mwm(1X) UNIX Programmer's Manual mwm(1X)
NAME
mwm - The Motif Window Manager.
SYNOPSIS
mwm [options]
DESCRIPTION
mwm is an X Window System client that provides window
management functionality and some session management func-
tionality. 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. It also provides session management
functions such as stopping a client.
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 mwm to manage all screens on the
display. The default is to manage only a single
screen.
-name name
This option causes mwm 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 mwm. If mwm is managing a
single screen, only the first name in the list is
used. If mwm 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.
Appearance
The following sections describe the basic default behaviors
of windows, icons, the icon box, input focus, and window
stacking. The appearance and behavior of the window manager
can be altered by changing the configuration of specific
resources. Resources are defined under the heading "X
DEFAULTS."
Screens
By default, mwm manages only the single screen specified by
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the -display option or the DISPLAY environment variable (by
default, screen 0). If the -multiscreen option is specified
or if the multiScreen resource is True, mwm tries to manage
all the screens on the display.
When mwm is managing multiple screens, the -screens option
can be used to give each screen a unique resource name. The
names are separated by blanks, e.g., -screens mwm0 mwm1. If
there are more screens than names, resources for the remain-
ing screens will be retrieved using the first name.
Windows
Default mwm window frames have distinct components with
associated functions:
Title Area In addition to displaying the client's
title, the title area is used to move the
window. To move the window, place the
pointer over the title area, press button 1
and drag the window to a new location. A
wire frame is moved during the drag to
indicate the new location. When the button
is released, the window is moved to the new
location.
Title Bar The title bar includes the title area, the
minimize button, the maximize button and
the window menu button.
Minimize Button To turn the window into an icon, click but-
ton 1 on the minimize button (the frame box
with a small square in it).
Maximize Button To make the window fill the screen (or
enlarge to the largest size allowed by the
configuration files), click button 1 on the
maximize button (the frame box with a large
square in it).
Window Menu Button
The window menu button is the frame box
with a horizontal bar in it. To pull down
the window menu, press button 1. While
pressing, drag the pointer on the menu to
your selection, then release the button
when your selection is highlighted. Alter-
nately, you can click button 1 to pull down
the menu and keep it posted; then position
the pointer and select.
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Default Window Menu
Selection Accelerator Description
________________________________________________________________
Restore Alt+F5 Restores the window to its size before
minimizing or maximizing
Move Alt+F7 Allows the window to be moved with
keys or mouse
Size Alt+F8 Allows the window to be resized
Minimize Alt+F9 Turns the window into an icon
Maximize Alt+F10 Makes the window fill the screen
Lower Alt+F3 Moves window to bottom of window stack
Close Alt+F4 Causes client to terminate
Resize Border Handles
To change the size of a window, move the
pointer over a resize border handle (the
cursor changes), press button 1, and drag
the window to a new size. When the button
is released, the window is resized. While
dragging is being done, a rubber-band out-
line is displayed to indicate the new win-
dow size.
Matte An optional matte decoration can be added
between the client area and the window
frame. A matte is not actually part of the
window frame. There is no functionality
associated with a matte.
Icons
Icons are small graphic representations of windows. A win-
dow can be minimized (iconified) using the minimize button
on the window frame. Icons provide a way to reduce clutter
on the screen.
Pressing mouse button 1 when the pointer is over an icon
causes the icon's window menu to pop up. Releasing the but-
ton (press + release without moving mouse = click) causes
the menu to stay posted. The menu contains the following
selections:
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Icon Window Menu
Selection Accelerator Description
_______________________________________________________________
Restore Alt+F5 Opens the associated window
Move Alt+F7 Allows the icon to be moved with keys
Size Alt+F8 Inactive (not an option for icons)
Minimize Alt+F9 Inactive (not an option for icons)
Maximize Alt+F10 Opens the associated window and makes
it fill the screen
Lower Alt+F3 Moves icon to bottom of icon stack
Close Alt+F4 Removes client from mwm management
Note that pressing button 3 over an icon also causes the
icon's window menu to pop up. To make a menu selection,
drag the pointer over the menu and release button 3 when the
desired item is highlighted.
Double-clicking button 1 on an icon normalizes the icon into
its associated window. Double-clicking button 1 on the icon
box's icon opens the icon box and allow access to the con-
tained icons. (In general, double-clicking a mouse button
is a quick way to perform a function.) Double-clicking but-
ton 1 with the pointer on the window menu button closes the
window.
Icon Box
When icons begin to clutter the screen, they can be packed
into an icon box. (To use an icon box, mwm must be started
with the icon box configuration already set.) The icon box
is a mwm window that holds client icons. It includes one or
more scroll bars when there are more window icons than the
icon box can show at the same time.
Icons in the icon box can be manipulated with the mouse.
The following table summarizes the behavior of this inter-
face. Button actions apply whenever the pointer is on any
part of the icon. Note that invoking the f.raise function on
an icon in the icon box raises an already open window to the
top of the stack.
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Button Action Description
________________________________________________________________
Button 1 click Selects the icon
Button 1 double click Normalizes (opens) the associated window
Button 1 double click Raises an already open window to the top
of the stack
Button 1 drag Moves the icon
Button 3 press Causes the menu for that icon to pop up.
Button 3 drag Highlights items as the pointer moves
across the menu.
Pressing mouse button 3 when the pointer is over an icon
causes the menu for that icon to pop up.
Icon Menu for the Icon Box
Selection Accelerator Description
____________________________________________________________________________
Restore Alt+F5 Opens the associated window (if not already open).
Move Alt+F7 Allows the icon to be moved with keys.
Size Alt+F8 Inactive.
Minimize Alt+F9 Inactive.
Maximize Alt+F10 Opens the associated window (if not already open)
and maximizes its size.
Lower Alt+F3 Inactive.
Close Alt+F4 Removes client from mwm management.
To pull down the window menu for the icon box itself, press
button 1 with the pointer over the menu button for the icon
box. The window menu of the icon box differs from the window
menu of a client window: The "Close" selection is replaced
with the "PackIcons Shift+Alt+F7" selection. When selected,
PackIcons packs the icons in the box to achieve neat rows
with no empty slots.
Pressing [Shift][Escape] when the icon box has the input
focus causes the window menu of the icon box to pop up.
Pressing F4 (the pop-up menu key) causes the window menu of
the currently selected icon to pop up.
Input Focus
mwm supports (by default) a keyboard input focus policy of
explicit selection. This means when a window is selected to
get keyboard input, it continues to get keyboard input until
the window is withdrawn from window management, another win-
dow is explicitly selected to get keyboard input, or the
window is iconified. Several resources control the input
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focus. The client window with the keyboard input focus has
the active window appearance with a visually distinct window
frame.
The following tables summarize the keyboard input focus
selection behavior:
_________________________________________________________________
Button 1 press Window / window frame Keyboard focus selection
Button 1 press Icon Keyboard focus selection
_______________________________________________________________________
[Alt][Tab] Move input focus to next window in window stack
[Alt][Shift][Tab] Move input focus to previous window in window stack
X Defaults
mwm is configured from its resource database. This database
is built from the following sources. They are listed in
order of precedence, low to high:
/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/Mwm
$HOME/Mwm
RESOURCE_MANAGER root window property or $HOME/.Xdefaults
XENVIRONMENT variable or $HOME/.Xdefaults-host
mwm command line options
The file names /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/Mwm and $HOME/Mwm
represent customary locations for these files. The actual
location of the system-wide class resource file may depend
on the XFILESEARCHPATH environment variable and the current
language environment. The actual location of the user-
specific class resource file may depend on the XUSER-
FILESEARCHPATH and XAPPLRESDIR environment variables and the
current language environment.
Entries in the resource database may refer to other resource
files for specific types of resources. These include files
that contain bitmaps, fonts, and mwm specific resources such
as menus and behavior specifications (for example, button
and key bindings).
Mwm is the resource class name of mwm and mwm is the
resource name used by mwm to look up resources. (For looking
up resources of multiple screens, the -screens command line
option specifies resource names, such as "mwm_b+w" and
"mwm_color".) In the following discussion of resource
specification, "Mwm" and"mwm" (and the aliased mwm resource
names) can be used interchangeably, but "mwm" takes
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precedence over "Mwm".
mwm uses the following types of resources:
Component Appearance Resources:
These resources specify appearance attributes of window
manager user interface components. They can be applied to
the appearance of window manager menus, feedback windows
(for example, the window reconfiguration feedback window),
client window frames, and icons.
Specific Appearance and Behavior Resources:
These resources specify mwm appearance and behavior (for
example, window management policies). They are not set
separately for different mwm user interface components.
Client Specific Resources:
These mwm resources can be set for a particular client win-
dow or class of client windows. They specify client-
specific icon and client window frame appearance and
behavior.
Resource identifiers can be either a resource name (for
example, foreground) or a resource class (for example, Fore-
ground). If the value of a resource is a filename and if
the filename is prefixed by "~/", then it is relative to the
path contained in the HOME environment variable (generally
the user's home directory).
Component Appearance Resources
The syntax for specifying component appearance resources
that apply to window manager icons, menus, and client window
frames is
Mwm*resource_id
For example, Mwm*foreground is used to specify the fore-
ground color for mwm menus, icons, client window frames, and
feedback dialogs.
The syntax for specifying component appearance resources
that apply to a particular mwm component is
Mwm*[menu|icon|client|feedback]*resource_id
If menu is specified, the resource is applied only to mwm If
menu is specified, the resource is applied only to MWM
menus; if icon is specified, the resource is applied to
icons; and if client is specified, the resource is applied
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to client window frames. For example, Mwm*icon*foreground
is used to specify the foreground color for mwm icons,
Mwm*menu*foreground specifies the foreground color for mwm
menus, and Mwm*client*foreground is used to specify the
foreground color for mwm client window frames.
The appearance of the title area of a client window frame
(including window management buttons) can be separately con-
figured. The syntax for configuring the title area of a
client window frame is:
Mwm*client*title*resource_id
For example, Mwm*client*title*foreground specifies the fore-
ground color for the title area. Defaults for title area
resources are based on the values of the corresponding
client window frame resources.
The appearance of menus can be configured based on the name
of the menu. The syntax for specifying menu appearance by
name is:
Mwm*menu*menu_name*resource_id
For example, Mwm*menu*my_menu*foreground specifies the fore-
ground color for the menu named my_menu.
The following component appearance resources that apply to
all window manager parts can be specified:
Component Appearance Resources - All Window Manager Parts
____________________________________________________________________
background Background color varies-
backgroundPixmap BackgroundPixmap string--;varies-
bottomShadowColor Foreground color varies-
bottomShadowPixmap BottomShadowPixmap string--;varies-
fontList FontList string--- "fixed"
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.
background (class Background)
This resource specifies the background color. Any
legal X color may be specified. The default value
is chosen based on the visual type of the screen.
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backgroundPixmap (class BackgroundPixmap)
This resource specifies the background Pixmap of the
mwm decoration when the window is inactive (does not
have the keyboard focus). The default value is
chosen based on the visual type of the screen.
bottomShadowColor (class Foreground)
This resource specifies the bottom shadow color.
This color is used for the lower and right bevels of
the window manager decoration. Any legal X color may
be specified. The default value is chosen based on
the visual type of the screen.
bottomShadowPixmap (class BottomShadowPixmap)
This resource specifies the bottom shadow Pixmap.
This Pixmap is used for the lower and right bevels
of the window manager decoration. The default is
chosen based on the visual type of the screen.
fontList (class FontList)
This resource specifies the font used in the window
manager decoration. The character encoding of the
font should match the character encoding of the
strings that are used. The default is "fixed."
foreground (class Foreground)
This resource specifies the foreground color. The
default is chosen based on the visual type of the
screen.
saveUnder (class SaveUnder)
This is used to indicate whether "save unders" are
used for mwm components. For this to have any
effect, save unders must be implemented by the X
server. If save unders are implemented, the X
server saves the contents of windows obscured by
windows that have the save under attribute set. If
the saveUnder resource is True, mwm will set the
save under attribute on the window manager frame of
any client that has it set. If saveUnder is False,
save unders will not be used on any window manager
frames. The default value is False.
topShadowColor (class Background)
This resource specifies the top shadow color. This
color is used for the upper and left bevels of the
window manager decoration. The default is chosen
based on the visual type of the screen.
topShadowPixmap (class TopShadowPixmap)
This resource specifies the top shadow Pixmap. This
Pixmap is used for the upper and left bevels of the
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window manager decoration. The default is chosen
based on the visual type of the screen.
The following component appearance resources that apply to
frame and icons can be specified:
Frame and Icon Components
____________________________________________________________________
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).
activeBackground (class Background)
This resource specifies the background color of the
mwm decoration when the window is active (has the
keyboard focus). The default is chosen based on the
visual type of the screen.
activeBackgroundPixmap (class ActiveBackgroundPixmap)
This resource specifies the background Pixmap of the
mwm decoration when the window is active (has the
keyboard focus). The default is chosen based on the
visual type of the screen.
activeBottomShadowColor (class Foreground)
This resource specifies the bottom shadow color of
the mwm decoration when the window is active (has
the keyboard focus). The default is chosen based on
the visual type of the screen.
activeBottomShadowPixmap (class BottomShadowPixmap)
This resource specifies the bottom shadow Pixmap of
the mwm decoration when the window is active (has
the keyboard focus). The default is chosen based on
the visual type of the screen.
activeForeground (class Foreground)
This resource specifies the foreground color of the
mwm decoration when the window is active (has the
keyboard focus). The default is chosen based on the
visual type of the screen.
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activeTopShadowColor (class Background)
This resource specifies the top shadow color of the
mwm decoration when the window is active (has the
keyboard focus). The default is chosen based on the
visual type of the screen.
activeTopShadowPixmap (class TopShadowPixmap)
This resource specifies the top shadow Pixmap of the
mwm decoration when the window is active (has the
keyboard focus). The default is chosen based on the
visual type of the screen.
Specific Appearance And Behavior Resources
The syntax for specifying specific appearance and behavior
resources is
Mwm*resource_id
For example, Mwm*keyboardFocusPolicy specifies the window
manager policy for setting the keyboard focus to a particu-
lar client window.
The following specific appearance and behavior resources can
be specified:
Specific Appearance and Behavior Resources
__________________________________________________________________________________________
autoKeyFocus AutoKeyFocus T/F T
autoRaiseDelay AutoRaiseDelay millisec 500
bitmapDirectory BitmapDirectory directory /usr/include/X11/bitmaps
buttonBindings ButtonBindings string "DefaultButtonBindings"
cleanText CleanText T/F T
clientAutoPlace ClientAutoPlace T/F T
colormapFocusPolicy ColormapFocusPolicy string keyboard
configFile ConfigFile file .mwmrc
deiconifyKeyFocus DeiconifyKeyFocus T/F T
doubleClickTime DoubleClickTime millisec. multi-click time
enableWarp enableWarp T/F T
enforceKeyFocus EnforceKeyFocus T/F T
fadeNormalIcon FadeNormalIcon T/F F
frameBorderWidth FrameBorderWidth pixels 5
iconAutoPlace IconAutoPlace T/F T
iconBoxGeometry IconBoxGeometry string 6x1+0-0
iconBoxName IconBoxName string iconbox
iconBoxSBDisplayPolicy IconBoxSBDisplayPolicy string all
iconBoxTitle IconBoxTitle XmString Icons
iconClick IconClick T/F T
iconDecoration IconDecoration string;varies
iconImageMaximum IconImageMaximum wxh 50x50
iconImageMinimum IconImageMinimum wxh 16x16
iconPlacement IconPlacement string left bottom
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iconPlacementMargin IconPlacementMargin pixels varies
interactivePlacement InteractivePlacement T/F F
keyBindings KeyBindings string "DefaultKeyBindings"
keyboardFocusPolicy KeyboardFocusPolicy string explicit
limitResize LimitResize T/F T
lowerOnIconify LowerOnIconify T/F T
maximumMaximumSize MaximumMaximumSize wxh (pixels) 2X screen
w&h
moveThreshold MoveThreshold pixels 4
multiScreen MultiScreen T/F F
passButtons PassButtons T/F F
passSelectButton PassSelectButton T/F T
positionIsFrame PositionIsFrame T/F T
positionOnScreen PositionOnScreen T/F T
quitTimeout QuitTimeout millisec. 1000
raiseKeyFocus RaiseKeyFocus T/F F
resizeBorderWidth ResizeBorderWidth pixels 10
resizeCursors ResizeCursors T/F T
screens Screens string varies
showFeedback ShowFeedback string -kill
startupKeyFocus StartupKeyFocus T/F T
transientDecoration TransientDecoration string system
title
transientFunctions TransientFunctions string -minimize
-maximize
useIconBox UseIconBox T/F F
wMenuButtonClick WMenuButtonClick T/F T
wMenuButtonClick2 WMenuButtonClick2 T/F T
autoKeyFocus (class AutoKeyFocus)
This resource is available only when the keyboard
input focus policy is explicit. If autoKeyFocus is
given a value of True, then when a window with the
keyboard input focus is withdrawn from window
management or is iconified, the focus is set to the
previous window that had the focus. If the value
given is False, there is no automatic setting of the
keyboard input focus. The default value is True.
autoRaiseDelay (class AutoRaiseDelay)
This resource is available only when the focusAu-
toRaise resource is True and the keyboard focus pol-
icy is pointer. The autoRaiseDelay resource speci-
fies the amount of time (in milliseconds) that mwm
will wait before raising a window after it gets the
keyboard focus. The default value of this resource
is 500 (ms).
bitmapDirectory (class BitmapDirectory)
This resource identifies a directory to be searched
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for bitmaps referenced by mwm resources. This
directory is searched if a bitmap is specified
without an absolute pathname. The default value for
this resource is /usr/include/X11/bitmaps.
buttonBindings (class ButtonBindings)
This resource identifies the set of button bindings
for window management functions. The named set of
button bindings is specified in the mwm resource
description file. These button bindings are merged
with the built-in default bindings. The default
value for this resource is "DefaultButtonBindings".
cleanText (classCleanText)
This resource controls the display of window manager
text in the client title and feedback windows. If
the default value of True is used, the text is drawn
with a clear (no stipple) background. This makes
text easier to read on monochrome systems where a
backgroundPixmap is specified. Only the stippling in
the area immediately around the text is cleared. If
False, the text is drawn directly on top of the
existing background.
clientAutoPlace (class ClientAutoPlace)
This resource determines the position of a window
when the window has not been given a user specified
position. With a value of True, windows are posi-
tioned with the top left corners of the frames
offset horizontally and vertically. A value of
False causes the currently configured position of
the window to be used. In either case, mwm will
attempt to place the windows totally on-screen. The
default value is True.
colormapFocusPolicy (class ColormapFocusPolicy)
This resource indicates the colormap focus policy
that is to be used. If the resource value is expli-
cit, a colormap selection action is done on a client
window to set the colormap focus to that window. If
the value is pointer, the client window containing
the pointer has the colormap focus. If the value is
keyboard, the client window that has the keyboard
input focus has the colormap focus. The default
value for this resource is keyboard.
configFile (class ConfigFile)
The resource value is the pathname for an mwm
resource description file.
If the pathname begins with "~/", mwm considers it
to be relative to the user's home directory (as
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specified by the HOME environment variable). If the
LANG environment variable is set, mwm looks for
$HOME/$LANG/configFile. If that file does not exist
or if LANG is not set, mwm looks for
$HOME/configFile.
If the configFile pathname does not begin with "~/",
mwm considers it to be relative to the current work-
ing directory.
If the configFile resource is not specified or if
that file does not exist, mwm uses several default
paths to find a configuration file. If the LANG
environment variable is set, mwm looks for the con-
figuration file first in $HOME/$LANG/.mwmrc. If
that file does not exist or if LANG is not set, mwm
looks for $HOME/.mwmrc. If that file does not exist
and if LANG is set, mwm next looks for
/usr/lib/X11/$LANG/system.mwmrc. If that file does
not exist or if LANG is not set, mwm looks for
/usr/lib/X11/system.mwmrc.
deiconifyKeyFocus (class DeiconifyKeyFocus)
This resource applies only when the keyboard input
focus policy is explicit. If a value of True is
used, a window receives the keyboard input focus
when it is normalized (deiconified). True is the
default value.
doubleClickTime (class DoubleClickTime)
This resource is used to set the maximum time (in
ms) between the clicks (button presses) that make up
a double-click. The default value of this resource
is the display's multi-click time.
enableWarp (class EnableWarp)
The default value of this resource, True, causes mwm
to "warp" the pointer to the center of the selected
window during keyboard-controlled resize and move
operations. Setting the value to False causes mwm
to leave the pointer at its original place on the
screen, unless the user explicitly moves it with the
cursor keys or pointing device.
enforceKeyFocus (class EnforceKeyFocus)
If this resource is given a value of True, the key-
board input focus is always explicitly set to
selected windows even if there is an indication that
they are "globally active" input windows. (An exam-
ple of a globally active window is a scroll bar that
can be operated without setting the focus to that
client.) If the resource is False, the keyboard
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input focus is not explicitly set to globally active
windows. The default value is True.
fadeNormalIcon (class FadeNormalIcon)
If this resource is given a value of True, an icon
is grayed out whenever it has been normalized (its
window has been opened). The default value is
False.
frameBorderWidth (class FrameBorderWidth)
This resource specifies the width (in pixels) of a
client window frame border without resize handles.
The border width includes the 3-D shadows. The
default value is 5 pixels.
iconAutoPlace (class IconAutoPlace)
This resource indicates whether the window manager
arranges icons in a particular area of the screen or
places each icon where the window was when it was
iconified. The value True indicates that icons are
arranged in a particular area of the screen, deter-
mined by the iconPlacement resource. The value
False indicates that an icon is placed at the loca-
tion of the window when it is iconified. The
default is True.
iconBoxGeometry (class IconBoxGeometry)
This resource indicates the initial position and
size of the icon box. The value of the resource is
a standard window geometry string with the following
syntax:
[=][widthxheight][{+-}xoffset{+-}yoffset]
If the offsets are not provided, the iconPlacement policy is
used to determine the initial placement. The units for
width and height are columns and rows.
The actual screen size of the icon box window depends on the
iconImageMaximum (size) and iconDecoration resources. The
default value for size is (6 * iconWidth + padding) wide by
(1 * iconHeight + padding) high. The default value of the
location is +0 -0.
iconBoxName (class IconBoxName)
This resource specifies the name that is used to
look up icon box resources. The default name is
"iconbox".
iconBoxSBDisplayPolicy (class IconBoxSBDisplayPolicy)
This resource specifies the scroll bar display
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policy of the window manager in the icon box. The
resource has three possible values: all, vertical,
and horizontal. The default value, "all", causes
both vertical and horizontal scroll bars always to
appear. The value "vertical" causes a single verti-
cal scroll bar to appear in the icon box and sets
the orientation of the icon box to horizontal
(regardless of the iconBoxGeometry specification).
The value "horizontal" causes a single horizontal
scroll bar to appear in the icon box and sets the
orientation of the icon box to vertical (regardless
of the iconBoxGeometry specification).
iconBoxTitle (class IconBoxTitle)
This resource specifies the name that is used in the
title area of the icon box frame. The default value
is "Icons".
iconClick (class IconClick)
When this resource is given the value of True, the
system menu is posted and left posted when an icon
is clicked. The default value is True.
iconDecoration (class IconDecoration)
This resource specifies the general icon decoration.
The resource value is label (only the label part is
displayed) or image (only the image part is
displayed) or label image (both the label and image
parts are displayed). A value of activelabel can
also be specified to get a label (not truncated to
the width of the icon) when the icon is selected.
The default icon decoration for icon box icons is
that each icon has a label part and an image part
(label image). The default icon decoration for
stand-alone icons is that each icon has an active
label part, a label part and an image part
(activelabel label image).
iconImageMaximum (class IconImageMaximum)
This resource specifies the maximum size of the icon
image. The resource value is widthxheight (for
example, 64x64). The maximum supported size is
128x128. The default value of this resource is
50x50.
iconImageMinimum (class IconImageMinimum)
This resource specifies the minimum size of the icon
image. The resource value is widthxheight (for
example, 32x50). The minimum supported size is
16x16. The default value of this resource is 16x16.
iconPlacement (class IconPlacement)
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This resource specifies the icon placement scheme to
be used. The resource value has the following syn-
tax:
primary_layout secondary_layout
The layout values are one of the following:
Value Description
_________________________________________
top Lay the icons out top to bottom.
bottom Lay the icons out bottom to top.
left Lay the icons out left to right.
right Lay the icons out right to left.
A horizontal (vertical) layout value should not be
used for both the primary_layout and the
secondary_layout (for example, don't use top for the
primary_layout and bottom for the secondary_layout).
The primary_layout indicates whether, when an icon
placement is done, the icon is placed in a row or a
column and the direction of placement. The
secondary_layout indicates where to place new rows
or columns. For example, top right indicates that
icons should be placed top to bottom on the screen
and that columns should be added from right to left
on the screen. The default placement is left bottom
(icons are placed left to right on the screen, with
the first row on the bottom of the screen, and new
rows added from the bottom of the screen to the top
of the screen).
iconPlacementMargin (class IconPlacementMargin)
This resource sets the distance between the edge of
the screen and the icons that are placed along the
edge of the screen. The value should be greater
than or equal to 0. A default value (see below) is
used if the value specified is invalid. The default
value for this resource is equal to the space
between icons as they are placed on the screen (this
space is based on maximizing the number of icons in
each row and column).
interactivePlacement (class InteractivePlacement)
This resource controls the initial placement of new
windows on the screen. If the value is True, the
pointer shape changes before a new window is placed
on the screen to indicate to the user that a posi-
tion should be selected for the upper-left hand
corner of the window. If the value is False, win-
dows are placed according to the initial window con-
figuration attributes. The default value of this
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resource is False.
keyBindings (class KeyBindings)
This resource identifies the set of key bindings for
window management functions. If specified these key
bindings replace the built-in default bindings. The
named set of key bindings is specified in mwm
resource description file. The default value for
this resource is "DefaultKeyBindings".
keyboardFocusPolicy (class KeyboardFocusPolicy)
If set to pointer, the keyboard focus policy is to
have the keyboard focus set to the client window
that contains the pointer (the pointer could also be
in the client window decoration that mwm adds). If
set to explicit, the policy is to have the keyboard
focus set to a client window when the user presses
button 1 with the pointer on the client window or
any part of the associated mwm decoration. The
default value for this resource is explicit.
limitResize (class LimitResize)
If this resource is True, the user is not allowed to
resize a window to greater than the maximum size.
The default value for this resource is True.
lowerOnIconify (class LowerOnIconify)
If this resource is given the default value of True,
a window's icon appears on the bottom of the window
stack when the window is minimized (iconified). A
value of False places the icon in the stacking order
at the same place as its associated window. The
default value of this resource is True.
maximumMaximumSize (class MaximumMaximumSize)
This resource is used to limit the maximum size of a
client window as set by the user or client. The
resource value is widthxheight (for example,
1024x1024) where the width and height are in pixels.
The default value of this resource is twice the
screen width and height.
moveThreshold (class MoveThreshold)
This resource is used to control the sensitivity of
dragging operations that move windows and icons.
The value of this resource is the number of pixels
that the locator is moved with a button down before
the move operation is initiated. This is used to
prevent window/icon movement when you click or
double-click and there is unintentional pointer
movement with the button down. The default value of
this resource is 4 (pixels).
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multiScreen (class MultiScreen)
This resource, if True, causes mwm to manage all the
screens on the display. If False, mwm manages only
a single screen. The default value is False.
passButtons (class PassButtons)
This resource indicates whether or not button press
events are passed to clients after they are used to
do a window manager function in the client context.
If the resource value is False, the button press is
not passed to the client. If the value is True, the
button press is passed to the client window. The
window manager function is done in either case. The
default value for this resource is False.
passSelectButton (class PassSelectButton)
This resource indicates whether or not to pass the
select button press events to clients after they are
used to do a window manager function in the client
context. If the resource value is False, then the
button press will not be passed to the client. If
the value is True, the button press is passed to the
client window. The window manager function is done
in either case. The default value for this resource
is True.
positionIsFrame (class PositionIsFrame)
This resource indicates how client window position
information (from the WM_NORMAL_HINTS property and
from configuration requests) is to be interpreted.
If the resource value is True, the information is
interpreted as the position of the MWM client window
frame. If the value is False, it is interpreted as
being the position of the client area of the window.
The default value of this resource is True.
positionOnScreen (class PositionOnScreen)
This resource is used to indicate that windows
should initially be placed (if possible) so that
they are not clipped by the edge of the screen (if
the resource value is True). If a window is larger
than the size of the screen, at least the upper left
corner of the window is on-screen. If the resource
value is False, windows are placed in the requested
position even if totally off-screen. The default
value of this resource is True.
quitTimeout (class QuitTimeout)
This resource specifies the amount of time (in mil-
liseconds) that mwm will wait for a client to update
the WM_COMMAND property after mwm has sent the
WM_SAVE_YOURSELF message. This protocol is used
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only for those clients that have a WM_SAVE_YOURSELF
atom and no WM_DELETE_WINDOW atom in the
WM_PROTOCOLS client window property. The default
value of this resource is 1000 (ms). (Refer to the
f.kill function for additional information.)
raiseKeyFocus (class RaiseKeyFocus)
This resource is available only when the keyboard
input focus policy is explicit. When set to True,
this resource specifies that a window raised by
means of the f.normalize_and_raise function also
receives the input focus. The default value of this
resource is False.
resizeBorderWidth (class ResizeBorderWidth)
This resource specifies the width (in pixels) of a
client window frame border with resize handles. The
specified border width includes the 3-D shadows. The
default is 10 (pixels).
resizeCursors (class ResizeCursors)
This is used to indicate whether the resize cursors
are always displayed when the pointer is in the win-
dow size border. If True, the cursors are shown,
otherwise the window manager cursor is shown. The
default value is True.
screens (class Screens)
This resource specifies the resource names to use
for the screens mananged by mwm. If mwm is managing
a single screen, only the first name in the list is
used. If mwm 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. The default screen
names are 0, 1, and so on.
showFeedback (class ShowFeedback)
This resource controls when feedback information is
displayed. It controls both window position and
size feedback during move or resize operations and
initial client placement. It also controls window
manager message and dialog boxes.
The value for this resource is a list of names of
the feedback options to be enabled or disabled; the
names must be separated by a space. If an option is
preceded by a minus sign, that option is excluded
from the list. The sign of the first item in the
list determines the initial set of options. If the
sign of the first option is minus, mwm assumes all
options are present and starts subtracting from that
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set. If the sign of the first decoration is plus
(or not specified), mwm starts with no options and
builds up a list from the resource.
The names of the feedback options are shown below:
___________________________________________________________
all Show all feedback (Default value)
behavior Confirm behavior switch
kill Confirm on receipt of KILL signal
move Show position during move
none Show no feedback
placement Show position and size during initial placement
quit Confirm quitting MWM
resize Show size during resize
restart Confirm MWM restart
The following command line illustrates the syntax
for showFeedback:
Mwm*showFeedback: placement resize behavior restart
This resource specification provides feedback for
initial client placement and resize, and enables the
dialog boxes to confirm the restart and set behavior
functions. It disables feedback for the move func-
tion.
The default value for this resource is all.
startupKeyFocus (class StartupKeyFocus)
This resource is available only when the keyboard
input focus policy is explicit. When given the
default value of True, a window gets the keyboard
input focus when the window is mapped (that is, ini-
tially managed by the window manager).
transientDecoration (class TransientDecoration)
This controls the amount of decoration that Mwm puts
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on transient windows. The decoration specification
is exactly the same as for the clientDecoration
(client specific) resource. Transient windows are
identified by the WM_TRANSIENT_FOR property which is
added by the client to indicate a relatively tem-
porary window. The default value for this resource
is menu title (that is, transient windows have
resize borders and a titlebar with a window menu
button).
transientFunctions (class TransientFunctions)
This resource is used to indicate which window
management functions are applicable (or not applica-
ble) to transient windows. The function specifica-
tion is exactly the same as for the clientFunctions
(client specific) resource. The default value for
this resource is -minimize -maximize.
useIconBox (class UseIconBox)
If this resource is given a value of True, icons are
placed in an icon box. When an icon box is not
used, the icons are placed on the root window
(default value).
wMenuButtonClick (class WMenuButtonClick)
This resource indicates whether a click of the mouse
when the pointer is over the window menu button
posts and leaves posted the window menu. If the
value given this resource is True, the menu remains
posted. True is the default value for this
resource.
wMenuButtonClick2 (class WMenuButtonClick2)
When this resource is given the default value of
True, a double-click action on the window menu but-
ton does an f.kill function.
Client Specific Resources
The syntax for specifying client specific resources is
Mwm*client_name_or_class*resource_id
For example, Mwm*mterm*windowMenu is used to specify the
window menu to be used with mterm clients.
The syntax for specifying client specific resources for all
classes of clients is
Mwm*resource_id
Specific client specifications take precedence over the
specifications for all clients. For example, Mwm*windowMenu
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is used to specify the window menu to be used for all
classes of clients that don't have a window menu specified.
The syntax for specifying resource values for windows that
have an unknown name and class (that is, windows that do not
have a WM_CLASS property associated with them) is
Mwm*defaults*resource_id
For example, Mwm*defaults*iconImage is used to specify the
icon image to be used for windows that have an unknown name
and class.
The following client specific resources can be specified:
Client Specific Resources
__________________________________________________________________________________
clientDecoration ClientDecoration string all
clientFunctions ClientFunctions string all
focusAutoRaise FocusAutoRaise T/F varies
iconImage IconImage pathname (image)
iconImageBackground Background color icon
background
iconImageBottomShadowColor Foreground color icon bottom
shadow
iconImageBottomShadowPixmap BottomShadow- color icon bottom
Pixmap shadow pixmap
iconImageForeground Foreground color varies
iconImageTopShadowColor Background color icon top
shadow color
iconImageTopShadowPixmap TopShadow- color icon top
Pixmap shadow pixmap
matteBackground Background color background
matteBottomShadowColor Foreground color bottom
shadow color
matteBottomShadowPixmap BottomShadow- color bottom shadow
Pixmap pixmap
matteForeground Foreground color foreground
matteTopShadowColor Background color top shadow
color
matteTopShadowPixmap TopShadow- color top shadow
Pixmap pixmap
matteWidth MatteWidth pixels 0
maximumClientSize MaximumClientSize wxh fill the
screen
useClientIcon UseClientIcon T/F F
windowMenu WindowMenu string "DefaultWindowMenu"
clientDecoration (class ClientDecoration)
This resource controls the amount of window frame
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decoration. The resource is specified as a list of
decorations to specify their inclusion in the frame.
If a decoration is preceded by a minus sign, that
decoration is excluded from the frame. The sign of
the first item in the list determines the initial
amount of decoration. If the sign of the first
decoration is minus, mwm assumes all decorations are
present and starts subtracting from that set. If
the sign of the first decoration is plus (or not
specified), then mwm starts with no decoration and
builds up a list from the resource.
__________________________________________________
all Include all decorations (default value)
border Window border
maximize Maximize button (includes title bar)
minimize Minimize button (includes title bar)
none No decorations
resizeh Border resize handles (includes border)
menu Window menu button (includes title bar)
title Title bar (includes border)
Examples:
Mwm*XClock.clientDecoration: -resizeh -maximize
This removes the resize handles and maximize button
from XClock windows.
Mwm*XClock.clientDecoration: menu minimize
border This does the same thing as above. Note that
either menu or minimize implies title.
clientFunctions (class ClientFunctions )
This resource is used to indicate which mwm func-
tions are applicable (or not applicable) to the
client window. The value for the resource is a list
of functions. If the first function in the list has
a minus sign in front of it, then mwm starts with
all functions and subtracts from that set. If the
first function in the list has a plus sign in front
of it, then mwm starts with no functions and builds
up a list. Each function in the list must be pre-
ceded by the appropriate plus or minus sign and
separated from the next function by a space.
The table below lists the functions available for this
resource:
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Name Description
________________________________________________
all Include all functions (default value)
none No functions
resize f.resize
move f.move
minimize f.minimize
maximize f.maximize
close f.kill
focusAutoRaise (class FocusAutoRaise)
When the value of this resource is True, clients are
raised when they get the keyboard input focus. If
the value is False, the stacking of windows on the
display is not changed when a window gets the key-
board input focus. The default value is True when
the keyboardFocusPolicy is explicit and False when
the keyboardFocusPolicy is pointer.
iconImage (class IconImage)
This resource can be used to specify an icon image
for a client (for example, "Mwm*myclock*iconImage").
The resource value is a pathname for a bitmap file.
The value of the (client specific) useClientIcon
resource is used to determine whether or not user
supplied icon images are used instead of client sup-
plied icon images. The default value is to display a
built-in window manager icon image.
iconImageBackground (class Background)
This resource specifies the background color of the
icon image that is displayed in the image part of an
icon. The default value of this resource is the
icon background color (that is, specified by
"Mwm*background or Mwm*icon*background).
iconImageBottomShadowColor (class Foreground)
This resource specifies the bottom shadow color of
the icon image that is displayed in the image part
of an icon. The default value of this resource is
the icon bottom shadow color (that is, specified by
Mwm*icon*bottomShadowColor).
iconImageBottomShadowPixmap (class BottomShadowPixmap)
This resource specifies the bottom shadow Pixmap of
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the icon image that is displayed in the image part
of an icon. The default value of this resource is
the icon bottom shadow Pixmap (i.e., specified by
Mwm*icon*bottomShadowPixmap).
iconImageForeground (class Foreground)
This resource specifies the foreground color of the
icon image that is displayed in the image part of an
icon. The default value of this resource varies
depending on the icon background.
iconImageTopShadowColor (class Background)
This resource specifies the top shadow color of the
icon image that is displayed in the image part of an
icon. The default value of this resource is the
icon top shadow color (that is, specified by
Mwm*icon*topShadowColor).
iconImageTopShadowPixmap (class TopShadowPixmap)
This resource specifies the top shadow Pixmap of the
icon image that is displayed in the image part of an
icon. The default value of this resource is the
icon top shadow pixmap (that is, specified by
Mwm*icon*topShadowPixmap).
matteBackground (class Background)
This resource specifies the background color of the
matte, when matteWidth is positive. The default
value of this resource is the client background
color (that is, specified by "Mwm*background or
Mwm*client*background).
matteBottomShadowColor (class Foreground)
This resource specifies the bottom shadow color of
the matte, when matteWidth is positive. The default
value of this resource is the client bottom shadow
color (that is, specified by "Mwm*bottomShadowColor
or Mwm*client*bottomShadowColor).
matteBottomShadowPixmap (class BottomShadowPixmap)
This resource specifies the bottom shadow Pixmap of
the matte, when matteWidth is positive. The default
value of this resource is the client bottom shadow
pixmap (that is, specified by
"Mwm*bottomShadowPixmap or
Mwm*client*bottomShadowPixmap).
matteForeground (class Foreground)
This resource specifies the foreground color of the
matte, when matteWidth is positive. The default
value of this resource is the client foreground
color (that is, specified by "Mwm*foreground or
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Mwm*client*foreground).
matteTopShadowColor (class Background)
This resource specifies the top shadow color of the
matte, when matteWidth is positive. The default
value of this resource is the client top shadow
color (that is, specified by "Mwm*topShadowColor or
Mwm*client*topShadowColor).
matteTopShadowPixmap (class TopShadowPixmap)
This resource specifies the top shadow pixmap of the
matte, when matteWidth is positive. The default
value of this resource is the client top shadow pix-
map (that is, specified by "Mwm*topShadowPixmap or
Mwm*client*topShadowPixmap).
matteWidth (class MatteWidth)
This resource specifies the width of the optional
matte. The default value is 0, which effectively
disables the matte.
maximumClientSize (class MaximumClientSize)
This is a size specification that indicates the
client size to be used when an application is maxim-
ized. The resource value is specified as widthx-
height. The width and height are interpreted in the
units that the client uses (for example, for termi-
nal emulators this is generally characters). If
this resource is not specified, the maximum size
from the WM_NORMAL_HINTS property is used if set.
Otherwise the default value is the size where the
client window with window management borders fills
the screen. When the maximum client size is not
determined by the maximumClientSize resource, the
maximumMaximumSize resource value is used as a con-
straint on the maximum size.
useClientIcon (class UseClientIcon)
If the value given for this resource is True, a
client supplied icon image takes precedence over a
user supplied icon image. The default value is
False, giving the user supplied icon image higher
precedence than the client supplied icon image.
windowMenu (class WindowMenu)
This resource indicates the name of the menu pane
that is posted when the window menu is popped up
(usually by pressing button 1 on the window menu
button on the client window frame). Menu panes are
specified in the MWM resource description file.
Window menus can be customized on a client class
basis by specifying resources of the form
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Mwm*client_name_or_class*windowMenu (See "Mwm
Resource Description File Syntax"). The default
value of this resource is "DefaultWindowMenu".
Resource Description File
The MWM resource description file is a supplementary
resource file that contains resource descriptions that are
referred to by entries in the defaults files (.Xdefaults,
app-defaults/Mwm). It contains descriptions of resources
that are to be used by mwm, and that cannot be easily
encoded in the defaults files (a bitmap file is an analogous
type of resource description file). A particular mwm
resource description file can be selected using the config-
File resource.
The following types of resources can be described in the mwm
resource description file:
Buttons Window manager functions can be bound (asso-
ciated) with button events.
Keys Window manager functions can be bound (asso-
ciated) with key press events.
Menus Menu panes can be used for the window menu
and other menus posted with key bindings and
button bindings.
mwm Resource Description File Syntax
The mwm resource description file is a standard text file
that contains items of information separated by blanks,
tabs, and new-line characters. Blank lines are ignored.
Items or characters can be quoted to avoid special interpre-
tation (for example, the comment character can be quoted to
prevent it from being interpreted as the comment character).
A quoted item can be contained in double quotes ("). Single
characters can be quoted by preceding them by the back-slash
character (\). All text from an unquoted # to the end of
the line is regarded as a comment and is not interpreted as
part of a resource description. If ! is the first character
in a line, the line is regarded as a comment. Window
manager functions can be accessed with button and key bind-
ings, and with window manager menus. Functions are indi-
cated as part of the specifications for button and key bind-
ing sets, and menu panes. The function specification has
the following syntax:
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function = function_name [function_args]
function_name = window manager function
function_args = {quoted_item | unquoted_item}
The following functions are supported. If a function is speci-
fied that isn't one of the supported functions then it is inter-
preted by mwm as f.nop.
f.beep This function causes a beep.
f.circle_down [icon | window]
This function causes the window or icon that
is on the top of the window stack to be put
on the bottom of the window stack (so that it
no longer obscures any other window or icon).
This function affects only those windows and
icons that obscure other windows and icons,
or that are obscured by other windows and
icons. Secondary windows (that is, transient
windows) are restacked with their associated
primary window. Secondary windows always
stay on top of the associated primary window
and there can be no other primary windows
between the secondary windows and their pri-
mary window. If an icon function argument is
specified, the function applies only to
icons. If a window function argument is
specified, the function applies only to win-
dows.
f.circle_up [icon | window]
This function raises the window or icon on
the bottom of the window stack (so that it is
not obscured by any other windows). This
function affects only those windows and icons
that obscure other windows and icons, or that
are obscured by other windows and icons.
Secondary windows (that is, transient win-
dows) are restacked with their associated
primary window. If an icon function argument
is specified, the function applies only to
icons. If an window function argument is
specified, the function applies only to win-
dows.
f.exec or ! This function causes command to be executed
(using the value of the MWMSHELL environment
variable if it is set, otherwise the value of
the SHELL environment variable if it is set,
otherwise /bin/sh). The ! notation can be
used in place of the f.exec function name.
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f.focus_color This function sets the colormap focus to a
client window. If this function is done in a
root context, the default colormap (setup by
the X Window System for the screen where MWM
is running) is installed and there is no
specific client window colormap focus. This
function is treated as f.nop if colormap-
FocusPolicy is not explicit.
f.focus_key This function sets the keyboard input focus
to a client window or icon. This function is
treated as f.nop if keyboardFocusPolicy is
not explicit or the function is executed in a
root context.
f.kill This function is used to terminate a client.
If the WM_DELETE_WINDOW protocol is set up,
the client is sent a client message event
indicating that the client window should be
deleted. If the WM_SAVE_YOURSELF protocol is
set up and the WM_DELETE_WINDOW protocol is
not set up, the client is sent a client mes-
sage event indicating that the client needs
to prepare to be terminated. If the client
does not have the WM_DELETE_WINDOW or
WM_SAVE_YOURSELF protocol set up, this func-
tion causes a client's X connection to be
terminated (usually resulting in termination
of the client). Refer to the description of
the quitTimeout resource and the WM_PROTOCOLS
property.
f.lower [-client]
This function lowers a client window to the
bottom of the window stack (where it obscures
no other window). Secondary windows (that
is, transient windows) are restacked with
their associated primary window. The client
argument indicates the name or class of a
client to lower. If the client argument is
not specified, the context that the function
was invoked in indicates the window or icon
to lower.
f.maximize This function causes a client window to be
displayed with its maximum size.
f.menu This function associates a cascading (pull-
right) menu with a menu pane entry or a menu
with a button or key binding. The menu_name
function argument identifies the menu to be
used.
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f.minimize This function causes a client window to be
minimized (iconified). When a window is
minimized when no icon box is used, its icon
is placed on the bottom of the window stack
(so that it obscures no other window). If an
icon box is used, the client's icon changes
to its iconified form inside the icon box.
Secondary windows (that is, transient win-
dows) are minimized with their associated
primary window. There is only one icon for a
primary window and all its secondary windows.
f.move This function causes a client window to be
interactively moved.
f.next_cmap This function installs the next colormap in
the list of colormaps for the window with the
colormap focus.
f.next_key [icon | window | transient]
This function sets the keyboard input focus
to the next window/icon in the set of
windows/icons managed by the window manager
(the ordering of this set is based on the
stacking of windows on the screen). This
function is treated as f.nop if keyboard-
FocusPolicy is not explicit. The keyboard
input focus is moved only to windows that do
not have an associated secondary window that
is application modal. If the transient argu-
ment is specified, transient (secondary) win-
dows are traversed (otherwise, if only window
is specified, traversal is done only to the
last focused window in a transient group).
If an icon function argument is specified,
the function applies only to icons. If a
window function argument is specified, the
function applies only to windows.
f.nop This function does nothing.
f.normalize This function causes a client window to be
displayed with its normal size. Secondary
windows (that is, transient windows) are
placed in their normal state along with their
associated primary window.
f.normalize_and_raise
This function causes the corresponding client
window to be displayed with its normal size
and raised to the top of the window stack.
Secondary windows (i.e., transient windows)
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are placed in their normal state along with
their associated primary window.
f.pack_icons This function is used to relayout icons
(based on the layout policy being used) on
the root window or in the icon box. In gen-
eral this causes icons to be "packed" into
the icon grid.
f.pass_keys This function is used to enable/disable (tog-
gle) processing of key bindings for window
manager functions. When it disables key
binding processing all keys are passed on to
the window with the keyboard input focus and
no window manager functions are invoked. If
the f.pass_keys function is invoked with a
key binding to disable key-binding process-
ing, the same key binding can be used to
enable key-binding processing.
f.post_wmenu This function is used to post the window
menu. If a key is used to post the window
menu and a window menu button is present, the
window menu is automatically placed with its
top-left corner at the bottom-left corner of
the window menu button for the client window.
If no window menu button is present, the
window menu is placed at the top-left corner
of the client window.
f.prev_cmap This function installs the previous colormap
in the list of colormaps for the window with
the colormap focus.
f.prev_key [icon | window | transient]
This function sets the keyboard input focus
to the previous window/icon in the set of
windows/icons managed by the window manager
(the ordering of this set is based on the
stacking of windows on the screen). This
function is treated as f.nop if keyboard-
FocusPolicy is not explicit. The keyboard
input focus is moved only to windows that do
not have an associated secondary window that
is application modal. If the transient argu-
ment is specified, transient (secondary) win-
dows are traversed (otherwise, if only window
is specified, traversal is done only to the
last focused window in a transient group).
If an icon function argument is specified,
the function applies only to icons. If an
window function argument is specified, the
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function applies only to windows.
f.quit_mwm This function terminates mwm (but NOT the X
window system).
f.raise [-client]
This function raises a client window to the
top of the window stack (where it is obscured
by no other window). Secondary windows (that
is, transient windows) are restacked with
their associated primary window. The client
argument indicates the name or class of a
client to raise. If the client argument is
not specified, the context that the function
was invoked in indicates the window or icon
to raise.
f.raise_lower This function raises a client window to the
top of the window stack if it is partially
obscured by another window, otherwise it
lowers the window to the bottom of the window
stack. Secondary windows (that is, transient
windows) are restacked with their associated
primary window.
f.refresh This function causes all windows to be
redrawn.
f.refresh_win This function causes a client window to be
redrawn.
f.resize This function causes a client window to be
interactively resized.
f.restart This function causes mwm to be restarted
(effectively terminated and re-executed).
f.send_msg message_number
This function sends a client message of the
type _MOTIF_WM_MESSAGES with the message_type
indicated by the message_number function
argument. The client message is sent only if
message_number is included in the client's
_MOTIF_WM_MESSAGES property. A menu item
label is grayed out if the menu item is used
to do f.send_msg of a message that is not
included in the client's _MOTIF_WM_MESSAGES
property.
f.separator This function causes a menu separator to be
put in the menu pane at the specified loca-
tion (the label is ignored).
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f.set_behavior This function causes the window manager to
restart with the default behavior (if a cus-
tom behavior is configured) or revert to the
custom behavior. By default this is bound to
Shift Ctrl Meta <Key>!.
f.title This function inserts a title in the menu
pane at the specified location.
Each function may be constrained as to which resource types
can specify the function (for example, menu pane) and also
what context the function can be used in (for example, the
function is done to the selected client window). Function
contexts are
root No client window or icon has been selected as
an object for the function.
window A client window has been selected as an
object for the function. This includes the
window's title bar and frame. Some functions
are applied only when the window is in its
normalized state (for example, f.maximize) or
its maximized state (for example,
f.normalize).
icon An icon has been selected as an object for
the function.
If a function's context has been specified as icon|window
and the function is invoked in an icon box, the function
applies to the icon box, not to the icons inside.
If a function is specified in a type of resource where it is
not supported or is invoked in a context that does not
apply, the function is treated as f.nop. The following
table indicates the resource types and function contexts in
which window manager functions apply.
___________________________________________________________________
f.beep root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.circle_down root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.circle_up root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.exec root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.focus_color root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.focus_key root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.kill icon, window button, key, menu
f.lower root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.maximize icon, window(normal) button, key, menu
f.menu root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.minimize window button, key, menu
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f.move icon, window button, key, menu
f.next_cmap root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.next_key root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.nop root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.normalize icon, window(maximized) button, key, menu
f.normalize_and_raise icon, window button, key, menu
f.pack_icons root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.pass_keys root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.post_wmenu root, icon, window button, key
f.prev_cmap root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.prev_key root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.quit_mwm root button, key, menu
f.raise root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.raise_lower icon, window button, key, menu
f.refresh root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.refresh_win window button, key, menu
f.resize window button, key, menu
f.restart root button, key, menu
f.send_msg icon, window button, key, menu
f.separator root, icon, window menu
f.set_behavior root, icon, window button, key, menu
f.title root, icon, window menu
Window Manager Event Specification
Events are indicated as part of the specifications for but-
ton and key- binding sets, and menu panes.
Button events have the following syntax:
button = [modifier_list]<button_event_name>
modifier_list = modifier_name {modifier_name}
All modifiers specified are interpreted as being exclusive
(this means that only the specified modifiers can be present
when the button event occurs). The following table indi-
cates the values that can be used for modifier_name. The
[Alt] key is frequently labeled [Extend] or [Meta]. Alt and
Meta can be used interchangeably in event specification.
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Modifier Description
_______________________
Ctrl Control Key
Shift Shift Key
Alt Alt/Meta Key
Meta Meta/Alt Key
Lock Lock Key
Mod1 Modifier1
Mod2 Modifier2
Mod3 Modifier3
Mod4 Modifier4
Mod5 Modifier5
The following table indicates the values that can be used
for button_event_name.
Button Description
_______________________________________
Btn1Down Button 1 Press
Btn1Up Button 1 Release
Btn1Click Button 1 Press and Release
Btn1Click2 Button 1 Double Click
Btn2Down Button 2 Press
Btn2Up Button 2 Release
Btn2Click Button 2 Press and Release
Btn2Click2 Button 2 Double Click
Btn3Down Button 3 Press
Btn3Up Button 3 Release
Btn3Click Button 3 Press and Release
Btn3Click2 Button 3 Double Click
Btn4Down Button 4 Press
Btn4Up Button 4 Release
Btn4Click Button 4 Press and Release
Btn4Click2 Button 4 Double Click
Btn5Down Button 5 Press
Btn5Up Button 5 Release
Btn5Click Button 5 Press and Release
Btn5Click2 Button 5 Double Click
Key events that are used by the window manager for menu
mnemonics and for binding to window manager functions are
single key presses; key releases are ignored. Key events
have the following syntax:
key = [modifier_list]<Key>key_name
modifier_list = modifier_name {modifier_name}
All modifiers specified are interpreted as being exclusive
(this means that only the specified modifiers can be present
when the key event occurs). Modifiers for keys are the same
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as those that apply to buttons. The key_name is an X11
keysym name. Keysym names can be found in the keysymdef.h
file (remove the XK_ prefix).
Button Bindings
The buttonBindings resource value is the name of a set of
button bindings that are used to configure window manager
behavior. A window manager function can be done when a but-
ton press occurs with the pointer over a framed client win-
dow, an icon or the root window. The context for indicating
where the button press applies is also the context for
invoking the window manager function when the button press
is done (significant for functions that are context sensi-
tive).
The button binding syntax is
Buttons bindings_set_name
{
button context function
button context function
.
.
button context function
}
The syntax for the context specification is
context = object[|context]
object = root | icon | window | title | frame | border | app
The context specification indicates where the pointer must be for
the button binding to be effective. For example, a context of
window indicates that the pointer must be over a client window or
window management frame for the button binding to be effective.
The frame context is for the window management frame around a
client window (including the border and titlebar), the border
context is for the border part of the window management frame
(not including the titlebar), the title context is for the title
area of the window management frame, and the app context is for
the application window (not including the window management
frame).
If an f.nop function is specified for a button binding, the but-
ton binding is not done.
Key Bindings
The keyBindings resource value is the name of a set of key
bindings that are used to configure window manager behavior.
A window manager function can be done when a particular key
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is pressed. The context in which the key binding applies is
indicated in the key binding specification. The valid con-
texts are the same as those that apply to button bindings.
The key binding syntax is:
Keys bindings_set_name
{
key context function
key context function
.
.
key context function
}
If an f.nop function is specified for a key binding, the key
binding is not done. If an f.post_wmenu or f.menu function
is bound to a key, mwm will automatically use the same key
for removing the menu from the screen after it has been
popped up.
The context specification syntax is the same as for button
bindings. For key bindings, the frame, title, border, and
app contexts are equivalent to the window context. The con-
text for a key event is the window or icon that has the key-
board input focus (root if no window or icon has the key-
board input focus).
Menu Panes
Menus can be popped up using the f.post_wmenu and f.menu
window manager functions. The context for window manager
functions that are done from a menu is root, icon or window
depending on how the menu was popped up. In the case of the
window menu or menus popped up with a key binding, the loca-
tion of the keyboard input focus indicates the context. For
menus popped up using a button binding, the context of the
button binding is the context of the menu.
The menu pane specification syntax is
Menu menu_name
{
label [mnemonic] [accelerator] function
label [mnemonic] [accelerator] function
.
.
label [mnemonic] [accelerator] function
}
Each line in the Menu specification identifies the label for
a menu item and the function to be done if the menu item is
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selected. Optionally a menu button mnemonic and a menu but-
ton keyboard accelerator may be specified. Mnemonics are
functional only when the menu is posted and keyboard traver-
sal applies.
The label may be a string or a bitmap file. The label
specification has the following syntax:
label = text | bitmap_file
bitmap_file = @file_name
text = quoted_item | unquoted_item
The string encoding for labels must be compatible with the menu
font that is used. Labels are greyed out for menu items that do
the f.nop function or an invalid function or a function that
doesn't apply in the current context.
A mnemonic specification has the following syntax
mnemonic = _character
The first matching character in the label is underlined. If
there is no matching character in the label, no mnemonic is
registered with the window manager for that label. Although
the character must exactly match a character in the label,
the mnemonic does not execute if any modifier (such as
Shift) is pressed with the character key.
The accelerator specification is a key event specification
with the same syntax as is used for key bindings to window
manager functions.
Environment
mwm uses the environment variable HOME specifying the user's
home directory.
mwm uses the environment variable LANG specifying the user's
choice of language for the mwm message catalog and the mwm
resource description file.
mwm uses the environment variables XFILESEARCHPATH, XUSER-
FILESEARCHPATH, XAPPLRESDIR, XENVIRONMENT, LANG, and HOME in
determining search paths for resource defaults files.
mwm reads the $HOME/.motifbind file if it exists to install
a virtual key bindings property on the root window. For
more information on the content of the .motifbind file, see
VirtualBindings(3X).
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mwm uses the environment variable MWMSHELL (or SHELL, if
MWMSHELL is not set) specifying the shell to use when exe-
cuting commands via the f.exec function.
Files
/usr/lib/X11/$LANG/system.mwmrc /usr/lib/X11/system.mwmrc
/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/Mwm $HOME/Mwm $HOME/.Xdefaults
$HOME/$LANG/.mwmrc $HOME/.mwmrc $HOME/.motifbind
RELATED INFORMATION
VendorShell(3X), VirtualBindings(3X), X(1), and
XmInstallImage(3X).
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