2004.09_Desktopia-Fvwm-the Flexible Window Manager.pdf

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The Chameleon

Computers should adapt to human requirements, and not

vice-versa. This is a golden rule of ergonomics. Interestingly, one of the oldest

window managers, FVWM, is a shining example of flexibility and configura-

bility. That alone makes FVWM one of the most modern window managers

around. BY RENE VAN BEVERN

vidual idea of a perfect working

environment. If you are a program-

mer, you can simply develop your own,

but the rest of us are at the mercy of the

configuration options provided by the

developers. FVWM [1], the classic win-

dow manager created by Rob Nation,

allows users a lot of freedom of choice.

V irtual W indow M anager. The

former meaning of the “F”

was soon dropped, being

inappropriate. There

are still rumors

that the meaning

of the “F” is un-

known, although it appeared a lot later

as a comment in the source code. This

has not stopped users from spreading the

legend of the “mysterious F”.

Despite its long history, the star of

days gone by has not completely disap-

peared from the limelight, but gradually

made the transition to a modern window

manager under the leadership of

Dominik Vogt. The fan community con-

tinues to grow.

The thing that puts FVWM apart from

countless other window managers is its

support for a variety of communication

channels, such as mouse gestures, which

perform actions initiated by specific

movements of the mouse. However, to

leverage the full power of FVWM, you

first have to take the hurdle of editing

configuration files. The reward is a

unique desktop environment that is

unparalleled in its flexi-

bility.

self. There are RPM and Debian pack-

ages up for grabs at [2] and [3].

More cautious users, who do not trust

developer versions, might prefer to

install the stable version of the window

manager from the installation media

supplied by their distributor. However,

the stable version does not have all the

features we will be discussing in this

article.

If you prefer to build FVWM yourself,

check out the INSTALL.fvwm file in the

source code directory for important

details. The install follows the usual

three steps, ./configure ; make ; su -c

make install , where the ./configure script

has a lot of optional parameters. You can

type:

./configure --help

to list the options. For example, users

who do not intend to run FVWM on

multiple screen displays can specify:

History Lesson

FVWM was originally distributed with a

version of rxvt ; the idea was to propa-

gate the software as quickly as possible.

This worked, and led to FVWM becom-

ing the standard desktop environment

before KDE and Gnome hit the Linux

scene. As FVWM was short on features

originally, but still capable of managing

multiple desktops, the letters were typi-

cally interpreted as meaning F eeble

./configure --disable-xinerama

to disable xinerama support.

Installation

The best way of getting

to know FVWM is to

install the 2.5 series

developer version. This

version proved quite sta-

ble and reliable, when

tested in our labs. The

good news is that you do

not need to build the

window manager your-

Desktopia

Only you can decide how your desktop

looks. With deskTOPia we regularly take you

with us on a journey into the land of win-

dow managers and desktop environments,

presenting the useful and the colorful view-

ers and pretty toys.

Figure 1: The configuration wizard prompts you for your favorite

apps, such as a file manager and an editor.

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Efficient destops with FVWM

E very one of us has their own indi-

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Getting Started

After completing the install from the

packages, you should have a FVWM

entry in the drop down menu of your

be somewhat of a shock for users more

accustomed to KDE. The empty desktop

is a bit frightening. For want of a config-

uration file, your only option is to press

the left mouse button to access the inter-

nal menu, and move or rescale windows.

So the next step, obviously, is to create a

configuration file, before you can get

down to any serious work with FVWM.

You can use the FVWM menu to gen-

erate a new file. To do so, left click on

the desktop and select Configure with

Script95 . A wizard will first prompt you

to enter your favorite editor and file

manager (see Figure 1), and then gener-

ate a basic configuration. You should

then restart FVWM to view the new look

(see Figure 2).

You can now hold down the left mouse

button to move windows around. This

action automatically shifts the focus to

the foreground, whereas a right click will

toggle between the foreground and the

background. Left clicking the desktop

pops up the main menu, right clicking

displays a window list where you can

navigate to individual windows.

The buttons in the title bars work just

like under Windows – the only differ-

ence being that the left button opens a

menu with additional window opera-

tions, for maximizing or iconifying the

window, for example. There is also a

keyboard shortcut for the window menu:

[Shift-Alt-F2]. [Shift-Alt-F1] for the main

menu, and [Shift-Alt-F3] for the window

list are also shortcuts to remember.

The next thing to do is to shed some

light on the mysterious big gray box on

the right hand border of the screen. This

is where you can check the system sta-

tus, launch programs that you need

regularly, and toggle between multiple

desktops. In the default configuration,

FVWM has four desktops which are all

the command into the FVWM configura-

tion file, .fvwm2rc . The file will either be

located in your home directory, or in a

.fvwm folder below that level.

The required entry is as follows:

AddToFunc InitFunction

+ "I" Exec xmodmap -e "remove U

Lock = Caps_Lock"

+ "I" Exec xmodmap -e "add mod4 U

= Caps_Lock"

This removes the caps lock key’s normal

function ( “remove Lock = Caps_Lock” ),

allowing you to use caps lock as an addi-

tional modifier in future ( “add mod4 =

Caps_Lock” ).

To add a keyboard shortcut, you need

an entry with the following syntax:

Figure 2: FVWM with the sample configuration

has something similar to the Windows taskbar

with quickstart buttons for important programs,

and a pager for switching between desktops.

Key keyname context U

modifier command

in .fvwm2rc .

“Key” is the keyword that introduces a

combination of keys; keyname is the

description of the required key, such as

A or F4 . The context specifies where the

keyboard shortcut will apply. For exam-

ple, should the action only apply if you

are working inside a window, or at any

time? The latter option is useful if you

want to define shortcuts to launch the

programs you use most. Table 1 provides

an overview of the contexts for FVWM.

Replace modifier with the desired

modifier key. FVWM recognizes C for

[Ctrl], M for [Alt] and S for [Shift]. If you

want a key to do something without

additionally pressing a modifier key, type

an N into this field. In contrast, A speci-

fies that it does not matter which

modifier key the user presses. To use a

modifier you defined yourself, simply

enter its number here.

For example, we would need to enter a

4 for caps lock. The command has to be a

command that FVWM recognizes, e.g.

Exec , which you should be familiar with

from the xmodmap example. This is fol-

subdivided into four panels. The current

desktop with its four panels is repre-

sented by the bottom pager. You can

click on the gray arrow in the top left-

hand corner for an overview of the other

desktops. To switch panels, press [Shift-

Arrow key], to toggle between desktops

press [Alt-PgUp] and [Alt-PgDn].

In the default configuration, the accel-

erator keys mean contortions for the

user, but fortunately FVWM does not

expect you to be happy with the defaults.

Keyboard Shortcuts

To prevent keyboard shortcuts from col-

liding with the accelerator keys in other

applications, fans of the mouseless desk-

top are advised to define another

modifier key besides [Alt] and [Ctrl].

The caps lock key is a useful candidate

as almost nobody uses it, although it is

quite easily accessible. To use caps lock

as a modifier under FVWM, you need to

specify an xmodmap command when

launching the window manager. Enter

GLOSSARY

rxvt: A terminal emulator similar to “xterm”,

the KDE Konsole program, or “gnome-termi-

nal”

that often has more features than a simple

or rebooting the system. The best known

sic XDM.

Modifier key: A key that works in combina-

tion with other keys. Most Linux systems use

[Ctrl] and [Alt] as modifiers.

xmodmap: A keyboard configuration pro-

gram that allows the user to define what

should happen when a specific key is pressed.

The application allows users to switch individ-

ual keys.

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lowed by the pro-

gram to be launched,

ensuring that you

use quotes for

entries with spaces.

For example, the fol-

lowing .fvwm2rc

entry would launch

KMail wherever you

are on the desktop

by simply pressing

[Shift-m]:

Now, moving the mouse

wheel takes you to the

previous or next desk-

top.

In addition to normal

mouse actions, FVWM

support so-called mouse

gestures, just like the

Opera browser. The idea

is that you can move the

mouse in a specific way to per-

form an action you defined

yourself. For example, dragging the

mouse in a straight line from the top to

the bottom of the screen could be used

to reorganize all the windows. Just like

with other keyboard and mouse events,

you need to define the mouse button, the

modifier and the context for the action.

The definition of a mouse ges-

ture has the following format:

Stroke sequence U

mousebutton U

context modifier command

Figure 3: A mouse gesture

shown on the phone key-

pad.

Figure 4: Sample

menu with high-

lighted hotkeys.

where Stroke is the keyword.

The sequence is described by a

series of numbers like on a

phone keypad. A mouse gesture “up

diagonally right, straight down” can be

described as 75369 (see Figure 3).

Key m A 4 Exec kmail

Menus

As it is more-or-less impossible to mem-

orize all the key combinations for all the

programs you use, FVWM also has

menus that are accessible using the

FVWM recognizes more commands:

Key 1 W C MoveToPage 0 0

moves the active window ( W ) to the top

left-hand desktop ( MoveToPage 0 0 )

when you press [Ctrl-1] ( 1 , C ). The two

zeroes are the values for the virtual X

and Y axes with the origin in the top left-

hand corner.

Listing 1: Sample Configuration

01 #Use the arrow keys and

02 #modifier key # 4 to move to

the next window

03 #in this direction. The

( Direction )

04 #is defined by the four points

of the compass.

05 #This keyboard combination is

valid everywhere

06 #( A ).

08 Key Left A 4 Direction

West Focus

09 Key Right A 4 Direction

East Focus

10 Key Up A 4 Direction

North Focus

11 Key Down A 4 Direction

South Focus

24 Key Menu R A WindowList

26 #Left click ( 1 )onthe

27 #left title bar button ( 1 )to

28 #the window

30 Mouse 1

Mouse Control

Mouse actions are defined in a similar

way to keyboard shortcuts:

1 A Close

Mouse key context U

modifier command

32 #A gesture with the right

mouse button held down ( 3 )

33 #from bottom left to top right

and then straight back down

34 #( 75369 )reorganizes all

windows.

Mouse specifies that a mouse action fol-

lows. The key is an integer between 1

and 5. 1 through 3 are the three normal

buttons, 4 and 5 are for mouse wheel

movements. The context specification,

modifier, and commands are the same as

for keyboard entries.

For example, to toggle between

desktops:

36 Stroke 75369 3 A A All

PlaceAgain

13 #Use the Windows key with an

arbitrary

14 #modifier to open the window

15 #( PopUp WindowOps ). This

16 #combination is only valid

inside a window

17 #( W ).

19 Key Super_L W A PopUp

WindowOps

38 #Add entries for Move , Resize ,

39 # Iconify , and Maximize to the

40 #window menu ( AddToMenu

Window-Ops ). The keyboard

41 #shortcuts for accessing

individual entries are as

follows

42 M ,

43 # R , y und s

44 AddToMenu WindowOps

45 + "&Move"

Mouse 4RAGotoDesk -1 0 0 3

Mouse 5RAGotoDesk +1 0 0 3

Table 1: FVWM Contexts

Shortcut

Area of application

Desktop background

Title bar of window

Side bar of window

Window corners

Move

Iconified window

21 #[Menu] used in combination

with an arbitrary

22 #modifier this opens the

window list ( WindowList )

46 + "&Resize"

Resize

Whole window

47 + "Iconif&y"

Iconify

48 + "Maximize to &screen"

Maximize 100 100

Everywhere

Integer 0-9

Buttons in the title bar of the window,

which are numbered as follows:

1 3 5 7 9 window title 0 8 6 4 2

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mouse or the keyboard. For example, left

clicking the desktop opens the root

menu by default. To help keyboard navi-

gation, you can assign a key to each

entry. You could add options for maxi-

mizing, iconifying, and closing windows

to the Windows key, where the maxi-

mize shortcut, [Windows-M], would

expand the active window to full screen

size. Menu definitions are simple:

has a sample menu.

Room Enough

to Share

FVWM will also

position windows to

your liking. You can

even specify the cri-

teria the window

manager should

apply when posi-

tioning each

individual window.

To define a global

method for all win-

dows, you need to

add a line with the

following syntax:

AddToMenu menuname

+ "first Menu en&try" command

+ "s&econd menu entry" command

The letter followed by the ampersand (&)

is the hotkey and allows access to the

menu entry via the keyboard. This letter

is underlined in the menu entry, a tech-

nique which many applications use. The

menuname can be an arbitrary name

that identifies the menu. This name will

be used later to call the menu with the

PopUp menuname command. You can

decide whether a mouse click or a key-

board combination should display your

menu. A menu definition for Mozilla,

Gimp, and rxvt would be as follows (see

Figure 4):

Figure 6: The authors, somewhat plainer configuration.

Style "*" positioningmethod

not work, for lack of room, FVWM will

fall back to the CascadePlacement

method.

• TileManualPlacement : Looks for a

position for tiling first, and then allows

the user to position the window manu-

ally, if there isn’t enough room.

• MinOverlapPlacement : Overlaps win-

dows by as little as possible when

opening new windows.

• ManualPlacement : Allows the user to

place the windows manually. Before a

window opens, a yellow frame is dis-

played. The frame follows the mouse

cursor. Users can then click to drop the

window on the desktop.

The MinOverlapPlacement method is the

easiest of all, as it automatically looks

for the best position.

to .fvwmrc . The asterisk ( * ) is a wildcard

that represents all windows, although

you can optionally specify a window

name. The name is displayed in the title

bar of the window, and you can call the

Identify command in the window menu

just to make sure. The Class and

Resource fields have valid values for win-

dow names. The commonest placement

methods are as follows:

• CascadePlacement : Just like on Win-

dows 3.1, each window will be

displayed at a slight offset to all the

others, so that the title bars and but-

tons of each window remain visible.

• TileCascadePlacement : Attempts to tile

new windows, that is to place them

adjacent to other windows. If this does

AddToMenu Applications

+ "&Mozilla" Exec mozilla

+ "&Terminal" Exec rxvt

+ "&GIMP" Exec gimp

Besides your own menu definitions,

there is also the window list, which con-

tains all the active windows with a serial

number. To select a window, you can

either click on the

window, or press

the appropriate

number key. FVWM

uses the Window

List command to

open the window

list, and this makes

it easy to assign the

event to a keyboard

shortcut or mouse

action.

Listing 1 shows a

sample configura-

tion file with

comments. The file

defines a number of

shortcuts and mouse

gestures, and also

Unlimited Options

Both configurations (Figures 5 and 6) are

a useful basis for your own file. If you

are looking for more inspiration, you can

try the sample configuration supplied

with FVWM, which is typically located

in the /usr/share/fvwm directory. For

more information check out sources

such as the exhaustive FVWM manpage,

with its command reference, and the

FVWM wiki at [4].

■

INFO

Figure 5: FVWM with transparent menus and miniature screenshots for

iconified windows.

[1] FVWM: http://www.fvwm.org/

[2] RPM packages: http://fvwm-themes.

sourceforge.net/rpm/

[3] Debian packages: http://fvwm-themes.

sourceforge.net/deb/

[4] FVWM wiki: http://fvwm.rvb-web.de/

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