Reduce noise in WUtil

[wmaker-crm.git] / FAQ

WindowMaker FAQ
====================================================================
Last modified: Tue Apr 20 20:15:17 EST 1999

the latest info can be found at
http://www.dpo.uab.edu/~grapeape/wmfaq.html or
http://wm.current.nu/wmfaq/
--------------------------

Summary of Contents:

1 - Introduction 
     1.1 What is Window Maker? 
     1.2 Where can I get Window Maker? 
     1.3 Where are the mailing list archives? 
     1.4 Where is more documentation on configuring Window Maker? 
     1.5 What is an App Icon? 
     1.6 How can I get a question added to the FAQ? 
     1.7 How do I report bugs? 
     1.8 Is there an anomymous cvs server? 

2 - Installation 
     2.1 Where can I get proplist.h? 
     2.2 Why do no icons show up after installing Window Maker 0.15.0
         when I've followed all the directions? 
     2.3 How do I get libtiff to work? 
     2.4 How do I get libjpeg to work? 
     2.5 How do I get libpng to work? 
     2.6 How do I get libgif (or libungif) to work? 
     2.7 Does wmsound work with 0.1x.x? 
     2.8 Can I use WindowMaker with KDE or GNOME or CDE? 
     2.9 How do I get Window Maker working with xdm in Redhat 5.[01]? 
     2.10 Do I need to rerun wmaker.inst with every new version of
          Window Maker? 
     2.11 When I install Window Maker, I've used wmaker.inst correctly
          and I only get aroot menu with xterm and exit. How do I fix this? 
     2.12 How do I get Window Maker to use more than 16 colors on my
          SGI Indy Workstation? 
     2.13 Using WindowMaker with Solaris 2.6 CDE 
     2.14 How do I switch CDE's windowmanager to use Window Maker?
     2.15 When I run wmaker it quits complaing about something
          "__register_frame_info".
     2.16 When I run wmaker it complains about something like library is
          62, caller expects 61

3 - Usage 
     3.1 How do I get new apps on the dock (The line of pixmaps on the
         right side of the screen by default) 
     3.2 What is the difference between the Exit and Exit Session Option?
     3.3 How do I "dock" AppIcons on the Clip? 
     3.4 Why do none of my Key Bindings work in Window Maker 0.1x.x 
     3.5 How do I rename workspaces? 
     3.6 How can I resize a window if the window is larger than my currect
         desktop? 
     3.7 How do I "undock" AppIcons? 
     3.8 I docked an application but when I run it the button is permanently
         shaded and I can't run new instances.
     3.9 When I run wmaker it complains about not being able to load any
         fonts.
     3.10 When I set the root background with wmsetbg by hand it works,
         but when I do that from the configuration files it doesnt!

4 - Configuration 
     4.1 What are those files inside my ~/GNUstep directory? 
     4.2 How do I enable the normal X sloppy focus mode? 
     4.3 How do I get my auto-arrange icons to work? 
     4.4 How do I get my Meta-Tab to cycle through windows correctly? 
     4.5 How can I define my own Icon for a program? (instead of the Icon
         the Application Supplies?) 
     4.6 How do I get a pixmap background for my appicons (those things
         in the dock)? 
     4.7 How do you dock <insert program here> that doesn't have an
         appicon in the new version of Window Maker? 
     4.8 How do I get x11amp to not have a title bar? (or any other
         program for that matter?) 
     4.9 How do I set a pixmap background? 
     4.10 Can I put pixmaps in my root menu and title bars? 
     4.11 How do I get my Minimize Icon to look like the triangle I see in
          screenshots? 
     4.12 How do I get superfluous bells and whistles working? 
     4.13 How do I get my oldstyle back? 
     4.14 How do I get the window menu with only a two button mouse? 
     4.15 How do I edit my root menu? 
     4.16 How can I set dock/clip to use single click to launch applications,
          instead of double click?

5 - Other Applications 
     5.1 How do I assign gimp an appicon? 
     5.2 How do I get an appicon for XEmacs 20.3+? 
     5.3 Where do you get that clock program I always see on people's
         desktops? 
     5.4 How do you dock asclock? 
     5.5 How do you dock wmload? 
     5.6 What other apps exist for the dock? 
     5.7 How do I get an appicon for rxvt so I can dock it? 
     5.8 How do I get different icons for rxvt's (or xterms) running different
         programs?
     5.9 How do I launch multiple instances of XTerm from one appicon? 
     5.10 How do I allow Alt+# to work in an rxvt session? (with irc for
          example) 
     5.11 Window Maker breaks scilab
     5.12 Netscape icons show up in black and white
     5.13 Snow flakes from xsnow don't acumulate on titlebars!
     5.14 I'm using RedHat 6.0 and Netscape dies without reason.

6 - Programming 
     6.1 How do I get a normal X application to produce an appicon? 
     6.2 How do I get my tcl/tk application to produce an appicon? 
     6.3 What is WINGs? 
     6.4 Where can I get more information about WINGs?

7 - Miscellaneous Questions 
     7.1 Is there a pager for Window Maker? 
     7.2 Can I have folders like in AfterStep? 
     7.3 How do I use getstyle and setstyle? 
     7.4 Why don't you distribute {normal diff, xdelta} patches?
     7.5 Will you add GNOME support?

8 - Themes 
     8.1 What exactly are Themes? 
     8.2 How do I install a Theme? 
     8.3 How do I make a Theme? 


========================================================================



-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Introduction:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1.1 What is Window Maker? 
----------------------------------
Window Maker is an elegant X11 window manger that emulates the
OpenStep desktop with some noticeable enhancements. Look at
http://wm.current.nu/themes/my-themes.html and
http://wm.current.nu/themes/screenshots.html
here for example screenshots. 


1.2 Where can I get Window Maker? 
----------------------------------
The official site to get new developmental versions from is
http://windowmaker.org/pub/source/beta/

The mercurial repository is available at https://hg.windowmaker.org/wmaker

The development versions are usually very stable themselves, so if you
want to have all the newest features, you can rather safetly go with the
development versions. Just remember to save any unsaved data before
you go playing around with the config files. Also, remember they are
developmental versions, so your mileage may vary, don't get angry if they
crash. 


1.3 Where are the mailing list archives? 
----------------------------------------
Please read the information on the web pages at http://lists.windowmaker.org/
for information on how to subscribe, the posting guidelines, and how to access
the web archives.


1.4 Where is more documentation on configuring Window Maker? 
----------------------------------
Besides the mailing list archives, there are nice documents in
http://windowmaker.org/documentation.php


1.5 What is an appicon? 
----------------------------------
An appicon is the icon (without the tiny titlebar a minimized application icon
has) produced by most applications that initially is in the bottom left corner
of the screen while an application is running. For an example, run xterm and
notice the icon in the corner.


1.6. How can I get a question added to the FAQ? 
----------------------------------
Ask on the mailing list, or send your request to faqs@windowmaker.org

Other avenues are the Window Maker wiki
  http://bugs.windowmaker.org/projects/wmaker/wiki
and the forums
  http://bugs.windowmaker.org/projects/wmaker/boards


1.7. How do I report bugs? 
----------------------------------
You can look at the BUGFORM file in your tarball of Window Maker.
Alternatively, you can use the Window Maker Bugtracker at
http://bugs.windowmaker.org/projects/wmaker/issues


1.8. Is there a public source code repository?
----------------------------------
Yes there is. To check out from mercurial use:
  hg clone http://hg.windowmaker.org/wmaker wmaker

To update your source tree, cd to the wmaker directory and type
  hg pull
          


-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Installation:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-

2.1 Where can I get libPropList/proplist.h?
-------------------------------------------
starting with Window Maker 0.70.0, libPropList is no longer needed.
It was obsoleted by adding property list handling code to the WINGs library.



2.2 Why do no icons show up after installing Window Maker >= 0.15.x 
    when I've followed all the directions? 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Under normal circumstances, this should not happen because Window Maker
should detect if libtiff is going to be compiled in and then it will make the
default theme use .tiff or .xpm icons, depending if TIFF support is compiled
in or not.

As of Window Maker version 0.15.0, the default setup includes .tiff icons
which require you to have compiled Window Maker with libtiff support, if you
want them to be used. If you are happy with the .xpm icons, then you don't
need libtiff. Window Maker will detect that TIFF support is not available and
use .xpm icons instead. For some help on compiling with libtiff, look at the
libtiff section of this FAQ. 


2.3 How do I get libtiff to work? 
----------------------------------
The whole key to getting libtiff working for me was to upgrade to >=
tiff-v3.4beta037-tar.gz availible at ftp.sgi.com. 

Rerun ./configure and make and it should work. I had previously been using
tiff-v3.4-tar.gz instead so the library was there just not working. A note to
keep in mind, is that the tiff libs are versioned rather oddly, version
tiff-v3.4beta037 is actually newer than tiff-v3.4. 

Make sure to rm config.cache and rerun ./configure before attempting to
compile again. 

Also, make sure to use gnu-make for the Window Maker compile. 


2.4 How do I get libjpeg to work? 
----------------------------------
The newest jpeg libs are availible at ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/jpeg/. 

How many of you have seen that darned "lib reports 62 caller expects 61" type of
error?
Well, I have more than once, and here are some answers to possibly help
you out. 

First things first. As always, make sure there are not older copies of libjpeg
floating around on your system. By default my Slackware distribution came
with an old libjpeg.so.1 in the /usr/X11R6/lib/ directory. This can simply be
deleted. Or if something complains after you delete it, recompile it if you
can to look for the new lib in the right place, or if that fails, as a last resort,
you might add a symlink to the new lib like so:
ln -s /usr/local/lib/libjpeg.so.6.0.2 libjpeg.so.1 

Now on to the error.
This is basically caused by your application having been compiled to
dynamically use the libjpeg.so shared library. When you install a new lib and
then try to run your program again, it expects the lib it was compiled
against, in this case the older libjpeg.so.6.0.1 and instead finds libjpeg.so.6.0.2
and reports the error. 

The fix is actually rather simple. Along with adding a libjpeg.so.6 symlink
like so (just in case):
ln -s libjpeg.so.6.0.2 libjpeg.so.6
where you installed your new lib, you simply need to recompile your app to
link it against the new library. :) 

Make sure to rm config.cache and rerun ./configure before attempting to
compile again. 

Also, make sure to use gnu-make for the Window Maker compile. 


2.5 How do I get libpng to work? 
----------------------------------
The newest png libs are availible at
http://www.cdrom.com/pub/png/pngcode.html. 

You should also get the newest zlib libs from
http://www.cdrom.com/pub/infozip/zlib/. 

I had a few problems with this lib as well, basically I had an old libz.so in my
/usr/X11R6/lib/ directory which configure was finding first, and which failed the
test, being an older lib. 

Generally the same applies here as with libjpeg, make sure there are no
older versions of the necessary libs floating around on your system, then try
and configure and make again. 

Make sure to rm config.cache and rerun ./configure before attempting to
compile again. 

Also, make sure to use gnu-make for the Window Maker compile. 


2.6 How do I get libgif (or libungif) to work? 
----------------------------------
The newest libgif is availible at
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/libs/giflib/. 

The newest libungif is availible at
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/libs/graphics/. 

I had a few problems with libgif... it seems that the install process didn't
install the header file libgif.h, so although the Window Maker configure found
the lib (libgif.so.x), when you actually try to compile, it fails when it looks for
the header to include the make. I simply copied it from the libgif source
directory to the system include directory. (/usr/local/include/ on my system). 

Make sure to rm config.cache and rerun ./configure before attempting to
compile again. 

Also, make sure to use gnu-make for the Window Maker compile. 


2.7 Does wmsound work with 0.1x.x? 
----------------------------------
As of Window Maker 0.15.x, sound is now included by default but requires
the authors sound server. For more information, read the NEWS file in the
Window Maker distribution. 

The author Anthony Quinn <southgat@frontiernet.net> has released a 
version that works with Window Maker >= 0.15.x. It is available from 
it's home page at http://www.frontiernet.net/~southgat/wmsound/ 
or on Largo's site at http://wm.current.nu/files.html#wmsound 
for your convenience. 


2.8 Can I use WindowMaker with KDE or GNOME or CDE? 
---------------------------------------------------
Contrary to what a lot of people think, KDE is NOT a window manager. KDE is
a suite of various applications that includes a custom window manager (kwm).
The same is true for CDE. 

Now, answering the question: Yes, you can use WindowMaker in these
environments. To use Window Maker with GNOME, you don't need to do
anything special. To use it with CDE, read the answer for "How do I switch
CDE's windowmanager to use Window Maker?" 

To use it with KDE, read it's documentation to get rid of kwm (and possibly
kpanel) and replace it with wmaker. Then, start WPrefs.app, go to "Mouse
Preferences" and set the "Disable mouse actions" check box. You will
need to restart Window Maker to make this change take effect. The
"Disable mouse actions" change is needed to allow you to use krootwm,
wich enables you to use kfm's desktop icons, but will prevent you from
accessing Window Maker's Applications and Window List menus with the
mouse. 


2.9 How do I get Window Maker working with xdm in Redhat 5.[01]? 
----------------------------------------------------------------
After running wmaker.inst and letting it write to .xinitrc,
cp .xinitrc .xsession
and make sure that /usr/local/bin is in your $PATH for the Xserver. You can
make sure of this by including a statement like 

            export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin 
          

in your .xsession file. 

Make sure to chmod +x .xsession so that the Xsession script of xdm can
execute it. 

This is how the Xsession script is designed: 

            startup=$HOME/.xsession

            if [ -x "$startup" ]; then
                    exec "$startup"
            elif [ -x "$HOME/.Xclients" ]; then
                    exec "$HOME/.Xclients"
            elif [ -x /etc/X11/xinit/Xclients ]; then
                    exec /etc/X11/xinit/Xclients
            else
                    if [ -f "$resources" ]; then
                            xrdb -load "$resources"
                    fi
                    exec xsm
            fi
          

You could also have a .Xclients file as was mentioned in previous revisions
of this question. 


2.10 Do I need to rerun wmaker.inst with every new version of
     Window Maker? 
----------------------------------
There is no need to do this. You can do it, but keep in mind, that all your
preferences will be lost, overwritten by the defaults. You can update the
files and add the changes yourself if you need to, but else in most cases is
sufficient to rely on WPrefs and it will update for you the new missing
options if they differ from the default ones.

The way domain files are read beginning from 0.15.0 makes the need for update
almost redundant. The user config files are merged with the global ones in
/usr/local/share/WindowMaker/Defaults.
So even if new options are added, they will be reflected in the user
configuration. 
Only if user wishes to change the default behavior, he needs to add that
option to the config file.

If there ever happens to be a need for all users to rerun wmaker.inst in a
future version, this will be noted in the NEWS file.


2.11 When I install Window Maker, I've used wmaker.inst correctly
     and I only get aroot menu with xterm and exit. How do I fix this? 
----------------------------------
Most likely, the problem is that Window Maker can not find a copy of the C
pre processor in a directory such as /lib. The file /lib/cpp should be a
symbolic link to whatever c compiler's cpp you are using. Mine reads as: 

            cpp -> ../usr/lib/gcc-lib/i586-pc-linux-gnu/pgcc-2.90.29/cpp*
          

There seems to be another common problem that exhibits this same
behavior. If you find another solution that matches this question please
email <sprout@dok.org> or <largo@current.nu>. 


2.12 How do I get Window Maker to use more than 16 colors on my
     SGI Indy Workstation? 
----------------------------------
Thanks to Peter H. Chou <pchou@leland.Stanford.EDU> for this answer: 

By default, the SGI X Server uses 8-bit Pseudocolor mode.
To change it, edit (as root) the file /usr/lib/X11/xdm/Xservers.
Change it to read: 

            :0 secure /usr/bin/X11/X -bs -c -class TrueColor -depth 24
          




2.13 Using WindowMaker with Solaris 2.6 CDE 
----------------------------------
(thanks to Rob Funk, Unix God of osu.edu) 

Assuming you installed Window Maker according to the README's that
come with the source, all you need to run Window Maker on a Solaris box
is an entry in the .xinitrc. Only 0.17 - 0.19 versions have been tested, but
when you run the configure script, let it make changes to the .xinitrc file. It
should look something like this: 

            #!/bin/sh
            # Window Maker Default .xinitrc
            exec /usr/local/bin/wmaker
          

Believe it or not, that's all that it takes. This, in fact, runs WindowMaker
instead of OpenWindows. In order to choose WindowMaker, you simply
choose "OpenWindows Desktop" in the "Options - Session" Menus.
Choose "CDE Desktop" if you want CDE. 

The Color schemes and settings for Window Maker are seperate from
CDE. Tested on a SPARC 10, Solaris x86 should work also. (better,
hopefully) 


2.14 How do I switch CDE's window-manager to use Window Maker? 
----------------------------------
Method 1: 

Peter Ilberg <peter.ilberg@natinst.com> gives us this answer: 

Install WM wherever you want it, mine is in /opt/WindowMaker-0.16.0
(eg. use ./configure --prefix=/opt/WindowMaker-0.16.0).
Run the install script wmaker.inst in your home directory. 

Add the following two lines to .dtprofile in your home directory: 

SESSIONTYPE=xdm; export SESSIONTYPE
PATH=:/usr/contrib/bin/X11:$PATH:.; export PATH 

This tells CDE to go looking for an .xinitrc/.xsession instead of using the
default environment. 

Make your .xsession/.xinitrc executable (VERY IMPORTANT, wmaker.inst did
NOT do this automatically for me) using eg. 

chmod ugo+x .xsession 

Your .xsession/.xinitrc should look something like this: 

#!/bin/sh
<some other init stuff that you want/need>
exec wmaker 

Things to try if it doesn't work: (somewhat fuzzy and random) 

This should do it although I did have problems sometimes initially which I
fixed by randomly trying absolute pathes for wmaker in .xsession/.xinitrc and/or
making the dtprofile/.xinitrc/etc executable. It helps logging in on the console
(select from CDE login screen) and start X manually using 'X'.
If it works that way it should work when logging into the CDE environment.
Remember to Check your paths! 

If it doesn't work, you can also substitute some other window manager for
wmaker in the .xinitrc and see if that works. If it does you know at least that
.xinitrc is getting called/executed, so your WM path is wrong or not set. 


Method 2: 

Thomas Hanselman gave this alternative answer (via Peter Ilberg): 

Build and install WM wherever you want, as described in Method 1. You
can install and run WM just fine from your home directory. That's what I'm
doing, since I don't have root access at work :(. Then, in your .Xdefaults file in
your home directory, add the following line: 

Dtsession*wmStartupCommand: <path to Window Maker executable> 

Then, log out, and log back in, and, unless I've forgotten a step (or this is a
custom Nortel thing), you should be in Window Maker heaven ;). 

Difference between the methods: (according to Thomas) 

I've been told that the difference between setting the resource and Peter's
method is that if you override the window manager with the resouce, you
still get the CDE resources read into the resource database (so you still
have your color settings & such from CDE), whereas with Peter's, the CDE
resource don't get read into the database. I don't know if this is true or not,
however. Also, another thing to note with Window Maker and HP-UX 10.20
-- if you select "Exit Session" from the WM root menu, Window Maker and
all of your applications are killed, but you may not be logged out. Again, this
might be an artifact from my work environment, or the way I start Window
Maker. 

Owen Stenseth <iplenergy.com> adds: 

When using this method it is possible to exit Window Maker cleanly by
using the dtaction command. I use the following in my Window Maker menu: 

"Exit Session"      EXEC dtaction ExitSession 

The only problem I have at the moment is I seem to get multiple copies of
asclock running when I log in again. 

You can also use the normal "Exit Session" command from the WM root
menu and place additional commands required to shutdown CDE in
~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/exitscript 

So, if you add "dtaction ExitSession" in that file, the command to shutdown
CDE will be automatically executed when you exit WindowMaker. 


2.15 When I run wmaker it quits complaing about something
     __register_frame_info. 
----------------------------------
This is due to using gcc >= 2.8.0 or egcs to compile Window Maker or a
library it uses, then running these precompiled binaries on a system using
libraries compiled with gcc 2.7.2.x

You will have to compile Window Maker yourself on this system.  Please read
the INSTALL file for the instructions on how to do so.


2.16 When I run wmaker it complains about something like expected
     libjpeg 61 got 62.
----------------------------------
Upgrade your libjpeg library and/or recompile Window Maker.


2.17 How do I fix an error such as "libwraster.so.1: cannot open shared
         object file" ?
----------------------------------
Like most software using GNU autoconf, Window Maker by default will install
under the /usr/local prefix.  This has the repercussion on many systems that
the libraries that are part of Window Maker will be installed in
/usr/local/lib, which is usually not in the default system LD_LIBRARY_PATH.
This is why the library cannot be found.

Under Linux, you will need to list this directory in /etc/ld.so.conf and
run /sbin/ldconfig.  Both these operations will need to be performed as the
superuser.

Under BSD, as the superuser you will need to run

    ldconfig -m /usr/local/lib

which will merge this directory into the system library path.

If the problem persists, you may be able to use "ldd" to track down why the
library cannot be loaded (it will print a list of dynamic objects used by
the executable or library listed on the command line, and where it is
expecting to find it).


-=-=-=-
Usage:
-=-=-=-

3.1 How do I get new apps on the dock (The icon or line of icons on
    the right side of the screen by default) 
----------------------------------
Launch an application. If there is a little icon that pops up in the bottom
corner of the screen, drag it over to the dock icon(s). You should see a
whiteish square indicating when it is close enough to dock, and where it will
be placed. To make sure this application will be there next time you start up
windowmaker, exit windowmaker with the "exit session" option. 


3.2 What is the difference between the 'Exit' and 'Exit Session' Options? 
----------------------------------
'Exit' exits wmaker, but leaves the other apps running, and if wmaker was
not the last app launched in the .xinitrc the X server is not closed, until
the last app started by .xinitrc is closed.
'Exit session' will exit wmaker, but also will close all running apps, thus
the X server will be closed, and your session will end.


3.3 How do I "dock" AppIcons on the Clip? 
-----------------------------------------
Just drag icons near it like you would for the dock.  Note that if you place
the clip near the dock, you may have problems docking appicons in either.
Move the clip away first.


3.4 Why do none of my Key Bindings (ie: Alt+#) work in Window Maker 0.1x.x 
----------------------------------
If you are using XFree86, make sure scroll lock and numlock are off or no
bindings will work (XFree bug). You can try using the XFree86 Numlock
Hack by editing the line #undef NUMLOCK_HACK in $WindowMakerdir/src/wconfig.h
and changing it to #define NUMLOCK_HACK. 
As of 0.18.0, this hack functions properly.


3.5 How do I rename workspaces? 
----------------------------------
Right click on the "desktop" (root window) to show the menu (don't hold the
button down). Go to the workspaces menu and hold the Control key down
and click on the workspace you would like to rename and type the name. 

If you use the clip, use the "Rename Workspace" command in the clip
menu. 


3.6 How can I resize a window if the window is larger than my
    currect desktop? 
----------------------------------
David Reviejo <dreviejo@arrakis.es> best summed up this answer: 

     "Maybe you know:
     Alt+Left click and drag
     to move the window. 

     Try this:
     Alt+Right click and drag
     to resize (by moving the nearest window corner) 

     Another move/resize tip: while you are moving or resizing a window,
     you
     can change the move/resize mode by pressing the SHIFT key." 




3.7 How do I "undock" AppIcons? 
----------------------------------
If the program is not running, just drag the icon to the middle of your
desktop (away from the dock and clip) and watch it disappear. 

If the program is running, hold down Meta (usually CTRL) and drag the icon
off the dock. You can also right click on it and choose 'Kill', then undock as
usual. 


3.8 I docked an application but when I run it the button is permanently
    shaded and I can't run new instances.
----------------------------------
You probably docked the application with dockit. To fix it
remove the icon and use the "Emulate Application Icon" checkbox in
the Advanced Options section of the Attributes panel for the window.
Then restart the application to get the application icon you
must use to dock the application. 
It can also mean that you did something you shouldn't, which is
changing the program that is ran from the docked icon. For example,
if you docked rxvt you must NOT change it to xterm, for example.
You also can't do any changes that might alter the contents of
the WM_CLASS hint for the window, like the -name parameter for
xterm, rxvt and other programs.



3.9 When I run wmaker it complains about not being able to load any fonts.
----------------------------------
Check if the locale settings are correct. If you're not sure what to
do, unset the LANG environment variable before running wmaker.

TODO: give complete explanation



3.10 When I set the root background with wmsetbg by hand it works,
     but when I do that from the configuration files it doesnt!
----------------------------------

DOH! If you set the root background with wmsetbg by hand, it will obviously
find the image, since you have explicitly specified it by hand. But if you
simply put it in ~/GNUstep/Defaults/WindowMaker in some option like
WorkspaceBack, it will not find the image because Window Maker can't read
your mind to figure where you put the image. So, to fix it, you have to
either place the full path for the image in the texture specification or put
the path for the directory you put your background images in the PixmapPath
option. You can also put all your background images in places like
~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/Backgrounds or
/usr/local/share/WindowMaker/Backgrounds
These directories will be listed under the "Search Path" section of WPrefs.



-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Configuration:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

4.1 What are those files inside my ~/GNUstep directory? 
----------------------------------
~/GNUstep/WindowMaker/WindowMaker 

     The main config file. This file controls options such as keybindings,
     fonts, pixmaps, and focus modes. 


~/GNUstep/WindowMaker/WMWindowAttributes 

     The Controls "attributes" for individual applications and appicons.
     Options such as what icon to use are set here. For the most part, this
     is now best accessed via a right click on a title bar of an application
     and selecting "Attributes" 


~/GNUstep/Defaults/WMState 

     This is the file that is automatically generated and contains the current
     dock settings. It is not recommended to edit this file by hand. 


~/GNUstep/Defaults/WMRootMenu 

     This file specifies what file to use as the root menu.  In Window Maker
         0.19.0 and higher, you can replace this file with the one called plmenu
         in ~/GNUstep/Defaults/WindowMaker, and you can then use WPrefs to edit
         the menu.


~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/menu 

     This is the file to edit to change your root menu. 

~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/plmenu

         This is the same menu file, in property list format - WPrefs needs a
         menu in this format if you wish to edit it using WPrefs.




4.2 How do I enable the normal X sloppy focus mode? 
----------------------------------
In the ~/GNUstep/Defaults/WindowMaker, change the following: 

FocusMode = sloppy; 


4.3 How do I get my auto-arrange icons to work? 
----------------------------------
In ~/GNUstep/Defaults/WindowMaker set AutoArrangeIcons=Yes; and the icons
should now auto-arrange. 


4.4 How do I get my Meta-Tab to cycle through windows correctly? 
----------------------------------
Make sure that these settings are true in your ~/GNUstep/Defaults/WindowMaker
file: 

CirculateRaise = Yes;
RaiseDelay = 1; 

This will not give you MS Windows(tm) style application switching where
alt-tab is changes context. 

Paul Warren <<pdw@ferret.lmh.ox.ac.uk>> has released a patch that will
give this style of Context Switching to Window Maker. 

It is availible from http://ferret.lmh.ox.ac.uk/~pdw/patches/


4.5 How can I define my own Icon for a program? (instead of the
    Icon the Application Supplies?) 
----------------------------------
You can right click on the titlebar of the running app and choose the
"Attributes..." option, then click on the "Ignore client supplied icon"
checkbox. Click "Apply", "Save" and close the Attributes Editor. 

Another method is to edit ~/GNUstep/Defaults/WMWindowAttributes by hand and
use the AlwaysUserIcon=YES; option for the app. For example: 

xmcd = { Icon = "Radio.xpm";
AlwaysUserIcon=Yes;
}; 


4.6 How do I get a Tile background for my AppIcons (those things in
    the dock)? 
----------------------------------
You need to change 1 line to your ~/GNUstep/Defaults/WindowMaker file. 

IconBack = (spixmap, tile.black.xpm, white);
or
IconBack = (tpixmap, tile.black.xpm, white);

spixmap will scale the pixmap to fit the tile, tpixmap will tile it as is. 

As Random@efnet says, The last parameter is the color that fills in any
Transparent parts of your icon. 

IconBack takes other options too, search the NEWS file.


4.7 How do you dock <insert program here> that doesn't have an
    appicon in the new version of Window Maker? 
----------------------------------
There is now an option available to emulate appicons so that Window
Maker can dock just about anything now. 

To dock a misbehaving application, right click on the title bar and select the
attributes menu. Next, select the pull down menu's "Advanced Options"
item. Under the ``Advanced Options'' menu, select the ``Emulate
Application Icon'' Option then Save, Apply and close the dialog. 

This should allow you do dock the program normally. 

Emulate Appicon does exactly the same thing as dockit, a small app
distributed with ancient versions of Window Maker before the Attribute
Editor existed (now depricated for the obvious reason).  If Emulate Appicon
does not work, dockit will not work either.  Such applications violate the
ICCCM (Inter-Client Communication Conventions Manual) and are considered
badly coded for not setting the instance.class hints.


4.8 How do I get x11amp to not have a title bar? (or any other
    program for that matter?) 
----------------------------------
Right Click on the title bar and choose "Attributes". Click on Panel 2 and
click the the "Disable titlebar" and "Disable resizebar" options. Click
"Save", "Apply" and then close the Attributes panel. 

By Default, to get back to the attributes menu once you've removed the
titlebar, hit the key F10 while the window is focused. 

Here is an example entry in ~/GNUstep/WMWindowAttributes for x11amp. 

x11amp={
Icon="x11amp.xpm";
NoTitlebar=Yes;
NoResizebar=Yes;
NoAppIcon=Yes;
}; 


4.9 How do I set a pixmap background? 
----------------------------------
Here is the in depth explanation straight from the NEWS file: 

wmsetbg now accepts the following options: 
usage: wmsetbg [-options] image 
options: 
-d 
              dither image
-m 
              match colors
-t 
              tile image
-s 
              scale image (default)
-u 
              update Window Maker domain database
-D <domain> 
              update <domain> database
-c <cpc> 
              colors per channel to use



By default, it will try to guess if dithering is needed or not and proceed
accordingly.
Using -d or -m will force it to dither or match colors. 

Dithering for more than 15bpp is generally not needed, and will only result
in a slower processing.
Don't use dithering except when needed, because it is slower. Else rely on
wmsetbg which will detect if dithering is needed and use it. 

-u 
   will update the WorkspaceBack in the default database
   domain file in ~/GNUstep/Defaults/WindowMaker, and let Window
   Maker refresh the screen. Please note that this option only
   works under Window Maker, and will have no effect under
   other window managers, since it rely on Window Maker to
   update the image after it reads the updated defaults
   database.

-D 
   <domain> is same as above, but will update the domain
   <domain> instead of the default Window Maker domain.

-c 
   <cpc> will set the color per channel to use. Only needed for
   PseudoColor visuals. Window Maker will automatically pass
   the value read from the Window Maker domain database.



The following line is straight from your WindowMaker-0.15.x
~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/menu file and should all be on one line. 

"Images" OPEN_MENU BACKGROUNDS_DIR
~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/Backgrounds WITH wmsetbg -u -t 

This should give you an idea on how to add other entries for different image
directories. See the help info at the top of the
~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/menu file for more information. 

If you for some reason would like to set your background image with XV, for
instance to use an image format not yet supported by wmsetbg or to use one
of XV's special modes, edit the file ~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/autostart
and insert the line 

xv -root -quit -maxpect ~/background.jpg
or
xv -root -quit -max ~/background.jpg 

you can also try variations of this to get different tiling and other effects
(where X is a number 1-9 I believe):
'xv -root -quit -rmodeX ~/background.jpg' 

If you would like xv functionality in your menu, heres a nice little tip from
Alfredo: 

Add the following line to your ~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/menu file. (all on
one line) 

"More Backgrounds" OPEN_MENU /home/whoever/backgrounds xv -root -maxpect -quit 


4.10 Can I put pixmaps in my root menu and title bars? 
----------------------------------
With the release of WindowMaker-0.14.1, you can now put pixmaps
anywhere you would have either a gradient or a color. This means now that 

MenuTextBack=(tpixmap, foo.xpm, acolor); 

in ~/GNUstep/Defaults/WindowMaker will put the correct pixmap tiled in your
menu. 

FTitleBack = (spixmap, foo.xpm, black); 

Would have the effect of streching a pixmap to fit the titlebar of the active
window.
You can use png, gif, ppm, tiff, jpeg and xpm images interchangeably in
Window Maker if you have compiled in support for those formats. 


4.11 How do I get my Minimize Icon to look like the triangle I see in
     screenshots? 
----------------------------------
This involves a minor source tweak. Instructions are available at
http://wm.current.nu/tips.html#titlebar_icons

Example screenshot at 
http://wm.current.nu/themes/images/screenshots/Midnight3.jpg


4.12 How do I get superfluous bells and whistles working? 
----------------------------------
Add Superfluous=YES; to your ~/GNUstep/Defaults/Windowmaker file. 

This option was added as a runtime option in Window Maker >= 0.16.1. 


4.13 How do I get the classic NeXT(tm)-like style back? 
----------------------------------
Add NewStyle=NO; to your ~/GNUstep/Defaults/Windowmaker file. 

This option was added as a runtime option in Window Maker >= 0.16.1 


4.14 How do I get the window menu with only a two button mouse? 
----------------------------------
Jim Noble <jmknoble@ntrnet.net> writes: 

If you've got a two-button mouse under some versions of Solaris x86,
there's no way (that i'm aware of) to emulate a 3-button mouse. The right
button can be either MB2 or MB3, but chording doesn't work. 

            ApplicationMenuMouseButton = Left;

and 

            WindowListMouseButton = Right; 
          

in ~/GNUstep/Defaults/WindowMaker ought to allow the left button to
activate the root menu, and the right button (as MB2) to activate the
windows menu. 


4.15 How do I edit my root menu? 
----------------------------------
You can now use WPrefs.app 
(see http://wm.current.nu/features/configuration.html for more info) 
if you have the new PropList style menu, or you can manually edit the 
oldstyle menu file 

            ~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/menu

(or you can also manually edit the newstyle menu file) 

            ~/GNUstep/Defaults/WMRootMenu

and save your changes. Window Maker should detect the change and
automatically update. If you are having a problem getting it to reload the
menu, try 

            touch ~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/menu

            (or 'touch ~/GNUstep/Defaults/WMRootMenu' for the newstyle menu)

to force the modification time into the future. 


4.16 How can I set dock/clip to use single click to launch
     applications, instead of double click?
----------------------------------
This question was officially answered as follows:

    You cannot do this. This is because single click is used to select
    app-icons, or to raise/lower the app-icon or the dock/clip.  If
    this is impelmented then you will be unable to select or
    raise/lower dock/clip or app-icons, without also launching the
    application it represents.

    So don't ask for this to be implemented, because it will not
    be. Double click is used for a reason, is not just some weird idea
    we got in a morning when we wake up too early.

Regardless of that, there is now an option in WPrefs, under "Expert
User Preferences," which allows you to set "Launch applications and
restore windows with a single click."  (See the files contrib/README
and contrib/single_click.diff in the source package for details.)

If you set that option, a left button single click will launch or
restore, rather than select, the app-icon.  You can use other methods
(or temporarily turn the option off again) to select app-icons or
raise/lower the dock/clip.  You can toggle the selected state of any
app-icon via its right button menu, and there are auto-raise and
keep-on-top options for the dock and clip.


4.18 How do I restore the configuration app to the dock?
----------------------------------]
You should start it from a terminal using its full path name, which is
/usr/local/GNUstep/Applications/WPrefs.app/WPrefs
by default.


4.19 How do I define my own icon for a program?  I don't like the one it
     supplies.
----------------------------------
Right-click the titlebar of the running application and start the Attributes
Editor.  Check the "Ignore client supplied icon" box.  "Apply" and "Save",
and close the Attributes Editor.

Another method is to edit ~/GNUstep/Defaults/WMWindowAttributes by hand and
use the AlwaysUserIcon=YES; option for the app. For example: 

xmcd = { Icon = "Radio.xpm"; AlwaysUserIcon=Yes; }; 


-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Other Applications:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

5.1 How do I assign gimp an appicon? 
----------------------------------
Window Maker now can assign Icons from within the windowmanager, to
do so, right click on the title bar of an app or hit F10 while the desired app
is focused, choose "Attributes...", click on the "4" Button, enter the icon file
name (make sure this is in your pixmap path, or you can type in the full path
without using ~/ type path names), click "Update", "Apply", "Save" and then
close the Attributes Editor. 

You can also enter the following line in
~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/WMWindowAttributes: 

gimp={Icon="gimp.xpm";}; 


5.2 How do I get an appicon for XEmacs 20.3+? 
----------------------------------
Thanks to Michael Hafner <hayfi@rz.fh-augsburg.de> for this answer. 

You don't need to patch the XEmacs code, just run 

./configure --with-session=yes (in addition to any other options you use) 

in your XEmacs 20.3+ sourcedir and rebuild it. Then XEmacs shows an
appicon when running and you can easily dock it. 


5.3 Where do you get that clock program I always see on people's
    desktops? 
----------------------------------
Its called asclock. It was included with each version of Window
Maker until version 0.17.5, and was no longer included in
0.18.0 and above.
You could find it in ./WindowMaker-0.xx.x/misc/asclock.tgz and it was
prepatched to be able to dock. Some other (older) versions you might find
on the net don't dock. 

Since it was pulled from the distribution (probably to save space), I've
included it at http://wm.current.nu/files.html#asclock for your convenience. 


5.4 How do you dock asclock? 
----------------------------------
asclock -shape -iconic -12 & 

Drag it from the top right corner of the clock to the dock. Right click on the
icon and select autolaunch.
You have to drag the appicon by clicking on the edge of the icon, because
the actual pixmap belongs to the app itself, and any clicks on the pixmap
are interpreted by the app rather than X or the window manager. Therefor,
you need to click somewhere on the appicon where the background tile
shows through (usually the edges), and drag it that way. 


5.5 How do you dock wmload? 
----------------------------------
wmload -withdrawn -shape & 

Then dock it similar to asclock. 


5.6 What other apps exist for the dock? 
----------------------------------
Several Nice applications are available: 

     wmmixer and wmcd and wmmount
     http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Vista/2471/linux.htm#xapps 

     ascd,WMRack,asmixer,asmodem, and others
     ftp://ftp.windowmaker.info/pub/wmaker/contrib/srcs/apps/ 

     wmavgload, wmmount, and wmload
     ftp://ftp.windowmaker.info/pub/wmaker/contrib/srcs/utils/ 

     wmppp-wmifs, wmtime, wmmon and other nifty apps
     http://windowmaker.mezaway.org/ 

A huge index of most available dockapps is available at:

         http://www.bensinclair.com/dockapp/


5.7 How do I get an appicon for rxvt so I can dock it? 
----------------------------------
The default rxvt that comes with most distribtions is an outdated version of
rxvt. The newest development version of rxvt is availible from
ftp://ftp.math.fu-berlin.de/pub/rxvt/devel/. As of the time of this writing, the
version is 2.4.7 and it natively produces an appicon without a patch. 

John Eikenberry has also created an rpm which is available from
ftp://ftp.coe.uga.edu/users/jae/windowmaker/ 

For your convenience, I have rxvt-2.4.7.tar.gz at
http://wm.current.nu/files/rxvt-2.4.7.tar.gz for download. As of
version 2.4.7, rxvt includes Window Maker support as well as John
Eikenberry's NeXT scrollbar hack. 


5.8 How do I get different icons for rxvt's (or xterms) running
    different programs? 
----------------------------------
The simplest way is to run each rxvt with a different -name parameter. 

For example, I want to run an rxvt for irc and one for mail. This is an
example of what I'd do: 

for the irc rxvt:
rxvt -name "irc" -e "irc" 

for the mail rxvt:
rxvt -name "mail" -e "pine" 

This would result in each rxvt now having the instance and class of irc.Xterm
and mail.Xterm respectively, so that Window Maker can now set Attributes
for them individually. 


5.9 How do I launch multiple instances of XTerm from one appicon?
----------------------------------
The easiest way to accomplish this is to dock XTerm as normal. Then Go
to the 'Attributes menu' -> 'Application Specific' and select 'no application
icon' for XTerm. 

You can also right-click on the docked appicon and select settings. Change
the 'Application Path with arguments' section to 

            foo.sh

where foo.sh is the following script 

            #!/bin/sh
            exec xterm

This should allow unlimited XTerms without appicon clutter. 


5.10 How do I allow Alt+# to work in an rxvt session? (with irc for
     example) 
----------------------------------
First, Launch a unique instance of rxvt or xterm.
This can be done using the -name option of rxvt.
For example: 

rxvt -name foo -e irc 

Then, go to the Attributes menu (right click on titlebar (or hit F10) and
choose 'Attributes...')
Then choose 'Advanced Options' from the listbox and enable 'Don't Bind
Keyboard shortcuts'.
Click 'Save' and 'Apply' and you should be able to run your session without
the shortcuts. 


5.11 Window Maker breaks scilab
----------------------------------

If you refer to the problem of the "graphics" window of scilab not showing
up in Window Maker, this is caused by a bug in scilab. You can see the
cause of the problem by yourself, by running xprop on the graphic window:
WM_NORMAL_HINTS(WM_SIZE_HINTS):
                user specified location: 136679205, 1074468360
                user specified size: 400 by 300
                program specified minimum size: 400 by 300

Now, when scilab opens it's window, Window Maker nicely does exactly what it
is told, that is, map the window at position 136679205, 1074468360 which
obviously falls outside the screen no matter how big is your monitor ;) 

Meanwhile, the workaround for this is to open the window list menu
(click on the root window with the middle mouse button) and click 
on the ScilabGraphic entry. The window should be brought to your
reach. Then, open the window commands menu (right click on window's
titlebar) and open the Attributes panel. Go to the "Advanced Options"
section, check the "Keep inside screen" option and save.

If you can recompile Scilab, this came from a Scilab developer:

replace 
 size_hints.flags = USPosition | USSize | PMinSize;
with
 size_hints.flags = /** USPosition |**/ USSize | PMinSize;

in routines/xsci/jpc_SGraph.c


5.12 Netscape shows black and white icons
----------------------------------

I have seen this happen on some systems if you run Netscape in a high
colour depth (32bpp). That is a Netscape bug. Therefore, bug Netscape.


5.13 Snow flakes from xsnow don't acumulate on titlebars!
----------------------------------

Because of the way xsnow is coded, it seems that it can't "see"
windows with the SaveUnder attribute turned on. So, if snow
accumulation on windows is vital for you, disable SaveUnders in
WPrefs, in the advanced options section.


5.14 I'm using RedHat 6.0 and Netscape dies without reason.
----------------------------------

Er... well, I don't know why you're looking in this Window Maker FAQ 
for a RedHat/Netscape problem, but anyway, the answer is in:

http://www.redhat.com/cgi-bin/support?solution&11-990511-0082&100-926468988&14-0&15-0&25-&3-&30-


-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Programming:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-

6.1 How do I get a normal X application to produce an appicon? 
----------------------------------
 You must define the WM_CLASS (XSetClassHint()) and the
CLIENT_LEADER or XWMHints.window_group properties, which are
automatically set by most applications that use Xt (Motif, Athena ...),
but if you use plain Xlib you must set them by hand. 

Also you must make a call to XSetCommand(dpy, leader, argv, argc); 

Take a look at Window Maker-0.1x.x/test/test.c that is an example for
writing such an app (which also have an app menu).


6.2 How do I get my tcl/tk application to produce an appicon? 
----------------------------------
Oliver Graf <ograf@fga.de> writes: 

The main window (normally this is called '.' [dot] in tk) should use the
following lines: 

wm command . [concat $argv0 $argv] 
wm group . . 

All child windows attached to the same app-icon should use: 

toplevel .child
wm group .child . 

where .child should be replaced by the actual window path. 

Replace '.' with the actual main-window path and 'wm group .child .' should
be added for each 'toplevel .child' call. 


6.3 What is WINGs? 
----------------------------------
WINGs Is Not GNUstep. ;) 

It is the Widget Library written for the widgets in Window Maker. 

It is currently under heavy development but several people have started
writing applications in it. Its goal is to emulate the NeXT(tm)-style widgets. 

http://www.ozemail.com.au/~crn/wm/wings.html is the closest thing to an
information center about WINGs by <crn@ozemail.com.au>. 


6.4 Where can I get more information about WINGs? 
----------------------------------
Nic Berstein <nic@postilion.org> has created a WINGs Developement list. 

The purpose of this list is to provide a forum for support, ideas,
suggestions, bug reports etc. for the WINGs widget set library. 

To subscribe to this list, send a message with the word ``subscribe'' in the
_BODY_ of the message to: <wings-request@postilion.org>. 



-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Miscellaneous Questions:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

7.1 Is there a pager for Window Maker? 
----------------------------------
Not at the moment because there is not a pressing need for a pager. The
concept of multiple desktops does exist and there are currently 3 ways to
switch between them. 

First, the Alt+Number combination will switch between desktops. The
Workspaces menu will also let you switch workspaces. Lastly, the Clip will
also scroll one through workspaces. 

For those that would like to send an application to a specific workspace,
either drag it to an edge of the desktop onto the next workspace or you can
right click on the titlebar, choose "Move to..." and choose the appropriate
workspace. 

BUT, Window Maker does support KDE and GNOME protocols, including the
workspace management stuff, so you can use Window Maker in these
environments and use their pagers.



7.2 Can I have folders like in AfterStep? 
----------------------------------
No. Window Maker does however support the collapsable Clip per desktop
for a similar functionality. 


7.3 How do I use getstyle and setstyle? 
----------------------------------
To capture the current Window Maker style, use the command 

            getstyle > current.style 
          

To replace the current style, use the command 

            setstyle filename.style


7.4 Why don't you distribute {normal diff, xdelta} patches? 
----------------------------------
Whenever possible plain diff patches are distributed. If the new version has
new binary files, normal diff won't be able to handle them, so a patch
package is distributed, instead. We don't use xdelta because: - most
systems do not have xdelta installed; - xdelta is picky and require the file to
be patched to be exactly the same as the one used to make the patch. The
patch package scheme used is much more flexible. 

We do not distribute a simple diff with the binary files separately (and
variations, like uuencoding the binary files) because: - it is more
complicated and error prone to require the user to manually move the files
to the correct places; - the current patch package scheme *does* distribute
the binary files and diff files separately. If the user wants to install everything
by hand, nobody will object to that; - sooner or later someone will certainly
ask for a script to automate the file moving stuff. 

So we hacked a script (mkpatch) that automatically creates a patch
package with the normal text diff file, a list of removed files and the binary
files that have changed or been added, plus a script that does the patching
automatically. If you don't like the script, you can apply the patch and move
the files manually. Or download the whole distribution. 


7.5 Will you add GNOME or KDE support?
--------------------------------------

Support for GNOME (and KDE) hints is included since 0.50.0.  You have to
enable them at compile-time using the appropriate arguments to ./configure.
Please read the INSTALL file for more details.
Note: starting with version 0.90.0, support for legacy Gnome-1.x and KDE-2.x
was dropped in favor of NETWM support (used by both Gnome-2.x and KDE-3.x)


-=-=-=-=-
Themes:
-=-=-=-=-

8.1 What exactly are themes? 
----------------------------------
Themes are a great aspect of Window Maker allowing a user to simply
save the entire 'look' of their desktop in a Archive to distribute freely among
friends, fellow users and/or the whole net in general. :) 

See the theme-HOWTO at http://wm.current.nu/themes/theme-HOWTO.html 
for an in-depth walk-through on making a Theme archive. 


8.2 How do I install a Theme? 
----------------------------------
This should be as simple as untarring the Theme.tar.gz into one of two
places. You can untar it to the global /usr/local/share/WindowMaker/* directory,
and have it be accessable to all users, or you can untar it to your own
~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/ directory for your own personal use. 

Use your favorite variation of the following: 

gzip -dc "Theme.tar.gz" | tar xvf - 

*(directory may differ on some systems) 


8.3 How do I make a Theme? 
----------------------------------
There is a neat little file called README.themes distributed with Window
Maker that explains everything in intricate detail.  You can also read
http://wm.current.nu/themes/themepacks.html


====================================================================
and they lived happily ever after.
====================================================================
(The End.)