2 NEWS for veteran Window Maker users
3 -----------------------------------
11 Support for the EWMH standard has been added. Applications from GNOME 2.x and
12 KDE 3.x should now interoperate better with Window Maker.
14 Support for the obsolete/legacy GNOME 1.x, KDE 1.x and OpenLook(!) hints was
15 wiped out for the sake of sanity.
18 Antialiased font support
19 ------------------------
21 With the addition of Xft2 support in the WINGs library, now
22 Window Maker can display antialiased text with TrueType or any scalable fonts.
24 You can pick fonts for Window Maker in the Font configuration section of
27 Antialiased text is enabled by default, but can be disabled by adding
28 AntialiasedText = NO; in ~/GNUstep/Defaults/WMGLOBAL
29 Note that bitmapped fonts look much better than TrueType when antialiasing is
35 Global menus allow for system wide menus that are added to every users
36 application menus. They are located in /usr/etc/WindowMaker/,
37 /usr/local/etc/WindowMaker or whatever is your sysconf directory
38 for WindowMaker. There are 2 files:
40 GlobalMenu.pre, which is added to the beginning of the menu and
41 GlobalMenu.post, which is added to the end of the menu.
43 These are to be proplist format menus, for example:
45 (("Foobar", EXEC, foobar),
46 ("Blabla", EXEC, blabla))
48 or, in case you want a submenu:
51 ("Foobar", EXEC, foobar),
52 ("Blabla", EXEC, blabla)))
58 Window Maker now uses UTF-8 internally (and thus can display UTF-8 text
59 in window titles and other places). Menus and po files must now be
60 encoded in UTF-8. If your menus contain non ASCII characters, you can convert
61 them to UTF-8 with the following command:
63 iconv -f <current-file-encoding> -t utf-8 <filename> > <filename>.utf8
67 iconv -f iso-8859-1 -t utf-8 menu > menu.utf
71 Icon Panel for Alt-Tabbing
72 --------------------------
74 A panel with icons for the windows that you can switch to will appear
75 when you press Alt-Tab. You can navigate through the windows with Alt-Tab
76 (Alt-Shift-Tab) or with the left/right keys once the panel is shown.
82 Shading/Unshading windows using mouse wheel on their titlebar
83 -------------------------------------------------------------
85 In addition to the known methods of shading/unshading a window, one can now
86 do this by using the mouse wheel on the window's titlebar. The mouse events
87 are interpreted via a mapping in the global WINGs configuration file,
88 WMGLOBAL, by the MouseWheelUp and MouseWheelDown directives which will do
89 shading and unshading respectfully.
91 However, to avoid unwanted triggers of shading/unshading the window, two
92 consecutive mouse wheel events in the same direction are required. The
93 trigger won't occur if the events are separated by more than a double-click's
94 worth of time, which is technically speaking like making a double-click with
95 the button that corresponds to the mouse wheel direction.
97 Practically speaking, this means that you have to move the mouse wheel up
98 or down quickly, like when you want to quickly scroll over something big.
101 Shared application icons
102 ------------------------
104 Real application icon sharing was implemented in place of the collapse
105 appicon thing. With this applications of the same instance.class will
106 have a single shared application icon and hiding will hide all windows
107 of the aplications attached to that appicon as if there is a single
108 application. This feature is enabled by default for all applications in
109 the global WMWindowAttributes defaults domain using:
111 "*" = {SharedAppIcon = Yes;};
113 If you're not satisfied with this or want the old behaviour back you
114 can revert this (either in the global domain for all users or in your
115 personal WMWindowAttibutes domain) using SharedAppIcon = No; for "*"
116 It can also be enabled/disabled for individual applications as needed.
118 Setting this option can be done using the window's inspector panel in the
119 "Application Specific" section. You can set/unset it for all applications by
120 using the "Defaults for all windows" in the "Window Specification" section
122 Basically using this can have 2 major scenarios:
123 1. Leave it on by default, but disable it for the few specific
124 applications that do not behave well with it. (default)
125 2. Leave it off by default, and enable it for all applications for
126 which you want it enabled.
128 At this point all applications we tested work ok, some of them even
129 work better with this feature turned on: for example xmms and Corel's
130 WorkPerfect8 now only have 1 appicon (they used to have 2 without this
133 This feature is turned off by default for the following applications
134 because it's incompatible with them:
135 1. all GNUstep applications
136 2. applications with an application menu (wterm, Aileron, etc)
137 3. all applications with withdrawn windows only (this means all dockapps)
139 As a side note: wterm can use the shared appicon feature as long as it
140 doesn't use the appmenu (will do this by default). If you start it
141 using the appmenu (wterm -wm) it will disable the shared appicon
142 feature because apps with appmenus are incompatible with this feature.
144 If an application is a GNUstep application or if it has an appmenu, it's
145 detected automatically and the shared appicon is disabled automatically
146 without any user intervention or need to configure anything.
149 Dock/Clip stealing appicons
150 ---------------------------
152 This feature is different form the Clip's "Autoattract Icons" feature
153 as it won't attach any new icon to the dock/clip.
154 What it does, is when you start an application by other means than
155 dock/clip, like for example using the main menu or a terminal, it will
156 search the dock/clips for the presence of an appicon for that
157 application, that is not already running at that moment and will attach
158 the started application to that appicon in the dock/clip if available,
159 making it look like the dock/clip just stole the appicon for the started
160 application. There is an animation for this to offer visual feedback
170 Copy/paste launch in dock.
171 ==========================
173 For example, put netscape %s in the Docked icon for Netscape, select an url
174 somewhere and then middle-click the icon. The command will be launched with
181 Supported Xinerama features:
183 - Normal maximization of windows will maximize to only one of the screens,
184 the one where the cursor pointer is.
186 - Full Maximize command in window menu
188 - Place dialogs in the middle of the head where the pointer is
190 - Try to place windows inside one head in non-manual placement modes
196 starting with 0.70.0 libPropList is no longer required to build Window
197 Maker. PropList handling code was added to WINGs being now better
198 integrated with all the rest. For more details check the Changelog and the
202 ./WINGs/WINGs/WUtil.h
203 ./WINGs/WINGs/proplist-compat.h
209 Removed FocusFollowMouse option, only SloppyFocus present now.
211 Added None option to MoveDisplay and ResizeDisplay
220 Removed --single-appicon patch and replaced it with a application
221 specific collapsing option. Check inspector panel and appicon menu.
223 New options to configure the workspace mouse actions
224 ----------------------------------------------------
226 The following options were removed from the WindowMaker defaults configuration
229 SelectWindowsMouseButton, WindowListMouseButton and ApplicationMenuMouseButton.
231 They were replaced with the following 3+1:
233 MouseLeftButtonAction, MouseMiddleButtonAction and MouseRightButtonAction plus
236 In the old way because all gravitated around the workspace actions to which
237 specific mouse buttons could have been bound, it allowed one to specify in
238 the configuration file settings which would have led to weird situations
239 that also had undesirable results.
240 For example the same mouse button (for example left) could have been
241 assigned to all workspace actions: 'select windows', 'show window list menu'
242 and 'show applications menu' which of course were not only impossible to
243 accomplish while still having a properly working workspace, but they also
244 allowed one to specify some settings in the configuration file that were
245 never in fact translatable to proper workspace actions.
247 To void this kind of user interface inconsistency, the new options now
248 gravitate around the physical device (the mouse and its buttons) to which
249 specific workspace actions can be bound. This way, even if one assigns the
250 same action to all mouse buttons, that situation while gives redundant and
251 unpractical settings it will still translatable to proper workspace actions:
252 all buttons will execute the same action, but a button will execute only one
255 The new options take the following values:
256 all Mouse...ButtonAction can have one of the following values:
258 None, SelectWindows, OpenApplicationsMenu or OpenWindowListMenu
260 MouseWheelAction can be one of None or SwitchWorkspaces
262 If you had the default actions bound to mouse buttons before, then it will
263 work for you without any intervention in the configuration files.
264 Else you need to use WPrefs.app to bind the actions to the mouse buttons
265 again to your old settings. Also if you want to change the mouse wheel
266 behavior regarding workspaces you can now (use WPrefs.app to do this).
268 Client supplied icons
269 ---------------------
271 Window Maker saves the client supplied icons in ~/GNUstep/.AppInfo/WindowMaker
272 in XPM format for later use when the app is no longer running (to have the
273 image to display for docked icons for example).
275 Until recently the XPM images saved by Window Maker were incorrect, but a
276 recent fix in the code to save XPM's fixed them. But with this fix, all
277 previously saved XPM's in that directory are no longer readable (they give
278 wrong images on screen or fail to load).
280 To avoid the need for the user to fix this by hand editing WMWindowAttributes
281 and removing all references to icons in ~/GNUstep/.AppInfo/WindowMaker which
282 can be annoying, new code was added to Window Maker to permit the regeneration
283 of images in ~/GNUstep/.AppInfo/WindowMaker if they are missing.
285 With this addition, all you need to do to fix your old broken images, is to
286 delete all *.xpm files from ~/GNUstep/.AppInfo/WindowMaker. Next time the
287 application that is supplying an icon image will start the icon will be
288 recreated if missing, but this time it will be saved with the new XPM save
289 code which produces good XPM images.
290 All the rest of the process is transparent to the user.
292 Hermes library support
293 ----------------------
295 If configure finds hermes library (an optimized pixel format conversion
296 library) installed it will use it to do the pixel format conversion in
297 the wraster library for some cases (TrueColor visuals without dithering).
298 Currently the hermes routines cannot convert to an indexed destination,
299 so we can't use hermes for PseudoColor, GrayScale and StaticGray visuals.
300 Also hermes only does dithering for just 2 combinations of source/destination
301 bits/masks none of them useful to out needs so for dithering we still
304 The Hermes library is completely optional, you can build Window Maker
305 without having it, it just speeds up the things a little for some
308 hermes library is available here: http://www.clanlib.org/hermes/
313 No Polling of Configuration Files
314 ---------------------------------
316 Running Window Maker with one of -nopolling or --no-polling command line
317 options will make it not to poll every 3 seconds for changes in its
318 configuration files (good for laptops to let them spin disks down when idle).
321 For the ones used with Jim Knoble's 'no polling' patch, this is the same,
322 except that the need to #define ENABLE_NO_POLLING in wconfig.h was removed
323 and the behaviour is always available if you use the command line option.
332 interwoven gradients rip^Winspired on blackbox. Will render a texture that
333 interweaves 2 different ones.
335 (igradient, from1, to1, thickness1, from2, to2, thickness2)
337 Will render a interwoven texture with the 2 specified gradients,
338 with each section having the specified thickness.
343 The wmagnify utility will magnify the area on teh screen where
344 your mouse pointer is located, updating it in real-time.
346 tip: maximize it horizontally, make it Omnipresent and Always at Bottom.
347 Then leave it in the bottom of the screen.
352 2 options (WorkspaceBorder and WorkspaceBorderSize) were added to allow one to
353 set a small (0..5 pixels) border for the workspace. This border will not be
354 covered by windows when maximizing, allowing one to easily access the clip
355 or map a menu using the mouse in the border area, even when there are
356 windows maximized in both horizontal and vertical directions.
357 WorkspaceBorder can be one of (None, LeftRight, TopBottom, AllDirections)
358 while WorkspaceBorderSize is the size in pixles of the border not to be
359 covered by windows when maximizing (usually a small amount 0..5 pixles).
361 Both options can be set using WPrefs.app in the "Miscelaneous Ergonomic
362 Preferences" section. WPrefs will always limit WorkspaceBorderSize in the
365 Note that if "full screen maximization" option is set for a window, that
366 window will ignore this border area, maximizing to full screen.
375 Code for converting wrlib images into X Pixmaps was optimized in many ways,
376 both in the original C code and in assembly for Pentium(tm) processors (with
377 and without MMX(tm)). Depending on the bit depth/color mode and CPU model,
378 performance increases can go up to 150%
381 Weendoze Window Cycling (alt-tab)
382 ---------------------------------
384 Window cycling was changed to weendoze style.
387 NoBorder Window Attribute
388 --------------------------
390 The NoBorder window attribute (to be put in
391 ~/GNUstep/Defaults/WindowAttributes) was added and will remove the
392 1 pixel border around windows.
395 Removed "Keep Attracted Icons" option from Clip's menu
396 ------------------------------------------------------
398 Since this option brought more confusion than usefulness among users, and
399 since it was usable only in a very limited context, being able to fill up
400 the Clip very easily, it was removed.
401 An alternative way of gaining the same functionality is to use the "Keep icon"
402 entry in the Clip's main menu. Or select multiple icons before calling that
403 entry, to make it apply to more than one icon.
405 Note: "Keep icon", as the obsoleted "Keep Attracted Icons" had nothing to do
406 with holding icons in Clip, while the application is running. Once they
407 are attracted, they are kept until the application close. Using
408 "Keep icon", will only assure that the icon will be kept, even after the
409 application is closed.
411 Please don't ask for this option back. It's error prone, and very unintuitive.
412 Considering it's very restrictive usability, and it's very ambiguous topic, it
413 does not need a special entry in the Clip's menu, taking in count that there
414 are already better alternative ways of gaining the same functionality.
417 Removed DisplayFont Option
418 ---------------------------
420 The font for the geometry size will be controlled by the default
421 WINGs font (SystemFont in WMGLOBAL) now.
427 - added DONT_SCALE_ICONS compile time option
428 - added --dont-restore cmd line option. When passed to wmaker, it
429 wont restore the state saved previously.
436 new libPropList-0.9.1 is REQUIRED to build Window Maker 0.61.1.
437 go grab it and install it first.
443 Window Edge Attraction
444 ----------------------
446 Window edge attraction was now added.
450 will enable/disable gravity to edge's boder.
451 The strength of gravity can be controled by modify `EdgeResistance' value
452 in WindowMaker configuration file.
455 Titlebar Draw String Plugin
456 ---------------------------
458 FTitleColor, UTitleColor, PTitleColor, MenuTitleColor can be assigend with
459 drawstring plugin instead of plain color. For example:
470 will invoke function drawplainstring from libwmfun.so and pass 3 colors for
471 arguments. To code new plugin, please see plugin.h for more informations.
480 The user menu is now a compile time option disabled by default.
481 Supply --enable-usermenu to configure to enable it.
484 root menu INCOMPATIBLE changes
485 ------------------------------
487 EXEC <program> will execute the named program
489 SHEXEC <command> will execute the shell command.
491 If you want to execute something like blabla > /dev/null, then use SHEXEC
493 Dont forget to update your menus.
496 New Option For setstyle
497 -----------------------
499 The --ignore flag will tell setstyle to not change the option that is
500 specified, when modifying the Window Maker configurations. For example:
502 setstyle --ignore MenuStyle sometheme.themed will cause the MenuStyle
503 option to not be changed.
505 setstyle --ignore FTitleBack --ignore UTitleBack --ignore PTitleBack bla.themed
506 will load the theme, but keep the titlebar background related options as
510 MultiByte Text Support Changes
511 ------------------------------
513 The --enable-kanji configure option is not needed anymore and was removed.
514 To enable support for multibyte text, you must:
515 - set the LANG environment variable to the appropriate value
516 - change the font configurations to contain font sets in the appropriate
517 encodings in both ~/G/D/WindowMaker and ~/G/D/WMGLOBAL (for WPrefs)
518 - set the MultiByteText option to YES in both of the above files
524 WorkspaceNameDisplayPosition =
525 none/center/top/bottom/topleft/topright/bottomleft/bottomright
528 SmoothWorkspaceBack = YES/NO
530 will enable smoothing of scaled workspace background images.
534 Application User Menu Path Changes
535 ----------------------------------
537 Default configuration for user specific menus installed in
538 /usr/local/share/WindowMaker/UserMenus or $(datadir)/WindowMaker/UserMenus
539 and ~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/UserMenus.
542 Omnipresent icons in Clip
543 -------------------------
545 Added ability to set icons docked in Clip to be omnipresent on all workspaces.
546 To set/reset this flag use the clip menu.
547 The Clip menu changed in the following way:
548 - if you bring up the menu from the Clip's main icon, it will contain as
549 before the "Rename Workspace" entry in the second position.
550 - however, if you bring up the menu from any other icon in clip, the
551 "Rename Workspace" menu entry is replaced by "Omnipresent" or
552 "Toggle Omnipresent" depending on the context.
554 This entry will work in the following way, depending on the context:
556 1. If there is no icon selected in the clip, then the menu will contain the
557 entry named "Omnipresent" which will be checked accordingly to the current
558 state of the icon (omnipresent or not), and will let you change the
559 omnipresent state of the icon you brought the menu from.
560 2. If one or more icons are already selected when the Clip menu is called, the
561 entry will be named "Toggle Omnipresent" and will apply to all selected
562 icons trying to toggle their omnipresent state. The icons which will be
563 succesfully changed to their new state as requested, will be unselected,
564 while the ones that will fail for some reason to gain their new state,
565 will remain selected.
567 In both cases if there is no success in setting what user requested a panel
568 will inform user of the failure.
569 (Note: trying to set an icon to not-omnipresent will never fail. Failures can
570 be met only when trying to set omnipresent for an icon).
572 The icons set to omnipresent will be marked with a triangle in the upper left
573 corner, having the color of the IconTitleColor.
575 An icon can be set to omnipresent, only if its position is free in all the
576 workspaces, else you will be informed of the problem and asked to fix it first.
577 Also when dragging an omnipresent icon around in Clip, all the icons docked in
578 all the workspaces are shown while the dragging is done, to let one easily see
579 where are free slots in all workspaces.
581 For advanced users, there is also a shortcut to set/reset the omnipresent
582 state of an icon: just use "Shift+MiddleButton" (button2) on the icon you want
584 In this case only the mark in the upper left corner will appear in case of
585 success, or nothing will happen if icon cannot be made omnipresent (advanced
586 users are expected to know why the icon failed to be made omnipresent, so they
587 don't need a panel to explain them why ;) ).
589 Now before you load your gun to start a flame war because this is against your
590 principles you love so much, please sit down and think that this is a feature,
591 which, if you don't use, the old behaviour of the Clip is totally preserved.
592 It just adds some extra capabilities to the Clip for people who think that this
596 XDND drop on dock support
597 -------------------------
599 Support for XDE on dock is now replaced by XDND.
600 To enable, edit src/wconfig.h
611 MenuStyle=<style>; will change the menu texture style.
614 normal (default): for the traditional one texture per item, with bevels in
617 singleTexture: for a single texture that spans the whole menu, with bevels
620 flat: singleTexture without the bevels
625 ResizebarBack=<texture>;
627 where <texture> is any of the textures you normally use in titlebars and
630 If the style file/theme does not contain a ResizebarBack option, setstyle
631 will automatically hack it so that wmaker will make the theme work like
635 New crash dialog panel
636 ----------------------
638 From now on, whenever a fatal situation appears, Window Maker will display a
639 dialog panel to the user and let him choose what to do.
641 - Abort and leave a core file (usefull for debugging and getting backtraces)
642 - Restart Window Maker (default behaviour)
643 - Start alternate window manager (the one defined as fallback, or if not
644 possible fvwm or twm in this order).
646 If it will not be able to restart or start the alternate window manager, it
647 will abort and leave the core file.
650 Application User Menu
651 ---------------------
653 Applications with an appicon can have a user defined menu.
655 This menu will emulate keyboard events, and will be sent to the applications'
656 window(s), thus the application must accept key combinations (CTRL+N for
659 To enable this feature, #define USER_MENU in src/wconfig.h and place menu
660 files in ~/GNUstep/Defaults/UserMenus (/usr/local/etc/WindowMaker/UserMenus
663 The user menu is in PropList format and the filename is in:
664 <instance name>.<class name>.menu or application's main window.
665 (Example: the menu for xcalc would be - xcalc.XCalc.menu)
667 Example user menu syntax:
671 ("Put 1", SHORTCUT, "2"),
673 ("Put 2", SHORTCUT, "2"),
674 ("Put 3,4 and 5", SHORTCUT, (3,4,5))
676 ("Exit", SHORTCUT, "Control+q")
684 Appearance Editing in WPrefs
685 ----------------------------
687 Added Appearance/Texture editing capability in WPrefs. Workspace background
688 selection is not yet finished.
694 Removed all themes from the source tree, and moved them in a separate package.
695 You can download the new package from the same place as this package:
696 ftp://ftp.windowmaker.org/pub/beta/srcs/
697 Look after WindowMaker-extra-<version-number>.tar.gz
698 Also WindowMaker-extra pack include the old WindowMaker-data.tar.gz which only
700 Look for the greatest version number when you download this package.
703 get-wraster-flags script change
704 -------------------------------
706 The name of the options passed to get-wraster-flags changed, to allow a better
707 name compatibility with the naming conventions used by other software.
708 The name change was as follows:
709 --lflags was changed in --ldflags
710 To allow backward compatibility, with already written software, the old
711 --lflags option is still recognized, but you are encouraged to move the the
722 Added 2 new cool themes (actually I added in 0.51.1, but forgot
723 to put it here...) from largo (LeetWM) and BadlandZ (STEP2000).
726 Full Screen Maximization
727 ------------------------
729 The FullMaximize window attribute will allow the window to
730 be maximized to the full size of the screen (ignoring anything
731 like titlebar, resizebar, dock, panels etc). It should be usefull
732 for programs that must use the whole screen, like games or things
733 like presentation programs.
738 KDE Application Menu script
739 ---------------------------
741 wkdemenu.pl is a converter from KDE application menu structures to wmaker
742 menu that can be used as a piped menu. Look wkdemenu.sh for how to use it.
745 Window Edge Resistance
746 ----------------------
748 Window edge resistance was now added. No, feature freeze hasn't been
749 removed. Its just part of the edge resistance rewrite ;)
755 Added SteelBlueSilk theme
757 Installation Path Changes
758 -------------------------
760 Default configuration data installed in /usr/local/etc/WindowMaker
761 or $(sysconfdir)/WindowMaker
766 Window Maker has become a GNU program (part of the GNU Project).
768 Title text drop shadow
769 ----------------------
771 drop shadow option added for titlebar text. This is a compile time
772 option which needs to be defined in src/wconfig.h after you run
773 configure and before you run make.
775 New options and syntax for your WindowMaker domain file are:
778 FShadowColor = <color>;
779 PShadowColor = <color>;
780 UShadowColor = <color>;
781 MShadowColor = <color>;
783 The shadow option is dynamic (no need for a restart).
784 MShadowColor is for the menu title text.
789 WARNING!!! libPropList was removed from the Window Maker distribution
790 and is being distributed separately. If you dont have it installed yet,
791 get it from ftp.windowmaker.org/pub/libs and install before building
795 signal handling change
796 ----------------------
797 SIGHUP will exit wmaker instead of restarting it!!! This is because
798 GNOME expects the window manager to exit instead of restarting...
799 Complaints should go to gnome people. SIGUSR1 will restart wmaker now.
804 WINGs-flags was removed, and replaced by get-wraster-flags.
805 Please remove WINGs-flags from your system, since it was obsoloted by
807 Continuing to use WINGs-flags can lead to hazardous effects, since is no
814 docklib is a little library for making dock applets. It's in the
815 docklib-0.0.tar.gz file. Unpack it and read the README file there.
821 Removed OnTopTransients option
823 Added OpenTransientOnOwnerWorkspace
829 OPEN LOOK(tm)/olwm hints support was added.
831 Read the appropriate section in the README file.
837 New option for WorkspaceBack. mpixmap is the same as spixmap, but
838 it will scale the pixmap by keeping the aspect ratio (maximize or maxpect).
839 The option only works for workspace backgrounds.
841 Also added IGNORE_PPOSITION compile time flag, which is equivalent
842 to NoPPosition from fvwm.
853 Added full support for GNOME and KWM hints.
854 Read the INSTALL file to see how enable them.
856 Everything in the so called GNOME window manager bla bla bla pseudo-spec is
859 As for KDE stuff, it implements 90% of everything kwm does, adds some
860 Window Maker specific extensions to it and still uses half of the memory
861 kwm does, which should be enough to let you dump kwm ;) For details on what
862 exactly is implemented, see comments in src/kwm.c Read the README.KDE file
863 for more information.
866 WARNING: Some KDE hints are badly designed, so doing things like using
867 kpanel's desktop switcher/pager and Window Maker's internal workspace
868 management functions to create, destroy and rename workspaces at the same
869 time might cause unknown effects. To be on the safe side, only
870 use either of them to manage workspaces. Switching workspaces is hopefully,
871 safe, so you can switch workspaces from wherever you want.
875 Workspace Specific Background Images
876 ------------------------------------
878 Use the WorkspaceSpecificBack to set background images for specific
879 workspaces. The WorkspaceBack is used as the default background image.
883 WorkspaceSpecificBack = ((solid, red), (cpixmap, ship.jpg, gray), (),
884 (dgradient, red, blue))
886 This will set the background image of workspace 1 to (solid, 0),
887 2 to ship.jpg and 4 to a gradient. Workspace 3 and other workspaces
888 will have the image defined by WorkspaceBack.
890 Note that this uses quite some memory...
896 setstyle now accepts the -nofonts flag, which will load the style
897 file ignoring all font related options.
901 setstyle -nofonts Blabla.style
904 getstyle can be used to create theme packs. See the usage in the
905 WindowMaker/README.themes file.
912 Textured gradients will tile a texture pixmap and combine it with a gradient,
913 using an arbitrary opaqueness.
915 Syntax is (thgradient, <file>, <opaqueness>, <color1>, <color2>)
916 (tvgradient, <file>, <opaqueness>, <color1>, <color2>)
917 (tdgradient, <file>, <opaqueness>, <color1>, <color2>)
919 <color1> and <color2> are the colors for the gradient,
920 <file> is the texture file and
921 <opaqueness> is the opaqueness to merge the texture witht the gradient,
922 ranging from 0 to 255.
926 (thgradient, "BlueImage.jpeg", 120, white, black)
928 The BlackTexture style and Checker theme are examples.
932 You can use any type of pixmap file for this, but small (like 64x32)
933 grayscale pixmap files should get the best results (fast and low memory
934 usage). You can use color pixmaps, but it is harder to get the desired effect
937 Be warned that this texture type is the slowest.
944 IconTitleBack and IconTitleColor control the color of the
945 miniwindow title. Both of them are colors.
948 IconTitleColor=white;
952 Since this introduces an incompatibility in themes and getting flamed by the
953 themes ppl isn't the most pleasant thing ("Whaddafuk you're thinking!? You
954 just broke 500 themes!!!" ;) the setstyle command was hacked so that it will
955 make old themes work as before, by trying to automatically set the above
956 options. Note that in some cases it will not have exactly the same results as
960 StartMaximized window attribute. Will maximize the window when it
964 AutoRaiseLower option for the Clip. This allows automatic Raise/Lower of the
965 Clip icons when the mouse pointer enter/leave the Clip. To avoid unwanted
966 raising/lowering there is a time threshold before raising/lowering.
967 The thresholds can be changed in wconfig.h by changing one or both of
968 AUTO_LOWER_DELAY and AUTO_RAISE_DELAY (expressed in miliseconds).
969 For example if you set AUTO_RAISE_DELAY to 0, then the Clip will be raised as
970 soon as the mouse pointer enters it's area. Setting AUTO_RAISE_DELAY to a very
971 big value, will make the Clip to practically do not auto raise unless clicked,
972 but to be automatically lowered after AUTO_LOWER_DELAY (ms) when leaved.
978 Starting with this version, a new format of themes is being supported.
979 Before you open pine and start composing your flame, rest assured that
980 the old format is still supported. The new format is documented
981 in the WindowMaker/README.themes file.
987 The -noext option for OPEN_MENU will strip whatever is after the last .
988 in file names that appear on the opened directory. So,
990 OPEN_MENU ~/bg WITH xv -root -quit
992 will create a menu with all the images in ~/bg without the extension.
999 Icon (miniwindow) stacking
1000 --------------------------
1002 If you want miniwindows to reside under normal windows, edit
1003 wconfig.h and change WNormalLevel (just grep for it) to
1010 If you have a 5 button mouse and want to give some utility for
1011 the extra 2 buttons, edit the appropriate line in src/wconfig.h
1012 Clicking Button4 in the root window will switch you to the previous
1013 workspace and Button5 will do that for the next.
1019 put NoWindowOverDock back
1021 KeepOnBottom window attribute
1024 -static command line option
1025 ---------------------------
1027 wmaker -static will start Window Maker in static mode. This will
1028 prevent wmaker from checking or making any configuration changes.
1029 That makes it possible to run wmaker before running wmaker.inst
1032 Hysteresis for menu item selection
1033 ----------------------------------
1035 Hopefully it's intelligent enough, so you won't notice it.
1037 In case you want to know what's it, it's equivalent to that
1038 (insanely long) 2 second delay present in that Windoze95 menu,
1039 but more usefull than annoying (I hope :). To see it, do the following
1040 with your current wmaker version and later with 0.20.3:
1042 - open the apps menu and stick it
1043 - click in the item for the "Workspaces" submenu and hold
1044 - drag the mouse to the 4th or bigger entry (like "Workspace 4") in a
1045 straight line, trying to select the target item before the submenu
1046 is unmapped when you dragged over other items in the main menu
1053 Window shortcuts are shortcuts to arbitrary windows. You can make up to 4
1054 shortcuts. To assign a previously bound shortcut to a window use the "Select
1055 Shortcut" submenu in the window commands menu. If the shortcut is not yet
1056 assigned for any window, you can hit the shortcut to assign it to the active
1057 window. The shortcut will do the same as clicking in an entry in the window
1058 list menu. The keys for the shortcuts are defined in the ~/G/D/WindowMaker
1059 file or in WPrefs.app
1063 WindowShortcut1Key through WindowShortcut4Key
1069 The name of WindowMaker was changed to Window Maker.
1071 Window creation animation disabled by default.
1076 If you use it edit src/wconfig.h and #define OPTIMIZE_SHAPE or disable the
1077 titlebar and resizebar for the window. OPTIMIZE_SHAPE will remove the
1078 flickering for xdaliclock and other programs that change their shapes often,
1079 but will increase network traffic considerably. So, if you use xdaliclock
1080 from a remote machine it can get slow.
1086 The applications menu will now use the shell in the SHELL environment
1087 variable to execute EXEC menu commands. If it is unset (I think it's always
1088 automatically set by the shell program) it will use /bin/sh
1091 Extra fancy icon kaboom :)
1092 --------------------------
1094 Edit src/wconfig.h and #define ICON_KABOOM_EXTRA to get
1095 more effects for the icon undocking animation.
1097 Options for superfluous stuff are even more superfluous, so this
1098 will not become runtime.
1101 XDE drag and drop support
1102 -------------------------
1104 Support for XDE drag and drop was added (by "]d" <id@maliwan.org>).
1105 To enable, edit src/wconfig.h
1106 The support works with gtk 1.1.2
1112 libPropList will now be built automatically by wmaker. Wich means
1113 the (simplified) building process is now:
1121 tar xzf libPropList.tar.gz
1122 (cd libPropList; make)
1126 You also don't need to worry about GNOME libPropList incompatibilities
1130 Bug with focus lost in sloppy focus fixed
1131 -----------------------------------------
1133 The bug only occurs in sloppy or auto focus modes, with AutoFocus disabled
1134 and Superfluous enabled. There is no easy/clean way to fix this, so Window
1135 Maker will disable the animation of window creation if the focus mode is
1136 either sloppy or auto AND AutoFocus=NO.
1138 If you want the animation, enable AutoFocus or use manual focus mode
1142 The NoWindowUnderDock option was removed
1143 ----------------------------------------
1144 To obtain the same result, use the "Keep Dock On Top" option in the dock menu.
1147 Persistent Program Suplied Icons
1148 --------------------------------
1150 Application supplied icons are now stored, so that the dock will keep
1151 showing them after the app is exited. The icons are stored at
1152 ~/GNUstep/.AppInfo/WindowMaker/
1158 Sound support is now on by default. Even if you don't use sound the overhead
1159 is very small, and has no impact on performance. If you still want to
1160 optimize it and remove a few hundred of bytes, then use --disable-sound or
1161 --enable-sound=no options when you configure Window Maker.
1167 Multihead support. wmaker will now manage all screens that are attached to the
1169 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1172 It does so from a single process (instead of spawning a new process for each
1173 screen, like fvwm does). This keeps memory usage a lot lower than fvwm.
1175 State files have a suffix .n, where n is the number of the screen.
1177 Since I don't have a real multiheaded machine, it probably has bugs.
1182 Yet another useless superfluous animation. Find out what exactly it is
1189 ~/G/L/W/exitscript will be called automatically when wmaker is exited.
1195 1. Miniaturization animation is now selectable by a runtime option
1198 IconificationStyle = <style>;
1200 to your WindowMaker configuration file.
1201 <style> can be one of: Zoom, Twist, Flip or None
1202 Case doesn't matter, and default is Zoom.
1206 This can be controlled by setting:
1208 EdgeResistance = xxx;
1210 in your WindowMaker configuration file.
1211 xxx is an integer greater than 0 and represents the number of pixels of edge
1212 resistance. Setting it to 0 (default) will disable this feature.
1217 A new theme named Night, is available in this distribution.
1223 GIF support was added. You will need libgif 2.2 to use it.
1225 cpixmap added. Syntax is the same as tpixmap or spixmap
1230 getstyle will include IconBack info in Style files.
1234 libPropList was updated. If you have it installed, you must upgrade or
1235 WPrefs will crash because of bugs in libPropList.
1243 WindowTitleBalloons = YES;
1244 will enable balloons for window titles that are not fully visible.
1246 MiniwindowTitleBalloons = YES;
1247 will enable balloons for miniwindow titles.
1249 AppIconBalloons = YES;
1250 for application icons (docked or not)
1256 IconPosition (the position of the icons) is specified as:
1258 IconPosition = c1c2c3;
1262 c1 can be t or b (meaning top or bottom)
1263 c2 can be l or r (meaning left or right)
1264 c3 can be v or h (meaning vertical or horizontal)
1266 case is insensitive.
1271 is the old iconPosition position.
1275 will place the icons over the Dock.
1277 New window attribute
1278 --------------------
1280 EmulateAppIcon = YES; will make the window have an application icon.
1281 Only use this option for fully specified windows (like rxvt.Rxvt).
1282 NEVER use in generic window specifications (like * or rxvt).
1283 You must restart the application for the attribute to take effect.
1294 Boolean balues have changed!!! YES, Y and any non-zero integer will
1295 mean TRUE and anything else (including True) will mean FALSE. This
1296 is to conform to the OpenStep values used for booleans and
1297 not cause headaches later, when GNUstep apps also starts using
1298 defaults and users will try using True wich won't get recognized.
1306 Clip button layout was changed. IT IS TEMPORARY AND THE DEFINITIVE LOOK
1307 WILL BE DIFFERENT!!!
1313 More bugs were fixed in it. Upgrade the library if you have an older version
1314 installed, with the one included.
1320 Format for property list menus has changed! The redundant array for
1321 submenus was removed, so a menu that looked like:
1324 ("Xterm", EXEC, "xterm"),
1327 ("Gimp", EXEC, "gimp"),
1336 ("Xterm", EXEC, "xterm"),
1338 ("Gimp", EXEC, "gimp"),
1348 NUMLOCK_HACK is back. This time it works and is enabled by default.
1349 If you think you don't need it and promise me that you won't send
1350 "bug" reports saying that shortcuts stop working after a while, you can
1351 disable it ;) It will save some memory and CPU.
1357 Removed the SwapMenuButton option and added 3 finer grained options:
1359 SelectWindowsMouseButton
1360 WindowListMouseButton
1361 ApplicationMenuMouseButton
1363 Values that can be used are Left, Middle, Right and Button1 through Button5
1364 Left is equivalent to Button1, Middle to Button2 and Right to Button3
1367 Removed the WorkspaceChangeDelay option and corresponding action.
1368 Removed AClipColor and IClipColor
1371 Added the SelectKey back
1374 Changed default binding of Window commands menu from F10 to Control+Escape
1381 libPropList has changed! Upgrade it before compiling wmaker.
1383 Hopefully the bugs that caused wmaker to crash if an error is found
1384 in the config files is fixed. If you do crash wmaker with a bad
1385 file, please try to find out the smallest possible portion of the file
1386 that still crashes wmaker and send it to me.
1392 PixmapPath was split to PixmapPath and IconPath. PixmapPath is the path
1393 for the pixmaps used as textures and IconPath is for the icons.
1394 Don't forget to add IconPath to your current configuration file.
1396 There's also a new library in ~/GNUstep/Library/Icons. You should place
1397 your icons there, since icons are not a WindowMaker specific resource.
1400 DontConfirmKill=YES; will disable the confirmation panel for Kill
1408 Unhide Here in the appicon menu was changed to be the first entry.
1409 This way you can unhide the appicon with a single click without
1410 even moving the pointer.
1416 The collect icons commands was renamed to attract icons and
1417 the attract icons options was renamed to Auto attract icons.
1419 The Remove Selected Icons was renamed to Remove Icon(s). It will
1420 act as before if some icon is selected and will remove the clicked
1421 icon (without confirmation) if it is not.
1423 Added a Keep Icon(s) command that will keep the selected icons if
1424 any is selected and the current one if none.
1426 The Move To command was renamed to Move Icon(s) To.
1431 If you have libPropList installed, you might want to reinstall it,
1432 replacing with the included libPropList. It has a small bug fix.
1437 Removed --with-gnome and made MWM_HINTS defined by default.
1438 This means that "GNOME support" will work with no additional
1439 flags passed to configure.
1441 Added support for KDE, by adding a DisableWorkspaceMouseActions option.
1442 Set it to YES and run krootwm to be able to use everything in kfm.
1445 Shortcuts for Root Menu
1446 -----------------------
1448 There is now a new SHORTCUT optional keyword for the menus.
1449 For example, you can bind Control-F1 to xterm with:
1451 "XTerm" SHORTCUT Control+F1 EXEC xterm
1453 or F2 to ARRANGE_ICONS with:
1455 "Arrange Icons" SHORTCUT F2 ARRANGE_ICONS
1458 All commands allowed in the menu file accept the keyword, except for
1465 ** Configuration of docked applications is now done in a panel instead of
1468 ** Added a command menu for application icons
1470 ** Shift double-click on the application icon will unhide the app
1471 in the current workspace.
1477 NotMiniaturizable option changed to NoMiniaturizeButton
1478 NotClosable option changed to NoCloseButton
1481 Speed options values are now UltraFast, Fast, Medium, Slow or UltraSlow
1484 Removed the Select keyboard binding. You can access it in the window
1487 Removed the ClipMaxIcons option and made it a compile time option.
1489 Removed the ConstrainWindowSize option
1491 Renamed NoSound to DisableSound
1493 Renamed NoAutowrap to DontLinkWorkspaces
1495 Renamed NoDithering to DisableDithering
1497 Renamed NoAnimations to DisableAnimations
1499 Removed the LeftHanded option and added a SwapMenuButton option.
1500 SwapMenuButton will make the rubberband selection in the root window
1501 be bound to the right button and the root menu to the left button.
1504 New way to display temporary icons
1505 ----------------------------------
1507 The icons that are attracted by Clip, but will not be kept after the
1508 application close, are now using a different color for shading, unlike previous
1509 version that always used white. This will improve look for very different color
1510 combinations, and allow the user to control the look of the shaded icon.
1511 The color used for shading the icons is computed as follows:
1513 First a color is computed depending on the IconBack type:
1514 - for solid the color is the solid color itself.
1515 - for simple gradients the color is (from_color + to_color)/2.
1516 - for multiple gradients, the color is the first color in list.
1517 - for pixmaps, the color is the solid color specified for that pixmap.
1519 Then the color is made lighter by multiplying each red/green/blue filed with
1520 1.7 and limiting each field to 0xff in case they exceed this value.
1521 Then this new color will be used by superposing it with the icon we want to
1522 shade, using a proper alpha value.
1524 To control the color for shading is simple:
1526 - In case of multi gradients you just need to put the first color, as the color
1527 you like. WindowMaker do not use the first color in the list to directly build
1528 the gradient, but only when it needs a solid color for something (like in this
1531 - For pixmaps, put the needed color as the solid color the syntax for pixmaps
1532 require. This color is also not used when displaying normal icons, just when
1533 solid colors are needed (like this case).
1535 - For solid color, or simple gradients, in case the color it uses after
1536 computing is not good enough, you can always convert the solid or simple
1537 gradient to a multi gradient with the same look, and use that one. In this
1538 case is simple, just put the needed color as first color in list.
1540 Please note that this will not slow down WindowMaker, because the IconBack is
1541 read only once at startup, and then only if it is changed. After reading it WM
1542 will construct the image of the tile, and use the image instead of recomputing
1543 the gradient every time.
1545 Here are 2 examples of converting solid or simple gradient to a same looking
1548 IconBack = (solid, Blue);
1550 IconBack = (mhgradient , LightBlue, Blue, Blue);
1551 using LightBlue as color for shading.
1553 IconBack = (dgradient, "#284569", "#082420");
1555 IconBack = (mdgradient, "#183454", "#284569", "#082420");
1556 looking the same, but using #183454 for shading.
1559 New Sound Server Location
1560 -------------------------
1562 The sound server new URL is http://www.frontiernet.net/~southgat/wmsound
1563 Also it seems to be running on FreeBSD too (with little changes maybe).
1571 The path for the WINGs resource files was changed. If you don't
1572 do make install, you must move /usr/local/share/WindowMaker/Resources to
1573 /usr/local/share/WINGs
1579 The following new options are available:
1580 NewStyle = Yes/No; (static) Replaces --enable-newstyle
1581 DisableDock = Yes/No; (static) Same as -nodock command line option.
1582 DisableClip = Yes/No; (static) Same as -noclip.
1583 Superfluous = Yes/No; (dynamic) Replaces --enable-superfluous.
1586 - The static options are only read at startup. Changing them, needs to restart,
1587 so they will be accounted.
1588 - DisableDock and DisableClip have lower precedence than -nodock -noclip
1589 command line options. If both option/command line option are given, then the
1590 command line option will be accounted.
1596 The start hidden option was fixed, and made to be an application wide option.
1597 It will apply to every window the application owns. Also its place in the
1598 Attribute Inspector panel, changed accordingly, to reflect this.
1599 The start miniaturized is however still applying to particular windows of an
1600 application, unless the option is set for the class.
1601 Start miniaturized, will override start hidden if both set.
1604 Because of the way Netscape Communicator is implemented, it is NOT possible
1605 to set the start hidden or miniatirized flags for it. This is because Netscape
1606 chooses to send a second map event to the window it maps. This makes the
1607 window to receive a second map request and to be unhidden or maximized back,
1608 immediately after it was hidden or miniaturized by WindowMaker at startup.
1617 The NextMenuBehaviour option was renamed to WrapMenus
1618 The WorkspaceTiedMiniwindows option was renamed to StickyIcons
1620 The .tif files were renamed to .tiff
1623 Selecting Mini Windows
1624 ----------------------
1626 Now miniaturized windows can be selected as well as normal windows.
1627 You can do this by Shift-Click-ing them. They will be marked, and will follow
1628 you through workspaces like normal selected windows do.
1629 Miniaturizing a window will no longer deselect the window, but will place the
1630 icon and mark it as selected.
1631 The only difference between miniaturized and normal window selection is that
1632 for the moment the rubber-band selecting method works only for normal windows.
1635 Icon Selection Panel in Attributes Editor
1636 -----------------------------------------
1638 Now, selecting icons is as easy as clicking in the file name in a list.
1644 IconSlideStep, IconSlideSlowDown and IconSlideDelay were merged to
1647 MenuScrollStep and MenuScrollDelay were merged to MenuScrollSpeed
1649 ShadeStep and ShadeDelay were merged to ShadeSpeed
1652 Valid values for them are: Fast, Normal, Slow or UltraSlow
1654 If you want to fine tune the values, they can be changed in wconfig.h
1655 Send me your set of values with an indication of how fast is your hardware,
1656 so that I can make the default values more adequate.
1659 New Window Attributes
1660 ---------------------
1662 Added StartMiniaturized and StartHidden as window attributes and
1663 removed the previous implementation. Also removed the dock menu entries.
1664 They are now settable in the Attributes Panel.
1666 Also added DontSaveSession attribute. This way, you won't end up with multiple
1667 unwanted copies of the same app after the previous session is restored.
1668 I start X with a xterm in .xinitrc instead of wmaker, wich will cause the
1669 xterm restored by wmaker be duplicate. Just add -name something to the
1670 xterm started form .xinitrc and mark DontSaveSession=YES for that window.
1674 User Specifiable Visual IDs
1675 ---------------------------
1677 wmaker now supports different visuals than the default one. It isn't of much
1678 use for most people, but can be usefull for lucky SGI users who want it
1679 to use TrueColor instead of the default PseudoColor.
1681 wmaker -visualid VISUAL_ID
1683 where VISUAL_ID is the hex code for the visual you want.
1685 Note: I don't have an SGI box and haven't tested it...
1692 The starting workspace is identified in the following order:
1693 1. If the app is omnipresent will be mapped on the current workspace.
1694 2. Else if the application have a StartWorkspace option set as attribute
1695 then this one will be used.
1696 3. Else, if the application was started from Clip, the workspace on which
1697 the Clip from where it was started is used.
1698 4. Else the current workspace is used.
1700 Restoring saved sessions will always use the saved workspace, no matter
1701 what other options are, except onmipresent.
1707 Workspace specific mini windows
1708 -------------------------------
1710 The minimized windows can be workspace specific, being more consistent with
1711 the rest. This is because minimized window represents just another state of a
1712 window (like normal or shaded), which all are workspace specific.
1713 This (or the old "present anywhere") behavior can be set using an option in
1714 the WindowMaker database: WorkspaceTiedMiniWindows = Yes/No;
1716 New way to animate the blowing icons
1717 ------------------------------------
1719 There is now a compile time option that allows one to set how the icons are
1720 animated when detaching from dock/clip in superfluous mode.
1721 By default the classic "Falling pieces" animation is used.
1722 If SPREAD_ICON is #define-ed in wconfig.h, then a "Spread in four directions"
1723 animation is used instead. Take a look at the section where this is described
1725 By default there is #undef SPREAD_ICON to select "Falling pieces" animation.
1727 Auto Colapse for Clip
1728 ---------------------
1730 The clip now supports an option named "Auto Collapse" which can be set from
1731 the clip main menu. When set, clip will stay collapsed, and will show itself
1732 when the mouse moves over it. While the mouse is over it, or over any of the
1733 icons attached to the clip, the clip will stay uncollapsed, letting you to
1734 access the attached icons. This is not true for applications like asclock, or
1735 applets of that kind, because the icon window do not belongs to WindowMaker,
1736 but to the application itself. For such icons you must keep the mouse over the
1737 icon groundplate, else it will collapse back. But usually these type of icons
1738 will not stay in a collapsed clip, since one needs to see what they show.
1739 When the clip is leaved it will collapse back after a delay of 1 second, unless
1740 the mouse is moved back to the clip area. The delay can be set modifying
1741 AUTO_COLLAPSE_DELAY in wconfig.h. Default is 1000 (ms) which means 1 second.
1748 Changed name from Fiend to Clip
1749 -----------------------------------
1751 All occurrences of word Fiend with or without capital F were replaced with
1752 the corresponding Clip (same capital).
1753 This affects all configuration files under ~/GNUstep that contain this word.
1754 It can be refered as "Workspace Dock" too.
1757 New option in Clip menu, and extended Clip behavior
1758 ---------------------------------------------------
1760 The following new items are available in the dock menu:
1763 2. Keep Attracted Icons
1765 4. (Un)select All Icons
1766 5. Remove Selected Icons
1768 7. Start miniaturized (also available for regular dock)
1769 8. Start hidden (also available for regular dock)
1771 10. Set icon... (also available for regular dock)
1774 Here is what they do:
1776 1. "Attract Icons" will let the Clip to attract and attach any new appicon that
1777 is created when an application starts. It will not do this if the Clip is
1778 full. If the Clip is Collapsed then the appicon will be hidden after it is
1780 2. "Keep Attracted Icons" will tell the Clip to keep the attracted appicons,
1781 after the application is closed. Without this the appicons will vanish,
1782 leaving the Clip in the original state. If you move an appicon that was
1783 attracted from Clip to regular Dock, it will be kept when closed, no matter
1784 what "Keep Attracted Icons" is set to in Clip.
1785 3. "Collect Icons" will collect all appicons that are not yet attached to Dock
1786 or Clip, and attach them to the current workspace Clip. The value of
1787 "Keep Attracted Icons" will apply when applications close. If Clip is
1788 collapsed, the appicons will be hidden.
1789 4. "(Un)select All Icons" will select all icons in the clip if none is
1790 selected, or it will deselect all selected ones. The selected icons are
1791 marked using a small triangle in the bottom right corner of the appicon.
1792 The color of the mark is set using SClipColor in WindowMaker domain
1794 5. "Remove Selected Icons" will remove from Clip all selected icons. The ones
1795 that still run, will be detached, all the others will vanish.
1796 6. "Move To" will transfer all selected icons to another workspace and attach
1797 them to the Clip in that workspace. If none is selected, only the one the
1798 mouse was pressed on will be moved.
1799 7. "Start miniaturized" will launch (or autolaunch if set) the application in
1800 a miniaturized state.
1801 8. "Start hidden" will launch (or autolaunch if set) the application in a
1802 hidden state. Note that only one of the two can be set at a time.
1803 9. "Selected" can be used to toggle the selected state of the appicon
1804 individually. The same can be achieved using Shift-LeftClick on the appicon.
1805 In fact the intended way of toggling the selected state is by using
1806 the Shift-LeftClick on icon. The menu entry is just another way to do the
1808 10. "Set icon..." will allow one to set the image for the appicon. The image
1809 will be updated without restart, and also all appicons in the same
1810 instance.class as the one we set for, will be updated.
1812 So a simple way of avoiding the screen to be filled up with appicons is to set
1813 the "Attract Icons" in the Clip. Also the "Keep Attracted Icons" can be set to
1814 No, so the attracted icons will be deleted when application exits, thus leaving
1815 the Clip clean. If also one to not want to see the appicons that keep filling
1816 the Clip, he can set the Clip to be Collapsed.
1818 Getting rid of unneeded icons in Clip is as simple as selecting them
1819 individually using Shift-LeftClick, and then using the "Remove selected Icons"
1823 Support for different visuals.
1824 ------------------------------
1826 WindowMaker is now able to support any visual, except DirectColor, in any
1827 depth from 1bpp to 32bpp.
1829 One can start the X server with different visuals, by passing the X server the
1830 right option. For XFree 3.3.x is -cc <id>.
1831 WindowMaker is not yet able to choose a different visual from the Default one
1832 on a given screen, but can use any default visual it finds, except the direct
1834 For example starting X like (for XFree 3.3.x, and if the driver for the
1835 card supports this. Read the man page for your X server):
1836 startx -- -bpp 8 -cc 0 will give you the StaticGray visual.
1837 startx -- -bpp 8 -cc 1 will give the GrayScale visual
1840 Wrlib code is now generic, and will support any visual except DirectColor in
1841 any depth. Programs written with wrlib can work on different visuals from
1842 the default visual for a given screen.
1843 Behavior in different visuals can be tested using the testgrad program in
1844 wrlib subdirectory in distribution.
1845 testgrad -h will show the usage.
1847 Multidiagonal gradients are also implemented now in wrlib, and a new algorithm
1848 is used to speed up the generation of diagonal gradients.
1851 New arrangement of the directory structure under ~/GNUstep/
1852 ---------------------------------------------------------------
1854 To better adapt to theme support the directory structure changed under
1855 ~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker
1857 1. Style directory moved to Styles.
1858 2. Added the following directories: Backgrounds, IconSets, Pixmaps, Sounds and
1860 3. The .style files no longer get copied in the user's Styles directory.
1861 Instead they are read from the global /usr/local/share/WindowMaker/Styles
1864 Under ~/GNUstep/Defaults the following changes occurred:
1866 1. A default WMState is installed by wmaker.inst.
1867 It contains the dockit program assigned to the top icon of the dock, and
1868 the wmsetbg program assigned for the drop command on both dock's and clip's
1870 Double clicking the dock's main icon will bring up dockit that will let you
1871 dock any application that do not have an application icon.
1872 Dropping an image on dock's or clip's main icon, from an Offix DND aware
1873 application, will put the image on the background tiled, and will update
1874 WindowMaker domain database file.
1875 2. Syntax of WMState changed a little. The old position will not be restored
1876 when you will first start the new version, but after that it will be
1877 normally remembered. This is because now the main clip icons is only saved
1878 once, not for every workspace.
1879 You should replace Fiend with Clip in any place where it appears, if you
1880 want to keep the old WMState file, else it will not work.
1881 3. At compile time, it will detect if you have support for tif, and will
1882 install a WMWindowAttributes with corresponding image name extension
1883 (.tif or .xpm). This is true only for pixmaps that come with the source
1884 distribution and get installed under /usr/local/share/WindowMaker/Pixmaps
1886 The menu file changed a lot. Old menu file will *not* work with new theme
1887 support, so please upgrade.
1890 New behavior of OPEN_MENU command
1891 ---------------------------------
1893 The OPEN_MENU command now supports the following syntax:
1894 1. File menu handling.
1895 // opens file.menu which must contain a valid menu file and inserts
1896 // it in current position
1898 2. Pipe menu handling.
1899 // opens command and uses it's stdout to construct menu.
1900 // Command's output must be a valid menu description.
1902 3. Directory handling.
1903 // Opens one or more directories and construct a menu with all
1904 // the subdirectories and executable files in them sorted alphabetically.
1905 OPEN_MENU /some/dir [/some/other/dir ...]
1906 4. Directory handling with command.
1907 // Opens one or more directories and construct menu with all
1908 // subdirectories and readable files in them sorted alphabetically,
1909 // preceding each of them with command.
1910 // WITH is a required keyword!!!
1911 OPEN_MENU /some/dir [/some/other/dir ...] WITH command -options
1913 Please note that because of the 'WITH' keyword old menu files no longer work
1914 for the OPEN_MENU with a command.
1920 Theme support is now as easy as untar-ing a tarball in the right place.
1921 Because of the way OPEN_MENU works, they can be installed on a global
1922 shareable basis, or for personal user use.
1923 Themes installed under ~/GNUstep will be available only for a user, but
1924 if if they are installed under /usr/local/share/WindowMaker they will be seen
1925 by all users. This is also true for style files, background images, pixmaps,
1926 etc that get installed under /usr/local/share/WindowMaker.
1927 Themes can be saved or loaded using the Appereance menu.
1929 Also support for different IconSets is available. You can save or load a new
1930 IconSet using the Appereance menu.
1932 Setting background images is now as simple as putting the images in the right
1933 place (~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/Backgrounds or
1934 /usr/local/share/WindowMaker/Backgrounds, or any other place in your
1935 PixmapPath). Then use the Appereance menu. They will be instantly available
1936 since they are opened by a OPEN_MENU command. Also the image do not need to
1937 have a .jpg or any other extension. It will be recognized anyhow.
1938 As an example please see the OpenStep theme supplied with WindowMaker.
1939 The OpenStep image is a jpeg file without extension.
1941 Please keep in mind that anything under /usr/local/share/WindowMaker will be
1942 available for all users.
1945 New options for wmsetbg and getstyle
1946 ------------------------------------
1948 wmsetbg now accepts the following options:
1949 usage: wmsetbg [-options] image
1954 -s scale image (default)
1955 -u update WindowMaker domain database
1956 -D <domain> update <domain> database
1957 -c <cpc> colors per channel to use
1959 By default, it will try to guess if dithering is needed or not and proceed
1961 Using -d or -m will force it to dither or match colors.
1963 Dithering for more than 15bpp is generally not needed, and will only result
1964 in a slower processing.
1965 Don't use dithering except when needed, because it is slower. Else rely on
1966 wmsetbg which will detect if dithering is needed and use it.
1968 -u will update the WorkspaceBack in the default database domain file in
1969 ~/GNUstep/Defaults/WindowMaker, and let WindowMaker refresh the screen.
1970 Please note that this option only works under WindowMaker, and will have no
1971 effect under other window managers, since it rely on WindowMaker to update
1972 the image after it reads the updated defaults database.
1974 -D <domain> is same as above, but will update the domain <domain> instead of
1975 the default WindowMaker domain.
1977 -c <cpc> will set the color per channel to use. Only needed for PseudoColor
1978 visuals. WindowMaker will automatically pass the value read from the
1979 WindowMaker domain database.
1982 getstyle now have the -t option, that instructs it to read all options
1983 related to theme. Without -t getstyle will read only style options that
1984 means it will not read WorkspaceBack and IconBack.
1985 Use -t when you want to make a theme and need all theme options to be saved.
1986 Else it will extract just a style file.
1989 Session management support
1990 --------------------------
1992 Two new commands are available for use in menus:
1994 SAVE_SESSION and CLEAR_SESSION.
1997 will take a snapshot of all running applications, and their current hints
1998 (shaded, hidden, minimized, geometry and workspace they are on),
1999 and save it inside the WMState file. Also the current workspace we are on is
2000 saved. The applications that are running and were started from dock or clip are
2001 marked, so they will be attached to the corresponding dock/clip when restored.
2002 This state is restored every next session, until a new one is saved or
2003 CLEAR_SESSION is used.
2006 will clear any previous saved session.
2008 There is also a run time option named SaveSessionOnExit = Yes/No; that allows
2009 one to automatically save the state of desktop when leaving WindowMaker.
2010 This way next session, the state of the desktop before last exit is restored.
2012 Please note that if this option is set to Yes, than any manual saving of the
2013 state, or any clearing of the state will be overridden when exiting
2016 These options are available under the "Workspace" menu.
2019 User WindowMaker configuration files are now merged with global ones
2020 --------------------------------------------------------------------
2022 When starts WindowMaker will look for database domain files under
2023 $GNUSTEP_USER_ROOT/Defaults or ~/GNUstep/Deafults to be read. (In this order).
2025 If they are not available then it will scan for them in
2026 $GNUSTEP_LOCAL_ROOT/Defaults, $GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_ROOT/Defaults or
2027 /usr/local/GNUstep/Defaults (in this order).
2029 Even if the file was found or not, it will always load the corresponding domain
2030 file under /usr/local/share/WindowMaker/Defaults.
2032 Then if the user file was found it will merge it over the global file, else
2033 the global file will be used.
2035 This way any settings that are set by the system administrator in the shared
2036 file will be available for users that do not have them in their config files.
2037 Any option the user have in his config file will override the one in the
2040 So any new runtime options that appear in WindowMaker domain, do not need to
2041 be set in all user files, except the ones the user wants a different behavior
2042 from the default set for all users in the shared file.
2044 Also it is possible for the user to not have any personal domain databases, and
2045 the global shared ones will be used, but it still needs to have the directory
2046 structure, so WMState gets written on session exit.
2047 So all it needs to have is ~/GNUstep/Defaults directory available.
2050 New behavior of the Slide Icons
2051 -------------------------------
2053 Animation constants are now runtime.
2057 IconSlideSlowDown = 50;
2059 To better adapt both slow and fast machines the behavior of sliding icons
2060 changed in the following manner:
2062 Old one was to keep moving the icon with a constant step (default 5 pixels)
2063 until it reached the destination.
2065 Now it will use a new parameter named IconSlideSlowDown to speed up or slow
2068 Instead of moving it with a constant step it will use IconSlideSlowDown to
2069 divide the distance to the destination, and use this value as the first step.
2070 Then is will compute the remaining distance and will again use
2071 IconSlideSlowDown to divide it and get the new step. And so on.
2072 When the step to move becomes smaller than IconSlideStep, IconSlideStep will
2073 be used further until the destination is reached.
2075 This way a nice deceleration effect is achieved, since while the icon
2076 approaches destination, it will use smaller steps, gibing the illusion that
2077 the icons is moving slower.
2079 IconSlideDelay will give the pause between steps, and is expressed in ms.
2081 Giving large values to IconSlideSlowDown (>1024 for 1024x768 screen) will
2082 result in the old "constant step advance" behavior, since the computed step
2083 will always be smaller than IconSlideStep, and the last will be used instead.
2085 Making IconSlideSlowDown = 0 or 1, will result in an instant jump to the
2086 destination without any animation.
2092 Because the icon images on screen automatically update after any change in
2093 WMWindowAttributes domain file, the use of both Save and Apply buttons is no
2094 longer needed. If one wants to just apply the setting to the current window
2095 only, he will only use the Apply button.
2096 If he wants them saved for all applications in the same instance and/or class
2097 the using the Save button will write them to disk, and automatically
2098 WindowMaker will update all the icons that need to be updated on screen.
2104 Some basic sound support is now part of WindowMaker. The sound server is not
2105 yet part of WindowMaker distribution, so you need to download it separately.
2106 This is because is linux specific, and need some changes before it can be
2108 Until them if you have a linux system and want to use sound, use the
2109 wmsound-0.5 available at http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/7874
2110 Download that package, and only build the sound server there.
2111 DO NO APPLY ANY PATCHES FROM THERE!, because they are already applied.
2112 Just build the sound and copy the executable in /usr/local/bin
2113 Follow the rest of the install steps described there, except the patch-ing
2116 To enable sound for WindowMaker pass --enable-sound to configure.
2118 Also use NoSound = Yes/No; to enable/disable sound at runtime without killing
2121 If you cannot set the sound to work yet, then is not for you.
2122 Wait until the sound server will be fixed and will be part of WindowMaker.
2125 New entries in WindowMaker domain database
2126 ------------------------------------------
2128 The following entries have been added to the runtime options:
2130 SaveSessionOnExit = No;
2132 will autosave (or not) the session state on exit.
2134 WindowPlaceOrigin = "64, 64";
2136 will offset all windows in auto or cascade placement mode with the value
2137 (in pixels) before placing them on screen. First is horizontal direction and
2139 This do not apply to windows that request a specific position on screen.
2140 This is useful if you want your Clip on the top left corner to not be
2141 overlapped by mapping windows.
2142 It will let it to have a row and a column of docked appicons near the screen
2143 edge, that will not be overlapped by windows.
2144 If you set it to "128, 128" it will have 2 rows and 2 columns not overlapped.
2149 Enable/disable sound at runtime without the need of killing the sound server.
2152 MenuScrollDelay = 10;
2155 Constants for the menu scrolling animation.
2159 IconSlideSlowDown = 50;
2161 Constants for the icons sliding on screen. Explained above.
2166 Animation parameters for shading a window. How many steps it will take, and the
2167 delay between steps in ms.
2169 DoubleClickTime = 250;
2171 The time for the double click to be considered so. Expressed in ms.
2173 SClipColor = "#6f8ae2";
2175 Color for selected icons in Clip.
2177 All delays are expressed in ms.
2184 *** Enhanced fiend clone.
2186 Here are the new fiend features:
2187 1. Keys for raising/lowering the fiend, and their default values:
2188 FiendLowerKey = None;
2189 FiendRaiseKey = None;
2190 FiendRaiseLowerKey = None;
2192 All reside in WindowMaker configuration file.
2194 2. Added posibility to launch the workspace menu with button1 click on the
2195 idle indicator of fiend, or with button3 click on workspace name on the
2198 3. Added Control-button1-click on fiend's idle indicator, to create a new
2199 workspace and move to it. Same action as New item in Workspace menu.
2201 4. Fiend's idle indicator do have a color that reflects its normal/collapsed
2204 5. The delay between changing workspaces from fiend is now a runtime option:
2206 WorkspaceChangeDelay = 700;
2208 in WindowMaker configuration file.
2210 6. Application icons can be moved between dock and fiend now.
2212 7. The way workspaces are changed is controlled now by two runtime options:
2214 AdvanceToNewWorkspace=Yes/No;
2215 CycleWorkspaces=Yes/No;
2217 Both apply to either fiend navigating buttons or to next/prev worksapace
2218 keybindings. Both default to No, and are in WindowMaker configuration file.
2220 8. Also added posibility to advance to new workspace, no matter what value
2221 AdvanceToNewWorkspace have, with Control-button1-click on "next workspace"
2225 *** Theme support ***
2227 Spixmap and tpixmap now work. Their syntax is:
2229 SomeStyleOption = (spixmap, file, color);
2230 SomeStyleOption = (tpixmap, file, color);
2232 - spixmap means scaled pixmap, so the image in the file will be scaled to
2233 adapt to the destination's size.
2234 - tpixmap means tiled pixmap, and the image from file will be tiled in the
2237 file is searched in the PixmapPath, but can be a full path name.
2239 Color is used depending on which Style option is applied.
2240 For example in case of titlebars, color is used for miniwindows titles color.
2241 You are not restricted in selecting that color, but is better to put one
2242 that matches the overall color of the image.
2244 Currently they apply to all the options that accept (solid, color), or any
2246 This means they also apply to WorkspaceBack and IconBack, which allows theme
2247 support with the simple use of the setstyle and getstyle utilities.
2248 There is no need for an extra theme manager, just to include the needed
2249 options in the style files.
2251 In case of WorkspaceBack, color is used to be set in the background until
2252 the image gets loaded and displayed. This is to avoid the stippled screen
2253 the X server shows, in case the image is big and loads slow.
2254 There is a small utility in the util directory, named wmsetbg which is
2255 used to set the background image. This is needed for windowmaker not to
2256 freeze while loading and scaling the image.
2257 Currently it is hardcoded in windowmaker to use wmsetbg to set the background
2258 image, and is better to use it since is smaller that other image manipulation
2259 programs, and it is compiled with support for same image types as windowmaker.
2260 Since it comes and is installed with WindowMaker, there will be no need to
2261 download and use an external app, which also may not have support for the same
2262 image types as windowmaker.
2270 The fiend clone is a dock extender, that lets you dock more than the default
2271 10-12 icons in the dock. It actually lets you dock how many icons you like,
2272 with a current default of 25 per workspace. The fiend have different docked
2273 icons on every workspace. Also the fiend main icon shows you the workspace
2274 you're on and lets you navigate through the workspaces with the small green
2275 buttons on the low right corner.
2276 To save screen space the fiend can be collapsed to the main icon either
2277 from the fiend menu (available with right click on the fiend icons), or
2278 with a double left click on the main fiend icon, which is a toggle for
2279 the collapsed/uncollapsed state.
2280 Collapsed state is marked by a different title color.
2281 Pressing on the small buttons on the low right corner, the workspaces are
2282 changed in increments of 1 to the left or right, but keeping the button
2283 pressed over them will continuously advance through workspaces until the
2284 mouse is moved away from the buttons or the button is released.
2285 The delay between workspace changes is set by FIEND_WKS_CHANGE_DELAY in
2286 src/wconfig.h, and defaults to 700 ms.
2287 Unlike the dock, fiend can hold icons in any directions, and can be placed
2288 in any position on screen.
2290 When an icons is to be docked, but the position can be either in the dock
2291 or in the fiend, the dock will be used first, and the icon will be docked
2294 Here are the new runtime options introduced by the fiend:
2295 Files are located in ~/GNUstep/Defaults/
2297 In WMWindowAttributes:
2298 "Logo.WMFiend" = {Icon = "Cone.xpm";}; - icon for the fiend
2301 FiendMaxIcons = 25; - the max number of icons in fiend per
2303 FiendTitleFont = "-*-helvetica-bold-r-normal-*-10-*-*-*-*-*-*-*";
2304 - the font used to show the current
2306 FiendTitleColor = black; - color for the uncollapsed fiend title
2307 CFiendTitleColor = "#616161"; - color for the collapsed fiend title
2308 AFiendColor = "#00ba70"; - color for the workspace changing
2309 buttons, when active
2310 IFiendColor = "#008000"; - color for the workspace changing
2313 For the ones who don't want to use fiend, there is a option to wmaker named
2314 -nofiend that can be feed to the command line when starting wmaker.
2315 (This is the equivalent for -nodock, but removes fiend clone).
2317 The syntax of WMState file have changed, but you don't have to worry because
2318 WindowMaker will know to read the old format and will save it and further
2319 will use the new one. You do not need to change your file, for the new version
2325 *** Enhanced Attribute editor.
2327 Now you can save defaults for all windows.
2328 Please note that only Icon, KeepInsideScree, and sometimes NoAppIcon
2329 can be useful in a normal environment. But others may have other opinion ;)
2330 If you set AlwaysUserIcon default for all windows, note that apps like
2331 asclock, wmload, wmmail, wmrack, will show that icon instead of their
2334 Now Attribute editor also counts for defaults saved for all windows,
2335 (not only the default "No" for all options hardcoded in WindowMaker),
2336 when saving options for some instance.class specification. This is to
2337 save disk space by saving only the options that differs from global defaults
2338 (either defaults for all windows or the hardcoded valued in WindowMaker).
2340 Attribute Editor now updates on the fly the appicon image or creates/deletes
2341 the appicon if you set that options in the Inspector panel and Apply them.
2342 Modifying Icon file, NoAppIcon or AlwaysUserIcon and Applying them will
2343 result in the image update for the app-icon.
2345 Note that if you apply but not save these options, the miniwindow image will
2346 not be updated. This is because app-icon is always on screen so it can be
2347 updated, but miniwindow image is read from the defaults database and from disk
2348 every time you minimize the window and is destroyed when you restore.
2353 *** Atribute editor is working ;).
2355 How it works is quite obvious.
2356 Anyway, here is a short description.
2358 Save - only save the configuration in defaults database and updates
2360 Apply - only applies the values to the current window
2361 Revert - reverts the values from the defaults database
2363 Note that Save and Revert count for the window specification
2364 (instance & class), that are selected, and save/use the values for/from
2367 The Update button will show the icon who's name was typed in the textfield
2368 If the textfield is empty, will try to use the default icon.
2369 Also saving with and empty textfield for icon, uses the default icon.
2371 The Default button will use the icon in the textfield as default icon
2372 and save that value in WMWindowAttributes (Note that in this case is no
2373 need to press the Save button!). Also if the textfield is empty it will
2374 try to use the old default icon, if available.
2376 *** Now menus are saved between sessions, or over a restart.
2378 Just stick them to the desktop, and you will find them over sessions
2379 until you close them.
2380 Please note that only the root_menu, the window switch_menu and the
2381 workspaces_menu can be saved this way.
2383 *** Changed the lousy Windoze menu behaviour.
2385 This applies to 'NextMenuBehaviour = NO;'
2387 Now the items are no more automatically selected if you launch the menu
2388 and the mouse is over some item, if you use a short click to launch the
2389 menu (shorter than the default DBL click time).
2390 If you use a longer click or keep the mouse pressed, the item under mouse
2391 will be selected after that delay, and launched when you will release the
2393 If the click was short, a second one is needed to launch the item.
2395 *** Autoarrange icons is now a runtime option
2398 AutoArrangeIcons = YES/NO;
2401 *** Added configurable horizontal resize threshold
2404 HorizontalResizeThreshold = <n>;
2406 This will make the n pixels at the exterior side of the corner handle
2407 of the resize bar to restrict to horizontal only resize.
2408 Also you can use Shift-click&drag anywhere on the corner handle to
2409 restrict the resize only to horizontal.
2410 Note that the Shift-click&drag does not depend of the configured threshold
2411 and works completely independent.
2413 *** New option for OPEN_MENU (pipe from command)
2415 OPEN_MENU | /foo/bar/script
2417 will make a menu that is dinamically constructed by /foo/bar/script
2422 *** New option for OPEN_MENU
2424 OPEN_MENU /foo/bar/pics xv -root -quit
2426 will make a menu with all files in /foo/bar/pics and precede them
2427 with EXEC xv -root -quit
2429 thus, making a menu with entries like:
2432 "marble.gif" EXEC xv -root -quit marble.gif
2433 "water.jpg" EXEC xv -root -quit water.jpg
2437 *** Multicolor gradients
2439 (mhgradient, colorX, color1, color2, color3, ..., colorn)
2440 (mvgradient, colorX, color1, color2, color3, ..., colorn)
2442 You can put any number of colors >= 2.
2444 colorX is a special color that is used as the solid color of the
2445 texture when wmaker needs a solid color (like in miniwindow title and
2448 *** PixmapPath format changed
2452 PixmapPath = "/usr/local/share/pixmaps:~/foobar";
2456 PixmapPath = ("/usr/local/share/pixmaps", "~/foobar");
2459 *** Added OffiX DND in dock
2461 Use the "Set drop arguments..." command in the menu and put a %d
2462 where the dropped object string should be substituted, like:
2466 *** Escape thingies for menu and dock commands:
2468 %w - substitute with current selected X window ID
2469 %s - substitute with current selection
2470 %d - substitute with last dropped object
2471 %a(some text) - opens a input box with "some text" as a title. Then,
2472 the text typed will be substituted there
2474 \r, \n - substitute with corresponding characters
2477 *** The WMState file format has changed a little.
2478 The Command field for the dock application list is now a normal string,
2479 instead of a list. So, remove the parentheses and the commas for the command
2480 and join all the parts. Example:
2484 Command = ( xterm," -geometry", "+10+10" );
2488 Command = "xterm -geometry +10+10";
2493 AutoFocus = NO; disables automatic focusing of windows
2494 when they are first mapped
2499 titlebar gradients are in a single piece now
2501 the WMDock file was merged into the WMState file. You can insert this
2502 file in WMState and set it's key to Dock. For example, if your WMDock
2506 Applications = { {Command = (); }};
2511 and WMState contains:
2514 Workspaces = ( "Workspace 1" );
2517 then you can merge both and have:
2520 Workspaces = ( "Workspace 1" );
2522 Applications = { {Command = (); }};
2530 The configuration format has changed!! Forget everything about the old
2533 dockapp was removed and the old version will not work anymore.
2535 the dialogs require tcl/tk. they will be rewritten in plain C
2538 These are some tips for people upgrading from older versions and don't want
2539 too many unused files around. There is no problem if you decide to keep
2542 you can rm -r ~/gnustep if you don't want anything from there
2544 remove the files in /usr/local/share/WindowMaker before installation
2546 the /usr/local/share/pixmaps directory can be removed