Man Linux: Main Page and Category List

NAME

       flwm - The Fast Light Window Manager

SYNOPSIS

       flwm  [-d[isplay]  host:n.n]  [-g[eometry]  WxH+X+Y]  [-fg  color] [-bg
       color] [-bg2 color]

DESCRIPTION

       flwm is a very small and fast X window manager, featuring no icons  and
       "sideways" title bars.

.xinitrc / .xsession

       To  run  flwm  as  your  login  script,  you  need to create or replace
       ~/.xinitrc or ~/.xsession (or both).  Newer Linux systems with a  login
       panel  use .xsession, older systems where X was started after login use
       .xinitrc.  You may also have  to  pick  "default"  from  the  "type  of
       session" popup in your login window.

       The .xinitrc or .xsession file should look like this:

       #!/bin/sh
       xsetroot -solid \#006060
       xrdb .Xresources
       # xset, xmodmap, other configuration programs
       flwm &
       WindowManager=$!
       # xterm, other automatically-launched programs
       wait $WindowManager

SWITCHES

       -d[isplay] host:#.# Sets the display and screen for flwm to manage

       -v[isual]   #   Visual   number   to   use  (probably  only  works  for
       non-color-mapped ones)

       -g[eometry] WxH+X+Y Flwm will act as though  the  screen  is  only  the
       specified  area.   It  will  constrain initial window positions to this
       area and stop them at the edges when dragging them around.  This can be
       used  to  surround  the  screen  with  fixed  "toolbars" that are never
       covered by windows.  These toolbars must be created by a program  using
       override-redirect so that flwm does not try to move them.

       -m[aximum]  WxH  Set  the size of windows when the maximize buttons are
       pushed.  Normally this is the size of the screen. This  is  useful  for
       XFree86 servers that are run with a smaller screen than display memory.

       -x The menu will say "Exit" instead of "Logout" and will  not  ask  for
       confirmation. This is a good idea if you are running flwm in some other
       way than with exec at the end of .xinitrc, since it won’t log  you  out
       then.

       -fg  color,  -bg  color Set the label color and the color of the window
       frames and the menu.

       -c[ursor] # What cursor to  use  on  the  desktop  (you  will  have  to
       experiment to find out what each number means)

       -cfg  color,  -cbg  color  Colors  for  the desktop and window resizing
       cursors

       In addition to these switches there is much customization that  can  be
       done  by  editing the config.h file in the source code and recompiling.
       GCC is your friend.

MENU ITEMS

       Flwm can launch programs from its menu. This is controlled by files  in
       the  directory  ~/.wmx  (this  was chosen to be compatible with wmx and
       wm2).

       Each executable file in ~/.wmx is a program to run. Usually  these  are
       symbolic links to the real program or very short shell scripts.

       Each subdirectory creates a child menu so you can build a hierarchy (up
       to 10 deep).

       Cut and paste the following lines you your shell to create some example
       files:

       mkdir ~/.wmx
       ln -s /usr/bin/gimp ~/.wmx/"The Gimp"
       cat << EOF > ~/.wmx/"Terminal"
       #! /bin/sh
       /usr/bin/rxvt -ut
       EOF
       chmod +x !*

       On  Debian,  flwm  has  been  modified  to  support  a system-wide menu
       /var/lib/flwm/wmx when no ~/.wmx exists, and scripts were added to take
       advantage of the Debian menu system (see update-menus(1)).

MOUSE USAGE

       Left-click on a window border raises window.

       Left-drag  will  move the window when in the title bar, and will resize
       it in the edges. If the window cannot be resized then  it  will  always
       move the window. What it will do is indicated by the cursor shape.

       Middle-click on a window border lowers it to bottom.

       Middle-drag anywhere on window border will move the window.

       When  you  move  a  window  it  will  stop  at the edges of the screen.
       Dragging about 150 pixels further will unstick it and let you  drag  it
       off the screen.

       Right-click on a window border pops up the menu.

       Any button on the desktop will pop up the menu.

BUTTONS

       The  empty  button "iconizes" the window: it will completely vanish. To
       get it back use the menu.

       The vertical-bar button "shades" (or "Venetian  blinds"?)  the  window.
       Click  it  again to restore the window.  You can also resize the shaded
       window to a new height or "open" it by resizing horizontally.

       The two buttons below it toggle maximum height and/or maximum width.

       The X button at the bottom closes the window.

MENU

       Right-click on window border, or any-click on the  desktop,  or  typing
       Alt+Esc or Alt+Tab or Alt+Shift+Tab will pop up the menu.

       Releasing  Alt  will  pick  the current menu item. This makes flwm work
       very much (exactly?) like the Windows 95 shortcuts.

       Each main window is a menu item. If the window is "iconized" the little
       picture shows an open rectangle, otherwise it shows a filled rectangle.
       Picking a menu item deiconizes and raises that  window  and  warps  the
       pointer so it is current.

       New  desktop asks for a name of a new desktop and makes it current. The
       desktop will initially be empty (except for sticky items).

       To move windows to the current  desktop,  pop  up  the  menu  and  pick
       windows off of other desktops (if using the keyboard, use left arrow to
       go to the desktop names, move up and down to the other desktop, and use
       right  arrow  to enter that desktop). The window will be moved from the
       other desktop to the current one.

       To switch to another desktop, pick the title of the desktop  (if  using
       the  keyboard,  use  left arrow to go to the desktop names, move up and
       down to the other desktop).

       If a desktop is empty you can delete it. Its sub menu will show  delete
       this desktop.  Pick that and the desktop is gone.

       Sticky is a special "desktop": windows on it appear on all desktops. To
       make a window "sticky" switch to the Sticky desktop and pick the window
       off  its  current  desktop (thus "moving" it to the Sticky desktop). To
       "unstick" a window go to another desktop and pick the  window  off  the
       sticky desktop menu.

       New  xterm  will  run a new xterm on the current desktop. Useful if you
       accidentally close everything. This item does not appear  if  a  ~/.wmx
       directory exists.

       Logout will ask for confirmation and if so flwm will exit.

       Exit will exit flwm without confirmation. This item will appear if flwm
       was run with the -x switch.

HOT KEYS

       These are the defaults, the hot keys may be different depending on  how
       flwm was compiled:

       Alt+Escape Pops up the menu with the current window preselected

       Alt+Tab Pops up the menu with the next window preselected

       Alt+Shift+Tab Pops up the menu with the previous window preselected

       Ctrl+Tab Switch to the next desktop.

       Ctrl+Shift+Tab Switch to the previous desktop.

       Ctrl+Function key Switch to desktop N.

       Alt+Up Raise the current window.

       Alt+Down Lower the current window.

       Alt+Delete Close the current window (same as clicking close box).

       Alt+Enter "Iconizes" (hides) the current window.

BUGS

       It  is  impossible  to  move  windows  smaller  than 100 pixels off the
       screen.

       Only obeys "keep aspect" if the aspect ratio is 1x1.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

       This program was inspired by and much code copied from the "wm2" window
       manager by Chris Cannam <cannam@zands.demon.co.uk>

       Thanks to Ron Koerner for the recursive .wmx directory reading code.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 1999 Bill Spitzak

       This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
       under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published  by  the
       Free  Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
       option) any later version.

       This program is distributed in the hope that it  will  be  useful,  but
       WITHOUT   ANY   WARRANTY;   without   even   the  implied  warranty  of
       MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR  A  PARTICULAR  PURPOSE.   See  the  GNU
       General Public License for more details.

       You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
       with this library; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
       59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA.

AUTHORS

       Written by Bill Spitzak       spitzak@d2.com

                                  15 May 1999                          flwm(1)