1ICEWM(1) User Commands ICEWM(1)
2 NAME
6 icewm - lightweight X11 window manager
7 SYNOPSIS
9 icewm [OPTIONS]
10 DESCRIPTION
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 workspace 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 OPTIONS
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 -d, --display=DISPLAY
104 Connect to the X11 server on DISPLAY. By default the environment
105 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. If no window manager is active, then it starts one.
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 --rewrite-preferences
162 Overwrite an existing preferences file with an icewm default
163 preferences, but preserve all modifications insofar they deviate
164 from the defaults.
165 --extensions
167 Give a list of the current X extensions, their versions and status.
168 --trace=conf,font,icon,prog,systray
170 Enable tracing of the paths which are used to load configuration,
171 fonts, icons, executed programs, and/or system tray applets.
172 USAGE
174 TASKBAR
175 On startup icewm launches the task bar at the bottom of the screen.
176 The task bar consists from left to right of the following components:
177 The Menu button in the lower left corner gives access to the icewm root
179 menu. This menu has sub-menus to start applications, to control icewm
180 settings, and the icewm Logout menu.
181 The Show Desktop button unmaps all application windows to fully uncover
183 the desktop.
184 The Window List Menu button gives access to a menu with a list of
186 active windows for the current workspace and a list of workspaces with
187 sub-menus for their active application windows.
188 The Toolbar is a list of icons for applications which are defined in
190 the toolbar configuration file.
191 The Workspace Pane shows one button for each workspace. The current
193 workspace is indicated by a pressed button. Clicking another workspace
194 switches to that workspace. Press left mouse, then the Shift key, then
195 release the left mouse, takes the current window to that workspace.
196 Press left, then Alt, then release left, moves only the focused window
197 to other workspace, without changing the current workspace.
198 The workspaces are defined in the preferences file. To change a name
200 for only this session, double click, edit the name and hit Enter. When
201 "PagerShowPreview" is turned on, a small graphical window summary for
202 each workspace is shown. They support drag-and-drop: dragging a Firefox
203 tab to a workspace button changes the current workspace. Then
204 releasing it moves that tab to a new window in that workspace.
205 The Task Pane consists of a list of wide buttons for each application
207 which is running on the current workspace, or all workspaces if
208 "TaskBarShowAllWindows=1". Each task button shows the application icon
209 and the application title. The active application is indicated by a
210 pressed button. This is the application which has input focus.
211 Pressing another button activates that application: it is brought to
212 the foreground and receives input focus. Other mouse controlled
213 activities on the window buttons are: dragging window buttons with the
214 left mouse button to rearrange the order, closing the application
215 window with "Alt" + middle button, lowering the application window with
216 "Ctrl" + middle button, or bringing the application window to the
217 current workspace with "Shift" + middle button if
218 "TaskBarShowAllWindows=1".
219 If there are not many application buttons then a stretch of plain task
221 bar is visible. Clicking on it with the right mouse button gives the
222 task bar menu. Even with a full task pane, this menu can be usually
223 accessed by right-clicking the bottom right corner of the taskbar.
224 The Tray Applet shows system tray objects.
226 The APM Applet shows battery power status.
228 The Net Applet shows network activity. Network devices to monitor are
230 given by the "NetworkStatusDevice" option.
231 The Memory Applet monitors memory usage.
233 The CPU Applet monitors processor utilization.
235 The Mailbox Applet monitors mailbox status changes. See the section
237 MAILBOX MONITORING below.
238 The Clock Applet shows the current time and date. It is configured by
240 the "TimeFormat" option.
241 The Task Bar Collapse button collapses the task bar and hides it.
243 Not all icewm applets may show up on the task bar. They must have been
245 enabled during configuration of the icewm software. Their appearance
246 is also controlled by options in the preferences file.
247 INPUT FOCUS
249 Of all visible windows only one can be the active window. This is the
250 window which has input focus. It is the primary receiver of keyboard
251 and mouse events and hence one can interact with the application which
252 created that window. A primary task of a window manager is to allow
253 the user to switch input focus between different windows. The primary
254 means to do this is the mouse pointer. By moving the mouse pointer
255 over the screen to another window, and perhaps also by clicking on a
256 window, input focus can be directed.
257 The "FocusMode" option controls the way icewm gives input focus to
259 applications. It is initialized by the focus_mode configuration file.
260 The focus mode is set via the Focus menu. icewm supports six focus
261 models:
262 1. Click-to-focus
264 The default focus mode. In this mode changing input focus requires
265 to click a window with the left mouse button. The window is raised
266 if needed. When an application requests focus its task pane button
267 flashes. This gives the option to honor this request or to ignore
268 it. When a new application window appears it automatically
269 receives focus. Also when a hidden application raises to the front
270 it receives focus.
271 2. Sloppy-mouse-focus
273 Sets input focus merely by moving the mouse pointer over a window.
274 It is called sloppy, because if the mouse then leaves the window
275 and moves to the desktop background the input focus remains with
276 the last active window. When a window receives focus it is raised.
277 When an application requests focus its task pane button flashes. A
278 new application or an application which raises to the front
279 automatically receives focus.
280 3. Explicit-focus
282 Focus is even more user-controlled than Click-to-focus. When a
283 window receives focus it is not raised by default, unless the frame
284 border is clicked. No flashing occurs when an application requests
285 focus. When a new application window appears it does not receive
286 focus. Only by explicit clicking on a window is focus directed.
287 4. Strict-mouse-focus
289 Like Sloppy but focus remains with the last window. New
290 applications don't receive focus and are mapped behind other
291 windows. When an application raises to the front it still does not
292 get focus.
293 5. Quiet-sloppy-focus
295 Like Sloppy but no disturbing flashing occurs on the task bar when
296 an application requests focus.
297 6. Custom-mode
299 A focus mode which is defined in detail by ten options in the
300 preferences file. These are: "ClickToFocus", "FocusOnAppRaise",
301 "RequestFocusOnAppRaise", "RaiseOnFocus", "RaiseOnClickClient",
302 "FocusChangesWorkspace", "FocusOnMap", "FocusOnMapTransient",
303 "FocusOnMapTransientActive", "MapInactiveOnTop".
304 All non-Custom focus modes override these ten options.
306 Apart from the mouse, icewm supports changing input focus in two ways
308 by keyboard. By pressing "Alt+Esc" or "Alt+Shift+Esc", input focus is
309 immediately changed to the next or previous window, which will be
310 raised to make it fully visible. The other method involves the quick
311 switch.
312 QUICK SWITCH
314 The QuickSwitch is a means to quickly and interactively change the
315 input focus to another window. It is activated by pressing the
316 "Alt+Tab" or "Alt+Shift+Tab" key combination. A window pops up in the
317 centre of the screen with a list of windows to choose from. A narrow
318 band indicates a selection: the candidate window that will be activated
319 to receive input focus when the Alt key is released.
320 The selection can be changed by repeatedly pressing the Tab key, while
322 keeping the Alt key down. If a Shift key is also down, the direction of
323 traversal is reversed. Or use the scroll wheel of the mouse. Or use
324 one of the digit keys to select the corresponding window from the list.
325 Arrow keys are also supported, as well as the Home and End key.
326 To make a selected window the active window, just release the Alt key,
328 or hit the Return key, or click on it. To cancel the QuickSwitch,
329 press Escape or click outside of the QuickSwitch window.
330 A selected window can be closed by Delete, "Alt+F4", or the middle
332 mouse button. While the QuickSwitch window is up, one can still change
333 workspace with the usual workspace hotkeys.
334 The QuickSwitch has two distinct modes: vertical and horizontal. The
336 window list can include all windows or be limited to the current
337 workspace. There is an option to raise the selected candidate. See the
338 many preferences available for the QuickSwitch.
339 WINDOW PLACEMENT
341 A second important task of a window manager is to place new windows on
342 the screen. By default icewm chooses a placement with minimal overlap,
343 but this is determined by the "SmartPlacement" option in the
344 preferences file. If "SmartPlacement" is turned off then windows are
345 placed in sequence from left to right and top to bottom. One can also
346 turn on "ManualPlacement". Then new windows appear initially in the
347 top left corner and the mouse cursor changes into a fist. By moving
348 the fist cursor to a suitable location and clicking the new window will
349 appear at the mouse click location.
350 WINDOW LAYERS
352 Windows can overlap. Which window appears on top is determined by
353 three features. Newer windows appear over older windows. By clicking
354 on a window it is raised to the top. But both are overruled by the
355 window layer. Windows can be placed in different layers via the Layers
356 menu. Click with the right mouse button on the window frame and select
357 Layer. From there choose one of seven window layers. These are
358 ordered from higher to lower. Windows in higher layers appear over
359 windows in lower layers.
360 TABBED WINDOWS
362 A window frame may contain multiple client windows. Only one client can
363 be visible, while the others are hidden. This is called tabbing. This
364 can be helpful to reduce the number of visible windows. To create a
365 tab, drag the title bar with the middle mouse button, while holding
366 down a shift key, onto the title bar of another frame. The two title
367 bars will start to flash to indicate that they can merge. Release the
368 mouse button to merge the client of the upper window to the lower
369 frame. Now the lower frame will have multiple clients, called tabs.
370 The title bar will show a vertical bar with triple dots to indicate
371 this. To change the current tab either:
372 • Click on the triple dots next to the vertical bar.
374 • Use "KeyWinNext=Alt+F6" to select the next tab.
376 • Use "KeyWinPrev=Alt+Shift+F6" for the previous tab.
378 • Use the QuickSwitch.
380 • Use the window list window.
382 • Use a submenu in the window menu.
384 To change the mouse binding for creating tabs, modify
386 MouseWinTabbing="Shift+Pointer_Button2". Another useful setting is
387 MouseWinTabbing="Pointer_Button1".
388 "Alt+F4" closes all tabs. To close just the active tab add to "keys":
390 key "Ctrl+Shift+F4" icesh -f close
392 To move the active tab to its own window frame by key, add to "keys":
394 key "Alt+u" icesh -f untab
396 To open all chrome windows in the same frame add this to "winoptions":
398 google-chrome.frame: chrome
400 WORKSPACES
402 icewm supports multiple virtual desktops called workspaces. A
403 workspace is like a screen where a subset of all application windows
404 are mapped. Thanks to multiple workspaces we can more easily manage a
405 large number of applications. The number of workspaces and their names
406 are configurable in the preferences file through the "WorkspaceNames"
407 option. By default four workspaces are created with the names 1, 2, 3
408 and 4 thus:
409 WorkspaceNames=" 1 ", " 2 ", " 3 ", " 4 "
411 This syntax is typical for icewm options which receive multiple values.
413 It is a list of comma-separated values each of which can be quoted.
414 The workspaces are visible on the toolbar. One can switch to a
416 different workspace by pressing the workspace button in the toolbar,
417 but after becoming familiar with the 'keyboard shortcuts' below one
418 will want to use a hotkey to choose a workspace. If the "EdgeSwitch"
419 options is enabled in the preferences file (with sub-options
420 "HorizontalEdgeSwitch" and "VerticalEdgeSwitch") then one can move to
421 the next or previous workspace by moving the mouse to the edge of the
422 screen. The "ContinuousEdgeSwitch" option enables continuous movement
423 to subsequent workspaces. The "EdgeSwitchDelay" option says how long
424 to wait before a change of workspace occurs.
425 To move an application window to a different workspace one can use a
427 keyboard shortcut. Another option is to select the Move To submenu in
428 the window menu of the window frame.
429 DRAG AND DROP
431 The task bar supports drag and drop operations. When a drag is in
432 progress, the destination window can be activated by hovering the drag
433 icon over the task button for that window. Alternatively, the current
434 workspace can be changed by hovering the drag icon over the desired
435 workspace button. When edge switching is enabled, the current
436 workspace can also be changed by bringing the drag icon to the screen
437 edge.
438 ADDRESS BAR
440 If EnableAddressBar=1 then KeySysAddressBar="Alt+Ctrl+Space" activates
441 the address bar in the task bar. If ShowAddressBar=1 it is always
442 shown. This is a command-line in the task bar where a shell command can
443 be typed. Pressing "Enter" will execute the command.
444 AddressBarCommand="/bin/sh" will be used to execute the command. On
445 "Control+Enter" the command is executed in a terminal as given by
446 TerminalCommand. The address bar maintains a history which is
447 navigable by the Up and Down keys. It supports command completion
448 using "Tab" or "Ctrl+I". A rich set of editing operations is
449 supported, including cut-/copy-/paste-operations.
450 WINDOW LIST
452 The window list window shows a list of all workspaces. For each
453 workspace it shows the window titles of the windows which are mapped on
454 it. The bottom entry reads "All Workspaces". It holds the sticky
455 windows. These windows are mapped in all workspaces.
456 The window list window is normally hidden. Choose one of the following
458 four methods to make it visible:
459 • Select the bottom window list menu entry.
461 • Press the "KeySysWindowList=Ctrl+Alt+Esc" key.
463 • Press the right Windows key if "Win95Keys=1"
465 • Press the "DesktopWinListButton=2" mouse button in the root window.
467 • Press the middle mouse button in a workspace button on the task
469 bar.
470 A single-click on a window entry selects it. A group of windows can be
472 selected by "Shift+Pointer_Button1" or by dragging with the left mouse
473 button. Use "Ctrl+Pointer_Button1" to individually select windows in a
474 multi-selection. A right mouse click over a selection will popup the
475 system menu for this selection. To close the selected windows, press
476 "Delete". Press "Shift+Delete" to forcefully kill them. Right mouse
477 click below the sticky windows for a menu with window arranging
478 actions.
479 Double-click on a workspace to switch to it. Double-click on a window
481 to activate it. Or navigate by arrow keys and press Enter. The space
482 bar toggles a selection of a window. "Ctrl+a" and "Ctrl+/" will select
483 the entire list of windows. "Ctrl+\\" deselects everything. Press the
484 first letter of a window title to navigate to it and select it. If
485 titles of multiple windows start with the same letter then repeatedly
486 pressing the first letter cycles over those windows. "Home" selects
487 the first entry and "End" the last. "PageUp" and "PageDown" move up or
488 down by ten entries. Combine this with the "Shift" key to extend a
489 selection over the range of motion.
490 MAILBOX MONITORING
492 The task bar can show one or more icons to reflect the status of a
493 mailbox. The mailbox can be a local file or a remote POP or IMAP
494 account. For this a couple of options must be set. First,
495 TaskBarShowMailboxStatus must be enabled, which it is by default. Then
496 the location of the mailbox must be set. Icewm first looks for
497 MailBoxPath in preferences. If this is unset, it looks at the
498 environment variables "MAILPATH" and "MAIL". MailBoxPath may contain a
499 space-separated list of mailboxes, while "MAILPATH" may contain a
500 colon-separated list of mailboxes. If a mailbox starts with a slash
501 "/", then it is a local file, otherwise a URL. These are six examples
502 of possible mailboxes:
503 file:///var/spool/mail/captnmark
505 file:///home/captnmark/Maildir/
506 pop3://markus:%2f%40%3a@maol.ch/
507 pop3s://markus:password@pop.gmail.com/
508 imap://mathias@localhost/INBOX.Maillisten.icewm-user
509 imaps://mathias:password@imap.gmail.com/INBOX
510 The POP3S and IMAPS schemes use "openssl" for TLS/SSL encryption. Note
512 that for IceWM to access Gmail you must first configure your Gmail
513 account to enable POP3 or IMAP access. Make sure you have secure file
514 permissions on your IceWM preferences file and the directory which
515 contains it.
516 Reserved characters in the password, like slash, at and colon can be
518 specified using escape sequences with a hexadecimal encoding like %2f
519 for the slash or %40 for the at sign. For example, to hex-encode
520 "!p@a%s&s~" use this Perl snippet:
521 perl -e 'foreach(split("", $ARGV[0])) { printf "%%%02x", ord($_); };
523 print "\n";' '!p@a%s&s~'
524 Which will print:
526 %21%40%23%24%25%5e%26%2a%7e
528 This is the hex-encoded password. However, it is unwise to store a
530 password in your preferences. Consider a wallet extension for IceWM.
531 IceWM will check a mailbox periodically. The period in seconds can be
533 set by the MailCheckDelay option, which is 30 seconds by default.
534 Whenever new mail arrives, the mailbox icon will be highlighted. The
536 color will indicate if the mail has been read or not. Hovering the
537 mouse over the mailbox icon will show a tooltip with more details. A
538 command can be also be run on new mail. Set the NewMailCommand option.
539 Its environment will have these variables set by IceWM:
540 ICEWM_MAILBOX
542 The mailbox index number of MailBoxPath starting from 1.
543 ICEWM_COUNT
545 The total number of messages in this mailbox.
546 ICEWM_UNREAD
548 The number of unread messages in this mailbox.
549 KEYBOARD LAYOUT SWITCHING
551 To control keyboard layouts on the task bar, define in preferences the
552 option KeyboardLayouts to a comma-separated list of your preferred
553 keyboard layouts. For example:
554 KeyboardLayouts="de","fr","jp"
556 A keyboard layout can simply be a name. Usually this is a two-letter
558 country code. See the directory /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols for a list
559 of available keyboard layouts for your system. If it is enclosed in
560 double quotes, it can also be a space-separated list of command-line
561 arguments to an invocation of the "setxkbmap" program.
562 The first layout is the default. It will be installed when icewm
564 starts. The task bar will show the current keyboard layout. If an icon
565 can be found for the first two letters of the layout, then that icon
566 will be shown. Otherwise the first two letters of the name of the
567 layout will be shown.
568 Click on the current keyboard layout to cycle through all the available
570 keyboard layouts, or use the KeySysKeyboardNext key. Click with the
571 right mouse button to open a menu of all available keyboard layouts.
572 It is also possible to configure a default keyboard layout for each
574 program individually in the icewm-winoptions(5) file. Whenever such a
575 program receives input focus, icewm will install this configured
576 keyboard layout automatically. The keyboard status on the task bar will
577 be updated to reflect this.
578 Please note that for keyboard layout switching to work, the "setxkbmap"
580 program must be installed. To see your current keyboard layout
581 settings, do "setxkbmap -query".
582 KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
584 icewm supports a large number of hotkeys to activate some behaviour
585 with a single key combination. These are all configurable in the
586 preferences file. Here we give their preferences name, followed by
587 their default value in double quotes, and a short descriptions of their
588 effect.
589 Note that all use one or more key modifiers. Icewm supports the
591 following modifiers: Alt, AltGr, Ctrl, Hyper, Meta, Shift, Super.
592 Setting ModSuperIsCtrlAlt=1 makes the Super modifier an alias for
593 Ctrl+Alt.
594 KeyWinRaise="Alt+F1"
596 Raises the window which currently has input focus.
597 KeyWinOccupyAll="Alt+F2"
599 Makes the active window occupy all workspaces.
600 KeyWinLower="Alt+F3"
602 Lowers the window which currently has input focus.
603 KeyWinClose="Alt+F4"
605 Closes the active window.
606 KeyWinRestore="Alt+F5"
608 Restores the active window to its visible state.
609 KeyWinNext="Alt+F6"
611 Switches focus to the next window.
612 KeyWinPrev="Alt+Shift+F6"
614 Switches focus to the previous window.
615 KeyWinMove="Alt+F7"
617 Starts movement of the active window.
618 KeyWinSize="Alt+F8"
620 Starts resizing of the active window.
621 KeyWinMinimize="Alt+F9"
623 Iconifies the active window.
624 KeyWinMaximize="Alt+F10"
626 Maximizes the active window with borders.
627 KeyWinMaximizeVert="Alt+Shift+F10"
629 Maximizes the active window vertically.
630 KeyWinMaximizeHoriz="undefined"
632 Maximizes the active window horizontally.
633 KeyWinFullscreen="Alt+F11"
635 Maximizes the active window without borders.
636 KeyWinRollup="Alt+F12"
638 Rolls up the active window.
639 KeyWinHide="Alt+Shift+F12"
641 Hides the active window.
642 KeyWinMenu="Alt+Space"
644 Posts the window menu.
645 KeyWinArrangeNW="Ctrl+Alt+KP_7"
647 Moves the active window to the top left corner of the screen.
648 KeyWinArrangeN="Ctrl+Alt+KP_8"
650 Moves the active window to the top middle of the screen.
651 KeyWinArrangeNE="Ctrl+Alt+KP_9"
653 Moves the active window to the top right of the screen.
654 KeyWinArrangeE="Ctrl+Alt+KP_6"
656 Moves the active window to the middle right of the screen.
657 KeyWinArrangeSE="Ctrl+Alt+KP_3"
659 Moves the active window to the bottom right of the screen.
660 KeyWinArrangeS="Ctrl+Alt+KP_2"
662 Moves the active window to the bottom middle of the screen.
663 KeyWinArrangeSW="Ctrl+Alt+KP_1"
665 Moves the active window to the bottom left of the screen.
666 KeyWinArrangeW="Ctrl+Alt+KP_4"
668 Moves the active window to the middle left of the screen.
669 KeyWinArrangeC="Ctrl+Alt+KP_5"
671 Moves the active window to the center of the screen.
672 KeyWinTileLeft=""
674 Let the active window occupy the left half of the screen.
675 KeyWinTileRight=""
677 Let the active window occupy the right half of the screen.
678 KeyWinTileTop=""
680 Let the active window occupy the top half of the screen.
681 KeyWinTileBottom=""
683 Let the active window occupy the bottom half of the screen.
684 KeyWinTileTopLeft=""
686 Let the active window occupy the top left quarter of the screen.
687 KeyWinTileTopRight=""
689 Let the active window occupy the top right quarter of the screen.
690 KeyWinTileBottomLeft=""
692 Let the active window occupy the bottom left quarter of the screen.
693 KeyWinTileBottomRight=""
695 Let the active window occupy the bottom right quarter of the
696 screen.
697 KeyWinTileCenter=""
699 Let the active window occupy the center quarter of the screen.
700 KeyWinSmartPlace="Ctrl+Alt+Shift+KP_5"
702 Smart place the active window.
703 KeySysWinMenu="Shift+Esc"
705 Posts the system window menu.
706 KeySysWinNext="Alt+Esc"
708 Give focus to the next window and raise it.
709 KeySysWinPrev="Alt+Shift+Esc"
711 Give focus to the previous window and raise it.
712 KeySysDialog="Alt+Ctrl+Del"
714 Opens the IceWM system dialog in the center of the screen.
715 KeySysMenu="Ctrl+Esc"
717 Activates the IceWM root menu in the lower left corner.
718 KeySysWindowList="Alt+Ctrl+Esc"
720 Opens the IceWM system window list in the center of the screen.
721 KeySysAddressBar="Alt+Ctrl+Space"
723 Opens the address bar in the task bar where a command can be typed.
724 KeySysWorkspacePrev="Alt+Ctrl+Left"
726 Goes one workspace to the left.
727 KeySysWorkspaceNext="Alt+Ctrl+Right"
729 Goes one workspace to the right.
730 KeySysWorkspaceLast="Alt+Ctrl+Down"
732 Goes to the previous workspace.
733 KeySysWorkspacePrevTakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Left"
735 Takes the active window one workspace to the left.
736 KeySysWorkspaceNextTakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Right"
738 Takes the active window one workspace to the right.
739 KeySysWorkspaceLastTakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Down"
741 Takes the active window to the previous workspace.
742 KeySysWorkspace1="Alt+Ctrl+1"
744 Goes to workspace 1.
745 KeySysWorkspace2="Alt+Ctrl+2"
747 Goes to workspace 2.
748 KeySysWorkspace3="Alt+Ctrl+3"
750 Goes to workspace 3.
751 KeySysWorkspace4="Alt+Ctrl+4"
753 Goes to workspace 4.
754 KeySysWorkspace5="Alt+Ctrl+5"
756 Goes to workspace 5.
757 KeySysWorkspace6="Alt+Ctrl+6"
759 Goes to workspace 6.
760 KeySysWorkspace7="Alt+Ctrl+7"
762 Goes to workspace 7.
763 KeySysWorkspace8="Alt+Ctrl+8"
765 Goes to workspace 8.
766 KeySysWorkspace9="Alt+Ctrl+9"
768 Goes to workspace 9.
769 KeySysWorkspace10="Alt+Ctrl+0"
771 Goes to workspace 10.
772 KeySysWorkspace11="Alt+Ctrl+minus"
774 Goes to workspace 11.
775 KeySysWorkspace12="Alt+Ctrl+equal"
777 Goes to workspace 12.
778 KeySysWorkspace1TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+1"
780 Takes the active window to workspace 1.
781 KeySysWorkspace2TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+2"
783 Takes the active window to workspace 2.
784 KeySysWorkspace3TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+3"
786 Takes the active window to workspace 3.
787 KeySysWorkspace4TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+4"
789 Takes the active window to workspace 4.
790 KeySysWorkspace5TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+5"
792 Takes the active window to workspace 5.
793 KeySysWorkspace6TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+6"
795 Takes the active window to workspace 6.
796 KeySysWorkspace7TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+7"
798 Takes the active window to workspace 7.
799 KeySysWorkspace8TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+8"
801 Takes the active window to workspace 8.
802 KeySysWorkspace9TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+9"
804 Takes the active window to workspace 9.
805 KeySysWorkspace10TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+0"
807 Takes the active window to workspace 10.
808 KeySysWorkspace11TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+minus"
810 Takes the active window to workspace 11.
811 KeySysWorkspace12TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+equal"
813 Takes the active window to workspace 12.
814 KeySysTileVertical="Alt+Shift+F2"
816 Tiles all windows from left to right maximized vertically.
817 KeySysTileHorizontal="Alt+Shift+F3"
819 Tiles all windows from top to bottom maximized horizontally.
820 KeySysCascade="Alt+Shift+F4"
822 Makes a horizontal cascade of all windows which are maximized
823 vertically.
824 KeySysArrange="Alt+Shift+F5"
826 Rearranges the windows.
827 KeySysUndoArrange="Alt+Shift+F7"
829 Undoes arrangement.
830 KeySysArrangeIcons="Alt+Shift+F8"
832 Rearranges icons.
833 KeySysMinimizeAll="Alt+Shift+F9"
835 Minimizes all windows.
836 KeySysHideAll="Alt+Shift+F11"
838 Hides all windows.
839 KeySysShowDesktop="Alt+Ctrl+d"
841 Unmaps all windows to show the desktop.
842 KeySysCollapseTaskBar="Alt+Ctrl+h"
844 Hides the task bar.
845 KeyTaskBarSwitchNext="undefined"
847 Switches to the next window in the task bar.
848 KeyTaskBarSwitchPrev="undefined"
850 Switches to the previous window in the task bar.
851 KeyTaskBarMoveNext="undefined"
853 Moves the task bar button of the current window right.
854 KeyTaskBarMovePrev="undefined"
856 Moves the task bar button of the current window left.
857 KeySysWinListMenu="undefined"
859 Shows the window list menu.
860 KeySysKeyboardNext="undefined"
862 Switch to the next keyboard layout in the KeyboardLayouts list.
863 KeySysSwitchNext="Alt+Tab"
865 Opens the "QuickSwitch" popup (see "INPUT FOCUS") and/or moves the
866 selector in the "QuickSwitch" popup.
867 KeySysSwitchLast="Alt+Shift+Tab"
869 Works like "KeySysSwitchNext" but moving in the opposite direction.
870 KeySysSwitchClass="Alt+grave"
872 Is like "KeySysSwitchNext" but only for windows with the same
873 WM_CLASS property as the currently focused window.
874 MOUSE BINDINGS
876 You can control windows by a modified mouse button press:
877 MouseWinMove="Alt+Pointer_Button1"
879 Moves the window under the mouse over the screen.
880 MouseWinSize="Alt+Pointer_Button3"
882 Resizes the window. Keep the key and button pressed. To enlarge
883 the window move the mouse button away from the center. To shrink
884 it move towards the centre.
885 MouseWinRaise="Ctrl+Alt+Pointer_Button1"
887 Raises the window under the mouse.
888 MouseWinLower="Ctrl+Alt+Pointer_Button1"
890 Lowers the window under the mouse. If this is equal to
891 "MouseWinRaise" and the window can be raised then "MouseWinRaise"
892 takes preference over "MouseWinLower".
893 MouseWinTabbing="Shift+Pointer_Button2"
895 Mouse binding to create tabs. Drag the title bar with this button
896 over another title bar. When they start to flash, release the
897 button to merge the frame tabs.
898 The title frame of a window also listens for mouse clicks. Left double
900 clicking maximizes the window ("TitleBarMaximizeButton=1"). Press Shift
901 to only maximize vertically. Press Alt+Shift for horizontally. Middle
902 double clicking rolls up the window ("TitleBarRollupButton=2"). Also
903 press Shift to maximize horizontally. If TitleBarRollupButton is either
904 4 or 5 then the scroll wheel controls rolling up or down. Pressing a
905 mouse button and moving it will move the window. "Alt+Pointer_Button1"
906 lowers the window.
907 When the mouse is on the window frame then a left click raises the
909 window. Dragging with the left button down resizes the window.
910 Clicking the right button pops up the context menu. Dragging with the
911 right button moves the window.
912 Clicking on the desktop activates a menu. The middle button shows the
914 window list ("DesktopWinListButton=2"). The right button shows the
915 root menu ("DesktopMenuButton=3"). If you press "Ctrl+Alt" then the
916 mouse wheel will focus all applications in turn.
917 SIGNALS
919 icewm supports the following signals:
920 SIGHUP
922 icewm will restart itself. It is a way to reload the configuration.
923 SIGINT, SIGTERM
925 icewm will cease to manage application windows and terminate.
926 SIGQUIT
928 icewm will initiate the logout procedure. If a "LogoutCommand"
929 preferences option was configured it will be executed.
930 SIGUSR2
932 Toggle the logging of X11 events, if "logevents" was configured.
933 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
935 ICEWM_PRIVCFG
936 The directory for user private configuration files. When this
937 environment variable is not specified, the default directory is
938 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm when that directory exists, otherwise the
939 default value is $HOME/.icewm.
940 DISPLAY
942 The name of the X11 server. See Xorg(1) or Xserver(1). This value
943 can be overridden by the --display option.
944 MAILPATH, MAIL
946 Gives the location of your mailbox. If the schema is omitted the
947 local "file" schema is assumed. This is used by the mailbox applet
948 in the task bar to show the status of your mailbox. If the
949 "MailBoxPath" option in the preferences file is set, then that one
950 takes precedence.
951 FILES
953 CONFIGURATION DIRECTORIES
954 icewm looks for configuration files in the following directories, in
955 the given order, until it finds one:
956 $ICEWM_PRIVCFG/
958 Contains user-specific configurations. When ICEWM_PRIVCFG is
959 specified, this directory takes precedence over
960 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm and $HOME/.icewm.
961 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm/
963 Contains user-specific configurations. When this directory exists
964 it take precedence over $HOME/.icewm.
965 $HOME/.icewm/
967 Contains user-specific configurations. This is the historical
968 default directory.
969 /etc/icewm/
971 Contains system-wide customized defaults. Please note that your
972 local installation may have been configured to use a different
973 system location. The output of "icewm --directories" will show
974 this location.
975 /usr/share/icewm/
977 Default local installation settings.
978 CONFIGURATION FILES
980 env icewm-session(1) loads additional environment variables from the
981 file env. Each line is subjected to POSIX shell expansion by
982 wordexp(3). Comment lines starting by a hash-sign ("#") are
983 ignored. icewm-session(1) will load those expanded lines which
984 contain a name, followed by an equals sign, followed by the value
985 (which may be empty).
986 See icewm-env(5).
988 focus_mode
990 Defines the initial value for "FocusMode". Its default value is
991 "FocusMode=1" (Click-to-focus). This can be changed via the menu.
992 icewm will save the Focus menu choice in this file.
993 See icewm-focus_mode(5).
995 keys
997 Global keybindings to launch applications, which need not be window
998 manager related. Each non-empty line starts with the word "key".
999 After one or more spaces follows a double-quoted string of the
1000 bound X11 key combination like "Alt+Ctrl+Shift+X". Then after at
1001 least one space follows a shell command-line which will be executed
1002 by icewm whenever this key combination is pressed. For example,
1003 the following line creates a hotkey to reload the icewm
1004 configuration:
1005 key "Ctrl+Shift+r" icesh restart
1007 See icewm-keys(5).
1009 menu
1011 A menu of applications; usually customized by the user. icewm
1012 provides the icewm-menu-fdo(1) program to generate a default menu.
1013 Similar programs are xdg_menu(1), mmaker(1) (MenuMaker),
1014 xde-menu(1), xdgmenumaker(1).
1015 See icewm-menu(5).
1017 preferences
1019 Contains general settings like paths, colors and fonts, but also
1020 options to control the icewm focus behaviour and the applets which
1021 are started in the task bar. The icewm installation will provide a
1022 default preferences file, which can be copied to the icewm user
1023 configuration directory and modified.
1024 See icewm-preferences(5).
1026 prefoverride
1028 Settings which override the settings from a theme. Some of the
1029 icewm configuration options from the preferences file which control
1030 the look-and-feel may be overridden by the theme, if the theme
1031 designer thinks this is desirable. However, this prefoverride file
1032 will again override this for a few specific options of your
1033 choosing. It is safe to leave this file empty initially.
1034 See icewm-prefoverride(5).
1036 programs
1038 An automatically generated menu of applications. This could be
1039 used by wmconfig(1), menu or similar programs to give easy access
1040 to all the desktop applications which are installed on the system.
1041 See icewm-programs(5).
1043 theme
1045 This file contains the name of the default theme. On startup icewm
1046 reads this file to obtain the theme name, unless icewm was started
1047 with the --theme option. Whenever a different theme is selected
1048 from the icewm Menu then the theme file is overwritten with the
1049 name of the selected theme. This theme file contains the keyword
1050 "Theme", followed by an equals sign, followed by a double-quoted
1051 string with the theme name. The theme name is the name of the
1052 theme directory, followed by a slash, followed by the theme file.
1053 Usually the theme file is just default.theme, but a theme may have
1054 alternatives. Alternatives are small tweaks of a theme. These are
1055 specified in their own .theme file, which replaces default.theme.
1056 If no theme file exists then icewm will use the default setting of
1057 "Theme="default/default.theme"".
1058 See icewm-theme(5).
1060 toolbar
1062 Contains names of quick to launch applications with icons for the
1063 task bar. Each non-empty non-comment line starts with the keyword
1064 prog. After one or more spaces follows a name, which is displayed
1065 in a tool tip whenever the mouse cursor hovers over the toolbar
1066 icon. This name may be a double quoted string. Then follows the
1067 bare name of the icon to use without extensions. This icon will be
1068 shown in the toolbar. The last component is a shell command-line
1069 which will be executed whenever the user presses the icon in the
1070 toolbar. For example, the following line in toolbar will create a
1071 button with tool tip "Mozilla Firefox" with the firefox icon which
1072 launches firefox(1) when clicked:
1073 prog "Mozilla Firefox" firefox /usr/bin/firefox --private-window
1075 See icewm-toolbar(5).
1077 winoptions
1079 Contains settings to control window appearance and behaviour which
1080 are specific to applications or groups of applications. Options
1081 can control the border, whether it appears on the task bar, the
1082 window list, the system tray and the workspaces. Also its layer,
1083 geometry, whether it can be moved, resized and closed.
1084 See icewm-winoptions(5).
1086 startup
1088 Contains commands to be executed on icewm startup. This is an
1089 executable script with commands to tweak X11 settings and launch
1090 some applications which need to be active whenever icewm is
1091 started. It is run by icewm-session(1) when icewm starts.
1092 See icewm-startup(5).
1094 shutdown
1096 Contains commands to be executed on icewm shutdown. This is an
1097 executable script with commands to be executed in the last stage of
1098 icewm termination. Typically they may undo some of the effects of
1099 the startup script. It is run by icewm-session(1) when icewm
1100 terminates.
1101 See icewm-shutdown(5).
1103 CONFIGURATION SUBDIRECTORIES
1105 cursors
1106 May contain cursor icons in the XPM image format. These overrule
1107 cursors provided by a theme. There are 3 direction cursors:
1108 left.xpm, right.xpm, move.xpm, 8 resize cursors: sizeR.xpm,
1109 sizeTR.xpm, sizeT.xpm, sizeTL.xpm, sizeL.xpm, sizeBL.xpm,
1110 sizeB.xpm, sizeBR.xpm, and 4 scroll cursors: scrollL.xpm,
1111 scrollR.xpm, scrollU.xpm, and scrollD.xpm. By default an XPM
1112 header defines four dimensions: width, height, colors and chars-
1113 per-pixel. For cursors this must be extended to six. The last two
1114 are the x-hotspot and the y-hotspot. These define which point in
1115 the XPM image is the sensitive point for the mouse pointer.
1116 icons
1118 Contains icons which are used to identify applications. Usually
1119 these files are in the XPM format, but the PNG and SVG image
1120 formats are also supported. The names of icon files may follow a
1121 specific naming pattern, like app_32x32.xpm. They start with a
1122 base name, usually this is just a single word. Then follows an
1123 underscore, followed by a size specification in the format
1124 "SIZExSIZE". This is followed by a dot and the file extension,
1125 where the extension denotes the icon image format. Common sizes
1126 are 16, 32 and 48 for small, large and huge icons. This depends on
1127 the respective "IconSize" preferences options.
1128 ledclock
1130 Pictures of digits for the LED clock which is displayed in the
1131 bottom-right corner of the task bar. These can be seen when the
1132 "TaskBarShowClock" and "TaskBarClockLeds" options are both set to
1133 1.
1134 mailbox
1136 Icons which are used to display different states of the mailbox
1137 applet in the task bar. There are five states and each has its own
1138 icon: mail.xpm, newmail.xpm, unreadmail.xpm, nomail.xpm,
1139 errmail.xpm.
1140 sounds
1142 Audio files which are played by icesound(1) on GUI events. These
1143 are: startup.wav, shutdown.wav, restart.wav, launchApp.wav,
1144 workspaceChange.wav, windowOpen.wav, windowClose.wav,
1145 dialogOpen.wav, dialogClose.wav, windowMax.wav, windowRestore.wav,
1146 windowMin.wav, windowHide.wav, windowRollup.wav, windowMoved.wav,
1147 windowSized.wav, windowLower.wav.
1148 taskbar
1150 Pictures to customize the look of the task bar. These include:
1151 taskbarbg.xpm, taskbuttonactive.xpm, taskbuttonbg.xpm,
1152 taskbuttonminimized.xpm, toolbuttonbg.xpm,
1153 workspacebuttonactive.xpm, workspacebuttonbg.xpm.
1154 themes
1156 A directory to store themes. Each theme is stored in its own sub-
1157 directory in the themes directory. A theme contains at least a
1158 default.theme file, and optionally theme alternatives which are
1159 additional files which have a .theme file name extension and which
1160 contain tweaks of the default.theme file. How to create a theme is
1161 explained in the IceWM Theme Creation Howto.
1162 workspace
1164 If "PagerShowPreview" is disabled, icewm looks in the "workspace"
1165 directory for images to draw on a workspace button. The image
1166 filename should have the name of the workspace. The image extension
1167 is optional.
1168 OPACITY
1170 IceWM supports window opacity and transparency in connection with an
1171 external compositor like compton(1) or picom(1). If a client window
1172 sets the "_NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY" property on its window, then icewm
1173 will copy this to the outer frame window, where the compositor will
1174 read it and adjust the opacity accordingly.
1175 The opacity can also be set in the icewm-winoptions(5) file. icesh(1)
1177 can control the opacity level of running applications.
1178 The _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE properties which icewm sets on its windows are
1180 DIALOG, NOTIFICATION, POPUP_MENU and TOOLTIP. The output of "icesh
1181 windows" shows their WM_CLASS values. These can be helpful to configure
1182 compton.
1183 EXAMPLES
1185 Examples of the above configuration files can be found in the default
1186 installation path or in the system-wide defaults. See the output of
1187 "icewm --directories" for their locations.
1188 CONFORMING TO
1190 ICCCM 2.0: partial. NetWM/EWMH: extensive. See the file COMPLIANCE in
1191 the distribution for full details.
1192 SEE ALSO
1194 icehelp(1), icesh(1), icesound(1), icewm-env(5), icewm-focus_mode(5),
1195 icewm-keys(5), icewm-menu(5), icewm-menu-fdo(1), icewm-menu-xrandr(1),
1196 icewm-preferences(5), icewm-prefoverride(5), icewm-programs(5),
1197 icewm-session(1), icewm-set-gnomewm(1), icewm-shutdown(5),
1198 icewm-startup(5), icewm-theme(5), icewm-toolbar(5),
1199 icewm-winoptions(5), icewmbg(1), icewmhint(1), setxkbmap(1), Xorg(1),
1200 Xserver(1), xinit(1), xprop(1), xwininfo(1), wmctrl(1).
1201 BUGS
1203 Please report bugs at <https://github.com/bbidulock/icewm/issues>.
1204 AUTHOR
1206 Brian Bidulock <mailto:bidulock@openss7.org>.
1207 See --copying for full copyright notice and copying permissions.
1209 LICENSE
1211 IceWM is licensed under the GNU Library General Public License. See
1212 the COPYING file in the distribution or use the --copying flag to
1213 display copying permissions.
1214icewm 3.3.1 2023-01-24 ICEWM(1)