Description
xmonad is a minimalist tiling window manager for X, written in Haskell.
Windows are managed using automatic layout algorithms, which can be
dynamically reconfigured. At any time windows are arranged so as to
maximize the use of screen real estate. All features of the window
manager are accessible purely from the keyboard: a mouse is entirely
optional. xmonad is configured in Haskell, and custom layout
algorithms may be implemented by the user in config files. A principle
of xmonad is predictability: the user should know in advance precisely
the window arrangement that will result from any action.
By default, xmonad provides three layout algorithms: tall, wide and
fullscreen. In tall or wide mode, windows are tiled and arranged to
prevent overlap and maximize screen use. Sets of windows are grouped
together on virtual screens, and each screen retains its own layout,
which may be reconfigured dynamically. Multiple physical monitors are
supported via Xinerama, allowing simultaneous display of a number of
screens.
By utilizing the expressivity of a modern functional language with a
rich static type system, xmonad provides a complete, featureful window
manager in less than 1200 lines of code, with an emphasis on
correctness and robustness. Internal properties of the window manager
are checked using a combination of static guarantees provided by the
type system, and type-based automated testing. A benefit of this is
that the code is simple to understand, and easy to modify.
Usage
xmonad places each window into a "workspace". Each workspace can have
any number of windows, which you can cycle though with mod-j and mod-k.
Windows are either displayed full screen, tiled horizontally, or tiled
vertically. You can toggle the layout mode with mod-space, which will
cycle through the available modes.
You can switch to workspace N with mod-N. For example, to switch to
workspace 5, you would press mod-5. Similarly, you can move the
current window to another workspace with mod-shift-N.
When running with multiple monitors (Xinerama), each screen has exactly
1 workspace visible. mod-{w,e,r} switch the focus between screens,
while shift-mod-{w,e,r} move the current window to that screen. When
xmonad starts, workspace 1 is on screen 1, workspace 2 is on screen 2,
etc. When switching workspaces to one that is already visible, the
current and visible workspaces are swapped.
Flags
xmonad has several flags which you may pass to the executable. These
flags are:
--recompile
Recompiles your configuration in ~/.xmonad/xmonad.hs
--restart
Causes the currently running xmonad process to restart
--version
Display version of xmonad
Default keyboard bindings
mod-shift-return
Launch terminal
mod-p Launch dmenu
mod-shift-p
Launch gmrun
mod-shift-c
Close the focused window
mod-space
Rotate through the available layout algorithms
mod-shift-space
Reset the layouts on the current workspace to default
mod-n Resize viewed windows to the correct size
mod-tab
Move focus to the next window
mod-shift-tab
Move focus to the previous window
mod-j Move focus to the next window
mod-k Move focus to the previous window
mod-m Move focus to the master window
mod-return
Swap the focused window and the master window
mod-shift-j
Swap the focused window with the next window
mod-shift-k
Swap the focused window with the previous window
mod-h Shrink the master area
mod-l Expand the master area
mod-t Push window back into tiling
mod-comma
Increment the number of windows in the master area
mod-period
Deincrement the number of windows in the master area
mod-b Toggle the status bar gap
mod-shift-q
Quit xmonad
mod-q Restart xmonad
mod-[1..9]
Switch to workspace N
mod-shift-[1..9]
Move client to workspace N
mod-{w,e,r}
Switch to physical/Xinerama screens 1, 2, or 3
mod-shift-{w,e,r}
Move client to screen 1, 2, or 3
mod-button1
Set the window to floating mode and move by dragging
mod-button2
Raise the window to the top of the stack
mod-button3
Set the window to floating mode and resize by dragging
Examples
To use xmonad as your window manager add to your ~/.xinitrc file:
exec xmonad
Customization
xmonad is customized in ~/.xmonad/xmonad.hs, and then restarting with
mod-q.
You can find many extensions to the core feature set in the xmonad-
contrib package, available through your package manager or from
xmonad.org (http://xmonad.org).
Modular Configuration
As of xmonad-0.9, any additional Haskell modules may be placed in
~/.xmonad/lib/ are available in GHC's searchpath. Hierarchical modules
are supported: for example, the file
~/.xmonad/lib/XMonad/Stack/MyAdditions.hs could contain:
module XMonad.Stack.MyAdditions (function1) where
function1 = error "function1: Not implemented yet!"
Your xmonad.hs may then import XMonad.Stack.MyAdditions as if that
module was contained within xmonad or xmonad-contrib.
Bugs
Probably. If you find any, please report them to the bugtracker
(http://code.google.com/p/xmonad/issues/list)