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, that 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
49 semitransparency. Semitransparent background image and colour can
50 be configured. When the background image has changed then
51 icewmbg(1) can be notified to update the background. Multi-head
52 monitor 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 that 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 that is started
76 subsequently. See icewmhint(1).
77 icesound(1)
79 Plays audio files on GUI events that 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 that 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 -o, --output=FILE
108 Redirect all output to FILE. A leading tilde or environment
109 variable is expanded.
110 --sync
112 This option specifies to use a slower synchronous communication
113 mode with the X11 server. This is irrelevant for normal use.
114 -h, --help
116 Gives a complete list of all the available command-line options
117 with some very brief explanation.
118 -V, --version
120 Shows the software release version for this program.
121 ICEWM OPTIONS
123 The icewm program supports some additional options:
124 -a, --alpha
126 Use a 32-bit visual for translucency. This can also be set in the
127 preferences file as "Alpha=1".
128 --replace
130 Instructs icewm to replace an existing window manager. Provided
131 that the window manager being replaced is ICCCM 2.0 compliant, once
132 it notices that it is to be replaced it will cease operations and
133 typically stop execution. This allows icewm to establish itself as
134 the only active window manager.
135 -r, --restart
137 Tell icewm to restart itself. This reloads the configuration from
138 file. If no window manager is active, then it starts one.
139 -s, --splash=IMAGE
141 Briefly show IMAGE on startup in the center of the screen. This
142 can also be set in the preferences file as Splash="image.jpg".
143 --configured
145 Shows a list of configuration options that were enabled when icewm
146 was compiled from source code. This can be helpful if one suspects
147 some functionality may be missing.
148 --directories
150 Gives a list of directories where icewm will look for configuration
151 data. This list is printed in the actual order in which icewm uses
152 it to search for configuration files.
153 -l, --list-themes
155 icewm will search all the configuration directories for theme files
156 and print a list of all found themes.
157 -p, --postpreferences
159 This gives a long list of all the internal icewm options with their
160 actual values after icewm has processed all of the configuration
161 and theme files. In some advanced scenarios this can be helpful to
162 inspect which configuration was chosen or whether option formatting
163 was correct.
164 --rewrite-preferences
166 Overwrite an existing preferences file with an icewm default
167 preferences, but preserve all modifications insofar they deviate
168 from the defaults.
169 --extensions
171 Give a list of the current X extensions, their versions and status.
172 --trace=conf,font,icon,prog,systray
174 Enable tracing of the paths that are used to load configuration,
175 fonts, icons, executed programs, and/or system tray applets.
176 USAGE
178 TASKBAR
179 On startup icewm launches the task bar at the bottom of the screen.
180 The task bar consists from left to right of the following components:
181 The Menu button in the lower left corner gives access to the icewm root
183 menu. This menu has sub-menus to start applications, to control icewm
184 settings, and the icewm Logout menu.
185 The Show Desktop button unmaps all application windows to fully uncover
187 the desktop.
188 The Window List Menu button gives access to a menu with a list of
190 active windows for the current workspace and a list of workspaces with
191 sub-menus for their active application windows.
192 The Toolbar is a list of icons for applications that are defined in the
194 toolbar configuration file.
195 The Workspace Pane shows one button for each workspace. The current
197 workspace is indicated by a pressed button. Clicking another workspace
198 switches to that workspace. Press left mouse, then the Shift key, then
199 release the left mouse, takes the current window to that workspace.
200 Press left, then Alt, then release left, moves only the focused window
201 to other workspace, without changing the current workspace.
202 The workspaces are defined in the preferences file. To change a name
204 for only this session, double click, edit the name and hit Enter. When
205 "PagerShowPreview" is turned on, a small graphical window summary for
206 each workspace is shown. They support drag-and-drop: dragging a Firefox
207 tab to a workspace button changes the current workspace. Then
208 releasing it moves that tab to a new window in that workspace.
209 The Task Pane consists of a list of wide buttons for each application
211 that is running on the current workspace, or all workspaces if
212 "TaskBarShowAllWindows=1". Each task button shows the application icon
213 and the application title. The active application is indicated by a
214 pressed button. This is the application that has input focus.
215 Pressing another button activates that application: it is brought to
216 the foreground and receives input focus. Other mouse controlled
217 activities on the window buttons are: dragging window buttons with the
218 left mouse button to rearrange the order, closing the application
219 window with "Alt" + middle button, lowering the application window with
220 "Ctrl" + middle button, or bringing the application window to the
221 current workspace with "Shift" + middle button if
222 "TaskBarShowAllWindows=1".
223 If there are not many application buttons then a stretch of plain task
225 bar is visible. Clicking on it with the right mouse button gives the
226 task bar menu. Even with a full task pane, this menu can be usually
227 accessed by right-clicking the bottom right corner of the taskbar.
228 The Tray Applet shows system tray objects.
230 The APM Applet shows battery power status.
232 The Net Applet shows network activity. Network devices to monitor are
234 given by the "NetworkStatusDevice" option.
235 The Memory Applet monitors memory usage.
237 The CPU Applet monitors processor utilization.
239 The Mailbox Applet monitors mailbox status changes. See the section
241 MAILBOX MONITORING below.
242 The Clock Applet shows the current time and date. It is configured by
244 the "TimeFormat" option.
245 The Task Bar Collapse button collapses the task bar and hides it.
247 Not all icewm applets may show up on the task bar. They must have been
249 enabled during configuration of the icewm software. Their appearance
250 is also controlled by options in the preferences file.
251 INPUT FOCUS
253 Of all visible windows only one can be the active window. This is the
254 window that has input focus. It is the primary receiver of keyboard
255 and mouse events and hence one can interact with the application that
256 created that window. A primary task of a window manager is to allow
257 the user to switch input focus between different windows. The primary
258 means to do this is the mouse pointer. By moving the mouse pointer
259 over the screen to another window, and perhaps also by clicking on a
260 window, input focus can be directed.
261 The "FocusMode" option controls the way icewm gives input focus to
263 applications. It is initialized by the focus_mode configuration file.
264 The focus mode is set via the Focus menu. icewm supports six focus
265 models:
266 1. Click-to-focus
268 The default focus mode. In this mode changing input focus requires
269 to click a window with the left mouse button. The window is raised
270 if needed. When an application requests focus its task pane button
271 flashes. This gives the option to honor this request or to ignore
272 it. When a new application window appears it automatically
273 receives focus. Also when a hidden application raises to the front
274 it receives focus.
275 2. Sloppy-mouse-focus
277 Sets input focus merely by moving the mouse pointer over a window.
278 It is called sloppy, because if the mouse then leaves the window
279 and moves to the desktop background the input focus remains with
280 the last active window. When a window receives focus it is raised.
281 When an application requests focus its task pane button flashes. A
282 new application or an application that raises to the front
283 automatically receives focus.
284 3. Explicit-focus
286 Focus is even more user-controlled than Click-to-focus. When a
287 window receives focus it is not raised by default, unless the frame
288 border is clicked. No flashing occurs when an application requests
289 focus. When a new application window appears it does not receive
290 focus. Only by explicit clicking on a window is focus directed.
291 4. Strict-mouse-focus
293 Like Sloppy but focus remains with the last window. New
294 applications don't receive focus and are mapped behind other
295 windows. When an application raises to the front it still does not
296 get focus.
297 5. Quiet-sloppy-focus
299 Like Sloppy but no disturbing flashing occurs on the task bar when
300 an application requests focus.
301 6. Custom-mode
303 A focus mode that is defined by the following ten options:
304 "ClickToFocus", "FocusOnAppRaise", "RequestFocusOnAppRaise",
305 "RaiseOnFocus", "RaiseOnClickClient", "FocusChangesWorkspace",
306 "FocusOnMap", "FocusOnMapTransient", "FocusOnMapTransientActive",
307 "MapInactiveOnTop".
308 All non-Custom focus modes override these ten options.
310 Apart from the mouse, icewm supports changing input focus in two ways
312 by keyboard. By pressing "Alt+Esc" or "Alt+Shift+Esc", input focus is
313 immediately changed to the next or previous window, which will be
314 raised to make it fully visible. The other method involves the quick
315 switch.
316 QUICK SWITCH
318 The QuickSwitch is a means to quickly and interactively change the
319 input focus to another window. It is activated by pressing the
320 "Alt+Tab" or "Alt+Shift+Tab" key combination. A window pops up in the
321 centre of the screen with a list of windows to choose from. A narrow
322 band indicates a selection: the candidate window that will be activated
323 to receive input focus when the Alt key is released.
324 The selection can be changed by repeatedly pressing the Tab key, while
326 keeping the Alt key down. If a Shift key is also down, the direction of
327 traversal is reversed. Or use the scroll wheel of the mouse. Or use
328 one of the digit keys to select the corresponding window from the list.
329 Arrow keys are also supported, as well as the Home and End key.
330 To make a selected window the active window, just release the Alt key,
332 or hit the Return key, or click on it. To cancel the QuickSwitch,
333 press Escape or click outside of the QuickSwitch window.
334 A selected window can be closed by Delete, "Alt+F4", or the middle
336 mouse button. While the QuickSwitch window is up, one can still change
337 workspace with the usual workspace hotkeys.
338 The QuickSwitch has two distinct modes: vertical and horizontal. The
340 window list can include all windows or be limited to the current
341 workspace. There is an option to raise the selected candidate. See the
342 many preferences available for the QuickSwitch.
343 WINDOW PLACEMENT
345 A second important task of a window manager is to place new windows on
346 the screen. By default icewm chooses a placement with minimal overlap,
347 but this is determined by the "SmartPlacement" option in the
348 preferences file. If "SmartPlacement" is turned off then windows are
349 placed in sequence from left to right and top to bottom. One can also
350 turn on "ManualPlacement". Then new windows appear initially in the
351 top left corner and the mouse cursor changes into a fist. By moving
352 the fist cursor to a suitable location and clicking the new window will
353 appear at the mouse click location.
354 WINDOW LAYERS
356 Windows can overlap. Which window appears on top is determined by
357 three features. Newer windows appear over older windows. By clicking
358 on a window it is raised to the top. But both are overruled by the
359 window layer. Windows can be placed in different layers via the Layers
360 menu. Click with the right mouse button on the window frame and select
361 Layer. From there choose one of seven window layers. These are
362 ordered from higher to lower. Windows in higher layers appear over
363 windows in lower layers.
364 TABBED WINDOWS
366 A window frame may contain multiple client windows. Only one client can
367 be visible, while the others are hidden. This is called tabbing. This
368 can be helpful to reduce the number of visible windows. To create a
369 tab, drag the title bar with the middle mouse button, while holding
370 down a shift key, onto the title bar of another frame. The two title
371 bars will start to flash to indicate that they can merge. Release the
372 mouse button to merge the client of the upper window to the lower
373 frame. Now the lower frame will have multiple clients, called tabs.
374 The title bar will show a vertical bar with triple dots to indicate
375 this. To change the current tab either:
376 • Click on the triple dots next to the vertical bar.
378 • Use "KeyWinNext=Alt+F6" to select the next tab.
380 • Use "KeyWinPrev=Alt+Shift+F6" for the previous tab.
382 • Use the QuickSwitch.
384 • Use the window list window.
386 • Use a submenu in the window menu.
388 To change the mouse binding for creating tabs, modify
390 MouseWinTabbing="Shift+Pointer_Button2". Another useful setting is
391 MouseWinTabbing="Pointer_Button1".
392 "Alt+F4" closes all tabs. To close just the active tab add to "keys":
394 key "Ctrl+Shift+F4" icesh -f close
396 To move the active tab to its own window frame by key, add to "keys":
398 key "Alt+u" icesh -f untab
400 To open all chrome windows in the same frame add this to "winoptions":
402 google-chrome.frame: chrome
404 WORKSPACES
406 icewm supports multiple virtual desktops called workspaces. A
407 workspace is like a screen where a subset of all application windows
408 are mapped. Thanks to multiple workspaces we can more easily manage a
409 large number of applications. The number of workspaces and their names
410 are configurable in the preferences file through the "WorkspaceNames"
411 option. By default four workspaces are created with the names 1, 2, 3
412 and 4 thus:
413 WorkspaceNames=" 1 ", " 2 ", " 3 ", " 4 "
415 This syntax is typical for icewm options that receive multiple values.
417 It is a list of comma-separated values each of which can be quoted.
418 The workspaces are visible on the toolbar. One can switch to a
420 different workspace by pressing the workspace button in the toolbar,
421 but after becoming familiar with the 'keyboard shortcuts' below one
422 will want to use a hotkey to choose a workspace. If the "EdgeSwitch"
423 options is enabled in the preferences file (with sub-options
424 "HorizontalEdgeSwitch" and "VerticalEdgeSwitch") then one can move to
425 the next or previous workspace by moving the mouse to the edge of the
426 screen. The "ContinuousEdgeSwitch" option enables continuous movement
427 to subsequent workspaces. The "EdgeSwitchDelay" option says how long
428 to wait before a change of workspace occurs.
429 To move an application window to a different workspace one can use a
431 keyboard shortcut. Another option is to select the Move To submenu in
432 the window menu of the window frame.
433 DRAG AND DROP
435 The task bar supports drag and drop operations. When a drag is in
436 progress, the destination window can be activated by hovering the drag
437 icon over the task button for that window. Alternatively, the current
438 workspace can be changed by hovering the drag icon over the desired
439 workspace button. When edge switching is enabled, the current
440 workspace can also be changed by bringing the drag icon to the screen
441 edge.
442 ADDRESS BAR
444 If EnableAddressBar=1 then KeySysAddressBar="Alt+Ctrl+Space" activates
445 the address bar in the task bar. If ShowAddressBar=1 it is always
446 shown. This is a command-line in the task bar where a shell command can
447 be typed. Pressing "Enter" will execute the command.
448 AddressBarCommand="/bin/sh" will be used to execute the command. On
449 "Control+Enter" the command is executed in a terminal as given by
450 TerminalCommand. The address bar maintains a history that is navigable
451 by the Up and Down keys. It supports command completion using "Tab" or
452 "Ctrl+I". A rich set of editing operations is supported, including
453 cut-/copy-/paste-operations.
454 WINDOW LIST
456 The window list window shows a list of all workspaces. For each
457 workspace it shows the window titles of the windows that are mapped on
458 it. The bottom entry reads "All Workspaces". It holds the sticky
459 windows. These windows are mapped in all workspaces.
460 The window list window is normally hidden. Choose one of the following
462 four methods to make it visible:
463 • Select the bottom window list menu entry.
465 • Press the "KeySysWindowList=Ctrl+Alt+Esc" key.
467 • Press the right Windows key if "Win95Keys=1"
469 • Press the "DesktopWinListButton=2" mouse button in the root window.
471 • Press the middle mouse button in a workspace button on the task
473 bar.
474 A single-click on a window entry selects it. A group of windows can be
476 selected by "Shift+Pointer_Button1" or by dragging with the left mouse
477 button. Use "Ctrl+Pointer_Button1" to individually select windows in a
478 multi-selection. A right mouse click over a selection will popup the
479 system menu for this selection. To close the selected windows, press
480 "Delete". Press "Shift+Delete" to forcefully kill them. Right mouse
481 click below the sticky windows for a menu with window arranging
482 actions.
483 Double-click on a workspace to switch to it. Double-click on a window
485 to activate it. Or navigate by arrow keys and press Enter. The space
486 bar toggles a selection of a window. "Ctrl+a" and "Ctrl+/" will select
487 the entire list of windows. "Ctrl+\\" deselects everything. Press the
488 first letter of a window title to navigate to it and select it. If
489 titles of multiple windows start with the same letter then repeatedly
490 pressing the first letter cycles over those windows. "Home" selects
491 the first entry and "End" the last. "PageUp" and "PageDown" move up or
492 down by ten entries. Combine this with the "Shift" key to extend a
493 selection over the range of motion.
494 SYSTEM DIALOG
496 The system dialog offers quick access to a set of general controls. It
497 can lock the screen, suspend the system, logout or cancel a pending
498 logout, reboot the system, shutdown the system, show the window list,
499 restart icewm, show the about dialog, reload the winoptions file or the
500 keys file. It is activated by KeySysDialog="Ctrl+Alt+Del". To cancel
501 it, hit the Escape key.
502 MAILBOX MONITORING
504 The task bar can show one or more icons to reflect the status of a
505 mailbox. The mailbox can be a local file or a remote POP or IMAP
506 account. For this a couple of options must be set. First,
507 TaskBarShowMailboxStatus must be enabled, which it is by default. Then
508 the location of the mailbox must be set. Icewm first looks for
509 MailBoxPath in preferences. If this is unset, it looks at the
510 environment variables "MAILPATH" and "MAIL". MailBoxPath may contain a
511 space-separated list of mailboxes, while "MAILPATH" may contain a
512 colon-separated list of mailboxes. If a mailbox starts with a slash
513 "/", then it is a local file, otherwise a URL. These are six examples
514 of possible mailboxes:
515 file:///var/spool/mail/captnmark
517 file:///home/captnmark/Maildir/
518 pop3://markus:%2f%40%3a@maol.ch/
519 pop3s://markus:password@pop.gmail.com/
520 imap://mathias@localhost/INBOX.Maillisten.icewm-user
521 imaps://mathias:password@imap.gmail.com/INBOX
522 The POP3S and IMAPS schemes use "openssl" for TLS/SSL encryption. Note
524 that for IceWM to access Gmail you must first configure your Gmail
525 account to enable POP3 or IMAP access. Make sure you have secure file
526 permissions on your IceWM preferences file and the directory that
527 contains it.
528 Reserved characters in the password, like slash, at and colon can be
530 specified using escape sequences with a hexadecimal encoding like %2f
531 for the slash or %40 for the at sign. For example, to hex-encode
532 "!p@a%s&s~" use this Perl snippet:
533 perl -e 'foreach(split("", $ARGV[0])) { printf "%%%02x", ord($_); };
535 print "\n";' '!p@a%s&s~'
536 Which will print:
538 %21%40%23%24%25%5e%26%2a%7e
540 This is the hex-encoded password. However, it is unwise to store a
542 password in your preferences. Consider a wallet extension for IceWM.
543 IceWM will check a mailbox periodically. The period in seconds can be
545 set by the MailCheckDelay option, which is 30 seconds by default.
546 Whenever new mail arrives, the mailbox icon will be highlighted. The
548 color will indicate if the mail has been read or not. Hovering the
549 mouse over the mailbox icon will show a tooltip with more details. A
550 command can be also be run on new mail. Set the NewMailCommand option.
551 Its environment will have these variables set by IceWM:
552 ICEWM_MAILBOX
554 The mailbox index number of MailBoxPath starting from 1.
555 ICEWM_COUNT
557 The total number of messages in this mailbox.
558 ICEWM_UNREAD
560 The number of unread messages in this mailbox.
561 KEYBOARD LAYOUT SWITCHING
563 To control keyboard layouts on the task bar, define in preferences the
564 option KeyboardLayouts to a comma-separated list of your preferred
565 keyboard layouts. For example:
566 KeyboardLayouts="de","fr","jp"
568 A keyboard layout can simply be a name. Usually this is a two-letter
570 country code. See the directory /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols for a list
571 of available keyboard layouts for your system. If it is enclosed in
572 double quotes, it can also be a space-separated list of command-line
573 arguments to an invocation of the "setxkbmap" program.
574 The first layout is the default. It will be installed when icewm
576 starts. The task bar will show the current keyboard layout. If an icon
577 can be found for the first two letters of the layout, then that icon
578 will be shown. Otherwise the first two letters of the name of the
579 layout will be shown.
580 Click on the current keyboard layout to cycle through all the available
582 keyboard layouts, or use the KeySysKeyboardNext key. Click with the
583 right mouse button to open a menu of all available keyboard layouts.
584 It is also possible to configure a default keyboard layout for each
586 program individually in the icewm-winoptions(5) file. Whenever such a
587 program receives input focus, icewm will install this configured
588 keyboard layout automatically. The keyboard status on the task bar will
589 be updated to reflect this.
590 Please note that for keyboard layout switching to work, the "setxkbmap"
592 program must be installed. To see your current keyboard layout
593 settings, do "setxkbmap -query".
594 KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
596 icewm supports a large number of hotkeys to activate some behaviour
597 with a single key combination. These are all configurable in the
598 preferences file. Here we give their preferences name, followed by
599 their default value in double quotes, and a short descriptions of their
600 effect.
601 Note that all use one or more key modifiers. Icewm supports the
603 following modifiers: Alt, AltGr, Ctrl, Hyper, Meta, Shift, Super.
604 Setting ModSuperIsCtrlAlt=1 makes the Super modifier an alias for
605 Ctrl+Alt.
606 KeyWinRaise="Alt+F1"
608 Raises the window that currently has input focus.
609 KeyWinOccupyAll="Alt+F2"
611 Makes the active window occupy all workspaces.
612 KeyWinLower="Alt+F3"
614 Lowers the window that currently has input focus.
615 KeyWinClose="Alt+F4"
617 Closes the active window.
618 KeyWinRestore="Alt+F5"
620 Restores the active window to its visible state.
621 KeyWinNext="Alt+F6"
623 Switches focus to the next window.
624 KeyWinPrev="Alt+Shift+F6"
626 Switches focus to the previous window.
627 KeyWinMove="Alt+F7"
629 Starts movement of the active window.
630 KeyWinSize="Alt+F8"
632 Starts resizing of the active window.
633 KeyWinMinimize="Alt+F9"
635 Iconifies the active window.
636 KeyWinMaximize="Alt+F10"
638 Maximizes the active window with borders.
639 KeyWinMaximizeVert="Alt+Shift+F10"
641 Maximizes the active window vertically.
642 KeyWinMaximizeHoriz="undefined"
644 Maximizes the active window horizontally.
645 KeyWinFullscreen="Alt+F11"
647 Maximizes the active window without borders.
648 KeyWinRollup="Alt+F12"
650 Rolls up the active window.
651 KeyWinHide="Alt+Shift+F12"
653 Hides the active window.
654 KeyWinMenu="Alt+Space"
656 Posts the window menu.
657 KeyWinArrangeNW="Ctrl+Alt+KP_7"
659 Moves the active window to the top left corner of the screen.
660 KeyWinArrangeN="Ctrl+Alt+KP_8"
662 Moves the active window to the top middle of the screen.
663 KeyWinArrangeNE="Ctrl+Alt+KP_9"
665 Moves the active window to the top right of the screen.
666 KeyWinArrangeE="Ctrl+Alt+KP_6"
668 Moves the active window to the middle right of the screen.
669 KeyWinArrangeSE="Ctrl+Alt+KP_3"
671 Moves the active window to the bottom right of the screen.
672 KeyWinArrangeS="Ctrl+Alt+KP_2"
674 Moves the active window to the bottom middle of the screen.
675 KeyWinArrangeSW="Ctrl+Alt+KP_1"
677 Moves the active window to the bottom left of the screen.
678 KeyWinArrangeW="Ctrl+Alt+KP_4"
680 Moves the active window to the middle left of the screen.
681 KeyWinArrangeC="Ctrl+Alt+KP_5"
683 Moves the active window to the center of the screen.
684 KeyWinTileLeft=""
686 Let the active window occupy the left half of the screen.
687 KeyWinTileRight=""
689 Let the active window occupy the right half of the screen.
690 KeyWinTileTop=""
692 Let the active window occupy the top half of the screen.
693 KeyWinTileBottom=""
695 Let the active window occupy the bottom half of the screen.
696 KeyWinTileTopLeft=""
698 Let the active window occupy the top left quarter of the screen.
699 KeyWinTileTopRight=""
701 Let the active window occupy the top right quarter of the screen.
702 KeyWinTileBottomLeft=""
704 Let the active window occupy the bottom left quarter of the screen.
705 KeyWinTileBottomRight=""
707 Let the active window occupy the bottom right quarter of the
708 screen.
709 KeyWinTileCenter=""
711 Let the active window occupy the center quarter of the screen.
712 KeyWinSmartPlace="Ctrl+Alt+Shift+KP_5"
714 Smart place the active window.
715 KeySysWinMenu="Shift+Esc"
717 Posts the system window menu.
718 KeySysWinNext="Alt+Esc"
720 Give focus to the next window and raise it.
721 KeySysWinPrev="Alt+Shift+Esc"
723 Give focus to the previous window and raise it.
724 KeySysDialog="Ctrl+Alt+Del"
726 Opens the IceWM system dialog in the center of the screen.
727 KeySysMenu="Ctrl+Esc"
729 Activates the IceWM root menu in the lower left corner.
730 KeySysWindowList="Alt+Ctrl+Esc"
732 Opens the IceWM system window list in the center of the screen.
733 KeySysAddressBar="Alt+Ctrl+Space"
735 Opens the address bar in the task bar where a command can be typed.
736 KeySysWorkspacePrev="Alt+Ctrl+Left"
738 Goes one workspace to the left.
739 KeySysWorkspaceNext="Alt+Ctrl+Right"
741 Goes one workspace to the right.
742 KeySysWorkspaceLast="Alt+Ctrl+Down"
744 Goes to the previous workspace.
745 KeySysWorkspacePrevTakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Left"
747 Takes the active window one workspace to the left.
748 KeySysWorkspaceNextTakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Right"
750 Takes the active window one workspace to the right.
751 KeySysWorkspaceLastTakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Down"
753 Takes the active window to the previous workspace.
754 KeySysWorkspace1="Alt+Ctrl+1"
756 Goes to workspace 1.
757 KeySysWorkspace2="Alt+Ctrl+2"
759 Goes to workspace 2.
760 KeySysWorkspace3="Alt+Ctrl+3"
762 Goes to workspace 3.
763 KeySysWorkspace4="Alt+Ctrl+4"
765 Goes to workspace 4.
766 KeySysWorkspace5="Alt+Ctrl+5"
768 Goes to workspace 5.
769 KeySysWorkspace6="Alt+Ctrl+6"
771 Goes to workspace 6.
772 KeySysWorkspace7="Alt+Ctrl+7"
774 Goes to workspace 7.
775 KeySysWorkspace8="Alt+Ctrl+8"
777 Goes to workspace 8.
778 KeySysWorkspace9="Alt+Ctrl+9"
780 Goes to workspace 9.
781 KeySysWorkspace10="Alt+Ctrl+0"
783 Goes to workspace 10.
784 KeySysWorkspace11="Alt+Ctrl+minus"
786 Goes to workspace 11.
787 KeySysWorkspace12="Alt+Ctrl+equal"
789 Goes to workspace 12.
790 KeySysWorkspace1TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+1"
792 Takes the active window to workspace 1.
793 KeySysWorkspace2TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+2"
795 Takes the active window to workspace 2.
796 KeySysWorkspace3TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+3"
798 Takes the active window to workspace 3.
799 KeySysWorkspace4TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+4"
801 Takes the active window to workspace 4.
802 KeySysWorkspace5TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+5"
804 Takes the active window to workspace 5.
805 KeySysWorkspace6TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+6"
807 Takes the active window to workspace 6.
808 KeySysWorkspace7TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+7"
810 Takes the active window to workspace 7.
811 KeySysWorkspace8TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+8"
813 Takes the active window to workspace 8.
814 KeySysWorkspace9TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+9"
816 Takes the active window to workspace 9.
817 KeySysWorkspace10TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+0"
819 Takes the active window to workspace 10.
820 KeySysWorkspace11TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+minus"
822 Takes the active window to workspace 11.
823 KeySysWorkspace12TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+equal"
825 Takes the active window to workspace 12.
826 KeySysTileVertical="Alt+Shift+F2"
828 Tiles all windows from left to right maximized vertically.
829 KeySysTileHorizontal="Alt+Shift+F3"
831 Tiles all windows from top to bottom maximized horizontally.
832 KeySysCascade="Alt+Shift+F4"
834 Makes a horizontal cascade of all windows which are maximized
835 vertically.
836 KeySysArrange="Alt+Shift+F5"
838 Rearranges the windows.
839 KeySysUndoArrange="Alt+Shift+F7"
841 Undoes arrangement.
842 KeySysArrangeIcons="Alt+Shift+F8"
844 Rearranges icons.
845 KeySysMinimizeAll="Alt+Shift+F9"
847 Minimizes all windows.
848 KeySysHideAll="Alt+Shift+F11"
850 Hides all windows.
851 KeySysShowDesktop="Alt+Ctrl+d"
853 Unmaps all windows to show the desktop.
854 KeySysCollapseTaskBar="Alt+Ctrl+h"
856 Hides the task bar.
857 KeyTaskBarSwitchNext="undefined"
859 Switches to the next window in the task bar.
860 KeyTaskBarSwitchPrev="undefined"
862 Switches to the previous window in the task bar.
863 KeyTaskBarMoveNext="undefined"
865 Moves the task bar button of the current window right.
866 KeyTaskBarMovePrev="undefined"
868 Moves the task bar button of the current window left.
869 KeySysWinListMenu="undefined"
871 Shows the window list menu.
872 KeySysKeyboardNext="undefined"
874 Switch to the next keyboard layout in the KeyboardLayouts list.
875 KeySysSwitchNext="Alt+Tab"
877 Opens the "QuickSwitch" popup (see "INPUT FOCUS") and/or moves the
878 selector in the "QuickSwitch" popup.
879 KeySysSwitchLast="Alt+Shift+Tab"
881 Works like "KeySysSwitchNext" but moving in the opposite direction.
882 KeySysSwitchClass="Alt+grave"
884 Is like "KeySysSwitchNext" but only for windows with the same
885 WM_CLASS property as the currently focused window.
886 MOUSE BINDINGS
888 You can control windows by a modified mouse button press:
889 MouseWinMove="Alt+Pointer_Button1"
891 Moves the window under the mouse over the screen.
892 MouseWinSize="Alt+Pointer_Button3"
894 Resizes the window. Keep the key and button pressed. To enlarge
895 the window move the mouse button away from the center. To shrink
896 it move towards the centre.
897 MouseWinRaise="Ctrl+Alt+Pointer_Button1"
899 Raises the window under the mouse.
900 MouseWinLower="Ctrl+Alt+Pointer_Button1"
902 Lowers the window under the mouse. If this is equal to
903 "MouseWinRaise" and the window can be raised then "MouseWinRaise"
904 takes preference over "MouseWinLower".
905 MouseWinTabbing="Shift+Pointer_Button2"
907 Mouse binding to create tabs. Drag the title bar with this button
908 over another title bar. When they start to flash, release the
909 button to merge the frame tabs.
910 The title frame of a window also listens for mouse clicks. Left double
912 clicking maximizes the window ("TitleBarMaximizeButton=1"). Press Shift
913 to only maximize vertically. Press Alt+Shift for horizontally. Middle
914 double clicking rolls up the window ("TitleBarRollupButton=2"). Also
915 press Shift to maximize horizontally. If TitleBarRollupButton is either
916 4 or 5 then the scroll wheel controls rolling up or down. Pressing a
917 mouse button and moving it will move the window. "Alt+Pointer_Button1"
918 lowers the window.
919 When the mouse is on the window frame then a left click raises the
921 window. Dragging with the left button down resizes the window.
922 Clicking the right button pops up the context menu. Dragging with the
923 right button moves the window.
924 Clicking on the desktop activates a menu. The middle button shows the
926 window list ("DesktopWinListButton=2"). The right button shows the
927 root menu ("DesktopMenuButton=3"). If you press "Ctrl+Alt" then the
928 mouse wheel will focus all applications in turn.
929 SIGNALS
931 icewm supports the following signals:
932 SIGHUP
934 icewm will restart itself. It is a way to reload the configuration.
935 SIGINT, SIGTERM
937 icewm will cease to manage application windows and terminate.
938 SIGQUIT
940 icewm will initiate the logout procedure. If a "LogoutCommand"
941 preferences option was configured it will be executed.
942 SIGUSR2
944 Toggle the logging of X11 events, if "logevents" was configured.
945 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
947 ICEWM_PRIVCFG
948 The directory for user private configuration files. When this
949 environment variable is not specified, the default directory is
950 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm when that directory exists, otherwise the
951 default value is $HOME/.icewm.
952 DISPLAY
954 The name of the X11 server. See Xorg(1) or Xserver(1). This value
955 can be overridden by the --display option.
956 MAILPATH, MAIL
958 Gives the location of your mailbox. If the schema is omitted the
959 local "file" schema is assumed. This is used by the mailbox applet
960 in the task bar to show the status of your mailbox. If the
961 "MailBoxPath" option in the preferences file is set, then that one
962 takes precedence.
963 FILES
965 CONFIGURATION DIRECTORIES
966 icewm looks for configuration files in the following directories, in
967 the given order, until it finds one:
968 $ICEWM_PRIVCFG/
970 Contains user-specific configurations. When ICEWM_PRIVCFG is
971 specified, this directory takes precedence over
972 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm and $HOME/.icewm.
973 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm/
975 Contains user-specific configurations. When this directory exists
976 it take precedence over $HOME/.icewm.
977 $HOME/.icewm/
979 Contains user-specific configurations. This is the historical
980 default directory.
981 /etc/icewm/
983 Contains system-wide customized defaults. Please note that your
984 local installation may have been configured to use a different
985 system location. The output of "icewm --directories" will show
986 this location.
987 /usr/share/icewm/
989 Default local installation settings.
990 CONFIGURATION FILES
992 env icewm-session(1) loads additional environment variables from the
993 file env. Each line is subjected to POSIX shell expansion by
994 wordexp(3). Comment lines starting by a hash-sign ("#") are
995 ignored. icewm-session(1) will load those expanded lines that
996 contain a name, followed by an equals sign, followed by the value
997 (which may be empty).
998 See icewm-env(5).
1000 focus_mode
1002 Defines the initial value for "FocusMode". Its default value is
1003 "FocusMode=1" (Click-to-focus). This can be changed via the menu.
1004 icewm will save the Focus menu choice in this file.
1005 See icewm-focus_mode(5).
1007 keys
1009 Global keybindings to launch applications, which need not be window
1010 manager related. Each non-empty line starts with the word "key".
1011 After one or more spaces follows a double-quoted string of the
1012 bound X11 key combination like "Alt+Ctrl+Shift+X". Then after at
1013 least one space follows a shell command-line that will be executed
1014 by icewm whenever this key combination is pressed. For example,
1015 the following line creates a hotkey to reload the icewm
1016 configuration:
1017 key "Ctrl+Shift+r" icesh restart
1019 See icewm-keys(5).
1021 menu
1023 A menu of applications; usually customized by the user. icewm
1024 provides the icewm-menu-fdo(1) program to generate a default menu.
1025 Similar programs are xdg_menu(1), mmaker(1) (MenuMaker),
1026 xde-menu(1), xdgmenumaker(1).
1027 See icewm-menu(5).
1029 preferences
1031 Contains general settings like paths, colors and fonts, but also
1032 options to control the icewm focus behaviour and the applets that
1033 are started in the task bar. The icewm installation will provide a
1034 default preferences file, which can be copied to the icewm user
1035 configuration directory and modified.
1036 See icewm-preferences(5).
1038 prefoverride
1040 Settings which override the settings from a theme. Some of the
1041 icewm configuration options from the preferences file that control
1042 the look-and-feel may be overridden by the theme, if the theme
1043 designer thinks this is desirable. However, this prefoverride file
1044 will again override this for a few specific options of your
1045 choosing. It is safe to leave this file empty initially.
1046 See icewm-prefoverride(5).
1048 programs
1050 An automatically generated menu of applications. This could be
1051 used by wmconfig(1), menu or similar programs to give easy access
1052 to all the desktop applications that are installed on the system.
1053 See icewm-programs(5).
1055 theme
1057 This file contains the name of the default theme. On startup icewm
1058 reads this file to obtain the theme name, unless icewm was started
1059 with the --theme option. Whenever a different theme is selected
1060 from the icewm Menu then the theme file is overwritten with the
1061 name of the selected theme. This theme file contains the keyword
1062 "Theme", followed by an equals sign, followed by a double-quoted
1063 string with the theme name. The theme name is the name of the
1064 theme directory, followed by a slash, followed by the theme file.
1065 Usually the theme file is just default.theme, but a theme may have
1066 alternatives. Alternatives are small tweaks of a theme. These are
1067 specified in their own .theme file, which replaces default.theme.
1068 If no theme file exists then icewm will use the default setting of
1069 "Theme="default/default.theme"".
1070 See icewm-theme(5).
1072 toolbar
1074 Contains names of quick to launch applications with icons for the
1075 task bar. Each non-empty non-comment line starts with the keyword
1076 prog. After one or more spaces follows a name, which is displayed
1077 in a tool tip whenever the mouse cursor hovers over the toolbar
1078 icon. This name may be a double quoted string. Then follows the
1079 bare name of the icon to use without extensions. This icon will be
1080 shown in the toolbar. The last component is a shell command-line
1081 that will be executed whenever the user presses the icon in the
1082 toolbar. For example, the following line in toolbar will create a
1083 button with tool tip "Mozilla Firefox" with the firefox icon that
1084 launches firefox(1) when clicked:
1085 prog "Mozilla Firefox" firefox /usr/bin/firefox --private-window
1087 See icewm-toolbar(5).
1089 winoptions
1091 Contains settings to control window appearance and behaviour that
1092 are specific to applications or groups of applications. Options
1093 can control the border, whether it appears on the task bar, the
1094 window list, the system tray and the workspaces. Also its layer,
1095 geometry, whether it can be moved, resized and closed.
1096 See icewm-winoptions(5).
1098 startup
1100 Contains commands to be executed on icewm startup. This is an
1101 executable script with commands to tweak X11 settings and launch
1102 some applications that need to be active whenever icewm is started.
1103 It is run by icewm-session(1) when icewm starts.
1104 See icewm-startup(5).
1106 shutdown
1108 Contains commands to be executed on icewm shutdown. This is an
1109 executable script with commands to be executed in the last stage of
1110 icewm termination. Typically they may undo some of the effects of
1111 the startup script. It is run by icewm-session(1) when icewm
1112 terminates.
1113 See icewm-shutdown(5).
1115 CONFIGURATION SUBDIRECTORIES
1117 cursors
1118 May contain cursor icons in the XPM image format. These overrule
1119 cursors provided by a theme. There are 3 direction cursors:
1120 left.xpm, right.xpm, move.xpm, 8 resize cursors: sizeR.xpm,
1121 sizeTR.xpm, sizeT.xpm, sizeTL.xpm, sizeL.xpm, sizeBL.xpm,
1122 sizeB.xpm, sizeBR.xpm, and 4 scroll cursors: scrollL.xpm,
1123 scrollR.xpm, scrollU.xpm, and scrollD.xpm. By default an XPM
1124 header defines four dimensions: width, height, colors and chars-
1125 per-pixel. For cursors this must be extended to six. The last two
1126 are the x-hotspot and the y-hotspot. These define which point in
1127 the XPM image is the sensitive point for the mouse pointer.
1128 icons
1130 Contains icons that are used to identify applications. Usually
1131 these files are in the XPM format, but the PNG and SVG image
1132 formats are also supported. The names of icon files may follow a
1133 specific naming pattern, like app_32x32.xpm. They start with a
1134 base name, usually this is just a single word. Then follows an
1135 underscore, followed by a size specification in the format
1136 "SIZExSIZE". This is followed by a dot and the file extension,
1137 where the extension denotes the icon image format. Common sizes
1138 are 16, 32 and 48 for small, large and huge icons. This depends on
1139 the respective "IconSize" preferences options.
1140 ledclock
1142 Pictures of digits for the LED clock which is displayed in the
1143 bottom-right corner of the task bar. These can be seen when the
1144 "TaskBarShowClock" and "TaskBarClockLeds" options are both set to
1145 1.
1146 mailbox
1148 Icons that are used to display different states of the mailbox
1149 applet in the task bar. There are five states and each has its own
1150 icon: mail.xpm, newmail.xpm, unreadmail.xpm, nomail.xpm,
1151 errmail.xpm.
1152 sounds
1154 Audio files that are played by icesound(1) on GUI events. These
1155 are: startup.wav, shutdown.wav, restart.wav, launchApp.wav,
1156 workspaceChange.wav, windowOpen.wav, windowClose.wav,
1157 dialogOpen.wav, dialogClose.wav, windowMax.wav, windowRestore.wav,
1158 windowMin.wav, windowHide.wav, windowRollup.wav, windowMoved.wav,
1159 windowSized.wav, windowLower.wav.
1160 taskbar
1162 Pictures to customize the look of the task bar. These include:
1163 taskbarbg.xpm, taskbuttonactive.xpm, taskbuttonbg.xpm,
1164 taskbuttonminimized.xpm, toolbuttonbg.xpm,
1165 workspacebuttonactive.xpm, workspacebuttonbg.xpm.
1166 themes
1168 A directory to store themes. Each theme is stored in its own sub-
1169 directory in the themes directory. A theme contains at least a
1170 default.theme file, and optionally theme alternatives which are
1171 additional files that have a .theme file name extension and that
1172 contain tweaks of the default.theme file. How to create a theme is
1173 explained in the IceWM Theme Creation Howto.
1174 workspace
1176 If "PagerShowPreview" is disabled, icewm looks in the "workspace"
1177 directory for images to draw on a workspace button. The image
1178 filename should have the name of the workspace. The image extension
1179 is optional.
1180 OPACITY
1182 IceWM supports window opacity and transparency in connection with an
1183 external compositor like compton(1) or picom(1). If a client window
1184 sets the "_NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY" property on its window, then icewm
1185 will copy this to the outer frame window, where the compositor will
1186 read it and adjust the opacity accordingly.
1187 The opacity can also be set in the icewm-winoptions(5) file. icesh(1)
1189 can control the opacity level of running applications.
1190 The _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE properties that icewm sets on its windows are
1192 DIALOG, NOTIFICATION, POPUP_MENU and TOOLTIP. The output of "icesh
1193 windows" shows their WM_CLASS values. These can be helpful to configure
1194 compton.
1195 EXAMPLES
1197 Examples of the above configuration files can be found in the default
1198 installation path or in the system-wide defaults. See the output of
1199 "icewm --directories" for their locations.
1200 CONFORMING TO
1202 ICCCM 2.0: partial. NetWM/EWMH: extensive. See the file COMPLIANCE in
1203 the distribution for full details.
1204 SEE ALSO
1206 icehelp(1), icesh(1), icesound(1), icewm-env(5), icewm-focus_mode(5),
1207 icewm-keys(5), icewm-menu(5), icewm-menu-fdo(1), icewm-menu-xrandr(1),
1208 icewm-preferences(5), icewm-prefoverride(5), icewm-programs(5),
1209 icewm-session(1), icewm-set-gnomewm(1), icewm-shutdown(5),
1210 icewm-startup(5), icewm-theme(5), icewm-toolbar(5),
1211 icewm-winoptions(5), icewmbg(1), icewmhint(1), setxkbmap(1), Xorg(1),
1212 Xserver(1), xinit(1), xprop(1), xwininfo(1), wmctrl(1).
1213 BUGS
1215 Please report bugs at <https://github.com/bbidulock/icewm/issues>.
1216 AUTHOR
1218 Brian Bidulock <mailto:bidulock@openss7.org>.
1219 See --copying for full copyright notice and copying permissions.
1221 LICENSE
1223 IceWM is licensed under the GNU Library General Public License. See
1224 the COPYING file in the distribution or use the --copying flag to
1225 display copying permissions.
1226icewm 3.4.4 2023-11-03 ICEWM(1)