Window manager

Icewm notes

Almost all user interaction was disabled.

We use only 2 desktops:

   desktop 1 is the normal desktop, and should be always selected
   desktop 2 is the desktop used for hidding windows that should not appear

Icewm supports 7 layers. We use only 3 layers for windows:

   OnTop, Normal, Below.

If 2 windows are on the same layer, then the last activated one is over the other.

Keys for testing and debugging

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Pointer_Button1

   hold key and drag to move the window under cursor

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Pointer_Button3

   hold key and drag to resize the window under cursor

Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Del

   press R to restart icewm

   If the icewm configuration is changed, icewm need to be restarted.
   It will keep the windows on the same position and the same desktop.

Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Esc

   show the window list

   In the window list, arrow keys allow to select a window, Enter to
   activate that window.
   Activating a window will activate it's desktop, too.

Debugging and testing

If one wants to do some debugging, like showing the taskbar or the window border, go to the end of ~/.icewm/preferences and uncomment those lines.

   Press Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Del and R (Restart)
   to load the new configuration in Icewm

Icewm Taskbar

After the taskbar is activated in ~/.icewm/preferences:

- the lower-right button (>) will hide it

- the lower-right button (<) will show it again

- the taskbar is on the "OnTop" layer, so it may be below other windows

- right-click on a task will bring up a menu, used to control that app

- some items in the task menu are marked with a symbol

-- this mark show the current application status

- some items in the task-menu are deactivated

-- because the application does not support that action

-- or because that action was deactivated in icewm config files

-- or because that action is not available right now (i.e. cannot be maximized twice)

Configuration

icewm.cfg is the LinuxMCE-config-directory for icewm ~/.icewm is the one known by icewm

Copy ( or make a symbolic link to ) it in the user's $HOME directory i.e.: cp -a icewm.cfg ~/.icewm

Icewm-session will launch the window manager and all programs needed by Icewm. It should be started after X11, instead of icewm.

Original Document

http://svn.plutohome.com/pluto/trunk/src/utilities/linux/window_manager/wm_icewm/ICEWM_CONFIG.txt