OLVWMRC(5) MachTen Programmer’s Manual OLVWMRC(5)

NAME
olvwmrc - Resource file for the OPEN LOOK Virtual Window
Manager

SYNOPSIS
$HOME/.olvwmrc

DESCRIPTION
.olvwmrc is a file which controls advanced keybinding and
menu features for the OPEN LOOK Window Manager olvwm.
Four features of olvwm are controlled by entries in this
file:

Local Variables
which can be used in key or screen bindings

Key Bindings
which can map specific actions to function keys

Screen Bindings
which can control where certain applications are
started

WINMENU
entries which can control the behavior of items
selected from the olvwm WINMENU menu.

The syntax for each of these entries is given below. Com-
mon to all syntax entries is the notion of an ‘‘identi-
fier’’: this is a string which somehow specifies which
window(s) the given entry applies to. When determining if
a particular window is affected by a particular rule in
.olvwmrc, olvwm first checks a window’s WM_NAME to see if
it matches the identifier listed in the rule. This match
is done only for the length of the identifier, so that the
identifier Mail will match all windows which begin with
the 4 letters Mail in their WM_NAME. If this does not
match, olvwm next checks the instance and then the class
fields of the window’s WM_CLASS attribute to check for a
possible match. If a match is found for any of these
fields, the window is affected by the given rule. Case is
significant in checking all matches.

Identifiers may contain any alpha-numeric characters; any
other characters must be enclosed within quotes (single or
double). Thus, Mail is a valid identifier, as is "Mail
Tool" but Mail Tool is not. Similarly, strings which are
to be executed should be enclosed in quotes if they con-
tain non alpha-numeric characters. Quotes may be nested
in strings, so that to start a clock with the label foo
bar, you would specify ’clock -label "foo bar"’.
Finally, single quotes may be escaped with a backslash, so
that the full WM_NAME of DevGuide, for example, should
appear as "OpenWindows Developer’s Guide".

All whitespace in this file is ignored; and lines begin-
ning with a # are considered comments (but only if the #
is in column 1).

Variables
The .olvwmrc file may define local variables by assigning
a value to a legal variable name. Variable names must be
made up of alphanumeric charcaters or the ’_’ character.
Variable names may begin with a number and assignments may
contain spaces either before of after the ’=’ operator.

Variable names are referenced by using %VariableName or
%{VariableName}; %% will yield a single %. Variable ref-
erences may appear as part of the definition of any key or
screen binding. Variable references may also appear in
assignment statements.

In addition to olvwm variables, environment variables may
be used in the same contexts using the familiar $NAME or
${NAME} syntax; again, $$ will yield a single $.

The following example illustrates the use of variables:

#
# Define screen size.
#
Xsize = ’1136’
Ysize = ’798’

WholeScreenSize = ’%{Xsize}x%{Ysize}+3+3’

#
# Define file names.
#
FileName = ’.olvwmrc’

PathName = ’$HOME/%FileName’

Key/Action Bindings
olvwm can be made to perform a series of actions when a
specific key is pressed. The key can be any valid X
keysym name and may be specified by itself or with any one
or more of the following modifiers: Shift, Control, Alt,
Meta, Hyper, Super, Shift Lock, or Caps Lock, in which
case the key must be pressed with the given modifiers.

The functionality for a key specified in a binding in
.olvwmrc takes precedence over any other functions that
key might perform. Thus, if you bind the L5 key to an
action in .olvwmrc, you will not be able to use the L5 key
to bring windows to the front; if you bind the R8 key, you
will not be able to scroll up on the desktop using that
key. Since the unmodified versions of 29 of the possible
35 standard function keys on a type-4 keyboard (L1-L10,
F1-F10, and R1-R15) already have a meaning within olvwm,
it is recommended that at least one modifier be used for
keys in this manner so as not to conflict with other key
meanings.

There are thirteen valid actions which can be associated
with a key:

Warp This action requires a single identifier. The
youngest window matching this identifier will be
located, and the view into the desktop will be
warped so that the found window is displayed on the
screen. The window itself will not change position
relative to the other windows; merely the view into
the desktop will be changed. If no matching window
is found, the view is unchanged. The mouse is
moved into the matching window, and that window is
given input focus.

Open This action requires a list of identifiers sepa-
rated by commas. Each iconified window will be
matched against this list and those which match any
identifier in the list will be opened.

Close This action requires a list of identifiers sepa-
rated by commas. Each non-iconified window will be
matched against this list and those which match any
identifier in the list will be closed.

Raise This action requires a list of identifiers sepa-
rated by commas. Each window will be matched
against this list and those which match any identi-
fier in the list will be raised. Windows will be
raised youngest first, so that the oldest windows
in the list will end up on top.

Lower This action requires a list of identifiers sepa-
rated by commas. Each window will be matched
against this list and those which match any identi-
fier in the list will be lowered. Windows will be
lowered youngest first, so that the oldest windows
in the list will end up on the bottom.

RaiseLower
This action requires a list of identifiers sepa-
rated by commas. Each window will be matched
against this list and those which match any identi-
fier in the list will be raised to the top of the
stack if they are partially obscured or lowered to
the bottom of the stack if they are on top.

Execute
This action requires a list of commands separated
by commas. Each command will be executed via a
Bourne-shell in the same manner as commands given
in the olvwm menu file [except that multiple com-
mands may be listed in this case.]

Goto This action requires a single integer parameter,
which is the logical screen to which the desktop
should warp when the given key(s) are pressed.

Quit This action requires a list of identifiers sepa-
rated by commas. Each window will be matched
against this list and those which match any identi-
fier in the list will be killed.

Geometry
This action requires a single identifier. The
identifier must be a valid X geometry string but
may be partially specified (may only specify posi-
tion or size). This geometry will be applied to
the current window. If there is no current window
this action will have no effect.

Rebind This action optionally takes a filename parameter.
If no parameter is specified the normal search is
performed to find the correct version of the
.olvwmrc file (as at startup). If a parameter is
given it is used as the .olvwmrc file. All current
key bindings are discarded and the .olvwmrc file is
read. If the .olvwmrc files does not exist the
current key bindings are not discarded.

Stick This action requires a single parameter which must
be one of the following: OLVWM_USE_SELECTION, on,
off, toggle, or a list of window names. If the
parameter is either OLVWM_USE_SELECTION or toggle,
the sticky attribute of the current window will be
toggled. Similarly, if the parameter is a list of
window names then those window’s sticky attributes
will be toggled. The values on and off can be used
to explicitly set the current window’s sticky
attribute.

SetSize
This action requires a single parameter which must
be one of the following: OLVWM_USE_SELECTION, full,
save, store, restore, toggle, or a list of window
names. If the parameter is OLVWM_USE_SELECTION or
toggle, either the window’s current geometry will
be saved and its size will be set to full size or
its saved geometry will be restored, depending on
the window’s current state. Similarly, if the
parameter is a list of window names then the same
action will be performed for those windows. The
parameter save can be used to preserve the current
window’s geometry such that a restore size (or tog-
gle) will restore the windows position and size.
Note that save will only store the windows geometry
if it has not already been saved. The parameter
store will always save a windows geometry (possibly
overwriting the currently saved geometry). The
restore parameter will simply restore the current
window’s saved geometry (if it has one).

Focus This action requires a single parameter which must
be either save or restore. The save parameter will
cause the window with focus to be remembered such
that a restore will restore focus to that window.

These actions may appear in any order and will be per-
formed in the reverse of the order specified. Commands
may be listed multiple times; this is useful in case you
want a different stacking order than that obtained by
using a single raise command. To do this, list separate
raise commands for each window and put the raise command
for the window you want to be on top first.

The full syntax for a Key/Action binding is

KeyName { Actions }

A Key Name is a valid key (L1-L10, F1-F10, or R1-R15) fol-
lowed by plus signs and the modifiers desired.

For example, given the following entry:

L2 + Shift {
Warp: "OpenWindows Developer´s Guide"
Execute: ’$OPENWINHOME/bin/xview/clock -label "foo bar"’,
"$OPENWINHOME/bin/xview/iconedit"
Raise: xterm, shelltool
}

Then when Shift L2 is pressed, the following will occur:
1) The view will shift so that the youngest copy of
DevGuide is on the screen.

2) A clock will be started; its namestripe will con-
tain foo bar. The IconEditor will also be started.

3) All xterms and shelltools will be raised to the
front of the stacking order.

Screen Bindings
olvwm can arrange to begin any application relative to a
particular logical screen. A ‘‘logical screen’’ is the
area on the virtual desktop which maps to the size of your
monitor; in the VDM, each logical screen is outlined in
dashed lines (unless you’ve turned this feature off).
Screens are numbered by row starting with 1. Note that
the position of a logical screen will vary depending on
the size of a desktop: in the default (2x3) configura-
tion, screen 4 is in the bottom left-hand corner of the
VDM but in a smaller (2x2) configuration, it is in the
bottom right-hand corner.

The syntax for specifying a screen binding is

Screen # { Identifiers }

where # is the logical number of the screen and Identi-
fiers is a list of comma-separated window identifiers for
windows which should always start on that screen. Note
that it is always possible to move the window to another
screen later.

For example, the following entry will ensure that the win-
dows started by Sun’s AnswerBook (windows with names Navi-
gator and Viewer) will always start on screen 6:

Screen 6 { Navigator, Viewer }

WINMENU Actions
When a window is selected in the WINMENU menu, olvwm will
perform certain actions. The possible actions are the
same as those listed above for Key Actions, except that
the mouse position will not change on a warp. By default,
windows behave as if a warp, raise, and open were per-
formed on the selected window.

To effect a different action list for a particular window,
you can specify

Identifier { Actions }

Each of these is a MenuGroup; one or more of these can
appear in the following syntax:

WINMENU { MenuGroups }

For example, here is a possible entry:

WINMENU {
"File Manager" {
Warp: "Mail Tool"
Open: OLVWM_USE_SELECTION
}
xterm { }
"Virtual Desktop" {
Open: OLVWM_USE_SELECTION
Execute: "$OPENWINHOME/bin/props"
}
}

If you select the File Manager from your WINMENU, then the
view will
warp to your Mail Tool instead of your file manager, and
your file manager, if closed, will be opened. [This isn’t
that contrived an example: pretend your file manager is
sticky and your mail tool isn’t, and you anticipate that
you’ll need to drag between the two.]

If you select an xterm from your WINMENU, absolutely noth-
ing will happen. This implements a No-Op for that window.

If you select the VDM from your WINMENU, it will be opened
and the properties application will be started.

Note that this Identifier list can contain the special
entry OLVWM_USE_SELECTION which, as you might expect,
operates on the single window corresponding to the one you
selected. A subtle distinction exists here: given the
MenuGroup

xterm { Raise: xterm }

then ALL xterms will be raised when any xterm is selected
via the WINMENU. However, the entry

xterm { Raise: OLVWM_USE_SELECTION }

will raise only the xterm corresponding to the one
selected via the WINMENU.

RESOURCES AND KEY BINDINGS
There are a few resources which are particular to the
operation of olvwmrc.

VirtualReRead (boolean)
When this resource is True, olvwm will re-read the
.olvwmrc file whenever it receives a Function Key
event. This will happen whenever a function key is
pressed in the VDM or on the root window, or when-
ever a function key grabbed by olvwm is pressed.
Default value: True

NoVirtualKey (list of windows)
This resource disables the virtual keys set up in
.olvwmrc for a particular window. The list of win-
dows follows the same syntax as other resource
lists like MinimalDecor and VirtualSticky. When a
window in this list has the input focus and the
user executes a key sequence which is mentioned in
.olvwmrc, that key sequence will be passed to the
application rather than initiating the olvwmrc
action. Note that this disabling applies only to
bindings established via entries in .olvwmrc; nor-
mal olvwm and olwm bindings are not affected.
Default value: None

NoVirtualFKey (list of windows)
This resource is like NoVirtualKey, but only the
Function keys F1 to F10 will be disabled for the
given window. Default value: None

NoVirtualLKey (list of windows)
This resource is like NoVirtualKey, but only the
keys L1 to L10 (which map to F11-F20 on non-Sun
keyboards) will be disabled for the given window.
Default value: None

NoVirtualRKey (list of windows)
This resource is like NoVirtualKey, but only the
keys R1 to R15 will be disabled for the given win-
dow. Default value: None