path: root/doc/ratpoison.texi

\input texinfo   @c -*-texinfo-*-
@c %**start of header
@setfilename ratpoison.info
@settitle ratpoison manual
@setchapternewpage odd
@c %**end of header

@dircategory X11
@direntry
* ratpoison: (ratpoison).       Say good-bye to the rodent
@end direntry

@ifinfo
This is the ratpoison user manual.

Copyright @copyright{} 2000, 2001 Shawn Betts

Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim
copies of this manual provided the copyright notice and
this permission notice are preserved on all copies.

@ignore
Permission is granted to process this file through TeX
and print the results, provided the printed document
carries a copying permission notice identical to this
one except for the removal of this paragraph (this
paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).

@end ignore
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified
versions of this manual under the conditions for
verbatim copying, provided also that the sections
entitled ``Copying'' and ``GNU General Public License''
are included exactly as in the original, and provided
that the entire resulting derived work is distributed
under the terms of a permission notice identical to this
one.

Permission is granted to copy and distribute
translations of this manual into another language,
under the above conditions for modified versions,
except that this permission notice may be stated in a
translation approved by the Free Software Foundation.
@end ifinfo

@titlepage
@sp 10
@titlefont{ratpoison}
@author Shawn Betts

@page
@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
Copyright @copyright{} 2000, 2001 Shawn Betts

Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim
copies of this manual provided the copyright notice and
this permission notice are preserved on all copies.

Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified
versions of this manual under the conditions for
verbatim copying, provided also that the sections
entitled ``Copying'' and ``GNU General Public License''
are included exactly as in the original, and provided
that the entire resulting derived work is distributed
under the terms of a permission notice identical to this
one.

Permission is granted to copy and distribute
translations of this manual into another language,
under the above conditions for modified versions,
except that this permission notice may be stated in a
translation approved by the Free Software Foundation.
@end titlepage

@node Top, About, (dir), (dir)

@ifinfo
This document explains how to use ratpoison.
@end ifinfo

@menu
* About::                       What is ratpoison?
* Contacting::                  How do I contact the ratpoison developers?
* Concepts::                    Window manipulation concepts
* General Use::                 How does this thing work??
* Splitting Frames::            When you want to see more than one window
* Multiple Monitors::           What to do with all your computer junk
* Keystrokes::                  Key commands and functionality
* Commands::                    ratpoison commands
* Input::                       Typing text into ratpoison
* Command Line Arguments::      ratpoison command-line actions
* Startup file::                They threatened me...with violence!



@end menu

@node About, Contacting, Top, Top
@chapter About

ratpoison is a simple Window Manager with no fat library dependencies,
no fancy graphics, no window decorations, and no rodent dependence. It
is largely modeled after GNU Screen which has done wonders in the
virtual terminal market.

All interaction with the window manager is done through
keystrokes. ratpoison has a prefix map to minimize the key clobbering
that cripples EMACS and other quality pieces of software.

ratpoison was written by Shawn Betts (@email{sabetts@@users.sourceforge.net}).

@node Contacting, Concepts, About, Top
@chapter Contacting
ratpoison is hosted on @url{sourceforge.net}. To see the latest
developments in ratpoison go to
@url{http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/ratpoison} or visit the
ratpoison webpage at @url{http://ratpoison.sourceforge.net}.

There is also a ratpoison mailing list:
@email{ratpoison-devel@@lists.sourceforge.net}. For details on subscribing
and for the list archives go to the ratpoison sourceforge.net project.

There is a #ratpoison irc channel on irc.openprojects.net.

@node Concepts, General Use, Contacting, Top
@chapter Concepts

ratpoison uses the concept of @dfn{panes} to place and size
windows. Instead of allowing windows to have arbitary shapes at
arbitary locations on the screen, the display is divided into panes,
the same way a physical window might contain several pieces of glass
seperated by wood. In ratpoison, the panes are called @dfn{frames},
and windows are placed in them, maximised. ratpoison starts with one
frame, which can be split into an arbitary number of smaller
ones. Each frame can be split in half either horizontally or
vertically. You can move among them, making different ones the
current. For more information, see @ref{Splitting Frames}.

Each frame has at most one window associated with it, which is visible
in that frame. If you select a window that is associated with a frame,
the focus will move to its associated frame, rather than moving the
window to the current frame. If you select a window that is not
associated with a frame, that window will be opened in the current
frame and resized to fit that frame.

If the window associated with a frame does not fill the frame
completely, the various gravity commands control how it is placed. 

If no window was open in that frame before the current window was
opened, the X root will be visible behind it.

Transient windows (dialog boxes, splash screens, and the like) are
handled specially. In order to understand the contents of a transient
window, the previously focused window is often required. Take a search
window, it is useful to be able to see the document you are searching
as well as the search window. For this reason transient windows appear
overtop (according to their gravity) of the previously focused window.

@node General Use, Splitting Frames, Concepts, Top
@chapter General Use

When ratpoison starts you should see an empty X server. To open an x
terminal hit @kbd{C-t c}. You can now run shell commands as you would on
any terminal. Notice the terminal maximized full screen. @kbd{C-t !}
will run a single shell command and saves you the effort of opening a
terminal.

Once you have a couple X programs running, you'll want to navigate
between windows. To see what windows are being managed hit @kbd{C-t
w}. Each window has a number. You can jump to a window by hitting
@kbd{C-t} followed by the window's number. This assumes the the window's
number is one digit. You can also switch to a window by typing in part
of its name. To do this hit @kbd{C-t '}.

ratpoison allows you to cycle through the windows with @kbd{C-t n}
and @kbd{C-t p}.

And That concludes a brief introduction on how to use ratpoison. Notice
how we didn't have to drag a single window, or click a single maximize
button? Beautiful wasn't it? Felt fast? Cool? It's modern computing at
its best.

@node  Splitting Frames, Multiple Monitors, General Use, Top
@chapter Splitting Frames
Sometimes you may want to see two or more windows at the same
time. ratpoison allows you to split the display into frames (see
@ref{Concepts}). Each frame can then contain 1 window. To split the
current frame horizontally use @kbd{C-t s}. To split the current frame
vertically use @kbd{C-t S}. If you have enough windows, you'll notice
that the new frame will find a window for itself. You can now use the
normal navigation commands to switch windows in the frame. Note,
however, that if you switch by name or number to a window that is
already in another frame, you'll switch to that frame.

Before too long, you'll probably want to switch to another frame. Use
@kbd{C-t tab} to cycle through the frames. If you want to remove a
frame use @kbd{C-t R}. ratpoison automatically adjusts the size of the
other frames to take up the free space. Unfortunately ratpoison may
not always fill it in the way you might like it to.

Finally, when you've had enough of the splitting and you just want
good ol' full screen ratpoison press @kbd{C-t Q} to remove all splits
and leave you with the current window full screen.

@node Multiple Monitors, Keystrokes, Splitting Frames, Top
@chapter Multiple Monitors
When you've finally accumulated enough computer junk, you'll find
youself attaching a second monitor to your computer. ratpoison has
functionality to help you get around your new and improved desktop
space.

The X Windowing System assigns each monitor a screen number. To switch
to another screen use the commands @command{nextscreen} and
@command{prevscreen}. ratpoison will tell you which frame has focus by
drawing the current frame indicator in it.

Many commands operate only on the current screen. This becomes
apparent when you have 2 screens each with 1 frame. In each frame you
have an xterm. If you try to switch to the other xterm with the
command @command{other}, for instance, you'll get a message ``No other
window.'' ratpoison means there's no other window to switch to in the
current screen. If you want to switch to the other xterm you can
switch to it by name (use @command{select} or @kbd{C-t '}), by number,
or you can use @command{nextscreen} and @command{prevscreen}.

@node Keystrokes, Commands, Multiple Monitors, Top
@chapter Keystrokes

ratpoison is a very simple window manager. Each window is maximized and
has no border decorations. The default keystrokes are listed in this
chapter. Not all commands are accessible by default by keys. A full list
of ratpoison commands is in the next section.

@table @kbd

@item C-t C-t
Switch to the last window.

@item C-t t
Sometimes you need to send a C-t to the current window. This keystroke
does just that.

@item C-t 0-9
Switch to the numbered window.

@item C-t -
Select no window, essentially hiding all windows in the current frame.

@item C-t A
@item C-t C-A
Rename the current window. The window's new name will prevail for the
rest of its lifetime.

@item C-t K
@item C-t C-K
Send a DestroyClient event to the current window. This will terminate
the application without question.

@item C-t n
@item C-t C-n
@item C-t Return
@item C-t C-Return
@item C-t Space
@item C-t C-Space
Go to next window.

@item C-t p
@item C-t C-p
Go to previous window.

@item C-t '
@item C-t C-'
Go to a window by name.  You will usually only need to type the first
few characters of the window name.

@item C-t a
@item C-t C-a
Display the current time of day.

@item C-t c
@item C-t C-c
Open a new X terminal.

@item C-t :
This allows you to execute a single ratpoison command.

@item C-t !
Run a shell command.

@item C-t C-!
Run a shell command through an X terminal.

@item C-t i
@item C-t C-i
Display information about the current window.

@item C-t k
@item C-t C-k
Close the current window.

@item C-t l
@item C-t C-l
Redisplay the current window. Sometimes windows don't respond correctly
to the initial maximize event and need some coaxing. This is a fancy way
of saying there are still bugs in ratpoison. @kbd{C-t l} will force the
current window to maximize.

@item C-t m
@item C-t C-m
Display the last message.

@item C-t v
@item C-t C-v
Display the version of ratpoison.

@item C-t w
@item C-t C-w
Display the list of managed windows. The current window is highlighted.

@item C-t s
Split the current window horizontally in two. The last accessed window
not occupying a frame will be the second window.

@item C-t S
Split the current window vertically in two. The last accessed window not
occupying a frame will be the second window.

@item C-t tab
Cycle through ratpoison's frames.

@item C-t M-tab
Switch to the last focused frame.

@item C-t Q
Kill all frames but the current one.

@item C-t R
Kill the current frame. This is a no-op if there is only one frame.

@item C-t b
@item C-t C-b
Banish the mouse to the lower right corner of the screen.

@item C-t ?
Display a help screen

@item C-t f
@item C-t C-f
Indicate which frame is the current frame.

@end table

@node Commands, Input, Keystrokes, Top
@chapter Commands

ratpoison can be controlled with commands (so called colon-commands).
The summary of available commands is listed below:

@table @command

@item abort
This is a pretty useless command. By default, it is bound to
@kbd{C-t g}, and its purpose is to abort other commands.

@item alias @var{name} @var{command}
An allows you to name a ratpoison command something else. For
instance, if you frequently open emacs you may want to make an alias
called @samp{emacs} that loads emacs. You would do it like this:

@example
: alias emacs exec emacs
@end example

An alias is treated exactly like a colon command in that you can call
it from the colon prompt, bind it to a key, and call it
non-interactively with @command{ratpoison -c}.

@item banish
Banish the mouse to the lower right corner of the screen.

@item bind @var{Key} @var{command}
Bind a key to a ratpoison command. This command takes two arguments: the
key to bind and the command to run. For example, to bind @kbd{C-t R} to
restart ratpoison:

@example
: bind R restart
@end example

If no command is specified then bind works exactly like @command{unbind},
unbinding the key.

@item chdir
Change the current directory for ratpoison.

@item colon @var{command}
Run a ratpoison command.

@item curframe
Indicate which frame is the current frame.

@item defbargravity @var{g}
Set the default alignment for the message bar. See the @command{gravity} command.

When called non-interactively with no arguments, the current setting is
returned.

@item defbarpadding @var{x} @var{y}
Set the horizontal and vertical padding inside the bar.

When called non-interactively with no arguments, the current setting is
returned.

@item defbarborder @var{n}
Set the border width for the bar window.

@item defbgcolor @var{color}
Set the background color for all text ratpoison displays. @var{color}
is any valid X11 color.

@item defborder @var{n}
Set the border width for all windows.

When called non-interactively with no arguments, the current setting is
returned.

@item deffgcolor @var{color}
Set the foreground color for all text ratpoison displays. @var{color}
is any valid X11 color.

@item deffont @var{font}
Set the font. @var{font} is a font string like @samp{9x15bold}.

@item definputwidth @var{n}
Set the width of the input window.

When called non-interactively with no arguments, the current setting is
returned.

@item defmaxsizegravity @var{g}
Set the default alignment for windows with maxsize hints. See the
@command{gravity} command.

When called non-interactively with no arguments, the current setting is
returned.

@item defpadding @var{left} @var{top} @var{right} @var{bottom}
Set the padding around the edge of the screen.

When called non-interactively with no arguments, the current setting is
returned.

@item deftransgravity @var{g}
Set the default alignment for transient windows. See the
@command{gravity} command.

When called non-interactively with no arguments, the current setting is
returned.

@item defwaitcursor @var{n}
Set whether the rat cursor should change into a square when waiting
for a key. A non-zero number means change the cursor. Zero means don't
change the cursor.

When called non-interactively with no arguments, the current setting is
returned.

@item defwinfmt @var{fmt}
Set the default window format for the @command{windows} command. By
default it is @samp{N-W}. The following is a list of valid format
characters:

@table @samp
@item %n
The window number
@item %s
Window status (current window, last window, etc)
@item %t
Window Name
@item %a
Application Name
@item %c
Resource Class
@item %i
X11 Window ID
@item %l
A unique number based on when the window was last accessed. The higher
the number, the more recently it was accessed.
@end table

When called non-interactively with no arguments, the current setting is
returned.

@item defwinname @var{name}
There are three resources ratpoison can get a window's name from: the
WMNAME hint, the res_name from the WMCLASS hint, or the res_class from
the WMCLASS hint. @var{name} can be @samp{title} which is what most
window managers put in the title bar, @samp{name} which is the
res_name, or @samp{class} which is the res_class.

When called non-interactively with no arguments, the current setting is
returned.

@item defwingravity @var{g}
Set the default gravity for normal windows. See the
@command{gravity} command.

When called non-interactively with no arguments, the current setting is
returned.

@item delete
This deletes the current window. You can access it with the @kbd{C-t k}
keystroke.

@item echo @var{text}
Display @var{text} as a message.

@item escape @var{key}
Set the prefix to to @var{key}. For example @samp{escape C-b} sets the
prefix key to @key{C-b}.

@item exec @var{command}
Execute a shell command. By default, @kbd{C-t !} does this.

@item focus
cycle through ratpoison's frames.

@item focuslast
Switch to the last focused frame.

@item focusup
Move to the frame above the current frame.

@item focusdown
Move to the frame below the current frame.

@item focusleft
Move to the frame left of the current frame.

@item focusright
Move to the frame right of the current frame.

@item gravity @var{g}
Change the gravity of the current window. A normal window will default
to the top-left corner of the screen, but it can also be placed at the
bottom-right corner of the screen. Valid values for @var{g} are the 8
directions @samp{northwest}, @samp{north}, @samp{northeast},
@samp{east}, @samp{southeast}, @samp{south}, @samp{southwest} and
@samp{west}, clockwise from the top left corner. @samp{center} will
center the window in the frame. @var{g} and can be abbreviated to the
standard compass 1 and 2 letter abbreviations (i.e. @samp{nw},
@samp{s}, etc).

@item help
Display a help screen that lists all bound keystrokes.

@item info
Display information about the current window.

@item kill
This destroys the current window. Normally you should only need to
use @command{delete}, but just in case you need to rip the heart out of a
misbehaving window this command should do the trick. Also available as
@kbd{C-t K}.

@item lastmsg
Display the last message.

@item link @var{key}
Call the command that @var{key} is bound to. For instance
@command{link C-t} would call the command @command{other} and switch
to the last window.

@item meta
Send a @kbd{C-t} to the current window.

@item msgwait @var{n}
Set the bar's timeout in seconds.

When called non-interactively with no arguments, the current setting is
returned.

@item next
This jumps you to the next window in the window list. This one is
bound to three keystrokes, namely @kbd{C-t n}, @kbd{C-t space},
and @kbd{C-t enter}.

@item nextscreen
This jumps you to the next X11 screen. @command{nextscreen} is
used for dual-head displays and multiple monitor setups.

@item newwm @var{window-manager}
This is a bad-bad command. It kills ratpoison and revives that
ugly rodent! Yuck! Avoid!

@item number @var{n} @var{target}
Set a window's number to @var{n}. If another window occupies the
requested number already, then the windows' numbers are swapped.

The second argument, @var{target}, is optional. It should be the
number of the window whose number will be changed. If @var{target} is
omitted ratpoison defaults to the current window.

@item only
Kill all frames but the current one.

@item other
This toggles between the current window and the last window. By
default, this is bound to @kbd{C-t C-t}.

@item prev
This jumps you to the previous window in the window list. By default,
this is bound to @kbd{C-t p}.

@item prevscreen
This jumps you to the previous X11 screen. @command{prevscreen} is
used for dual-head displays and multiple monitor setups.

@item quit
Quit ratpoison.

@item redisplay
Redisplay the current window, just like @kbd{C-t l} would do.

@item remove
Kill the current frame. This is a no-op if there is only one frame.

@item restart
Restart ratpoison.

@item rudeness @var{n}
The rudeness command lets you decide what windows pop-up automatically
and when. This is often useful for those deep hack sessions when you
absolutely can't be disturbed.

There are two kinds of windows: normal windows (like an xterm) and
transient windows (generally pop-up dialog boxes). When a client
program wants to display a new window it makes a requests to
ratpoison. ratpoison then decides whether to grant the request and
display the window or ignore it. A client program can also request
that one of its windows be raised. You can customize ratpoison to
either honour these requests (the default operation) or ignore them.

@var{n} is a number from 0 to 15. Each of the four bits determine
which requests ratpoison grants.

@table @asis
@item Bit 0
Tells ratpoison to grant raise requests on transient windows

@item Bit 1
Tells ratpoison to grant raise requests on normal windows

@item Bit 2
Tells ratpoison to grant display requests on new transient windows

@item Bit 3 
Tells ratpoison to grant display requests on new normal windows
@end table

For example, if you wanted only wanted to grant transient windows
raise requests and display requests you would type @samp{rudeness
5}. If a request is not granted ratpoison will tell you about the
request with a message like @samp{Raise request from window 1
(emacs)}.

@item select @var{n}
This jumps you to window @var{n} where @var{n} is the window number as
shown in the Program Bar. You can do the same trick with
@command{C-@var{n}} too. To select no window, blanking the current
frame, type @samp{select -}.

@item select @var{window-name}
Go to a window by name. A shortcut is @kbd{C-t '}.

@item setenv @var{env} @var{value}
Set the environment variable @var{env} to @var{value}

@item source @var{file}
Read a text file containing ratpoison commands.

@item split @var{n}
@item hsplit @var{n}
Split the current frame horizontally in two. The last accessed window
not occupying a frame will be the second window.

@var{n} is either a fraction of the form @code{x/y} or a number. If it
is a fraction then the current frame is resized to that fraction of
its original size and the new frame takes up the remaining space. For
instance, @code{split 1/4} will split the current frame to a quarter
of its original size and the new frame will then be 3/4 of the size of
the original frame.

If it is a pixel, the original frame is resized to that many
pixels. If @var{n} has a minus sign before it, then the new frame will
shrink by that many pixels.

@item startup_message @var{state}
Turn on or off the startup_message. This is most useful in your
.ratpoisonrc file. @var{state} can be @code{on} or @code{off}.

@item time
Show current time. Disappears after 5 seconds, like all other info bars.
In the default setup, the @kbd{C-t a} keystroke is bound to this command.

@item title @var{title}
Rename the currently active window. This name will remain for the
duration of the window's life, unless you change it again. By default,
the @kbd{C-t A} keystroke is bound to this command.

@item unbind @var{key}
Unbind a keystroke.

@item unsetenv @var{env}
Clear the value of the environment variable, @var{env}.

@item version
Print ratpoison version.  By default, this is bound to @kbd{C-t v}.

@item vsplit @var{n}
Split the current frame vertically in two. The last accessed window
not occupying a frame will be the second window.

@var{n} is either a fraction of the form @code{x/y} or a number. If it
is a fraction then the current frame is resized to that fraction of
its original size and the new frame takes up the remaining space. For
instance, @code{split 1/4} will split the current frame to a quarter
of its original size and the new frame will then be 3/4 of the size of
the original frame.

If it is a pixel, the original frame is resized to that many
pixels. If @var{n} has a minus sign before it, then the new frame will
shrink by that many pixels.

@item windows @var{fmt}
This displays the Program Bar which displays the windows you currently
have running. The number before each window name is used to jump to
that window. You can do this by typing @kbd{C-t @var{n}} where @var{n}
is the number of the window. Note that only windows with numbers from
0 to 9 can be referenced using this keystroke.  To reach windows with
numbers greater than 9, use @kbd{C-t '} and type the number at the
prompt.

After 5 seconds the Program Bar disappears.

This command is bound to @kbd{C-t w} by default.

When invoked from the command-line like this,

@example
$ ratpoison -c windows
@end example

Instead of a message bar, you will get a list of the windows printed
to stdout. This allows you to write more advanced scripts than simple
keyboard macros. This is where @var{fmt} comes into play. If
@command{windows} is given an arg it treats it as the format string as
described in @command{defwinfmt}.

@end table

@node Input, Command Line Arguments, Commands, Top
@chapter Input
At various times ratpoison will prompt you for input. Currently only
very basic text editing commands exist.

@table @key
@item Backspace
Deletes one letter preceding the cursor.

@item C-p
Cycle backwards through the history.

@item C-n
Cycle forwards through the history.
@end table

All input is stored in the same history list. By default ratpoison has
a history length of 50 entries.

@node Command Line Arguments, Startup file, Input, Top
@chapter Command Line Arguments
ratpoison supports command line arguments to request various actions
when invoking ratpoison.

@table @code
@item -h, --help
Display this help screen

@item -v, --version
Display the version

@item -c, --command
Send ratpoison a colon-command. This allows you to control ratpoison
from the command-line. with the @option{-c} option you can script
ratpoison using any programming language that can spawn a
process. Some commands behave differently when invoked this
way. Currently the only commands that behaves differently are the
@code{windows} command and some def* commands. Instead of displaying
the window list in a message window, it is printed to stdout. The
output can then be captured and used in the ratpoison script. For
instance, this could be used to check whether a program is running and
if it is switch to its window otherwise launch it.

It should also be noted that multiple @option{-c} options can be used.

@example
$ ratpoison -c split -c split
@end example

Here ratpoison would split the current frame twice.

@end table

@node Startup file,  , Command Line Arguments, Top
@chapter Startup file

Now you've probably read the web page, and you've no doubt dug up some
old file I forgot about. You're probably wondering, ``say, didn't he say
there was no configuration file to customize?''. Okay, ya got me. But let's
be honest here: ratpoison is so pure and fast-acting, customization is
barely worth the extra effort. In the off chance that you need to make
ratpoison your own, we now support it. 

On startup ratpoison looks for @file{~/.ratpoisonrc} and runs it through
the command parser. If @file{~/.ratpoisonrc} does not exist, ratpoison
tries @file{/etc/ratpoisonrc}. This means any command you can bind a key
to or run at the command prompt (@kbd{C-t :}) you can execute in this rc
file.

@bye