1FLUXBOX(1) Fluxbox Manual FLUXBOX(1)
2
6 fluxbox - A lightweight window manager for the X Windowing System
7
9 fluxbox [-rc rcfile] [-no-slit] [-no-toolbar] [-log logfile] [-display
10 display] [-screen all|scr,scr...] [-verbose] [-sync]
11 fluxbox [-v | -version] | [-h | -help] | [-i | -info] |
13 [-list-commands]
14
16 fluxbox(1) is a window manager. As such it provides configurable window
17 decorations, a root menu to launch applications and a toolbar that
18 shows the current workspace name, a set of application names and the
19 current time. There is also a workspace menu to add or remove
20 workspaces.
21 Fluxbox can iconify (or minimize) windows to the toolbar One click and
23 they reappear. A double-click on the titlebar of the window will shade
24 it; i.e. the window will disappear, and only the titlebar will remain
25 visible.
26 There are also two areas commonly used by small applets: the ‘slit’ can
28 be used to dock small applications; e.g. most of the “bbtools” and
29 “Window Maker dockapps” can use the slit, and the ‘systray’ which lives
30 in the toolbar supports standard system tray icons provided by some
31 applications.
32 Fluxbox uses its own graphics class to render its images on the fly. By
34 using style files, you can determine in great detail how your desktop
35 looks. fluxbox styles are compatible with those of Blackbox 0.65 or
36 earlier versions, so users migrating can still use their current
37 favourite themes.
38 Most of the default keyboard and mouse button actions mentioned in this
40 manual can be changed and configured in the ‘keys’ file. This powerful
41 configuration file can also be used to automate almost any action you
42 may want to perform, from launching applications to moving windows
43 around the screen. See fluxbox-keys(5) for details.
44 Fluxbox can also remember certain attributes of individual application
46 windows and restore these settings the next time the window opens. See
47 the fluxbox-apps(5) for details.
48 Fluxbox supports the majority of the Extended Window Manager Hints
50 (EWMH) specification, as well as numerous other Window Hinting
51 standards. This allows all compliant window managers to provide a
52 common interface to standard features used by applications and desktop
53 utilities.
54
56 -display display
57 Start fluxbox on the specified display. Programs started by fluxbox
58 will share the DISPLAY environment variable also.
59 -h, -help
61 Display command line options.
62 -i, -info
64 Display useful information concerning the defaults and compiled-in
65 options.
66 -log logfile
68 Starting fluxbox with this option will designate a file in which
69 you want to log events to.
70 -no-slit
72 Do not use the container for DockApps (aka the Slit)
73 -no-toolbar
75 Do not use the toolbar
76 -rc rcfile
78 Use a different config file other than the default ~/.fluxbox/init.
79 -v, -version
81 The version of fluxbox installed.
82 -screen all|scr,scr...
84 Run on specified screens only or all (by default).
85 -verbose
87 Print more information in process.
88 -sync
90 Synchronize with the X server for debugging.
91 -list-commands
93 Lists all available internal commands.
94
96 fluxbox(1) comes with a program called startfluxbox(1) usually located
97 wherever you installed fluxbox. This script provides you with many
98 options and variables that can be set when starting fluxbox. To
99 actually call fluxbox and begin using it, you should place “exec
100 startfluxbox” in your ~/.xinitrc as the last executed command. This is
101 assuming that the location of fluxbox(1) and startfluxbox(1) are in
102 your shell’s $PATH. Also note that you may need to create the
103 ~/.xinitrc file or your setup may use ~/.xsession instead, depending on
104 your X setup. Some X login managers like gdm(1) or kdm(1) may simply
105 provide a “Fluxbox” session for you without having to alter any
106 settings.
107 By using fluxbox -i you’ll see the defaults used by fluxbox(1). These
109 are what fluxbox looks for upon startup. In the list of “Defaults:”
110 you’ll see a menu file location, this is where you can provide a
111 system-wide menu file for your users.
112 On exit or restart, fluxbox will save user defaults in the file
114 ~/.fluxbox/init. Resources in this file can also be edited by hand, see
115 the RESOURCES section for more details. fluxbox(1) also has many tools
116 to edit these; look through the main menu once fluxbox has started to
117 find different ways of managing your session.
118
120 When using fluxbox for the first time, users who are more accustomed to
121 full desktop environments such as KDE or Gnome may be a little
122 surprised by the minimal screen content. fluxbox is designed to be fast
123 and powerful, so it may take a bit of getting used to — however, the
124 rewards are worthwhile.
125 In this section, we’ll give a quick summary of the common things.
127 However, we recommend that you consult the referenced sections of this
128 manual to further develop your understanding of what you can do with
129 fluxbox.
130 Root Window (Main)
132 Looking at the fluxbox desktop immediately after startup you’ll
133 generally see only one thing: the toolbar. If you right-click (mouse
134 button 3) somewhere on the desktop, you can access the Root Menu. A
135 middle-click (mouse button 2) on the desktop shows you the Workspace
136 Menu.
137 Root Menu and Workspace Menu
139 From the RootMenu you can launch applications and configure fluxbox.
140 The WorkspaceMenu shows all windows and on which workspaces they are.
141 See section MENUS on how to customize these menus.
142 Toolbar
144 The toolbar contains any combination of the following tools, by default
145 in this order:
146 · Workspace Name: Name of the current visible workspace
148 · Workspace Arrows: Previous/Next Workspace
150 · Iconbar: List of windows managed by fluxbox
152 · Window Arrows: Previous/Next Application Window
154 · System Tray: Area for applets
156 · Clock: Date and Time
158 The contents and behavior of the toolbar can be configured, see the
160 TOOLBAR section for details.
161 Slit
163 Initially you won’t be able to see the slit. It is there, but it isn’t
164 being used yet, which confuses some people initially. Think of it as a
165 dock where you can place smaller programs. If you’ve looked at any
166 screenshots on the official fluxbox web site, you will have noticed
167 some small programs on the edge of some of the screens. These were more
168 than likely docked programs in the slit. To learn more about the slit,
169 we have an entire SLIT section below that goes into detail about the
170 options you have.
171 Layers
173 fluxbox manages the following layers (from highest to lowest):
174 · Above Dock
176 · Dock
178 · Top
180 · Normal
182 · Bottom
184 · Desktop
186 Windows on a higher layer will always appear above those on a lower
188 one. These layers can be used on application windows, the slit or the
189 toolbar. You can assign applications to a certain layer by specifying
190 it in the ‘apps’ file or through the WindowMenu. We discuss the ‘apps’
191 file in fluxbox-apps(5). We discuss the WindowMenu in the MENUS
192 section. We discuss layers in more detail in the LAYERS section.
193 Focus Model
195 The window that has the focus is the one that receives key and mouse
196 events. The focus model is selectable via the Configuration menu
197 located in the root menu. We’ll discuss the different types of focus
198 below in the FOCUS MODEL section.
199 Windows
201 A left-click (mouse button 1) on any part of the window’s border will
202 raise it. Dragging then moves the window to another part of the
203 desktop. A right click and drag on the border resizes the window.
204 Dragging the resize grips at the left and right bottom corners also
205 will resize the window. Middle clicking on a border or titlebar will
206 immediately lower the window. Right clicking on the titlebar opens the
207 Window menu. The commands unique to this menu are discussed in detail
208 in the Window Menu section.
209 Tabs
211 fluxbox allows windows to be ‘grouped’ by middle clicking and holding
212 on a window’s tab and dragging it onto another window. This ‘tabbing’
213 allows you to put multiple applications in one location on the desktop
214 and do several operations (for example, moving or resizing) to all
215 windows in the group. By default, tabs are located just above the
216 window, but they may be embedded in the titlebar or moved to other
217 locations on the outside of the window. Configuration is discussed in
218 TAB OPTIONS section.
219 You can also set up automatic grouping using the ‘apps’ file. See GROUP
221 SECTIONS in fluxbox-apps(5) for details.
222 Key Bindings
224 There are a number of key bindings set up by default, which can be
225 configured and extended to just about anything you can imagine with the
226 keyboard. See fluxbox-keys(5) for details on how to do this.
227 The default bindings set up by fluxbox are as follows:
229 Mouse clicks on the empty desktop:
231 · Left-click (Button 1): hides all fluxbox menus
233 · Middle-click (Button 2): shows the Workspace Menu
235 · Right-click (Button 3): shows the Root Menu
237 · Scroll wheel (Buttons 4 and 5): jump to the previous/next workspace
239 Mouse gestures on a window:
241 · ALT+Drag Left-click anywhere on a window moves the window.
243 · ALT+Drag Right-click anywhere on a window resizes the window.
245 · ALT+Middle-click anywhere on a window lowers the current window.
247 Mouse gestures on a window’s titlebar:
249 · CTRL+Drag Left-click on a window’s titlebar lets you drag to attach
251 the window to another’s tab group
252 · Double Left-click on a window’s titlebar shades the window
254 · Middle-click on a window’s titlebar lowers the window
256 · Right-click on a window’s titlebar pops up the Window Menu
258 Mouse gestures on the toolbar:
260 · Scroll wheel on the toolbar cycles through windows
262 Keyboard bindings:
264 · ALT+Tab / ALT+Shift+Tab: Cycle through windows
266 · WIN+Tab / WIN+Shift+Tab: Cycle through tabs
268 · WIN+1 - WIN+9: Select the 1st → 9th tab in the current window
270 · ALT+F1: Run xterm(1) to open a new terminal
272 · ALT+F2: Run fbrun(1) for a small “run program” dialog
274 · ALT+F4: Close the current window
276 · ALT+F5: Kill the current window (like xkill(1))
278 · ALT+F9: Minimize (iconify) the current window
280 · ALT+F10: Maximize the current window
282 · ALT+F11: Full-screen the current window
284 · ALT+Space: Open the Window Menu
286 · CTRL+ALT+Del: Exit fluxbox (log out)
288 · CTRL+ALT+Left / CTRL+ALT+Right: Go to the previous/next workspace
290 · WIN+Left / WIN+Right: Send the current window to the previous/next
292 workspace, but remain on this workspace
293 · CTRL+WIN+Left / CTRL+WIN+Right: Take the current window to the
295 previous/next workspace, and switch to that workspace
296 · CTRL+F1 - CTRL+F12: Switch to the 1st → 12th workspace
298 · WIN+F1 - WIN+F12: Send the current window to a specific workspace
300 · CTRL+WIN+F1 - CTRL+WIN+F12: Take the current window to a specific
302 workspace
303
305 fluxbox provides a popup menu facility that is used by a few different
306 types of native menus.
307 When a menu is open, you can click on items with the mouse to activate
309 them. Some special menu items react slightly differently depending on
310 the mouse button you use, but normally you will want to use a
311 left-click (button 1).
312 You can also use the the keyboard arrow key to navigate, or even type
314 the first few letters of the item’s label to select it, and “enter” to
315 activate the item.
316 Normally activating a menu item should close the menu. You can also
318 right-click the title are of a menu or press “esc” to close it without
319 activating an item.
320 Root Menu
322 The root menu is where you can launch commonly-used applications and
323 change different aspects of fluxbox by simply clicking on a menu item.
324 By default it is opened by a right-click on the empty area of the
325 desktop.
326 The contents of this menu can be configured, see fluxbox-menu(5) for
328 details.
329 The default menu, which is created by the “fluxbox-generate_menu”
331 command, contains menus for installed applications, as well as a
332 special “Fluxbox menu” item with the items detailed below:
333 Configure
335 The next level under this menu is where you can set certain
336 resources and really begin to customize the look and feel of your
337 desktop. See the Configure Menu section below for more details.
338 System Styles
340 This is where the standard styles are listed. You can select one of
341 these by clicking on it, and it will be applied immediately. System
342 styles are located in /usr/local/share/fluxbox/styles/ upon a
343 default install. Remember that you can confirm this with fluxbox
344 -i.
345 User Styles
347 This is where your custom styles are listed. It will list any
348 styles from ~/.fluxbox/styles/, which may be styles you grab
349 from the Internet, or your own custom styles, provided you
350 follow the standards described in fluxbox-style(5).
351 Workspace List
353 This is the same as the Workspace Menu detailed below.
354 Tools
356 Listed here are different tools that you can use. You can
357 rename your workspace, run programs from a command line or
358 regenerate your menu.
359 Window Managers
361 Allows you to switch your window manager. (Only listed if you
362 have other window managers/desktop environments installed.)
363 Lock Screen
365 Locks the screen, if a suitable locking program has been
366 detected.
367 Fluxbox Command
369 A little Commandline will popup where you can enter a fluxbox
370 command. These commands are the same as those detailed in
371 fluxbox-keys(5).
372 Reload config
374 Use this to reload the fluxbox configuration files. You must do
375 this after editing the ‘keys’ file, ‘init’ file, or the current
376 style.
377 Restart
379 Restart the whole darn thing. This starts a completely new
380 fluxbox process, rereads files and redraws all graphical
381 elements. Running applications will remain open, however, and
382 restored to the same workspaces they were previously in once
383 fluxbox returns.
384 Exit
386 Exits fluxbox, which in turn either shuts down the X Window
387 server or returns you to the graphical login screen.
388 Configuration Menu
390 This menu offers the opportunity to set up fluxbox. It contains many
391 options which can be altered manually in the ‘init’ file, but this is
392 an easier and faster way to change the most common settings.
393 All changes take effect immediately.
395 Focus Model
397 Lets you configure the window focus model. For details, see FOCUS
398 MODEL, below.
399 Maximize Options
401 Lets you configure what happens when you maximize a window. The
402 four options are:
403 Full Maximization:
405 Normally, a maximized window will not overlap the toolbar,
406 slit, or any docked windows (like panels). Enabling this option
407 allows maximized windows to be as large as the actual screen
408 resolution.
409 Ignore Resize Increment:
411 Normally, terminal windows specify a “resize increment” which
412 mean fluxbox will only resize the window to an even multiple of
413 the character size. Enabling this option will ignore this
414 specification when maximizing.
415 Disable Moving / Disable Resizing:
417 Normally, maximized windows can still be moved and resized.
418 Enabling these options prevents these behaviour.
419 Tab Options
421 Lets you configure the properties of tabs. Detailed in TAB OPTIONS,
422 below.
423 Slit
425 This menu can also be found by right-clicking the slit (if
426 visible). Find more information about this menu’s options in the
427 Slit Menu section, below.
428 Toolbar
430 This menu can also be found by right-clicking any non-icon part of
431 the toolbar. Find more information about this menu’s options in the
432 Toolbar Menu section, below.
433 Transparency
435 This sets the default transparency for a focused windows, unfocused
436 window and the menu. Use the left mouse button to decrease and the
437 right mouse button to increase the value. 0 is invisible, 255 is
438 not transparent at all.
439 The transparency of individual application windows can be
441 overridden in the ‘apps’ file (fluxbox-apps(5)).
442 The Force Pseudo Transparency option will force fluxbox to ignore
444 the xcomposite extension and use pseudo-transparency instead of
445 true transparency. Note: When pseudo-transparency is on, the
446 transparency values here only affect titlebars, not window
447 contents.
448 Opaque Window Moving
450 If enabled, you will see the window content while dragging it.
451 Otherwise only an outline of the window will be shown.
452 Workspace Warping
454 If enabled, you can drag windows from one workspace to another. The
455 previous workspace is to the left, the next workspace is to the
456 right.
457 Window Menu
459 The Window menu is displayed when you right click on the titlebar of a
460 window.
461 To customize this menu, see the WINDOW MENU section of fluxbox-menu(5).
463 By default, this menu contains:
465 Shade
467 Shade the window (display the titlebar only).
468 Stick
470 (Un)Stick window. A ‘stuck’ window will always be displayed on all
471 workspaces.
472 Send To...
474 Send window to another workspace. When you select the workspace
475 with a middle click, fluxbox will send you along with the
476 application to the selected workspace.
477 Maximize
479 (Un)Maximize window. Depending on your toolbar and slit
480 configuration, maximize may cover them. You can use the different
481 mouse buttons for different aspects of maximize function.
482 · Button 1 (Un)Maximize as normal.
484 · Button 2 (Un)Maximize window vertically.
486 · Button 3 (Un)Maximize window horizontally.
488 Iconify
490 Iconify (or minimize) a window. The ‘icon’ can be found in the
491 Icons submenu of the workspace menu as well as in the toolbar (if a
492 Toolbar mode showing Icons is selected).
493 Raise
495 Raise the window above all others in the same layer.
496 Lower
498 Lower the window below all others in the same layer.
499 Layer...
501 Change the layer of this window. See LAYERS for more details.
502 Transparency
504 Change this window’s transparency, overriding the defaults from the
505 Configuration Menu.
506 Remember...
508 Specify which window settings should be stored in the ‘apps’ file
509 and resumed the next time this window is opened.
510 Specifically the setting you may store are:
512 Workpace:
514 Open this in the same workspace as where the window currently
515 resides.
516 Jump to workspace:
518 When Workspace is selected, fluxbox will jump to the
519 appropriate workspace when this window is opened there. If not
520 selected, the window will open in the background.
521 Head:
523 For xinerama users only, start this window on the current head
524 (or screen).
525 Dimensions:
527 Record the current window height and width.
528 Position:
530 Record the current X and Y coordinates of the window.
531 Sticky:
533 Record whether the window is on all desktops, or not.
534 Decorations:
536 Record the current set of decorations (title bar, grips, tabs,
537 etc) on the window.
538 Shaded:
540 Record whether the window is shaded (or rolled-up) or not.
541 Minimized:
543 Record whether the window is iconified (or minimized) or not.
544 Maximized:
546 Record whether the window is maximized or not.
547 Fullscreen:
549 Record whether the window is in fullscreen mode or not.
550 Transparency:
552 Record the current Transparency settings.
553 Layer:
555 Record the current layer.
556 Save on close:
558 If selected, any of the above items which are also selected
559 will be updated with the window’s current values as it is
560 closed.
561 These are is covered in more detail in fluxbox-apps(5).
563 Close
565 Close the application softly.
566 Kill
568 Kill the window’s parent process, like xkill(1).
569 Workspace Menu
571 The workspace menu can be found, by default, by middle-clicking on the
572 background. This menu contains entries to explore the currently defined
573 workspaces, windows, and add/remove/rename workspaces.
574 Icons
576 This menu shows any iconified (or, minimized) windows. Clicking on
577 a window in this menu will raise it on the current workspace.
578 Workspaces
580 The next section provides one submenu per workspace.
581 Middle-clicking on a workspace name will take you to that
582 workspace. The submenu contains a list of all open windows on that
583 workspace. Clicking on a window name will take you to that window
584 and raise it, changing the active workspace if necessary.
585 New Workspace
587 This entry adds a new workspace to the end of the list of current
588 workspaces.
589 Edit current workspace name
591 Pops up a dialog to enter a new name for the current workspace.
592 Remove Last
594 Remove the last workspace in the list. Any windows currently open
595 there will be sent to the next-to-last workspace.
596
598 The toolbar is a small area to display information like a clock,
599 workspace name, a system tray or a taskbar (iconbar) that can contain
600 the running programs. The color, look, font etc. is defined in the
601 STYLE.
602 The tools in the toolbar can be enabled/disabled in the ‘init’ file
604 with the session.screen0.toolbar.tools resource. See the RESOURCES
605 section for details on how to alter this value.
606 The possible tools are:
608 Clock
610 This will show an area to display a clock and the date according to
611 the format specification listed in "man strtftime"
612 Iconbar
614 This is the area that contains all windows (all running
615 applications, all minimized windows or maybe no window, all
616 depending on the Toolbar Settings).
617 Systemtray
619 The Systemtray can hold applications that are made to use it.
620 WorkspaceName
622 This displays the name of the current workspace. Also, one is able
623 to switch to the workspace left of the current one with a left
624 click and to the workspace right of the current one with a right
625 click.
626 PrevWorkspace
628 This displays an arrow that allows one to switch to the workspace
629 left of the current one.
630 NextWorkspace
632 This displays an arrow that allows one to switch to the workspace
633 right of the current one.
634 PrevWindow
636 This displays an arrow that switches focus to the previous visible
637 window on the current workspace.
638 NextWindow
640 This displays an arrow that switches focus to the next visible
641 window on the current workspace.
642 Other aspects of the toolbar can be configured in two ways: through the
644 toolbar menu, which is accessible in the Configuration part of the
645 RootMenu or with a middle click on the edge the toolbar, or by editing
646 the init file (see the RESOURCES section for more information about
647 that).
648 Toolbar Menu
650 This menu can be opened by right-clicking on the toolbar (though not on
651 a window’s name in the iconbar), or from the Configuration Menu.
652 All changes take effect immediately. Here are the settings:
654 Visible
656 Sets the toolbar either to visible or invisible.
657 Auto hide
659 If this is enabled the toolbar will disappear after a defined time
660 when the mouse pointer leaves the toolbar. It will slide in when
661 the cursor hits the remaining edge of the toolbar. See the
662 session.autoRaiseDelay resource for the delay time.
663 Toolbar width percentage
665 Sets the width of the toolbar in a percentage of your total screen
666 size. Use the left mouse button to decrease and the right
667 mouse-button to increase the value. The value can be from 1-100.
668 Maximize Over
670 Enabling this option will allow windows to maximize over the
671 toolbar. With this switched on they will only expand to the edge of
672 the bar. This option may be overridden by the “Full Maximization”
673 from the Configuration Menu. If that option is enabled, this option
674 will have no effect..
675 Layer...
677 This sets the layer on which the toolbar is set. With this you can
678 set the toolbar to "Always on top".
679 Placement
681 Sets the toolbar to any edge of the screen, either centered or
682 aligned with a corner.
683 Alpha
685 This sets the alpha value for the toolbar. Use the left mouse
686 button to decrease and the right mouse button to increase the
687 value. 0 is invisible, 255 is not transparent at all.
688 Iconbar Mode
690 Specifies various modes of the iconbar’s operation.
691 The first section outlines what types of windows will be shown in
693 the iconbar:
694 None:
696 Will not show any windows
697 Icons:
699 Shows windows from all workspaces that are iconified (or,
700 minimized)
701 NoIcons:
703 Shows windows from all workspaces that are not iconified
704 WorkspaceIcons:
706 Shows windows from the current workspace that are iconified
707 WorkspaceNoIcons:
709 Shows windows from the current workspace that are not iconified
710 Workspace:
712 Shows all windows (iconified or not) from the current workspace
713 All Windows:
715 Shows all windows (iconified or not) from all workspaces
716 The next section specifies the alignment of the window names shown
718 in the iconbar. The width is specified via the
719 session.screen0.iconbar.iconWidth resource:
720 Left:
722 All icons will be left-aligned with the width set in the ‘init’
723 file
724 Relative:
726 All icons will be sized evenly to fill the iconbar completely
727 Right:
729 All icons will be right-aligned with the width set in the
730 ‘init’ file
731 The last option in this submenu is:
733 Show Pictures:
735 If enabled the iconbar will show the application’s icon (if
736 provided by the application)
737 Clock
739 Lets you switch between the 00:00am - 11:59pm and 00:00 - 23:59
740 notation
741 Edit Clock Format
743 clicking this entry will pop up a dialog window in which the clock
744 format can be set according to man strftime (or man date).
745
747 The Focus Model defines how windows gain focus (i.e. become the active
748 window, which receives keyboard and mouse events). The focus model can
749 be changed in the configuration menu (usually located under fluxbox
750 menu in the Root Menu.
751 There are two main aspects of the focus model: how windows gain focus
753 and how tabs gain focus. Each of these has two options: focus follows
754 mouse and click to focus. Focus follows mouse means that windows will
755 gain focus when the mouse hovers over them. Click to focus means that
756 windows will gain focus when the mouse clicks on them.
757 Thus, there are four main options when choosing a focus model. You
759 should choose one of the first two and one of the last two. They are:
760 Click To Focus
762 Click to focus windows.
763 Mouse Focus
765 Window focus follows mouse.
766 ClickTabFocus
768 Click to focus tabs.
769 MouseTabFocus
771 Tab focus follows mouse.
772 There are three more settings in the “Focus Model” menu:
774 Focus New Windows
776 If enabled, a new window will grab X focus as soon as it is opened.
777 Auto Raise
779 If enabled, focusing on a new window will automatically raise
780 that window above all others within its layer. When disabled,
781 you must explicitly raise a focused window using the window
782 menu, keybinding, or Click Raises.
783 Click Raises
785 If enabled, clicking anywhere on a window will raise it above
786 all others within its layer.
787
789 This section of fluxbox configuration menu lets you configure many
790 features of tabs. Inside of it there are three main options:
791 Placement
793 You can choose where the external tabs will be positioned relative
794 to the window. For these options to work, Tabs in Titlebar must be
795 off.
796 Tabs in Titlebar
798 When this option is on, tabs are fixed in window titlebar and the
799 width varies according to the amount of windows grouped.
800 Maximize Over
802 When this option is on, maximizing a window will disregard the size
803 and location of external tabs, which means they may be pushed out
804 of the screen entirely.
805 External Tab Width
807 This specifies in pixels the width of external tabs.
808
810 fluxbox enables you to use specialized files that contain X(1)
811 resources to specify colors, textures, pixmaps and fonts, and thus the
812 overall look of your window borders, menus and the toolbar.
813 The default installation of fluxbox provides some of these style files.
815 See fluxbox-style(5) to accommodate the growing number of style
816 components.
817 Style Overlay
819 In addition to the style file, the overlay file, whose location is
820 specified by session.screen0.styleOverlay (default: ~/.fluxbox/overlay)
821 can be used to set style resources that override all styles. For more
822 information about which parts of fluxbox can be controlled by the
823 overlay file, see fluxbox-style(5).
824
826 The slit is a special fluxbox window frame that can contain dockable
827 applications, such as “bbtools” or “window maker dockapps”.
828 When applications are run in the slit they have no window borders of
830 their own; instead they are framed in the slit, and they are always
831 visible in the current workspace.
832 Most dockable applications use the -w option to run in the slit. For
834 example, you could put in your ~/.fluxbox/startup:
835 bbmail -w &
837 bbpager -w &
838 wmdrawer &
839 exec fluxbox
840 To use the slit you must have it compiled into fluxbox. This is the
842 default setting.
843 Slit Menu
845 This menu can be opened by right-clicking on the slit (though not on an
846 application running within the slit), or from the Configuration Menu.
847 All changes take effect immediately. Here are the settings:
849 Placement
851 This lets you set the position of the slit.
852 Layer
854 See LAYERS for details on the layer order.
855 Auto hide
857 If this is enabled the slit will disappear after a defined time
858 when the mouse pointer leaves the slit. It will slide in when the
859 cursor hits the remaining edge of the slit. See the
860 session.autoRaiseDelay resource for the delay time.
861 Maximize Over
863 Enabling this option will allow windows to maximizing over the
864 slit. With this switched off they will only expand to the edge of
865 the slit. This option may be overridden by the “Full Maximization”
866 from the Configuration Menu. If that option is enabled, this option
867 will have no effect..
868 Alpha
870 This sets the alpha value for the slit. Use the left mouse button
871 to decrease and the right mouse button to increase the value. 0 is
872 invisible, 255 is not transparent at all.
873 Clients
875 This submenu lets you reorder the the applications running in the
876 slit. You are able to hide apps from the slit by unselecting them
877 in the list showing. This will not kill the app. You can make them
878 re-appear by selecting them in the list. The "Save SlitList" option
879 saves the new order to you slitlist located in ~/.fluxbox/slitlist.
880 See the next section for details.
881 Slitlist File
883 fluxbox’s slitlist file is available for those that use dockapps in the
884 slit. This file helps fluxbox keep track of the order of the dockapps
885 when in the slit. The file is generally located at ~/.fluxbox/slitlist.
886 A simple procedure for getting the slit sequences the way you like it
888 is: 1. Run fluxbox with no pre-loaded dockapps 2. Run dockapps
889 individually in the order you want them 3. Add dockapps to your
890 startfluxbox(1) script
891 This sequence will be saved by default to ~/.fluxbox/slitlist and will
893 be remembered for future instances of fluxbox.
894 Users are free to manually edit the slitlist file. It is a simple list
896 of window names, as given by xprop(1), one per dockapp. Similar to the
897 init file it should not be edited while fluxbox is running. Otherwise
898 changes may get overwritten.
899 The user also has the option of choosing a different path for the
901 slitlist file, by setting the session.session0.slitlistFile resource.
902
904 Layers affect the way that windows will overlap each other on the
905 screen. Windows on a higher layer will always appear above those on a
906 lower one, whether they are focused or not. Fluxbox uses 13 layers,
907 starting from 1 (highest).
908 There are two ways to assign a window to a different layer. When the
910 window is open, you may select the layer in the ‘Layer ...’ submenu of
911 the window menu. The menu gives six choices for the layer, which
912 fluxbox manages by name. The names are (from highest to lowest layer):
913 · 2 - Above Dock
915 · 4 - Dock
917 · 6 - Top
919 · 8 - Normal
921 · 10 - Bottom
923 · 12 - Desktop
925 The other way to set the layer for a window is through the ‘apps’ file.
927 This method is described in fluxbox-apps(5).
928
930 Usually the ~/.fluxbox/init resource file is created and maintained by
931 fluxbox itself. You can use the Configure Menu, mentioned above, to set
932 most of these options. However, we’ll cover all of the resource options
933 that are available to the user. If you edit this file while fluxbox is
934 running, you must “reconfigure” to reload the resource options.
935 When running fluxbox in a multiple-screen environment the screen0 key
937 can also be screen1, screen2, to customize the behavior of fluxbox on
938 each desktop accordingly. Here are the resources that are currently
939 available:
940 session.screen0.window.{focus|unfocus}.alpha: integer
942 These resources are available to the user to set different levels
943 of transparency for different components of fluxbox. Each one
944 accepts a value between 0-255, 255 being opaque and 0 being
945 completely transparent.
946 Default: 255
948 session.screen0.{slit|toolbar}.autoHide: boolean
950 The autoHide resources allow the user to set the behavior of the
951 toolbar and slit. This behavior can be that they disappear when
952 they are not being used actively by the user, or they remain
953 visible at all times.
954 Default: False
956 session.screen0.{slit|toolbar}.layer: layer
958 With these two resources, you can set the layer you want the
959 toolbar and the slit to appear on. Please read the LAYER section
960 for more information.
961 Default: Dock
963 session.screen0.{slit|toolbar}.placement: placement
965 These allow users to place the slit and toolbar where they like.
966 Possible options are:
968 BottomLeft BottomCenter BottomRight LeftBottom LeftCenter
969 LeftTop RightBottom RightCenter RightTop TopLeft TopCenter
970 TopRight
971 Slit default: RightBottom
973 Toolbar default: BottomCenter
975 session.screen0.{slit|toolbar|tabs}.maxOver: boolean
977 Setting these to True will allow application windows to maximize
978 over the complete screen. Setting to False allows the slit,
979 toolbar, and external tabs to hold their territory and will always
980 be visible when an application is maximized.
981 Default: False
983 session.screen0.toolbar.height: integer
985 Set the height of the toolbar. If the value is set to 0, the style
986 file will gain control over the toolbar height. It is possible to
987 set a fixed height by changing this value to something greater than
988 0.
989 Default: 0
991 session.screen0.toolbar.visible: boolean
993 The user can set whether they want to have a toolbar on screen at
994 all. Setting to False removes the toolbar from the screen.
995 Default: True
997 session.screen0.toolbar.widthPercent: integer
999 This resource sets the width percentage of the toolbar on the
1000 screen.
1001 Default: 100
1003 session.screen0.toolbar.tools: tools
1005 This resource specifies the tools plugged into the toolbar. Read
1006 the TOOLBAR section in this manual for a description of each of
1007 these. They may be specified in any order, delimited by the ,
1008 character. They will appear in the order given.
1009 Possible tools:
1011 clock iconbar nextwindow prevwindow nextworkspace prevworkspace
1012 systemtray workspacename
1013 Default:
1015 workspacename, prevworkspace, nextworkspace, iconbar,
1016 prevwindow, nextwindow, systemtray, clock
1017 session.screen0.{slit|toolbar}.onhead: integer
1019 For those that use xinerama, users can set this value to the number
1020 of the head where they would like to see the slit and toolbar,
1021 starting from 1. Setting this to 0 will ignore xinerama
1022 information.
1023 Default: 0 for slit, 1 for toolbar
1025 session.screen0.iconbar.mode: pattern
1027 This determines which windows will be displayed in the iconbar. Any
1028 window pattern is acceptable. See the section CLIENT PATTERNS in
1029 either fluxbox-keys(5) or fluxbox-apps(5) for details.
1030 Default: {static groups} (workspace)
1032 session.screen0.iconbar.usePixmap: boolean
1034 This is also set in the Iconbar Mode menu. When set to True, this
1035 will show the native icon of applications.
1036 Default: True
1038 session.screen0.iconbar.iconTextPadding: integer
1040 This specifies the space between the window title and the edge of
1041 the button.
1042 Default: 10
1044 session.screen0.iconbar.alignment: position
1046 This value should be changed in the Iconbar Mode menu.
1047 Available options:
1049 · Left: Fixed width, aligned left
1051 · Relative: Width varies to fill the iconbar
1053 · Right: Fixed width, aligned right
1055 Default: Relative
1057 session.screen0.iconbar.iconWidth: integer
1059 Used to specify the iconbar button width for Left/Right alignment.
1060 Default: 128
1062 session.screen0.strftimeFormat: date
1064 This adjusts the way the current time is displayed in the toolbar.
1065 The strftime(3) format is used.
1066 Default: %k:%M
1068 session.screen0.tabs.intitlebar: boolean
1070 This specifies whether tabs should be embedded in the titlebar or
1071 placed outside the window.
1072 Default: True
1074 session.screen0.tab.placement: placement
1076 This specifies where external tabs will appear on the window. It
1077 has the same possible values as
1078 sesion.screen0.{slit|toolbar}.placement.
1079 Default: TopLeft
1081 session.screen0.tab.width: integer
1083 This specifies the width of external tabs in pixels.
1084 Default: 64
1086 session.screen0.focusModel: ClickToFocus|MouseFocus|StrictMouseFocus
1088 This controls how windows gain focus via the mouse. With
1089 ‘ClickToFocus’, the user must click on the window. With
1090 ‘MouseFocus’, windows gain focus whenever the mouse moves over
1091 them, but only when the mouse is moving. With ‘StrictMouseFocus’,
1092 windows gain focus whenever the mouse enters any exposed area, even
1093 if this is due to layer changes, window movement, changing
1094 desktops, closing windows, etc.
1095 Default: ClickToFocus
1097 session.screen0.autoRaise: boolean
1099 When True, this setting automatically raises any window that gains
1100 focus.
1101 Default: True
1103 session.autoRaiseDelay: integer
1105 Adjusts the delay (in milli-sec) before focused windows will raise
1106 when using the Autoraise option.
1107 Default: 250
1109 session.screen0.clickRaises: boolean
1111 This setting allows a user to click anywhere on a window to bring
1112 it on top of other windows. Otherwise, only the titlebar will work.
1113 Default: True
1115 session.screen0.workspacewarping: boolean
1117 This setting enables a user to change workspaces by dragging a
1118 window across the edge of the screen.
1119 Default: True
1121 session.screen0.showwindowposition: boolean
1123 Setting this resource to True shows the user, in a little window,
1124 the exact position of the application window while the user is
1125 dragging it. Allows a precise placement of windows on a screen.
1126 Default: False
1128 session.screen0.defaultDeco: string
1130 This specifies the default window decorations, according to the
1131 same options available to the [Deco] option in the ‘apps’ file,
1132 described in fluxbox-apps(5).
1133 Default: NORMAL
1135 session.screen0.menuDelay: integer
1137 This sets the delay in milliseconds for submenus to open when you
1138 hover over them or to close when you hover over another item.
1139 Default: 200
1141 session.screen0.focusNewWindows: boolean
1143 This sets whether or not new windows will become focused
1144 automatically.
1145 Default: True
1147 session.screen0.workspaceNames: names
1149 Here is where the user can name their workspaces, in a
1150 comma-delimited list. However it is recommended to use the tool
1151 available in the Workspace Menu to set these.
1152 Default: Workspace 1, Workspace 2, Workspace 3, Workspace 4
1154 session.screen0.edgeSnapThreshold: integer
1156 When moving a window across your screen, fluxbox is able to have it
1157 ‘snap’ to the edges of the screen and other windows for easy
1158 placement. This variable tells fluxbox the distance (in pixels) at
1159 which the window will jump to the edge.
1160 Default: 10
1162 session.screen0.windowPlacement: strategy
1164 This resource specifies where to place new windows when not
1165 otherwise specified (by the program or the ‘apps’ file, for
1166 example).
1167 Available strategies:
1169 · RowSmartPlacement: tries to place windows in rows without
1171 overlapping
1172 · ColSmartPlacement: tries to place windows in columns
1174 without overlapping
1175 · CascadePlacement: places windows below the titlebar of the
1177 previous one
1178 · UnderMousePlacement: places new windows underneath the
1180 mouse
1181 Default: RowSmartPlacement
1183 session.screen0.rowPlacementDirection: LeftToRight|RightToLeft
1185 These settings control the direction in which windows are tiled
1186 using the RowSmartPlacement and ColSmartPlacement strategies
1187 described above.
1188 Default: LeftToRight
1190 session.screen0.colPlacementDirection: TopToBottom|BottomToTop
1192 These settings control the direction in which windows are tiled
1193 using the RowSmartPlacement and ColSmartPlacement strategies
1194 described above.
1195 Default: TopToBottom
1197 session.screen0.fullMaximization: boolean
1199 If this setting is enabled, windows will maximize over the toolbar,
1200 slit, and any other window that creates a strut, no matter what
1201 their individual settings are.
1202 Default: False
1204 session.screen0.opaqueMove: boolean
1206 When moving a window, setting this to True will draw the window
1207 contents as it moves (this is nasty on slow systems). If False, it
1208 will only draw an outline of the window border.
1209 Default: True
1211 session.screen0.workspaces: integer
1213 Set this to the number of workspaces the users wants.
1214 Default: 4
1216 session.cacheLife: minutes
1218 This tells fluxbox how long unused pixmaps may stay in the X
1219 server’s memory.
1220 Default: 5
1222 session.cacheMax: KbSize
1224 This tells fluxbox how much memory it may use to store cached
1225 pixmaps on the X server. If your machine runs short of memory, you
1226 may lower this value.
1227 Default: 200
1229 session.colorsPerChannel: integer
1231 This tells fluxbox how many colors to take from the X server on
1232 pseudo-color displays. A channel would be red, green, or blue.
1233 fluxbox will allocate this variable ^ 3 and make them always
1234 available. Value must be between 2-6. When you run fluxbox on an
1235 8bpp display, you must set this resource to 4.
1236 Default: 4
1238 session.doubleClickInterval: integer
1240 Adjust the delay in milliseconds between mouse clicks for fluxbox
1241 to consider a double click.
1242 Default: 250
1244 session.forcePseudoTransparency: boolean
1246 If you have Xorg’s composite extension enabled, this setting will
1247 force the menu, windows, toolbar, and slit to use
1248 pseudo-transparency instead of true transparency.
1249 Default: False
1251 session.ignoreBorder: boolean
1253 This configures the ability to move windows by dragging the border.
1254 Default: False
1256 session.tabPadding: integer
1258 This specifies the spacing between tabs.
1259 Default: 0
1261 session.tabsAttachArea: Window|Titlebar
1263 With this set to ‘Window’, windows may be grouped by dragging one
1264 tab with the middle mouse button and dropping it anywhere on
1265 another window. With ‘Titlebar’, the user must drop the tab on the
1266 target window’s titlebar.
1267 Default: Window
1269 session.titlebar.{left|right}: buttons
1271 The buttons or icons to place in the titlebar of decorated windows.
1272 You may specify any number, space-delimited.
1273 The available options are:
1275 Close Maximize MenuIcon Minimize Shade Stick LHalf RHalf
1276 Default left: Stick
1278 Default right: Shade Minimize Maximize Close
1280 LHalf and RHalf are buttons to quickly place a window into the left
1282 and right half of the current monitor.
1283 All of the location resources following require a pathname to their
1285 specific files. This is where you can specify different files. Most of
1286 the defaults will be located in the user’s ~/.fluxbox directory.
1287 session.appsFile: location
1289 Location of persistent application settings, or the ‘apps’ file.
1290 See the Remember... item in the Window Menu section above or
1291 fluxbox-apps(5) for details.
1292 session.groupFile: location
1294 Deprecated, auto-grouping is now done in the ‘apps’ file, see
1295 fluxbox-apps(5) for details.
1296 session.keyFile: location
1298 Location of the keyboard mapping settings, or the ‘keys’ file. See
1299 fluxbox-keys(5) for details.
1300 session.menuFile: location
1302 Location of the Root Menu file. See fluxbox-menu(5) for details.
1303 session.slitlistFile: location
1305 Location of the file used to remember slit client ordering. See
1306 SLIT above for details.
1307 session.styleFile: location
1309 Location of the currently selected style. See fluxbox-style(5) for
1310 details.
1311 session.styleOverlay: location
1313 Location of the style overlay file. See fluxbox-style(5) for
1314 details.
1315 session.screen0.windowMenu: location
1317 This optionally specifies the location of a user-defined window
1318 menu. If left blank, it will use ~/.fluxbox/windowmenu.
1319 Default: blank
1321 session.menuSearch: nowhere|itemstart|somewhere
1323 This setting controls the way the menu search feature works.
1324 Available options:
1326 · nowhere: disables the menu search
1328 · itemstart: typed text matches at the start of a menu items
1330 · somewhere: typed text matches somewhere in a menu item
1332 + Default: itemstart
1334
1336 HOME
1337 fluxbox uses $HOME to find the .fluxbox/init file and to resolve
1338 style file and -directory names.
1339 DISPLAY
1341 When no other display was given on the command line, fluxbox will
1342 start on the display specified by this variable.
1343 fluxbox can also take advantage of other environment variables if they
1345 are set before fluxbox is started. For example, if $TERM is set, then
1346 it will be available whenever fluxbox uses the shell, such as the
1347 ‘keys’ file ExecCommand or the root menu’s [exec] tag. See
1348 fluxbox-keys(5) and fluxbox-menu(5) for details.
1349 The ‘keys’ file also provides two commands that can alter the current
1351 environment of fluxbox: SetEnv and Export. Any changes made by these
1352 commands will also affect the environment as seen by fluxbox and all
1353 child processes started after that point. See fluxbox-keys(5) for
1354 details.
1355 For more information about environment variables in general, see your
1357 shell’s manual.
1358
1360 fluxbox responds to the following signals:
1361 · SIGUSR1 restarts fluxbox.
1363 · SIGUSR2 Forces reloading of configuration.
1365
1367 fluxbox is written and maintained by Henrik Kinnunen <fluxgen at
1368 fluxbox org>, Simon Bowden <rathnor at fluxbox org>, Mathias Gumz
1369 <akira at fluxbox org>, and Mark Tiefenbruck <mark at fluxbox org>,
1370 with contributions and patches merged from many individuals around the
1371 world.
1372 Blackbox was written and maintained by Brad Hughes <blackbox at alug
1374 org> and Jeff Raven <jraven at psu edu>.
1375 This manpage is the combined work of:
1377 · Jim Ramsay <i.am at jimramsay com> (>fluxbox-1.0.0)
1379 · Curt Micol <asenchi at asenchi com> (>fluxbox-0.9.11)
1381 · Tobias Klausmann <klausman at users sourceforge net>
1383 (⟨fluxbox-0.9.11)
1384 · Grubert <grubert at users sourceforge net> (fluxbox)
1386 · Matthew Hawkins <matt at mh dropbear id au> (blackbox)
1388 · Wilbert Berendsen <wbsoft at xs4all nl> (blackbox)
1390 · Numerous other languages could be available if someone jumps in.
1392
1394 The Official fluxbox website: http://www.fluxbox.org
1395 The Official fluxbox wiki: http://www.fluxbox-wiki.org
1397 Many compatible themes: http://tenr.de
1399
1401 If you find any bugs, please visit the #fluxbox irc channel on
1402 irc.freenode.net or submit them to the bug tracker at
1403 http://sf.net/projects/fluxbox . Or you may subscribe to one of the
1404 mailinglists. More information can be found on the official website.
1405
1407 fluxbox-apps(5) fluxbox-keys(5) fluxbox-style(5) fluxbox-menu(5)
1408 fluxbox-remote(1) fbsetroot(1) fbsetbg(1) fbrun(1) startfluxbox(1)
1409
1411 Henrik Kinnunen <fluxgen@fluxbox.org>
1412 Author.
1413fluxbox.txt 08 February 2015 FLUXBOX(1)