WMII

Dec, 2008

%!includeconf: header.t2t

= NAME =

wmii - Window Manager Improved Improved

= SYNOPSIS =

wmii [-a <address>] [-c <wmiirc>] +
wmii -v

= DESCRIPTION =

== Overview ==

`wmii` is a dynamic window manager for X11. In contrast to
static window management the user rarely has to think about how
to organize windows, no matter what he is doing or how many
applications are used at the same time.  The window manager
adapts to the current environment and fits to the needs of the
user, rather than forcing him to use a preset, fixed layout and
trying to shoehorn all windows and applications into it.

`wmii` supports classic and tiled window management with
extended keyboard and mouse control. The classic window
management arranges windows in a floating layer in which windows
can be moved and resized freely. The tiled window management is
based on columns which split up the screen horizontally. Each
column handles arbitrary windows and arranges them vertically in
a non-overlapping way. They can then be moved and resized
between and within columns at will.

`wmii` provides a virtual filesystem which represents the
internal state similar to the procfs of Unix operating systems.
Modifying this virtual filesystem results in changing the state
of the window manager. The virtual filesystem service can be
accessed through 9P-capable client programs, like
wmiir(1).  This allows simple and powerful remote control
of the core window manager.

`wmii` basically consists of clients, columns, views, and
the bar, which are described in detail in the
**Terminology** section.

== Command Line Arguments ==

: -a <address>
	Specifies the address on which `wmii` should listen for
	connections. The address takes the form
	`<protocol>!<address>`. The default is of the form:

		unix!/tmp/ns.$USER.${DISPLAY%.0}/wmii

	which opens a unix socket per Plan 9 Port conventions. To
	open a TCP socket, listening at port 4332 on the loopback
	interface, use:

		tcp!localhost!4332

	$WMII_NAMESPACE is automatically set to this value.

: -r <wmiirc>
	Specifies which rc script to run. If <wmiirc> consists of a
	single argument, $WMII_CONFPATH is searched before $PATH.
	Otherwise, it is passed to the shell for evaluation. The
	environment variables $WMII_ADDRESS and $WMII_CONFPATH are
	preset for the script.

== Terminology ==

: Display
        A running X server instance consisting of input
        devices and screens.
: Screen
        A physical or virtual (Xinerama or Xnest(1))
        screen of an X display. A screen displays a bar window
        and a view at a time.
: Window
        A (rectangular) drawable X object which is
        displayed on a screen, usually an application window.
: Client
        An application window surrounded by a frame window
        containing a border and a titlebar.

: Floating layer
        A screen layer of `wmii` on top of
        all other layers, where clients are arranged in a
        classic (floating) way.  They can be resized or moved
        freely.
: Managed layer
        A screen layer of `wmii` behind the
        floating layer, where clients are arranged in a
        non-overlapping (managed) way.  Here, the window
        manager dynamically assigns each client a size and
        position.  The managed layer consists of columns.
: Tag
        Alphanumeric strings which can be assigned to a
        client. This provides a mechanism to group clients with
        similar properties. Clients can have one tag, e.g.
        _work_, or several tags, e.g.  _work+mail_.
        Tags are separated with the _+_ character.
: View
        A set of clients containing a specific tag, quite
        similar to a workspace in other window managers.  It
        consists of the floating and managed layers.
: Column
        A column is a screen area which arranges clients
        vertically in a non-overlapping way. Columns provide
        three different modes, which arrange clients with equal
        size, stacked, or maximized respectively.  Clients can
        be moved and resized between and within columns freely.
: Bar
        The bar at the bottom of the screen displays a label
        for each view and allows the creation of arbitrary
        user-defined labels.
: Event
        An event is a message which can be read from a
        special file in the filesystem of `wmii`, such as a
        mouse button press, a key press, or a message written by
        a different 9P-client.
:

== Basic window management ==

Running a raw `wmii` process without a wmiirc(1)
script provides basic window management capabilities already.
However, to use it effectively, remote control through its
filesystem interface is necessary.  By default it is only usable
with the mouse in conjunction with the //Mod1 (Alt)//
modifier key. Other interactions, such as customizing the style,
killing or retagging clients, and grabbing keys, cannot be
achieved without accessing the filesystem.

The filesystem can be accessed by connecting to the
//address// of `wmii` with any 9P-capable client, such
as wmiir(1)

== Actions ==

An action is a shell script in the default setup, but it can
actually be any executable file.  It is executed usually by
selecting it from the actions menu.  You can customize an action
by copying it from the global action directory
'CONFPREFIX/wmii-3.5' to '$HOME/.wmii-3.5' and then
editing the copy to fit your needs.  Of course you can also
create your own actions there; make sure that they are
executable.

Here is a list of the default actions:

| quit     | leave the window manager nicely
| status   | periodically print date and load average to the bar
| welcome  | display a welcome message that contains the wmii tutorial
| wmiirc   | configure wmii

== Default Key Bindings ==

=== Moving Around ===

|| Key          | Action
| Mod-h         | Move to a window to the _left_ of the one currently focused
| Mod-l         | Move to a window to the _right_ of the one currently focused
| Mod-j         | Move to the window _below_ the one currently focused
| Mod-k         | Move to a window _above_ the one currently focused
| Mod-space     | Toggle between the managed and floating layers
| Mod-t <tag>   | Move to the view of the given <tag>
| Mod-//[0-9]// | Move to the view with the given number

=== Moving Things Around ===

|| Key                 | Action
|  Mod-Shift-h         | Move the current window _window_ to a column on the _left_
|  Mod-Shift-l         | Move the current window to a column on the _right_
|  Mod-Shift-j         | Move the current window below the window beneath it.
|  Mod-Shift-k         | Move the current window above the window above it.
|  Mod-Shift-space     | Toggle the current window between the managed and floating layer
|  Mod-Shift-t <tag>   | Move the current window to the view of the given <tag>
|  Mod-Shift-//[0-9]// | Move to the current window to the view with the given number

=== Miscellaneous ===

|| Key               | Action
|  Mod-m             | Switch the current column to _max mode_
|  Mod-s             | Switch the current column to _stack mode_
|  Mod-d             | Switch the current column to _default mode_
|  Mod-Shift-c       | `Kill` the selected client
|  Mod-p <program>   | `Execute` <program>
|  Mod-a <action>    | `Execute` the named <action
|  Mod-Enter         | `Execute` an `xterm`

= Configuration =

If you feel the need to change the default configuration, then
customize (as described above) the `wmiirc` action.  This
action is executed at the end of the `wmii` script and does
all the work of setting up the window manager, the key bindings,
the bar labels, etc.

== Filesystem ==

Most aspects of `wmii` are controlled via the filesystem.
It is usually accessed via the wmiir(1) command, but it
can be accessed by any ``9P``, including plan9port's
9P[1], and can be mounted natively on Linux via v9fs[1],
and on Inferno (which man run on top of Linux).

The filesystem is, as are many other 9P filesystems, entirely
synthetic. The files exist only in memory, and are not written
to disk. They are generally initiated on wmii startup via a
script such as rc.wmii or wmiirc. Several files read commands,
others simply act as if they were ordinary files (their contents
are updated and returned exactly as written), though writing
them has side-effects (such as changing key bindings). A
description of the filesystem layout and control commands
follows.

== Hierarchy ==

: /
        Global control files
: /client/_*_/
        Client control files
: /tag/_*_/
        View control files
: /lbar/, /rbar/
        Files representing the contents of the bottom bar
:

== The / Hierarchy ==

: colrules
        The _colrules_ file contains a list of
        rules which affect the width of newly created columns.
        Rules have the form:

```     /<regex>/ -> <width>[+<width>]*

        When a new column, _n_, is created on a view whose
        name matches <regex>, the _n_th given
        <width> percentage of the screen is given to it. If
        there is no _n_th width, 1/_ncol_th of the
        screen is given to it.

: tagrules
        The //tagrules// file contains a list of
        rules similar to the colrules. These rules specify
        the tags a client is to be given when it is created.
        Rules are specified:

```     /<regex>/ -> <tag>[+<tag>]*

        When a client's <name>:<class>:<title> matches
        <regex>, it is given the tagstring <tag>. There are
        two special tags. **!**, which is deprecated, and identical
        to _sel_, represents the current tag. **~**
        represents the floating layer.

: keys
        The _keys_ file contains a list of keys which
        `wmii` will grab. Whenever these key combinations
        are pressed, the string which represents them are
        written to '/event' as: Key <string>
: event
        The _event_ file never returns EOF while
        `wmii` is running. It stays open and reports events
        as they occur. Included among them are:
        >>
        : [Not]Urgent <client> [Manager|Client]
                <client>'s urgent hint has been set or
                unset. The second arg is [Client] if it's
                been set by the client, and [Manager] if
                it's been set by `wmii` via a control
                message.
        : [Not]UrgentTag <tag> [Manager|Client]
                A client on <tag> has had its urgent hint
                set, or the last urgent client has had its
                urgent hint unset.
        : Client<Click|MouseDown> <client> <button>
                A client's titlebar has either been clicked or
                has a button pressed over it.
        : [Left|Right]Bar[Click|MouseDown] <button> <bar>
                A left or right bar has been clicked or has a
                button pressed over it.
        : ...
                To be continued...
        :
        <<

: ctl
        The _ctl_ file takes a number of messages to
        change global settings such as color and font, which can
        be viewed by reading it. It also takes the following
        commands:
        >>
        : quit
                Quit `wmii`
        : exec <prog>
                Replace `wmii` with <prog>
        :
:

== The /client/ Hierarchy ==

Each directory under '/client/' represents an X11 client.
Each directory is named for the X window id of the window the
client represents, in the form that most X utilities recognize.
The one exception is the special 'sel' directory, which
represents the currently selected client.

: ctl
        When read, the 'ctl' file returns the X window id
        of the client. The following commands may be written to
        it:
        >>
        : kill
                Close the client's window. This command will
                likely kill the X client in the future
                (including its other windows), while the close
                command will replace it.
        : Urgent <on | off | toggle>
                Set or unset the client's urgent hint.
        : Fullscreen <on | off | toggle>
        <<
                
: label
        Set or read a client's label (title).
: props
        Returns a clients class and label as:
        <name>:<class>:<label>
: tags
        Set or read a client's tags. Tags are separated by
        **+** or **-**. Tags beginning with **+** are
        added, while those beginning with **-** are removed.
        If the tag string written begins with **+** or
        **-**, the written tags are added to or removed from
        the client's set, otherwise, the set is overwritten.
:

== The /tag/ Hierarchy ==

Each directory under '/tag/' represents a view, containing
all of the clients with the given tag applied. The special
'sel' directory represents the currently selected tag.

: ctl
        The 'ctl' file can be read to retrieve the name
        of the tag the directory represents, or written with the
        following commands:
        >>
        : select
                Select a client:
                    select [left|right|up|down] +
                    select [<row number>|sel] [<frame number>] +
                    select client <client>
        : send
                Send a client somewhere:
                >>
                : send [<client>|sel] [up|down|left|right]
                : send [<client>|sel] <area>
                    Send <client> to the _n_th <area>
                : send [<client>|sel] toggle
                    Toggle <client> between the floating and managed layer.
                <<
        : swap
                Swap a client with another. Same syntax as send.

        : grow
                Grow or shrink a client.

```    grow <frame> <direction> [<amount>]
        : nudge
                Nudge a client in a given direction.

```    grow <frame> <direction> [<amount>]
        :
        <<
        Where the arguments are defined as follows:
        >>
        : area
            Selects a column or the floating area.

```    area ::= "~" | <number> | "sel"

            Where represents the floating area and <number> represents a column
            index, starting at one.

        : frame
            Selects a client window.

```    frame ::= <area> <index> | <area> sel | client <window-id>

            Where <index> represents the nth frame of <area> or <window-id> is
            the X11 window id of the given client.

        : amount
            The amount to grow or nudge something.

```    amount ::= <number> | <number>px
        
            If "px" is given, <number> is interperated as an exact pixel count.
            Otherwise, it's interperated as a "reasonable" amount, which is
            usually either the height of a window's title bar, or its sizing
            increment (as defined by X11) in a given direction.
        <<
: index
        Read for a description of the contents of a tag.
:


== The /rbar/, /lbar/ Hierarchy ==

The files under '/rbar/' and '/lbar/' represent the
items of the bar at the bottom of the screen. Files under
'/lbar/' appear on the left side of the bar, while those
under '/rbar/' appear on the right, with the leftmost item
occupying all extra available space. The items are sorted
lexicographically.

The files may be read to obtain the colors and text of the bars.
The colors are at the beginning of the string, represented as a
tuple of 3 hex color codes for the foreground, background, and
border, respectively. When writing the bar files, the colors may
be omitted if the text would not otherwise appear to contain
them.

= FILES =

: /tmp/ns.$USER.${DISPLAY%.0}/wmii
        The wmii socket file which provides a 9P service.
: CONFPREFIX/wmii-3.5
        Global action directory.
: $HOME/.wmii-3.5
        User-specific action directory. Actions are first searched here.
:

= ENVIRONMENT =

: HOME, DISPLAY
        See the section **FILES** above.
:
The following variables are set and exported within `wmii` and
thus can be used in actions:

: WMII_ADDRESS
        Socket file of Used by wmiir(1).
:
= SEE ALSO =
dmenu(1), wmiir(1)

[1] http://www.suckless.org/wiki/wmii/tips/9p_tips