4Dwm(1X) UNIX System V 4Dwm(1X)
NAME
4Dwm - The IRIS Extended Motif Window Manager.
SYNOPSIS
4Dwm [options]
DESCRIPTION
4Dwm is an X Window System client based on mwm. It provides
window management functionality, desks and some session
management functionality. It provides functions that
facilitate control (by the user and the programmer) of
elements of window states such as placement, size,
icon/normal display, and input-focus ownership. The session
management functionality can launch clients as well as
provide a way of stopping a client.
This manual page only describes additions to and differences
from mwm. Refer to the mwm manual page for more
information. For menu contents, button bindings and key
bindings see /usr/lib/X11/system.4Dwmrc. For 4Dwm resources
settings see /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/4DWm.
Options
-display display
This option specifies the display to use; see X(1).
-xrm resourcestring
This option specifies a resource string to use.
-multiscreen
This option causes 4Dwm to manage all screens on the
display. The default is to manage only a single
screen, but the /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/4DWm
overrides the default behavior by setting the
resource multiScreen to True.
-name name
This option causes 4Dwm to retrieve its resources
using the specified name, as in name*resource.
-screens name [name [...]]
This option specifies the resource names to use for
the screens managed by 4Dwm. If 4Dwm is managing a
single screen, only the first name in the list is
used. If 4Dwm is managing multiple screens, the
names are assigned to the screens in order, starting
with screen 0. Screen 0 gets the first name, screen
1 the second name, and so on.
-launch This option along with SG_manageSession being True
causes 4Dwm to check the list of windows that have
been saved and their commands and attempt to launch
the appropriate applications. This option is
removed from the command line of a 4Dwm that has
been restarted, so as to not launch applications the
user has quit (useful for explicit session
management).
Windows Control Panel
The Windows control panel (accessed from toolchest Desktop-
>Customize->Windows) can be used to set selected 4Dwm
resources such as useIconBox, moveOpaque,
clientAutoPlace/interactivePlacement, and SG_autoSave. See
the windows man page for more details.
Desks
Desks allows the user to organize windows into related
groups called "desks". A desk typically contains all of the
windows relating to a particular task or context. Desks
manages the location, size and state of windows in each
desk. Desks does not manage minimized window icons. A
window that is not visible in a desk is referred to as
"hidden".
With SG_manageSession set to True, desks information gets
saved at the time that the session information gets saved.
The active desk at the time the save is done is the desk
that will first be active the next time 4Dwm starts.
The toolchest entry "Desktop->Desks Overview" invokes the
user interface controls (ov) needed to use desks easily and
effectively. Ov can display a miniature picture of the
layout of each desk. Ov provides ways to create a desk,
rename a desk, delete a desk, switch between desks, move
windows between desks, copy windows between desks, put a
window in all desks, list all the windows, and some other
window management tasks. See the ov man page for more
details. See the CAVEATS section at the end of this man
page for some desks behaviors that may be unexpected.
Session Management
4Dwm keeps track of the windows that are open on your
display. If SG_manageSession is True and the "-launch"
option is given, 4Dwm checks the list of windows that may
have been saved and their commands to determine which
applications 4Dwm should attempt to launch automatically.
If SG_manageSession is True, 4Dwm reads the WM_COMMAND
property on the windows that it manages to get the commands
with which the application wishes to be launched. Not all
applications provide a WM_COMMAND property or sufficient
information in the property to successfully launch the
application. Sometimes 4Dwm can launch applications that
were started remotely. The WM_CLIENT_MACHINE property on
the application window identifies the remote machine on
which the application runs.
The default 4Dwm session behavior is to save the list of
window commands and minimized window icon locations
periodically and when you log out or quit or restart 4Dwm.
This behavior corresponds to the "Save Windows & Desks -
Continuously" option on the Windows control panel
(SG_autoSave: true). The other option is to use a list that
you explicitly saved. This behavior corresponds to the "Save
Windows & Desks - Explicitly" option on the Windows control
panel (SG_autoSave: false). The toolchest entry "Desktop-
>Customize->Windows" provides access to the Windows control
panel. See the windows man page and help text for more
details on "Saving Your Desktop Layout".
Backgrounds
It switches the screen backgrounds automatically when the
user switches desks, and it communicates to the file manager
when icons are on the background, so the file manager can
maintain the background. Only those backgrounds set through
either the Background customization panel or through the
xsetroot command are accepted. Backgrounds set through any
other tool are ignored. If file manager icons are on the
background, the change will not be seen. If icons on the
background are disabled, the change will have an effect,
although it will not show up in the desks overview, and will
be forgotten after the user switches desks or starts a new
login session. Whenever a new desk is created, one of a set
of "granite" backgrounds will be assigned to that desk.
Dynamic Menus
Dynamic menus are used internally for several desktop
applications to combine their menus with specific 4Dwm root
menus and dynamically update the contents the menu. Dynamic
menus have special limitations that other menus do not have.
There is currently no publicly available method for other
applications to take advantage of this capability. Dynamic
menus can be identified in the /usr/lib/X11/system.4Dwmrc
file by their use of the keyword "dynamic".
tellwm
Some 4Dwm functions are available through the "tellwm"
command. Tellwm is meant to be used for 4Dwm related
toolchest and windows control panel functions. See the
tellwm man page for more details.
Rounded Looks
The window frames have been given a slightly more rounded
look. Resources have been added to allow a black outline
around the frame and title bar, and for the buttons on the
title bar to appear as decals. Also, the calculation of
topShadowColor and bottomShadowColor from the background
color has been adjusted.
Icons
Icons are small graphic representations of windows. 4Dwm
provides some support for IRIS Image format files (type
NORMAL) to be specified as iconImage files. This works
transparently through the standard mwm mechanism for
bitmapDirectory and iconImage. 4Dwm also searches for icons
based on the instance name portion of the WM_CLASS property,
appended with ".icon". It first searches the directory
specified by bitmapDirectory, then $HOME/.icons then
/usr/lib/images. If the icon is still not found, then 4Dwm
searches for icons based on the class name portion of the
WM_CLASS property, appended with ".icon". It uses a file
called "default.icon" (if it exists) if no match was found
in the above search.
One way to create an IRIS Image format iconImage file is to
use an application such as snapshot. Use izoom to resize
the image to fit the iconImageMaximum (default 85x67
pixels).
Icons are cached by 4Dwm based on their path. As with
resources, 4Dwm will need to be restarted to pick up new
settings. Clients may change the icon for their window
through the WM_HINTS property (bitmaps or change the
contents of the icon window) or the _SGI_ICON_HINTS property
(for IRIS image format icons as well as bitmaps).
_SGI_ICON_HINTS is a STRING property that 4Dwm uses
similarly to the way 4Dwm uses the WM_CLASS property for
icons.
iconImageMaximum can be adjusted to a preferred size for
icons with these images. These IRIS Image format images are
not resized to fit the iconImageMaximum. They are either
clipped or centered or rejected. fadeNormalIcon is not
supported on multi-color icons. On some systems, the 4Dwm
multi-colored icons will share the same colormap as the
desktop. This is an attempt at further reducing colormap
flashing. On other systems that support a 24 bit TrueColor
visual, this visual is used for the multi-colored icons and
the iconImageColors resource is ignored.
An icon tiling area can be specified through the use of
margins from the edges of the screen. Margins that would
cause no tiling area or an off screen area are defaulted to
the iconPlacementMargin value. The minimum size of the
tiling area is the size of one icon.
Use of Overlay Planes
4Dwm uses the overlay planes (if they are available) to help
reduce the number of expose events on clients in the normal
planes. Be aware that there are only a small number of
colors available for use in the overlay/popup planes.
If a system supports popup planes, window outlines are drawn
in the popup planes during window configuration operations
that require window outlines (initial placement, move,
resize). This is resource controllable (SG_useOverlay,
SG_useOverlaySolid).
Menus and feedback windows appear in the popup planes (if
available). These windows share a colormap in the popup
planes, so if a color change is desired for one of the
windows it must be made for all of them. Which planes are
used is controlled by the SG_VisualType and SG_VisualDepth
resources.
Clients in the overlay planes have their window frames drawn
in the same visual as the client. These frames are similar
to the frames that would appear on monochrome systems.
These frames also have some other limitations. See the
SG_framesInOverlays resource.
Num_Lock and Scroll_Lock
4Dwm treats the Num_Lock and Scroll_Lock keys in a similar
manner to Lock (Caps_Lock). The Num_Lock and Scroll_Lock
keys modify the button and key events that 4Dwm receives.
This can affect the 4Dwm button and key bindings. For the
most part, 4Dwm ignores the Num_Lock and Scroll_Lock so that
the unmodified button and key bindings still work. If there
exist button and key bindings that use the modifiers that
Num_Lock and Scroll_Lock correspond to, then those button
and key bindings may be executed as well (depending on the
order in the .4Dwmrc file and the type of function).
Additional Functions
Functions are used in the resource description file when
defining button bindings, key bindings and menus. 4Dwm uses
different, although similar, resource description files than
mwm. The 4Dwm resource files are listed in the FILES
section.
f.lower_icons
This function causes all icons to be lowered to the
bottom of the window stack.
f.minimize_all
This function causes all client windows to be minimized
(iconified). Note that not all clients allow
themselves to be minimized.
f.normalize_all
This function causes all clients windows to be
displayed with their normal size.
f.quit_app
This function is used to terminate a client. If the
_WM_QUIT_APP protocol is set up (as part of
WM_PROTOCOLS similarly to the way WM_DELETE_WINDOW
might be), the client is sent a client message event
indicating that the client window should be quit. If
the client does not have the _WM_QUIT_APP protocol set
up, this function tries WM_DELETE_WINDOW and then tries
WM_SAVE_YOURSELF. If the client does not have any of
these protocols set up then this function causes a
client's X connection to be terminated (usually
resulting in termination of the client).
f.raise_icons
This function causes all icons to be raised to the top
of the window stack.
f.raise_move
This function causes the corresponding client window to
be raised to the top of the window stack and to be
interactively moved. Note that due to use of the
moveThreshold this function is only available as a
ButtonBinding over a client window.
f.raise_resize
This function causes the corresponding client window to
be raised to the top of the window stack and to be
interactively resized. Note that due to use of the
moveThreshold this function is only available as a
ButtonBinding over a client window.
f.restore_all
This function restores the previous state (normal or
maximized) of all client windows that are displayed as
icons.
f.set_behavior
This function causes the window manager to restart with
the default behavior (if a custom behavior is
configured) or revert to the custom behavior. This
function has been extended to have a third behavior,
IRIS Defaults mode.
Additional Desks Functions
These functions are only to be used if SG_manageSession is
set to False. These functions allow access to desks
functions that are automatically taken care of if
SG_manageSession is set to True. Setting SG_manageSession
to False and using these functions is not suggested (the
Desks Overview (ov) may be used in this mode).
f.make_permanent
This function causes a specific window to be remembered
by desks.
f.make_permanent_all
This function causes all known windows to be remembered
by desks.
f.make_transient
This function causes a specific window to be forgotten
by desks.
f.save_config
This function causes the appropriate $HOME/.desktop-
<hostname>/0.0/4Dwm* files to be written. Only the
existing desks and "permanent" windows are written.
f.switch_desk deskName
This function causes the desk specified in the deskName
argument to become the active desk (if the desk
exists).
Additional Resources
4DWm is the resource class name for 4Dwm. 4Dwm is the
resource instance name for 4Dwm and takes precedence over
4DWm when used to specify resources.
The additional resources are specific appearance and
behavior resources. They are not set separately for
different 4Dwm user interface components. The syntax for
specifying the additional specific appearance and behavior
resources is
4DWm*resource_id
SG_autoSave (class SG_AutoSave)
If True, and SG_manageSession is True, 4Dwm will
"continuously" and at log out, restart and quit time
save the WM_COMMAND properties from the active
windows and their desks state, location and
geometry. This information is used the next time
4Dwm is started. If False, and SG_manageSession is
True, 4Dwm must be told to save the session
information "explicitly". This is a snapshot of the
currently active windows that is retained until
another save is done. Explicit saves can be done
from the Windows control panel or with "tellwm
save_configuration". When setting SG_manageSession
to False, the user should consider removing the
$HOME/.desktop-<hostname>/0.0/4Dwm* files. If you
have had SG_manageSession set to false, and you
return it to True, you may see undefined behavior if
the $HOME/.desktop-<hostname>/0.0/4Dwm* files are
out of sync with each other. Only applications that
are in both the $HOME/.desktop-
<hostname>/0.0/4Dwmdesks file and the
$HOME/.desktop-<hostname>/0.0/4Dwmsession file are
considered for launching. The default value is
True.
SG_ditherMidShadows (class SG_DitherMidShadows)
If True, dithers the middle shadow color rather than
selecting a color between the top/bottom shadow
color and the background color. If False, it does
not. The default value is True.
SG_frameOutline (class SG_FrameOutline)
If True, draws a black outline around the frame. If
False, it does not. The default value is True.
SG_framesInOverlays (class SG_FramesInOverlays)
If True, clients in the overlay planes have their
frames drawn in the same visual and colormap as the
client. For such clients, no color or pixmap
resources or mattes are provided for the overlay
window frames. The frames will appear in colors
from the client's colormap. If False, all clients
will have their frames drawn in the default visual.
The default value is True.
freezeOnConfig (class FreezeOnConfig)
This is an undocumented resource of mwm. If True,
the X server is grabbed during configuration
operations (initial placement, move, and resize of
windows). Clients will seem to "freeze". If False,
window outlines will flash during configuration
operations except when overlay visuals are
available, and SG_useOverlay and SG_useOverlaySolid
are True. The default value is False.
SG_iconAutoPlaceUnique (class SG_IconAutoPlaceUnique)
If True and iconAutoPlace is true 4Dwm will try not
to place a new icon where another current client has
been iconified. The user can override this by
moving an icon to a location if there is no icon
visible at that location. If False and
iconAutoPlace is true 4Dwm uses the first place
available for new icons. The default value is True.
SG_iconImageColors (class SG_IconImageColors)
Used to specify that multi-colored icons should use
the GL colormap or only allocate a limited number of
colors in the default colormap. If the GL colormap
is selected, the colors displayed in the icons may
change if GL programs change the colors in the GL
colormap or the currently installed colormap
conflicts with the GL colormap. When the GL
colormap is used with the icon box, the icon box
colormap takes precedence over the GL colormap.
Valid values are: 0(GL colormap), 16, 32, 64, 128.
The default value is 0.
SG_iconPlacementBottomMargin (class SG_IconPlacementBottomMargin)
This resource sets the distance between the bottom
edge of the screen and the icons that are placed
along the bottom edge of the screen. The value
should be greater than or equal to 0 and less than
the screen height. A default value is used if the
value specified is invalid.
SG_iconPlacementLeftMargin (class SG_IconPlacementLeftMargin)
This resource sets the distance between the left
edge of the screen and the icons that are placed
along the left edge of the screen. The value should
be greater than or equal to 0 and less than the
screen width minus the icon width. A default value
is used if the value specified is invalid.
SG_iconPlacementRightMargin (class SG_IconPlacementRightMargin)
This resource sets the distance between the right
edge of the screen and the icons that are placed
along the right edge of the screen. The value
should be greater than or equal to 0 and less than
the screen width. A default value is used if the
value specified is invalid.
SG_iconPlacementTopMargin (class SG_IconPlacementTopMargin)
This resource sets the distance between the top edge
of the screen and the icons that are placed along
the top edge of the screen. The value should be
greater than or equal to 0 and less than the screen
height minus the icon height. A default value is
used if the value specified is invalid.
SG_initialDeskName (class SG_InitialDeskName)
This resource sets the name of the first desk that
is created the first time 4Dwm is run, before the
4Dwmdeskname file exists. Once the 4Dwmdeskname
file exists, this resource is no longer used. The
default value is "Desk 1".
SG_manageSession (class SG_ManageSession)
If True, and if the session has been saved (either
continuously or explicitly) 4Dwm will attempt to
launch applications from the saved WM_COMMAND
properties when 4Dwm starts (if the applications are
not already running). If False, 4Dwm does not save
WM_COMMANDs or launch the corresponding
applications. If a $HOME/.desktop-
<hostname>/0.0/4Dwmdesks file exists, 4Dwm will use
it for laying out desks. Saving of the desks
information is not done automatically. Information
about windows is not forgotten when the windows go
away if they windows are "permanent" windows.
Setting SG_manageSession to False is not the
preferred mode. The default value is True.
SG_outlineDecoration (class SG_OutlineDecoration)
If True, configuration outlines track window
decorations. If False, a single outline is
displayed. The default value is True.
SG_packIconsMenuItem (class SG_PackIconsMenuItem)
The is only provided for localization purposes. The
format is similar to a menu entry. The default
value is \"Pack Icons\" _P Shift Alt<Key>F7
f.pack_icons\n
pointerColor (class PointerColor)
Defines the color of the pointer. The default value
is red.
pointerColorBackground (class PointerColorBackground)
Defines the color of the pointer background with a
two color cursor. The default value is white.
SG_shapeDecoration (class SG_ShapeDecoration)
If True, arbitrary shaped windows are decorated
normally. If False, it turns off all decorations on
all arbitrary shaped windows. The default value is
True.
SG_titleLeft (class SG_TitleLeft)
This resource specifies whether the text in the
title bar is left justified. If false, the text is
centered. The default value is True.
SG_titleOutline (class SG_TitleOutline)
If True, draws a black outline around the title bar.
If False, it does not. The default value is True.
SG_titlePadding (class SG_TitlePadding)
The number of pixels by which the title bar height
is padded. The pixels are divided between above the
title text and below it. Valid numbers are in the
range of 0 to 100. The default value is 3.
SG_useBackgrounds (class SG_UseBackgrounds)
If True, manages the screen backgrounds. If False,
it does nothing with the screen backgrounds. The
default value is False, but it is set to True on the
Xsession.dt command line if the "desktop" is turned
on.
SG_useDecals (class SG_UseDecals)
If True, uses decals on the title bar buttons. If
False, it uses the mwm look. The default value is
True.
SG_useOverlay (class SG_UseOverlay)
If True, tries to use the popup planes (if
available, and if not then other overlay planes if
available) for drawing the configuration outlines.
If popup or overlay planes are not available it uses
the default visual. If False, it uses the default
visual. The default value is True.
SG_useOverlaySolid (class SG_UseOverlaySolid)
If True and SG_useOverlay is True, then a copy
operation is used to draw the configuration
outlines. This is faster than the xor algorithm
used when this is false, but may look strange (cause
temporary damage and then expose events) over
clients in the overlay planes. If
SG_useOverlaySolid is set to false and
freezeOnConfig is false, then the configuration
outlines will flash. The default value is True.
SG_visualDepth (class SG_VisualDepth)
This resource controls the depth of the visual to be
used for the menus and feedback window. The default
is to choose an optimum value based on the available
hardware. If the hardware does not support the
requested depth for the requested SG_visualType, a
warning is issued and a default depth is chosen.
SG_visualType (class SG_VisualType)
This resource controls the visual in which the menus
and feedback window appear. Possible values are
"normal" specifying the normal planes, "overlay"
specifying overlay planes, and "popup" specifying
the popup planes. On hardware supporting only popup
planes, specifying overlay results in popup planes.
If the requested visual type is not supported by the
hardware, a warning is issued and a default type is
used. The default is to use the popup planes. Use
of the popup planes avoids interfering with other
clients on the screen, but provides only three
colors; the colors may be different than the colors
that would be allocated in the normal planes. To
have the full ability to chose colors, set this
resource to "normal".
SG_watchMotifHints (class SG_WatchMotifHints)
If True, 4Dwm responds to most changes in the
_MOTIF_WM_HINTS property. If False, it ignores most
changes to the _MOTIF_WM_HINTS property. The
default value is True.
SG_wMenuButtonClick2Quit (class SG_WMenuButtonClick2Quit)
If True, 4Dwm will allow a double-click on the
window menu button to do the "Exit" (f.quit_app)
function if it is available on the window and the
"Close" (f.kill) function is not available on the
window. If False, it does not do the f.quit_app on
double-click of the window menu button. The default
value is True.
IRIS Defaults
The following values are available through the
/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/4DWm file and/or the IRIS Defaults
mode of the window manager.
The following component appearance resources that apply to
all window manager parts can be specified:
Component Appearance Resources
All Window Manager Parts
Name Class Value Type Default
______________________________________________________________
background Background color varies|
backgroundPixmap BackgroundPixmap string|| varies|
bottomShadowColor Foreground color varies|
bottomShadowPixmap BottomShadowPixmap string|| varies|
fontList FontList string||| varies
foreground Foreground color varies|
saveUnder SaveUnder T/F F
topShadowColor Background color varies|
topShadowPixmap TopShadowPixmap string|| varies|
|The default is chosen based on the visual type of the
screen.
||Image name. See XmInstallImage(3X).
|||X11 R4 Font description.
The following component appearance resources that apply to
frame and icons can be specified:
Frame and Icon Components
Name Class Value Type Default
____________________________________________________________________
activeBackground Background color varies|
activeBackgroundPixmap BackgroundPixmap string|| varies|
activeBottomShadowColor Foreground color varies|
activeBottomShadowPixmap BottomShadowPixmap string|| varies|
activeForeground Foreground color varies|
activeTopShadowColor Background color varies|
activeTopShadowPixmap TopShadowPixmap string|| varies|
|The default is chosen based on the visual type of the screen.
||See XmInstallImage(3X).
The following specific appearance and behavior resources can
be specified:
Specific Appearance
and Behavior Resources
Name Value Type Default
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
autoKeyFocus T/F T
autoRaiseDelay millisec 500
SG_autoSave T/F T
bitmapDirectory directory /usr/include/X11/bitmaps
buttonBindings string "4DwmButtonBindings"
cleanText T/F T
clientAutoPlace T/F T
colormapFocusPolicy string keyboard
configFile file .4Dwmrc
SG_confirmAtPointer T/F T
deiconifyKeyFocus T/F T
SG_ditherMidShadows T/F T
doubleClickTime millisec. multiClickTime
enableWarp T/F T
enforceKeyFocus T/F T
fadeNormalIcon T/F F
frameBorderWidth pixels 7
SG_frameOutline T/F T
SG_framesInOverlays T/F T
freezeOnConfig T/F F
iconAutoPlace T/F T
SG_iconAutoPlaceUnique T/F T
iconBoxGeometry string 6x1+0-0
iconBoxName string iconbox
iconBoxSBDisplayPolicy string all
iconBoxTitle XmString Windows Overview
iconClick T/F F
iconDecoration string label image
SG_iconImageColors number 0
iconImageMaximum wxh 85x67
iconImageMinimum wxh 16x16
iconPlacement string left top tight
iconPlacementMargin pixels 10
SG_iconPlacementBottomMargin pixels varies
SG_iconPlacementLeftMargin pixels 125
SG_iconPlacementRightMargin pixels varies
SG_iconPlacementTopMargin pixels varies
SG_initialDeskName string Desk 1
interactivePlacement T/F F
keyBindings string "4DwmKeyBindings"
keyboardFocusPolicy string pointer
limitResize T/F T
lowerOnIconify T/F F
maximumMaximumSize wxh (pixels) 2X screen w&h
moveOpaque T/F F
moveThreshold pixels 3
multiScreen T/F T
SG_manageSession T/F T
SG_outlineDecoration T/F T
SG_packIconsMenuItem string
passButtons T/F T
passSelectButton T/F T
pointerColor color varies
pointerColorBackground color varies
positionIsFrame T/F F
positionOnScreen T/F T
quitTimeout millisec. 1000
raiseKeyFocus T/F F
resizeBorderWidth pixels 7
resizeCursors T/F T
screens string varies
shapeDecoration T/F F
showFeedback string behavior restart quit
startupKeyFocus T/F T
SG_titleLeft T/F T
SG_titleOutline T/F T
SG_titlePadding pixels 3
transientDecoration string menu title
transientFunctions string -minimize -quit
SG_useBackgrounds T/F F
SG_useDecals T/F T
useIconBox T/F F
SG_useOverlay T/F T
SG_useOverlaySolid T/F T
SG_visualDepth number varies
SG_visualType string varies
SG_watchMotifHints T/F T
wMenuButtonClick T/F T
wMenuButtonClick2 T/F T
SG_wMenuButtonClick2Quit T/F T
The following client specific resources can be specified:
Client Specific Resources
Name Value Type Default
_______________________________________________________________________
clientDecoration string all
clientFunctions string all
focusAutoRaise T/F F
iconImage pathname (image)
iconImageBackground color icon background
iconImageBottomShadowColor color icon bottom shadow
iconImageBottomShadowPixmap string icon bottom shadow pixmap
iconImageForeground color varies
iconImageTopShadowColor color icon top shadow color
iconImageTopShadowPixmap string icon top shadow pixmap
matteBackground color background
matteBottomShadowColor color bottom shadow color
matteBottomShadowPixmap string bottom shadow pixmap
matteForeground color foreground
matteTopShadowColor color top shadow color
matteTopShadowPixmap string top shadow pixmap
matteWidth pixels 0
maximumClientSize wxh fill the screen
useClientIcon T/F F
usePPosition string nonzero
windowMenu string "4DwmWindowMenu"
Localization of Strings
Most 4Dwm strings can be localized via the resource
mechanism. These resources are listed in the
/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/4DWm file.
FILES
/usr/lib/X11/$LANG/system.4Dwmrc
/usr/lib/X11/system.4Dwmrc
/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/4DWm
$HOME/4DWm
$HOME/.Xdefaults
$HOME/$LANG/.4Dwmrc
$HOME/.4Dwmrc
$HOME/.motifbind
$HOME/.desktop-<hostname>/0.0/4Dwmdesks
$HOME/.desktop-<hostname>/0.0/4Dwmdeskname
$HOME/.desktop-<hostname>/0.0/4Dwmsession
$HOME/.desktop-<hostname>/0.0/4DWm or $HOME/.Sgiresources
SEE ALSO
mwm(1X), ov(1), tellwm(1X), windows(1), background(1),
fm(1), xsetroot(1), X(1)
CAVEATS
Sending a SIGKILL to 4Dwm usually causes loss of input
focus. Since SIGKILL can not be caught, 4Dwm is not able to
exit gracefully. If you have a terminal emulator window
available, use "tellwm quit" to terminate 4Dwm.
When invoking f.exec commands, 4Dwm uses the MWMSHELL
environment variable if it is set, otherwise the value of
the SHELL environment variable if it is set,
otherwise /bin/sh. These must be valid command shells for
the f.exec to work. f.exec command failure might not be
obvious. The f.exec command is most efficient when MWMSHELL
is set to /bin/sh.
Certain client programs have chosen not to use the "Close"
function. Double-clicking on their window menu button will
not close the window. These client programs can be
identified by the lack of "Close" in their menu.
Occasionally, when moving between two windows using non-
default colormaps, there is some brief colormap flashing.
The correct colormap is normally installed.
On occasion a 4Dwm menu will not be able to get the X grabs
it needs to function. The result is a 4Dwm menu that stays
posted and does not respond to the pointer. Usually
pressing the Esc key will remedy the situation.
If there are more icons that need to be displayed than can
fit in the icon tiling region, then there may become holes
in the tiling region (places where you cannot place an icon
that you used to be able to place one). The workaround is
to reduce the number of icons needed and restart 4Dwm.
Sometimes the iconbox does not display a scroll bar to allow
access to all the available icons. To work around this
problem, resize the iconbox or use the Pack Icons entry on
the iconbox menu.
4Dwm may print out an error message when icon image files
are not found or are not valid image files. This may happen
in an unusual way if the client's class starts with a '/'.
Clients should not have their instance or class name begin
with a '/' for the 4Dwm icon search to work properly.
With some applications, there is a problem detecting
double-clicks when 4Dwm has a button binding active in the
window context. By default, 4Dwm does not have such a
button binding (except for on Meta<Btn3Down>). This may
happen with the Desks Overview (ov), interfering with
switching desks.
Windows may receive a stray Button Up event as a result of
the user double-clicking on the system button of the window
above it (when it succeeds in closing the window).
Sometimes additions to the keyBindings in the .4Dwmrc file
will cause the keyboard focus to not be set to any window.
If this happens use the pointer to pop up a 4Dwm menu (or
move or resize a window if the rubberbands are displayed in
the overlay planes).
With pointer focus mode, some applications that use modal
dialogs may lose input focus. If this happens, move the
pointer out of the application window.
Session management attempts to launch applications that
provide a WM_COMMAND property on their windows. There are
many reasons that the WM_COMMAND alone is not sufficient
information to successfully launch an application.
The session management and desks code work together to try
to determine which window should appear at what location and
size and in which desk. This determination is based on the
WM_CLASS and WM_COMMAND properties of the window, so 4Dwm
may not be able to distinguish between different windows,
especially if these windows lack the WM_CLASS and WM_COMMAND
properties.
Desks remembers the state and geometry of your window in
your various desks. Session management trys to launch the
applications that correspond to the windows. If session
management can not launch the application, desks may still
remember the configuration of that window. Launching the
application by hand may cause the windows to appear in the
state that desks remembered them.
Deleting a desk does not cause the windows that appear in
that desk to go away (close or quit) or the application to
quit running. If the windows do not appear in any remaining
desk, access the windows from the Desks Overview (ov)
Window->List All... menu selection (or the Windows Overview
(iconbox) if it is present).
Sometimes the $HOME/.desktop-<hostname>/0.0/4Dwm* files are
corrupted on shutdown/reboot or if the power is turned off.
If 4Dwm is running with continuous session management, it is
recommended that 4Dwm be quit before the shutdown/reboot.
This can be done by issuing the command "tellwm quit" from a
terminal emulator window.
The $HOME/.desktop-<hostname>/0.0/4Dwm* files are only meant
to be written by 4Dwm. Hand editing these files will result
in undefined behavior.
If you choose to run multiple instances of 4Dwm, be aware
that they will overwrite each other's $HOME/.desktop-
<hostname>/0.0/4Dwm* files. The resulting desks and session
management behavior is undefined. With careful attention
to turning off session management (SG_manageSession: false)
or to setting session management to the explicit
(SG_autoSave: false) mode, it is possible to use the window
management functions of 4Dwm.
This version of 4Dwm has some problems with multi-headed
systems. One is the above multiple instances of 4Dwm
overwriting each other's files if you choose to run separate
instances of 4Dwm on each head. Another problem is when fm
is running, the dynamic root menu may be incorrect (usually
on the head on which fm is not running).
4Dwm has not kept up with the increasing number of visuals
available on some systems. There may be some visuals with
which it does not work properly, especially on multi-headed
systems.
Occasionally there seems to be an interaction between the
Desks Overview (ov) window and 4Dwm that appears as a
constant resizing of the ov window. Manually resizing or
closing the ov window should stop this behavior.
There is an interaction between ov and 4Dwm when the
"Global" desk is the current desk which causes new windows
to be mapped at location 0,0.
Since 4Dwm session mangement tries to launch applications,
if you have your own $HOME/.sgisession or $HOME/.xsession
file that launches the same applications as 4Dwm launches,
you may end up with multiple copies of the same application
running. If you have SG_manageSession set to True, you
should remove the launching of applications that 4Dwm can
launch from these files.
4Dwm session management and desks do not work always very
well with multi-windowed applications. There is currently
no mechanism in place to relate windows of an application.
Often times not all windows of an application can be made to
appear as they were when a session was saved. Dialogs or
other windows that an application may launch may appear in a
different desk than the other windows of the application.
Desks does not understand about maximized windows. Since
windows are quite often resized when switching desks, the
maximized windows usually turn into large normalized windows
upon return to the desk where they were previously
maximized.
If an attempt is made to change the background through a
tool other than the background control panel or xsetroot, a
warning will be given. If file manager icons on the
background are enabled, the warning will always be given.
If they are disabled, the warning will only be given the
first time it occurs.
Backgrounds are cached for all desks. If a user has many
desks, each using many colors, the colors can fill up the
colormap. Similarly, if many desks each have large
background pixmaps, much server memory can be used.
Menus and feedback windows appear by default in the popup
planes (if available). These windows share a colormap in the
popup planes, so if a color change is desired for one of the
windows it must be made for all of them. There are only
three colors available in the popup colormap, so more than
one attempt may need to be made to find colors that work
together. Sometimes when too many colors are needed, the
ones that can't be allocated appear transparent.
4Dwm is meant to be run with schemes enabled. If schemes is
disabled, it is likely that there will be transparent pixels
in 4Dwm's windows in the overlay planes. If this happens,
either explicitly set the colors (such as
4Dwm*menu*foreground: black) to some color that is already
appearing in the 4Dwm window (or if it is the menus, another
option is to remove the menus from the overlay planes
(4Dwm*SG_visualType: normal) if you don't mind the
additional exposes it will cause when you pop up a 4Dwm menu
or feedback window).
Page 20 (printed 4/30/98)