Ubuntu Manpage: cwm — a lightweight and efficient window manager for X11

NAME

       cwm — a lightweight and efficient window manager for X11

SYNOPSIS

       cwm [-nv] [-c file] [-d display]

DESCRIPTION

cwm is a window manager for X11 which contains many features that concentrate on the efficiency and
transparency of window management, while maintaining the simplest and most pleasant aesthetic.

The options are as follows:

-c file
Specify an alternative configuration file. By default, cwm loads ~/.cwmrc, if present. Any
error messages from lines in the configuration file will be sent to stderr; however, cwm will
continue to process the rest of the configuration file.

-d display
Specify the display to use.

-n Configtest mode. Only check the configuration file for validity.

-v Verbose mode. Multiple -v options increase the verbosity.

cwm actions are initiated either via key or mouse bindings. The following notations are used throughout
this page:

C Control key.
M Meta key.
S Shift key.
4 Mod4 (windows) key.
M1 Left mouse button.
M2 Middle mouse button.
M3 Right mouse button.

The default key bindings are:

CM-Return Spawn a new terminal.
CM-Delete Lock the screen.
M-Return Hide current window.
M-Down Lower current window.
M-Up Raise current window.
M-slash Search for windows.
C-slash Search for applications.
CM-n Label current window.
M-Tab Cycle through currently visible windows.
MS-Tab Reverse cycle through currently visible windows.
CM-x Close current window.
CM-[n] Toggle visibility of group n, where n is 1–9.
CM-a Toggle visibility of all groups.
CM-g Toggle group membership of current window.
M-Right Cycle through active groups.
M-Left Reverse cycle through active groups.
CMS-f Toggle freezing geometry of current window.
CM-s Toggle stickiness of current window.
CM-f Toggle full-screen mode of current window.
CM-m Toggle maximization of current window.
CM-equal Toggle vertical maximization of current window.
CMS-equal Toggle horizontal maximization of current window.
M-[hjkl] Move window by a small amount.
MS-[hjkl] Move window by a large amount; see cwmrc(5).
CM-[hjkl] Resize window by a small amount.
CMS-[hjkl] Resize window by a large amount; see cwmrc(5).
M-question Spawn “exec program” dialog.
M-period Spawn “ssh to” dialog. This parses $HOME/.ssh/known_hosts to provide host auto-
completion. ssh(1) will be executed via the configured terminal emulator.
CM-w Spawn “exec WindowManager” menu, allowing a switch to another window manager.
CMS-r Restart.
CMS-q Quit.

The default mouse bindings are:

M-M1 Move current window.
CM-M1 Toggle group membership of current window.
M-M2 Resize current window
M-M3 Lower current window.
CMS-M3 Hide current window.

The following key bindings may be used to navigate search and exec dialogs:

[Return] Select item.
[Down], C-s or M-j Next item.
[Up], C-r or M-k Previous item.
[Backspace] or C-h Backspace.
C-u Clear input.
C-a List all available items.
[Esc] Cancel.

cwm rereads its configuration file when it receives a hangup signal, SIGHUP, by executing itself with the
name and arguments with which it was started. This is equivalent to the restart function.

SEARCH

       cwm features the ability to search for windows by their current title, old titles, and  by  their  label.
       The  priority  for the search results are: label, current title, old titles in reverse order, and finally
       window class name.  cwm keeps a history of the 5 previous titles of a window.

       When searching, the leftmost character of the result list may show a flag:

             !       Window is currently focused.
             &       Window is hidden.

APPLICATIONS

       cwm manages a list of applications defined with the command configuration option.

GROUPS

       cwm has the ability to group windows together, and use the groups to perform  operations  on  the  entire
       group  instead  of just one window.  Together with the sticky option, this can be used to emulate virtual
       desktops.

       To edit groups, use the group selection commands to toggle membership of a group.  A blue border will  be
       shown  briefly  on  windows  added  to  the  current  group, and a red border will be shown on those just
       removed.

MENUS

       Menus are recalled by clicking the mouse on the root window:

             M1      Show list of currently defined windows.  Selecting  an  item  will  warp  to  that  window,
                     unhiding it if necessary.
             M2      Show list of currently defined groups.  Selecting an item will hide/unhide that group.
             M3      Show  list  of  applications  as defined in the configuration file.  Selecting an item will
                     spawn that application.

ENVIRONMENT

       DISPLAY     cwm starts on this display unless the -d option is given.

FILES

       ~/.cwmrc    Default cwm configuration file.

HISTORY

       cwm was originally inspired by evilwm, but was rewritten from scratch due to limitations  in  the  evilwm
       codebase.  The from-scratch rewrite borrowed some code from 9wm, however that code has since been removed
       or rewritten.

       cwm first appeared in OpenBSD 4.2.

AUTHORS

       cwm  was  developed  by  Marius  Aamodt  Eriksen <marius@monkey.org> with contributions from Andy Adamson
       <dros@monkey.org>, Niels Provos <provos@monkey.org>, and Antti Nykänen <aon@iki.fi>.   Ideas,  discussion
       with many others.

Debian                                             $Mdocdate$                                             CWM(1)