CWM(1)                     OpenBSD Reference Manual                     CWM(1)

NAME
     cwm - a lightweight and efficient window manager for X11

SYNOPSIS
     cwm [-c file] [-d display]

DESCRIPTION
     cwm is a window manager for X11 which contains many features that concen-
     trate on the efficiency and transparency of window management.  cwm also
     aims to maintain the simplest and most pleasant aesthetic.

     The following notation is used throughout this page:

           C       Control.
           M       Meta.
           S       Shift.
           M1      Left mouse button.
           M2      Middle mouse button.
           M3      Right mouse button.

     cwm is very simple in its use.  Most of the actions are initiated via key
     bindings.  The current key bindings are described below; their function-
     ality is described in more detail later.

           CM-Return       Spawn a new terminal.
           CM-Delete       Lock the screen.
           M-Return        Hide current window.
           M-Down          Lower current window.
           M-Up            Raise current window.
           M-/             Search for windows.
           C-/             Search for applications.
           CM-n            Label current window.
           M-Tab           Cycle through currently visible windows.
           MS-Tab          Reverse cycle through currently visible windows.
           CM-x            Delete current window.
           CM-[n]          Select group n, where n is 1-9.
           CM-0            Select all groups.
           CM-g            Toggle group membership of current window.
           M-Right         Cycle through active groups.
           M-Left          Reverse cycle through active groups.
           CM-f            Toggle full-screen size of current window.
           CM-=            Toggle vertical maximization of current window.
           CMS-=           Toggle horizontal maximization of current window.
           M-?             Spawn ``exec program'' dialog.
           M-.             Spawn ``ssh to'' dialog.  This parses
                           $HOME/.ssh/known_hosts to provide host auto-comple-
                           tion.  ssh(1) will be executed via the configured
                           terminal emulator.
           CM-w            Spawn ``exec WindowManager'' dialog; allows you to
                           switch from cwm to another window manager without
                           restarting the X server.
           CMS-r           Reload configuration.
           CMS-q           Quit cwm.

     The mouse bindings are also important, they are:

           M-M1    Move current window.
           CM-M1   Toggle group membership of current window.
           M-M2    Resize current window
           M-M3    Lower current window.
           CMS-M3  Hide current window.

     The options for cwm are as follows:

     -c file
             Specify the config file to use.  Defaults to ~/.cwmrc.

     -d display
             Specify the display to use.

POINTER MOVEMENT
     The pointer can be moved with the use of the keyboard through bindings.
     C-[Up|Down|Left|Right] moves the pointer a small amount, while
     CS-[Up|Down|Left|Right] moves the pointer a larger amount.  For example,
     to move the pointer to the left by a small amount, press C-Left.  To move
     the pointer down by a larger amount, press CS-Down.

WINDOW MOVEMENT AND RESIZING
     cwm windows can be moved with the use of the keyboard through vi-like
     bindings.  M-[hjkl] moves the current window a small amount, while
     MS-[hjkl] moves the current window a larger amount.  For example, to move
     the current window to the left a small amount, press M-h.  To move the
     current window down by a larger amount, press MS-j.

     Similarly, windows may be resized with the same key bindings with the ad-
     dition of the Control key.  CM-[hjkl] resizes the window a small amount
     and CMS-[hjkl] resizes by a larger increment.

SEARCH
     cwm features the ability to search for windows by their current title,
     old titles, and by their label.  The priority for the search results are:
     label, current title, old titles in reverse order, and finally window
     class name.  cwm keeps a history of the 5 previous titles of a window.

     When searching, the leftmost character of the result list may show a
     flag:

            !           The window is the currently focused window.
            &           The window is hidden.

     The following key bindings may be used to navigate the result list:

           [Down], C-s or M-j    Select the next window in the list.
           [Up], C-r or M-k      Select the previous window in the list.
           [Backspace] or C-h    Backspace.
           C-u                   Clear the input.
           [Return]              Focus the selected window.
           [Esc]                 Cancel.
           C-a                   Whenever there are no matching windows, list
                                 every window.

GROUPS
     cwm has the ability to group windows together, and use the groups to per-
     form operations on the entire group instead of just one window.  Current-
     ly, the only operation that is supported is to hide and unhide the
     grouped windows.  Together with the sticky option, this can be used to
     emulate virtual desktops.

     To edit groups, use the group selection commands to toggle membership of
     a group.  A blue border will be shown briefly on windows added to the
     current group, and a red border will be shown on those just removed.

MENUS
     Menus are recalled by clicking the mouse on the root window:

            M1          Show list of currently hidden windows.  Clicking on an
                        item will unhide that window.
            M2          Show list of currently defined groups.  Clicking on an
                        item will hide/unhide that group.
            M3          Show list of applications as defined in ~/.cwmrc.
                        Clicking on an item will spawn that application.

ENVIRONMENT
     DISPLAY     cwm starts on this display unless the -d option is given.

FILES
     ~/.cwmrc

SEE ALSO
     cwmrc(5)

AUTHORS
     cwm was developed by Marius Aamodt Eriksen <marius@monkey.org> with con-
     tributions from Andy Adamson <dros@monkey.org>, Niels Provos
     <provos@monkey.org>, and Antti Nykanen <aon@iki.fi>.  Ideas, discussion
     with many others.

HISTORY
     cwm was originally inspired by evilwm, but was rewritten from scratch due
     to limitations in the evilwm codebase.  The from-scratch rewrite borrowed
     some code from 9wm, however that code has since been removed or rewrit-
     ten.

     cwm first appeared in OpenBSD 4.2.

OpenBSD 4.7                     August 24, 2009                              3
