1FvwmBacker(1) Fvwm Modules FvwmBacker(1)
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6 FvwmBacker - the fvwm background changer module
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9 Module FvwmBacker
10 FvwmBacker can only be invoked by fvwm. Command line invocation of the
12 FvwmBacker module will not work.
13
16 The FvwmBacker module provides functionality to change the background
17 when changing desktops. Any command can be executed to change the
18 backgrounds. Actually, any arbitrary command can be sent to fvwm to
19 execute, so you could also do things such as changing window border
20 colors, etc.
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24 The FvwmBacker module is the original work of Mike Finger.
25 Copyright 1994, Mike Finger. The author makes no guarantees or war‐
27 ranties of any kind about the use of this module. Use this module at
28 your own risk. You may freely use this module or any portion of it for
29 any purpose as long as the copyright is kept intact.
30
33 During initialization, FvwmBacker gets config info from fvwm's module
34 configuration database (see fvwm(1), section MODULE COMMANDS). Avail‐
35 able options are discussed in a later section.
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39 FvwmBacker can be invoked by fvwm during initialization by inserting
40 the line
41 AddToFunc StartFunction I Module FvwmBacker
43 in the .fvwm2rc file.
45 FvwmBacker can be started using a 'Module FvwmBacker' command or
47 stopped using a 'KillModule FvwmBacker' command at any time when fvwm
48 is running.
49 FvwmBacker must reside in a directory that is listed in the ModulePath
51 option of fvwm for it to be executed by fvwm.
52
55 The following options can be placed in the .fvwm2rc file
56 *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk d, Page x y) command
59 Specifies the command to execute when the viewport matches the
60 arguments for the desk d, page x coordinate and y coordinate.
61 Any or all of these three numeric arguments can be replaced with
62 an asterisk (*) to indicate that any value matches, in this case
63 Desk or Page parts can be skipped.
64 If either the Desk or the Page parts are omitted, the command is
66 not executed if only the desk or the page is switched. If nei‐
67 ther is given, the command is executed only once when the module
68 is started. This is not the same as using asterisks for the nu‐
69 meric arguments: if asterisks are used, the command is always
70 executed when only the desk or page changes, if the correspond‐
71 ing part is omitted, the command is never executed when only the
72 desk or page changes.
73 If the command is -solid FvwmBacker uses the next argument as a
75 color in the X database and sets the background to that color
76 without generating a system call to xsetroot (only single word
77 color names may be used).
78 If the command is colorset FvwmBacker uses the background speci‐
80 fied in colorset n for the given desk. Please refer to the fvwm
81 man page for details about colorsets.
82 Otherwise the command is sent to fvwm to execute.
84 *FvwmBacker: RetainPixmap
87 Causes FvwmBacker to retain and publish the Pixmap with which
88 the background has been set. This works only for the -solid or
89 colorset commands. This is useful for applications which want to
90 use the root Pixmap on the background to simulate transparency
91 (for example, Eterm and Aterm use this method). This option
92 should also be used for the RootTransparent colorset option.
93 Note: with a colorset background this command may add a lot of
94 memory to the X server. For example, this adds the pixmap width
95 times height bytes with a TiledPixmap image, screen_width times
96 screen_height bytes with a Pixmap image or a C,B,D,R,S or Y Gra‐
97 dient and screen_width bytes with a VGradient or screen height
98 bytes with an HGradient.
99 *FvwmBacker: DoNotRetainPixmap
102 Cancels the effect of the previous option. This is the default.
103
106 It it possible to replace FvwmBacker's configuration at run-time, al‐
107 though it is not yet possible to remove existing configuration lines.
108 This is done by simply removing the old configuration from within fvwm
109 and then read a new one. This can be done in many ways, for example by
110 using an fvwm function or one of the modules FvwmCommand or FvwmCon‐
111 sole.
112 Example:
114 DestroyModuleConfig FvwmBacker*
117 *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk 0) -solid black
118 *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk 1) -solid blue
119
123 There is continued support for the now deprecated option:
124 *FvwmBacker: Desk d command
127 It is functionally equivalent to omitting the page coordinates
129 with *FvwmBacker: Command:
130 *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk Id) command
133
137 The following are excerpts from an .fvwm2rc file which describe Fvwm‐
138 Backer initialization commands:
139 ####
142 # Set Up Backgrounds for different desktop pages (2 desks, 3x2 pages).
143 ####
144 *FvwmBacker: Command (Page 2 *) -solid steelblue
145 *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk 0, Page 0 0) Exec fvwm-root $[HOME]/bg2.xpm
146 *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk 0, Page 0 1) -solid midnightblue
147 *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk 0, Page 1 *) -solid yellow
148 *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk 1, Page * 0) -solid navy
149 *FvwmBacker: Command (Desk 1, Page * 1) Colorset 5
150
154 Mike Finger (mfinger@mermaid.micro.umn.edu)
155 (Mike_Finger@atk.com)
156 (doodman on IRC, check the #linux channel)
157
159 Andrew Davison (davison@cs.monash.edu.au)
160 Michael Han (mikehan@best.com)
162 Mikhael Goikhman (migo@homemail.com)
1643rd Berkeley Distribution 19 October 2022 (2.7.0) FvwmBacker(1)