1finch(1)                    General Commands Manual                   finch(1)
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3
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NAME

6       Finch  -  A Pimpin' Penguin console frontend to libpurple. Instant Mes‐
7       saging client.
8

SYNOPSIS

10       finch [options]
11
12

DESCRIPTION

14       finch is a console-based modular messaging client  based  on  libpurple
15       which  is  capable  of  connecting to AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, XMPP, ICQ, IRC,
16       SILC, Novell GroupWise, Lotus Sametime, Zephyr, Gadu-Gadu, and  QQ  all
17       at once. It has many common features found in other clients, as well as
18       many unique features.  Finch is not  endorsed  by  or  affiliated  with
19       America Online, ICQ, Microsoft, or Yahoo.
20
21

OPTIONS

23       The following options are provided by finch using the standard GNU com‐
24       mand line syntax:
25
26       -c, --config=DIR
27              Use DIR as the directory for config files instead of ~/.purple.
28
29       -d, --debug
30              Print debugging messages to stderr and start with the Debug win‐
31              dow.  The messages shown in the Debug window are the same as the
32              ones printed in stderr.
33
34       -h, --help
35              Print this help and exit.
36
37       -n, --nologin
38              Don't automatically login when finch starts.  Sets all  accounts
39              to Offline.
40
41       -v, --version
42              Display the version information window.
43
44

GNT Shortcuts

46       You  can  use the following shortcuts (see the "Widget Actions" section
47       for a more complete list):
48
49       Alt + a
50              Bring up a list of available actions. You can use this  list  to
51              access  the  accounts  window, plugins window, preference window
52              etc.
53
54       Alt + n
55              Go to the next window.
56
57       Alt + p
58              Go to the previous window.
59
60       Alt + w
61              Show the list of windows. You can select and jump to any  window
62              from the list.
63
64       Alt + c
65              Close the current window.
66
67       Alt + q
68              Quit.
69
70       Alt + m
71              Start moving a window. Press the cursor keys to move the window.
72              When you are done, press Enter or Escape.
73
74       Alt + r
75              Start resizing a window. Press the cursor  keys  to  resize  the
76              window. When you are done, press Enter or Escape.
77
78       Alt + D
79              Dump the contents of the screen in HTML format.
80
81       Alt + .
82              Move  the  position of the current window in the window list one
83              place to the right.
84
85       Alt + ,
86              Move the position of the current window in the window  list  one
87              place to the left.
88
89       Alt + l
90              Refresh  the windows. This is useful after resizing the terminal
91              window.
92
93       Alt + 1 2 ... 0
94              Jump to the 1st, 2nd ... 10th window.
95
96       Alt + Tab
97              Jump to the next URGENT (highlighted) window.
98
99       Alt + Shift + Tab
100              Jump to the previous URGENT (highlighted) window.
101
102       Ctrl + o  or  F10
103              Bring up the menu (if there is one) for a window.
104
105       F11  or  Ctrl + x
106              Popup the context menu (if there is one) for the  selected  wid‐
107              get.
108
109       Alt + /
110              Show  a list of available key-bindings for the current widget in
111              focus.
112
113       Alt + >
114              Switch to the next workspace
115
116       Alt + <
117              Switch to the previous workspace
118
119       Alt + t
120              Tag (or untag) the current window
121
122       Alt + T
123              Attached all the tagged windows to the current workspace
124
125       Alt + s
126              Show the workspace list
127
128       F9     Create a new workspace and switch to it
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130

FILES

132       ~/.gntrc: configuration file for gnt applications.
133
134       A sample file looks like:
135              [Finch]
136              color-available = green; black
137              color-away = blue; black
138              color-idle = gray; black
139              color-offline = red; black
140              color-message-sent = cyan; default
141              color-message-received = red; default
142              color-message-highlight = black; green
143              color-message-action = yellow; default
144              color-timestamp = blue; default
145              #See below for details on color
146
147              [general]
148              shadow = 0
149              # There is experimental mouse support
150              mouse = 1
151              # To use some custom window-manager
152              wm = /usr/local/lib/gnt/s.so
153              # There's also a custom window manager called irssi.so
154              # Remember window-positions based on the titles (on by default)
155              remember_position = 1
156              # Use borderless one-line high buttons
157              small-button = true
158
159              # Workspaces are created simply by adding Workspace-X groups  as
160              follows:
161              [Workspace-1]
162              name = blist
163              # window-names specifies that windows with these semi-colon sep‐
164              arated names are placed into this workspace
165              window-names = buddylist;debug-window
166
167              [Workspace-2]
168              name = IM
169              window-names = conversation-window
170              # window-titles specifies that  windows  with  these  semi-colon
171              separated  titles  are  placed  into  this  workspace. These are
172              matched as substrings. Window titles take precedence over names.
173              window-titles = Preferences;Pounce
174
175              [colors]
176              # The RGB values range in [0, 1000]
177              black = 0; 0; 0
178              red = 1000; 0; 0
179              green = 0; 1000; 0
180              blue = 250; 250; 700
181              white = 1000; 1000; 1000
182              gray = 700; 700; 700
183              darkgray = 256; 256; 256
184
185              [colorpairs]
186              normal = white; black
187              highlight = white; blue
188              highlightd = black; gray
189              shadow = black; darkgray
190              title = white; blue
191              titled = white; gray
192              text = white; blue
193              disabled = gray; black
194              urgent = green; black
195
196              # Remap some keys for GntEntry
197              [GntEntry::remap]
198              # Remap the up-arrow to the left-arrow
199              ^[[A = ^[[D
200              # Remap the down-arrow to the right-arrow
201              ^[[B = ^[[C
202              # Remap 'a' to 'bcd'
203              a = bcd
204              # Completely ignore the key 'q'
205              q =
206              # But the following will NOT work
207              #abc = bcd
208
209              # Hitting 'space' will activate a button
210              [GntButton::remap]
211              \  = \r
212
213

Widget Actions

215       You can specifiy  key-bindings  for  specific  widgets.  The  following
216       entries  in  ~/.gntrc  correspond  to  the  default keybindings for the
217       actions:
218
219       [GntBox::binding]
220       tab = focus-next
221       right = focus-next
222       left = focus-prev
223
224       [GntComboBox::binding]
225       down = dropdown
226       up = dropdown
227
228       [GntEntry::binding]
229       c-a = cursor-home
230       home = cursor-home
231       c-e = cursor-end
232       end = cursor-end
233       backspace = delete-prev
234       del = delete-next
235       c-d = delete-next
236       c-u = delete-start
237       c-k = delete-end
238       c-b = cursor-prev
239       left = cursor-prev
240       c-f = cursor-next
241       right = cursor-next
242       tab = suggest-show
243       down = suggest-next
244       up = suggest-prev
245       page-down = suggest-next-page
246       page-up = suggest-prev-page
247       c-w = delete-prev-word
248       a-b = cursor-prev-word
249       a-f = cursor-next-word
250       a-d = delete-next-word
251       c-v = clipboard-paste
252       c-p = history-prev
253       c-n = history-next
254       c-r = history-search
255       c-up = history-prev
256       c-down = history-next
257
258       [GntTree::binding]
259       up = move-up
260       down = move-down
261       c-n = move-down
262       c-p = move-up
263       pageup = page-up
264       pagedown = page-down
265       backspace = move-parent
266       home = move-first
267       end = move-last
268       # Following is the default binding for the context-menu
269       menu = context-menu
270       # The following will let you open the  context-menu  in  the  buddylist
271       with c-b
272       # c-b = context-menu
273
274       [GntWidget::binding]
275       f11 = context-menu
276       c-x = context-menu
277
278       [GntWindow::binding]
279       c-o = show-menu
280       f10 = show-menu
281
282       The  c-  corresponds to the Control key. You can also use ctrl- or ctr-
283       or ctl- to indicate a combination. For alt-keys, you can use one of a-,
284       alt-, m- or meta-. You can also use home, end, left, right etc. keys.
285
286       To  unbind a key which has a default binding, you simply bind it to the
287       empty string.  For example, to unbind Alt + q from the  Quit  function,
288       you would use:
289
290       [GntWM::binding]
291       a-q =
292
293
295       You can also specify key-bindings to trigger specific menuitems in win‐
296       dows. For example, the following entry in ~/.gntrc will bind Ctrl  +  t
297       to the 'Send IM...' item in the buddylist:
298
299       [buddylist::menu]
300       c-t = send-im
301
302       The  following  is the list of IDs of the current menuitems in the bud‐
303       dylist:
304
305       send-im
306       join-chat
307       show-empty-groups
308       show-offline-buddies
309       sort-status
310       sort-alpha
311       sort-log
312       add-buddy
313       add-chat
314       add-group
315
316

Mouse Support

318       There is experimental mouse support. You can  focus  windows,  activate
319       buttons,  select  rows  in  a  list, scroll using the wheel-scroll etc.
320       Selecting text in a text-view copies it to  the  gnt  clipboard.  Mouse
321       support  is  disabled  by default, so you need to enable it in ~/.gntrc
322       (see the sample above).
323
324

Window Management

326       The default window management is very limited. But it  is  possible  to
327       write custom window managers to suit your needs. There is a sample win‐
328       dow-manager included (named s.so) which adds  a  little  'close-button'
329       for the windows, removes the borders from the buddylist and pops up new
330       windows in the middle of the  screen,  instead  of  at  the  upper-left
331       corder.  It  is  provided  as a sample simple manager, but it should be
332       possible to write more complex managers, and it's  very  possible  that
333       the  window-manager  API  will  need to be enhanced. Look at the sample
334       ~/.gntrc file above to see how to select a window-manager.
335
336       It is also possible to rebind the window-manager actions  in  ~/.gntrc,
337       eg:
338
339       [GntWM::binding]
340       a-n = window-next
341       a-p = window-prev
342       a-c = window-close
343       a-w = window-list
344       a-d = dump-screen
345       a-, = shift-left
346       a-. = shift-right
347       a-a = action-list
348       a-m = start-move
349       a-r = start-resize
350       a-q = wm-quit
351       a-l = refresh-screen
352       a-s = workspace-list
353       a-t = window-tag
354       a-T = place-tagged
355       a-C = toggle-clipboard
356       a-/ = help-for-widget
357       a-c-j = window-scroll-down
358       a-c-k = window-scroll-up
359       #  The following action is still incomplete, and doesn't have a default
360       binding
361       # switch-window-n
362       # Other actions: window-next-urgent, window-prev-urgent
363
364       # For the sample custom window manager
365       [GntS::binding]
366       a-b = toggle-buddylist
367
368       # For the irssi window manager
369       [Irssi::binding]
370       a-L = move-right
371       a-H = move-left
372       a-J = move-down
373       a-K = move-up
374
375

Conversation Commands

377       There are a few helpful commands in addition to the  regular  commands.
378       You can use these from any conversation to access other windows.
379
380
381       accounts
382              for the accounts window.
383
384
385       buddylist
386              for the buddylist.
387
388
389       debugwin
390              for the debug window.
391
392
393       plugins
394              for the plugins window.
395
396
397       prefs  for the preferences window.
398
399
400       status for the status window.
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402

FAQ

404       FAQ for finch is located at
405       http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/Using%20Finch
406
407

BUGS

409       Known bugs are listed at
410       http://developer.pidgin.im/query?status=new&status=assigned&sta‐
411       tus=reopened&component=finch+%28gnt%2Fncurses%29&order=priority
412
413       Before sending a bug report, please verify that  you  have  the  latest
414       version  of finch and libpurple.  Many bugs (major and minor) are fixed
415       at each release, and if yours is out of date, the problem  may  already
416       have been solved.
417
418

PATCHES

420       If  you  fix  a bug in finch (or otherwise enhance it), please submit a
421       patch (using mtn diff > my.diff against the  latest  version  from  the
422       Monotone repository) at http://developer.pidgin.im/simpleticket
423
424       You  are  also  encouraged to drop by at #pidgin on irc.freenode.net to
425       discuss development.
426
427

SEE ALSO

429       http://pidgin.im/
430       http://developer.pidgin.im/
431       purple-remote(1)
432       pidgin(1)
433
434

LICENSE

436       This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
437       under  the  terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
438       Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at  your
439       option) any later version.
440
441       This  program  is  distributed  in the hope that it will be useful, but
442       WITHOUT ANY  WARRANTY;  without  even  the  implied  warranty  of  MER‐
443       CHANTABILITY  or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General
444       Public License for more details.
445
446       You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
447       with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
448       51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02111-1301  USA
449
450

AUTHORS

452       Sadrul Habib Chowdhury <sadrul@users.sourceforge.net>
453
454       This    manpage    was    written    by    Sadrul    Habib    Chowdhury
455       <sadrul@users.sourceforge.net>   and   Dennis   Ristuccia  <dennis@den‐
456       nisr.net>.
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461                                                                      finch(1)
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