blackbox(1) General Commands Manual blackbox(1)
NAME
blackbox - a window manager for X11
SYNOPSIS
blackbox -help | -version
blackbox [ -rc rcfile ] [ -display display ]
DESCRIPTION
Blackbox is a window manager for the Open Group's X Window System, Ver-
sion 11 Release 6 and above. Its design is meant to be visually mini-
malist and fast.
Blackbox is similar to the NeXT interface and Windowmaker. Applications
are launched using a menu which is accessed by right clicking on the
root window. Workspaces, a system of virtual desktops are controlled
via a menu which is accessed by middle clicking on the root window and
by using the toolbar. Individual windows can be controlled by buttons
on the title bar and more options are available by right clicking on
the title bar.
Blackbox is able to generate beautiful window decorations on the fly at
high speed. Themes, called styles in Blackbox terminology, are very
flexible but the use of pixmaps has been purposefully avoided to elimi-
nate dependencies and excess memory usage.
Blackbox itself does not directly handle key bindings like most other
window managers. This task is handled by a separate utility called
bbkeys. Although Blackbox has a built-in workspace (paging) system, bb-
pager, which provides a graphical pager, is popular with many users.
bbkeys, bbpager and several other bbtools can be found by going to
http://bbtools.thelinuxcommunity.org/
The slit is an edge of the screen which can hold specially designed
programs called dock apps (from Windowmaker). In addition, the popular
program gkrellm will also run in the slit. There is a huge selection
of dockapps available and they run the gamut from must-have gadgets to
utterly useless (but cute and/or funny) eye candy.
http://www.bensinclair.com/dockapp/
http://dockapps.org/
OPTIONS
Blackbox supports the following command line options:
-help Display command line options, compiled-in features, and exit.
-version
Display version and exit.
-rc rcfile
Use an alternate resource file.
-display display
Start Blackbox on the specified display, and set the DISPLAY en-
vironment variable to this value for programs started by Black-
box.
STARTING AND EXITING BLACKBOX
The most common method for starting Blackbox is to place the the com-
mand "blackbox" (no quotes) at the end of your ~/.xinitrc or ~/.xses-
sion file. The advantage of putting Blackbox at the end of the file is
that the X Server will shutdown when you exit Blackbox. Blackbox can
also be started from the command line of a terminal program like xterm
in an X session that does not already have a window manager running.
On startup, Blackbox will look for ~/.blackboxrc and use the resource
session.menuFile to determine where to get the menu for the session.
If this file is not found Blackbox will use /etc/X11/blackbox/blackbox-
menu as the menu file. If that fails as well Blackbox will use a de-
fault menu that contains commands to start an xterm as well as restart
and exit the window manager. The other resources available in the
~/.blackboxrc file are discussed later in this manual under the heading
RESOURCE FILE.
On exit, Blackbox writes its current configuration to ~/.blackboxrc.
NOTE:
If ~/.blackboxrc is modified during a Blackbox
session, Blackbox must be restarted with the
"restart" command on the main menu or the changes
will be lost on exit. Restart causes Blackbox to
re-read ~/.blackboxrc and apply the changes immediately.
Blackbox can be exited by selecting "exit" on the main menu (discussed
shortly), killing it gently from a terminal or by the X Window System
shutdown hot key combo Ctrl+Alt+BackSpace.
USING BLACKBOX
A three button mouse has the following functions when clicking on the
root window:
Button Two (Middle Button)
Open workspace menu
Button Three (Right Button)
Open main menu
Note that Button One (Left Button) is not used.
Main Menu
The default installation assumes you have a number of common X
Window System programs in their typical locations. The default
menu is defined by a plain text file named 'menu'. It is heavily
commented and covers a number of details of menu file syntax.
This file can also be edited graphically by using the extension
program bbconf which makes menu creation very easy. Menu file
syntax is discussed later in this manual.
Caveat:
Menus can run arbitrary command lines, but
if you wish to use a complex command line
it is best to place it in a shell script.
Remember to put #!/bin/sh on the first
line and chmod 755 on the file to make it
executable.
Workspace Menu
This menu gives the user control of the workspace system. The
user can create a new workspace, remove the last workspace or go
to an application via either the icon menu or a workspace entry.
Workspaces are listed by name. Clicking on the workspace name
will take you to that workspace with focus on the program under
the mouse. If there are programs already running in the
workspace, they will appear in a pop-out menu. Clicking on the
application name will jump to the workspace and focus that ap-
plication. If a middle click is used the window will be brought
to the current workspace.
Blackbox uses an external program, bbpager, to provide a tradi-
tional, graphical paging interface to the workspace system. Many
Blackbox users run another extension program - bbkeys - to pro-
vide keyboard shortcuts for workspace control.
Caveat:
To name a workspace the user must right
click on the toolbar, select "Edit current
workspace name," type the workspace name,
And_Press_Enter to finish.
Workspaces can also be named in the .blackboxrc file as de-
scribed in RESOURCES.
The Slit
The Slit provides a user positionable window for running utility
programs called "dockapps". To learn more about dockapps refer
to the web sites mentioned in the Description. Dockapps automat-
ically run in the slit in most cases, but may require a special
command switch. Often, -w is used for "withdrawn" into the
slit.
gkrellm is a very useful and modern dockapp that gives the user
near real time information on machine performance. Other dock-
apps include clocks, notepads, pagers, key grabbers, fishbowls,
fire places and many, many others.
Only mouse button three is captured by the Blackbox slit. This
menu allows the user to change the position of the slit, and
sets the state of Always on top, and Auto hide. These all do
what the user expects.
Caveat:
When starting Dockapps from an external script
a race condition can take place where the shell
rapidly forks all of the dockapps, which then
take varied and random times to draw themselves
for the first time. To get the dockapps to start
in a given order, follow each dockapp with
sleep 2; This ensures that each dockapp is placed
in the correct order by the slit.
i.e.
#!/bin/sh
speyes -w & sleep 2
gkrellm -w & sleep 2
The Toolbar
The toolbar provides an alternate method for cycling through
multiple workspaces and applications. The left side of the tool-
bar is the workspace control, the center is the application con-
trol, and the right side is a clock. The format of the clock can
be controlled as described under RESOURCES.
Mouse button 3 raises a menu that allows configuration of the
toolbar. It can be positioned either at the top or the bottom of
the screen and can be set to auto hide and/or to always be on
top.
Caveat:
The toolbar is a permanent fixture. It
can only be removed by modifying the source and
rebuilding, which is beyond the scope of this
document. Setting the toolbar to auto hide is
the next best thing.
Window Decorations
Window decorations include handles at the bottom of each window,
a title bar, and three control buttons. The handles at the bot-
tom of the window are divided into three sections. The two cor-
ner sections are resizing handles The center section is a window
moving handle. The bottom center handle and the title bar re-
spond to a number of mouse clicks and key + mouse click combina-
tions. The three buttons in the title bar, left to right, are
iconify, maximize, and close. The resize button has special be-
havior detailed below.
Button One (Left Button)
Click and drag on titlebar to move or resize from bottom cor-
ners. Click the iconify button to move the window to the icon
list. Click the maximize button to fully maximize the window.
Click the close button to close the window and application.
Double-Click the title bar to shade the window.
Alt + Button One
Click anywhere on client window and drag to move the window.
Button Two (Middle Button)
Click the titlebar to lower the window. Click the maximize but-
ton to maximize the window vertically.
Button Three (Right Button)
Click on title bar or bottom center handle pulls down a control
menu. Click the maximize button to maximize the window horizon-
tally.
Alt + Button Three
Click anywhere on client window and drag to resize the window.
The control menu contains:
Send To ...
Button One (Left Button)
Click to send this window to another workspace.
Button Two (Middle Button)
Click to send this window to another workspace, change
to that workspace and keep the application focused.
as well.
Shade This is the same action as Double-Click with Button One.
Iconify
Hide the window. It can be accessed with the icon menu.
Maximize
Toggle window maximization.
Raise Bring window to the front above the other windows and
focus it.
Lower Drop the window below the other ones.
Stick Stick this window to the glass on the inside of
the monitor so it does not hide when you change
workspaces.
Kill Client
This kills the client program with -SIGKILL (-9)
Only use this as a last resort.
Close Send a close signal to the client application.
STYLES
Styles are a collection of colors, fonts, and textures that control the
appearance of Blackbox. These characteristics are recorded in style
files. The default system style files are located in
/usr/share/blackbox/styles. The menu system will identify the style by
its filename, and styles can be sorted into different directories at
the user's discretion.
There are over 700 styles available for Blackbox. The official
distribution point for Blackbox styles is
http://blackbox.themes.org/
All themes should install by simply downloading them to ~/.blackbox/
then unzip it, and de-tar it.
On open Unixes this will be:
tar zxvf stylename.tar.gz
On commercial Unixes this will be something like:
gunzip stylename.tar.gz && tar xvf stylename.tar
Check your system manuals for specifics or check with your network ad-
ministrator.
An entry should appear in the styles menu immediately.
Security Warning
Style files can execute shell scripts and other
executables. It would is wise to check the
rootCommand in the style file and make sure that
it is benign.
Things that go wrong.
1. The theme is pre Blackbox 0.51.
Style file syntax changed with version 0.51
2. The style tarball was formatted incorrectly.
Some styles use the directories ~/.blackbox/Backgrounds and
~/.blackbox/Styles
This can fixed by adding a [stylemenu] (~/.blackbox/Styles) to
your menu file. To be a complete purist, hack the style file
with the correct paths and move the files into the correct di-
rectories
3. The rootCommmand line is broken.
The rootCommand line in the style file will run an arbitrary ex-
ecutable. It is important that this executable be set to bsetbg
to maintain portability between systems with different graphics
software. In addition bsetbg can execute a shell script and do
it in a portable fashion as well.
The documented method for creating styles is as follows:
1. Create or acquire the background for the style if
it will not be using bsetroot to draw a patterned background for
the root window.
NOTE:
Blackbox runs on a wide variety
of systems ranging from PCs with 640x480 256 color
displays to ultra high speed workstations with 25"
screens and extreme resolution. For best results a
style graphic should be at least 1024x768.
2. Create a style file.
The best way to do this is to make a copy of a similar style and
then edit it.
The style file is a list of X resources and other external vari-
ables. Manipulating these variables allows users to completely
change the appearance of Blackbox. The user can also change the
root window image by using the wrapper program bsetbg.
bsetbg knows how to use a number of programs to set the root
window image. This makes styles much more portable since various
platforms have different graphics software. For more info see
bsetbg (1).
3. Background images should be placed in
~/.blackbox/backgrounds The style file should be placed in
~/.blackbox/styles any other information about the style should
be placed in ~/.blackbox/about/STYLE_NAME/. This would include
README files, licenses, etc.
Previous versions of Blackbox put backgrounds and styles in dif-
ferent directories. The directories listed above are the only
officially supported directories. However you may put them
wherever you like as long as you update your menu file so it
knows where to find your styles.
4. To create a consistent experience and to ensure
portability between all systems it is important to use the fol-
lowing format to create your style archive.
first create a new directory named after your style NEW_STYLE
In this directory create the directories
backgrounds
styles
about/NEW_STYLE
Next put everything for the theme in these locations. Finally
type
tar cvzf NEW_STYLE.tar.gz *
If you are using commercial Unix you may need to use gzip and
tar separately.
Now when a user downloads a new style file she knows that all
she has to do is put the tarball in her Blackbox directory, un-
zip->un-tar it and then click on it in her style menu.
Style File Syntax and Details
By far the easiest way to create a new style is to use bbconf.
bbconf allows complete control of every facet of style files and
gives immediate updates of the current style as changes are
made.
The style file format is not currently documented in a man page.
There is a readme document included with the Blackbox source
containing this information.
MENU FILE
The default menu file is installed in /etc/X11/blackbox/blackbox-menu.
This menu can be customized as a system default menu or the user can
create a personal menu.
To create a personal menu copy the default menu to a file in your home
directory. Then, open ~/.blackboxrc and add or modify the resource
session.menuFile: ~/.blackbox/menu
Next, edit the new menu file. This can be done during a Blackbox ses-
sion and the menu will automatically be updated when the code checks
for file changes.
The default menu included with Blackbox has numerous comments describ-
ing the use of all menu commands. Menu commands follow this general
form:
[command] (label|filename) {shell command|filename}
Blackbox menu commands:
# string...
Hash (or pound or number sign) is used as the comment delimiter.
It can be used as a full line comment or as an end of line com-
ment after a valid command statement.
[begin] (string)
This tag is used only once at the beginning of the menu file.
"string" is the name or description used at the top of the menu.
[end]
This tag is used at the end of the menu file and at the end of a
submenu block.
[exec] (label string) {command string}
This is a very flexible tag that allows the user to run an arbi-
trary shell command including shell scripts. If a command is too
large to type on the command line by hand it is best to put it
in a shell script.
[nop] (label string)
This tag is used to put a divider in the menu. label string is
an optional description.
[submenu] (submenu name) {title string}
This creates a sub-menu with the name submenu name and if given,
the string title string will be the title of the pop up menu it-
self.
[include] (filename)
This command inserts filename into the menu file at the point at
which it is called. filename should not contain a begin end
pair. This feature can be used to include the system menu or in-
clude a piece of menu that is updated by a separate program.
[stylesdir] (description) (path)
Causes Blackbox to search path for style files. Blackbox lists
styles in the menu by their file name as returned by the OS.
[stylesmenu] (description) {path}
This command creates a submenu with the name description with
the contents of path. By creating a submenu and then populating
it with stylesmenu entries the user can create an organized li-
brary of styles.
[workspaces] (description)
Inserts a link into the main menu to the workspace menu. If
used, description is an optional description.
[config] (label)
This command causes Blackbox to insert a menu that gives the
user control over focus models, dithering and other system pref-
erences.
[reconfig] (label) {shell command}
The reconfig command causes Blackbox to reread its configuration
files. This does not include ~/.blackboxrc which is only reread
when Blackbox is restarted. If shell command is included Black-
box will run this command or shell script before rereading the
files. This can be used to switch between multiple configura-
tions
[restart] (label) {shell command}
This command is actually an exit command that defaults to
restarting Blackbox. If provided shell command is run instead of
Blackbox. This can be used to change versions of Blackbox. Not
that you would ever want to do this but, it could also be used
to start a different window manager.
[exit] (label)
Shuts down Blackbox. If Blackbox is the last command in your
~/.xinitrc file, this action will also shutdown X.
Here is a working example of a menu file:
[begin] (MenuName)
[exec] (xterm) {xterm -ls -bg black -fg green}
[submenu] (X utilities)
[exec] (xcalc) {xcalc}
[end]
[submenu] (styles)
[stylesmenu] (built-in styles) {/usr/share/blackbox/styles}
[stylesmenu] (custom styles) {~/.blackbox/styles}
[end]
[workspaces] (workspace list)
[config] (configure)
[reconfig] (config play desktop) {play-config-blackbox}
[reconfig] (config work desktop) {work-config-blackbox}
[restart] (start Blackbox beta 7) {blackbox-beta7}
[restart] (start Blackbox cvs) {blackbox-cvs}
[restart] (restart)
[exit] (exit)
[end]
RESOURCE FILE
$HOME/.blackboxrc These options are stored in the ~/.blackboxrc file.
They control various features of Blackbox and most can be set from
menus. Some of these can only be set by editing .blackboxrc directly.
NOTE: Blackbox only reads this file during start up. To make changes
take effect during a Blackbox session the user must choose "restart" on
the main menu. If you do not do so, your changes will be lost when
Blackbox exits.
Some resources are named with a <num> after screen. This should be re-
placed with the number of the screen that is being configured. The de-
fault is 0 (zero).
Menu Configurable (Slit Menu):
Right click (button 3) on the slit border.
session.screen<num>.slit.placement SEE BELOW
Determines the position of the slit. Certain combinations of
slit.placement with slit.direction are not terribly useful, i.e.
TopCenter with Vertical direction puts the slit through the middle
of your screen. Certainly some will think that is cool if only to be
different...
Default is CenterLeft.
[ TopLeft | TopCenter | TopRight |
CenterLeft | | CenterRight |
BottomLeft | BottomCenter | BottomRight ]
session.screen<num>.slit.direction [Horizontal|Vertical]
Determines the direction of the slit.
Default is Vertical.
session.screen<num>.slit.onTop [True|False]
Determines whether the slit is always visible over windows or if the
focused window can hide the slit.
Default is True.
session.screen<num>.slit.autoHide [True|False]
Determines whether the slit hides when not in use. The session.au-
toRaiseDelay time determines how long you must hover to get the slit
to raise and how long it stays visible after mouse out.
Default is False.
Menu Configurable (Main Menu):
session.screen<num>.focusModel SEE BELOW
Sloppy focus (mouse focus) is the conventional X Window behavior and
can be modified with AutoRaise or Click-Raise.
AutoRaise causes the window to automatically raise after session.au-
toRaiseDelay milliseconds.
ClickRaise causes the window to raise if you click anywhere inside
the client area of the window.
Sloppy focus alone requires a click on the titlebar, border or lower
grip to raise the window.
ClickToFocus requires a click on a Blackbox decoration or in the
client area to focus and raise the window. ClickToFocus cannot be
modified by AutoRaise or ClickRaise.
Default is SloppyFocus
[SloppyFocus [[AutoRaise & ClickRaise] |
[AutoRaise | ClickRaise]] |
ClickToFocus]
session.screen<num>.windowPlacement SEE BELOW
RowSmartPlacement tries to fit new windows in empty space by making
rows. Direction depends on session.screen<num>.rowPlacementDirec-
tion
ColSmartPlacement tries to fit new windows in empty space by making
columns Direction depends on session.screen<num>.colPlacementDirec-
tion
CascadePlacement places the new window down and to the right of the
most recently created window.
Default is RowSmartPlacement.
[RowSmartPlacement | ColSmartPlacement | CascadePlacement]
session.screen<num>.rowPlacementDirection [LeftToRight|RightToLeft]
Determines placement direction for new windows.
Default is LeftToRight.
session.screen<num>.colPlacementDirection [TopToBottom|BottomToTop]
Determines placement direction for new windows.
Default is TopToBottom.
session.imageDither [True|False]
This setting is only used when running in low color modes. Image
Dithering helps one to show an image properly even if there are not
enough colors available in the system.
Default is False.
session.opaqueMove [True|False]
Determines whether the window's contents are drawn as it is moved.
When False the behavior is to draw a box representing the window.
Default is False.
session.screen<num>.fullMaximization [True|False]
Determines if the maximize button will cause an application to maxi-
mize over the slit and toolbar.
Default is False.
session.screen<num>.focusNewWindows [True|False]
Determines if newly created windows are given focus after they ini-
tially draw themselves.
Default is False.
session.screen<num>.focusLastWindow [True|False]
This is actually "when moving between workspaces, remember which
window has focus when leaving a workspace and return the focus to
that window when I return to that workspace."
Default is False.
session.screen<num>.disableBindingsWithScrollLock [True|False]
When this resource is enabled, turning on scroll lock keeps Blackbox
from grabbing the Alt and Ctrl keys that it normally uses for mouse
controls. This feature allows users of drawing and modeling programs
which use keystrokes to modify mouse actions to maintain their san-
ity. *NOTE* this has _no_ affect on bbkeys. If you need bbkeys to
also behave this way it has a similar option in its config file.
Refer to the bbkeys manpage for details.
Default is False.
Menu Configurable (Workspace Menu):
Middle click (button 2) on the root window (AKA Desktop) to reach
this menu
session.screen<num>.workspaces [integer]
Workspaces may be created or deleted by middle clicking on the desk-
top and choosing "New Workspace" or "Remove Last". After creating a
workspace, right click on the toolbar to name it.
Default is 1
Menu Configurable (Toolbar Menu):
session.screen<num>.workspaceNames [string[, string...]]
Workspaces are named in the order specified in this resource. Names
should be delimited by commas. If there are more workspaces than ex-
plicit names, un-named workspaces will be named as "Workspace [num-
ber]".
Default is
Workspace 1.
session.screen<num>.toolbar.placement SEE BELOW
Set toolbar screen position.
Default is BottomCenter
[ TopLeft | TopCenter | TopRight |
BottomLeft | BottomCenter | BottomRight ]
session.screen<num>.toolbar.onTop [True|False]
Determines whether the toolbar is always visible over windows or if
the focused window can hide the toolbar.
Default is True.
session.screen<num>.toolbar.autoHide [True|False]
Determines whether the toolbar hides when not in use. The ses-
sion.autoRaiseDelay time determines how long you must hover to get
the toolbar to raise, and how long it stays visible after mouse out.
Default is False.
Configurable in ~/.Blackboxrc only:
session.screen<num>.toolbar.widthPercent [1-100]
Percentage of screen used by the toolbar. A number from 1-100 that
sets the width of the toolbar. 0 (zero) does not cause the toolbar
to disappear, instead the toolbar is set to the default. If you want
to lose the toolbar there are patches that can remove it.
Default is 66.
session.screen<num>.strftimeFormat [string]
A C language date format string, any combination of specifiers can
be used. The default is %I:%M %p which generates a 12 hour clock
with minutes and an am/pm indicator appropriate to the locale.
24 hours and minutes %H:%M
12 hours and minute %I:%M %p
month/day/year %m/%d/%y
day/month/year %d/%m/%y
Default is hours:minutes am/pm
See
strftime 3
for more details.
session.screen<num>.dateFormat [American|European]
NOTE: Only used if the strftime() function is not available on your
system.
Default is American, (mon/day/year).
session.screen<num>.clockFormat [12/24]
NOTE: Only used if the strftime() function is not available on your
system.
Default is 12-hour format.
session.screen<num>.edgeSnapThreshold [integer]
When set to 0 this turns off edge snap. When set to one or greater
edge snap will cause a window that is being moved to snap to the
nearest screen edge, the slit, or or the toolbar. Windows will not
snap to each other. The value represents a number in pixels which
is the distance between the window and a screen edge which is re-
quired before the window is snapped to the screen edge. If you pre-
fer this functionality values between 6 - 10 work nicely.
Default value is 0
session.menuFile [filepath]
Full path to the current menu file.
Default is /etc/X11/blackbox/blackbox-menu
session.colorsPerChannel [2-6]
The number of colors taken from the X server for use on pseudo color
displays. This value must be set to 4 for 8 bit displays.
Default is 4.
session.doubleClickInterval [integer]
This is the maximum time that Blackbox will wait after one click to
catch a double click. This only applies to Blackbox actions, such as
double click shading, not to the X server in general.
Default is 250 milliseconds.
session.autoRaiseDelay [integer]
This is the time in milliseconds used for auto raise and auto hide
behaviors. More than about 1000 ms is likely useless.
Default is 250 millisecond.
session.cacheLife [integer]
Determines the maximum number of minutes that the X server will
cache unused decorations.
Default is 5 minutes
session.cacheMax [integer]
Determines how many kilobytes that Blackbox may take from the X
server for storing decorations. Increasing this number may enhance
your performance if you have plenty of memory and use lots of dif-
ferent windows.
Default is 200 Kilobytes
ENVIRONMENT
HOME Blackbox uses $HOME to find its .blackboxrc rc file and its
.blackbox directory for menus and style directories.
DISPLAY
If a display is not specified on the command line, Blackbox will
use the value of $DISPLAY.
FILES
blackbox
Application binary
~/.blackboxrc
User's startup and resource file.
/etc/X11/blackbox/blackbox-menu
Default system wide menu
WEB SITES
General info website:
http://blackboxwm.sourceforge.net/
Development website:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/blackboxwm/
BUGS
If you think you have found a bug, please help by going to the develop-
ment website and select "Bugs" in the upper menu. Check the bug list to
see if your problem has already been reported. If it has please read
the summary and add any information that you believe would help. If
your bug has not been submitted select "Submit New" and fill out the
form.
AUTHORS AND HISTORY
Sean Shaleh Perry <shaleh@debian.org> is the current maintainer and is
actively working together with Brad to keep Blackbox up-to-date and
stable as a rock.
Brad Hughes <bhughes@trolltech.com> originally designed and coded
Blackbox in 1997 with the intent of creating a memory efficient window
manager with no dependencies on external libraries. Brad's original
idea has become a popular alternative to other window managers.
Jeff Raven <jraven@psu.edu> then picked up the torch for the 0.61.x
series after Brad took a full time job at TrollTech.
This manual page was written by: R.B. Brig Young <secretsaregood@ya-
hoo.com> he is solely responsible for errors or omissions. Comments,
corrections, and suggestions are welcomed.
SEE ALSO
bsetbg(1), bsetroot(1),
bbkeys(1), bbconf(1)
0.65.0 September 18, 2002 blackbox(1)
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