evilwm(1)                   General Commands Manual                  evilwm(1)



NAME
       evilwm--minimalist window manager for X11

SYNOPSIS
       evilwm [OPTION]...

DESCRIPTION
       evilwm  is  a  minimalist  window  manager  for the X Window System. It
       features plenty of mouse and keyboard controls while providing a  clean
       display, uncluttered by less useful window furniture (like title bars).

OPTIONS
       -display display
              specifies  the X display to run on. Usually this can be inferred
              from the DISPLAY environment variable.

       -term termprog
              specifies an alternative program to  run  when  spawning  a  new
              terminal  (defaults to xterm, or x-terminal-emulator in Debian).
              Separate arguments with whitespace, and escape needed whitespace
              with  a  backslash.  Remember  that special characters will also
              need to be protected from the shell.

       -fn fontname
              specify a font to use when resizing or displaying window titles.

       -fg colour, -fc colour, -bg colour
              frame colour of currently active,  fixed  active,  and  inactive
              windows  respectively.  Either  specify  an X11 colour name like
              goldenrod, or a hex triplet like #DAA520.

       -bw borderwidth
              width of window borders in pixels.

       -snap distance
              enable snap-to-border support.  distance  is  the  proximity  in
              pixels to snap to.

       -wholescreen
              ignore  monitor  geometry  and  use the whole screen dimensions.
              This is the old behaviour from before multi-monitor support  was
              implemented,  and  may  still  be  useful,  e.g., when one large
              monitor is driven from multiple outputs.

       -numvdesks value
              number of virtual desktops to provide. Defaults to 8. Any extras
              will     only    be    accessible    by    pagers    or    using
              Control+Alt+(Left/Right).

       -nosoliddrag
              draw a window outline while moving or resizing.

       -mask1 modifiers, -mask2 modifiers, -altmask modifiers
              override the default keyboard modifiers used to  grab  keys  for
              window manager functionality.

              mask1 is used for most keyboard controls (default: control+alt),
              and mask2 is used for mouse button controls and cycling  windows
              (default:  alt).  altmask  is  used  to  modify the behaviour of
              certain controls (default: shift). Modifiers  may  be  separated
              with  +  signs.  Valid  modifiers are shift, lock, control, alt,
              mod1, mod2, mod3, mod4, mod5.

       -app name/class
              match an application by instance name and  class  (for  help  in
              finding  these,  use  the  xprop  tool  to  extract the WM_CLASS
              property).

              Subsequent -geometry, -dock,  -vdesk  and  -fixed  options  will
              apply to this match.

       -g, -geometry geometry
              apply  a  geometry  (using  a  standard  X  geometry  string) to
              applications matching the last -app.

       -dock  specify that application should be considered to be a dock, even
              if it lacks the appropriate property.

       -v, -vdesk vdesk
              specify  a default virtual desktop for applications matching the
              last -app. Note that virtual desktops are numbered from zero.

       -f, -fixed
              specify that application is to start with a fixed client window.

       -help  show help

       -V     show program version

       evilwm will also read  options,  one  per  line,  from  a  file  called
       .evilwmrc   in   the   user's  home  directory.  Options  listed  in  a
       configuration file should omit the leading dash. Options  specified  on
       the command line override those found in the configuration file.

USAGE
       In  evilwm,  the focus follows the mouse pointer, and focus is not lost
       if you stray onto the root window. The current window border is  shaded
       gold  (unless it is fixed, in which case blue), with other windows left
       as a dark grey.

       You can use the mouse to manipulate windows  either  by  click/dragging
       the single-pixel border (easier when they align with a screen edge), or
       by holding down Alt and doing so anywhere in the window.  The  controls
       are:

       Button 1
              Move window.

       Button 2
              Resize window.

       Button 3
              Lower window.

       Most  keyboard  controls are used by holding down Control and Alt, then
       pressing a key. Available functions are:

       Return Spawn new terminal.

       Escape Delete current window. Hold  Shift  as  well  to  force  kill  a
              client.

       Insert Lower current window.

       H, J, K, L
              Move  window  left, down, up or right (16 pixels). Holding Shift
              resizes the window instead.

       Y, U, B, N
              Move window to the top-left, top-right, bottom-left  or  bottom-
              right of the current monitor.

       I      Show information about current window.

       Equals Maximise  current window vertically on current monitor (toggle).
              Holding Shift toggles horizontal maximization.

       X      Maximise current window to current monitor (toggle).

       D      Toggle visible state of docks (e.g., pagers and launch bars).

       If compiled with virtual desktop  support,  these  functions  are  also
       available:

       F      Fix  or  unfix current window. Fixed windows remain visible when
              you switch virtual desktop.

       1--8   Switch to specific virtual  desktop  (internally,  desktops  are
              numbered  from zero, so this actually switches to desktops 0--7;
              this only becomes important if you use application matching).

       Left   Switch to next lower numbered virtual desktop.

       Right  Switch to next higher numbered virtual desktop.

       A      Switch to the previously selected virtual desktop.

       In addition to the above, Alt+Tab can be used to cycle through windows.

       To make evilwm exit, kill the process.

FILES
       $HOME/.evilwmrc

BUGS
       The author's idea of friendly may differ to that of many other people.

LICENCE
       Copyright (C) 1999-2021 Ciaran Anscomb <evilwm@6809.org.uk>

       This is free software. You can do what you want to it, but if it breaks
       something,  you get to pay for the counselling. The code was originally
       based on aewm, so this is  distributed  under  the  same  terms,  which
       follow.

AEWM LICENCE
       Copyright (c) 1998-2000 Decklin Foster.

       THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR "AS IS", WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR
       IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE  AUTHOR  BE  HELD
       LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES CONNECTED WITH THE USE OF THIS PROGRAM.

       You  are  granted  permission to copy, publish, distribute, and/or sell
       copies of this program and any  modified  versions  or  derived  works,
       provided that this copyright and notice are not removed or altered.

       Portions of the code were based on 9wm, which contains this license:

              9wm is free software, and is Copyright (c) 1994 by David Hogan.
              Permission is granted to all sentient beings to use this
              software, to make copies of it, and to distribute those copies,
              provided that:
                (1) the copyright and licence notices are left intact
                (2) the recipients are aware that it is free software
                (3) any unapproved changes in functionality are either
                      (i) only distributed as patches
                  or (ii) distributed as a new program which is not called 9wm
                          and whose documentation gives credit where it is due
                (4) the author is not held responsible for any defects
                    or shortcomings in the software, or damages caused by it.
              There is no warranty for this software.  Have a nice day.

SEE ALSO
       xterm (1), xprop (1)



evilwm-1.3                         July 2021                         evilwm(1)
