update the userguide for tree (not complete yet)

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Michael Stapelberg 2011-05-28 21:58:58 +02:00
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@ -1,12 +1,18 @@
i3 Users Guide
===============
Michael Stapelberg <michael+i3@stapelberg.de>
March 2010
May 2011
*********************************************************************************
This document is not yet finished. The tree branch is still in development. The
information provided here should be correct, just not complete yet.
*********************************************************************************
This document contains all the information you need to configure and use the i3
window manager. If it does not, please contact me on IRC, Jabber or E-Mail and
Ill help you out.
window manager. If it does not, please contact us on IRC (preferred) or post your
question(s) on the mailing list.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
== Default keybindings
For the "too long; didnt read" people, here is an overview of the default
@ -26,42 +32,48 @@ you can also use keysymbols, see <<keybindings>>).
The red keys are the modifiers you need to press (by default), the blue keys
are your homerow.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
== Using i3
Throughout this guide, the keyword +mod+ will be used to refer to the
configured modifier. This is the windows key (mod4) by default, with alt (mod1)
being a popular alternative.
=== Opening terminals and moving around
One very basic operation is opening a new terminal. By default, the keybinding
for this is Mod1+Enter, that is Alt+Enter in the default configuration. By
pressing Mod1+Enter, a new terminal will be opened. It will fill the whole
for this is mod+Enter, that is Win+Enter in the default configuration. By
pressing mod+Enter, a new terminal will be opened. It will fill the whole
space available on your screen.
image:single_terminal.png[Single terminal]
It is important to keep in mind that i3 uses a table to manage your windows. At
the moment, you have exactly one column and one row which leaves you with one
cell. In this cell there is a container, which is where your new terminal is
opened.
If you now open another terminal, you still have only one cell. However, the
container in that cell holds both of your terminals. So, a container is just a
group of clients with a specific layout. Containers can be resized by adjusting
the size of the cell that holds them.
If you now open another terminal, i3 will place it next to the current one,
splitting the screen size in half. Depending on your monitor, i3 will put the
new window right to the old window (for widescreen) or below the old window
(rotated displays).
image:two_terminals.png[Two terminals]
To move the focus between the two terminals, you use the direction keys which
you may know from the editor +vi+. However, in i3, your homerow is used for
these keys (in +vi+, the keys are shifted to the left by one for compatibility
with most keyboard layouts). Therefore, +Mod1+J+ is left, +Mod1+K+ is down,
+Mod1+L+ is up and `Mod1+;` is right. So, to switch between the terminals,
use +Mod1+K+ or +Mod1+L+.
with most keyboard layouts). Therefore, +mod+J+ is left, +mod+K+ is down,
+mod+L+ is up and `mod+;` is right. So, to switch between the terminals,
use +mod+K+ or +mod+L+.
To create a new row/column (and a new cell), you can simply move a terminal (or
any other window) in the direction you want to expand your table. So, lets
expand the table to the right by pressing `Mod1+Shift+;`.
At the moment, your workspace is split (it contains two terminals) in a
specific direction (horizontal by default). Every window can be split
horizontally or vertically again, just like the workspace. The terminology is
"window" for a container that actually contains an X11 window (like a terminal
or browser) and "split container" for containers that consist of one or more
windows.
image:two_columns.png[Two columns]
TODO: picture of the tree
To split a window vertically, press +mod+v+. To split it horizontally, press
+mod+h+.
=== Changing container modes
@ -85,15 +97,19 @@ image:modes.png[Container modes]
=== Toggling fullscreen mode for a window
To display a window fullscreen or to go out of fullscreen mode again, press
+Mod1+f+.
+mod+f+.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TODO: not yet implemented
There is also a global fullscreen mode in i3 in which the client will use all
available outputs. To use it, or to get out of it again, press +Mod1+Shift+f+.
available outputs. To use it, or to get out of it again, press +mod+Shift+f+.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
=== Opening other applications
Aside from opening applications from a terminal, you can also use the handy
+dmenu+ which is opened by pressing +Mod1+v+ by default. Just type the name
+dmenu+ which is opened by pressing +mod+p+ by default. Just type the name
(or a part of it) of the application which you want to open. The application
typed has to be in your +$PATH+ for this to work.
@ -115,7 +131,7 @@ depends on the application.
Workspaces are an easy way to group a set of windows. By default, you are on
the first workspace, as the bar on the bottom left indicates. To switch to
another workspace, press +Mod1+num+ where +num+ is the number of the workspace
another workspace, press +mod+num+ where +num+ is the number of the workspace
you want to use. If the workspace does not exist yet, it will be created.
A common paradigm is to put the web browser on one workspace, communication
@ -129,18 +145,15 @@ focus to that screen.
=== Moving windows to workspaces
To move a window to another workspace, simply press +Mod1+Shift+num+ where
To move a window to another workspace, simply press +mod+Shift+num+ where
+num+ is (like when switching workspaces) the number of the target workspace.
Similarly to switching workspaces, the target workspace will be created if
it does not yet exist.
=== Resizing columns/rows
=== Resizing
To resize columns or rows, just grab the border between the two columns/rows
and move it to the wanted size. Please keep in mind that each cell of the table
holds a +container+ and thus you cannot horizontally resize single windows. If
you need applications with different horizontal sizes, place them in seperate
cells one above the other.
The easiest way to resize a container is by using the mouse: Grab the border
and move it to the wanted size.
See <<resizingconfig>> for how to configure i3 to be able to resize
columns/rows with your keyboard.
@ -148,35 +161,21 @@ columns/rows with your keyboard.
=== Restarting i3 inplace
To restart i3 inplace (and thus get into a clean state if there is a bug, or
to upgrade to a newer version of i3) you can use +Mod1+Shift+r+. Be aware,
though, that this kills your current layout and all the windows you have opened
will be put in a default container in only one cell. Saving layouts will be
implemented in a later version.
to upgrade to a newer version of i3) you can use +mod+Shift+r+.
=== Exiting i3
To cleanly exit i3 without killing your X server, you can use +Mod1+Shift+e+.
=== Snapping
Snapping is a mechanism to increase/decrease the colspan/rowspan of a container.
Colspan/rowspan is the number of columns/rows a specific cell of the table
consumes. This is easier explained by giving an example, so take the following
layout:
image:snapping.png[Snapping example]
To use the full size of your screen, you can now snap container 3 downwards
by pressing +Mod1+Control+k+ (or snap container 2 rightwards).
To cleanly exit i3 without killing your X server, you can use +mod+Shift+e+.
=== Floating
Floating mode is the opposite of tiling mode. The position and size of a window
are not managed by i3, but by you. Using this mode violates the tiling
paradigm but can be useful for some corner cases like "Save as" dialog
windows, or toolbar windows (GIMP or similar).
windows, or toolbar windows (GIMP or similar). Those windows usually set the
appropriate hint and are opened in floating mode by default.
You can enable floating mode for a window by pressing +Mod1+Shift+Space+. By
You can enable floating mode for a window by pressing +mod+Shift+Space+. By
dragging the windows titlebar with your mouse you can move the window
around. By grabbing the borders and moving them you can resize the window. You
can also do that by using the <<floating_modifier>>.
@ -185,6 +184,74 @@ For resizing floating windows with your keyboard, see <<resizingconfig>>.
Floating windows are always on top of tiling windows.
== Tree
The most important change and reason for the name is that i3 stores all
information about the X11 outputs, workspaces and layout of the windows on them
in a tree. The root node is the X11 root window, followed by the X11 outputs,
then workspaces and finally the windows themselve. In previous versions of i3
we had multiple lists (of outputs, workspaces) and a table for each workspace.
That approach turned out to be complicated to use (snapping), understand and
implement.
=== The tree consists of Containers
The building blocks of our tree are so called +Containers+. A +Container+ can
host a window (meaning an X11 window, one that you can actually see and use,
like a browser). Alternatively, it could contain one or more +Containers+. A
simple example is the workspace: When you start i3 with a single monitor, a
single workspace and you open two terminal windows, you will end up with a tree
like this:
image::tree-layout2.png["layout2",float="right"]
image::tree-shot4.png["shot4",title="Two terminals on standard workspace"]
=== Orientation and Split Containers
[[OrientationSplit]]
It is only natural to use so-called +Split Containers+ in order to build a
layout when using a tree as data structure. In i3, every +Container+ has an
orientation (horizontal, vertical or unspecified). So, in our example with the
workspace, the default orientation of the workspace +Container+ is horizontal
(most monitors are widescreen nowadays). If you change the orientation to
vertical (+Alt+v+ in the default config) and *then* open two terminals, i3 will
configure your windows like this:
image::tree-shot2.png["shot2",title="Vertical Workspace Orientation"]
An interesting new feature of the tree branch is the ability to split anything:
Lets assume you have two terminals on a workspace (with horizontal
orientation), focus is on the right terminal. Now you want to open another
terminal window below the current one. If you would just open a new terminal
window, it would show up to the right due to the horizontal workspace
orientation. Instead, press +Alt+v+ to create a +Vertical Split Container+ (to
open a +Horizontal Split Container+, use +Alt+h+). Now you can open a new
terminal and it will open below the current one:
image::tree-layout1.png["Layout",float="right"]
image::tree-shot1.png["shot",title="Vertical Split Container"]
unfloat::[]
You probably guessed it already: There is no limit on how deep your hierarchy
of splits can be.
=== Level up
Lets stay with our example from above. We have a terminal on the left and two
vertically split terminals on the right, focus is on the bottom right one. When
you open a new terminal, it will open below the current one.
So, how can you open a new terminal window to the *right* of the current one?
The solution is to use +level up+, which will focus the +Parent Container+ of
the current +Container+. In this case, you would focus the +Vertical Split
Container+ which is *inside* the horizontally oriented workspace. Thus, now new
windows will be opened to the right of the +Vertical Split Container+:
image::tree-shot3.png["shot3",title="Level Up, then open new terminal"]
== Configuring i3
This is where the real fun begins ;-). Most things are very dependant on your
@ -221,6 +288,9 @@ workspace bar. You can use +xfontsel(1)+ to generate such a font description.
To see special characters (Unicode), you need to use a font which supports
the ISO-10646 encoding.
If i3 cannot open the configured font, it will output an error in the logfile
and fall back to a working font.
*Syntax*:
------------------------------
font <X core font description>
@ -308,8 +378,12 @@ floating_modifier <Modifiers>
floating_modifier Mod1
--------------------------------
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
=== Layout mode for new containers
TODO: this is workspace_layout. but workspace_layout only works for the first
con, right?
This option determines in which mode new containers will start. See also
<<stack-limit>>.
@ -323,6 +397,7 @@ new_container stack-limit <cols|rows> <value>
---------------------
new_container tabbed
---------------------
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
=== Border style for new windows
@ -330,12 +405,12 @@ This option determines which border style new windows will have.
*Syntax*:
---------------------------------------------
new_window <bp|bn|bb>
new_window <normal|1pixel|borderless>
---------------------------------------------
*Examples*:
---------------------
new_window bp
new_window 1pixel
---------------------
=== Variables
@ -380,21 +455,21 @@ not be put onto any workspace, but will be set floating on the current one.
*Syntax*:
------------------------------------------------------------
assign ["]window class[/window title]["] [→] [~ | workspace]
assign ["]window class[/window title]["] [→] [workspace]
------------------------------------------------------------
*Examples*:
----------------------
assign urxvt 2
assign urxvt → 2
assign urxvt → work
assign "urxvt" → 2
assign "urxvt/VIM" → 3
assign "gecko" → ~4
assign "xv/MPlayer" → ~
assign "gecko" → 4
----------------------
Note that the arrow is not required, it just looks good :-). If you decide to
use it, it has to be a UTF-8 encoded arrow, not "->" or something like that.
use it, it has to be a UTF-8 encoded arrow, not `->` or something like that.
=== Automatically starting applications on i3 startup
@ -409,7 +484,7 @@ exec command
*Examples*:
--------------------------------
exec sudo i3status | dzen2 -dock
exec i3status | dzen2 -dock
--------------------------------
[[workspace_screen]]
@ -437,26 +512,6 @@ workspace 1 output LVDS1
workspace 5 output VGA1
---------------------------
=== Named workspaces
If you always have a certain arrangement of workspaces, you might want to give
them names (of course UTF-8 is supported):
*Syntax*:
---------------------------------------
workspace <number> <name>
workspace <number> output <output> name
---------------------------------------
For more details about the 'output' part of this command, see above.
*Examples*:
--------------------------
workspace 1 www
workspace 2 work
workspace 3 i ♥ workspaces
--------------------------
=== Changing colors
You can change all colors which i3 uses to draw the window decorations and the
@ -549,107 +604,73 @@ focus_follows_mouse <yes|no>
focus_follows_mouse no
----------------------
=== Internal workspace bar
The internal workspace bar (the thing at the bottom of your screen) is very
simple -- it does not provide a way to display custom text and it does not
offer advanced customization features. This is intended because we do not
want to duplicate functionality of tools like +dzen2+, +xmobar+ and so on
(they render bars, we manage windows). Instead, there is an option which will
turn off the internal bar completely, so that you can use a separate program to
display it (see +i3-wsbar+, a sample implementation of such a program):
*Syntax*:
----------------------
workspace_bar <yes|no>
----------------------
*Examples*:
----------------
workspace_bar no
----------------
== List of commands
=== Manipulating layout
To change the layout of the current container to stacking, use +s+, for default
use +d+ and for tabbed, use +T+. To make the current client (!) fullscreen,
use +f+, to make it span all outputs, use +fg+, to make it floating (or
tiling again) use +t+:
To change the layout of the current container to stacking, use +layout
stacking+, for default use +layout default+ and for tabbed, use +layout
tabbed+. To make the current client (!) fullscreen, use +fullscreen+, to make
it floating (or tiling again) use +mode floating+ respectively +mode tiling+
(or +mode toggle+):
*Examples*:
--------------
bindsym Mod1+s s
bindsym Mod1+l d
bindsym Mod1+w T
bindsym Mod1+s layout stacking
bindsym Mod1+l layout default
bindsym Mod1+w layout tabbed
# Toggle fullscreen
bindsym Mod1+f f
# Toggle global fullscreen
bindsym Mod1+Shift+f fg
bindsym Mod1+f fullscreen
# Toggle floating/tiling
bindsym Mod1+t t
bindsym Mod1+t mode toggle
--------------
=== Focusing/Moving/Snapping clients/containers/screens
=== Focusing/Moving containers
To change the focus, use one of the +h+, +j+, +k+ and +l+ commands, meaning
left, down, up, right (respectively). To focus a container, prefix it with
+wc+. To focus a screen, prefix it with +ws+.
To change the focus, use one of the +prev h+, +next v+, +prev v+ and +next h+
commands, meaning left, down, up, right (respectively).
The same principle applies for moving and snapping: just prefix the command
with +m+ when moving and with +s+ when snapping:
For moving, use +move left+, +move right+, +move down+ and +move up+.
*Examples*:
----------------------
# Focus clients on the left, bottom, top, right:
bindsym Mod1+j h
bindsym Mod1+k j
bindsym Mod1+j k
bindsym Mod1+semicolon l
bindsym Mod1+j prev h
bindsym Mod1+k next v
bindsym Mod1+j prev v
bindsym Mod1+semicolon next h
# Move client to the left, bottom, top, right:
bindsym Mod1+j mh
bindsym Mod1+k mj
bindsym Mod1+j mk
bindsym Mod1+semicolon ml
# Snap client to the left, bottom, top, right:
bindsym Mod1+j sh
bindsym Mod1+k sj
bindsym Mod1+j sk
bindsym Mod1+semicolon sl
# Focus container on the left, bottom, top, right:
bindsym Mod3+j wch
bindsym Mod1+j move left
bindsym Mod1+k move down
bindsym Mod1+j move up
bindsym Mod1+semicolon move right
----------------------
=== Changing workspaces/moving clients to workspaces
=== Changing workspaces/moving containers to workspaces
To change to a specific workspace, the command is just the number of the
workspace, e.g. +1+ or +3+. To move the current client to a specific workspace,
prefix the number with an +m+.
To change to a specific workspace, use the +workspace+ command, followed by the
number or name of the workspace. To move containers, use +move workspace+.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TODO: not yet implemented
You can also switch to the next and previous workspace with the commands +nw+
and +pw+, which is handy, for example, if you have workspace 1, 3, 4 and 9 and
you want to cycle through them with a single key combination.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
*Examples*:
-------------------------
bindsym Mod1+1 1
bindsym Mod1+2 2
bindsym Mod1+1 workspace 1
bindsym Mod1+2 workspace 2
...
bindsym Mod1+Shift+1 m1
bindsym Mod1+Shift+2 m2
bindsym Mod1+Shift+1 move workspace 1
bindsym Mod1+Shift+2 move workspace 2
...
bindsym Mod1+o nw
bindsym Mod1+p pw
-------------------------
[[resizingconfig]]
@ -659,6 +680,8 @@ bindsym Mod1+p pw
If you want to resize columns/rows using your keyboard, you can use the
+resize+ command, I recommend using it inside a so called +mode+:
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TODO: mode is not yet implemented
.Example: Configuration file, defining a mode for resizing
----------------------------------------------------------------------
mode "resize" {
@ -668,17 +691,17 @@ mode "resize" {
# when pressing left, the window is resized so that it has
# more space on its left
bindsym n resize left -10
bindsym Shift+n resize left +10
bindsym j resize shrink left
bindsym Shift+j resize grow left
bindsym r resize bottom +10
bindsym Shift+r resize bottom -10
bindsym k resize grow bottom
bindsym Shift+k resize shrink bottom
bindsym t resize top -10
bindsym Shift+t resize top +10
bindsym l resize shrink top
bindsym Shift+l resize grow top
bindsym d resize right +10
bindsym Shift+d resize right -10
bindsym semicolon resize grow right
bindsym Shift+semicolon resize shrink right
bindcode 36 mode default
}
@ -687,29 +710,28 @@ mode "resize" {
bindsym Mod1+r mode resize
----------------------------------------------------------------------
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
=== Jumping to specific windows
Often when in a multi-monitor environment, you want to quickly jump to a
specific window. For example, while working on workspace 3 you may want to
jump to your mail client to email your boss that youve achieved some
important goal. Instead of figuring out how to navigate to your mailclient,
it would be more convenient to have a shortcut.
it would be more convenient to have a shortcut. You can use the +focus+ command
for that.
*Syntax*:
----------------------------------------------------
jump ["]window class[/window title]["]
jump workspace [ column row ]
[class="class"] focus
[title="title"] focus
----------------------------------------------------
You can either use the same matching algorithm as in the +assign+ command
(see above) or you can specify the position of the client if you always use
the same layout.
*Examples*:
--------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------
# Get me to the next open VIM instance
bindsym Mod1+a jump "urxvt/VIM"
--------------------------------------
bindsym Mod1+a [class="urxvt" title="VIM"] focus
------------------------------------------------
=== VIM-like marks (mark/goto)
@ -728,11 +750,13 @@ for this purpose: It lets you input a command and sends the command to i3. It
can also prefix this command and display a custom prompt for the input dialog.
*Syntax*:
-----------------
------------------------------
mark <identifier>
goto <identifier>
-----------------
[con_mark="identifier"] focus
------------------------------
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TODO: make i3-input replace %s
*Examples*:
---------------------------------------
# Read 1 character and mark the current window with this character
@ -744,7 +768,10 @@ bindsym Mod1+g exec i3-input -p 'goto ' -l 1 -P 'Goto: '
Alternatively, if you do not want to mess with +i3-input+, you could create
seperate bindings for a specific set of labels and then only use those labels.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TODO: not yet implemented
=== Traveling the focus stack
This mechanism can be thought of as the opposite of the +jump+ command.
@ -767,29 +794,36 @@ tiling::
ft::
If the current window is floating, the next tiling window will be
selected; and vice-versa.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
=== Changing border style
To change the border of the current client, you can use +bn+ to use the normal
border (including window title), +bp+ to use a 1-pixel border (no window title)
and +bb+ to make the client borderless. There is also +bt+ which will toggle
the different border styles.
To change the border of the current client, you can use +border normal+ to use the normal
border (including window title), +border 1pixel+ to use a 1-pixel border (no window title)
and +border none+ to make the client borderless.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TODO: not yet implemented
There is also +border toggle+ which will toggle the different border styles.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
*Examples*:
------------------
bindsym Mod1+t bn
bindsym Mod1+y bp
bindsym Mod1+u bb
------------------
----------------------------
bindsym Mod1+t border normal
bindsym Mod1+y border 1pixel
bindsym Mod1+u border none
----------------------------
[[stack-limit]]
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TODO: not yet implemented
=== Changing the stack-limit of a container
If you have a single container with a lot of windows inside it (say, more than
10), the default layout of a stacking container can get a little unhandy.
Depending on your screens size, you might end up seeing only half of the
titlebars for each window in the container.
Depending on your screens size, you might end up with only half of the title
lines being actually used, wasting a lot of screen space.
Using the +stack-limit+ command, you can limit the number of rows or columns
in a stacking container. i3 will create columns or rows (depending on what
@ -810,6 +844,7 @@ stack-limit rows 5
-------------------
image:stacklimit.png[Container limited to two columns]
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
=== Reloading/Restarting/Exiting