SYNOPSIS¶
/usr/local/share/fluxbox/menu
~/.fluxbox/menu
~/.fluxbox/windowmenu
SYNTAX¶
Variable parameters are shown in emphasis: argument
All other characters shown are required verbatim. Whitespace is
only required to delimit words, but it is fine to add more whitespace.
DESCRIPTION¶
There are two types of menus in fluxbox which can be
configured.
The first is the root menu, which normally appears when you
right-click on the desktop.
The first is the ROOT MENU (Or right-click menu), is
usually bound to a right-click on the desktop, though this binding can be
changed in the ‘keys’ file (fluxbox-keys(5)). This same
syntax is used for the CustomMenu command, also mentioned in
fluxbox-keys(5).
Fluxbox installs a default root menu file in
/usr/local/share/fluxbox/menu. You can also use fluxbox -i to confirm
this location. Of course this system-wide menu can be customized for all
users at once, but it is also possible to create an individual menu file for
each user. By convention, users create a menu file in
~/.fluxbox/menu. Once you’ve created your own menu file,
you’ll want to make sure that you properly declare this location in
your ‘init’ file so that fluxbox knows where to look. See
RESOURCES, below for details.
The second type is the WINDOW MENU, which defines the
contents of the menu which appears when you right-click on a window’s
titlebar or iconbar. This opens a menu file as defined by
~/.fluxbox/windowmenu. If this file does not exist, fluxbox will copy
in the default from /usr/local/share/fluxbox/windowmenu.
You do not need to “reload” fluxbox after editing
the apps file, the changes should be taken into account the next time you
open the menu.
The root menu must begin with a [begin] tag and end with an
[end] tag, and every tag must be on its own line.
There are up to four fields in a menu line. They are of the
form
[tag] (label) {command}
<'icon'>
The <'icon'> field is always optional when shown below. If
specified, the icon will be scaled down and displayed in the menu
alongside the text label of the item. It must be in .xpm or .png format.
Any line that starts with a # or ! is considered a
comment and ignored by fluxbox. Also, in the label/command/filename fields
you can escape any character. Using \\ inserts a literal back-slash
into the label/command/filename field.
You may enter labels, commands, and icons using characters from
any iconv(1) language/locale by specifying the encoding used via the
[encoding] tag, detailed below.
[begin] (title)
This tells fluxbox to start parsing the menu file. This
tag is required for fluxbox to read your menu file. If it cannot find it, the
system default menu is used in its place. The title appears at the top
of the menu. And [end] tag is required to end the menu.
[submenu] (label) {title} <'icon'>
This tells fluxbox to create and parse a new menu, which
is inserted as a submenu into the parent menu. These menus are parsed
recursively, so there is no limit to the number of levels or nested submenus
you can have. The label is the text that will appear in the parent
menu, and the title is shown at the top of the submenu. If omitted, the
title will be the same as the label. An [end] tag is
required to end the submenu.
[end]
This tells fluxbox that it is at the end of a menu. This
can either be a [submenu] or the [begin] tag of the main root
menu. There must be at least one of these tags in your menu to correspond to
the required [begin] tag, and one for each [submenu].
[encoding] {encoding}
This begins an [encoding] section and specifies
the string encoding of all strings until the matching [endencoding]
tag. For a list of available encodings on your system, run iconv
-l.
[endencoding]
This ends an [encoding] section.
[include] (path)
Parses the file specified by filename inline with the
current menu. The path can be the full path to a file or it can begin
with ~/, which will be expanded into your home directory. If
path is a directory, then all files in that directory are
included.
[separator]
This will create a nice separation line. Useful for
splitting up sections in a “pretty” way. The optional
comment is not displayed, but can be useful for internal documentation
or script parsing of menu files.
[nop] (label) <'icon'>
Insert a non-operational item into the current menu. This
is much like [separator], but instead of a line, it inserts a
label. This can be used to help format the menu into blocks or sections
if so desired. The label is optional, and if omitted a blank item will
be inserted.
Applications¶
[exec] (label) {command...}
<'icon'>
Inserts a command item into the menu. When you select the
menu item from the menu, fluxbox runs command... in your $SHELL
(or /bin/sh if $SHELL is not set). You can use this to launch applications,
run shell scripts, etc. Since all arguments are passed verbatim to the shell,
you can use environment variables, pipes, or anything else the shell can do.
Note that processes only see environment variables that were set before
fluxbox started (such as in ~/.fluxbox/startup).
Fluxbox Functions¶
[config] (label) <'icon'>
Inserts a fluxbox native submenu item, containing
numerous configuration options concerning window placement, focus style,
window moving style, etc. See
Configuration Menu in
fluxbox(1)
for details.
[reconfig] (label) <'icon'>
When selected this item re-reads the current style and
menu files and applies any changes. This is useful for creating a new style or
theme, as you don’t have to constantly restart fluxbox every time you
save your style. However, fluxbox automatically rereads the menu whenever it
changes.
[restart] (label) {command}
<'icon'>
This tells fluxbox to restart. If command is
supplied, it shuts down and runs the command (which is commonly the name of
another window manager). If command is omitted, fluxbox restarts
itself.
[exit] (label) <'icon'>
Inserts an item that shuts down and exits fluxbox. Any
open windows are reparented to the root window before fluxbox exits.
[style] (label) {filename} <'icon'>
This tells fluxbox to insert an item that, when selected,
reads style file named filename and apply the new textures, colors and fonts
to the current running session.
[stylesmenu] (directory) <'icon'>
Reads all filenames from the specified directory,
assuming that they are all valid style files, and creates inline menu items in
the current menu for every filename, that, when selected by the user will
apply the selected style file to the current session. The labels that are
created in the menu are the filenames of the style files.
[stylesdir] (label) {directory}
<'icon'>
Creates a submenu entry with label (that is also
the title of the new submenu), and inserts in that submenu all filenames in
the specified directory, assuming that they are all valid style files
(directories are ignored) in the same way as the [stylesdir] command
does. Both [stylesdir] and [stylesmenu] commands make it
possible to install style files without editing your init file.
[wallpapers] (directory) {command}
<'icon'>
This inserts a menu item to set the wallpaper for each
file in the given directory. The command is optional, and defaults to
fbsetbg.
[workspaces] (label) <'icon'>
This tells fluxbox to insert a link to the workspaces
menu directly into your menu. See
Workspace Menu in
fluxbox(1)
for details.
[command] (label) <'icon'>
In addition to the commands above, any legal keys file
command may be used as a menu item. See
fluxbox-keys(5) for more
information.
Like the ROOT MENU, this menu file must start with
[begin] and end with [end]. However, this file consists of
only one [tag] per line with no labels, commands, or
icons.
The available tags in this menu are:
[shade]
Provides a menu item to shade or unshade (or, roll-up)
the window. This is equivalent to the shade titlebar button.
[stick]
Provides a menu item to stick or unstick the window.
Stuck windows are displayed on all workspaces. This is equivalent to the stick
titlebar button.
[maximize]
Provides a menu item to maximize or unmaximize the
window, equivalent to the maximize titlebar button. The button with which you
click alters the behaviour of this item as follows:
•Button 1 (Un)Maximize as normal.
•Button 2 (Un)Maximize window vertically.
•Button 3 (Un)Maximize window horizontally.
[iconify]
Provides a menu item to iconify (or, minimize) the
window, equivalent to the iconify titlebar button.
[close]
Closes the window gracefully, equivalent to the titlebar
button.
[kill]
Kills the window’s process, like
xkill(1).
[raise]
Raise the window to the top of the stack within its
layer.
[lower]
Lower the window to the bottom of the stack within its
layer.
[settitledialog]
Opens a dialog which can be used to set the
window’s title. Some applications may re-set their own title from
time-to-time, wiping out your setting.
[sendto]
Sends the window to a different workspace. When you
select the workspace with a middle-click, fluxbox will also change to the new
workspace. A regular click only sends the window.
[layer]
Adds a “Layer...” submenu which lets you
change the layer of this window.
[alpha]
Adds a “Transparency...” submenu which lets
you change the focused and unfocused transparency of this window.
[extramenus]
Adds the “Remember...” menu item, which
allows you to specify which settings should be stored in the
‘apps’ file (See
fluxbox-apps(5) for more details).
[separator]
Adds a horizontal line to the menu
FILES¶
~/.fluxbox/menu
This is the default location for the user’s root
menu.
/usr/local/share/fluxbox/menu
This is the system-wide root menu file. It will be used
if the user’s root menu is missing or unparseable.
~/.fluxbox/windowmenu
This is the user’s window menu definition
file
/usr/local/share/fluxbox/menu
This is the default window menu. If the user does not
have this file, it will be copied to ~/.fluxbox/windowmenu on fluxbox
startup.
RESOURCES¶
session.menuFile: location
This may be set to override the location of the
user’s root menu.
ENVIRONMENT¶
The comand... field of the [exec] tag can take
advantage of other environment variables if they are set before fluxbox is
started.
EXAMPLES¶
Root Menu.
# fluxbox menu file
[begin] (fluxbox)
[exec] (rxvt) {rxvt -ls} </usr/X11R6/share/icons/terminal.xpm>
[exec] (netscape) {netscape -install}
[exec] (The GIMP) {gimp}
[exec] (XV) {xv}
[exec] (Vim) {rxvt -geometry 132x60 -name VIM -e screen vim}
[exec] (Mutt) {rxvt -name mutt -e mutt}
[submenu] (mozilla)
[exec] (browser) {mozilla -browser}
[exec] (news) {mozilla -news}
[exec] (mail) {mozilla -mail}
[exec] (edit) {mozilla -edit}
[exec] (compose) {mozilla -compose}
[end]
[submenu] (Window Manager)
[exec] (Edit Menus) {nedit ~/.fluxbox/menu}
[submenu] (Style) {Which Style?}
[stylesdir] (~/.fluxbox/styles)
[stylesmenu] (fluxbox Styles) {/usr/local/share/fluxbox/styles}
[end]
[config] (Config Options)
[reconfig] (Reconfigure)
[restart] (Restart)
[end]
[exit] (Log Out)
[end]
Default Window Menu.
[begin]
[shade]
[stick]
[maximize]
[iconify]
[raise]
[lower]
[settitledialog]
[sendto]
[layer]
[alpha]
[extramenus]
[separator]
[close]
[end]
AUTHORS¶
•Jim Ramsay <i.am at jimramsay com>
(>fluxbox-1.0.0)
•Curt Micol <asenchi at asenchi com>
(>fluxbox-0.9.11)
•Tobias Klausmann <klausman at users
sourceforge net> (⟨fluxbox-0.9.11)
•Grubert <grubert at users sourceforge net>
(fluxbox)
•Matthew Hawkins <matt at mh dropbear id au>
(blackbox)
•Wilbert Berendsen <wbsoft at xs4all nl>
(blackbox)
AUTHOR¶
Jim Ramsay <i.am@jimramsay.com>
Author.
