page flipping with the EdgeScroll command:
2205 EdgeScroll 0 0
2207 in your .fvwm2rc turns it off.
2209 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
2211 7.8 Lining up your windows and icons.
2213 The SnapAttraction and SnapGrid commands really help to keep your
2214 desktop tidy. With SnapAttraction windows (or icons or both) are
2215 'attracted' to each other. When you drag a window (icon) and it
2216 comes close to another window (icon) it clings to it without a gap
2217 between the borders. Put this command in your .fvwm2rc:
2219 SnapAttraction 8 SameType
2221 This means windows cling to other windows if they get closer than
2222 8 pixels and icons cling to icons. Or if you just want it for
2223 windows/icons use
2225 SnapAttraction 8 Windows
2227 or
2229 SnapAttraction 8 Icons
2231 Or if you want icons to cling to windows and vice versa:
2233 SnapAttraction 8 All
2236 The SnapGrid command is a big help too:
2238 SnapGrid 8
2240 in your .fvwm2rc tells fvwm to use a grid of 8 pixels to place
2241 windows and icons. Try it and see if you like it.
2243 Hint: It might be a good idea to use a divisor of your desktop
2244 width and height for SnapGrid.
2246 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
2248 7.9 Moving the mouse/focus/page with the keyboard.
2250 Try these key bindings for mouse movement:
2252 # shift-<direction> to move a few pixels
2253 Key Left A S CursorMove -1 0
2254 Key Right A S CursorMove +1 +0
2255 Key Up A S CursorMove +0 -1
2256 Key Down A S CursorMove +0 +1
2258 # shift-meta-<direction> to move 1/4 page
2259 Key Left A SM Scroll -25 +0
2260 Key Right A SM Scroll +25 +0
2261 Key Up A SM Scroll +0 -25
2262 Key Down A SM Scroll +0 +25
2264 or these to flip pages
2266 # shift-control-<direction> to move a full page
2267 Key Left A SC CursorMove -10 +0
2268 Key Right A SC CursorMove +10 +0
2269 Key Up A SC CursorMove +0 -10
2270 Key Down A SC CursorMove +0 +10
2272 # Alt-Fn to go to a specific page (like on the Linux console)
2273 Key F1 A M GotoPage 0 0
2274 Key F2 A M GotoPage 1 0
2275 Key F3 A M GotoPage 0 1
2276 Key F4 A M GotoPage 1 1
2278 or to change the focus to a window in a specific direction:
2280 # number keys on keypad to move the focus
2281 Key KP_1 A C Direction SouthWest Focus
2282 Key KP_2 A C Direction South Focus
2283 Key KP_3 A C Direction SouthEast Focus
2284 Key KP_4 A C Direction West Focus
2285 Key KP_6 A C Direction East Focus
2286 Key KP_7 A C Direction NorthWest Focus
2287 Key KP_8 A C Direction North Focus
2288 Key KP_9 A C Direction NorthEast Focus
2290 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
2292 7.10 The cat safe desktop ^_^
2294 If your cats keep stepping on your keyboard while you are brewing
2295 another cup of coffee, one of these hints may help:
2297 Use 'Style * MouseFocus' and move the mouse pointer over the
2298 background when you go away.
2300 If you can't do without your 'SloppyFocus' you can move the
2301 mouse pointer into a window that takes no keyboard input and
2302 give it the focus (e.g. FvwmButtons or a console message
2303 window). A true fanatic creates a separate window with a picture
2304 of his cat for this ^_^
2306 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
2308 7.11 Lowering and moving windows.
2310 In some configurations moving a window with the middle mouse
2311 button lowers the window after moving it. Lowering it before
2312 moving gives you a nice visual effect:
2314 Mouse 2 T A Function MoveOrLower
2316 AddToFunc MoveOrLower
2317 + "Click" Lower
2318 + "Motion" Lower
2319 + "Motion" Move
2320 + "DoubleClick" Lower
2322 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
2324 7.12 Toggling windows on and off.
2326 It is often desirable to have a menu item or perhaps a button in
2327 FvwmButtons or FvwmWharf that launches an application when used
2328 the first time and closes it if used a second time. Although it
2329 is not obvious how to do this, it is possible. Let's assume you
2330 need a menu item that toggles an FvwmConsole window on and off.
2331 Then put the following lines in your .fvwm2rc:
2333 AddToFunc ToggleFvwmConsole
2334 + I None (FvwmConsole, CirculateHit) Module FvwmConsole
2335 + I Next (FvwmConsole, CirculateHit, CurrentPage, Visible) Close
2336 + I Next (FvwmConsole, CirculateHit) MoveToDesk
2337 + I Next (FvwmConsole, CirculateHit) MoveToPage
2338 + I Next (FvwmConsole, CirculateHit) Raise
2340 AddToMenu <some menu>
2341 + "toggle FvwmConsole" Function ToggleFvwmConsole
2343 Or if you prefer a button in the button bar:
2345 *FvwmButtons: (Action ToggleFvwmConsole)
2347 The lines with MoveToDesk, MoveToPage and Raise will bring the
2348 window to the top of the current page if it is not visible
2349 instead of closing it.
2351 If you want to toggle one specific window, e.g. an xterm, but
2352 still want to have other xterms that are not toggled, you must
2353 give the window an unique name:
2355 AddToFunc ToggleXMessages
2356 + I None (XMessages, CirculateHit) Exec exec \
2357 xterm -T XMessages -n XMessages -e tail -f /var/adm/?* ~/.X.err
2358 + I Next (XMessages, CirculateHit) Close
2360 (CirculateHit is needed for windows with Style CirculateSkip.)
2361 Or for a toggling Netscape button:
2363 AddToFunc ToggleNetscape
2364 + I None (Navigator) Exec exec netscape
2365 + I All (Navigator) Close
2367 Keep in mind that these functions simply check if a window with
2368 the specified name exists. They will happily close manually
2369 opened windows or launch an application multiple times if the
2370 application is slow to start (e.g. like netscape).
2372 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
2374 7.13 How do I start applications by clicking on an icon.
2376 Normally an icon represents a minimized application.
2377 If you want to turn that around, and launch applications by clicking
2378 on icons we can't stop you. Heres a way to do that using
2379 FvwmButtons:
2381 # FvwmButtons icon launcher:
2382 DestroyFunc Launcher
2383 AddToFunc Launcher
2384 + I DestroyModuleConfig $0Launch: *
2385 + I *$0Launch: Geometry 64x68
2386 + I *$0Launch: Columns 1
2387 + I *$0Launch: Rows 4
2388 + I *$0Launch: Frame 0
2389 + I *$0Launch: (1x3+0+0, Icon $1, Action (Mouse 1) `Exec $2`)
2390 + I *$0Launch: Pixmap none
2391 + I *$0Launch: (1x1+0+3, Font 9x15, Fore White, Back DarkBlue, \
2392 Title $0, Action (Mouse 1) `Exec $2`)
2393 + I Style $0Launch HandleWidth 0, NoTitle
2394 + I Module FvwmButtons $3 $0Launch
2395 # Examples:
2396 Launcher RXVT xterm.xpm "rxvt -bg black" "-g +0+0"
2397 Launcher XV xv.xpm "xv" "-g +0+100"
2399 Also, GNOME and KDE have desktop icon applications gmc and kfm, which
2400 enable this functionality. These applications may be run under FVWM.
2402 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
2404 7.14 How do I define the hot-spot in an XPM cursor.
2406 Fvwm allows you to use a pixmap as a mouse cursor. For example,
2407 the command:
2409 CursorStyle ROOT xterm.xpm
2411 Sets the root mouse cursor to the image of a terminal.
2412 Normally the actual pixel the mouse cursor points to is the center
2413 of the pixmap. This pixel in the mouse cursor is called the
2414 hot-spot. If you want the hot-spot to be somewhere other than
2415 the center of the image, you can use a GUI that supports setting
2416 the hot-spot, or you can edit the XPM file with an editor.
2418 If the XPM image is in version 3 format, there's a line that contains
2419 the width, height, number of colors and the characters per color
2420 in the image:
2422 static char * image_name [] = {
2423 "64 38 8 1",
2425 To put the hot-spot in the upper left, change this to:
2427 static char * image_name [] = {
2428 "64 38 8 1 0 0 XPMEXT",
2430 Notice that the hot-spot is an offset, relative to zero.