FvwmCommand(1)                                     FvwmCommand(1)



NAME
       FvwmCommand - FVWM command external interface


SYNOPSIS
       FvwmCommand  [-cmrvw]  [-S  name] [-i level] [-f name] [-F
       level] [command...]


DESCRIPTION
       FvwmCommand lets you monitor fvwm  transaction  and  issue
       fvwm  command from a shell command line or scripts.  Fvwm-
       Command takes each argument as a fvwm command. Quotes  can
       be used to send commands including spaces.

         FvwmCommand 'FvwmPager 0 1'


INVOCATION
       FvwmCommandS  should  be  spawned  once by fvwm, either in
       .fvwm2rc file, from menu, or from FvwmConsole.  From  then
       on,  FvwmCommand  can  be called from a shell or script to
       execute fvwm commands.

       From within .fvwm2rc file:

         Module FvwmCommandS

             or

         AddToFunc StartFunction "I" Module FvwmCommandS


       Then, in script file or from shell:


         FvwmCommand  'popup Utilities'



OPTIONS
       -c  Informs FvwmCommand to read multiple commands from the
           standard input instead of the one command specified in
           the command line arguments.  This disables -m or -i.


             (echo "Exec xload"; echo "Beep") | FvwmCommand -c



       -F 
           Specifies the level of fvwm window  flags  FvwmCommand
           outputs.


           0   No window flags will be printed.

           2   Full  window  flags will be printed if information
               level, -i option, is 2 or 3.



       -f 
           Specifies an alternative FIFO set to communicate  with
           a  server.   The default FIFO set is /var/tmp/FvwmCom-
           mand-${DISPLAY}C, in which FvwmCommand..C is  used  to
           send  commands  and  FvwmCommand..M is to receive mes-
           sages.  FvwmCommandS must have been invoked  with  the
           same  as its first argument prior to FvwmCommand
           invocation.  Alternatively, option  -S  can  be  used.
           Refer option -S.  This option -f is useful when a ded-
           icated connection is necessary to run a background job
           while  another connection is kept for interactive use.


       -i 
           Specifies the level of  information  that  FvwmCommand
           outputs.


           0   Error messages only.

                 FvwmCommand -i0 FvwmBanner

               will  show  a  banner  without  any output. On the
               other hand,

                 FvwmCommand -i 0 foobar

               will return,

                 [FVWM][executeModule]: <> No such module
                 'foobar' in ModulePath '/usr/lib/X11/fvwm2'


               Note that Fvwm doesn't return any  error  messages
               in  cases  like below since 'windowid' itself is a
               valid command.


                 FvwmCommand -i 0 'windowid foo bar'


           1   Errors and window configuration information.  This
               is the default.

                 FvwmCommand send_windowlist

               Information like below will show up.


                 0x02000014 window               FvwmConsole
                 0x02000014 icon                 FvwmConsole
                 0x02000014 class                XTerm
                 0x02000014 resource             FvwmConsole
                 0x01c00014 window               console
                 0x01c00014 icon                 console
                 0x01c00014 class                XTerm
                 0x01c00014 resource             console
                 0x01000003 window               Fvwm Pager
                 0x01000003 icon
                 0x01000003 class                FvwmModule
                 0x01000003 resource             FvwmPager
                 0x00c0002c window               emacs: FvwmCommand.man
                 0x00c0002c icon                 FvwmCommand.man
                 0x00c0002c icon file            xemacs.xpm
                 0x00c0002c class                Emacs
                 0x00c0002c resource             emacs
                 end windowlist

               The first column shows the window ID number, which
               can be used in  'windowid'  command.   The  second
               column shows the information types.  The last col-
               umn shows the information contents.  If no  infor-
               mation  is  returned,  add -w  or -r option.
               This might be needed in heavily loaded systems.

           2   Above and static window information.

                 FvwmCommand -i2 'FvwmPager 0 1'

               The below is its output.


                 0x03c00003 frame                x 962, y 743, width 187, height 114
                 0x03c00003 desktop              0
                 0x03c00003 StartIconic          no
                 0x03c00003 OnTop                yes
                 0x03c00003 Sticky               yes
                 0x03c00003 WindowListSkip       yes
                 0x03c00003 SuppressIcon         no
                 0x03c00003 NoiconTitle          no
                 0x03c00003 Lenience             no
                 0x03c00003 StickyIcon           no
                 0x03c00003 CirculateSkipIcon    no
                 0x03c00003 CirculateSkip        no
                 0x03c00003 ClickToFocus         no
                 0x03c00003 SloppyFocus          no
                 0x03c00003 SkipMapping          no
                 0x03c00003 Handles              no
                 0x03c00003 Title                no
                 0x03c00003 Mapped               no
                 0x03c00003 Iconified            no
                 0x03c00003 Transient            no
                 0x03c00003 Raised               no
                 0x03c00003 Visible              no
                 0x03c00003 IconOurs             no
                 0x03c00003 PixmapOurs           no
                 0x03c00003 ShapedIcon           no
                 0x03c00003 Maximized            no
                 0x03c00003 WmTakeFocus          no
                 0x03c00003 WmDeleteWindow       yes
                 0x03c00003 IconMoved            no
                 0x03c00003 IconUnmapped         no
                 0x03c00003 MapPending           no
                 0x03c00003 HintOverride         yes
                 0x03c00003 MWMButtons           no
                 0x03c00003 MWMBorders           no
                 0x03c00003 title height         0
                 0x03c00003 border width         4
                 0x03c00003 base size            width 8, height 7
                 0x03c00003 size increment       width 9, height 9
                 0x03c00003 min size             width 8, height 7
                 0x03c00003 max size             width 32767, height 32767
                 0x03c00003 gravity              SouthEast
                 0x03c00003 pixel                text 0xffffff, back 0x7f7f7f
                 0x03c00003 window               Fvwm Pager
                 0x03c00003 icon                 Fvwm Pager
                 0x03c00003 class                FvwmModule
                 0x03c00003 resource             FvwmPager




           3   All information available.

                 FvwmCommand -i3 'Killmodule Fvwm*'

               This will report which windows are closed.

                 0x03400003 destroy
                 0x02400002 destroy



       -m  Monitors fvwm window information transaction. FvwmCom-
           mand continuously outputs information that it receives
           without exiting.  This option can be used in  a  back-
           ground  job often combined with -i3 option in order to
           control windows dynamically.

             FvwmCommand -mi3 | grep 'iconify'

           It will report when windows are iconified or de-iconi-
           fied.

           Note: FvwmCommand does not block buffer its output but
           many utilities such as grep or sed use  block  buffer.
           The  output of the next example will not show up until
           either FvwmCommand is terminated or stdout buffer from
           grep is filled.

             FvwmCommand -mi3 | grep ' map' |
             sed 's/\(0x[0-9a-f]*\).*/windowid \1 move 0 0/'

           Instead,  use tools with buffer control such as pty or
           perl.  The below will iconify new windows when opened.

             Fvwm -mi3 | perl -ne '
             $|=1;
             print "windowid $1 iconify\n" if /^(0x\S+) add/;
             ' > ~/.FvwmCommandC


       -r  Waits  for a reply before it exits.  FvwmCommand exits
           if no information or error  is  returned  in  a  fixed
           amount  of time period. (Refer option -w.)  The option
           -r overrides this time limit and wait for at least one
           message back.  After the initial message, it will wait
           for another message for the time limit.   This  option
           is  useful  when  the system is too loaded to make any
           prediction when the system is responding AND the  com-
           mand causes some message to be sent back.


       -S 
           Invokes  another  server,  FvwmCommandS, with FIFO set
           .
           If -f option is not used with this option, the  invok-
           ing  FvwmCommand  uses the default FIFO to communicate
           the default server to invoke a new server.
           If -f option is used with this  option,  the  invoking
           FvwmCommand  uses  the default FIFO to communicate the
           default server to invoke a new  server.  Then,  switch
           the FIFO set and start communicating the new server.
           This  option  -S is useful when a dedicated connection
           is necessary to run a  background  job  while  another
           connection is kept for interactive use.

           If  the    is  a  relative  path  name,  that is
           relative from where fvwm is running,  not  from  where
           FvwmCommand is invoked.


       -v  Returns FvwmCommand version number and exits.


       -w 
           Waits  for   micro seconds for a message.  Fvwm-
           Command exits if no information or error  is  returned
           in  a  fixed amount of time period unless option -m is
           used.  The default is 500 ms.  This  option  overrides
           this default value.


WRAPPER
       FvwmCommand.sh  has  bourne  shell function definitions to
       keep the syntax similar to fvwm configuration file.   This
       file is to be sourced:

         . FvwmCommand.sh
         DesktopSize 5x5

       FvwmCommand.pm  is  for  perl  in order to keep the syntax
       similar to fvwm configuration file.  Commas can be used to
       separate fvwm commands' arguments.

         use FvwmCommand;
         if( $ARGV[0] eq 'home' ) {
             Desk 0,0; GotoPage '1 1';
         }elsif( $ARGV[0] eq 'jump' ) {
             Desk "0 2"; GotoPage 0, 1;
         }

       Although  arguments  in FvwmCommand are not case sensitive
       as fvwm, the functions defined in FvwmCommand.sh and Fvwm-
       Command.pl are case sensitive.



ERRORS
       If  the following error message show up, it is most likely
       that FvwmCommandS is not running.

         FvwmCommand error in opening message fifo
         --No such file or directory--

       Fvwm modules don't return error messages to fvwm but  out-
       put  on  stderr. These error messages will not be shown as
       FvwmCommand messages.

       FvwmCommand is  an  interface  to  send  commands  to  and
       receive  information  from  Fvwm2 from processes which are
       not Fvwm modules.



EXAMPLES
         test1.pl      - takes 1 argument  't' to invoke FvwmTalk
                                           'td'  to kill FvwmTalk
                                           ''  to move windows
         test2.sh      - takes 1 argument  'b'  to  invoke  Fvwm-
       Buttons
                                           'kb'  to kill FvwmBut-
       tons
                                           'r'  to  change  #  of
       button rows
                                           'c'   to  change  # of
       button columns
         ex-auto.pl    - auto raise small windows. It  will  keep
       them visible.
         ex-cascade.pl - cascade windows, then move them back.
         ex-grpmv.pl    -  choose  a  group  of  windows  to move
       together.

         Above examples are not meant to be practical but to show
       how it can
         be done.



         focus-link.pl
            This is a user programmable window focus script.
            Default behavior is:
             1.  When a window is opened up, focus the window and
       move the pointer
                to it. The parent window  regains  focus  when  a
       window is closed.
                Parenthood is determined when a window is opened.
       It is the last
                focused window with the same X class.
             2. #1 would not occur to AcroRead opening window.
             3. #1 would not occur when SkipMapping  is  set  and
       the window is the
                only window of its class.
             4.  For Netscape find dialog window, addition to #1,
       resize the window
                to 300x150 pixels and move it to East edge of the
       screen.
                Download/upload  windows  will not be focused nor
       be in focus link
                list.
             5. Move appletviewer to NorthWest corner.
             6. Xterm  won't  focus  back  to  its  parent  after
       closed.
             7.  When a window is de-iconified, focus it and move
       the pointer.

         focus-Netscape.pl
             Focuses pop-up windows, such as 'open URL' or 'find'
       whenever
             opened  up. This let the user to type in immediately
       without
             moving mouse. This script also moves 'download' win-
       dow to the
             right  edge  to  keep it visible. If this is invoked
       from
             .fvwm2rc, use as:

                 AddToFunc "StartFunction" "I"  Module   FvwmCom-
       mandS
                 + "I" Exec $HOME/scripts/focus-Netscape.pl

         push-away.pl  
             Pushes windows away to avoid overlapping. use as:

                 push-away.pl up 'Fvwm Pager'



       Your comments will be appreciated.


       Toshi Isogai
                     isogai@ucsub.colorado.edu


       May 11 '98








SEE ALSO
       fvwm


AUTHOR
       Toshi Isogai  isogai@ucsub.colorado.edu





                           3 July 2001             FvwmCommand(1)