VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
NAME
vtwm - Virtual Tab Window Manager for the X Window System
SYNTAX
vtwm [-d display] [-f initfile] [-m [options]] [-p] [-s] [-v]
DESCRIPTION
vtwm is a window manager for the X Window System. It provides
titlebars, shaped windows, several forms of icon management, user-
defined macro functions, click-to-type and pointer-driven keyboard
focus, and user-specified key and pointer button bindings.
This program is usually started by the user's session manager or
startup script. When used from xdm(1) or xinit(1) without a session
manager, vtwm is frequently executed in the foreground as the last
client. When run this way, exiting vtwm causes the session to be
terminated (i.e., logged out).
By default, application windows are surrounded by a "frame" with a
titlebar at the top and a special border around the window. The
titlebar contains the window's name, a rectangle that is lit when the
window is receiving keyboard input, and function boxes known as
"titlebuttons" at the left and right edges of the titlebar.
Pressing pointer Button1 (usually the left-most button unless it has
been changed with xmodmap(1)) on a titlebutton will invoke the
function associated with the button. In the default interface,
windows are iconified by clicking (pressing and then immediately
releasing) the left titlebutton (which looks like a dot). Conversely,
windows are deiconified by clicking in the associated icon or entry in
the icon manager (see the descriptions of the variable ShowIconManager
and the function f.showiconmgr in the BINDINGS section).
Windows are resized by pressing the right titlebutton (which resembles
a group of nested squares), dragging the pointer over the edge that is
to be moved, and releasing the pointer when the window is the desired
size. Similarly, windows are moved by pressing in the title or
highlight region, dragging it to the new location, and then releasing
when the window is in the desired position. Just clicking in the
title or highlight region raises the window without moving it.
When new windows are created, vtwm will honor any size and location
information requested by the user (usually through -geometry command
line argument or X11 resources for the individual applications).
Clicking pointer Button1 will position the window at the current
position and give it the default size. Pressing pointer Button2
(usually the middle pointer button) and dragging the window will give
the window its current position but allow the sides to be resized as
described above. Clicking pointer Button3 (usually the right pointer
button) will give the window its current position but attempt to make
it long enough to touch the bottom of the screen.
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The default behavior during these operations is to represent the
window with an outline of the client window and its titlebar, lines
crossing within the client window. Alternatively, vtwm may be
configured to draw the window completely, but it is not recommended
unless yours is a fast system.
THE VIRTUAL DESKTOP
vtwm is based upon the twm(1) window manager, but adds extra
functionality in the form of a virtual desktop. The virtual desktop
is an area larger than the physical screen. The real screen is
considered to be a window onto portions of the virtual desktop showing
whatever windows are present in that area of the desktop. To help
navigate around the desktop, vtwm creates a new window, of the name
VTWM Desktop, which shows the entire desktop using a small scale. In
the Virtual Desktop window, all windows that exist are displayed and
various options are provided to recognize the identity of the
different windows (see the descriptions of the variables
DesktopDisplayBackground, DesktopDisplayForeground,
DesktopDisplayBorder and VirtualDesktopFont).
To provide a consistent workspace, the option is provided of nailing
windows onto the real screen. When a window is nailed, it is
considered stuck to the real screen no matter what part of the desktop
is currently being displayed.
Normally, a few standard utilities are nailed down: the icon manager,
the desktop view, a load average chart, a clock, and a mail notifier.
The f.nail (or its alias, f.stick) function can be used to change the
nailed status of any window; see the BINDINGS section for details.
The root window of the display is unchanged by this program and
utilities such as xsetroot(1) will continue to work unmodified.
OPTIONS
vtwm accepts the following command line options:
-d display This option specifies the X server to use.
-f initfile This option specifies the name of the startup file to
use. By default, vtwm will look in the user's home
directory for files named .vtwmrc.N, .vtwmrc, .twmrc.N,
or .twmrc (where 'N' is a screen number). It also
looks for system-wide default files; see the
CUSTOMIZATION section below for details.
-m [options] This option causes vtwm to preprocess the startup file
using the m4(1) macro processor. The options will be
passed verbatim to m4 along with those symbols that
vtwm declares. Note that options itself should be
quoted, to prevent unwanted processing that may occur
by the shell, etc.
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-p This option indicates that vtwm should attempt to write
it's PID to $HOME/vtwm.pid on startup, and delete that
file on shutdown. This file may be useful as a lock
file, or for determining the correct vtwm process for a
particular user. If the file cannot be written on
startup, a bell will sound, but vtwm will continue.
-s This option indicates that only the default screen (as
specified by the -d option or by the DISPLAY
environment variable) should be managed. By default,
vtwm will attempt to manage all screens on the display.
-v This option indicates that vtwm should print error
messages whenever an unexpected X Error event is
received. This can be useful when debugging
applications but can be distracting in regular use.
CUSTOMIZATION
Much of vtwm's appearance and behavior can be controlled by providing
a startup file in one of the following locations (searched in order
for each screen being managed when vtwm begins):
$HOME/.vtwmrc.screennumber
The screennumber is a small positive number (e.g., 0, 1, etc.)
representing the screen number (e.g., the last number in the
DISPLAY environment variable host:displaynum.screennum) that
would be used to contact that screen of the display. This is
intended for displays with multiple screens of differing
visual types.
$HOME/.vtwmrc
This is the usual name for an individual user's startup file.
$VTWMDIR/twm/system.vtwmrc
If neither of the preceding files are found, vtwm will look in
this file for a default configuration. Note that the variable
is defined only in the Makefile, and is often set and tailored
by the site administrator to provide convenient menus or
familiar bindings for novice users.
$HOME/.twmrc.screennumber
$HOME/.twmrc
$VTWMDIR/twm/system.twmrc
When none of the .vtwmrc files can be found, vtwm reverts to
acting like twm(1), and searches for these three .twmrc
variants. Note that the variable is defined only in the
Makefile.
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This search algorithm allows both twm(1) and vtwm to coexist
peacefully at an installation. Since vtwm is a superset of twm(1), it
can even used to replace the latter, and users who have only a
.twmrc-style file should not notice any difference.
If no startup files are found, vtwm will use the built-in defaults
described above. The only X11 resource used by vtwm is bitmapFilePath
for a colon-separated list of directories to search when looking for
bitmap and pixmap files (for more information, see the Athena Widgets
manual and xrdb(1)).
vtwm startup files are logically broken up into three types of
specifications: Variables, Bindings, Menus.
The Variables section must come first and is used to describe the
fonts, colors, cursors, border widths, icon and window placement,
highlighting, autoraising, layout of titles, warping, and use of the
icon manager.
The Bindings section usually comes second and is used to specify the
functions that should be to be invoked when keyboard and pointer
buttons are pressed in windows, icons, titles, and frames.
The Menus section gives any user-defined menus (containing functions
to be invoked or commands to be executed).
Variable names and keywords are case-insensitive. Strings must be
surrounded by double quote characters (e.g., "blue") and are case-
sensitive. A sharp sign (#) outside of a string causes the remainder
of the line in which the character appears to be treated as a comment.
M4 PREPROCESSING
A powerful feature of vtwm as of version 5.4.6 is that it can use
m4(1) to pre-process it's startup files. When vtwm is started with
-m, it will open a file for input as described above, but will process
that file through m4 before parsing it. So, you can use m4 macros to
perform operations at runtime. This makes it very easy to work when
you use many different displays, etc. For example, if you want to set
the lower right section of the screen to be your IconRegion, you can
use m4 directives and pre-defined symbols to calculate the region you
want:
define(IRegion, translit(eval(WIDTH/3)*eval(HEIGHT/2)+eval(WIDTH-WIDTH/3)-0, *, x))
IconRegion "IRegion" SOUTH EAST 75 25
will define the lower half, and right-hand third of the screen. The
symbols WIDTH and HEIGHT are calculated by vtwm for m4 to use. The
following symbols are pre-defined by vtwm:
SERVERHOST This variable is set to the name of the machine that is
running the X server.
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CLIENTHOST The machine that is running the X clients (i.e.,
"vtwm", "xterm", etc.).
HOSTNAME The canonical hostname running the clients (i.e., a
fully-qualified version of CLIENTHOST).
USER The name of the user running the program. Gotten from
the environment.
HOME The user's home directory. Gotten from the
environment.
VERSION The X major protocol version. As seen by
ProtocolVersion().
REVISION The X minor protocol revision. As seen by
ProtocolRevision().
VENDOR The vendor of your X server (i.e., "MIT X Consortium").
RELEASE The release number of your X server. For MIT X11R5,
this is "5".
WIDTH The width of your display in pixels.
HEIGHT The height of your display in pixels.
X_RESOLUTION The X resolution of your display in pixels per meter.
Y_RESOLUTION The Y resolution of your display in pixels per meter.
PLANES The number of bit planes your display supports in the
default root window.
BITS_PER_RGB The number of significant bits in an RGB color. (log
base 2 of the number of distinct colors that can be
created. This is often different from the number of
colors that can be displayed at once.)
TWM_TYPE Tells which twm derivative is running. It will always
be set to "vtwm" in this program. This is useful for
protecting parts of your startup file that twm proper
won't understand (like VirtualDesktop) so that it is
still usable with other twm-based programs.
CLASS Your visual class. Will return one of "StaticGray",
"GrayScale", "StaticColor", "PseudoColor", "TrueColor",
"DirectColor", or, if it cannot determine what you
have, "NonStandard".
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COLOR This will be either "Yes" or "No". This is just a
wrapper around the above definition. Returns "Yes" on
"*Color", and "No" on "StaticGray" and "GrayScale".
XPM This will be either "Yes" or "No" depending on whether
support for pixmap image files has been compiled in.
SOUND This will be either "Yes" or "No" depending on whether
support for sound has been compiled in.
REGEX This will be either "Yes" or "No" depending on whether
support for regular expressions ("RE"s) has been
compiled in.
Note that any symbols passed to m4 on the command line that conflict
with these will not be anticipated or dealt with by vtwm; you will be
at the mercy of your particular m4.
Note also that if vtwm's preparation for executing m4 fails, the
startup file will be processed normally, and will choke on the first
m4 macro encountered.
Finally, be aware that m4 preprocessing can cause things often found
in startup files to break. For example, quotes and backquotes in
shell commands will be badly messed up by m4's own internal quoting
mechanism. This particular problem can be worked around by placing
changequote(,) at the top of your startup file.
VARIABLES
Many of the aspects of vtwm's user interface are controlled by
variables that may be set in the user's startup file. Some of the
options are enabled or disabled simply by the presence of a particular
keyword. Other options require keywords, numbers, strings, or lists
of all of these.
Lists are surrounded by braces and are usually separated by whitespace
or a newline. For example:
AutoRaise { "emacs" "VTWM*" "x*clock" "Xmh" "XTerm" }
or
AutoRaise
{
"emacs"
"VTWM*"
"x*clock"
"Xmh"
"XTerm"
}
When a variable containing a list of strings representing windows is
searched (e.g., to determine whether or not to enable autoraise as
shown above), a string must be a case-sensitive match to the window's
name (given by the WM_NAME window property), or the resource or class
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names (both given by the WM_CLASS window property). The preceding
example would enable autoraise on windows named "emacs", all vtwm-
specific windows, any clocks installed whose name starts with an 'x'
(asclock will not autoraise), and all xmh and xterm windows (which are
of class "XTerm" and "Xmh", respectively). See the WILDCARDS section
for details on what the asterisks ('*') mean.
String arguments that are interpreted as filenames (see the Pixmaps,
Cursors, and IconDirectory variables below) will prepend the user's
directory (specified by the HOME environment variable) if the first
character is a tilde (~). If, instead, the first character is a colon
(:), the name is assumed to refer to one of the internal bitmaps that
are used to create the default 2D titlebar buttons: :xlogo and
:delete, :iconify and :dot, :resize, :menu, :darrow, :rarrow, and
:question (used for non-existent bitmap files). Finally, if the first
five characters are ":xpm:", the name is assumed to refer to one of
the internal pixmaps that are used to create the default 3D titlebar
buttons: :xpm:dot, :xpm:resize, :xpm:menu, :xpm:zoom, :xpm:bar,
:xpm:darrow, and :xpm:rarrow.
The following variables may be specified at the top of a vtwm startup
file. Lists of Window name prefix strings are indicated by win-list.
Optional arguments are shown in square brackets:
AppletRegion geomstr vgrav hgrav hgrid vgrid { win-list }
This variable specifies an area on the root window in which the
windows listed in win-list are placed. The geomstr is a quoted
string containing a standard geometry specification for the
region size and location. If more than one AppletRegion is
specified, windows will be put into succeeding regions that have
the window listed when the first is full. The vgrav argument
should be either North or South and is used to control whether
windows are first filled in from the top or bottom of the region.
Similarly, the hgrav argument should be either East or West and
is used to control whether windows should be filled in from the
left or right. Windows are laid out in a grid with cells hgrid
pixels wide and vgrid pixels high. Note that the smallest
dimension of the region must be at least the size of the largest
window in it, including frame and titlebar, in the same
direction. This variable is intended to simplify management of
all those little tool applications like xcb(1), xbiff(1),
xload(1), etc. that are used regularly.
AutoPan N
This variable allows the screen to automatically pan by N% of
a real screen when the mouse approaches the edge of the
screen. The pan will be in the direction of the edge
approached. On reasonably fast machines a value of 5 is nice.
AutoPanBorderWidth pixels
If AutoPan is turned on, when the mouse goes within the
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specified number of pixels of the real screen's border, the
screen is panned. The default value is 5.
AutoPanExtraWarp pixels
If AutoPan is turned on and NaturalAutopanBehavior turned off,
this variable specifies how far, in pixels, you want the mouse
to move away from the inner edge of the autopan border when
autopanning. The default value is 2 pixels.
AutoPanWarpWithRespectToRealScreen N
With this option turned on, the pointer is warped by N% as
many pixels on the real screen as the screen is scrolled, or
by
(AutoPanBorderWidth + AutoPanExtraWarp)
pixels, whichever is greater. See NaturalAutopanBehavior for
a more thorough discussion of this and some recommended
settings.
AutoRaise [{ win-list }]
This variable specifies a list of windows (all windows if the
list is defaulted) to be automatically raised whenever the
pointer has come to rest in a window for the amount of time
specified by the RaiseDelay variable. This action can be
interactively enabled or disabled on individual windows using
the function f.autoraise.
AutoRaiseDelay milliseconds
For windows that are to be automatically raised when the
pointer enters (see the AutoRaise variable and the f.autoraise
function) this variable specifies the length of time the
pointer should rest in the window before it is raised. The
default is 0 milliseconds. but 400 milliseconds works well
too.
AutoRelativeResize
This variable indicates that dragging out a window size
(either when initially sizing the window with pointer Button2
or when resizing it) should not wait until the pointer has
crossed the window edges. Instead, moving the pointer
automatically causes the nearest edge or edges to move by the
same amount. This allows the resizing windows that extend off
the edge of the screen. If the pointer is in the center of
the window, or if the resize is begun by pressing a
titlebutton, vtwm will still wait for the pointer to cross a
window edge (to prevent accidents). This option is
particularly useful for people who like the press-drag-release
method of sweeping out window sizes.
BeNiceToColormap
This variable specifies that stippled lines be used for the
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bevel colors when any of the 3D variables are set, to conserve
on colormap allocations.
BorderBevelWidth pixels
Tells vtwm to use 3D-looking window borders. It specifies the
width in pixels of the bevel. The color of the 3D border is
BorderTileBackground, and if NoHighlight is not selected, the
border of the Focus window is BorderColor. The default is 0.
BorderColor string [{ wincolorlist }]
This variable specifies the default color of the border to be
placed around all non-iconified windows, and may only be given
within a Color or Monochrome list. The optional wincolorlist
specifies a list of window and color name pairs for specifying
particular border colors for different types of windows. For
example:
BorderColor "gray50"
{
"XTerm" "red"
"xmh" "green"
}
The default is "black".
BorderTileBackground string [{ wincolorlist }]
This variable specifies the default background color in the
gray pattern used in unhighlighted borders (only if
NoHighlight hasn't been set), and may only be given within a
Color or Monochrome list. The optional wincolorlist allows
per-window colors to be specified. The default is "white".
BorderTileForeground string [{ wincolorlist }]
This variable specifies the default foreground color in the
gray pattern used in unhighlighted borders (only if
NoHighlight hasn't been set), and may only be given within a
Color or Monochrome list. The optional wincolorlist allows
per-window colors to be specified. The default is "black".
BorderWidth pixels
This variable specifies the width in pixels of the border
surrounding all client window frames if ClientBorderWidth has
not been specified. This value is also used to set the border
size of windows created by vtwm (such as the icon manager).
The default is 2.
ButtonBevelWidth pixels
Tells vtwm to use 3D-looking window buttons. It specifies the
width in pixels of the bevel. The default is 0.
ButtonIndent pixels
This variable specifies the amount by which titlebuttons
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should be indented on all sides. Positive values cause the
buttons to be smaller than the window text and highlight area
so that they stand out. Setting this and the
TitleButtonBorderWidth variables to 0 makes titlebuttons be as
tall and wide as possible. The default is 1.
ButtonColorIsFrame
This variable specifies that the titlebar buttons will be the
same color as the window frame.
ClearBevelContrast contrast
Indicates to vtwm how to calculate the clear bevel color for
3D items. The value is a compressed to the range 0 and 100.
The formula used is:
clear.{RGB} = (65535 - color.{RGB}) * (contrast / 100).
ClientBorderWidth
This variable indicates that border width of a window's frame
should be set to the initial border width of the window,
rather than to the value of BorderWidth.
Color { colors-list }
This variable specifies a list of color assignments to be made
if the default display is capable of displaying more than
simple black and white. The colors-list is made up of the
following color variables and their values: DefaultBackground,
DefaultForeground, MenuBackground, MenuForeground,
MenuTitleBackground, MenuTitleForeground, and MenuShadowColor.
The following color variables may also be given a list of
window and color name pairs to allow per-window colors to be
specified (see BorderColor for details): BorderColor,
DesktopDisplayForeground, DesktopDisplayBackground,
RealScreenForeground, RealScreenBackground, VirtualForeground,
VirtualBackground, DekstopDisplayBorder, IconManagerHighlight,
BorderTitleBackground, BorderTitleForeground, TitleBackground,
TitleForeground, IconBackground, IconForeground,
IconBorderColor, IconManagerBackground, and
IconManagerForeground. For example:
Color
{
MenuBackground "gray50"
MenuForeground "blue"
BorderColor "red"
{
"XTerm" "yellow"
}
TitleForeground "yellow"
TitleBackground "blue"
}
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All of these color variables may also be specified for the
Monochrome variable, allowing the same initialization file to
be used on both color and monochrome displays.
ConstrainedMoveTime milliseconds
This variable specifies the length of time between button
clicks needed to begin a constrained move operation. Double
clicking within this amount of time when invoking f.move will
cause the window only to be moved in a horizontal or vertical
direction. Setting this value to 0 will disable constrained
moves. The default is 400 milliseconds.
Cursors { cursor-list }
This variable specifies the glyphs that vtwm should use for
various pointer cursors. Each cursor may be defined either
from the cursor font or from two bitmap files. Shapes from
the cursor font may be specified directly as:
cursorname "string"
where cursorname is one of the cursor names listed below, and
string is the name of a glyph as found in the file
/usr/include/X11/cursorfont.h (without the "XC_" prefix). If
the cursor is to be defined from bitmap files, the following
syntax is used instead:
cursorname "image" "mask"
The image and mask strings specify the names of files
containing the glyph image and mask in bitmap(1) form. The
bitmap files are located in the same manner as icon bitmap
files. The following example shows the default cursor
definitions:
Cursors
{
Frame "top_left_arrow"
Title "top_left_arrow"
Icon "top_left_arrow"
IconMgr "top_left_arrow"
Move "fleur"
Resize "fleur"
Menu "sb_left_arrow"
Button "hand2"
Wait "watch"
Select "dot"
Destroy "pirate"
Door "exchange"
Virtual "rtl_logo"
Desktop "dotbox"
}
DarkBevelContrast contrast
Indicates to vtwm has to calculate the dark bevel color for 3D
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items. The value is a comprised between 0 and 100. The
formula used is :
dark.{RGB} = color.{RGB} * ((100 - contrast) / 100),
DecorateTransients
This variable indicates that transient windows (those
containing a WM_TRANSIENT_FOR property) should have titlebars.
By default, transients are not reparented.
DefaultBackground string
This variable specifies the background color to be used for
sizing and information windows. The default is "white".
DefaultForeground string
This variable specifies the foreground color to be used for
sizing and information windows. The default is "black".
DeiconifyToScreen
When deiconifying a window, by default, the window will be
placed at its previous geometry in the virtual desktop. With
this variable set, vtwm ensures that the window will be placed
somewhere on the real screen.
DesktopDisplayBackground color [{ win-list }]
This variable sets the backgrounds of the little windows
inside the Virtual Desktop window, AND it sets the backgrounds
of menu entries in the VTWM Windows menu -- unless you specify
OldFashionedVtwmWindowsMenu. The default color is used for
the default background of windows not named in the list. The
optional win-list is a list of window names and colors, for
example:
DesktopDisplayBackground "purple"
{
"zwgc" "green"
}
DesktopDisplayBorder color [{ win-list }]
This variable sets the border color in the virtual desktop
representation window to color. The win-list is in the same
format as TitleForeground and other similar variables.
DesktopDisplayBorder "black"
{
"zwgc" "green"
}
DesktopDisplayForeground color [{ win-list }]
If both this and the VirtualDesktopFont variable are set, then
the names of the windows will be written in the window
representations shown in the desktop. This entry also sets
foreground colors for entries in the VTWM Windows menu. The
format of this variable is the same as that used for
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DesktopDisplayBackground.
DontDeiconifyTransients
This variable sees that iconified transient windows of an
iconified parent window aren't deiconified when that parent
is, thus preserving their state. Default behavior is to
deiconify all transient subwindows of the ancestor window when
it is deiconified.
DontIconifyByUnmapping { win-list }
This variable specifies a list of windows that should not be
iconified by simply unmapping the window (as would be the case
if IconifyByUnmapping had been set). This is frequently used
to force some windows to be treated as icons while other
windows are handled by the icon manager.
DontInterpolateTitles
This variable specifies a modification to the
InterpolateMenuColors behavior. It will cause vtwm to not
apply color interpolation to any titles in the middle of the
menu. So, f.title strings that appear in the middle of the
menu (ie, without a specific color defined for them) will
inherit the default MenuTitle foreground and background
colors.
DontMoveOff
This variable indicates that windows should not be allowed to
be moved off the screen. It can be overridden by the
f.forcemove function.
DontShowInDisplay { list }
This variable specifies a list of clients that should not
appear in the desktop display. It is useful to define as a
minimum the list:
DontShowInDisplay
{
"VTWM Desktop"
"VTWM Door"
}
DontShowInTwmWindows { list }
DontShowInVtwmWindows { list }
These variables specify a list of clients that should not
appear in the VTWM Windows menu.
DontSqueezeTitle [{ win-list }]
This variable indicates that titlebars should not be squeezed
to their minimum size as described under SqueezeTitle below.
If the optional window list is supplied, only those windows
will be prevented from being squeezed.
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DoorBackground color [{ door-list }]
Specifies background colors of doors.
DoorBevelWidth pixels
Tells vtwm to use 3D-looking doors. It specifies the width in
pixels of the bevel. The default is 0.
DoorFont string
This variable specifies the font to be used for text in doors.
This must be set in order to see the doors.
DoorForeground color [{ door-list }]
Specifies foreground colors of doors.
Doors { door-list }
This variable is used to create doors, which are teleports.
Each item in the door-list has the following format:
"winname" "location" "jumpTo"
Windows with the name winname appear with geometry and
position as defined in location, and warp the user to jumpTo
when f.enterdoor is executed inside them. Doors have a class
of "VTWM Door".
EnhancedExecResources
By default, f.exec variables behaved as they always did in
vtwm. You would have to append " &" to all of your variables
in order to execute them without blocking the window manager.
With this option turned on, you don't have to; vtwm will
automatically append " &" to the f.exec variable unless the
last non-space character is either '&' or (in case you still
want a command to block the window manager) ';'.
For example, in a variable such as:
f.exec "foo; bar; baz"
the window manager will be blocked so that "foo" and "bar" can
be executed; "baz" is the only command which will NOT block
the window manager. If you want all these commands to be
backgrounded, try the following:
f.exec "{ foo; bar; baz }" # note that "{" and "}"
# are shell keywords; they
# MUST be separated by
# spaces.
If you still want a command to block the window manager, you
would use:
f.exec "xset fp rehash;" # vtwm will not append " &"
# because ';' is the last
# non-space character.
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
This behavior was inspired by that of vuewm(1), Hewlett-
Packard's workspace implementation of mwm(1).
FixManagedVirtualGeometries
FixTransientVirtualGeometries
These are bug workarounds that *should* fix the way most
windows' virtual geometries are handled, i.e., they should be
on the real screen if the parent windows are on the real
screen, no matter where the virtual desktop is (xv(1) is one
example of how these don't work).
ForceIcons
This variable indicates that icon image files specified in the
Icons variable should override any client-supplied images.
FramePadding pixels
This variable specifies the distance between the titlebar
decorations (the button and text) and the window frame. The
default is 2 pixels.
IconBackground string [{ win-list }]
This variable specifies the background color of icons, and may
only be specified inside of a Color or Monochrome list. The
optional win-list is a list of window names and colors so that
per-window colors may be specified. See the BorderColor
variable for a complete description of the win-list. The
default is "white".
IconBevelWidth pixels
Tells vtwm to use 3D-looking icons, in which case the default
value of IconBorderWidth is set to 0. It specifies the width
in pixels of the bevel. The default is 0.
IconBorderColor string [{ win-list }]
This variable specifies the color of the border used for icon
windows, and may only be specified inside of a Color or
Monochrome list. The optional win-list is a list of window
names and colors so that per-window colors may be specified.
See the BorderColor variable for a complete description of the
win-list. The default is "black".
IconBorderWidth pixels
This variable specifies the width in pixels of the border
surrounding icon windows. The default is 2.
IconDirectory string
This variable specifies the directory that should be searched
if an image file cannot be found in any of the directories in
the bitmapFilePath variable.
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
IconFont string
This variable specifies the font to be used to display icon
names within icons. The default is "variable".
IconForeground string [{ win-list }]
This variable specifies the foreground color to be used when
displaying icons, and may only be specified inside of a Color
or Monochrome list. The optional win-list is a list of window
names and colors so that per-window colors may be specified.
See the BorderColor variable for a complete description of the
win-list. The default is "black".
IconifyByUnmapping [{ win-list }]
This variable indicates that windows should be iconified by
being unmapped without trying to map any icons. If the
optional win-list is provided, only those windows will be
iconified by simply unmapping. Windows that have both this
and the IconManagerDontShow options set may not be accessible
unless the user has provided bindings to the warp functions
(f.warp and the like) while WarpUnmapped is set, or by the
VTWM Windows menu.
IconManagerBackground string [{ win-list }]
This variable specifies the background color to use for icon
manager entries, and may only be specified inside of a Color
or Monochrome list. The optional win-list is a list of window
names and colors so that per-window colors may be specified.
See the BorderColor variable for a complete description of the
win-list. The default is "white".
IconManagerBevelWidth pixels
Tells vtwm to use 3D-looking icon manager entries. It
specifies the width in pixels of their bevels. The default is
0.
IconManagerDontShow [{ win-list }]
This variable indicates that the icon manager should not
display any windows. If the optional win-list is given, only
those windows will not be displayed. This variable is used to
prevent windows that are rarely iconified (such as xclock or
xload) from taking up space in the icon manager.
IconManagerFont string
This variable specifies the font to be used when displaying
icon manager entries. The default is "variable".
IconManagerForeground string [{ win-list }]
This variable specifies the foreground color to be used when
displaying icon manager entries, and may only be specified
inside of a Color or Monochrome list. The optional win-list
is a list of window names and colors so that per-window colors
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
may be specified. See the BorderColor variable for a complete
description of the win-list. The default is "black".
IconManagerGeometry string [ columns ]
This variable specifies the geometry of the icon manager
window. The string argument is standard geometry
specification that indicates the initial full size of the icon
manager. The icon manager window is then broken into columns
pieces and scaled according to the number of entries in the
icon manager. Extra entries are wrapped to form additional
rows. The default number of columns is 1.
IconManagerHighlight string [{ win-list }]
This variable specifies the border color to be used when
highlighting the icon manager entry that currently has the
focus, and can only be specified inside of a Color or
Monochrome list. The optional win-list is a list of window
names and colors so that per-window colors may be specified.
See the BorderColor variable for a complete description of the
win-list. The default is "black".
IconManagers { iconmgr-list }
This variable specifies a list of icon managers to create.
Each item in the iconmgr-list has the following format:
"winname" ["iconname"] "geometry" columns
where winname is the name of the windows that should be put
into this icon manager, iconname is the name of that icon
manager window's icon, geometry is a standard geometry
specification, and columns is the number of columns in this
icon manager as described in IconManagerGeometry. For
example:
IconManagers
{
"XTerm" "300x5+800+5" 5
"myhost" "400x5+100+5" 2
}
Clients whose name or class is "XTerm" will have an entry
created in the "XTerm" icon manager. Clients whose name was
"myhost" would be put into the "myhost" icon manager.
IconManagerShow { win-list }
This variable specifies a list of windows that should appear
in the icon manager. When used in conjunction with the
IconManagerDontShow variable, only the windows in this list
will be shown in the icon manager.
IconRegion geomstr vgrav hgrav hgrid vgrid
This variable specifies an area on the root window in which
icons are placed if no specific icon location is provided by
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
the client. The geomstr is a quoted string containing a
standard geometry specification for the region size and
location. If more than one IconRegion line is given, icons
will be put into the succeeding regions when the first is
full. The vgrav argument should be either North or South and
is used to control whether icons are first filled in from the
top or bottom of the region. Similarly, the hgrav argument
should be either East or West and is used to control whether
icons should be filled in from the left or right. Icons are
laid out in a grid with cells hgrid pixels wide and vgrid
pixels high. Note that the smallest dimension of the region
must be at least the size of the largest icon in it in the
same direction. Note also that many applications change their
icon name as they run, and no provision is made to reformat
the icon regions if any icon changes size accordingly.
Icons { win-list }
This variable specifies a list of window names and the image
filenames that should be used as their icons. For example:
Icons
{
"XTerm" "xterm.icon"
"xfd" "xfd_icon"
}
Windows that match "XTerm" and would not be iconified by
unmapping, and would try to use the icon image in the file
"xterm.icon". If ForceIcons is specified, this image will be
used even if the client has requested its own icon image.
InfoBevelWidth pixels
Tells vtwm to use 3D-looking identify, move and resize
windows. It specifies the width in pixels of the bevel. The
default is 0.
InfoFont string
This variable specifies the font to be used for in the
identify window. The default is "fixed".
InterpolateMenuColors
This variable indicates that menu entry colors should be
interpolated between entry specified colors. In the example
below:
Menu "mymenu"
{
"Title" ("black":"red") f.title
"entry1" f.nop
"entry2" f.nop
"entry3" ("white":"green") f.nop
"entry4" f.nop
"entry5" ("red":"white") f.nop
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
}
the foreground colors for "entry1" and "entry2" will be
interpolated between black and white, and the background
colors between red and green. Similarly, the foreground for
"entry4" will be half-way between white and red, and the
background will be half-way between green and white.
LessRandomZoomZoom
With this option turned on, this makes random zooms a bit less
"random" and a bit more visible. This might make a better
visual bell, depending on your personal taste.
MakeTitle { win-list }
This variable specifies a list of windows on which a titlebar
should be placed and is used to request titles on specific
windows when NoTitle has been set.
MaxWindowSize string
This variable specifies a geometry in which the width and
height give the maximum size for a given window. This is
typically used to restrict windows to the size of the screen.
The default is "30000x30000".
MenuBackground string
This variable specifies the background color used for menus,
and can only be specified inside of a Color or Monochrome
list. The default is "white".
MenuBevelWidth pixels
Tells vtwm to use 3D-looking menus. It specifies the width in
pixels of the bevel. The default is 0.
MenuFont string
This variable specifies the font to use when displaying menus.
The default is "variable".
MenuForeground string
This variable specifies the foreground color used for menus,
and can only be specified inside of a Color or Monochrome
list. The default is "black".
MenuScrollBorderWidth pixels
When the contents of a menu would make it taller than the
display, moving the pointer within pixels of the top or bottom
of the menu causes it to scroll the entries. The default
value is 2.
MenuScrollJump entries
This variable specifies the number of entries to scroll when
the pointer is moved within the area defined by
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
MenuScrollBorderWidth. The default is 3 entries.
MenuShadowColor string
This variable specifies the color of the shadow behind pull-
down menus and can only be specified inside of a Color or
Monochrome list. The default is "black".
MenuTitleBackground string
This variable specifies the background color for f.title
entries in menus, and can only be specified inside of a Color
or Monochrome list. The default is "white".
MenuTitleFont string
This variable specifies the font to be used in menu titles.
MenuTitleForeground string
This variable specifies the foreground color for f.title
entries in menus and can only be specified inside of a Color
or Monochrome list. The default is "black".
Monochrome { colors }
This variable specifies a list of color assignments that
should be made if the screen has a depth of 1. See the
description of Colors.
MoveDelta pixels
This variable specifies the number of pixels the pointer must
move before the f.move and f.resize functions and initial menu
highlighting starts working. See also the f.deltastop
function. The default is 0 pixels.
NailedAbove
This variable causes nailed windows to be physically above
non-nailed windows. The f.nailedabove function can be used to
toggle this setting.
NailedDown { list }
This variable gives a list of clients that are nailed
initially. It is usual to provide as a minimum the list:
NailedDown
{
"VTWM Desktop"
"VTWM Door"
"VTWM Icon Manager"
}
NaturalAutopanBehavior
By default, when autopanning, the pointer is warped by only
(AutoPanBorderWidth + AutoPanExtraWarp)
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
pixels on the real screen. With this option turned on, the
pointer is warped on the real screen by as many pixels as the
screen is scrolled, or the above value, whichever is greater.
Thus, the pointer does not normally move very much (only by
AutoPanExtraWarp) in relation to the virtual desktop.
This works really well on faster X terminals and workstations,
although for slower ones, you may want to use the following:
AutoPanWarpWithRespectToRealScreen 50
to achieve a similar effect. Setting NaturalAutopanBehavior
has the exact same effect as using the variable
AutoPanWarpWithRespectToRealScreen 100
NoBackingStore
This variable indicates that vtwm's windows should not request
backing store to minimize repainting. This is typically used
with servers that can repaint faster than they can handle
backing store.
NoBorder [{ win-list }]
This variable indicates that windows should not have borders.
If the optional win-list is given, only those windows will not
have borders.
NoCaseSensitive
This variable indicates that case should be ignored when
sorting icon names in an icon manager. This option is
typically used with applications that capitalize the first
letter of their icon name.
NoDefaultMouseOrKeyboardBindings
This variable indicates that vtwm should not supply the
default mouse and keyboard bindings. This option should only
be used if the startup file contains a completely new set of
mouse and keyboard bindings and definitions. See also
NoDefaults.
NoDefaults
This variable indicates that vtwm should not supply the
default titlebuttons and bindings. This option should only be
used if the startup file contains a completely new set of
bindings and definitions. This function has the effect of
setting both NoDefaultMouseOrKeyboardBindings and
NoDefaultTitleButtons.
NoDefaultTitleButtons
This variable indicates that vtwm should not supply the
default titlebuttons. This option should only be used if the
startup file contains a completely new set of titlebutton
definitions. See also NoDefaults.
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
NoGrabServer
This variable indicates that vtwm should not grab the server
when popping up menus and moving or resizing windows.
NoHighlight [{ win-list }]
This variable indicates that borders should not be highlighted
to track the location of the pointer. If the optional win-
list is given, highlighting will only be disabled for those
windows. When the border is highlighted, it will be drawn in
the current BorderColor. When the border is not highlighted,
it will be stippled with an gray pattern using the current
BorderTileForeground and BorderTileBackground colors.
NoIconManagerFocus
This variable indicates that vtwm should not set focus to
windows corresponding to their entries in an icon manager.
Normally, vtwm sets the focus so that events from an icon
manager are delivered to the application. Typically, this is
set to facilitate icon manager bindings that would otherwise
be delivered to the application.
NoIconManagerHighlight
This variable indicates that icon manager entries will not be
highlighted to track the location of the pointer. This is
independant of the NoHighlight variable.
NoIconManagers
This variable indicates that no icon manager should be
created.
NoIconifyIconManagers
This variable indicates that no icon manager should be
iconified.
NoMenuShadows
This variable indicates that menus should not have drop
shadows drawn behind them. This is typically used with slower
servers since it speeds up menu drawing at the expense of
making the menu slightly harder to read.
NoOpaqueMove [{ win-list }]
NoOpaqueResize [{ win-list }]
These variables indicate that the f.move and f.resize
functions should change just a window's outline. If the
optional win-list is given, only those windows will be
affected. These are usually used to narrow the scope of
"global" OpaqueMove and OpaqueResize variables.
NoPrettyTitles
If you don't mind long titles butting up against the right
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
edge of short titlebars and icon managers. Disables the
default behavior of using ellipses to indicate a truncated
title.
NoRaiseOnDeiconify
This variable indicates that windows that are deiconified
should not be raised.
NoRaiseOnMove
This variable indicates that windows should not be raised when
moved. This is typically used to allow windows to slide
underneath each other.
NoRaiseOnResize
This variable indicates that windows should not be raised when
resized. This is typically used to allow windows to be
resized underneath each other.
NoRaiseOnWarp
This variable indicates that windows should not be raised when
the pointer is warped to them with the warp functions (f.warp
and the like) is set. If this option is set, warping to an
occluded window may result in the pointer ending up in the
occluding window instead the desired window when WarpUnmapped
is not set.
NoSaveUnders
This variable indicates that menus should not request save-
unders to minimize window repainting following menu selection.
It is typically used with displays that can repaint faster
than they can handle save-unders.
NoStackMode [{ win-list }]
This variable indicates that client window requests to change
stacking order should be ignored. If the optional win-list is
given, only requests on those windows will be ignored. This
is typically used to prevent applications from relentlessly
popping themselves to the front of the window stack.
NoTitle [{ win-list }]
This variable indicates that windows should not have
titlebars. If the optional win-list is given, only those
windows will not have titlebars. MakeTitle may be used with
this option to force titlebars to be put on specific windows.
NoTitleFocus
This variable indicates that vtwm should not set keyboard
input focus to each window as it is entered. Normally, vtwm
sets the focus so that focus and key events from the titlebar
and icon managers are delivered to the application. If the
pointer is moved quickly and vtwm is slow to respond, input
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
can be directed to the old window instead of the new. This
option is typically used to prevent this "input lag" and to
work around bugs in older applications that have problems with
focus events.
NoTitleHighlight [{ win-list }]
This variable indicates that the highlight area of the
titlebar, which is used to indicate the window that currently
has the input focus, should not be displayed. If the optional
win-list is given, only those windows will not have highlight
areas. This and the SqueezeTitle options can be set to
substantially reduce the amount of screen space required by
titlebars.
NotVirtualGeometries
This variable indicates that vtwm should assume that user
geometries should be relative to the current virtual window,
as opposed to absolute. If you set this, then "xterm
-geometry +20+20" specifies a position in the current view;
otherwise, and by default, it would specify a position in the
top-left view.
OldFashionedTwmWindowsMenu
OldFashionedVtwmWindowsMenu
By default, the VTWM Windows menu will use the same colors
that you see in the panner. This variable disables that
behavior.
OpaqueMove [{ win-list }]
OpaqueResize [{ win-list }]
These variables indicate that the f.move and f.resize
functions should actually change the window instead of just an
outline so that the user can immediately see what the window
will look like. If the optional win-list is given, only those
windows will be affected "opaquely". These options are
typically used on fast systems (particularly when NoGrabServer
is set).
PanDistanceX N
PanDistanceY N
These variables define a grid of screens for the virtual
desktop, expressed as N% of a real screen. When the f.snap
function is called, the real screen will be moved to the
closest grid location. The (mis)naming of these variables is
for historical reasons.
PanResistance milliseconds
This variable indicates how hard it should be to pan to an
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
adjacent virtual screen. It specifies how long the pointer
must be within AutoPanBorderWidth pixels of the real screen's
edge. Values equal to 0 or greater than 10000 disables this
feature. The default is 0 milliseconds.
PauseOnExit N
PauseOnQuit N
These variables define a delay on exit, expressed in seconds.
They allow the (vtwm stop) and f.quit sounds time to play
before the connection to rplayd(8) is closed.
Pixmaps { pixmaps }
This variable specifies a list of image filenames that define
the appearance of various windows. Each entry is a keyword
indicating the window to set, followed by a string giving the
name of the image file. The following windows may be
specified thus:
Pixmaps
{
TitleHighlight "gray1"
RealScreenPixmap "something"
VirtualBackgroundPixmap "something else"
}
The default for TitleHighlight is to use an even stipple
pattern.
PrettyZoom
If Zoom is turned on, this makes the associated animation look
just a little nicer, depending on your personal taste. This
makes the zoom slower, however, so you may have to decrease
the value of the Zoom variable.
RaiseDelay milliseconds
For windows that are to be automatically raised when the
pointer enters (see the AutoRaise variable and the f.autoraise
function) this variable specifies the length of time the
pointer should rest in the window before it is raised. The
default is 0 milliseconds. 400 milliseconds works well.
RandomPlacement
This variable indicates that windows with no specified
geometry should be placed in a pseudo-random location instead
of having the user drag an outline (or the window itself if
the OpaqueMove variable is set) to the preferred location.
RealScreenBackground string
See RealScreenForeground.
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
RealScreenBorderWidth pixels
This value specifies the border width of the RealScreen window
(see RealScreenForeground). The default value is 0 pixels.
RealScreenForeground string
Inside what vtwm calls the virtual desktop window, but which
we might call the "panner", is a little window that shows
where the physical screen is located in virtual space. The
vtwm source code calls this little window the RealScreen. By
default, it has no border, and can be distinguished from the
normal backdrop of the panner only by its color or image. Its
foreground color has no meaning unless you give it an image.
(It can be given a border with RealScreenBorderWidth.)
RealScreenPixmap string
Names an image file used to decorate the RealScreen window. A
sample is provided, nestedsqu.xbm, but your mileage may vary
as the size of your screen varies! It is easy to find out the
size of this window and to create any image file of type
bitmap(1) or pixmap(1) for it; that is the recommended
procedure.
ResizeFont string
This variable specifies the font to be used for in the
dimensions window when resizing windows. The default is
"fixed".
ResizeRegion location
This variable specifies the area on the screen to display the
resize window. The location should be one of NorthWest,
NorthEast, SouthWest, SouthEast, or Centered.
RestartPreviousState
This variable indicates that vtwm should attempt to use the
WM_STATE property on client windows to tell which windows
should be iconified and which should be left visible. This is
typically used to try to regenerate the state that the screen
was in before the previous window manager was shutdown.
RightHandSidePulldownMenus
By default, pull-down menus start from the left-to-right
center of their parent pull-down menus (if they have them).
With this option turned on, they will start closer to the
right-hand side of the parent menu. This behavior was
inspired by that exhibited by pull-down menus in other GUIs.
SaveColor { colors-list }
This variable indicates a list of color assignments to be
stored as pixel values in the root window property
_MIT_PRIORITY_COLORS. Clients may elect to preserve these
values when installing their own colormap. Note that use of
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
this mechanism is a way an for application to avoid the
"technicolor" problem, whereby useful screen objects such as
window borders and titlebars disappear when a programs custom
colors are installed by the window manager. For example:
SaveColor
{
BorderColor
TitleBackground
TitleForeground
"red"
"green"
"blue"
}
This would place on the root window 3 pixel values for borders
and titlebars, as well as the three color strings, all taken
from the default colormap.
ShallowReliefWindowButton
This indicates to vtwm that 3D window titlebar buttons (and
the title highlight bar if SunkFocusWindowTitle is used)
should be rendered with a "flatter" appearance.
ShowIconManager
This variable indicates that the icon manager window should be
displayed when vtwm is started. It can always be brought up
using the f.showiconmgr function.
SnapRealScreen
This variable causes the real screen to snap to a grid defined
in PanDistanceX and PanDistanceY increments whenever the
representation moves. The f.snaprealscreen function can be
used to toggle this setting.
SortIconManager
This variable indicates that entries in the icon manager
should be sorted alphabetically rather than by simply
appending new windows to the end.
SoundHost string
This variable specifies what machine (by its TCP/IP hostname)
is running the rplayd(8) daemon. If not specified, the local
machine is tried. If rplayd(8) cannot be accessed, sound will
be toggled off.
Sounds { sound-list }
This variable is a list of identifiers and associated sound
files. It contains entries of the form:
"identifier" "soundfile" [volume]
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
where identifier is any function described in the BINDINGS
section except f.sounds and f.separator, as well as the
following event identifiers: (vtwm start), (vtwm stop),
(client map), (client unmap), (menu map), (menu unmap), (info
unmap), (autopan event), and (bell event). The soundfile is
the full pathname of the sound file to play for the associated
identifier, and volume sets the volume for which to play that
sound (see also SoundVolume). Note that the list entries must
be quoted:
Sounds
{
"(vtwm start)" "/usr/local/share/sound/wowee.wav"
"(vtwm stop)" "/usr/local/share/sound/seeya.wav"
"f.exec" "/usr/local/share/sound/click.au" 50
"(client map)" "/usr/local/share/sound/ping.au" 50
"f.delete" "/usr/local/share/sound/doh1.wav"
"f.deletedoor" "/usr/local/share/sound/doh2.wav"
"f.destroy" "/usr/local/share/sound/doh3.wav"
"(client unmap)" "/usr/local/share/sound/ping.au"
}
This example points out that some identifiers "overlap":
f.beep > (bell event) f.exec > (client map)
f.delete > (client unmap) f.menu > (menu map)
f.deletedoor > (client unmap) f.quit > (vtwm stop)
f.destroy > (client unmap) f.version = f.identify
In these cases, the function takes precedence over the event
when both would otherwise play.
SoundVolume N
This variable sets the overall volume for which to play
sounds, expressed as N% of maximum. Default is 25 (1/4
attenuation).
SqueezeTitle [{ squeeze-list }]
This variable indicates that vtwm should attempt to use the
SHAPE extension to make titlebars occupy only as much screen
space as they need, rather than extending all the way across
the top of the window. The optional squeeze-list may be used
to control the location of the squeezed titlebar along the top
of the window. It contains entries of the form:
"name" justification num denom
where name is a window name, justification is either left,
center, or right, and num and denom are numbers specifying a
ratio for the relative position about which the titlebar is
located, measured from left to right. A ratio of 0/0
indicates that the justification is absolute, A non-zero
numerator with a zero denominator indicates a pixel count, and
the justification is ignored entirely for any other ratio.
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
For example:
SqueezeTitle
{
"XTerm" left 0 0
"xterm1" left 1 3
"xterm2" right 2 3
"oclock" center 0 0
"emacs" right 0 0
}
The DontSqueezeTitle list can be used to turn off squeezing on
certain titles.
StartIconified [{ win-list }]
This variable indicates that client windows should initially
be left as icons until explicitly deiconified by the user. If
the optional win-list is given, only those windows will be
started iconic. This is useful for programs that do not
support an -iconic command line option or resource.
StaticIconPositions
This variable alters icon placement such that they will
maintain their positions on the virtual desktop when not
nailed and DeiconifyToScreen is not used. This is most
applicable when SnapRealScreen and AutoPan is used with
PanDistanceX and PanDistanceY values to simulate ctwm(1)
workspaces.
StayUpMenus
This variable alters menu interaction. By default, a menu
item is selected when a mouse button is released over it.
This variable causes menu items to be selected on the next
button press event.
StayUpOptionalMenus
This variable is similar to StayUpMenus, except that if any
menu items are selected, the menu interaction reverts to the
old behavior. For example, suppose you have the right mouse
button bound to bring up a menu with a title bar. Clicking
the right button and releasing it (over the title bar) will
bring up the menu and have it stay up until you click on a
menu item. Clicking the right button, moving the pointer to a
menu item, and releasing the right button will activate that
menu item and dismiss the menu.
Sticky { list }
A synonym for NailedDown.
StickyAbove
A synonym for NailedAbove.
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Release 5.4.6b
StrictIconManager
This variable causes icon managers to list only those windows
that are in an iconified state.
SunkFocusWindowTitle
This variable specifies that the title highlight bar of the
focus window (if exists) should be of a sunken appearance
instead of a bitmap or image. Only valid if TitleBevelWidth
is non-zero.
TitleBackground string [{ win-list }]
This variable specifies the background color used in
titlebars, and may only be specified inside of a Color or
Monochrome list. The optional win-list is a list of window
names and colors so that per-window colors may be specified.
The default is "white".
TitleBevelWidth pixels
Tells vtwm to use 3D-looking titlebars, in which case the
default values of TitleButtonBorderWidth, FramePadding,
TitlePadding and ButtonIndent are set to 0. It specifies the
width in pixels of the bevel. The default is 0.
TitleButtonBorderWidth pixels
This variable specifies the width in pixels of the border
surrounding titlebuttons. This is typically set to 0 to allow
titlebuttons to take up as much space as possible and to not
have a border. The default is 1.
TitleFont string
This variable specifies the font to used for displaying window
names in titlebars. The default is "variable".
TitleForeground string [{ win-list }]
This variable specifies the foreground color used in
titlebars, and may only be specified inside of a Color or
Monochrome list. The optional win-list is a list of window
names and colors so that per-window colors may be specified.
The default is "black".
TitlePadding pixels
This variable specifies the distance between the various
buttons, text, and highlight areas in the titlebar. The
default is 8 pixels.
UnknownIcon string
This variable specifies the filename of an image file to be
used as the default icon. This image will be used as the icon
of all clients which do not provide an icon image and are not
listed in the Icons list.
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
UsePPosition string
This variable specifies whether or not vtwm should honor
program-requested locations (given by the PPosition flag in
the WM_NORMAL_HINTS property) in the absence of a user-
specified position. The argument string may have one of three
values: "off" (the default) indicating that vtwm should
ignore the program-supplied position, "on" indicating that the
position should be used, and "non-zero" indicating that the
position should used if it is other than (0,0). The latter
option is for working around a bug in older toolkits.
VirtualBackground string
This is the background color for the panner, a.k.a. the
Virtual Desktop window.
VirtualBackgroundPixmap string
Names an image file to decorate the panner. See also the
nexpm program.
VirtualForeground string
Foreground for the panner; has no use unless you specify a
panner image of type bitmap(1).
VirtualDesktop geometry scale
This variable must be set to enable the virtual desktop
features of vtwm. If this variable is not set, vtwm will
behave in the same manner as twm. This variable specifies
where to place the virtual desktop window and its size. The
geometry is a standard X geometry specification and defines
the size and location of the window containing the desktop
representation.
The scale parameter specifies the scaling of the virtual
desktop window compared to the desktop. The size specification
can be given in three ways. If size is larger than the screen
size, it represents the size of the whole desktop. The virtual
window desktop size will then be size divided by scale. When
size times scale is smaller than the screen size, size
represents the number of screens that should fit in the
desktop. Otherwise size represents the size of the virtual
desktop window. The currently accessible virtual desktop is
then scale times the size of the desktop window. In the
following example, a scale of 20 (with a screen size of say
1152x900) means that the desktop area is 20 times the size of
the desktop window: the desktop area will be 4000x4000.
VirtualDesktop "200x200+10+10" 20
The size of the desktop can be changed dynamically, by simply
resizing the virtual desktop window.
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
VirtualDesktopBevelWidth pixels
Tells vtwm to use a 3D-looking virtual desktop. It specifies
the width in pixels of the bevel. The default is 0.
VirtualDesktopFont font
This variable causes font to be used when displaying the names
of windows in the virtual desktop display. If this variable
is not set, then names will not be displayed. The
DesktopDisplayForeground should also be set for this feature
to be useful.
VirtualReceivesMotionEvents
VirtualSendsMotionEvents
These variables indicate that changes to the position and
dimension of windows on the real screen will be reflected in
the virtual desktop as they occur, and visa-versa.
WarpCursor [{ win-list }]
This variable indicates that the pointer should be warped into
windows when they are deiconified. If the optional win-list
is given, the pointer will only be warped when those windows
are deiconified.
WarpSnug
With this variable set, the warp functions (f.warp and the
like) will fit the entire window on the screen, i.e., they'll
be snugged on the real screen.
WarpToTransients
This variable indicates that the pointer should be warped into
transient windows when they are created.
WarpUnmapped
This variable indicates that the warp functions (f.warp and
the like) should deiconify any iconified windows they
encounter. This is typically used to make a key binding that
will pop a particular window (such as xmh), no matter where it
is. The default is for the functions to ignore iconified
windows.
WarpVisible
This variable indicates that the warp functions
f.warpclassnext, f.warpclassprev, f.warpring, and f.warpto
should restrict themselves to windows that are on the screen.
The default is for the functions to traverse the entire
virtual desktop.
WarpWindows
When warping to a window, by default the real screen will be
moved to find the window on the virtual desktop. With this
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
set, the window itself will be warped to the real screen,
moving the window in the virtual desktop.
WindowRing { win-list }
This variable specifies a list of windows along which the
f.warpring function cycles. If no list is specified, then all
windows are included in the window ring.
XorValue number
This variable specifies the value to use when drawing window
outlines for moving and resizing. This should be set to a
value that will result in a variety of distinguishable colors
when exclusive-or'ed with the contents of the user's typical
screen. Setting this variable to 1 often gives nice results
if adjacent colors in the default colormap are distinct. By
default, vtwm will attempt to cause temporary lines to appear
at the opposite end of the colormap from the graphics.
Zoom [ count ]
This variable indicates that outlines suggesting movement of a
window to and from its iconified state should be displayed
whenever a window is iconified or deiconified. The optional
count argument specifies the number of outlines to be drawn.
The default count is 8.
ZoomZoom
This variable modifies zooms such that a random place will be
used for the source or destination when there isn't an
appropriate window (e.g., an icon, icon manager entry, or
client window). Default behavior inhibits zooms when there
aren't appropriate windows, except for the f.zoomzoom
function.
SPECIAL VARIABLES
The following variables must be set after the fonts have been
assigned, so it is usually best to put them at the end of the
variables or beginning of the bindings sections:
DefaultFunction function
This variable specifies the function to be executed when a key
or button event is received for which no binding is provided.
This is typically bound to f.nop, f.beep, or a menu containing
window operations.
WindowFunction function
This variable specifies the function to execute when a window
is selected from the VTWM Windows menu. If this variable is
not set (default), the window will be deiconified and raised.
It is strongly recommended that if this is set, the function
includes provision for deiconifying windows.
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
BINDINGS
After the desired variables have been set, functions may be attached
titlebuttons and key and pointer buttons. Titlebuttons may be added
from the left or right side and appear in the titlebar from left-to-
right according to the order in which they are specified. Key and
pointer button bindings may be given in any order.
Titlebuttons specifications must include the name of the image to use
in the button box and the function to be invoked when a pointer button
is pressed within them:
LeftTitleButton "bitmapname" = function
or
RightTitleButton "bitmapname" = function
The bitmapname may refer to one of the built-in bitmaps (which are
scaled to match TitleFont) by using the appropriate colon-prefixed
name described above, otherwise an external file is expected.
Key and pointer button specifications must give the modifiers that
must be pressed, over which parts of the screen the pointer must be,
and what function is to be invoked. Keys are given as strings
containing the appropriate keysym name; buttons are given as the
keywords Button1-Button5:
"FP1" = modlist : context : function
Button1 = modlist : context : function
The modlist is any combination of the modifier names shift, control,
lock, meta, mod1, mod2, mod3, mod4, or mod5 (which may be abbreviated
as s, c, l, m, m1, m2, m3, m4, m5, respectively) separated by a
vertical bar (|). Similarly, the context is any combination of
window, title, icon, root, frame, virtual, desktop, door, iconmgr,
their first letters (iconmgr abbreviation is m, door has no
abbreviation), or all, separated by a vertical bar. It is rumored
that window class names will also work. The function is any of the f.
keywords described below. For example, the default startup file
contains the following bindings:
Button1 = : root : f.menu "VTWM Windows"
Button1 = m : window | icon : f.function "move-or-lower"
Button2 = m : window | icon : f.iconify
Button3 = m : window | icon : f.function "move-or-raise"
Button1 = : title : f.function "move-or-raise"
Button2 = : title : f.raiselower
Button1 = : icon : f.function "move-or-iconify"
Button2 = : icon : f.iconify
Button1 = : iconmgr : f.iconify
Button2 = : iconmgr : f.iconify
A user who wanted to be able to manipulate windows from the keyboard
could use the following bindings:
"F1" = : all : f.iconify
"F2" = : all : f.raiselower
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
"F3" = : all : f.warpring "next"
"F4" = : all : f.warpto "xmh"
"F5" = : all : f.warpto "emacs"
"F6" = : all : f.colormap "next"
"F7" = : all : f.colormap "default"
"F20" = : all : f.warptoscreen "next"
"Left" = m : all : f.backiconmgr
"Right" = m | s : all : f.forwiconmgr
"Up" = m : all : f.upiconmgr
"Down" = m | s : all : f.downiconmgr
Note, however, that using all for button or key bindings is almost
always a bad idea, since it prevents all applications from receiving
those events; this can cripple text and graphics editors that
otherwise expect to see those buttons or keys.
vtwm provides many more window manipulation primitives than can be
conveniently stored in a titlebar, menu, or set of key bindings.
Although a small set of defaults are supplied (unless either
NoDefaults, NoDefaultMouseOrKeyboardBindings, or NoDefaultTitleButtons
is specified), most users will want to have their most common
operations bound to key and button strokes. To do this, vtwm
associates names with each of the primitives and provides user-defined
functions for building higher level primitives and menus for
interactively selecting among groups of functions.
User-defined functions contain the name by which they are referenced
in calls to f.function and a list of other functions to execute. For
example:
Function "move-or-lower" { f.move f.deltastop f.lower }
Function "move-or-raise" { f.move f.deltastop f.raise }
Function "move-or-iconify" { f.move f.deltastop f.iconify }
Function "restore-colormap" { f.colormap "default" f.lower }
The function name must be used in f.function exactly as it appears in
the function specification.
VTWM PROFILE. If a function called "VTWM Profile" is defined within
the startup file, that function will be executed upon startup or
restarting of the window manager. For example:
AutoPan 25
.
.
Function "VTWM Profile"
{
.
.
f.autopan
.
.
}
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
gives AutoPan a value but turns autopanning off initially (it won't
have a value unless AutoPan is set in the startup file; see f.autopan
below), in case you want to turn it on sometime later.
In the descriptions below, if the function is said to operate on the
selected window, but is invoked from a root menu, the cursor will be
changed to the Select cursor and the next window to receive a button
press will be chosen:
! string
This is an abbreviation for f.exec string.
^ string (OBSOLETE --- use a clipboard client)
This is an abbreviation for f.cut string.
f.autopan
If autopan wasn't configured in your .vtwmrc file, this does
nothing. If, however, it was configured, this toggles the
current autopan state. The reason for this command is that
autopan is sometimes nice to have, but it interferes with
using sticky windows that are near the edge of the screen.
With this command, you get the best of both worlds.
f.autoraise
This function toggles whether or not the selected window is
raised whenever entered by the pointer. See the description
of the variable AutoRaise.
f.backiconmgr
This function warps the pointer to the previous column in the
current icon manager, wrapping back to the previous row if
necessary.
f.beep This function sounds the keyboard bell.
f.bottomzoom
This function is similar to the f.fullzoom function, but
resizes the window to fill only the bottom half of the screen.
f.circledown
This function lowers the top-most window that occludes another
window.
f.circleup
This function raises the bottom-most window that is occluded
by another window.
f.colormap string
This function rotates the colormaps (obtained from the
WM_COLORMAP_WINDOWS property on the window) that vtwm will
display when the pointer is in this window. The argument
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
string may have one of the following values: "next", "prev",
and "default". It should be noted here that in general, the
installed colormap is determined by keyboard focus. A pointer
driven keyboard focus will install a private colormap upon
entry of the window owning the colormap. Using the click to
type model, private colormaps will not be installed until the
user presses a mouse button on the target window.
f.cut string (OBSOLETE --- use a clipboard client)
This function places the specified string (followed by a
newline character) into the root window property CUT_BUFFER0.
f.cutfile (OBSOLETE --- use a clipboard client)
This function reads the file indicated by the contents of the
CUT_BUFFER0 window property and replaces the cut buffer.
f.deiconify
This function deiconifies the selected window. If the window
is not an icon, this function does nothing.
f.delete
This function sends the WM_DELETE_WINDOW message to the
selected window if the client application has requested it
through the WM_PROTOCOLS window property. The application is
supposed to respond to the message by removing the indicated
window. If the window has not requested WM_DELETE_WINDOW
messages, the keyboard bell will be rung indicating that the
user should choose an alternative method. Note this is very
different from f.destroy. The intent here is to delete a
single window, not necessarily the entire application.
f.deletedoor
This function deletes a door. ... maybe some X-guru can check
all memory allocated to a door is released when deleting a
door ...
f.deltastop
This function allows a user-defined function to be aborted if
the pointer has been moved more than MoveDelta pixels. See
the example definition given for Function "move-or-raise" at
the beginning of the section.
f.destroy
This function instructs the X server to close the display
connection of the client that created the selected window.
This should only be used as a last resort for shutting down
runaway clients. See also f.delete.
This action sometimes leaves a runaway process that consumes
CPU cycles; you should always try to use the applications own
quit function, rather than this one.
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
f.downiconmgr
This function warps the pointer to the next row in the current
icon manger, wrapping to the beginning of the next column if
necessary.
f.enterdoor
This function activates this door. Typically one binds:
Button1 = : door : f.enterdoor
Button2 = : door : f.enterdoor
Button3 = : door : f.enterdoor
f.exec string
This function passes the argument string to /bin/sh for
execution. In multiscreen mode, if string starts a new X
client without giving a display argument, the client will
appear on the screen from which this function was invoked.
f.file string (OBSOLETE --- use a clipboard client)
This function assumes string is a file name. This file is
read into the window server's cut buffer.
f.focus This function toggles the keyboard focus of the server to the
selected window, changing the focus rule from pointer-driven
if necessary. If the selected window already was focused,
this function executes an f.unfocus.
f.forcemove
This function is like f.move except that it ignores the
DontMoveOff variable.
f.forwiconmgr
This function warps the pointer to the next column in the
current icon manager, wrapping to the beginning of the next
row if necessary.
f.fullzoom
This function resizes the selected window to the full size of
the display or else restores the original size if the window
was already zoomed.
f.function string
This function executes the user-defined function whose name is
specified by the argument string.
f.hbzoom
This function is a synonym for f.bottomzoom.
f.hidedesktopdisplay
This function unmaps the desktop display.
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
f.hideiconmgr
This function unmaps the current icon manager when selected
from a client window, and unmaps all icon managers when
selected from the root window.
f.horizoom
This variable is similar to the f.zoom function except that
the selected window is resized to the full width of the
display.
f.htzoom
This function is a synonym for f.topzoom.
f.hzoom This function is a synonym for f.horizoom.
f.iconify
This function iconifies or deiconifies the selected window or
icon, respectively.
f.identify
This function displays a summary of the name and geometry of
the selected window. Clicking the pointer or pressing a key
in the window will dismiss it. If the function is invoked on
a desktop representation of a window, the real window which is
represented will be identified.
f.lefticonmgr
This function similar to f.backiconmgr except that wrapping
does not change rows.
f.leftzoom
This variable is similar to the f.bottomzoom function but
causes the selected window is only resized to the left half of
the display.
f.lower This function lowers the selected window.
f.menu string
This function invokes the menu specified by the argument
string. Cascaded menus may be built by nesting calls to
f.menu.
f.move This function drags an outline of the selected window (or the
window itself if the OpaqueMove variable is set) until the
invoking pointer button is released. Double clicking within
the number of milliseconds given by ConstrainedMoveTime warps
the pointer to the center of the window and constrains the
move to be either horizontal or vertical depending on which
grid line is crossed. To abort a move, press another button
before releasing the first button.
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
f.movescreen
Moves a window (or possibly the real screen) inside the
desktop display. By default, the bindings using the desktop
context are defined as:
Button1 = : desktop : f.movescreen
Button2 = : desktop : f.movescreen
This is useful if you want to reset the default keyboard and
mouse bindings via NoDefaultMouseOrKeyboardBindings and use
some of your own for the virtual desktop, e.g.:
NoDefaultMouseOrKeyboardBindings
Button1 = : desktop : f.movescreen
Button2 = : desktop : f.warp
Button3 = : desktop : f.iconify
This function is not useful under any context other than
"desktop".
f.nail This function nails or unnails the specified window onto the
real screen-the current value of this property is toggled on
the specified window.
f.nailedabove
This function toggles the setting of the NailedAbove variable.
f.namedoor
This function, bound to the door context, pastes a name from
CUT_BUFFER0 into the selected door (see the BINDINGS section
for details).
f.newdoor
This function creates a new door with it's destination and
name set to the real screen's current position in the virtual
desktop.
f.nexticonmgr
This function warps the pointer to the next icon manager
containing any windows on the current or any succeeding
screen.
f.nop This function does nothing and is typically used with the
DefaultFunction or WindowFunction variables or to introduce
blank lines in menus.
f.panup N
f.pandown N
f.panleft N
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
f.panright N
These functions move the real screen by N% of the screen
dimension in the indicated direction. These are ideally bound
to the cursor keys:
"Up" = : root : f.panup "100"
"Down" = : root : f.pandown "100"
"Left" = : root : f.panleft "100"
"Right" = : root : f.panright "100"
f.previconmgr
This function warps the pointer to the previous icon manager
containing any windows on the current or preceding screens.
f.quit This function causes vtwm to restore the window's borders and
exit. If vtwm is the last client invoked from xdm, this will
result in a server reset, and the user's session will be
logged out.
Users who stay logged in for long periods (days or weeks), or
who like to change window managers, or experiment with them,
may find it desirable to use a relatively simple application,
such as xbiff(1), as the last application in their .xinitrc or
.xsession file, letting the window manager start earlier, and
run in the background. This allows changing window managers
without logging out, and also makes it much less likely that a
session will be abruptly terminated by a bug in a complex
program like a window manager. The one drawback to this
approach is that f.quit then no longer terminates the session:
you need to use f.delete or f.destroy on that last application
to logout.
f.raise This function raises the selected window.
f.raiselower
This function raises the selected window to the top of the
stacking order if it is occluded by any windows, otherwise the
window will be lowered.
f.refresh
This function causes all windows to be refreshed.
f.resetdesktop
This function moves the real display to (0,0)
f.resize
This function displays an outline of the selected window.
Crossing a border (or setting AutoRelativeResize) will cause
the outline to begin to rubber band until the invoking button
is released. To abort the resize, press another button before
releasing the first button. Note that the window itself is
manipulated if the OpaqueResize variable is not set.
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
f.restart
This function kills and restarts vtwm. See also f.startwm.
f.righticonmgr
This function is similar to f.nexticonmgr except that wrapping
does not change rows.
f.rightzoom
This variable is similar to the f.bottomzoom function except
that the selected window is only resized to the right half of
the display.
f.ring Selects a window and adds it to the WarpRing, or removes it if
it was already in the ring. This command makes f.warpring much
more useful, by making its configuration dynamic.
f.saveyourself
This function sends a WM_SAVEYOURSELF message to the selected
window if it has requested the message in its WM_PROTOCOLS
window property. Clients that accept this message are
supposed to checkpoint all state associated with the window
and update the WM_COMMAND property as specified in the ICCCM.
If the selected window has not selected for this message, the
keyboard bell will be rung.
f.separator
Valid only in menus. The effect is to add a line separator
between the previous and the following entry. The name
selector part in the menu is not used (but must be present).
f.setrealscreen geomstr
This function sets the real screen to the virtual coordinates
specified. The geomstr is a quoted string containing a
standard geometry specification.
f.showdesktopdisplay
This function maps the desktop display.
f.showiconmgr
This function maps the current icon manager when selected from
a client window, and maps all icon managers when selected from
the root window.
f.snap This function snaps the real screen to a grid defined on
virtual space with PanDistanceX and PanDistanceY increments.
f.snaprealscreen
This function toggles the setting of SnapRealScreen.
f.snugdesktop
moves the display to try to fit all partially visible windows
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
completely on the screen.
f.snugwindow
moves the display to try to fit the selected window completely
on the screen
f.sorticonmgr
This function sorts the entries in the current icon manager
alphabetically. See the variable SortIconManager.
f.sounds
This function toggles the playing of sounds. It's a "mute"
function.
f.squeezecenter
Selects a window and makes its title appear as though you had
configured it as SqueezeTitle center 0 0; makes squeezed
titles much more useful because their configuration is
dynamic.
f.squeezeleft
Selects a window and makes its title appear as though you had
configured it as SqueezeTitle left 0 0; makes squeezed titles
much more useful because their configuration is dynamic.
f.squeezeright
Selects a window and makes its title appear as though you had
configured it as SqueezeTitle right 0 0; makes squeezed titles
much more useful because their configuration is dynamic.
f.startwm commandline
This function kills vtwm, and starts up the window manager
specified by commandline. Note that commandline accepts up to
eight options for the command (as counted by whitespace), and
that no environment variables nor a trailing ampersand should
be used. See also f.restart.
f.staticiconpositions
This function toggles the setting of StaticIconPositions.
f.stick This function is a synonym for f.nail.
f.stickyabove
This function is synonymous with the f.nailedabove function.
f.stricticonmgr
This function toggles the setting of StrictIconManager.
f.title This function provides a centered, unselectable item in a menu
definition. It should not be used in any other context.
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
f.topzoom
This variable is similar to the f.bottomzoom function except
that the selected window is only resized to the top half of
the display.
f.twmrc Synonymous with f.restart. Historically, this function was
intended to cause the startup customization file to be re-
read.
f.unfocus
This function resets the focus back to pointer-driven. This
should be used when a focused window is no longer desired.
f.upiconmgr
This function warps the pointer to the previous row in the
current icon manager, wrapping to the last row in the same
column if necessary.
f.version
This function causes the vtwm version window to be displayed.
This window will be displayed until a pointer button is
pressed or the pointer is moved from one window to another.
f.virtualgeometries
This function toggles the setting of NotVirtualGeometries.
f.vlzoom
This function is a synonym for f.leftzoom.
f.vrzoom
This function is a synonym for f.rightzoom.
f.warp Warp the cursor to the selected window. This is only useful
if the window is selected via the icon manager.
f.warpclassnext string
f.warpclassprev string
These functions warp the pointer to the next or previous
window in the specified class indicated by the argument
string. If string is "VTWM", only icon managers, doors, and
the Virtual Desktop window are considered. If string empty
(i.e., ""), the class of the window with focus is used. If
the window is iconified, it will be deiconified if the
variable WarpUnmapped is set or else ignored.
f.warpring string
This function warps the pointer to the next or previous window
(as indicated by the argument string, which may be "next" or
"prev") specified in the WindowRing variable. If the window
is iconified, it will be deiconified if the variable
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WarpUnmapped is set or else ignored.
f.warpsnug
This function toggles the setting of WarpSnug.
f.warpto string
This function warps the pointer to the window which has a name
or class that matches string. If the window is iconified, it
will be deiconified if the variable WarpUnmapped is set or
else ignored.
f.warptoiconmgr string
This function warps the pointer to the icon manager entry
associated with the window containing the pointer in the icon
manager specified by the argument string. If string is empty
(i.e., ""), the current icon manager is chosen. If the window
is iconified, it will be deiconified if the variable
WarpUnmapped is set or else ignored.
f.warptonewest
This function warps the pointer to the most recently created
window. If the window is iconified, it will be deiconified if
the variable WarpUnmapped is set or else ignored.
f.warptoscreen string
This function warps the pointer to the screen specified by the
argument string. String may be a number (e.g., "0" or "1"),
the word "next" (indicating the current screen plus 1,
skipping over any unmanaged screens), the word "back"
(indicating the current screen minus 1, skipping over any
unmanaged screens), or the word "prev" (indicating the last
screen visited.
f.warpvisible
This function toggles the setting of WarpVisible.
f.winrefresh
This function is similar to the f.refresh function except that
only the selected window is refreshed.
f.zoom This function is similar to the f.fullzoom function, except
that the only the height of the selected window is changed.
f.zoomzoom
This function makes a zoom outline from a random place to
another random place (see the Zoom and ZoomZoom variables).
It's silly, but can be used as a visual bell in place of
f.beep. See also the LessRandomZoomZoom variable.
MENUS
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
Functions may be grouped and interactively selected using pop-up (when
bound to a pointer button) or pull-down (when associated with a
titlebutton) menus. Each menu specification contains the name of the
menu as it will be referred to by f.menu, optional default foreground
and background colors, the list of item names and the functions they
should invoke, and optional foreground and background colors for
individual items:
Menu "menuname" [ ("deffore":"defback") ]
{
string1 [ ("fore1":"back1")] function1
string2 [ ("fore2":"back2")] function2
.
.
.
stringN [ ("foreN":"backN")] functionN
}
The menuname is case-sensitive. The optional deffore and defback
arguments specify the foreground and background colors used on a color
display to highlight menu entries. The string portion of each menu
entry will be the text which will appear in the menu. The optional
fore and back arguments specify the foreground and background colors
of the menu entry when the pointer is not in the entry. These colors
will only be used on a color display. The default is to use the
colors specified by the MenuForeground and MenuBackground variables.
The function portion of the menu entry is one of the functions,
including any user-defined functions, or additional menus.
There is a special menu named VTWM Windows which contains the names of
all of the client and vtwm-supplied windows. Selecting an entry will
cause the WindowFunction to be executed on that window. If
WindowFunction hasn't been set, the window will be deiconified and
raised. This menu uses the same colors as the little windows in the
panner. This feature still honors the traditional TwmWindows menu
name of yore.
ICONS
vtwm supports several different ways of manipulating iconified
windows. The common image-and-text style may be laid out by hand or
automatically arranged as described by the IconRegion variable. In
addition, a terse grid of icon names, called an icon manager, provides
a more efficient use of screen space as well as the ability to
navigate among windows from the keyboard.
An icon manager is a window that contains names of selected or all
windows currently on the display. In addition to the window name, a
small button using the default iconify symbol will be displayed to the
left of the name when the window is iconified. By default, clicking
on an entry in the icon manager performs f.iconify. To change the
actions taken in the icon manager, use the iconmgr context when
specifying button and keyboard bindings.
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Release 5.4.6b
Moving the pointer into the icon manager also directs keyboard focus
to the indicated window when NoIconManagerFocus is not set (setting
the focus explicitly or else sending synthetic events if NoTitleFocus
is set). Using the f.upiconmgr, f.downiconmgr f.lefticonmgr, and
f.righticonmgr functions, the input focus can be changed between
windows directly from the keyboard.
IMAGE FORMATS
vtwm supports a single image file format by default, the X Window
System bitmap (files typically carrying an extension of ".xbm"), for
two-color images.
However, when built with the XPM library, vtwm will also support the X
Window System pixmap (files typically carrying an extension of
".xpm"), for full-color images, and the transparency extension of
these will be honored when present.
The two can be freely mixed within the variables that use them: Icons,
RealScreenPixmap, TitleHighlight, VirtualBackgroundPixmap, and the
image specification in titlebutton bindings.
The root window can be decorated with whatever image file format that
is supported by whatever X Window System utilities and applications
you may have installed (xloadimage(1), xsetroot(1), xv(1), etc.).
WILDCARDS
vtwm supports "wildcarding" when matching windows against a variable's
win-list. By default, the question mark ('?') represents any single
character, the asterisk ('*') represents any zero or more characters,
and brackets ('[' and ']') represent any characters listed within
them. The backslash ('\') "escapes" any one character, allowing these
reserved characters to be used literally.
vtwm can support a richer method of character substitution, called
regular expressions, or "RE"s. If vtwm is built with REs, many more
"wildcard" rules are added. A description of REs is beyond the scope
of this document; see the re_format(7) or egrep(1) man pages.
vtwm distinguishes REs from strings by enclosing them in forward
slashes ('/'). The two may be freely mixed; changing the example in
the VARIABLES section to:
AutoRaise
{
"emacs"
"VTWM*"
/x.*clock/ # was "x*clock"
"Xmh"
"XTerm"
}
accomplishes the same thing. This is but a simple example of RE usage,
and as such doesn't demonstrate or leverage their capabilities.
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Release 5.4.6b
SIGNALS
It is possible to issue a f.restart via a UNIX signal, to ease
debugging of vtwm resource files. To do this, send a SIGUSR1 to the
vtwm process ID (written to $HOME/vtwm.pid). See kill(1) or slay(1).
BUGS
There are precious few safeguards against binding functions to objects
inappropriately, especially where the virtual desktop is concerned.
Double clicking very fast to get the constrained move function will
sometimes cause the window to move, even though the pointer is not
moved.
It is possible to "lose" windows in the virtual desktop by placing
them in a large desktop area, then shrinking the desktop so as to
remove them from view. They are still there, of course, but are
unreachable until the desktop is grown sufficiently large again.
See the BUGS file in the distribution for others.
FILES
$HOME/.vtwmrc.<screen number>
$HOME/.vtwmrc
$VTWMDIR/twm/system.vtwmrc
$HOME/.twmrc.<screen number>
$HOME/.twmrc
$VTWMDIR/twm/system.twmrc
These are searched for in the order shown.
$HOME/vtwm.pid
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
DISPLAY This variable is used to determine which X server to use. It
is also set during f.exec so that programs come up on the
proper screen.
HOME This variable is used as the prefix for files that begin with
a tilde and for locating the vtwm startup file.
SEE ALSO
bitmap(5), ctwm(1), m4(1), mwm(1), pixmap(5), re_format(7) or
egrep(1), rplayd(8), tvtwm(1), twm(1), vuewm(1), X(1), xdm(1),
xinit(1), xmodmap(1), xrdb(1), Xserver(1)
COPYRIGHT
Portions copyright 1988 Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation;
portions copyright 1989 Hewlett-Packard Company and the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology; portions copyright 2001 D. J. Hawkey Jr..
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VTWM(1) X11R4-6 VTWM(1)
Release 5.4.6b
See X(1) for a full statement of rights and permissions.
AUTHORS AND CONTRIBUTORS
Tom LaStrange, Solbourne Computer; Jim Fulton, MIT X Consortium; Steve
Pitschke, Stardent Computer; Keith Packard, MIT X Consortium; Dave
Payne, Apple Computer; Nick Williams <njw@athena.mit.edu>; Dave
Edmondson, Santa Cruz Operation, <davided@sco.com>; Dana Chee,
Bellcore (R5 conversion), <dana@thumper.bellcore.com>; Warren Jessop,
University of Washington, <whj@cs.washington.edu>; Gilligan
<thoth@reef.cis.ufl.edu>; Tim Ramsey <tar@math.ksu.edu>; Ralph Betza
<gnohmon@ssiny.com>; Michael Kutzner <futzi@uni-paderborn.de>; Stig
Ostholm <ostholm@ce.chalmers.se>; M. Eyckmans <mce@ping.be>; Tony
Brannigan <tbrann@ox.ac.uk>; Alec Wolman <wolman@crl.dec.com>;
<gdmr@dcs.edinburgh.ac.uk>; Marcel Mol <marcel@duteca.et.tudelft.nl>;
Darren S. Embry <dsembr01@starbase.spd.louisville.edu>; Chris P. Ross
<cross@eng.umd.edu>; Paul Falstad <pf@z-code.z-code.com>; D. J. Hawkey
Jr., (version 5.4), <hawkeyd@visi.com>, with Erik Agsjo
<erik.agsjo@aktiedirekt.com>, Ugen Antsilevitch <ugen@xonix.com>,
Nelson H. F. Beebe <beebe@math.utah.edu>, Michael Dales
<michael@dcs.gla.ac.uk>, Michel Eyckmans <mce@ping.be>, Callum Gibson
<callum.gibson@db.com>, Jason Gloudon <jdg@world.std.com>, Nicholas
Jacobs <nicholas_jacobs@hotmail.com>, Caveh Frank Jalali
<caveh@eng.sun.com> Takeharu Kato <magician@maekawa.is.uec.ac.jp>,
Goran Larsson <hoh@lorelei.approve.se>, Rolf Neugebauer
<neugebar@dcs.gla.ac.uk>, Steve Ratcliffe <sterat@dial.pipex.com>,
Seth Robertson <seth@baka.org>, Mehul N. Sanghvi
<mehul@kirsun.ne.mediaone.net>, Tim Wiess <tim@zetaflops.net>,
acknowledging Claude Lecommandeur, (ctwm), <lecom@sic.epfl.ch>
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