Provided by: fvwm3_1.1.2+ds-1_amd64 
NAME
fvwm3styles - fvwm styles
CONTROLLING WINDOW STYLES
For readability, the commands in this section are not sorted alphabetically. The description of the Style
command can be found at the end of this section.
The commands: FocusStyle, Style, and WindowStyle can accept optional conditional components to match some
properties of a window.
For example:
Style (Name mc) Sticky
Will make a window whose name matched 'mc' Sticky.
Style (Name mc, Class XTerm) StartIconic
This example will start an xterm(1) window whose WM_CLASS matches 'XTerm' and name is 'mc'.
A valid list of properties to test against are:
• Resource
• Class
• Name
• Icon
• WindowID
The matching of the properties specified for any Style line are ANDed together, and for styles to be
applied, all properties must match.
NOTE: To destroy a style line with window properties, DestroyStyle should be used. For example:
DestroyStyle (Name mc, Class XTerm)
It is not required to specify the style arguments when destroying a style, only the property components
are required.
Existing Style lines in the form:
Style Application* Sticky, StartIconic
are still supported, and their behaviour remains unchanged.
∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼
FocusStyle stylename options
works exactly like the Style command, but accepts only the focus policy related styles beginning with
"FP". The prefix can be removed, but at the cost of a little bit of time. FocusStyle is meant to make
the configuration file more readable. Example:
FocusStyle * EnterToFocus, !LeaveToUnfocus
is equivalent to
Style * FPEnterToFocus, !FPLeaveToUnfocus
DestroyStyle style
deletes the style named style. The changes take effect immediately. Note that style is not a
wild-carded search string, but rather a case-sensitive string that should exactly match the original
Style command.
Destroying style "*" can be done, but isn’t really to be recommended. For example:
DestroyStyle Application*
This removes all settings for the style named "Application*", NOT all styles starting with
"Application".
DestroyWindowStyle
deletes the styles set by the WindowStyle command on the selected window. The changes take effect
immediately.
UpdateStyles
All pending updates of all windows' styles and looks are applied immediately. E.g. if Style,
WindowStyle or TitleStyle commands were issued inside a fvwm function.
Style stylename options ...
The Style command is used to set attributes of a window to values other than the default or to set
the window manager default styles.
stylename can be a window’s name, class, visible name, or resource string. It may contain the
wildcards '*' and '?', which are matched in the usual Unix filename manner. Multiple style options in
a single Style command are read from left to right as if they were issued one after each other in
separate commands. A given style always overrides all conflicting styles that have been issued
earlier (or further left on the same style line).
Note: windows that have no name (WM_NAME) are given a name of "Untitled", and windows that do not
have a class (WM_CLASS, res_class) are given class "NoClass" and those that do not have a resource
(WM_CLASS, res_name) are given resource "NoResource".
If a window has the resource "fvwmstyle" set, the value of that resource is used in addition to any
window names when selecting the style.
options is a comma separated list containing one or more of the following keywords. Each group of
style names is separated by slashes ('/'). The last style in these groups is the default.
BorderWidth, HandleWidth, CornerLength, !Icon / Icon, MiniIcon, IconBox, IconGrid, IconFill,
IconSize, !Title / Title, TitleAtBottom / TitleAtLeft / TitleAtRight / TitleAtTop, LeftTitleRotatedCW
/ LeftTitleRotatedCCW, RightTitleRotatedCCW / RightTitleRotatedCW, TopTitleRotated /
TopTitleNotRotated, BottomTitleRotated / BottomTitleNotRotated, !UseTitleDecorRotation /
UseTitleDecorRotation, StippledTitle / !StippledTitle, StippledIconTitle / !StippledIconTitle,
IndexedWindowName / ExactWindowName, IndexedIconName / ExactIconName, TitleFormat / IconTitleFormat /
!Borders / Borders, !Handles / Handles, WindowListSkip / WindowListHit, CirculateSkip / CirculateHit,
CirculateSkipShaded / CirculateHitShaded, CirculateSkipIcon / CirculateHitIcon, Layer, StaysOnTop /
StaysOnBottom / StaysPut, Sticky / Slippery, StickyAcrossPages / !StickyAcrossPages,
StickyAcrossDesks / !StickyAcrossDesks, !StickyStippledTitle / StickyStippledTitle,
!StickyStippledIconTitle / StickyStippledIconTitle, StartIconic / StartNormal, Colorset,
HilightColorset, BorderColorset, HilightBorderColorset, IconTitleColorset, HilightIconTitleColorset,
IconBackgroundColorset, IconTitleRelief, IconBackgroundRelief, IconBackgroundPadding, Font, IconFont,
StartsOnDesk / StartsOnPage / StartsAnyWhere, StartsOnScreen, StartShaded / !StartShaded,
ManualPlacementHonorsStartsOnPage / ManualPlacementIgnoresStartsOnPage, CaptureHonorsStartsOnPage /
CaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage, RecaptureHonorsStartsOnPage / RecaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage,
StartsOnPageIncludesTransients / StartsOnPageIgnoresTransients, IconTitle / !IconTitle, MwmButtons /
FvwmButtons, MwmBorder / FvwmBorder, MwmDecor / !MwmDecor, MwmFunctions / !MwmFunctions, HintOverride
/ !HintOverride, !Button / Button, ResizeHintOverride / !ResizeHintOverride, OLDecor / !OLDecor,
StickyIcon / SlipperyIcon, StickyAcrossPagesIcon / !StickyAcrossPagesIcon, StickyAcrossDesksIcon /
!StickyAcrossDesksIcon, ManualPlacement / CascadePlacement / MinOverlapPlacement /
MinOverlapPercentPlacement / TileManualPlacement / TileCascadePlacement / PositionPlacement,
MinOverlapPlacementPenalties, MinOverlapPercentPlacementPenalties, DecorateTransient /
NakedTransient, DontRaiseTransient / RaiseTransient, DontLowerTransient / LowerTransient,
DontStackTransientParent / StackTransientParent, SkipMapping / ShowMapping, ScatterWindowGroups /
KeepWindowGroupsOnDesk, UseDecor, UseStyle, !UsePPosition / NoPPosition / UsePPosition,
!UseUSPosition, NoUSPosition / UseUSPosition, !UseTransientPPosition, NoTransientPPosition /
UseTransientPPosition, !UseTransientUSPosition / NoTransientUSPosition / UseTransientUSPosition,
!UseIconPosition / NoIconPosition / UseIconPosition, Lenience / !Lenience, ClickToFocus / SloppyFocus
/ MouseFocus|FocusFollowsMouse / NeverFocus, ClickToFocusPassesClickOff / ClickToFocusPassesClick,
ClickToFocusRaisesOff / ClickToFocusRaises, MouseFocusClickRaises / MouseFocusClickRaisesOff,
GrabFocus / GrabFocusOff, GrabFocusTransientOff / GrabFocusTransient, FPFocusClickButtons,
FPFocusClickModifiers, !FPSortWindowlistByFocus / FPSortWindowlistByFocus, FPClickRaisesFocused /
!FPClickRaisesFocused, FPClickDecorRaisesFocused / !FPClickDecorRaisesFocused,
FPClickIconRaisesFocused / !FPClickIconRaisesFocused, !FPClickRaisesUnfocused /
FPClickRaisesUnfocused, FPClickDecorRaisesUnfocused / !FPClickDecorRaisesUnfocused,
FPClickIconRaisesUnfocused / !FPClickIconRaisesUnfocused, FPClickToFocus / !FPClickToFocus,
FPClickDecorToFocus / !FPClickDecorToFocus, FPClickIconToFocus / !FPClickIconToFocus, !FPEnterToFocus
/ FPEnterToFocus, !FPLeaveToUnfocus / FPLeaveToUnfocus, !FPFocusByProgram / FPFocusByProgram,
!FPFocusByFunction / FPFocusByFunction, FPFocusByFunctionWarpPointer / !FPFocusByFunctionWarpPointer,
FPLenient / !FPLenient, !FPPassFocusClick / FPPassFocusClick, !FPPassRaiseClick / FPPassRaiseClick,
FPIgnoreFocusClickMotion / !FPIgnoreFocusClickMotion, FPIgnoreRaiseClickMotion /
!FPIgnoreRaiseClickMotion, !FPAllowFocusClickFunction / FPAllowFocusClickFunction,
!FPAllowRaiseClickFunction / FPAllowRaiseClickFunction, FPGrabFocus / !FPGrabFocus,
!FPGrabFocusTransient / FPGrabFocusTransient, FPOverrideGrabFocus / !FPOverrideGrabFocus,
FPReleaseFocus / !FPReleaseFocus, !FPReleaseFocusTransient / FPReleaseFocusTransient,
FPOverrideReleaseFocus / !FPOverrideReleaseFocus, StartsLowered / StartsRaised, IgnoreRestack /
AllowRestack, FixedPosition / VariablePosition, FixedUSPosition / VariableUSPosition, FixedPPosition
/ VariablePPosition, FixedSize / VariableSize, FixedUSSize / VariableUSSize, FixedPSize /
VariablePSize, !Closable / Closable, !Iconifiable / Iconifiable, !Maximizable / Maximizable,
!AllowMaximizeFixedSize / AllowMaximizeFixedSize, IconOverride / NoIconOverride /
NoActiveIconOverride, DepressableBorder / FirmBorder, MinWindowSize, MaxWindowSize,
IconifyWindowGroups / IconifyWindowGroupsOff, ResizeOpaque / ResizeOutline, BackingStore /
BackingStoreOff / BackingStoreWindowDefault, Opacity / ParentalRelativity, SaveUnder / SaveUnderOff,
WindowShadeShrinks / WindowShadeScrolls, WindowShadeSteps, WindowShadeAlwaysLazy / WindowShadeBusy /
WindowShadeLazy, EWMHDonateIcon / EWMHDontDonateIcon, EWMHDonateMiniIcon / EWMHDontDonateMiniIcon,
EWMHMiniIconOverride / EWMHNoMiniIconOverride, EWMHUseStackingOrderHints /
EWMHIgnoreStackingOrderHints, EWMHIgnoreStateHints / EWMHUseStateHints, EWMHIgnoreStrutHints /
EWMHUseStrutHints, EWMHIgnoreWindowType / !EWMHIgnoreWindowType, EWMHMaximizeIgnoreWorkingArea /
EWMHMaximizeUseWorkingArea / EWMHMaximizeUseDynamicWorkingArea, EWMHPlacementIgnoreWorkingArea /
EWMHPlacementUseWorkingArea / EWMHPlacementUseDynamicWorkingArea, MoveByProgramMethod, Unmanaged,
State, SnapGrid, SnapAttraction, EdgeMoveDelay, EdgeResizeDelay. EdgeMoveResistance,
InitialMapCommand
In the above list some options are listed as style-option/opposite-style-option. The
opposite-style-option for entries that have them describes the fvwm default behavior and can be used
if you want to change the fvwm default behavior.
Focus policy
ClickToFocus instructs fvwm to give the focus to a window when it is clicked in. The default
MouseFocus (or its alias FocusFollowsMouse) tells fvwm to give a window the focus as soon as the
pointer enters the window, and take it away when the pointer leaves the window. SloppyFocus is
similar, but doesn’t give up the focus if the pointer leaves the window to pass over the root
window or a ClickToFocus window (unless you click on it, that is), which makes it possible to
move the mouse out of the way without losing focus. A window with the style NeverFocus never
receives the focus. This is useful for modules like FvwmButtons. for example. Note: Once any of
the "FP..." styles has been used, the defaults that come with the basic focus policies are not
restored when the latter are used again. For example, once !FPGrabFocus has been used, using
ClickToFocus does not restore FPGrabFocus.
The focus model can be augmented with several additional options. In fvwm-2.5.3 and later, there
are a large number of advanced options beginning with "FP" or "!FP". These options shall replace
the older options one day and are described first. Using any of these new options may limit
compatibility with older releases. In general, options beginning with "FP" turn a feature on,
while those beginning with "!FP" turn it off.
Focusing the window
With FPEnterToFocus, when the pointer enters a window it receives focus.
With FPLeaveToUnfocus a window loses focus when the pointer leaves it.
With FPClickToFocus, FPClickDecorToFocus or FPClickIconToFocus, a window receives focus when the
inside of the window or the decorations or its icon is clicked.
The FPFocusByProgram style allows windows to take the focus themselves.
The !FPFocusByFunction style forbids that a window receives the focus via the Focus and FlipFocus
commands.
The FPFocusByFunctionWarpPointer style controls if the pointer is warped to a selected window
when the Focus command is used.
FPLenient allows focus on windows that do not want it, like FvwmPager or xclock.
The FPFocusClickButtons style takes a list of mouse buttons that can be clicked to focus or raise
a window when the appropriate style is used. The default is to use the first three buttons
("123").
The FPFocusClickModifiers style takes a list of modifier keys just like the Key command. The
exact combination of modifier keys must be pressed for the click to focus or raise a window to
work. The default is to use no modifiers ("N").
With the FPPassFocusClick style, the click that was used to focus a window is passed to the
application.
With the FPAllowFocusClickFunction style, the click that was used to focus a window can also
trigger a normal action that was bound to the window with the Mouse command).
If the FPIgnoreFocusClickMotion style is used, clicking in a window and then dragging the pointer
with the button held down does not count as the click to focus the window. Instead, the
application processes these events normally. This is useful to select text in a terminal window
with the mouse without raising the window. However, mouse bindings on the client window are not
guaranteed to work anymore (see Mouse command). This style forces the initial click to be passed
to the application. The distance that the pointer must be moved to trigger this is controlled by
the MoveThreshold command.
The FPSortWindowlistByFocus and !FPSortWindowlistByFocus styles control whether the internal
window list is sorted in the order the windows were focused or in the order they were created.
The latter is the default for ClickToFocus and SloppyFocus.
Clicking the window to raise
The styles FPClickRaisesFocused, FPClickDecorRaisesFocused and FPClickIconRaisesFocused allow one
to raise the window when the interior or the decorations or the icon of the window is clicked
while the window is already focused.
The styles FPClickRaisesUnfocused, FPClickDecorRaisesUnfocused and FPClickIconRaisesUnfocused
allow one to raise the window when the interior or the decorations or the icon of the window is
clicked while the window is not yet focused.
With the FPPassRaiseClick style, the click that was used to raise the window is passed to the
application.
With the FPAllowRaiseClickFunction style, the click that was used to raise the window can also
trigger a normal action that was bound to the window with the Mouse command.
If the FPIgnoreRaiseClickMotion style is used, clicking in a window and then dragging the pointer
with the button held down does not count as the click to raise the window. Instead, the
application processes these events normally. This is useful to select text in a terminal window
with the mouse without raising the window. However, mouse bindings on the client window are not
guaranteed to work anymore (see Mouse command. Note that this style forces that the initial click
is passed to the application. The distance that the pointer must be moved to trigger this is
controlled by the MoveThreshold command.
Grabbing the focus when a new window is created
New normal or transient windows with the FPGrabFocus or FPGrabFocusTransient style automatically
receive the focus when they are created. FPGrabFocus is the default for windows with the
ClickToFocus style. Note that even if these styles are disabled, the application may take the
focus itself. Fvwm can not prevent this.
The OverrideGrabFocus style instructs fvwm to never take away the focus from such a window via
the GrabFocus or GrabFocusTransient styles. This can be useful if you like to have transient
windows receive the focus immediately, for example in a web browser, but not while you are
working in a terminal window or a text processor.
The above three styles are accompanied by FPReleaseFocus, FPReleaseFocusTransient and
FPOverrideReleaseFocus. These control if the focus is returned to another window when the window
is closed. Otherwise no window or the window under the pointer receives the focus.
ClickToFocusPassesClickOff and ClickToFocusPassesClick controls whether a mouse click to focus a
window is sent to the application or not. Similarly,
ClickToFocusRaisesOff/MouseFocusClickRaisesOff and ClickToFocusRaises/MouseFocusClickRaises
control if the window is raised (but depending on the focus model).
Note: in fvwm versions prior to 2.5.3, the "Click..." options applied only to windows with
ClickToFocus while the "Mouse..." options applied to windows with a different focus policy. This
is no longer the case.
The old GrabFocus style is equivalent to using FPGrabFocus
FPReleaseFocus.
The old GrabFocusTransient style is equivalent to using FPGrabFocusTransient +
FPReleaseFocusTransient.
Lenience is equivalent to the new style FPLenient.
Window title
The Title and !Title options determine whether the window is decorated with a title-bar. By default
all windows have a title-bar. NoTitle is equivalent to !Title but is deprecated.
Windows with the TitleAtBottom, TitleAtLeft or TitleAtRight style have a title-bar below, to the left
or to the right of the window instead of above as usual. The TitleAtTop style restores the default
placement. Even if the window has the !Title style set, this affects the WindowShade command. Please
check the WindowShade command for interactions between that command and these styles. Titles on the
left or right side of the windows are augmented by the following styles:
Normally, the text in titles on the left side of a window is rotated counterclockwise by 90 degrees
from the normal upright position and 90 degrees clockwise for titles on the right side. It can also
be rotated in the opposite directions with LeftTitleRotatedCW if TitleAtLeft is used, and with
RightTitleRotatedCCW if TitleAtRight is used. The defaults can be restored with LeftTitleRotatedCCW
and RightTitleRotatedCW. A normal horizontal text may be rotated as well with TopTitleRotated if
TitleAtTop is used, and with BottomTitleRotated if TitleAtBottom is used. The defaults can be
restored with TopTitleNotRotated and BottomTitleNotRotated.
By default the title bar decoration defined using the TitleStyle command is rotated following the
title text rotation (see the previous paragraph). This can be disabled by using the
!UseTitleDecorRotation style. UseTitleDecorRotation reverts back to the default.
With the StippledTitle style, titles are drawn with the same effect that is usually reserved for
windows with the Sticky, StickyAcrossPages or StickyAcrossDesks style. !StippledTitle reverts back to
normal titles. StippledTitleOff is equivalent to !StippledTitle but is deprecated.
Colorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and overrides the colors set by Color.
Instead, the corresponding colors from the given colorset are used. Note that all other features of a
colorset are not used. Use the Colorset decoration style in the TitleStyle and ButtonStyle command
for that. To stop using the colorset, the colorset number is omitted.
BorderColorset takes eight positive integers as its arguments and will apply the given colorsets to
the eight individual components of the window border.
For backwards compatibility, if one integer is supplied, that is applied to all window border
components.
The border is split up into the following definitions, and is the same order as the colorsets which
will be applied to the border.
BorderColorset North, North East, East, South East, South, South West, West, North West
North, East, South, and West refer to the top, left, bottom, and right sides of the window border.
NE, SE, SW, and NW refer to the window handles.
NOTE: due to how window handles are rendered, there is no way to make one complete edge of a window
the same color as defined by either North, South, East, or West.
The HilightBorderColorset style option works the same as BorderColorset but is used when the window
has the focus.
!IconTitle disables displaying icon labels while the opposite style IconTitle enables icon labels
(default behaviour). NoIconTitle is equivalent to !IconTitle but is deprecated.
IconTitleColorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and overrides the colors set by
Color or Colorset. To stop using this colorset, the argument is omitted.
HilightIconTitleColorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and overrides the colors set
by HilightColorset. To stop using this colorset, the argument is omitted.
IconBackgroundColorset takes the colorset number as its sole argument and uses it to set a background
for the icon picture. By default the icon picture is not drawn onto a background image. To restore
the default, the argument is omitted.
IconTitleRelief takes one numeric argument that may be between -50 and +50 pixels and defines the
thickness of the 3D relief drawn around the icon title. With negative values the icon title gets a
pressed in look. The default is 2 and it is restored if the argument is omitted.
IconBackgroundRelief takes one numeric argument that may be between -50 and +50 pixels and defines
the thickness of the 3D relief drawn around the icon picture background (if any). With negative
values the icon background gets a pressed in look. The default is 2 and it is restored if the
argument is omitted.
IconBackgroundPadding takes one numeric argument that may be between 0 and 50 pixels and defines the
amount of free space between the relief of the icon background picture (if any) and the icon picture.
The default is 2 and it is restored if the argument is omitted.
The Font and IconFont options take the name of a font as their sole argument. This font is used in
the window or icon title. By default the font given in the DefaultFont command is used. To revert
back to the default, use the style without the name argument.
The deprecated IndexedWindowName style causes fvwm to use window titles in the form
name (i)
where name is the exact window name and i is an integer which represents the i th window with name as
window name. This has been replaced with:
TitleFormat %n (%t)
ExactWindowName restores the default which is to use the exact window name. Deprecated in favour of:
TitleFormat %n
IndexedIconName and ExactIconName work the same as IndexedWindowName and ExactWindowName styles but
for the icon titles. Both are deprecated in favour of:
IconTitleFormat %n (%t)
IconTitleFormat %n
TitleFormat describes what the visible name of a window should look like, with the following
placeholders being valid:
%n
Insert the window’s name.
%i
Insert the window’s icon name.
%c
Insert the window’s class name.
%r
Insert the window’s resource name.
%t
Insert the window count.
%I
Insert the window ID.
%%
Insert a literal '%' character.
Any amount of whitespace may be used, along with other characters to make up the string — but a
valid TitleFormat string must contain at least one of the placeholders mentioned. No quote
stripping is performed on the string, so for example the following is printed verbatim:
TitleFormat " %n " -> [%t] -> [%c]
Note: It’s perfectly possible to use a TitleFormat which can result in wiping out the visible
title altogether. For example:
TitleFormat %z
Simply because the placeholder '%z' isn’t supported. This is not a bug but rather a facet of how
the formatting parser works.
IconTitleFormat describes what the visible icon name of a window should look like, with the options
being the same as TitleFormat.
Title buttons
Button and !Button take a numeric argument which is the number of the title-bar button which is to be
shown or omitted. NoButton is equivalent to !Button but is deprecated.
MwmButtons makes the Maximize button look pressed-in when the window is maximized. See the
MwmDecorMax flag in ButtonStyle for more information. To switch this style off again, use the
FvwmButtons style.
Borders
!Borders suppresses the window border (but not the title) completely. The Borders style enables them
again. Without borders, all other styles affecting window borders are meaningless.
MwmBorder makes the 3D bevel more closely match Mwm’s. FvwmBorder turns off the previous option.
With the !Handles style, the window does not get the handles in the window corners that are commonly
used to resize it. With !Handles, the width from the BorderWidth style is used. By default, or if
Handles is specified, the width from the HandleWidth style is used. NoHandles is equivalent to
!Handles but is deprecated.
HandleWidth takes a numeric argument which is the width of the border to place the window if it does
have resize-handles. Using HandleWidth without an argument restores the default.
CornerLength takes a single numeric argument which is the length, in pixels, of the corner handles.
The default is the title height. Using CornerLength without an argument restores the default.
BorderWidth takes a numeric argument which is the width of the border to place the window if it does
not have resize-handles. It is used only if the !Handles style is specified too. Using BorderWidth
without an argument restores the default.
DepressableBorder makes the border parts of the window decoration look sunken in when a button is
pressed over them. This can be disabled again with the FirmBorder style.
Icons, shading, maximizing, movement, resizing
Icon takes an (optional) unquoted string argument which is the icon bitmap or pixmap to use. Icons
specified this way override pixmap icons, but not icon windows or the ewmh icon, provided by the
client in the application (with the WM_HINTS property or with the ewmh _NET_WM_ICON property). The
IconOverride style changes the behavior to override any client-provided icons; the NoIconOverride
style changes the behavior to not override any client-provided icons; the default overriding behavior
can be activated with the NoActiveIconOverride style. With this style, fvwm uses application provided
icons if the icon is changed but uses the icon provided in the configuration file until then.
There is one exception to these rules, namely
Style * Icon unknown.xpm
doesn’t force the unknown.xpm icon on every window, it just sets the default icon like the
DefaultIcon command. If you really want all windows to have the same icon, you can use
Style ** Icon unknown.xpm
If the NoIcon attribute is set then the specified window simply disappears when it is iconified. The
window can be recovered through the window-list. If Icon is set without an argument then the NoIcon
attribute is cleared but no icon is specified. An example which allows only the FvwmPager module icon
to exist:
Style * NoIcon
Style FvwmPager Icon
IconBox takes no argument, four numeric arguments (plus optionally a screen specification), an X11
geometry string or the string "none":
IconBox [screen scr-spec] l t r b
or
IconBox geometry
Where l is the left coordinate, t is the top, r is right and b is bottom. Negative coordinates
indicate distance from the right or bottom of the screen. If the first argument is the word screen,
the scr-spec argument specifies the RandR screen on which the IconBox is defined ´or the additional
'w' for the screen where the window center is located. This is only useful with multiple screens. The
"l t r b" specification is more flexible than an X11 geometry. For example:
IconBox -80 240 -1 -1
defines a box that is 80 pixels wide from the right edge, 240 pixels down from the top, and continues
to the bottom of the screen.
Perhaps it is easier to use is an X11 geometry string though:
IconBox 1000x70-1-1
places an 1000 by 70 pixel icon box on the bottom of the screen starting in the lower right hand
corner of the screen. One way to figure out a geometry like this is to use a window that resizes in
pixel increments, for example, xv. Then resize and place the xv window where you want the iconbox.
Then use FvwmIdent to read the windows geometry. The icon box is a region of the screen where fvwm
attempts to put icons for any matching window, as long as they do not overlap other icons. Multiple
icon boxes can be defined as overflow areas. When the first icon box is full, the second one is
filled. All the icon boxes for one style must be defined in one Style command. For example:
Style * IconBox -80 240 -1 -1, \
IconBox 1000x70-1-1
A Style command with the IconBox option replaces any icon box defined previously by another Style
command for the same style. That’s why the backslash in the previous example is required.
Note: The geometry for the icon box command takes the additional screen specifier "@w" in case RandR
is used. This designates the screen where the window center is located. The additional screen
specifier is not allowed anywhere else.
If you never define an icon box, or you fill all the icon boxes, fvwm has a default icon box that
covers the screen, it fills top to bottom, then left to right, and has an 80x80 pixel grid. To
disable all but the default icon box you can use IconBox without arguments in a separate Style
command. To disable all icon boxes including the default icon box, the argument "none" can be
specified.
Hint: You can auto arrange your icons in the icon box with a simple fvwm function. Put the
"DeiconifyAndRearrange" function below in your configuration file:
AddToFunc DeiconifyAndRearrange
+ C Iconify off
+ C All (CurrentPage, Iconic) PlaceAgain Icon
And then replace all places where you call the Iconify command to de-iconify an icon with a call to
the new function. For example replace
AddToFunc IconFunc
+ C Iconify off
+ M Raise
+ M Move
+ D Iconify off
Mouse 1 I A Iconify off
with
AddToFunc IconFunc
+ C DeiconifyAndRearrange
+ M Raise
+ M Move
+ D DeiconifyAndRearrange
Mouse 1 I A DeiconifyAndRearrange
IconGrid takes 2 numeric arguments greater than zero.
IconGrid x y
Icons are placed in an icon box by stepping through the icon box using the x and y values for the
icon grid, looking for a free space. The default grid is 3 by 3 pixels which gives a tightly packed
appearance. To get a more regular appearance use a grid larger than your largest icon. Use the
IconSize argument to clip or stretch an icon to a maximum size. An IconGrid definition must follow
the IconBox definition that it applies to:
Style * IconBox -80x240-1-1, IconGrid 90 90
IconFill takes 2 arguments.
IconFill Bottom Right
Icons are placed in an icon box by stepping through the icon box using these arguments to control the
direction the box is filled in. By default the direction is left to right, then top to bottom. This
would be expressed as:
IconFill left top
To fill an icon box in columns instead of rows, specify the vertical direction (top or bottom) first.
The directions can be abbreviated or spelled out as follows: "t", "top", "b", "bot", "bottom", "l",
"lft", "left", "r", "rgt", "right". An IconFill definition must follow the IconBox definition that it
applies to:
Style * IconBox -80x240-1-1, IconFill b r
IconSize sets limits on the size of an icon image. Both user-provided and application-provided icon
images are affected.
IconSize [ width height [ maxwidth maxheight ] ]
All arguments are measured in pixels. When all four arguments are passed to IconSize, width and
height represent the minimum size of an icon, and maxwidth and maxheight represent the maximum size
of an icon. Icon images that are smaller than the minimum size are padded. Icon images that are
bigger than the maximum size are clipped.
If only two arguments are passed to IconSize, width and height represent the absolute size of an
icon. Icons covered by this style are padded or clipped to achieve the given size.
If no arguments are specified, the default values are used for each dimension. This effectively
places no limits on the size of an icon.
The value of "-1" can be used in place of any of the arguments to specify the default value for that
dimension.
In addition to the numeric arguments, 1 additional argument can be "Stretched", "Adjusted", or
"Shrunk".
Note that module provided icon managers are not affected by this style.
MiniIcon specifies a pixmap to use as the miniature icon for the window. This miniature icon can be
drawn in a title-bar button (see ButtonStyle), and can be used by various fvwm modules (FvwmIconMan
and FvwmPager). It takes the name of a pixmap as an argument.
WindowShadeShrinks and WindowShadeScrolls control if the contents of a window that is being shaded
with the WindowShade command are scrolled (default) or if they stay in place. The shrinking mode is a
bit faster
The WindowShadeSteps option selects the number of steps for animation when shading a window with
WindowShade. It takes one number as its argument. If the number has a trailing 'p' it sets the number
of pixels to use as the step size instead of a fixed number of steps. 0 disables the animation. This
happens too if the argument is omitted or invalid.
The WindowShade command has two modes of operation: busy and lazy shading. Busy shading can be 50%
slower than lazy shading, but the latter can look strange under some conditions, for example, if the
window borders, buttons or the title are filled with a tiled pixmap. Also, the window handles are not
drawn in lazy mode and the border relief may only be drawn partially right before the window reaches
the shaded state or tight after leaves the unshaded state. By default, fvwm uses lazy mode if there
are no bad visual effects (not counting the window handles) and busy mode otherwise. Use the
WindowShadeAlwaysLazy or WindowShadeBusy to force using the lazy or busy mode. The default setting is
restored with WindowShadeLazy.
ResizeOpaque instructs fvwm to resize the corresponding windows with their contents visible instead
of using an outline. Since this causes the application to redraw frequently it can be quite slow and
make the window flicker excessively, depending on the amount of graphics the application redraws. The
ResizeOutline style (default) negates the ResizeOpaque style. Many applications do not like their
windows being resized opaque, e.g. XEmacs, Netscape or terminals with a pixmap background. If you do
not like the result, do not use the ResizeOpaque style for these windows. To exempt certain windows
from opaque resizing you could use these lines in your configuration file:
Style * ResizeOpaque
Style rxvt ResizeOutline
Style emacs ResizeOutline
Sticky makes the window sticky, i.e. it is always visible on each page and each desk. The opposite
style, Slippery reverts back to the default.
StickyIcon makes the window sticky when it’s iconified. It de-iconifies on top the active desktop.
SlipperyIcon reverts back to the default.
StickyAcrossPages and StickyAcrossPagesIcon work like Sticky and StickyIcon, but stick the window
only across pages, not desks while StickyAcrossDesks and StickyAcrossDesksIcon works the other way
round.
Windows that have been marked as Sticky or StickyAcrossDesks or StickyAcrossPages will have stipples
drawn on the titlebar. This can be negated with the !StickyStippledTitle style. The style
StickyStippledTitle puts back the stipples where that window has also been marked as Sticky. Note
that this is the default style for Sticky windows. Sticky icons will have stipples drawn on the icon
title. This can be disabled in the same way with the !StickyStippledIconTitle style.
Windows with the StartIconic style are shown as icons initially. Note that some applications
counteract that by deiconifying themselves. The default is to not iconify windows and can be set with
the StartNormal style.
StickyIcon makes the window sticky when it’s iconified. It de-iconifies on top the active desktop.
SlipperyIcon reverts back to the default.
StickyIconPage works like StickyIcon, but sticks the icon only across pages, not desks while
StickyIconDesk works the other way round.
StippledIconTitle works like StippledTitle in that it draws stipples on the titles of icons but
doesn’t make the icon sticky.
IgnoreRestack makes fvwm ignore attempts of clients to raise or lower their own windows. By default,
the opposite style, AllowRestack is active.
FixedPosition and FixedUSPosition make fvwm ignore attempts of the user to move the window. It is
still possible to move the window by resizing it. To allow the user to move windows, use the
VariablePosition or VariableUSPosition style.
FixedSize and FixedUSSize make fvwm ignore attempts of the user to resize the window. To allow the
user to resize windows, use the VariableSize or VariableUSSize style.
FixedPPosition and FixedPSize make fvwm ignore attempts of the program to move or resize its windows.
To allow this kind of actions, use the VariablePPosition or VariablePSize style. These styles may
sometimes affect the initial placement and dimensions of new windows (depending on the application).
If windows are created at strange places, try either the VariablePPosition or !UsePPosition styles.
The FixedPSize style may screw up window dimensions for some applications. Do Not use this style in
this case.
MoveByProgramMethod affects how fvwm reacts to requests by the application to move its windows. By
default, fvwm tries to detect which method to use, but it sometimes detects the wrong method. You may
come across a window that travels across the screen by a few pixels when the application resizes it,
moves to a screen border with the frame decorations off screen, that remembers its position for the
next time it starts but appears in a slighly shifted position, or that attepmts to become full screen
but has the. Try out both options, UseGravity and IgnoreGravity on the window (and that window only)
and see if that helps. By default, fvwm uses the AutoDetect method. Once the method was detected, it
is never changed again. As long as fvwm can not detect the proper method, it uses IgnoreGravity. To
force fvwm to retry the detection, use one of the other two options first and then use AutoDetect
again.
Note: This option was introduced to alleviate a problem with the ICCCM specification. The ICCCM
clearly states that the UseGravity option should be used, but traditionally applications ignored this
rule.
Closable enables the functions Close, Delete and Destroy to be performed on the windows. This is on
by default. The opposite, !Closable, inhibits the window to be closed.
Iconifiable enables the function Iconify to be performed on the windows. This is on by default. The
opposite, !Iconifiable, inhibits the window from being iconified.
Maximizable enables the function Maximize to be performed on the windows. This is on by default. The
opposite, !Maximizable, inhibits the window from being maximized.
AllowMaximizeFixedSize enables the function Maximize to be performed on windows that are not
resizable, unless maximization has been disabled either using the style !Maximizable or through WM
hints. This is on by default. The opposite, !AllowMaximizeFixedSize, inhibits all windows that are
not resizable from being maximized.
ResizeHintOverride instructs fvwm to ignore the program supplied minimum and maximum size as well as
the resize step size (the character size in many applications). This can be handy for broken
applications that refuse to be resized. Do not use it if you do not need it. The default (opposite)
style is NoResizeOverride.
MinWindowSize [ width [ p | c ] height [ p | c ] ] Tells fvwm the minimum width and height of a
window. The values are the percentage of the total screen area. If the letter 'p' is appended to
either of the values, the numbers are interpreted as pixels. If the letter 'c' is appended to either
of the values, the numbers are in terms of the client window’s size hints, which can be useful for
windows such as terminals to specify the number of rows or columns. This command is useful to deal
with windows that freak out if their window becomes too small. If you omit the parameters or their
values are invalid, both limits are set to 0 pixels (which is the default value).
MaxWindowSize [ width [ p | c ] height [ p | c ] ] Tells fvwm the maximum width and height of a
window. The values are the percentage of the total screen area. If the letter 'p' is appended to
either of the values, the numbers are interpreted as pixels. If the letter 'c' is appended to either
of the values, the numbers are in terms of the client window’s size hints, which can be useful for
windows such as terminals to specify the number of rows or columns. This command is useful to force
large application windows to be fully visible. Neither height nor width may be less than 100 pixels.
If you omit the parameters or their values are invalid, both limits are set to 32767 pixels (which is
the default).
With IconifyWindowGroups all windows in the same window group are iconified and deiconified at once
when any window in the group is (de)iconified. The default is IconifyWindowGroupsOff, which disables
this behavior. Although a number of applications use the window group hint, it is rarely used in a
proper way, so it is probably best to use IconifyWindowGroups only for selected applications.
The option SnapAttraction affects interactive window movement: If during an interactive move the
window or icon comes within proximity pixels of another the window or icon, it is moved to make the
borders adjoin. The default of 0 means that no snapping happens. Calling this command without
arguments turns off snap attraction and restores the default behavior. Please refer also to the
SnapGrid option.
The second argument optional and may be set to one of the five following values: With All both icons
and windows snap to other windows and other icons. SameType lets windows snap only to windows, and
icons snap only to icons. With Windows windows snap only to other windows. Similarly with Icons icons
snap only to other icons. With None no snapping takes place. This option can be useful in conjunction
with the thirs argument if you only want to snap against the screen edges. The default behavior is
All.
The third and last optional argument may be set to one of the four following values:
• With Screen the already snapping icons or windows, which is controlled by the second argument,
will snap now also to the screen edges.
• ScreenWindows snaps only windows to the screen edges.
• ScreenIcons snaps only icons to the screen edges.
• ScreenAll snaps windows and icons to the screen edges.
The option SnapGrid defines an invisible grid on the screen. During an interactive move a window or
icon is positioned such that its location (top left corner) is coincident with the nearest grid
point. The default x-grid-size and y-grid-size setting are both 1, which is effectively no grid all.
An interactive move with both SnapGrid and SnapAttraction results in the window being moved to be
adjacent to the nearest window border (if within snap proximity) or grid position. The window moves
the shortest distance possible to satisfy both SnapGrid and SnapAttraction. Note that the x and y
coordinates are not coupled. For example, a window may snap to another window on the x axis while
snapping to a grid point on the y axis. Using this style without arguments reinstates the default
settings.
The styles EdgeMoveDelay and EdgeResizeDelay define how hard it is to change the desktop viewport by
moving or resizing a window over the edge of the screen. The parameter tells how many milliseconds
the pointer must spend on the screen edge before fvwm moves the viewport. The command EdgeScroll
determines how far the viewport is scrolled. If -1 is given as the delay, page flipping is disabled
completely. The defaults are no delay for moving (0) and no flipping for resizing (-1). Using these
styles without any argument restores the default settings. Note that, with
EdgeScroll 0 0
it is still possible to move or resize windows across the edge of the current screen. See also
EdgeThickness.
The option EdgeMoveResistance makes it easier to place a window directly adjacent to a RandR screen’s
edge. It takes one or two parameters. The first parameter tells how many pixels over an outside edge
of the screen a window’s edge must move before it actually moves partially off the screen. The
optional second parameter does the same as the first, but for inside edges (shared edge between two
RandR monitors). If omitted, there is no resistance between inside edges. Note that the center of the
window being moved determines the screen on which the window should be kept. Both values are 0 (no
resistance) by default. To restore the defaults, the option EdgeMoveResistance can be used without
any parameters.
The option InitialMapCommand allows for any valid fvwm command or function to run when the window is
initially mapped by fvwm. Example:
Style MyWindow StartsOnPage 0 0, InitialMapCommand Iconify
This would hence place the window called MyWindow on page 0 0 for the current desk, and immediately
run the Iconify command on that window.
Note that should InitialMapCommand be used as a global option for all windows, but there is a need
that some windows should not have this command applied, then an action of Nop can be used on those
windows, as in the following example:
Style * InitialMapCommand Iconify
Style XTeddy InitialMapCommand Nop
Window Manager placement
Applications can place windows at a particular spot on the screen either by window manager hints or a
geometry specification. When they do neither, then the window manager steps in to find a place for
the window. Fvwm knows several ways to deal with this situation. The default is TileCascadePlacement.
PositionPlacement [Center|UnderMouse|move-arguments] When used without an argument, new windows are
placed in the top left corner of the display. With the argument Center, all new window appear at the
center of the screen, and with UnderMouse, windows are centered under the mouse pointer where
possible. If the window is unable to fit on the screen because the pointer is at the edge of the
screen, then the window is forced on-screen using this option. If any other move-arguments are given,
they are interpreted exactly as the Move command does (with the exception that references to the
current window position do not work as the window has not been placed yet).
CascadePlacement automatically place new windows in a cascading fashion.
TileCascadePlacement automatically places new windows in a smart location - a location in which they
do not overlap any other windows on the screen. If no such position can be found CascadePlacement is
used as a fall-back method.
TileManualPlacement This is the same as TileCascadePlacement, but uses ManualPlacement as the
fall-back method.
MinOverlapPlacement automatically places new windows in a location in which the overlapping area in
pixels of other windows is minimized. By default this placement policy tries to avoid overlapping
icons and windows on higher layers. This can be configured with the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties
style.
MinOverlapPercentPlacement is similar to MinOverlapPlacement but tries to minimize the overlapped
percentages of other windows instead of the overlapped area in pixels. This placement policy tries to
avoid covering other windows completely and tries even harder not to cover small windows. This can be
configured with the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties and MinOverlapPercentPlacementPenalties styles.
MinOverlapPlacementPenalties takes at most 6 positive or null decimal arguments:
normal ontop icon sticky below strut
if trailing arguments are missing the default is used which is:
1 5 10 1 0.05 50
To reset this style to the default values, prefix it with a '!'. This style configures the
MinOverlapPlacement and MinOverlapPercentPlacement placement policy. The normal factor affects normal
windows, the ontop factor affects windows with a greater layer than the window being placed, the icon
factor affects icons, the sticky factor affects sticky windows, the below factor affects windows with
a smaller layer than the window being placed, the strut factor affects the complement of the EWMH
working area if the window being placed has the EWMHPlacementUseWorkingArea style and windows with an
EWMH strut hint (i.e., a "please do not cover me" hint) if the window being placed has the
EWMHPlacementUseDynamicWorkingArea style. These factors represent the amount of area that these types
of windows (or area) are counted as, when a new window is placed. For example, by default the area of
ontop windows is counted 5 times as much as normal windows. So MinOverlapPlacement and
MinOverlapPercentPlacement covers 5 times as much area of another window before it will cover an
ontop window. To treat ontop windows the same as other windows, set this to 1. To really, really
avoid putting windows under ontop windows, set this to a high value, say 1000. This style affects the
window already mapped and not the window which is currently placed. There is one exception to this
rule: in the case of the window being placed has the EWMHPlacementUseWorkingArea style the strut
factor affects the placed window.
MinOverlapPercentPlacementPenalties takes at most 4 positive or null integer arguments:
cover_100 cover_95 cover_85 cover_75
if trailing arguments are missing the defaults are used which are:
12 6 4 1
To reset this style to the default values, prefix it with a '!'. This style affects the
MinOverlapPercentPlacement placement policy and is similar to the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties style.
The cover_xx factor is used when the window being placed covers at least xx percent of the window.
This factor is added to the factor determined by the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties style.
ManualPlacement (aka active placement). The user is required to place every new window manually. The
window only shows as a rubber band until a place is selected manually. The window is placed when a
mouse button or any key except Escape is pressed. Escape aborts manual placement which places the
window in the top left corner of the screen. If mouse button 2 is pressed during the initial
placement of a window (respectively Shift and mouse button 1 in case Mwm emulation has been enabled
with the Emulate command), the user is asked to resize the window too.
It is possible to define buttons usable to place windows with the Move command and the special
context 'P' for placement (see Move command). However, you can’t redefine the way to also resize the
window other than the way it is affected by the Emulate command. The button used for placing the
window can be checked with the PlacedByButton condition (see Current command).
Example:
Style * ManualPlacement
*FvwmEvent: PassID
*FvwmEvent: add_window GrowDownFunc
AddToFunc StartFunction
+ I FvwmEvent
AddToFunc GrowDownFunc
+ I windowid $0 (PlacedByButton 3) \
Resize bottomright keep -0p
Now, whenever a window is created and the user presses button 3 to finish initial placement, the
window is automatically enlarged until it hits the bottom screen border.
Old placement styles DumbPlacement / SmartPlacement / SmartPlacementOff, CleverPlacement /
CleverPlacementOff, ActivePlacement / RandomPlacement, ActivePlacementsHonorsStartsOnPage /
ActivePlacementsHonorsStartsOnPageOff are still supported but will be removed in the future. The old
and new styles can be translated according to the following table:
Style * DumbPlacement, RandomPlacement
-->
Style * CascadePlacement
Style * DumbPlacement, ActivePlacement
-->
Style * ManualPlacement
Style * SmartPlacement, \
RandomPlacement, CleverPlacementOff
-->
Style * TileCascadePlacement
Style * SmartPlacement, \
ActivePlacement, CleverPlacementOff
-->
Style * TileManualPlacement
Style * SmartPlacement, CleverPlacement
-->
Style * MinOverlapPlacement
Style * SmartPlacement, \
ActivePlacement, CleverPlacement
-->
Style * MinOverlapPercentPlacement
Style * ActivePlacementsHonorsStartsOnPage
-->
Style * ManualPlacementsHonorsStartsOnPage
Style * ActivePlacementsHonorsStartsOnPageOff
-->
Style * ManualPlacementsHonorsStartsOnPageOff
Placement policy options and window stacking
!UsePPosition instructs fvwm to ignore the program specified position (PPosition hint) when adding
new windows. Using PPosition is required for some applications, but if you do not have one of those
it’s a real headache. Many programs set PPosition to something obnoxious like 0,0 (upper left
corner). Note: !UsePPosition is equivalent to the deprecated option !UsePPosition
!UseUSPosition works like !UsePPosition but applies suppresses using the user specified position
indicated by the program (USPosition hint). It is generally a bad thing to override the user’s
choice, but some applications misuse the USPosition hint to force their windows to a certain spot on
the screen without the user’s consent. Note: !UseUSPosition is equivalent to the deprecated option
!USPosition
NoUseTransientPPosition and UseTransientPPosition work like !UsePPosition and UsePPosition but apply
only to transient windows. Note: !UseTransientPPosition is equivalent to the deprecated option
!TransientPPosition
NoUseIconPosition instructs fvwm to ignore the program specified icon position (IconPosition hint)
when iconifying the window. Note: !UseIconPosition is equivalent to the deprecated option
!IconPosition
StartsOnDesk takes a numeric argument which is the desktop number on which the window should be
initially placed. Note that standard Xt programs can also specify this via a resource (e.g. "-xrm
'*Desk: 1'").
StartsOnPage takes 1, 2, or 3 numeric arguments. If one or three arguments are given, the first (or
only) argument is the desktop number. If three arguments are given, the 2nd and 3rd arguments
identify the x,y page position on the virtual window. If two arguments are given, they specify the
page position, and indicate no desk preference. If only one argument is given, StartsOnPage functions
exactly like StartsOnDesk. For those standard Xt programs which understand this usage, the starting
desk/page can also be specified via a resource (e.g., "-xrm '*page: 1 0 2'"). StartsOnPage in
conjunction with SkipMapping is a useful technique when you want to start an app on some other page
and continue with what you were doing, rather than waiting for it to appear.
StartsOnScreen takes one argument. It must be a valid RandR name. A new window is placed on the
specified screen. The default is to place windows on the screen that contains the mouse pointer at
the time the window is created. However, those windows which are not placed by fvwm (i.e., those with
a USPosition hint from a user specified geometry) are normally placed in a position relative to all
identified screens.
StartsOnPageIncludesTransients causes the StartsOnPage style to be applied even for transient
windows. This is not usually useful, since transients are usually pop ups that you want to appear in
your visible viewport; but occasionally an application uses a transient for something like a startup
window that needs to be coerced into place.
ManualPlacementIgnoresStartsOnPage suppresses StartsOnPage or StartsOnDesk placement in the event
that both ManualPlacement and SkipMapping are in effect when a window is created. This prevents you
from interactively placing a window and then wondering where it disappeared to, because it got placed
on a different desk or page. ManualPlacementHonorsStartsOnPage allows this to happen anyway. The
option has no effect if SkipMapping is not in effect, because fvwm switches to the proper desk/page
to perform interactive placement. The default is ManualPlacementIgnoresStartsOnPage;
ManualPlacementHonorsStartsOnPage matches the way the old StartsOnDesk style used to handle the
situation.
CaptureHonorsStartsOnPage causes the initial capture (of an already existing window) at startup to
place the window according to the StartsOnPage and StartsOnScreen desk, page and screen
specification. CaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage causes fvwm to ignore these settings (including
StartsOnDesk) on initial capture. The default is CaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage.
RecaptureHonorsStartsOnPage causes a window to be placed according to, or revert to, the StartsOnPage
and StartsOnScreen desk, page and screen specification on Restart. RecaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage
causes fvwm to respect the current window position on Restart. The default is
RecaptureIgnoresStartsOnPage.
Layer accepts one optional argument: a non-negative integer. This is the layer the window is put in.
If no argument is given, any previously set value is deleted and the default layer is implied.
StaysOnTop puts the window in the top layer. This layer can be changed by the command DefaultLayers;
the default is 6.
StaysPut puts the window in the put layer. This layer can be changed by the command DefaultLayers;
the default is 4.
StaysOnBottom puts the window in the bottom layer. This layer can be changed by the command
DefaultLayers; the default is 2.
StartsLowered instructs fvwm to put the window initially at the bottom of its layer rather than the
default StartsRaised.
StartShaded tells fvwm to shade the window. An optional direction argument may be given, which can be
one of "North", "South", "West", "East", "NorthWest", "NorthEast", "SouthWest", "SouthEast" or if no
direction is given, the default is to shade north.
SkipMapping tells fvwm not to switch to the desk the window is on when it gets mapped initially
(useful with StartsOnDesk or StartsOnPage).
KeepWindowGroupsOnDesk makes new windows that have the window group hint set appear on the same desk
as the other windows of the same group. Since this behavior may be confusing, the default setting is
ScatterWindowGroups. The window group hint is ignored when placing windows in this case.
Transient windows
DecorateTransient causes transient windows, which are normally left undecorated, to be given the
usual fvwm decorations (title bar, buttons, etc.). Note that some pop-up windows, such as the xterm
menus, are not managed by the window manager and still do not receive decorations. NakedTransient
(the default) causes transient windows not to be given the standard decorations. You can only bind
keys or mouse buttons to the sides and the client part of an undecorated window ('S' and ´W' contexts
in bindings, see Mouse and Key commands).
A window with the RaiseTransient style that has transient windows raises all its transients when it
is raised. The DontRaiseTransient style disables this behavior. All windows are then treated as if
they had no transients.
A window with the LowerTransient style that has transient windows lowers all its transients when it
is lowered. The DontLowerTransient style disables this behavior. All windows are then treated as if
they had no transients.
The StackTransientParent style augments RaiseTransient and LowerTransient styles. Raising a window
with StackTransientParent style transfers the raise action to the main window if the window being
raised is a transient and its main window has RaiseTransient style; this effect makes raise on a
transient act just like raise on its main - the whole group is raised. Similar behavior holds for
lowering a whole group of transients when the main has LowerTransient style. DontStackTransientParent
turns this behavior off. (Dont)StackTransientParent has no effect if RaiseTransient and
LowerTransient are not used.
A reasonable emulation of Motif raise/lower on transients is possible like this
Style * RaiseTransient
Style * LowerTransient
Style * StackTransientParent
Extended Window Manager Hints styles
To understand the used terminology in this sub section, please read the Extended Window Manager Hints
section.
EWMHDonateIcon instructs fvwm to set the application ewmh icon hint with the icon that is used by
fvwm if the application does not provide such hint (and if the icon used by fvwm is not an icon
window). EWMHDonateMiniIcon does the same thing for mini icons. This allows compliant pager, taskbar,
iconbox ...etc to display the same (mini) icons as fvwm. Note that on some hardware (e.g., 8-bit
displays) these styles can slow down window mapping and that in general only one of these styles is
needed by a compliant application. EWMHDontDonateIcon and EWMHDontDonateMiniIcon restore the defaults
which are to not set any ewmh (mini) icons hints.
By default, if an application provides an ewmh icon hint of small size (i.e., height and width less
than or equal to 22), then fvwm uses this icon as its mini icon. EWMHMiniIconOverride instructs fvwm
to ignore ewmh icons and to use the mini icon provided by the MiniIcon style. EWMHNoMiniIconOverride
restores the default.
EWMHUseStackingOrderHints causes fvwm to use EWMH hints and respect EWMH hints which change the
window layer. EWMHIgnoreStackingOrderHints causes fvwm to ignore EWMH layer hints.
An application can ask for some reserved space on the desktop by a hint. In the EWMH terminology such
a hint is called a strut and it is used to compute the working area and may be used for window
placement and in the maximize command. EWMHIgnoreStrutHints causes fvwm to ignore such hints, as
EWMHUseStrutHints, causes fvwm to use it which is the default.
EWMHIgnoreStateHints causes fvwm to ignore initial EWMH state hints when a new window is mapped. The
default EWMHUseStateHints causes fvwm to accept such hints.
EWMHIgnoreWindowType causes fvwm to ignore EWMH window type specification. The default
!EWMHIgnoreWindowType causes fvwm to style windows of specified types as such.
EWMHMaximizeIgnoreWorkingArea causes fvwm to ignore the EWMH working area when it executes a Maximize
command. With EWMHMaximizeUseWorkingArea the EWMH working area is used as with
EWMHMaximizeUseDynamicWorkingArea the EWMH dynamic working area is used (the default).
EWMHPlacementIgnoreWorkingArea causes fvwm to ignore the EWMH working area when it places (or places
again) a window. With EWMHPlacementUseWorkingArea the EWMH working area is taken in account as with
EWMHPlacementUseDynamicWorkingArea the EWMH dynamic working area is taken in account (the default).
Note that with the MinOverlapPlacement and MinOverlapPercentPlacement placement policy, the way the
EWMH (dynamic) working area is taken in account is configurable with the MinOverlapPlacementPenalties
style.
Miscellaneous
The BackingStore, BackingStoreOff and BackingStoreWindowDefault determine if the X server uses
backing store for the window or not. BackingStore means that the X server tries to keep the obscured
parts of a window in memory. This is usually slower if the client runs on the same machine as the X
server, but can be much faster if the connection is slow (see also SaveUnder below). BackingStoreOff
disables backing store for the window. By default, fvwm does not enable or disable backing store
itself but leaves is as the window requested it. To revert back to the application’s choice, use the
BackingStoreWindowDefault style.
Note: This style is useless if the X server does not allow backing store.
SaveUnder enables the corresponding window attribute in the X server. For a window using this style,
the X server tries to store the graphics below it in memory which is usually slower if the client
runs on the same machine as the X server. SaveUnder may speed up fvwm if the connection to the X
server is slow (e.g. over a modem link). To disable save under, use the SaveUnderOff style. This is
the default. See also BackingStore above.
Note: This style is useless if the X server does not allow save under.
ParentalRelativity enables clients that use a background pixmap of type ParentRelative to achieve
transparency. Fvwm modules that support transparent colorsets require this setting. Opacity is the
default and should be used for all non-transparent clients for better performance.
MwmDecor makes fvwm attempt to recognize and respect the mwm decoration hints that applications
occasionally use. To switch this style off, use the NoDecorHint style.
MwmFunctions makes fvwm attempt to recognize and respect the mwm prohibited operations hints that
applications occasionally use. HintOverride makes fvwm shade out operations that mwm would prohibit,
but it lets you perform the operation anyway. NoFuncHint allows turns off the mwm hints completely.
OLDecor makes fvwm attempt to recognize and respect the olwm and olvwm hints that many older XView
and OLIT applications use. Switch this option off with NoOLDecor.
UseDecor This style is deprecated and will be removed in the future. There are plans to replace it
with a more flexible solution in fvwm-3.0.
UseDecor accepts one argument: the name of a decor created with AddToDecor. If no decor name is
specified, the "Default" decor is used. Windows do not actually contain decors, but are always
assigned to one. If the decor is later modified with AddToDecor, the changes are visible for all
windows which are assigned to it. The decor for a window can be reassigned with ChangeDecor.
UseStyle This style is deprecated and will be removed in the future. There are plans to replace it
with a more flexible solution in fvwm-3.0.
UseStyle takes one arg, which is the name of another style. That way you can have unrelated window
names easily inherit similar traits without retyping. For example:
Style rxvt UseStyle XTerm
Warning: If a style is built from one or more parent styles and the parent styles are changed, the
derived style is not modified. To achieve this you have to issue the UseStyle line again.
Unmanaged Windows with the Unmanaged style option are ignored by fvwm. They are not decorated, can
not be moved or resized, etc. You probably want to use Bugopts RaiseOverUnmanaged too. This option
can be turned off with the !Unmanaged style.
State sets the initial value of one of the 32 user defined states which are associated with each
window. The state number ranges from 0 to 31 and must be given as an argument. The states have no
meaning in fvwm, but they can be checked in conditional commands like Next with the State condition
and manipulated with the State command.
# turn on state 11 for xterms ...
Style xterm State 11
# ... but not for rxvts.
Style rxvt !State 11
Windows with the WindowListSkip styles do not appear in the menu that is created with the WindowList
command or the lists shown in modules like FvwmIconMan. In the modules, the style can usually be
ignored with an option. Please refer to the man page of the module in question for further
information. To disable this feature, use the default style WindowListHit.
The styles CirculateSkip and CirculateHit control whether the window is considered by conditional
commands, for example Next, Prev or All. Windows with CirculateSkip, are never selected by
conditional commands. However, the styles can be overridden explicitly in the condition with the
CirculateHit, CirculateHitIcon or CirculateHitShaded conditions, and some conditional commands, e.g.
Current and All, do this by default. The styles CirculateSkipIcon, CirculateHitIcon,
CirculateSkipShaded and CirculateHitShaded work like CirculateSkip and CirculateHit but apply only to
iconic or shaded windows. Note: if multiple ...Skip... options are combined, windows are only
selected if they match none of the given conditions. So, with
Style * CirculateSkipIcon, CirculateSkipShaded
only windows that are neither iconic nor shaded are selected. Note: For historical reasons, the
conditional commands understand the names of these styles as condition names. Take care not to
confuse them.
Examples
# Change default fvwm behavior to no title-
# bars on windows! Also define a default icon.
Style * !Title, \
Icon unknown1.xpm, \
BorderWidth 4, \
HandleWidth 5
# now, window specific changes:
Style Fvwm* !Handles, Sticky, \
WindowListSkip, \
BorderWidth 0
Style FvwmPager StaysOnTop, BorderWidth 0
Style *lock !Handles, Sticky, \
StaysOnTop, WindowListSkip
Style xbiff Sticky, WindowListSkip
Style FvwmButtons !Handles, Sticky, \
WindowListSkip
Style sxpm !Handles
# Put title-bars back on xterms only!
Style xterm Title, Color black/grey
Style rxvt Icon term.xpm
Style xterm Icon rterm.xpm
Style xcalc Icon xcalc.xpm
Style xbiff Icon mail1.xpm
Style xmh Icon mail1.xpm, \
StartsOnDesk 2
Style xman Icon xman.xpm
Style matlab Icon math4.xpm, \
StartsOnDesk 3
Style xmag Icon magnifying_glass2.xpm
Style xgraph Icon graphs.xpm
Style FvwmButtons Icon toolbox.xpm
Style Maker StartsOnDesk 1
Style signal StartsOnDesk 3
# Fire up Netscape on the second desk, in the
# middle of my 3x3 virtual desktop, and do not
# bother me with it...
Style Netscape* SkipMapping, \
StartsOnPage 1 1 1
Note that all properties for a window are or’ed together. In the above example "FvwmPager" gets the
property StaysOnTop via an exact window name match but also gets !Handles, Sticky and WindowListSkip
by a match to "Fvwm*". It gets !Title by virtue of a match to "*". If conflicting styles are
specified for a window, then the last style specified is used.
WindowStyle options
sets attributes (styles) on the selected window. The options are exactly the same as for the Style
command.
WINDOW STYLES
AddButtonStyle button [state] [style] [-- [!]flag ...]
Adds a button style to button. button can be a button number, or one of "All", "Left" or "Right".
state can be "ActiveUp", "ActiveDown", "InactiveUp" or "InactiveDown", or "Active" (the same as both
"ActiveUp" and "ActiveDown") or "Inactive" (the same as both "InactiveUp" and "InactiveDown") or any
of these 6 with "Toggled" prepended. The "Active" states apply to the focused window, the "Inactive"
ones apply to all other windows. The "Up" states apply to the non pressed buttons, the "Down" ones
apply to pressed buttons. The "Toggled" prefix refers to maximized, shaded or sticky windows that
have the corresponding MwmDecor... button style set. Additionally, the following shortcuts may be
used: "AllNormal", "AllToggled", "AllActive", "AllInactive", "AllUp", "AllDown". They are actually
different masks for 4 individual states from 8 total. These are supported too: "AllActiveUp",
"AllActiveDown", "AllInactiveUp", "AllInactiveDown".
If state is omitted, then the style is added to every state. If the style and flags are enclosed in
parentheses, then multiple state definitions can be placed on a single line. Flags for additional
button styles cannot be changed after definition.
Buttons are drawn in the order of definition, beginning with the most recent button style, followed
by those added with AddButtonStyle. To clear the button style stack, change style flags, or for
descriptions of available styles and flags, see the ButtonStyle command.
Examples:
**ButtonStyle** 1 Pixmap led.xpm -- Top Left
**ButtonStyle** 1 ActiveDown HGradient 8 grey black
**ButtonStyle All** -- UseTitleStyle
AddButtonStyle 1 \
ActiveUp (Pixmap a.xpm) \
ActiveDown (Pixmap b.xpm -- Top)
AddButtonStyle 1 Vector 4 50x30@1 70x70@0 30x70@0 50x30@1
Initially for this example all button states are set to a pixmap. The second line replaces the
"ActiveDown" state with a gradient (it overrides the pixmap assigned to it in the line before, which
assigned the same style to every state). Then, the UseTitleStyle flag is set for all buttons, which
causes fvwm to draw any styles set with TitleStyle before drawing the buttons. Finally,
AddButtonStyle is used to place additional pixmaps for both "ActiveUp" and "ActiveDown" states and a
vector button style is drawn on top of all states.
AddTitleStyle [state] [style] [-- [!]flag ...]
Adds a title style to the title-bar. state can be "ActiveUp", "ActiveDown", "InactiveUp" or
"InactiveDown", or "Active" (the same as both "ActiveUp" and "ActiveDown") or "Inactive" (the same as
both "InactiveUp" and "InactiveDown") or any of these 6 with "Toggled" prepended. If state is
omitted, then the style is added to every state. If the style and flags are enclosed in parentheses,
then multiple state definitions can be placed on a single line. This command is quite similar to the
AddButtonStyle command.
Title-bars are drawn in the order of definition, beginning with the most recent TitleStyle, followed
by those added with AddTitleStyle. To clear the title style stack, change style flags, or for the
descriptions of available styles and flags, see the TitleStyle and ButtonStyle commands.
AddToDecor decor
This command is deprecated and will be removed in the future. There are plans to replace it with a
more flexible solution in fvwm-3.0.
Add or divert commands to the decor named decor. A decor is a name given to the set of commands which
affect button styles, title-bar styles and border styles. If decor does not exist it is created;
otherwise the existing decor is modified.
New decors start out exactly like the "default" decor without any style definitions. A given decor
may be applied to a set of windows with the UseDecor option of the Style command. Modifying an
existing decor affects all windows which are currently assigned to it.
AddToDecor is similar in usage to the AddToMenu and AddToFunc commands, except that menus and
functions are replaced by ButtonStyle, AddButtonStyle, TitleStyle, AddTitleStyle and BorderStyle
commands. Decors created with AddToDecor can be manipulated with ChangeDecor, DestroyDecor,
UpdateDecor and the Style option.
The following example creates a decor "FlatDecor" and style "FlatStyle". They are distinct entities:
AddToDecor FlatDecor
+ ButtonStyle All Active (-- flat) Inactive (-- flat)
+ TitleStyle -- flat
+ BorderStyle -- HiddenHandles NoInset
Style FlatStyle \
UseDecor FlatDecor, HandleWidth 4, Colorset 0
Style xterm UseStyle FlatStyle
An existing window’s decor may be reassigned with ChangeDecor. A decor can be destroyed with
DestroyDecor.
DestroyDecor FlatDecor
AddToDecor FlatDecor ...
Style FlatStyle UseDecor FlatDecor
and now apply the style again:
Style xterm UseStyle FlatStyle
BorderStyle state [style] [-- [!]flag ...]
Defines a border style for windows. state can be either "Active" or "Inactive". If state is omitted,
then the style is set for both states. If the style and flags are enclosed in parentheses, then
multiple state definitions can be specified per line.
style is a subset of the available button styles, and can only be TiledPixmap (uniform pixmaps which
match the bevel colors work best this way) or Colorset. If a '!' is prefixed to any flag, the
behavior is negated. If style is not specified, then one can change flags without resetting the
style.
The HiddenHandles flag hides the corner handle dividing lines on windows with handles (this option
has no effect for !Handles windows). By default, HiddenHandles is disabled.
The NoInset flag supplements HiddenHandles. If given, the inner bevel around the window frame is not
drawn. If HiddenHandles is not specified, the frame looks a little strange.
Raised causes a raised relief pattern to be drawn (default). Sunk causes a sunken relief pattern to
be drawn. Flat inhibits the relief pattern from being drawn.
To decorate the active and inactive window borders with a textured pixmap, one might specify:
BorderStyle Active TiledPixmap marble.xpm
BorderStyle Inactive TiledPixmap granite.xpm
BorderStyle Active -- HiddenHandles NoInset
To clear the style for both states:
BorderStyle Simple
To clear for a single state:
BorderStyle Active Simple
To unset a flag for a given state:
BorderStyle Inactive -- !NoInset
title-bar buttons can inherit the border style with the UseBorderStyle flag (see ButtonStyle).
ButtonState [ActiveDown bool] [Inactive bool] [InactiveDown bool]
The ButtonState command controls which states of the window titles and title buttons are used. The
default is to use all four states: "ActiveUp", "ActiveDown", "InactiveUp" and "InactiveDown" (see
ButtonStyle and TitleStyle commands). The bool argument after the key word controls if the designated
state is used ("True") or not ("False"). The bool flag is the same as other commands, and not limited
to just "True" or "False"; "Yes" and "No" may also be used. The "ActiveUp" state cannot be
deactivated. If no arguments are provided or the given arguments are invalid, the default is
restored.
If ActiveDown argument is "False", no different button style for the pressed down buttons used,
instead "ActiveUp" state is used even when button is pressed.
If Inactive argument is "False", focused and unfocused windows look similarly, the corresponding
"Active" states are always used.
If InactiveDown argument is "False" (only applied when Inactive is "True"), the pressed titles and
title buttons in non-focused windows are drawn using "InactiveUp" or "ActiveUp" states depending on
the values of the other key words.
ButtonStyle button [state] [style] [-- [!]flag ...]
Sets the button style for a title-bar button. button is the title-bar button number between 0 and 9,
or one of "All", "Left", "Right", or "Reset". Button numbering is described in the Mouse command
section. If the style and flags are enclosed in parentheses, then multiple state definitions can be
specified per line.
state refers to which button state should be set. Button states are defined as follows: "ActiveUp"
and "ActiveDown" refer to the un-pressed and pressed states for buttons on active windows; while the
"InactiveUp" and "InactiveDown" states denote buttons on inactive windows. The shortcut "Active"
denotes both "ActiveUp" and "ActiveDown" states. Shortcut "Inactive" denotes both "InactiveUp" and
"InactiveDown" states. The similar state names like just described, but with the "Toggled" prefix are
used instead for title buttons which have one of the MwmDecorMax, MwmDecorShade, MwmDecorStick or
MwmDecorLayer hints, if the window is maximized, shaded, sticky or placed on specific layer,
respectively.
AddToDecor Default
+ ButtonStyle 6 \
Vector 4 50x25@1 85x75@0 15x75@0 50x25@1
+ ButtonStyle 6 ToggledActiveUp \
Vector 4 50x75@0 85x25@1 15x25@0 50x75@0
+ ButtonStyle 6 ToggledActiveDown \
Vector 4 50x75@0 85x25@1 15x25@0 50x75@0
+ ButtonStyle 6 ToggledInactive \
Vector 4 50x75@0 85x25@1 15x25@0 50x75@0
+ ButtonStyle 6 - MwmDecorShade
Mouse 0 6 N WindowShade
Additionally, the following shortcuts may be used: "AllNormal", "AllToggled", "AllActive",
"AllInactive", "AllUp", "AllDown". They are actually different masks for 4 individual states from 8
total. These are supported too: "AllActiveUp", "AllActiveDown", "AllInactiveUp", "AllInactiveDown".
If state is specified, that particular button state is set. If state is omitted, every state is set.
Specifying a style destroys the current style (use AddButtonStyle to avoid this).
If style is omitted, then state-dependent flags can be set for the primary button style without
destroying the current style. Examples (each line should be considered independent):
ButtonStyle Left -- flat
ButtonStyle All ActiveUp (-- flat) Inactive (-- flat)
The first line sets every state of the left buttons to flat, while the second sets only the
"ActiveUp" and "Inactive" states of every button to flat (only flags are changed; the buttons'
individual styles are not changed).
If you want to reset all buttons to their defaults:
ButtonStyle Reset
To reset the "ActiveUp" button state of button 1 to the default:
ButtonStyle 1 ActiveUp Default
To reset all button states of button 1 to the default of button number 2:
ButtonStyle 1 Default 2
For any button, multiple state definitions can be given on one line by enclosing the style and flags
in parentheses. If only one definition per line is given the parentheses can be omitted.
flags affect the specified state. If a '!' is prefixed to any flag, its behavior is negated. The
available state-dependent flags for all styles are described here (the ButtonStyle entry deals with
state-independent flags).
Raised causes a raised relief pattern to be drawn.
Sunk causes a sunken relief pattern to be drawn.
Flat inhibits the relief pattern from being drawn.
UseTitleStyle causes the given button state to render the current title style before rendering the
buttons' own styles. The Raised, Flat and Sunk TitleStyle flags are ignored since they are redundant
in this context.
UseBorderStyle causes the button to inherit the decorated BorderStyle options.
Raised, Sunk and Flat are mutually exclusive, and can be specified for the initial ButtonStyle only.
UseTitleStyle and UseBorderStyle are also mutually exclusive (both can be off however). The default
is Raised with both UseBorderStyle and UseTitleStyle left unset.
Important
for the "ActiveDown" and "InactiveDown" states: When a button is pressed, the relief is inverted.
Because of this, to obtain the raised look in "ActiveDown" or "InactiveDown" states you must specify
the opposite of the desired relief (i.e. Sunk for "ActiveDown" or "InactiveDown"). This behavior is
consistent, but may seem confusing at first. The same applies to the "Toggled" states.
Button styles are classified as non-destructive, partially destructive, or fully destructive.
Non-destructive styles do not affect the image. Partially destructive styles can obscure some or all
parts of the underlying image (i.e. Pixmap). Fully destructive styles obscure the entire underlying
image (i.e. Solid or one of the gradient styles). Thus, if stacking styles with AddButtonStyle (or
AddTitleStyle for title-bars), use care in sequencing styles to minimize redraw.
The available styles are:
Simple, Default, Solid, Colorset, Vector, ?Gradient, Pixmap, AdjustedPixmap, ShrunkPixmap,
StretchedPixmap, TiledPixmap, MiniIcon
The description of these styles and their arguments follow:
The Simple style does nothing. There are no arguments, and this style is an example of a
non-destructive button style.
The Default style conditionally accepts one argument: a number which specifies the default button
number to load. If the style command given is ButtonStyle or AddButtonStyle, the argument is optional
(if given, it overrides the current button). If a command other than ButtonStyle or AddButtonStyle is
used, the number must be specified.
The Solid style fills the button with a solid color. The relief border color is not affected. The
color is specified as a single argument. This style is fully destructive.
The Colorset cs [alpha] style fills the button with the Colorset cs. The optional alpha argument is a
percentage between 0 and 100. It causes fvwm to merge the colorset background onto the button using
this percentage. If the percentage is 0 the colorset background is hidden and if it is 100 the
colorset background is fully applied. The default is 100. So, the destructiveness depends on the
alpha argument.
The Vector num X[offsetp]xY[offsetp]@C ... style draws a line pattern. Since this is a standard
button style, the keyword Vector is optional, num is a number of point specifications of the form
X[offsetp]xY[offsetp]@C ... X and Y are point coordinates inside the button, given in percents (from
0 to 100). An optional absolute offset in pixels, can be given as "+<offset>p" for a positive or
"-<offset>p" for a negative offset.
C specifies a line color (0 - the shadow color, 1 - the highlight color, 2 - the background color, 3
- the foreground color, 4 - only move the point, do not draw). The first point color is not used. You
can use up to 10000 points in a line pattern. This style is partially destructive.
The specification is a little cumbersome:
ButtonStyle 2 Vector 4 50x30@1 70x70@0 30x70@0 50x30@1
then the button 2 decoration uses a 4-point pattern consisting of a line from (x=50,y=30) to (70,70)
in the shadow color (@0), and then to (30,70) in the shadow color, and finally to (50,30) in the
highlight color (@1). Is that too confusing? See the fvwm web pages for some examples with
screenshots.
A more complex example of Vector:
ButtonStyle 8 Vector 10 45x65@2 45x75@3 \
20x75@3 20x50@3 35x50@3 35x65@1 35x25@1 \
75x25@1 75x65@0 35x65@0
ButtonStyle 0 Vector 10 45x65@2 45x75@0 \
20x75@0 20x50@1 45x50@1 45x65@0 75x65@3 \
75x25@3 35x25@3 35x47@3
The Gradient styles denote color gradients. Fill in the question mark with any one of the defined
gradient types. Please refer to the Color Gradients section for a description of the gradient syntax.
The gradient styles are fully destructive.
The Pixmap style displays a pixmap. A pixmap should be specified as an argument. For example, the
following would give button number 2 the same pixmap for all 4 states (2 active and 2 inactive), and
button number 4 all different pixmaps.
ButtonStyle 2 Pixmap my_pixmap.xpm
ButtonStyle 4 \
ActiveUp (Pixmap activeup.xpm) \
ActiveDown (Pixmap activedown.xpm) \
Inactive (Pixmap inactiveup.xpm)
ButtonStyle 4 \
InactiveDown Pixmap inactivedown.xpm
The pixmap specification can be given as an absolute or relative pathname (see ImagePath). If the
pixmap cannot be found, the button style reverts to Simple. Flags specific to the Pixmap style are
Left, Right, Top, and Bottom. These can be used to justify the pixmap (default is centered for both
directions). Pixmap transparency is used for the color "None." This style is partially destructive.
The AdjustedPixmap style is similar to the Pixmap style. But the image is resized to exactly fit the
button.
The ShrunkPixmap style is similar to the Pixmap style. But if the image is bigger than the button the
image is resized to fit into the button.
The StretchedPixmap style is similar to the Pixmap style. But if the image is smaller than the button
the image is resized to cover the button.
The TiledPixmap style accepts a pixmap to be tiled as the button background. One pixmap is specified
as an argument. Pixmap transparency is not used. This style is fully destructive.
The MiniIcon style draws the window’s miniature icon in the button, which is specified with the
MiniIcon option of the Style command. This button style accepts no arguments. Example:
Style * MiniIcon mini-bx2.xpm
Style xterm MiniIcon mini-term.xpm
Style Emacs MiniIcon mini-doc.xpm
ButtonStyle 1 MiniIcon
ButtonStyle button - [!]flag ...
Sets state-independent flags for the specified button. State-independent flags affect button
behavior. Each flag is separated by a space. If a '!' is prefixed to the flag then the behavior is
negated. The special flag Clear clears any existing flags.
The following flags are usually used to tell fvwm which buttons should be affected by mwm function
hints (see MwmFunctions option of the Style command. This is not done automatically since you might
have buttons bound to complex functions, for instance.
MwmDecorMenu should be assigned to title-bar buttons which display a menu. The default assignment is
the leftmost button. When a window with the MwmFunctions Style option requests not to show this
button, it is hidden.
MwmDecorMin should be assigned to title-bar buttons which minimize or iconify the window. The default
assignment is the second button over from the rightmost button. When a window with the MwmFunctions
Style option requests not to show this button, it is hidden.
MwmDecorMax should be assigned to title-bar buttons which maximize the window. The default assignment
is the rightmost button. When a window with the MwmFunctions Style option requests not to show this
button, it is hidden. When the window is maximized, the vector pattern on the button looks pressed
in.
MwmDecorShade should be assigned to title-bar buttons which shade the window (see WindowShade
command). When the window is shaded, the vector pattern on the button looks pressed in.
MwmDecorStick should be assigned to title-bar buttons which make the window sticky. When the window
is sticky, the vector pattern on the button looks pressed in.
The flag MwmDecorLayer layer should be assigned to title-bar buttons which place the window in the
layer numbered layer. When the window is on that specific layer, the vector pattern on the button
looks pressed in.
ChangeDecor decor
This command is deprecated and will be removed in the future. There are plans to replace it with a
more flexible solution in fvwm-3.0.
Changes the decor of a window to decor. decor is "Default" or the name of a decor defined with
AddToDecor. If decor is invalid, nothing occurs. If called from somewhere in a window or its border,
then that window is affected. If called from the root window the user is allowed to select the target
window. ChangeDecor only affects attributes which can be set using the AddToDecor command.
ChangeDecor CustomDecor1
DestroyDecor [recreate] decor
This command is deprecated and will be removed in the future. There are plans to replace it with a
more flexible solution in fvwm-3.0.
Deletes the decor defined with AddToDecor, so that subsequent references to it are no longer valid.
Windows using this decor revert to the "Default" decor. The optional parameter recreate tells fvwm
not to throw away the decor completely but to throw away only its contents. If the decor is created
again later, windows do not use it before the UseDecor style is applied again unless the decor was
destroyed with the recreate option. The decor named "Default" cannot be destroyed.
DestroyDecor CustomDecor1
TitleStyle [justification] [Height [num]] [MinHeight [num]]
Sets attributes for the title-bar. Justifications can be Centered, RightJustified or LeftJustified.
Height sets the title bar’s height to an amount in pixels. MinHeight sets the minimal height in
pixels of the title bar. Defaults are Centered, the window’s font height and no minimal height. To
reset the font height to the default value, omit the num argument after the Height keyword. The
MinHeight height is reset by Height or if given with no argument. Example:
TitleStyle LeftJustified Height 24
TitleStyle [state] [style] [-- [!]flag ...]
Sets the style for the title-bar. See also AddTitleStyle and ButtonStyle state can be one of
"ActiveUp", "ActiveDown", "InactiveUp", or "InactiveDown". Shortcuts like "Active" and "Inactive" are
allowed. The states with the "Toggled" prefix are allowed too, the title itself does not use
"Toggled" states, but these states are used for the buttons with ButtonStyle UseTitleStyle. If state
is omitted, then the style is added to every state. If parentheses are placed around the style and
flags, then multiple state definitions can be given per line. style can be omitted so that flags can
be set while not destroying the current style.
If a '!' is prefixed to any flag, its behavior is negated. Valid flags for each state include Raised,
Flat and Sunk (these are mutually exclusive). The default is Raised. See the note in ButtonStyle
regarding the "ActiveDown" state. Examples:
TitleStyle ActiveUp HGradient 16 navy black
TitleStyle \
ActiveDown (Solid red -- flat) \
Inactive (TiledPixmap wood.xpm)
TitleStyle \
ActiveUp (-- Flat) \
ActiveDown (-- Raised) \
InactiveUp (-- Flat) \
InactiveDown (-- Sunk)
This sets the "ActiveUp" state to a horizontal gradient, the "ActiveDown" state to solid red, and the
"Inactive" states to a tiled wood pixmap. Finally, "ActiveUp" and "InactiveUp" are set to look flat,
while "ActiveDown" set to be sunk (the Raised flag for the "ActiveDown" state causes it to appear
sunk due to relief inversion), and "InactiveDown" is set to look raised. An example which sets flags
for all states:
TitleStyle -- flat
For a flattened look:
TitleStyle -- flat
ButtonStyle All Active (-- flat) Inactive (-- flat)
TitleStyle accepts all the ButtonStyle styles and arguments:
Simple, Default, Solid, Colorset, Vector, ?Gradient, Pixmap, AdjustedPixmap, ShrunkPixmap,
StretchedPixmap, TiledPixmap, MiniIcon.
See the ButtonStyle command for a description of all these styles and their arguments.
In addition to these styles TitleStyle accepts a powerful MultiPixmap option. This allows you to
specify different pixmaps, colorsets or colors for different parts of the titlebar. Some of them are
tiled or stretched to fit a particular space; others are discrete "transition" images. The definable
sections are:
Main
The full titlebar
LeftMain
Left of title text
RightMain
Right of title text
UnderText
Underneath title text
LeftOfText
just to the left of the title text
RightOfText
just to the right of the title text
LeftEnd
at the far left end of the titlebar (just after left buttons if any)
RightEnd
at the far right end of the titlebar (just before right buttons if any)
Buttons
under buttons in case of UseTitleStyle
LeftButtons
under left buttons in case of UseTitleStyle
RightButtons
under right buttons in case of UseTitleStyle
None of these are mandatory except for Main (or, if you do not define Main you must define both
LeftMain and RightMain). If no Buttons pixmaps are defined and UseTitleStyle is specified for one or
more buttons, Main, LeftMain or RightMain are used as appropriate.
The syntax for this style type is:
MultiPixmap section style arg, ...
continuing for whatever you want to define. The style can be either TiledPixmap, AdjustedPixmap,
Colorset or Solid. See the ButtonStyle command for the description of these styles. In the case of a
transition section, LeftEnd, LeftOfText, RightOfText or RightEnd, AdjustedPixmap only resize the
pixmap in the "y" direction. For the Colorset and Solid styles a width of the half of the title bar
height is assumed for the transition sections.
An example:
MultiPixmap Main AdjustedPixmap foo.xpm, \
UnderText TiledPixmap bar.xpm, \
Buttons Colorset 2
Note that the old syntax is still supported: if the style is omitted, TiledPixmap is assumed and
adding "(stretched)" between the section and the file name implies AdjustedPixmap.
UpdateDecor [decor]
This command is deprecated and will be removed in the future. There are plans to replace it with a
more flexible solution in fvwm-3.0.
This command is kept mainly for backward compatibility. Since all elements of a decor are updated
immediately when they are changed, this command is mostly useless.
Updates window decorations. decor is an optional argument which specifies the decor to update. If
given, only windows which are assigned to that particular decor are updated. This command is useful,
for instance, after a ButtonStyle, TitleStyle or BorderStyle (possibly used in conjunction with
AddToDecor). Specifying an invalid decor results in all windows being updated.
2025-02-22 FVWM3STYLES(1)