4 The so-called ``winprops''\index{Winprops} can be used to change how
5 specific windows are handled and to set up some kludges to deal with
6 badly behaving applications. They are defined by calling the function
7 \code{defwinprop} with a table containing the properties to set and the
8 necessary information to identify a window. The currently supported
9 winprops are listed below, and the subsequent subsections explain the
10 usual method of identifying windows, and how to obtain this information.
14 %\docode % latex2html kludge
16 %\caption{Supported winprops}
19 \newenvironment{winprop}[2]{
21 % Sigh. (La)TeX is a mess.
25 % @\expandafter\var{#2}}
26 \item[Winprop:] \var{#1} (#2)
34 \begin{winprop}{acrobatic}{boolean}
35 \index{acrobatic@\var{acrobatic}}
36 Set this to \code{true} for Acrobat Reader. It has an annoying
37 habit of trying to manage its dialogs instead of setting them as
38 transients and letting the window manager do its job, causing
39 Ion and acrobat go a window-switching loop when a dialog is
44 \begin{winprop}{float}{boolean}
45 \index{float@\var{float}}
46 Set this to open the window in a floating frame, when
51 \begin{winprop}{fullscreen}{boolean}
52 \index{fullscreen@\var{fullscreen}}
53 Should the window be initially in full screen mode?
57 \begin{winprop}{ignore_cfgrq}{boolean}
58 \index{ignore-cfgrq@\var{ignore_cfgrq}}
59 Should configure requests on the window be ignored?
60 Only has effect on floating windows.
64 \begin{winprop}{ignore_net_active_window}{boolean}
65 \index{ignore-net-active-window@\var{ignore_net_active_window}}
66 Ignore extended WM hints \code{_NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW} request.
70 \begin{winprop}{jumpto}{boolean}
71 \index{jumpto@\var{jumpto}}
72 Should a newly created client window always be made
73 active, even if the allocated frame isn't.
77 \begin{winprop}{new_group}{string}
78 \index{new-group@\var{new_group}}
79 If the region specified by \code{target} winprop does not exist
80 (or that winprop is not set), create a new workspace using the
81 previously stored layout (see \fnref{ioncore.deflayout}) named by
82 this property. After creating the workspace, \code{target} is
83 attempted to be found again. (If that still fails, the newly
84 created workspace is still asked to manage the client window.)
88 \begin{winprop}{oneshot}{boolean}
89 \index{oneshot@\var{oneshot}}
90 Discard this winprop after first use.
94 \begin{winprop}{orientation}{string}
95 \index{orientation@\var{orientation}}
96 The orientation of the window: one of \codestr{vertical} or
97 \codestr{horizontal}. This is only useful when using the
98 window as a status display.
102 \begin{winprop}{statusbar}{string}
103 \index{statusbar@\var{statusbar}}
104 Put the window in the statusbar, in the named tray component,
105 (The default tray component is called simply \codestr{systray},
106 and others you give names to in your custom template, always
107 prefixed by \codestr{systray\_}.
111 \begin{winprop}{switchto}{boolean}
112 \index{switchto@\var{switchto}}
113 Should a newly mapped client window be switched to within
118 \begin{winprop}{target}{string}
119 \index{target@\var{target}}
120 The name of an object (workspace, frame) that should manage
121 windows of this type. See also \code{new_group}.
125 \begin{winprop}{transient_mode}{string}
126 \index{transient-mode@\var{transient_mode}}
127 \codestr{normal}: No change in behaviour. \codestr{current}:
128 The window should be thought of as a transient for the current
129 active client window (if any) even if it is not marked as a
130 transient by the application. \codestr{off}: The window should
131 be handled as a normal window even if it is marked as a
132 transient by the application.
136 \begin{winprop}{transparent}{boolean}
137 \index{transparent@\var{transparent}}
138 Should frames be made transparent when this window is selected? \\
142 \subsection{Sizehint winprops}
144 Additionally, the winprops
145 \code{max_size}\index{max-size@\var{max_size}},
146 \code{min_size}\index{min-size@\var{min_size}},
147 \code{aspect}\index{aspect@\var{aspect}},
148 \code{resizeinc}\index{aspect@\var{resizeinc}},
150 \code{ignore_max_size}\index{ignore-max-size@\var{ignore_max_size}},
151 \code{ignore_min_size}\index{ignore-min-size@\var{ignore_min_size}},
152 \code{ignore_aspect}\index{ignore-aspect@\var{ignore_aspect}},
153 \code{ignore_resizeinc}\index{ignore-aspect@\var{ignore_resizeinc}},
154 may be used to override application-supplied size hints. The four
155 first ones are tables with the fields \var{w} and \var{h}, indicating
156 the width and height size hints in pixels, and the latter ignore
157 winprop is a boolean.
160 \code{userpos}\index{userpos@\var{userpos}} option may be used to
161 override the \code{USPosition} flag of the size hints. Normally,
162 when this flag is set, Ion tries to respect the supplied window
163 position more than when it is not set. Obviously, this makes sense
164 only for floating windows.
167 \subsection{Classes, roles and instances}
168 \label{sec:classesrolesinstances}
170 The identification information supported are
171 \var{class}\index{class@\var{class}!winprop},
172 \var{role}\index{role@\var{role}!winprop},
173 \var{instance}\index{instance@\var{instance}!winprop},
174 \var{name}\index{name@\var{name}!winprop},
175 \var{is_transient}\index{is-transient@\var{is_transient}!winprop}, and
176 \var{is_dockapp}\index{is-dockapp@\var{is_dockapp}!winprop}.
177 It is not necessary to specify all of these fields.
178 The first three are strings, and must exactly match the
179 corresponding information obtained from the window's properties.
180 The \var{name} field is a Lua-style regular expression matched against
181 the window's title. The \var{is_transient} field is a boolean that can
182 be used to include or exclude transients only, while the \var{is_dockapp}
183 field is set by Ion for the dock windows of Window Maker dockapp protocol
184 dockapps. Usually this is the only information available for these
187 Ion looks for a matching winprop in the order listed by the following
188 table. An 'E' indicates that the field must be set in the winprop
189 and it must match the window's corresponding property exactly or, in
190 case of \var{name}, the regular expression must match the window
191 title. An asterisk '*' indicates that a winprop where the field is
192 not specified (or is itself an asterisk in case of the first three
196 \begin{tabular}{llll}
197 \tabhead{\var{class} & \var{role} & \var{instance} & other}
205 \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & etc. \\
209 If there are multiple matching winprops with the same
210 \var{class}, \var{role} and \var{instance}, but other information
211 different, the most recently defined one is used.
214 \subsection{Finding window identification}
216 The 'Window info' context menu entry (\key{Mod1+M} or \key{Button3} on a tab)
217 can be used to list the identification information required to set winprops
218 for a window and all the transient windows managed within it.
221 Another way to get the identification information is to use \command{xprop}.
222 Simply run To get class and instance, simply run \command{xprop WM_CLASS}
223 and click on the particular window of interest. The class is the latter of
224 the strings while the instance is the former. To get the role -- few
225 windows have this property -- use the command \command{xprop WM_ROLE}.
226 This method, however, will not work on transients.
229 So-called ``transient windows'' are usually short-lived dialogs (although
230 some programs abuse this property) that have a parent window that they are
231 ``transient for''. On tiled workspaces Ion displays these windows
232 simultaneously with the parent window at the bottom of the same frame.
233 Unfortunately \command{xprop} is stupid and can't cope with this situation,
234 returning the parent window's properties when the transient is clicked on.
235 For this reason you'll have to do a little extra work to get the properties
236 for that window.\footnote{There's a patch to \command{xprop} to
237 fix this, but nothing seems to be happening with respect to including it in
240 Finally, it should be mentioned that too many authors these days
241 ``forget'' to set this vital identification to anything meaningful:
242 everything except name is the same for all of the program's
243 windows, for example. Some other programs only set this information
244 after the window has been mapped, i.e. the window manager has been
245 told to start managing it, which is obviously too late.
246 Gtk applications in particular are often guilty on both counts.
249 \subsection{Some common examples}
251 \subsubsection{Acrobat Reader}
253 The following is absolutely necessary for Acrobat reader:
258 instance = "documentShell",
263 \subsubsection{Forcing newly created windows in named frames}
265 The following winprop should place xterm started with command-line parameter
266 \mbox{\code{-name sysmon}} and running a system monitoring program in a
272 target = "sysmonframe",
276 For this example to work, we have to somehow create a frame named
277 \codestr{sysmonframe}. One way to do this is to make the following
278 call in the \key{Mod1+F3} Lua code query:
281 mod_query.query_renameframe(_)
284 Recall that \code{_} points to the multiplexer (frame or screen) in which
285 the query was opened. Running this code should open a new query prefilled
286 with the current name of the frame. In our example we would change the
287 name to \codestr{sysmonframe}, but we could just as well have used the
288 default name formed from the frame's class name and an instance number.