  Unofficial IceWM FAQ
  Josef 'Jupp' Schugt, jupp@gmx.de
  Monday, 1999/09/27, 22:52 UTC

  This is the unofficial FAQ for the IceWM window manager in its version
  of Monday, 1999/09/27, 22:52 UTC. It is available from http://icewm-
  faq.cjb.net/ http://jupp.tux.nu/
  ______________________________________________________________________

  Table of Contents


  1. Introduction

     1.1 What is IceWM?
     1.2 Where to get it?
     1.3 Under which operating systems does it run?

  2. Installation

     2.1 How to compile and install IceWM?
     2.2 How to make IceWM my default window manager?
        2.2.1 Running IceWM at X startup
        2.2.2 Running IceWM after graphical login
        2.2.3 Besides the differences

  3. Configuration

     3.1 How to customize IceWM?
     3.2 Where are the configuration files?
     3.3 You mean I have to edit these files?
     3.4 Which file controls what?
     3.5 What are the focus models good for?

  4. How to...?

     4.1 Use UseRootButtons and ButtonRaiseMask
     4.2 Set the mouse button a menu is bound to
     4.3 Assign an option to a given application
     4.4 Have windows iconified/maximized as soon they are mapped
     4.5 Lock the screen
        4.5.1 ... by keyboard
        4.5.2 ... by mouse
        4.5.3 ... using a lock command other than xlock

  5. How to keep IceWM from...?

     5.1 Grabbing keystrokes
     5.2 Setting background color/image

  6. Using IceWM

     6.1 What does Logout(Cancel)Command do?
     6.2 What is the blank bar in the task bar good for?
     6.3 What image formats can I use with IceWM?
     6.4 Setting the clock format
     6.5 Setting the lock command

  7. Tools for IceWM

     7.1 IcePref
        7.1.1 Description (by the author of IcePref)
     7.2 IceWMConf
        7.2.1 Description (by the author of IceWMConf)
        7.2.2 Download The IceWMConf hompage is at

  8. Tips and Tricks

     8.1 Using the CLI (command line interface)

  9. Miscellaneous Questions

     9.1 How to learn making themes for IceWM?

  10. Bugs and Problems

     10.1 IceWM ignores my color settings
     10.2 Programs are missing in the menus
     10.3 IceWM maximizes windows over the GNOME panel
     10.4 The IceWM binary is very big
     10.5 Screen locking doesn't work

  11. Sources of information

     11.1 IceWM related Mailing lists
        11.1.1 icewm@egroups.com
        11.1.2 icewm-themes@cip.physik.uni-bonn.de
     11.2 IceWM related web pages
        11.2.1 IceWM homepage
        11.2.2 Unofficial IceWM FAQ
        11.2.3 IceWM.cjb.net


  ______________________________________________________________________

  1.  Introduction

  In this section I give a short description of what IceWM is.


  1.1.  What is IceWM?

  IceWM is a window manager for the X Window System. It is designed to
  be small, fast, lightweight, and to emulate the look and feel of
  Motif, OS/2 and Windows.

  While it is very configurable, it is not pathologically so (a la
  Enlightenment or FVWM). In short, IceWM provides a customizable look
  with a relatively consistent feel.

  Now that you know what IceWM is and are still reading on you are
  obviously interested in using it. To use a program you will first need
  to have it. The obvious question is:


  1.2.  Where to get it?

  Marko Macek (the author of IceWM) maintains a web page from which you
  can download the latest development version as well as a (rather old)
  frozen version. It is located at


       http://www.kiss.uni-lj.si/~k4fr0235/icewm/


  1.3.  Under which operating systems does it run?

  IceWM successfully ran under (in alphabetical order):


  o  Digital Unix

  o  FreeBSD (reported by MJ Ray, h089@mth.uea.ac.uk

  o  Linux on DEC Alpha (64 bit architecture)

  o  Linux on Intel compatibles (32 bit architecture)

  o  NetBSD (reported by MJ Ray, h089@mth.uea.ac.uk

  o  OpenBSD (reported by MJ Ray, h089@mth.uea.ac.uk


  o  OS/2

  o  Solaris (reported by MJ Ray, h089@mth.uea.ac.uk

  o  Windows (reported by Pavel Roskin MJ Ray,
     pavel_roskin@geocities.com


  2.  Installation

  Now you have the IceWM source package at hand and will want to install
  it. So the next question will be:


  2.1.  How to compile and install IceWM?

  Recent development versions of IceWM (0.9.3x and up) use the standard
  GNU autoconf tool, so installation of IceWM is much the same as the
  installation of any other package that uses this tool.

  First you untar the package using


           tar xzf icewm-0.9.xx.tar.gz


  then you change to the created directory using


           cd icewm-0.9.xx


  IceWM comes with a configure script that can be supplied with several
  compile-time options. To see them listed use


           ./configure --help


  Some important options are


     --prefix
        directory under which IceWM files are to be installed

     --with-xpm
        use the standard X pixmap package to render graphics

     --with-imlib
        use the more powerful imlib package to render images

     --with-gnome-menus
        automatically add the GNOME menus to the IceWM "start" menu

  After you have decided which (if any) options you want to set, run the
  configure script:

           ./configure [option ...]


  Assuming that the configure script exited successfully, you should
  then compile IceWM using


           make


  which will build IceWM with the options specified by the configure
  script. If everything compiles successfully, you can now install IceWM
  on your machine by entering


           make install


  Note: To do so you will typically need to become root (at least if you
  didn't supply an install directory you as a user have write access
  to).

  Now you have an IceWM binary sitting on your disk. Is that what you
  really want? Obviously not, you want to run IceWM. The next section
  describes how to do that.


  2.2.  How to make IceWM my default window manager?

  In order to run IceWM, you must assure that the executable (called
  "icewm") is in your path. You should then add IceWM to your X start-up
  script (which could be ".xinitrc", ".xsession", or ".XClients").

  Note: Supplying the full path to IceWM isn't sufficient - if IceWM
  isn't in your path, restarting it will fail.

  Which of the scripts mentioned above is the right one mainly depends
  on whether you manually start X (using startx) or have X running all
  the time.

  First I explain what you need to do if you manually start X. Then I
  address the case "X is running all the time" (which means that you log
  in via xdm or something like that). Finally I describe what both cases
  have in common.


  2.2.1.  Running IceWM at X startup

  If you use "startx" to start up X then you run your window manager
  from the ".xinitrc" file. Marko recommends using ".XClients" but I
  cannot agree with that - not all linux systems use that file.

  In any case, it is not advisable to have both a ".xinitrc" file and a
  ".XClients" file since they perform roughly the same function and may
  lead to confusion.


  2.2.2.  Running IceWM after graphical login

  If your system has a graphical login (X is already running while you
  log in) you are using a display manager such as "xdm". In this case
  .xinitrc has no effect (it is not read in by "xdm"). You must instead
  use a ".xsession" file.

  Hint: It is absolutely no problem to have a ".xsession" and a
  ".xinitrc" file.


  2.2.3.  Besides the differences

  Irrespective which one you use, ".xsession" as well as ".xinitrc" must
  be executable. This may be done by issuing the following command:


           chmod u+x name_of_file


  A minimalistic start-up file consists of only the command to start the
  window manager ("icewm"). Most geeky people add other stuff to the
  file to make it look more complicated and confuse beginners >;->

  Though that may be the reason for some of us, the greater majority add
  commands to customize X and to start some programs on login (typical
  example: an XTerm)

  The following is a (reasonable) ".xinitrc" file used as an example by
  Marko:


           #-----------------------------------------------------------
           # .xinitrc
           #-----------------------------------------------------------

           # run profile to set $PATH and other env vars correctly
           . $HOME/.bash_profile

           # setup background
           xsetroot -solid '#056'

           # setup mouse acceleration
           xset m 7 2

           # run initial programs
           xterm &

           # start icewm, and run xterm if it crashes (just to be safe)
           exec icewm || exec xterm -fg red

           #-----------------------------------------------------------


  Note: To run IceWM, the "icewm" command needs to be executed.  This
  means that all programs that are run before starting "icewm" either
  have to terminate immediately or to run in background. Also, don't
  "exec" them because that terminates execution of ".xinitrc".


  3.  Configuration

  Congratulations! Now you have IceWM up and running. You don't like the
  default look? Don't worry: This section is on customizing icewm.

  As it is the case with most Linux and Unix programs IceWM can be
  configured using plain text config files. First let's take a look
  which config files are available.


  3.1.  How to customize IceWM?

  You can customize IceWM by editing the following configuration files:


  o  preferences

  o  winoptions

  o  menu

  o  toolbar


  3.2.  Where are the configuration files?

  You could not find the config files? Maybe you were looking in wrong
  places - the location depends upon the method you used to install
  IceWM.

  In a plain vanilla source install, the global version of the files
  will be located in "/usr/local/lib/Xll/icewm/". If you installed the
  standard RPM, they will be in "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/icewm/". The system
  wide configuration files for the Debian package seem to be in
  "/etc/X11/icewm/".

  However, if you wish to make a configuration of your own you should
  not edit these global config files but create a subdirectory of your
  home directory called ".icewm/". Copy the system wide files to your
  local ".icewm" directory and edit these copies.

  Note: You may have to alter the permissions of the copies in order to
  read and write to them.


  3.3.  You mean I have to edit these files?

  The config files need to be changed if you want to change IceWMs'
  behavior.  This does not necessarily mean that you have to use an
  editor for this - graphical configuration tools for IceWM are
  available.

  "iceconf" was written with perl/gtk and is not longer maintained. You
  can try it, but it requires the perl/gtk package and does not control
  many of the recent IceWM options.

  You can also try "IcePref". More information on this program is
  available at


       http://members.xoom.com/SaintChoj/icepref.html


  Note: Remember that IceWM is evolving and new features are being added
  with almost any new version. The result is that it's hard for a GUI
  author to keep up to date and have every option available. Don't be
  surprised if there are options that are only available if you manually
  edit the config files.


  3.4.  Which file controls what?

  The division of labor among the several files is quit logical once you
  become accustomed to it.


     menu
        Controls the contents of the "start" menu

     preferences
        Controls the general behavior of IceWM

     programs
        Controls the contents of the "programs" submenu of the "start"
        menu

     toolbar
        controls the row of launcher-icons on the taskbar and has the
        same syntax as the menu file

     winoptions
        Controls the behavior of individual applications (as identified
        by the names of their respective windows)


  3.5.  What are the focus models good for?

  To answer this question it is a good idea to first take a look at the
  four general focus models that are implemented by IceWM:


     clickToRaise
        When a window is clicked, it is raised and activated. This is
        the behavior of Win95 and OS/2 Warp.

     clickToFocus
        A Window is raised and focused when titlebar or frame border is
        clicked and it is focused but not raised when the window
        interior is clicked.

     pointerFocus
        When the mouse is moved, focus is set to window under a mouse.
        It should be possible to change the focus with the keyboard when
        the mouse is not moved.

     explicitFocus
        When a window is clicked, it is activated but not raised. New
        windows do not automatically get the focus unless they are
        transient windows for the active window.

  "A window is raised" is telling and needs no further explanation.

  "A window is activated, is focused, gets the focus, ..." means that
  input (e. g. keystrokes) now are sent to that window.

  In short: The focus model controls what you have to do to make a
  window pop up and to have it listen to what you type.


  4.  How to...?

  This section explains how to make IceWM do something you want it to
  do.


  4.1.  Use UseRootButtons and ButtonRaiseMask

  "UseRootButtons" and "ButtonRaiseMask" are so called bitmask options.

  This concept is e.g. used by "chmod" where 4 stands for read access, 2
  for write access and 1 for execute (or change directory) access and
  you add up the relevant numbers to control the file access.

  As far as "UseRootButtons" and "ButtonRaiseMask" are concerned, 1
  stands for the first mouse button, 2 for the second one and 4 for the
  third one. The following list shows which number stands for which
  combination of mouse buttons:


           ---------------------------------
            Value   Stands for
           ---------------------------------
              0     No mouse button at all
              1     Button 1
              2     Button 2
              3     Buttons 1 and 2
              4     Buttons 3
              5     Buttons 1 and 3
              6     Buttons 2 and 3
              7     All three mouse buttons
           ---------------------------------


  Any value greater than seven has the same effect as seven.
  "UseRootButtons" controls which buttons call up a menu when clicked on
  an unoccupied region of the desktop. "ButtonRaiseMask" determines
  which buttons will raise a window when clicked on that window's title-
  bar.


  4.2.  Set the mouse button a menu is bound to

  There is an option for each of the root menus which controls which
  button is bound to that menu.


           -----------------------------------------
            Option Name            Controls
           -----------------------------------------
            DesktopWinMenuButton   Window menu
            DesktopWinListButton   Window list
            DesktopMenuButton      Application menu
           -----------------------------------------


  The value of each option determines the button to which the
  corresponding menu is bound according to the following scheme:

           ----------------------------
            Value  Stands for
           ----------------------------
              0    No mouse button
              1    Left mouse button
              2    Right mouse button
              3    Middle mouse button
             4-6   Other buttons
           ----------------------------


  4.3.  Assign an option to a given application

  Assigning a particular option (icon, default layer, default workspace,
  etc.) to a given application or application window can be done as
  follows:

  First, you should acquire the WM_CLASS descriptor using "xprop".
  Simply run


           xprop |grep WM_CLASS


  in an XTerm. The first item is the window name and the second item it
  the window class. You can then add the desired options to your
  winoptions file.  Entries in that file have one of the following
  formats:


           name.class.option: value
           class.option:      value
           name.option:       value


  The "WM_CLASS" for a Netscape Navigator window is


           "Navigator", "Netscape"


  To assign the icon set "navigator_*.xpm" to the Netscape Navigator
  window, use this option:


           Navigator.Netscape.icon: navigator


  The other options work according to roughly the same pattern.


  4.4.  Have windows iconified/maximized as soon they are mapped

  There may be programs that you either want to start up iconified or
  maximized.  Until now, you can't control that by a winoptions so that
  windows of a given name or class are iconified or maximized as soon as
  they are mapped.

  Fortunately some programs (like netscape) have a command line option
  to be started iconic and most X program support "-geometry" to specify
  a size.


  4.5.  Lock the screen

  Screen locking is something you should do whenever you leave your
  machine (even at home and even for only a few seconds - just imagine a
  cat pushing the enter button at the wrong moment). It should be a
  habit like logging out root as soon as possible.


  4.5.1.  ... by keyboard

  With IceWM screen locking is very easy: If you press


           Ctrl-Alt-Del


  a menu pops up offering you the following tasks:


  o  Lock Workstation

  o  Logout

  o  Cancel

  o  Restart icewm

  The letters that are in bold face in this FAQ are underlined in real
  life. The meaning of this emphasis is that you may e. g. press W to
  lock your workstation.

  Another possibility (this is the one I prefer because I once to often
  pressed L in order to lock my machine) is to press ENTER. The result
  is the same because the button that is active by default is Lock
  Workstation.

  A more obvious reason for using ENTER in place of W is that it is
  easier to type in: Del and ENTER are next to each other.

  You could as well use your mouse to click on Lock Workstation but if
  you are already using your keyboard to evoke the menu why not use the
  keyboard to select from it?


  4.5.2.  ... by mouse

  If you prefer to use your mouse to lock the screen you may add the
  following entry to your $HOME/.icewm/toolbar


      prog    xlock   xlock   xlock


  You could as well add that line $HOME/.icewm/menu or
  $HOME/.icewm/programs but that's not a good idea: Screen locking is
  often done in a hurry and if you have to scan through a menu this will
  increase the chance that you will not lock your machine at all.


  4.5.3.  ... using a lock command other than xlock

  How to define a different lock command is described in section
  ``Setting the lock command''


  5.  How to keep IceWM from...?

  This section explains how to keep IceWM from doing something you don't
  like it to do.


  5.1.  Grabbing keystrokes

  What if you are running an application and need to use a keystroke
  that is grabbed by IceWM?

  Marko suggests the following workaround:


  1. Activate scroll lock

  2. Do problematic key stroke

  3. Deactivate scroll lock

  He advises that this will only work if "ScrollLock" is set up as a
  modifier.


  5.2.  Setting background color/image

  If you set the appropriate options in your "preferences" file, IceWM
  will set the background color or the background image for you. You can
  use


           DesktopBackgroundColor="color"


  to set a background color and


           DesktopBackgroundImage="image"


  to set a background image. To keep icewm from setting a background
  color/image you simply set both options to an empty string:

           DesktopBackgroundColor=""
           DesktopBackgroundImage=""


  Hints:


  1. Commenting out DesktopBackgroundColor="color" and
     DesktopBackgroundImage="" does not have the intended effect.

  2. IMHO using a background image (especially a huge one) isn't that
     good an idea. It awfully slows down the X windowing system.


  6.  Using IceWM

  This section is a collection of questions on using IceWM.


  6.1.  What does Logout(Cancel)Command do?

  For most users, nothing. They were meant for GNOME integration as
  alternative commands that would be run when users initiated a logout
  or logout cancel.  Since GNOME did not seem to incorporate this
  feature, they generally go unused.


  6.2.  What is the blank bar in the task bar good for?

  If you are running icewm with the "TaskBarDoubleHeight" option set, a
  blank bar in the task bar occurs.

  In that line you can enter commands to start X programs. If you click
  inside the field and enter xclock the X clock is started.

  If you click on it and simply press Ctrl-Enter an XTerm is being
  started.

  If you enter a non-X command and press Ctrl-Enter an that command is
  being executed in an XTerm.


  6.3.  What image formats can I use with IceWM?

  If IceWM is compiled with the standard xpm libraries, then it can only
  employ xpm images (as backgrounds, etc.). If, however, IceWM is
  compiled with Imlib support, it can display all common image formats
  including jpeg, gif, png, and tiff.


  6.4.  Setting the clock format

  Setting up the look of the task bar clock of IceWM as well as the
  format of the associated tooltip is rather easy. IceWM uses the same
  format as the Unix standard function strftime so when in doubt you can
  always refer to


           man 3 strftime


  To set the clock format you use


           TimeFormat="<format string>"


  and for the clock tooltip format you use


           DateFormat="<format string>"


  Ordinary characters placed in the format string are printed without
  conversion (if possible, see below). Conversion specifiers are
  introduced by a

  Important Note: While DateFormat and TimeFormat both support all the
  format descriptors the latter only has full support if used with


           TaskBarClockLeds=0


  (which is set equal 1 by default).

  The reason for this is that there are no icons to display the name of
  a month, day, or time zone. To be more precise there are only icons
  for


  1. digits (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

  2. colon, dot, slash, and space

  3. A, P, and M (for AM and PM)

  Format descriptors for which this restriction apply (or may apply
  depending on the locale) are labeled as restricted in the following
  table. It shows the replacement for all format descriptors available.

  The values in parentheses show what the different format specifiers
  display for

  YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS TimeZone = 1999/09/04 19:09:22 UTC

  on my machine with hardware clock and Linux running UTC, local being
  "C" (i.e.  no internationalization at all)


     %a (Sat) restricted
        The abbreviated weekday name according to the current locale.

     %A (Saturday) restricted
        The full weekday name according to the current locale.


     %b (Sep) restricted
        The abbreviated month name according to the current locale.

     %B (September) restricted
        The full month name according to the current locale.

     %c (Sat Sep 04 19:09:22 1999) restricted
        The preferred date and time representation for the current
        locale.

     %d (04)
        The day of the month as a decimal number (range 01 to 31).

     %H (19)
        The hour as a decimal number using a 24-hour clock (range 00 to
        23).

     %I (07)
        The hour as a decimal number using a 12-hour clock (range 01 to
        12).

     %j (247)
        The day of the year as a decimal number (range 001 to 366).

     %m (09)
        The month as a decimal number (range 01 to 12).

     %M (09)
        The minute as a decimal number.

     %p (PM) restricted
        Either `am' or `pm' according to the given time value, or the
        corresponding strings for the current locale.

     %S (22)
        The second as a decimal number.

     %U (35)
        The week number of the current year as a decimal number,
        starting with the first Sunday as the first day of the first
        week.

     %W (35)
        The week number of the current year as a decimal number,
        starting with the first Monday as the first day of the first
        week.

     %w (06)
        The day of the week as a decimal, Sunday being 0.

     %x (09/04/99) restricted
        The preferred date representation for the current locale without
        the time.

     %X (19:09:22) restricted
        The preferred time representation for the current locale without
        the date.

     %y (99)
        The year as a decimal number without a century (range 00 to 99).

     %Y (1999)
        The year as a decimal number including the century.

     %Z (UTC) (1)
        The time zone or name or abbreviation.
     %% restricted
        A literal `%' character.


  6.5.  Setting the lock command

  By default IceWM uses xlock (without any argument) to lock your
  screen. There may be several reasons for using a different lock
  command:


  o  There is no xlock on your machine.

  o  xlock tends to crash on your machine either leaving you locked out
     (best case) or unlocking your session (worst case).

  o  xlock has some CPU intensive modes compiled in that interfere with
     your SETI@HOME session.

  It is very easy to set a lock command: Simply add


           LockCommand="xlock -mode blank"


  to your $HOME/.icewm/preferences and xlock will run in blank mode
  (which shows nothing but a black screen).

  The example was chosen on purpose: Using this mode you have the best
  chance of your monitor going asleep (enter power saving mode).


  7.  Tools for IceWM

  This section is a collection of tools that simplify the usage of
  IceWM.


  7.1.  IcePref

  7.1.1.  Description (by the author of IcePref)

  IcePref is a small graphical utility (written with python and the Gtk
  toolkit) designed to simplify the configuration of IceWM.

  It currently supports the options of icewm 0.9.38 and should (in
  theory) work consistently with versions at least as high as 0.9.42.
  While it is not a particularly elegant program, I have found IcePref
  useful and hope that IcePref will be found useful by those who use
  IceWM and also have gtk installed.

  It should be especially useful to thos e who have GNOME, and who are
  therefore likely to have PyGNOME and PyGTK already installed on their
  boxes.


  7.2.  IceWMConf

  7.2.1.  Description (by the author of IceWMConf)

  IceWMConf is a small application which helps with configuring IceWM.
  It tries to be self-configuring, starting with the basic options from
  the system preferences files and then overriding them with user
  preferences.

  In this way, it should pick up new options introduced by later
  versions of IceWM. (It does mean that old options aren't deleted, so
  you have to occasionally "trim" your user file to remove lines IceWM
  grumbles about, but that isn't very necessary.)

  Its user interface is functional bordering on spartan, but builds its
  own option categories and has an option name search facility. If you
  want a really user friendly configuration tool, I suggest IcePref.


  7.2.2.  The IceWMConf hompage is at http://icewm.tux.nu/tools/icewm-
  conf/ Download

  8.  Tips and Tricks

  This section is a collection of tips and tricks for making your life
  easier.


  8.1.  Using the CLI (command line interface)

  You should run IceWM with "TaskBarDoubleHeigth=1" because that will
  enable the CLI (see ``What is the blank bar in the task bar good
  for?'' for some more information).

  The CLI is especially useful if you rather frequently need to access
  man pages and don't want to have xman hang around all the time.

  If you enter "man perl" and press "Ctrl-ENTER" an XTerm will pop up
  displaying the main Perl man page. If you press "q" not only the man
  page no longer is displayed but the XTerm will terminate, too.

  This only is one example of how to use the CLI. You can use it to
  issue any other command as well. A problem that might occur is that
  the XTerm will terminate before you had time to read the output of a
  command (it terminates as soon as the command is done).

  In most such cases it is sufficient to pipe the output through "less"
  (this is one of the rare cases you cannot use "more" because it
  terminates after displaying the last line). However, there are cases
  (mainly programs that write colorful output such as "ls") that may
  result in trouble with "less".

  Fortunately Linux (any Unix version?) offers a solution to these
  cases, too: The "sleep" command. It sleeps some time, then terminates.
  So you could use


           ls $HOME/bin --color ; sleep 1m


  to list all programs in your "$HOME/bin" directory. The "sleep"
  command will wait the given period of time (in this case a minute)
  before the XTerm automatically will close (you can use "Ctrl-C" to
  abort the sleep command before that time went by).


  9.  Miscellaneous Questions

  This section is a collection of questions on subjects that go beyond
  simply using IceWM as a window manager.

  9.1.  How to learn making themes for IceWM?

  Currently, there is little documentation available describing the
  theme mechanism in IceWM. Fortunately, MJ Ray (maintainer of the
  future icewm.themes.org) is working on comprehensive theme
  documentation. In the meantime, you can learn to make themes by
  disecting those made by others and by experimenting.


  10.  Bugs and Problems

  This section is for problems that are intrinsic to the philosophy of
  IceWM or that are caused by bugs.


  10.1.  IceWM ignores my color settings

  Some users wonder why the colors specified in their preference files
  seem to have no effect upon the actual appearance of things. The
  reason is that these settings may be overridden by settings in the
  theme file.

  The theme file can control all (virtually all?) of the options
  controlled by the "preferences" file, but usually theme authors are
  decent confine their meddling to superficial aspects of window manager
  behavior and leave control over most important behaviors to the user.

  If this wasn't the reason: If you are running X in 8-bit mode then it
  is possible that the specified color simply isn't available.

  You don't know if X is running in 8-bit mode? Run


           xwininfo | grep Depth


  in an XTerm and click on the root window (the desktop). If this
  command displays


           Depth: n


  you are running X in n-bit mode (n typically is 8, 16, 24 or 32).


  10.2.  Programs are missing in the menus

  A very annoying problem are programs you added to the "start" or
  "programs" file but that are missing in the corresponding menus. That
  isn't really a bug of IceWM. The point of view of IceWM is that it
  makes no sense to display a program that isn't there.

  The crucial point is the meaning of to be there. It does not mean to
  be installed but to be found using the present path.

  To fix the problem you have at least three possibilities:


  1. You give the full path and not only the program name itself.

  2. You set the path in your ".xinitrc" or ".xsession"

  3. You use a wrapper script for running icewm.

  The first two solutions are straightforward. Using a wrapper script is
  a bit tricky therefore I'll describe how to do it.

  Become root and move "icewm" to "icewm.bin".


           mv /usr/local/bin/icewm /usr/local/bin/icewm.bin


  Edit "icewm" so that it reads something like this:


           #!/bin/sh

           PATH=<what the path shall be>
           export $PATH

           exec icewm.bin $*


  It is very important to add the "$*". Otherwise all command line
  arguments (such as use another theme) will be ignored.

  Hint: Using bash, ksh and zsh you can contract


           PATH=<what the path shall be>
           export $PATH


  into


           export PATH=<what the path shall be>


  You could also add directories to the path (instead of simply
  overwriting it). To do this you use


           PATH=$PATH:<what shall be added>


  10.3.  IceWM maximizes windows over the GNOME panel

  Use a recent version of both IceWM and GNOME. Make sure that the panel
  is set to occupy all workspaces. This should be done automatically by
  the panel. If the panel fails to set this attribute, you do so by
  either using the appropriate keystroke (Shift-Esc) or by adding the
  following line to the "winoptions" file:


           Panel.allWorkspaces: 1


  10.4.  The IceWM binary is very big

  You might wonder why the IceWM binary is that big. This is because it
  contains an awful lot of symbols. Without them the binary is much
  smaller.  The command to remove the symbols is strip: Go to the
  directory where icewm has been installed in (typically
  /usr/local/bin/) and issue:


           ls -l icewm icewmbg icewmhint
           strip -s icewm
           strip -s icewmbg
           strip -s icewmhint
           ls -l icewm icewmbg icewmhint


  The ls commands are not really needed but show you the (maybe
  dramatic) change of size of the icewm binaries.

  Use man strip and info strip to find out more details about the strip
  command.


  10.5.  Screen locking doesn't work

  The reason for this is that the standard lock command (xlock) could
  not be found by icewm. See ``Setting the lock command'' for details on
  setting a different lock command.


  11.  Sources of information

  This section lists sources of information on the IceWM window manager,
  window managers in general. X applications to use with IceWM have
  their own section (see ``Tools for IceWM'').

  Additions to the lists are welcome!

  Important Note: This section is presently being worked on. It's not
  finished and may be rather buggy.


  11.1.  IceWM related Mailing lists


  11.1.1.  icewm@egroups.com


     Purpose:
        General discussion on icewm

     Maintainer:
        Marko Macek, Marko.Macek@gmx.net

     Archive:
        http://www.egroups.com/icewm/

     Comments:
        Closed list, only those subscribed may post


  11.1.2.  icewm-themes@cip.physik.uni-bonn.de


     Purpose:
        Discussion list on icewm themes. Main purpose is setting up
        icewm.themes.org.

     Maintainer:
        Josef 'Jupp' Schugt, jupp@gmx.de

     Archive:
        http://cip.physik.uni-bonn.de/icewm-themes/

     Comments:
        Closed list, only those subscribed may post. Only RFC 822 mails,
        no attachments whatsoever. No so-called HTML (or rich text)
        mails!


  11.2.  IceWM related web pages

  11.2.1.  IceWM homepage


     Name:
        IceWM homepage

     Location
        http://www.kiss.uni-lj.si/~k4fr0235/icewm/

     Maintainer
        Marko Macek, Marko.Macek@gmx.net


  11.2.2.  Unofficial IceWM FAQ


     Name:
        Unofficial IceWM FAQ

     Location
        http://icewmfaq.cjb.net/

     Maintainer
        Josef 'Jupp' Schugt, jupp@gmx.de


  11.2.3.  IceWM.cjb.net


     Name:
        IceWM.cjb.net

     Location
        http://icewm.cjb.net/

     Maintainer
        MJ Ray, h089@mth.uea.ac.uk


