1ICEWM(1) User Commands ICEWM(1)
2
6 icewm - lightweight X11 window manager
7
9 icewm [OPTIONS]
10
12 icewm is a window manager for the X11 window system. It aims to be
13 small, fast and familiar to new users.
14 icewm is called a re-parenting window manager, because it draws small
16 frames around application windows. By dragging this frame with the
17 mouse, windows are resized or moved.
18 Because windows may overlap, icewm is also a stacking window manager.
20 Many windows may exist, some hidden behind others.
21 icewm supports a configurable number of virtual desktops. These are
23 called workspaces. Related windows are grouped on a dedicated
24 workspace. By switching between workspaces, the user can attend to
25 different tasks, while keeping oversight. This is supported by a task
26 bar and a pager.
27 The installation comes with several themes. Choose a theme via a menu.
29 icewm is compliant with the ICCCM and EWMH window manager
31 specifications.
32 PROGRAMS
34 The icewm package includes several programs:
35 icewm(1)
37 The actual window manager. It positions application windows on
38 screen and decorates them with borders. It gives input focus to the
39 current active application. icewm supports different focus modes,
40 which are explained below. It draws a small task bar at the bottom
41 of the screen, which gives easy access to programs, to virtual
42 desktops, to active applications, and to a small set of monitoring
43 applets.
44 icewmbg(1)
46 The background setting application. It can assign plain background
47 color or images in different formats to the X background. Each
48 work space can have its own background. It supports semi-
49 transparency. Semitransparent background image and colour can be
50 configured. When the background image has changed then icewmbg(1)
51 can be notified to update the background. Multi-head monitor
52 setups are fully supported. See the icewmbg(1).
53 icewm-session(1)
55 icewm-session(1) is the preferred program to start the IceWM
56 system. It first loads additional environment variables from the
57 optional env file. Then it starts icewmbg(1) and icewm. It also
58 runs the startup script and implements basic session management.
59 On termination the shutdown script will be run first, then
60 icewm-session(1) will terminate icewm and icewmbg(1).
61 icewm-session(1) will also start the optional icesound(1) if you
62 give it the --sound option. See icewm-session(1).
63 icesh(1)
65 A powerful tool to control window properties and to interact with
66 the window manager. It is typically used in shell scripts. See
67 icesh(1).
68 icehelp(1)
70 A small document browser, which is used by icewm to display the
71 'IceWM manual' and some man pages.
72 icewmhint(1)
74 A utility for passing IceWM-specific window options to icewm. The
75 options are used to configure the first application which is
76 started subsequently. See icewmhint(1).
77 icesound(1)
79 Plays audio files on GUI events which are raised by icewm. It
80 supports ALSA, AO and OSS. See the icesound(1) man page.
81 icewm-menu-fdo(1)
83 Generate an icewm menu with executable desktop applications
84 according to XDG specifications. See the icewm-menu-fdo(1) man
85 page.
86 icewm-set-gnomewm(1)
88 Configures GNOME to start IceWM instead of its own WM.
89
91 COMMON OPTIONS
92 Each of the IceWM executables supports the following options:
93 -c, --config=FILE
95 Use FILE as the source of configuration options. By default icewm
96 looks for a file named preferences. This is a readable text file
97 which can be modified with the help of a text editor.
98 -t, --theme=NAME
100 Use NAME as the name of the icewm theme to use. A theme defines
101 the look and feel of icewm, like colors, fonts and buttons.
102 --display=DISPLAY
104 DISPLAY specifies the connection to the X11 server. By default the
105 environment variable "DISPLAY" is used.
106 --sync
108 This option specifies to use a slower synchronous communication
109 mode with the X11 server. This is irrelevant for normal use.
110 -h, --help
112 Gives a complete list of all the available command-line options
113 with some very brief explanation.
114 -V, --version
116 Shows the software release version for this program.
117 ICEWM OPTIONS
119 The icewm program supports some additional options:
120 -a, --alpha
122 Use a 32-bit visual for translucency. This can also be set in the
123 preferences file as "Alpha=1".
124 --replace
126 Instructs icewm to replace an existing window manager. Provided
127 that the window manager being replaced is ICCCM 2.0 compliant, once
128 it notices that it is to be replaced it will cease operations and
129 typically stop execution. This allows icewm to establish itself as
130 the only active window manager.
131 -r, --restart
133 Tell icewm to restart itself. This reloads the configuration from
134 file.
135 -s, --splash=IMAGE
137 Briefly show IMAGE on startup in the center of the screen. This
138 can also be set in the preferences file as Splash="image.jpg".
139 --configured
141 Shows a list of configuration options which were enabled when icewm
142 was compiled from source code. This can be helpful if one suspects
143 some functionality may be missing.
144 --directories
146 Gives a list of directories where icewm will look for configuration
147 data. This list is printed in the actual order in which icewm uses
148 it to search for configuration files.
149 -l, --list-themes
151 icewm will search all the configuration directories for theme files
152 and print a list of all found themes.
153 -p, --postpreferences
155 This gives a long list of all the internal icewm options with their
156 actual values after icewm has processed all of the configuration
157 and theme files. In some advanced scenarios this can be helpful to
158 inspect which configuration was chosen or whether option formatting
159 was correct.
160 --extensions
162 Give a list of the current X extensions, their versions and status.
163 --trace=conf,icon,prog,systray
165 Enable tracing of the paths which are used to load configuration,
166 and/or icons, and/or executed programs, and/or system tray applets.
167
169 TASKBAR
170 On startup icewm launches the task bar at the bottom of the screen.
171 The task bar consists from left to right of the following components:
172 The Menu button in the lower left corner gives access to the icewm root
174 menu. This menu has sub-menus to start applications, to control icewm
175 settings, and the icewm Logout menu.
176 The Show Desktop button unmaps all application windows to fully uncover
178 the desktop.
179 The Window List Menu button gives access to a menu with a list of
181 active windows for the current work space and a list of work spaces
182 with sub-menus for their active application windows.
183 The Toolbar is a list of icons for applications which are defined in
185 the toolbar configuration file.
186 The Workspace List shows one button for each work space. The current
188 work space is indicated by a pressed button. Pressing another work
189 space button switches to that work space. The work spaces are defined
190 in the preferences file. When "PagerShowPreview" is turned on a small
191 graphical summary for each workspace is shown.
192 The Task Pane consists of a list of wide buttons for each application
194 which is running on the current work space, or all workspaces if
195 "TaskBarShowAllWindows=1". Each task button shows the application icon
196 and the application title. The active application is indicated by a
197 pressed button. This is the application which has input focus.
198 Pressing another button activates that application: it is brought to
199 the foreground and receives input focus. Other mouse controlled
200 activities on the window buttons are: dragging window buttons with the
201 left mouse button to rearrange the order, closing the application
202 window with "Alt" + middle button, lowering the application window with
203 "Ctrl" + middle button, or bringing the application window to the
204 current workspace with "Shift" + middle button if
205 "TaskBarShowAllWindows=1".
206 If there are not many application buttons then a stretch of plain task
208 bar is visible. Clicking on it with the right mouse button gives the
209 task bar menu. Even with a full task pane, this menu can be usually
210 accessed by right-clicking the bottom right corner of the taskbar.
211 The Tray Applet shows system tray objects.
213 The APM Applet shows battery power status.
215 The Net Applet shows network activity. Network devices to monitor are
217 given by the "NetworkStatusDevice" option.
218 The Memory Applet monitors memory usage.
220 The CPU Applet monitors processor utilization.
222 The Mailbox Applet monitors mailbox status changes. See the section
224 MAILBOX MONITORING below.
225 The Clock Applet shows the current time and date. It is configured by
227 the "TimeFormat" option.
228 The Task Bar Collapse button collapses the task bar and hides it.
230 Not all icewm applets may show up on the task bar. They must have been
232 enabled during configuration of the icewm software. Their appearance
233 is also controlled by options in the preferences file.
234 INPUT FOCUS
236 Of all visible windows only one can be the active window. This is the
237 window which has input focus. It is the primary receiver of keyboard
238 and mouse events and hence one can interact with the application which
239 created that window. A primary task of a window manager is to allow
240 the user to switch input focus between different windows. The primary
241 means to do this is the mouse pointer. By moving the mouse pointer
242 over the screen to another window, and perhaps also by clicking on a
243 window, input focus can be directed.
244 The "FocusMode" option controls the way icewm gives input focus to
246 applications. It is initialized by the focus_mode configuration file.
247 The focus mode is set via the Focus menu. icewm supports six focus
248 models:
249 1. Click-to-focus
251 The default focus mode. In this mode changing input focus requires
252 to click a window with the left mouse button. The window is raised
253 if needed. When an application requests focus its task pane button
254 flashes. This gives the option to honor this request or to ignore
255 it. When a new application window appears it automatically
256 receives focus. Also when a hidden application raises to the front
257 it receives focus.
258 2. Sloppy-mouse-focus
260 Sets input focus merely by moving the mouse pointer over a window.
261 It is called sloppy, because if the mouse then leaves the window
262 and moves to the desktop background the input focus remains with
263 the last active window. When a window receives focus it is raised.
264 When an application requests focus its task pane button flashes. A
265 new application or an application which raises to the front
266 automatically receives focus.
267 3. Explicit-focus
269 Focus is even more user-controlled than Click-to-focus. When a
270 window receives focus it is not raised by default, unless the frame
271 border is clicked. No flashing occurs when an application requests
272 focus. When a new application window appears it does not receive
273 focus. Only by explicit clicking on a window is focus directed.
274 4. Strict-mouse-focus
276 Like Sloppy but focus remains with the last window. New
277 applications don't receive focus and are mapped behind other
278 windows. When an application raises to the front it still does not
279 get focus.
280 5. Quiet-sloppy-focus
282 Like Sloppy but no disturbing flashing occurs on the task bar when
283 an application requests focus.
284 6. Custom-mode
286 A focus mode which is defined in detail by ten options in the
287 preferences file. These are: "ClickToFocus", "FocusOnAppRaise",
288 "RequestFocusOnAppRaise", "RaiseOnFocus", "RaiseOnClickClient",
289 "FocusChangesWorkspace", "FocusOnMap", "FocusOnMapTransient",
290 "FocusOnMapTransientActive", "MapInactiveOnTop".
291 All non-Custom focus modes override these ten options.
293 Apart from the mouse, icewm supports changing input focus in two ways
295 by keyboard. By pressing "Alt+Esc" or "Alt+Shift+Esc", input focus is
296 immediately changed to the next or previous window, which will be
297 raised to make it fully visible. The other method involves the quick
298 switch.
299 QUICK SWITCH
301 The QuickSwitch is activated by pressing "Alt+Tab" or "Alt+Shift+Tab".
302 A window pops up in the centre of the screen with a list of windows to
303 choose from. A narrow band shows the next or previous window that will
304 receive input focus when the Alt key is released. By repeatedly
305 pressing the Tab key, one can cycle over all windows. If a Shift key
306 is down, then the direction of traversal is reversed.
307 Arrow keys are also supported, as well as the Home and End key.
309 Pressing a digit key selects the corresponding window from the list.
310 One can also use the mouse wheel and click with the left mouse button.
311 A selected window can be closed by Delete, or "Alt+F4", or the middle
313 mouse button. While the QuickSwitch window is up, one can still change
314 workspace with the usual workspace hotkeys. To cancel the QuickSwitch,
315 press Escape or click outside of the QuickSwitch.
316 The QuickSwitch has two distinct modes: vertical and horizontal. The
318 window list can include all windows or be limited to the current
319 workspace. See the many preferences available for the QuickSwitch.
320 WINDOW PLACEMENT
322 A second important task of a window manager is to place new windows on
323 the screen. By default icewm chooses a placement with minimal overlap,
324 but this is determined by the "SmartPlacement" option in the
325 preferences file. If "SmartPlacement" is turned off then windows are
326 placed in sequence from left to right and top to bottom. One can also
327 turn on "ManualPlacement". Then new windows appear initially in the
328 top left corner and the mouse cursor changes into a fist. By moving
329 the fist cursor to a suitable location and clicking the new window will
330 appear at the mouse click location.
331 WINDOW LAYERS
333 Windows can overlap. Which window appears on top is determined by
334 three features. Newer windows appear over older windows. By clicking
335 on a window it is raised to the top. But both are overruled by the
336 window layer. Windows can be placed in different layers via the Layers
337 menu. Click with the right mouse button on the window frame and select
338 Layer. From there choose one of seven window layers. These are
339 ordered from higher to lower. Windows in higher layers appear over
340 windows in lower layers.
341 WORKSPACES
343 icewm supports multiple virtual desktops called work spaces. A work
344 space is like a screen where a subset of all application windows are
345 mapped. Thanks to multiple work spaces we can more easily manage a
346 large number of applications. The number of work spaces and their
347 names are configurable in the preferences file through the
348 "WorkspaceNames" option. By default four workspaces are created with
349 the names 1, 2, 3 and 4 thus:
350 WorkspaceNames=" 1 ", " 2 ", " 3 ", " 4 "
352 This syntax is typical for icewm options which receive multiple values.
354 It is a list of comma-separated values each of which can be quoted.
355 The work spaces are visible on the toolbar. One can switch to a
357 different work space by pressing the work space button in the toolbar,
358 but after becoming familiar with the 'keyboard shortcuts' below one
359 will want to use a hotkey to choose a work space. If the "EdgeSwitch"
360 options is enabled in the preferences file (with sub-options
361 "HorizontalEdgeSwitch" and "VerticalEdgeSwitch") then one can move to
362 the next or previous workspace by moving the mouse to the edge of the
363 screen. The "ContinuousEdgeSwitch" option enables continuous movement
364 to subsequent workspaces. The "EdgeSwitchDelay" option says how long
365 to wait before a change of workspace occurs.
366 To move an application window to a different work space one can use a
368 keyboard shortcut. Another option is to select the Move To submenu in
369 the window menu of the window frame.
370 ADDRESS BAR
372 If EnableAddressBar=1 then KeySysAddressBar="Alt+Ctrl+Space" activates
373 the address bar in the task bar. If ShowAddressBar=1 it is always
374 shown. This is a command-line in the task bar where a shell command can
375 be typed. Pressing "Enter" will execute the command.
376 AddressBarCommand="/bin/sh" will be used to execute the command. On
377 "Control+Enter" the command is executed in a terminal as given by
378 TerminalCommand. The address bar maintains a history which is
379 navigable by the Up and Down keys. It supports command completion
380 using "Tab" or "Ctrl+I". A rich set of editing operations is
381 supported, including cut-/copy-/paste-operations.
382 WINDOW LIST
384 The window list window shows a list of all workspaces. For each
385 workspace it shows the window titles of the windows which are mapped on
386 it. The bottom entry reads "All Workspaces". It holds the sticky
387 windows. These windows are mapped in all workspaces.
388 The window list window is normally hidden. Choose one of the following
390 four methods to make it visible:
391 · Select the bottom window list menu entry.
393 · Press the "KeySysWindowList=Ctrl+Alt+Esc" key.
395 · Press the right Windows key if "Win95Keys=1"
397 · Press the "DesktopWinListButton=2" mouse button in the root window.
399 · Press the middle mouse button in a workspace button on the task
401 bar.
402 A single-click on a window entry selects it. A group of windows can be
404 selected by "Shift+Pointer_Button1" or by dragging with the left mouse
405 button. Use "Ctrl+Pointer_Button1" to individually select windows in a
406 multi-selection. A right mouse click over a selection will popup the
407 system menu for this selection. To close the selected windows, press
408 "Delete". Press "Shift+Delete" to forcefully kill them. Right mouse
409 click below the sticky windows for a menu with window arranging
410 actions.
411 Double-click on a workspace to switch to it. Double-click on a window
413 to activate it. Or navigate by arrow keys and press Enter. The space
414 bar toggles a selection of a window. "Ctrl+a" and "Ctrl+/" will select
415 the entire list of windows. "Ctrl+\\" deselects everything. Press the
416 first letter of a window title to navigate to it and select it. If
417 titles of multiple windows start with the same letter then repeatedly
418 pressing the first letter cycles over those windows. "Home" selects
419 the first entry and "End" the last. "PageUp" and "PageDown" move up or
420 down by ten entries. Combine this with the "Shift" key to extend a
421 selection over the range of motion.
422 MAILBOX MONITORING
424 The task bar can show one or more icons to reflect the status of a
425 mailbox. The mailbox can be a local file or a remote POP or IMAP
426 account. For this a couple of options must be set. First,
427 TaskBarShowMailboxStatus must be enabled, which it is by default. Then
428 the location of the mailbox must be set. Icewm first looks for
429 MailBoxPath in preferences. If this is unset, it looks at the
430 environment variables "MAILPATH" and "MAIL". MailBoxPath may contain a
431 space-separated list of mailboxes, while "MAILPATH" may contain a
432 colon-separated list of mailboxes. If a mailbox starts with a slash
433 "/", then it is a local file, otherwise a URL. These are six examples
434 of possible mailboxes:
435 file:///var/spool/mail/captnmark
437 file:///home/captnmark/Maildir/
438 pop3://markus:%2f%40%3a@maol.ch/
439 pop3s://markus:password@pop.gmail.com/
440 imap://mathias@localhost/INBOX.Maillisten.icewm-user
441 imaps://mathias:password@imap.gmail.com/INBOX
442 The POP3S and IMAPS schemes use "openssl" for TLS/SSL encryption. Note
444 that for IceWM to access Gmail you must first configure your Gmail
445 account to enable POP3 or IMAP access. Make sure you have secure file
446 permissions on your IceWM preferences file and the directory which
447 contains it.
448 Reserved characters in the password, like slash, at and colon can be
450 specified using escape sequences with a hexadecimal encoding like %2f
451 for the slash or %40 for the at sign. For example, to hex-encode
452 "!p@a%s&s~" use this Perl snippet:
453 perl -e 'foreach(split("", $ARGV[0])) { printf "%%%02x", ord($_); };
455 print "\n";' '!p@a%s&s~'
456 Which will print:
458 %21%40%23%24%25%5e%26%2a%7e
460 This is the hex-encoded password. However, it is unwise to store a
462 password in your preferences. Consider a wallet extension for IceWM.
463 IceWM will check a mailbox periodically. The period in seconds can be
465 set by the MailCheckDelay option, which is 30 seconds by default.
466 Whenever new mail arrives, the mailbox icon will be highlighted. The
468 color will indicate if the mail has been read or not. Hovering the
469 mouse over the mailbox icon will show a tooltip with more details. A
470 command can be also be run on new mail. Set the NewMailCommand option.
471 Its environment will have these variables set by IceWM:
472 ICEWM_MAILBOX
474 The mailbox index number of MailBoxPath starting from 1.
475 ICEWM_COUNT
477 The total number of messages in this mailbox.
478 ICEWM_UNREAD
480 The number of unread messages in this mailbox.
481 KEYBOARD LAYOUT SWITCHING
483 To control keyboard layouts on the task bar, define in preferences the
484 option KeyboardLayouts to a comma-separated list of your preferred
485 keyboard layouts. For example:
486 KeyboardLayouts="de","fr","jp"
488 A keyboard layout can simply be a name. Usually this is a two-letter
490 country code. See the directory /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols for a list
491 of available keyboard layouts for your system. If it is enclosed in
492 double quotes, it can also be a space-separated list of command-line
493 arguments to an invocation of the "setxkbmap" program.
494 The first layout is the default. It will be installed when icewm
496 starts. The task bar will show the current keyboard layout. If an icon
497 can be found for the first two letters of the layout, then that icon
498 will be shown. Otherwise the first two letters of the name of the
499 layout will be shown.
500 Click on the current keyboard layout to cycle through all the available
502 keyboard layouts. Click with the right mouse button to open a menu of
503 all available keyboard layouts.
504 It is also possible to configure a default keyboard layout for each
506 program individually in the icewm-winoptions(5) file. Whenever such a
507 program receives input focus, icewm will install this configured
508 keyboard layout automatically. The keyboard status on the task bar will
509 be updated to reflect this.
510 Please note that for keyboard layout switching to work, the "setxkbmap"
512 program must be installed. To see your current keyboard layout
513 settings, do "setxkbmap -query".
514 KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
516 icewm supports a large number of hotkeys to activate some behaviour
517 with a single key combination. These are all configurable in the
518 preferences file. Here we give their preferences name, followed by
519 their default value in double quotes, and a short descriptions of their
520 effect:
521 KeyWinRaise="Alt+F1"
523 Raises the window which currently has input focus.
524 KeyWinOccupyAll="Alt+F2"
526 Makes the active window occupy all work spaces.
527 KeyWinLower="Alt+F3"
529 Lowers the window which currently has input focus.
530 KeyWinClose="Alt+F4"
532 Closes the active window.
533 KeyWinRestore="Alt+F5"
535 Restores the active window to its visible state.
536 KeyWinNext="Alt+F6"
538 Switches focus to the next window.
539 KeyWinPrev="Alt+Shift+F6"
541 Switches focus to the previous window.
542 KeyWinMove="Alt+F7"
544 Starts movement of the active window.
545 KeyWinSize="Alt+F8"
547 Starts resizing of the active window.
548 KeyWinMinimize="Alt+F9"
550 Iconifies the active window.
551 KeyWinMaximize="Alt+F10"
553 Maximizes the active window with borders.
554 KeyWinMaximizeVert="Alt+Shift+F10"
556 Maximizes the active window vertically.
557 KeyWinMaximizeHoriz="undefined"
559 Maximizes the active window horizontally.
560 KeyWinFullscreen="Alt+F11"
562 Maximizes the active window without borders.
563 KeyWinRollup="Alt+F12"
565 Rolls up the active window.
566 KeyWinHide="Alt+Shift+F12"
568 Hides the active window.
569 KeyWinMenu="Alt+Space"
571 Posts the window menu.
572 KeyWinArrangeNW="Ctrl+Alt+KP_7"
574 Moves the active window to the top left corner of the screen.
575 KeyWinArrangeN="Ctrl+Alt+KP_8"
577 Moves the active window to the top middle of the screen.
578 KeyWinArrangeNE="Ctrl+Alt+KP_9"
580 Moves the active window to the top right of the screen.
581 KeyWinArrangeE="Ctrl+Alt+KP_6"
583 Moves the active window to the middle right of the screen.
584 KeyWinArrangeSE="Ctrl+Alt+KP_3"
586 Moves the active window to the bottom right of the screen.
587 KeyWinArrangeS="Ctrl+Alt+KP_2"
589 Moves the active window to the bottom middle of the screen.
590 KeyWinArrangeSW="Ctrl+Alt+KP_1"
592 Moves the active window to the bottom left of the screen.
593 KeyWinArrangeW="Ctrl+Alt+KP_4"
595 Moves the active window to the middle left of the screen.
596 KeyWinArrangeC="Ctrl+Alt+KP_5"
598 Moves the active window to the center of the screen.
599 KeyWinSmartPlace="Ctrl+Alt+Shift+KP_5"
601 Smart place the active window.
602 KeySysWinMenu="Shift+Esc"
604 Posts the system window menu.
605 KeySysWinNext="Alt+Esc"
607 Give focus to the next window and raise it.
608 KeySysWinPrev="Alt+Shift+Esc"
610 Give focus to the previous window and raise it.
611 KeySysDialog="Alt+Ctrl+Del"
613 Opens the IceWM system dialog in the center of the screen.
614 KeySysMenu="Ctrl+Esc"
616 Activates the IceWM root menu in the lower left corner.
617 KeySysWindowList="Alt+Ctrl+Esc"
619 Opens the IceWM system window list in the center of the screen.
620 KeySysAddressBar="Alt+Ctrl+Space"
622 Opens the address bar in the task bar where a command can be typed.
623 KeySysWorkspacePrev="Alt+Ctrl+Left"
625 Goes one workspace to the left.
626 KeySysWorkspaceNext="Alt+Ctrl+Right"
628 Goes one workspace to the right.
629 KeySysWorkspaceLast="Alt+Ctrl+Down"
631 Goes to the previous workspace.
632 KeySysWorkspacePrevTakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Left"
634 Takes the active window one workspace to the left.
635 KeySysWorkspaceNextTakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Right"
637 Takes the active window one workspace to the right.
638 KeySysWorkspaceLastTakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Down"
640 Takes the active window to the previous workspace.
641 KeySysWorkspace1="Alt+Ctrl+1"
643 Goes to workspace 1.
644 KeySysWorkspace2="Alt+Ctrl+2"
646 Goes to workspace 2.
647 KeySysWorkspace3="Alt+Ctrl+3"
649 Goes to workspace 3.
650 KeySysWorkspace4="Alt+Ctrl+4"
652 Goes to workspace 4.
653 KeySysWorkspace5="Alt+Ctrl+5"
655 Goes to workspace 5.
656 KeySysWorkspace6="Alt+Ctrl+6"
658 Goes to workspace 6.
659 KeySysWorkspace7="Alt+Ctrl+7"
661 Goes to workspace 7.
662 KeySysWorkspace8="Alt+Ctrl+8"
664 Goes to workspace 8.
665 KeySysWorkspace9="Alt+Ctrl+9"
667 Goes to workspace 9.
668 KeySysWorkspace10="Alt+Ctrl+0"
670 Goes to workspace 10.
671 KeySysWorkspace11="Alt+Ctrl+bracketleft"
673 Goes to workspace 11.
674 KeySysWorkspace12="Alt+Ctrl+bracketright"
676 Goes to workspace 12.
677 KeySysWorkspace1TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+1"
679 Takes the active window to workspace 1.
680 KeySysWorkspace2TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+2"
682 Takes the active window to workspace 2.
683 KeySysWorkspace3TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+3"
685 Takes the active window to workspace 3.
686 KeySysWorkspace4TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+4"
688 Takes the active window to workspace 4.
689 KeySysWorkspace5TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+5"
691 Takes the active window to workspace 5.
692 KeySysWorkspace6TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+6"
694 Takes the active window to workspace 6.
695 KeySysWorkspace7TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+7"
697 Takes the active window to workspace 7.
698 KeySysWorkspace8TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+8"
700 Takes the active window to workspace 8.
701 KeySysWorkspace9TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+9"
703 Takes the active window to workspace 9.
704 KeySysWorkspace10TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+0"
706 Takes the active window to workspace 10.
707 KeySysWorkspace11TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+bracketleft"
709 Takes the active window to workspace 11.
710 KeySysWorkspace12TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+bracketright"
712 Takes the active window to workspace 12.
713 KeySysTileVertical="Alt+Shift+F2"
715 Tiles all windows from left to right maximized vertically.
716 KeySysTileHorizontal="Alt+Shift+F3"
718 Tiles all windows from top to bottom maximized horizontally.
719 KeySysCascade="Alt+Shift+F4"
721 Makes a horizontal cascade of all windows which are maximized
722 vertically.
723 KeySysArrange="Alt+Shift+F5"
725 Rearranges the windows.
726 KeySysUndoArrange="Alt+Shift+F7"
728 Undoes arrangement.
729 KeySysArrangeIcons="Alt+Shift+F8"
731 Rearranges icons.
732 KeySysMinimizeAll="Alt+Shift+F9"
734 Minimizes all windows.
735 KeySysHideAll="Alt+Shift+F11"
737 Hides all windows.
738 KeySysShowDesktop="Alt+Ctrl+d"
740 Unmaps all windows to show the desktop.
741 KeySysCollapseTaskBar="Alt+Ctrl+h"
743 Hides the task bar.
744 KeyTaskBarSwitchNext="undefined"
746 Switches to the next window in the task bar.
747 KeyTaskBarSwitchPrev="undefined"
749 Switches to the previous window in the task bar.
750 KeyTaskBarMoveNext="undefined"
752 Moves the task bar button of the current window right.
753 KeyTaskBarMovePrev="undefined"
755 Moves the task bar button of the current window left.
756 KeySysWinListMenu="undefined"
758 Shows the window list menu.
759 KeySysSwitchNext="Alt+Tab"
761 Opens the "QuickSwitch" popup (see "INPUT FOCUS") and/or moves the
762 selector in the "QuickSwitch" popup.
763 KeySysSwitchLast="Alt+Shift+Tab"
765 Works like "KeySysSwitchNext" but moving in the opposite direction.
766 KeySysSwitchClass="Alt+grave"
768 Is like "KeySysSwitchNext" but only for windows with the same
769 WM_CLASS property as the currently focused window.
770 MOUSE BINDINGS
772 You can control windows by a modified mouse button press:
773 MouseWinMove="Alt+Pointer_Button1"
775 Moves the window under the mouse over the screen.
776 MouseWinSize="Alt+Pointer_Button3"
778 Resizes the window. Keep the key and button pressed. To enlarge
779 the window move the mouse button away from the center. To shrink
780 it move towards the centre.
781 MouseWinRaise="Ctrl+Alt+Pointer_Button1"
783 Raises the window under the mouse.
784 MouseWinLower="Ctrl+Alt+Pointer_Button1"
786 Lowers the window under the mouse. If this is equal to
787 "MouseWinRaise" and the window can be raised then "MouseWinRaise"
788 takes preference over "MouseWinLower".
789 The title frame of a window also listens for mouse clicks. Left double
791 clicking maximizes the window ("TitleBarMaximizeButton=1"). Middle
792 double clicking rolls up the window ("TitleBarRollupButton=2").
793 Pressing a mouse button and moving it will move the window.
794 "Alt+Pointer_Button1" lowers the window.
795 When the mouse is on the window frame then a left click raises the
797 window. Dragging with the left button down resizes the window.
798 Clicking the right button pops up the context menu. Dragging with the
799 right button moves the window.
800 Clicking on the desktop activates a menu. The middle button shows the
802 window list ("DesktopWinListButton=2"). The right button shows the
803 root menu ("DesktopMenuButton=3"). If you press "Ctrl+Alt" then the
804 mouse wheel will focus all applications in turn.
805
807 icewm supports the following signals:
808 SIGHUP
810 icewm will restart itself. It is a way to reload the configuration.
811 SIGINT, SIGTERM
813 icewm will cease to manage application windows and terminate.
814 SIGQUIT
816 icewm will initiate the logout procedure. If a "LogoutCommand"
817 preferences option was configured it will be executed.
818 SIGUSR2
820 Toggle the logging of X11 events, if "logevents" was configured.
821
823 ICEWM_PRIVCFG
824 The directory for user private configuration files. When this
825 environment variable is not specified, the default directory is
826 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm when that directory exists, otherwise the
827 default value is $HOME/.icewm.
828 DISPLAY
830 The name of the X11 server. See Xorg(1) or Xserver(1). This value
831 can be overridden by the --display option.
832 MAILPATH, MAIL
834 Gives the location of your mailbox. If the schema is omitted the
835 local "file" schema is assumed. This is used by the mailbox applet
836 in the task bar to show the status of your mailbox. If the
837 "MailBoxPath" option in the preferences file is set, then that one
838 takes precedence.
839
841 CONFIGURATION DIRECTORIES
842 icewm looks for configuration files in the following directories, in
843 the given order, until it finds one:
844 $ICEWM_PRIVCFG/
846 Contains user-specific configurations. When ICEWM_PRIVCFG is
847 specified, this directory takes precedence over
848 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm and $HOME/.icewm.
849 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm/
851 Contains user-specific configurations. When this directory exists
852 it take precedence over $HOME/.icewm.
853 $HOME/.icewm/
855 Contains user-specific configurations. This is the historical
856 default directory.
857 /etc/icewm/
859 Contains system-wide customized defaults. Please note that your
860 local installation may have been configured to use a different
861 system location. The output of "icewm --directories" will show
862 this location.
863 /usr/share/icewm/
865 Default local installation settings.
866 CONFIGURATION FILES
868 env icewm-session(1) loads additional environment variables from the
869 file env. Each line is subjected to POSIX shell expansion by
870 wordexp(3). Comment lines starting by a hash-sign ("#") are
871 ignored. icewm-session(1) will load those expanded lines which
872 contain a name, followed by an equals sign, followed by the value
873 (which may be empty).
874 See icewm-env(5).
876 focus_mode
878 Defines the initial value for "FocusMode". Its default value is
879 "FocusMode=1" (Click-to-focus). This can be changed via the menu.
880 icewm will save the Focus menu choice in this file.
881 See icewm-focus_mode(5).
883 keys
885 Global keybindings to launch applications, which need not be window
886 manager related. Each non-empty line starts with the word "key".
887 After one or more spaces follows a double-quoted string of the
888 bound X11 key combination like "Alt+Ctrl+Shift+X". Then after at
889 least one space follows a shell command-line which will be executed
890 by icewm whenever this key combination is pressed. For example,
891 the following line creates a hotkey to reload the icewm
892 configuration:
893 key "Ctrl+Shift+r" icesh restart
895 See icewm-keys(5).
897 menu
899 A menu of applications; usually customized by the user. icewm
900 provides the icewm-menu-fdo(1) program to generate a default menu.
901 Similar programs are xdg_menu(1), mmaker(1) (MenuMaker),
902 xde-menu(1), xdgmenumaker(1).
903 See icewm-menu(5).
905 preferences
907 Contains general settings like paths, colors and fonts, but also
908 options to control the icewm focus behaviour and the applets which
909 are started in the task bar. The icewm installation will provide a
910 default preferences file, which can be copied to the icewm user
911 configuration directory and modified.
912 See icewm-preferences(5).
914 prefoverride
916 Settings which override the settings from a theme. Some of the
917 icewm configuration options from the preferences file which control
918 the look-and-feel may be overridden by the theme, if the theme
919 designer thinks this is desirable. However, this prefoverride file
920 will again override this for a few specific options of your
921 choosing. It is safe to leave this file empty initially.
922 See icewm-prefoverride(5).
924 programs
926 An automatically generated menu of applications. This could be
927 used by wmconfig(1), menu or similar programs to give easy access
928 to all the desktop applications which are installed on the system.
929 See icewm-programs(5).
931 theme
933 This file contains the name of the default theme. On startup icewm
934 reads this file to obtain the theme name, unless icewm was started
935 with the --theme option. Whenever a different theme is selected
936 from the icewm Menu then the theme file is overwritten with the
937 name of the selected theme. This theme file contains the keyword
938 "Theme", followed by an equals sign, followed by a double-quoted
939 string with the theme name. The theme name is the name of the
940 theme directory, followed by a slash, followed by the theme file.
941 Usually the theme file is just default.theme, but a theme may have
942 alternatives. Alternatives are small tweaks of a theme. These are
943 specified in their own .theme file, which replaces default.theme.
944 If no theme file exists then icewm will use the default setting of
945 "Theme="default/default.theme"".
946 See icewm-theme(5).
948 toolbar
950 Contains names of quick to launch applications with icons for the
951 task bar. Each non-empty non-comment line starts with the keyword
952 prog. After one or more spaces follows a name, which is displayed
953 in a tool tip whenever the mouse cursor hovers over the toolbar
954 icon. This name may be a double quoted string. Then follows the
955 bare name of the icon to use without extensions. This icon will be
956 shown in the toolbar. The last component is a shell command-line
957 which will be executed whenever the user presses the icon in the
958 toolbar. For example, the following line in toolbar will create a
959 button with tool tip "Mozilla Firefox" with the firefox icon which
960 launches firefox(1) when clicked:
961 prog "Mozilla Firefox" firefox /usr/bin/firefox --private-window
963 See icewm-toolbar(5).
965 winoptions
967 Contains settings to control window appearance and behaviour which
968 are specific to applications or groups of applications. Options
969 can control the border, whether it appears on the task bar, the
970 window list, the system tray and the work spaces. Also its layer,
971 geometry, whether it can be moved, resized and closed.
972 See icewm-winoptions(5).
974 startup
976 Contains commands to be executed on icewm startup. This is an
977 executable script with commands to tweak X11 settings and launch
978 some applications which need to be active whenever icewm is
979 started. It is run by icewm-session(1) when icewm starts.
980 See icewm-startup(5).
982 shutdown
984 Contains commands to be executed on icewm shutdown. This is an
985 executable script with commands to be executed in the last stage of
986 icewm termination. Typically they may undo some of the effects of
987 the startup script. It is run by icewm-session(1) when icewm
988 terminates.
989 See icewm-shutdown(5).
991 CONFIGURATION SUBDIRECTORIES
993 icons
994 Contains icons which are used to identify applications. Usually
995 these files are in the XPM format, but the PNG and SVG image
996 formats are also supported. The names of icon files may follow a
997 specific naming pattern, like app_32x32.xpm. They start with a
998 base name, usually this is just a single word. Then follows an
999 underscore, followed by a size specification in the format
1000 "SIZExSIZE". This is followed by a dot and the file extension,
1001 where the extension denotes the icon image format. Common sizes
1002 are 16, 32 and 48 for small, large and huge icons. This depends on
1003 the respective "IconSize" preferences options.
1004 ledclock
1006 Pictures of digits for the LED clock which is displayed in the
1007 bottom-right corner of the task bar. These can be seen when the
1008 "TaskBarShowClock" and "TaskBarClockLeds" options are both set to
1009 1.
1010 mailbox
1012 Icons which are used to display different states of the mailbox
1013 applet in the task bar. There are five states and each has its own
1014 icon: mail.xpm, newmail.xpm, unreadmail.xpm, nomail.xpm,
1015 errmail.xpm.
1016 sounds
1018 Audio files which are played by icesound(1) on GUI events. These
1019 are: startup.wav, shutdown.wav, restart.wav, launchApp.wav,
1020 workspaceChange.wav, windowOpen.wav, windowClose.wav,
1021 dialogOpen.wav, dialogClose.wav, windowMax.wav, windowRestore.wav,
1022 windowMin.wav, windowHide.wav, windowRollup.wav, windowMoved.wav,
1023 windowSized.wav, windowLower.wav.
1024 taskbar
1026 Pictures to customize the look of the task bar. These include:
1027 taskbarbg.xpm, taskbuttonactive.xpm, taskbuttonbg.xpm,
1028 taskbuttonminimized.xpm, toolbuttonbg.xpm,
1029 workspacebuttonactive.xpm, workspacebuttonbg.xpm.
1030 themes
1032 A directory to store themes. Each theme is stored in its own sub-
1033 directory in the themes directory. A theme contains at least a
1034 default.theme file, and optionally theme alternatives which are
1035 additional files which have a .theme file name extension and which
1036 contain tweaks of the default.theme file. How to create a theme is
1037 explained in the IceWM Theme Creation Howto.
1038 OPACITY
1040 IceWM supports window opacity and transparency in connection with an
1041 external compositor like compton(1) or picom(1). If a client window
1042 sets the "_NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY" property on its window, then icewm
1043 will copy this to the outer frame window, where the compositor will
1044 read it and adjust the opacity accordingly.
1045 The opacity can also be set in the icewm-winoptions(5) file. icesh(1)
1047 can control the opacity level of running applications.
1048 The _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE properties which icewm sets on its windows are
1050 DIALOG, NOTIFICATION, POPUP_MENU and TOOLTIP. The output of "icesh
1051 windows" shows their WM_CLASS values. These can be helpful to configure
1052 compton.
1053
1055 Examples of the above configuration files can be found in the default
1056 installation path or in the system-wide defaults. See the output of
1057 "icewm --directories" for their locations.
1058
1060 ICCCM 2.0: partial. NetWM/EWMH: extensive. See the file COMPLIANCE in
1061 the distribution for full details.
1062
1064 icehelp(1), icesh(1), icesound(1), icewm-env(5), icewm-focus_mode(5),
1065 icewm-keys(5), icewm-menu(5), icewm-menu-fdo(1), icewm-menu-xrandr(1),
1066 icewm-preferences(5), icewm-prefoverride(5), icewm-programs(5),
1067 icewm-session(1), icewm-set-gnomewm(1), icewm-shutdown(5),
1068 icewm-startup(5), icewm-theme(5), icewm-toolbar(5),
1069 icewm-winoptions(5), icewmbg(1), icewmhint(1), setxkbmap(1), Xorg(1),
1070 Xserver(1), xinit(1), xprop(1), xwininfo(1), wmctrl(1).
1071
1073 icewm had no known bugs at the time of release. Please report bugs for
1074 current versions to the source code repository at
1075 <https://github.com/bbidulock/icewm/issues>.
1076
1078 Brian Bidulock <mailto:bidulock@openss7.org>.
1079 See --copying for full copyright notice and copying permissions.
1081
1083 IceWM is licensed under the GNU Library General Public License. See
1084 the COPYING file in the distribution or use the --copying flag to
1085 display copying permissions.
1086icewm 2.3.0 2021-04-02 ICEWM(1)