spectrwm
From spectrwm's website:
“spectrwm is a small dynamic tiling window manager for Xorg. It tries to stay out of the way so that valuable screen real estate can be used for much more important stuff. It has sane defaults and does not require one to learn a language to do any configuration. It was written by hackers for hackers and it strives to be small, compact and fast.”
Spectrwm is written in C and configured with a text configuration file. It was previously known as scrotwm.
Contents
Installation
spectrwm
is available in the [community] repository.
The modkey (the main key to issue commands with) is set to Mod4, which is usually the Windows key.
spectrwm can make use of the dmenu
package, so you may want to install that too.
It can also execute a screenshot command from a keybinding which may be used to call scrot using the script given below.
There is also a screen lock keybinding. By default calls xlock, provided in Arch by the xlockmore
package.
xscreensaver
is also useful for screen saving and power management after an idle period, and screen locking.
See Xdefaults for details of how to set up fonts, colours and other settings for xterm
and xscreensaver
. Run xscreensaver-demo
to select the animation (or blank) and display power management (recommended).
Configuration
spectrwm first tries to open the user specific file, ~/.spectrwm.conf
. If that file is unavailable, it tries to open the global configuration file, /etc/spectrwm.conf
. The initial configuration provides a good set of defaults.
Optionally, spectrwm can call baraction.sh
(in the user's path), which should output a text status message to stdout
for the status bar at the top of the screen.
Starting spectrwm
To start spectrwm via startx
or the SLIM login manager, simply append the following to ~/.xinitrc
:
exec spectrwm
Starting spectrwm with XDM
For XDM, create ~/.xsession
with the following contents:
# .xsession # This file is sourced by xdm spectrwm
Make sure ~/.xsession
is executable:
chmod a+x ~/.xsession
Note: if you do not create ~/.xsession
then ~/.xinitrc
will be used, but you might want different settings depending on if you use startx
or XDM. Remember to make ~/.xinitrc
executable, or XDM won't start, if you use that method.
For a nice simple Arch themed xdm, try xdm-arch-themeAUR.
Starting spectrwm with KDM
For KDM, make sure /usr/share/xsessions
is listed in SessionDirs in /usr/share/config/kdm/kdmrc
as described here. SpectrWM will then be available as an option in the Session Type menu in KDM.
To start other tasks when the session is launched, for example to launch xscreensaver and set the background image, copy /usr/share/config/kdm/Xsession
to a custom version as
described here, and then edit it, for example like this:
case $session in "") exec xmessage -center -buttons OK:0 -default OK "Sorry, $DESKTOP_SESSION is no valid session." ;; failsafe) exec xterm -geometry 80x24-0-0 ;; custom) exec $HOME/.xsession ;; default) exec /usr/bin/startkde ;; /usr/bin/spectrwm|otherwm) feh --bg-scale /usr/share/wallpapers/Plasmalicious/contents/images/1280x1024.jpg xscreensaver -no-splash & eval exec "$session" ;; *) eval exec "$session" ;; esac
Multiple monitors (Xinerama)
With a non-Xrandr multiple monitor setup create regions to split the total desktop area into one region per monitor:
region = screen[1]:1280x1024+0+0 region = screen[1]:1280x1024+1280+0
Statusbar configuration
To enable the statusbar, uncomment these two items in /etc/spectrwm.conf
(or ~/.spectrwm.conf
). By default they are commented out and the statusbar is disabled.
bar_action = baraction.sh bar_delay = 5
Bash scripts
To test the status bar, place the following simple baraction.sh
in a
~/scripts
(or ~/bin
) directory which you have previously added to your $PATH in your ~/.bashrc file.
#!/bin/bash # baraction.sh script for spectrwm status bar SLEEP_SEC=5 # set bar_delay = 5 in /etc/spectrwm.conf COUNT=0 #loops forever outputting a line every SLEEP_SEC secs while :; do let COUNT=$COUNT+1 echo -e " Hello World! $COUNT" sleep $SLEEP_SEC done
Press Modkey+Q to restart spectrwm and after a few seconds you should see the output in the status bar. If you have problems at this stage, make sure the script is executable, test it from the command line, and check the path/filename you specified in bar_action.
Next replace baraction.sh
with the more useful file below. Note it needs these packages, and whatever you need for WiFi:
pacman -S bc lm_sensors
You should configure lm_sensors.
#!/bin/bash #baraction.sh for spectrwm status bar SLEEP_SEC=5 #loops forever outputting a line every SLEEP_SEC secs while :; do eval $(cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/state | awk '/charging state/ {printf "BAT_CHGSTATE=%s;", $3}; /remaining capacity/ {printf "BAT_REMNG=%s;",$3}; /present rate/ {printf "BAT_RATE=%s;",$3};' -) eval $(cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/info | awk '/present/ {printf "BAT_PRESENT=%s;", $2}; /last full capacity/ {printf "BAT_LASTFULL=%s;",$4};' -) BAT_REMNG_WH=`echo "scale=1; a=($BAT_REMNG+50)/1000; print a" | bc -l` BAT_RATE_W=`echo "scale=1; a=($BAT_RATE+50)/1000; print a" | bc -l` BCSCRIPT="scale=0; a=(100*$BAT_REMNG / $BAT_LASTFULL); print a" BAT_PCT=`echo $BCSCRIPT | bc -l`% case $BAT_PRESENT in no) POWER_STR="AC, NO BATTERY" ;; yes) case $BAT_CHGSTATE in charged) #on ac AC_STATUS="ON AC" TIME_REMNG="N/A" POWER_STR="$AC_STATUS $BAT_CHGSTATE $BAT_PCT" ;; charging) #on ac AC_STATUS="ON AC" BCSCRIPT="scale=1; a=(60*($BAT_LASTFULL - $BAT_REMNG) / $BAT_RATE); print a" TIMETOFULL_MIN=`echo $BCSCRIPT | bc -l` POWER_STR="$AC_STATUS $BAT_CHGSTATE $BAT_PCT C="$BAT_REMNG_WH"Wh Rate="$BAT_RATE_W"W TTF="$TIMETOFULL_MIN"min" ;; discharging) AC_STATUS="ON BATT" TIME_REMNG_MIN=`echo "scale=0; a=(60*$BAT_REMNG / $BAT_RATE); print a" | bc -l` TIME_REMNG_HH=`echo "scale=0; a=($BAT_REMNG / $BAT_RATE); if (a<10) {print "0"; print a} else {print a}" | bc -l` TIME_REMNG_MM=`echo "scale=0; a=($TIME_REMNG_MIN-60*$TIME_REMNG_HH); if (a<10) {print "0"; print a} else {print a}" | bc -l` POWER_STR="$AC_STATUS $BAT_PCT C="$BAT_REMNG_WH"Wh P="$BAT_RATE_W"W R="$TIME_REMNG_HH":"$TIME_REMNG_MM ;; *) POWER_STR=$BAT_CHGSTATE ;; esac ;; *) POWER_STR="error" ;; esac #spectrwm bar_print can't handle UTF-8 characters, such as degree symbol #Core 0: +67.0°C (crit = +100.0°C) eval $(sensors 2>/dev/null | sed s/[°+]//g | awk '/^Core 0/ {printf "CORE0TEMP=%s;", $3}; /^Core 1/ {printf "CORE1TEMP=%s;",$3}; /^fan1/ {printf "FANSPD=%s;",$2};' -) TEMP_STR="Tcpu=$CORE0TEMP,$CORE1TEMP F=$FANSPD" WLAN_ESSID=$(iwconfig wlan0 | awk -F "\"" '/wlan0/ { print $2 }') eval $(cat /proc/net/wireless | sed s/[.]//g | awk '/wlan0/ {printf "WLAN_QULTY=%s; WLAN_SIGNL=%s; WLAN_NOISE=%s", $3,$4,$5};' -) BCSCRIPT="scale=0;a=100*$WLAN_QULTY/70;print a" WLAN_QPCT=`echo $BCSCRIPT | bc -l` WLAN_POWER=`iwconfig 2>/dev/null| grep "Tx-Power"| awk {'print $4'}|sed s/Tx-Power=//` WLAN_STR="$WLAN_ESSID: Q=$WLAN_QPCT% S/N="$WLAN_SIGNL"/"$WLAN_NOISE"dBm T="$WLAN_POWER"dBm" CPUFREQ_STR=`echo "Freq:"$(cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep 'cpu MHz' | sed 's/.*: //g; s/\..*//g;')` CPULOAD_STR="Load:$(uptime | sed 's/.*://; s/,//g')" eval $(awk '/^MemTotal/ {printf "MTOT=%s;", $2}; /^MemFree/ {printf "MFREE=%s;",$2}' /proc/meminfo) MUSED=$(( $MTOT - $MFREE )) MUSEDPT=$(( ($MUSED * 100) / $MTOT )) MEM_STR="Mem:${MUSEDPT}%" echo -e "$POWER_STR $TEMP_STR $CPUFREQ_STR $CPULOAD_STR $MEM_STR $WLAN_STR" #alternatively if you prefer a different date format #DATE_STR=`date +"%H:%M %a %d %b"` #echo -e "$DATE_STR $POWER_STR $TEMP_STR $CPUFREQ_STR $CPULOAD_STR $MEM_STR $WLAN_STR" sleep $SLEEP_SEC done
Here are some other ideas for status bar items : ethernet, email notification, disk space, mounts, now playing (mpc current).
The baraction.sh script may also show the date, in which case the built-in clock can be disabled:
clock_enabled = 0
Conky
Instead of a bash script, conky may be used. It should be used in non-graphical mode as shown below to output a text string to stdout which can be read in by spectrwm. First install conky. It is not necessary to install the cut-down "conky-cli" from AUR (although that would work too).
In ~/.spectrwm.conf
set
bar_action = conky
Then in each user's ~/.conkyrc
file place for example:
out_to_x no out_to_console yes update_interval 1.0 total_run_times 0 use_spacer none TEXT ${time %R %a,%d-%#b-%y} |Mail:${new_mails} |Up:${uptime_short} |Temp:${acpitemp}C |Batt:${battery_short} |${addr wlan0} |RAM:$memperc% |CPU:${cpu}% | ${downspeedf wlan0}
Alternative status bar
An alternative is to use dzen2 to create a status bar. This has the advantage that colors and even icons may be used, but the disadvantage that the bar is not integrated with spectrwm. So the current workspace number and layout and the bar-toggle keybinding are not available. The "region" option can be used to reserve the required screen space. For example to reserve 14 pixels at the top of the screen in spectrwm.conf change
bar_enabled = 1 region = screen[1]:1024x768+0+0
to
bar_enabled = 0 region = screen[1]:1024x754+0+14
(adjust for your screen resolution).
Then, for example using i3status to supply the information:
$ i3status | dzen2 -fn -*-terminus-medium-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* &
Spectrwm's own bar can still be enabled and disabled with Meta+b.
Screenshots
Spectrwm has the facility to execute a script called screenshot.sh
with the keybindings
Meta+s for a full screenshot Meta+Shift+s for a screenshot of a single window
First install scrot Then copy the default script supplied in the spectrwm package to a location in your $PATH, for example:
$ cp /usr/share/spectrwm/screenshot.sh ~/bin
Screen locking
By default the lock keybinding (Mod+Shift+Delete) executes xlock
program[lock] = xlock
An alternative, if xscreensaver is already running, is to use
program[lock] = xscreensaver-command -lock
Using spectrwm
- To save space, window title bars are not shown. Window borders are one pixel wide. The border changes colour to indicate focus.
- Layouts are handled dynamically and can be changed on the fly. There are three standard layouts (stacking algorithms): vertical, horizontal and maximized (indicated in the status bar as [|], [-] and [ ])
- There is the concept of a master area (a working area). Any window can be switched to become the master and will then be shown in the master area. The master area is the left (top) portion of the screen in vertical (horizontal) mode. The size of the master area can be adjusted with the keys. By default the master area holds one window, but this can be increased.
- The area excluding the master area is called the stacking area. New windows are added to the stacking area. By default the stacking area has one column (row) in vertical (horizontal) mode, but his can be increased.
- Windows may be moved to a floating layer -- i.e. removed from the tiling management. This is useful for programs which are not suitable for tiling.
Some of the most useful key bindings:
Meta+Shift+Return: open terminal Meta+p: dmenu (then type the start of the program name and return) Meta+1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/0: select workspaces 1-10 Meta+Shift+1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/0: move window to workspace 1-10 Meta+Right/Left: select next/previous workspace Meta+Shift+Right/Left: select next/previous screen Meta+Spacebar: cycle through layouts (vertical, horizontal, maximized) Meta+j/k: cycle through windows forwards/backwards Meta+Tab/Meta+Shft+Tab: same as Meta+j/k Meta+Return: move current window to master area Meta+h/l: increase/decrease size of master area
Advanced stacking
Meta+,/. : increase/decrease the number of windows in master area (default is 1) Meta+Shift+,/. : increase/decrease number of columns(rows) in stacking area in vertical(horizontal) mode (default is 1) Meta+Shift+j/k: swap window position with next/previous window Meta+t: float<->tile toggle
Mouse bindings
Mouseover: focus window Meta+LeftClick+Drag: move window (and float it if tiled) Meta+RightClick+Drag: resize floating window Meta+Shift+RightClick+Drag: resize floating window keeping it centred
Other useful bindings
Meta+x: close window Meta+Shift+x: kill window Meta+b: hide/show status bar Meta+q: restart spectrwm (reset desktops and reread spectrwm config without stopping running programs) Meta+Shift+q: exit spectrwm
Troubleshooting
- Q: Help, I just logged in and all I see is a blank screen.
- A: Press Shift + WindowsKey + Return and an xterm will start. Then read the manual (
man spectrwm
) to see the other default key bindings. Also check your configuration file.
See also
- spectrwm - spectrwm's official website
- #spectrwm at irc.freenode.net - (un)official IRC channel