Provided by: icewm-common_2.9.6-1_amd64 
NAME
icesh - control window properties and the IceWM window manager
SYNOPSIS
icesh OPTIONS|ACTIONS+
DESCRIPTION
icesh provides two types of commands:
1. Commands to directly interact with icewm:
These are listed in the section "MANAGER ACTIONS" below. They are easy to use, because they don't
require to select one or more windows. For example, "icesh restart" will restart icewm and "icesh
clients" lists the applications which are managed by icewm.
2. Commands which operate on a selection of windows:
See the section "WINDOW ACTIONS" below. For example, "icesh close" is a request to close a window,
but which window? Now icesh will turn the mouse pointer into a crosshair. Click on a window and a
close request will be sent to that application.
The power of icesh lies in its ability to programmatically select one or more windows and operate on
that selection. This can be used in scripts and in icewm-keys(5) to define your own window
management hotkeys. For example, to immediately close all xterm windows do "icesh -c xterm close".
There are a dozen "SELECT OPTIONS" to select windows. They start with a '-' or a '+'. The '-'
starts a new selection, while the '+' adds more windows to an existing selection.
This selection of windows can be reduced by "FILTER OPTIONS". These remove unwanted windows from the
current selection. Multiple filter options can be given. For example, "icesh -c xterm -W this close"
will close only those xterms which are shown on the current workspace. The xterms on other workspaces
are filtered out by the "-W this" filter option.
There is no limit to the number of commands, selections, filters and actions which you can give to a
single icesh command. They are processed and evaluated one by one from left to right. This makes icesh
a small declarative programming language. Have a look at some examples near the end of this document.
OPTIONS
icesh recognizes the following options:
SELECT OPTIONS
Select options specify the window or windows to which subsequent actions apply. If none is given, but an
action does require a window, then a selection crosshair is shown to select the desired window
interactively. The manager actions do not require window options.
The following options select one or more client windows. If needed, they can be repeated for successive
actions.
-a, -all
Selects all client windows of the window manager.
-f, -focus, +f, +focus
Selects the application window which is currently focused. The option with minus sign replaces the
existing selection with the focused window. With a plus sign the focused window is added to an
existing selection.
+g, +group
Extend the current selection with client windows which belong to the same application window group.
-r, -root, +r, +root
Selects the root window. The option with minus sign replaces the existing selection with the root
window. With a plus sign the root window is added to an existing selection.
-s, -shown
Selects all client windows which are on the current workspace.
-t, -top
Selects all toplevel windows from the display unconditionally. This includes windows which have
never been mapped and windows with the override redirect bit set to evade management.
-w, -window, +w, +window WINDOW_ID
Specifies the identifier of the window, WINDOW_ID, for which the action applies. Special identifiers
are root for the root window and focus for the currently focused window. The option with minus sign
replaces the existing selection. With a plus sign the window is added to an existing selection.
-x, -xembed
Selects all windows which are embedded using the XEMBED protocol.
+c, +class CLASS
Extend the current selection with client windows that have a WM_CLASS property equal to CLASS. This
is the resource instance and class name. If CLASS contains a period, only windows with exactly the
same WM_CLASS property are matched. If there is no period, windows of the same class and windows of
the same instance are selected.
+C, +Class
Extend the current selection with client windows that have a WM_CLASS property similar to the already
selected set of windows.
-D, -Dockapps
Selects all Dockapp applications which are managed by icewm.
+P, +Pid
Extend the current selection with client windows that have the same process identifier as one of the
selected windows.
-T Selects the IceWM taskbar.
FILTER OPTIONS
The following options filter the currently selected set of windows. If no previous select option was
given then a -all option is implicitly assumed to filter all client windows.
-c, -class CLASS
Filters the set of windows on their WM_CLASS property. This is the resource instance and class name.
If CLASS contains a period, only windows with exactly the same WM_CLASS property are matched. If
there is no period, windows of the same class and windows of the same instance (aka. -name) are
selected.
-l, -last
Filter clients and keep only the most recent client.
-m, -machine HOST
Filters clients by host name. Clients with a WM_CLIENT_MACHINE property equal to HOST are selected.
-n, -name NAME
Filters clients by _NET_WM_NAME or WM_NAME. NAME matches any part of the property value. To match
at the beginning use a "^" prefix. To match at the end use a "$" suffix.
-p, -pid PID
Filters clients by process ID. Clients with a _NET_WM_PID property equal to PID are selected.
-u, -unmapped
Filter clients and keep those which are currently not viewable. These are hidden, minimized, rolled-
up, or on another workspace.
-v, -viewable
Filter clients and keep only those which are currently viewable. These clients are mapped on the
current workspace.
-G, -Gravity GRAVITY
Filters clients by the window gravity field of the WM_NORMAL_HINTS property. Clients with a gravity
equal to GRAVITY are selected. If GRAVITY starts with an exclamation mark then the filtering is
inverted.
-L, -Layer LAYER
Filters clients by GNOME window layer, which can either be a layer name or a layer number. See
EXPRESSIONS below. If LAYER starts with an exclamation mark then the filtering is inverted.
-N, -Netstate STATE
Filters clients by EWMH window state. Clients which have at least an EWMH window state of STATE are
selected. This state refers to details like MINIZED or MAXIMIZED. See EXPRESSIONS below. If STATE
starts with an exclamation mark then the filtering is inverted. A question mark "?" filters clients
with any bit set in STATE.
-P, -Property PROP[=value]
Filters clients by property. Clients which have a property PROP are selected. If the optional value
is given, the match succeeds only if PROP is a string, window, cardinal, or atom, with a value equal
to value. The filtering is inverted if PROP starts with an exclamation mark.
-R, -Role ROLE
Filters clients by WM_WINDOW_ROLE. Clients which have a WM_WINDOW_ROLE property value equal to ROLE
are selected. The filtering is inverted if ROLE starts with an exclamation mark.
-W, -Workspace WORKSPACE
Filter clients by workspace. Workspace WORKSPACE is either a workspace name, or a workspace number
counting from zero, or the word "this" for the current workspace, or the word "All" for all
workspaces. If WORKSPACE starts with an exclamation mark then the filtering is inverted.
-X, -Xinerama MONITOR
Limit clients by RandR/Xinerama monitor. Only operate on clients which are displayed on MONITOR,
where MONITOR can be "All" for all monitors, "this" for the monitor where the active window is
displayed, or a monitor number starting from zero. See the output of "randr" or "xinerama" below.
GENERAL OPTIONS
The following options are identical for every IceWM command.
-d, -display DISPLAY
Specifies the X11 DISPLAY. If unspecified, defaults to $DISPLAY.
-h, --help
Print a brief usage statement to stdout and exit.
-V, --version
Print the program version to stdout and exit.
-C, --copying
Print copying permissions to stdout for the program and exit.
-q, --quiet
Don't complain if no matching windows could be found.
ACTIONS
icesh expects one or more action arguments. There are two kinds of actions: window actions and manager
actions. The first operates on the selected windows. The second directly interacts with the icewm window
manager.
WINDOW ACTIONS
The following actions affect the selected window or windows.
activate
Activate the window, aka. to focus.
close
Send a close request to the client that created the window.
kill
Force an immediate close down of the client that created the window.
id Print window identifiers for the selected windows.
pid Print process identifiers for the selected windows.
list
Show window details, like geometry and names.
lower
Lower the window.
raise
Raise the window.
above
Stack the window above others.
below
Stack the window below others.
rollup
Rollup the specified window.
fullscreen
Set the window to fullscreen.
maximize
Maximize the window.
horizontal
Maximize the window only horizontally.
vertical
Maximize the window only vertically.
minimize
Minimize the window.
restore
Restore the window to normal.
hide
Hide the window.
unhide
Reveal the window.
skip
Don't show the window on the taskbar.
unskip
Do show the window on the taskbar.
sticky
Show the window on all workspaces.
unsticky
Show the window on just one workspace.
urgent
Set the urgent flag to flash the task button.
resize WIDTH HEIGHT
Resize window to WIDTH by HEIGHT window units. For text based applications like terminals, a window
unit is the size of a single character cell.
sizeto WIDTH HEIGHT
Resize window to WIDTH by HEIGHT pixels. If WIDTH or HEIGHT ends with a percent sign "%", then they
refer to a percentage of the desktop work area. For instance, "sizeto 50% 100%" resizes to half the
desktop width and whatever height is available above or below the taskbar.
sizeby WIDTH HEIGHT
Resize window by WIDTH by HEIGHT pixels. If WIDTH or HEIGHT ends with a percent sign "%", then they
refer to a percentage of the current window size. For instance, "sizeby 50% 200" increases the width
by 50% and increases the height by 200 pixels.
move X Y
Move the selected window or windows to the screen position X Y. To specify X or Y values relative to
the right side or bottom side precede the value with an extra minus sign, like in "move -+10 --20".
moveby X Y
Displace window by X Y pixels.
center
Position the window in the center of the desktop work area.
left
Position the window against the left side of the desktop work area.
right
Position the window against the right side of the desktop work area.
top Position the window against the top side of the desktop work area.
bottom
Position the window against the bottom side of the desktop work area.
setIconTitle TITLE
Set the icon title to TITLE.
getIconTitle
Print the icon title.
setWindowTitle TITLE
Set the window title to TITLE.
getWindowTitle
Print the window title.
setGeometry GEOMETRY
Set the window geometry to GEOMETRY. This geometry should be specified in a format that can be
parsed by XParseGeometry(3). Negative offsets are with respect to the bottom or right side of the
screen. Use "+-" for a truly negative position.
getGeometry
Print the window geometry.
netState [STATE]
If STATE is omitted then it shows the EWMH window state. If STATE starts with a "+" then flags in
STATE are appended to the existing EWMH window state. If STATE starts with a "-" then flags in STATE
are removed from the existing EWMH window state. If STATE starts with a "^" then flags in STATE are
toggled with respect to the existing EWMH window state. If STATE starts with a "=" then the EWMH
window state is set to STATE. See EXPRESSIONS below. A list of EWMH flags can be found in the output
of "icesh symbols".
setLayer LAYER
Move the specified window to another window layer. See EXPRESSIONS below for a list of LAYER
symbols.
getLayer
Print the window layer for the specified window.
setWorkspace WORKSPACE
Move the specified window to another workspace. Select the root window to change the current
workspace. If WORKSPACE is "All" then the specified window becomes visible on all workspaces.
Specify "this" for the current workspace, "next" for the subsequent workspace or "prev" for the
preceding workspace.
getWorkspace
Print the workspace for the specified window.
opacity [OPACITY]
Print the window opacity if OPACITY is not given, otherwise set the window opacity to OPACITY.
setTrayOption TRAYOPTION
Set the IceWM tray option for the specified window to TRAYOPTION. See IceWM tray options, below, for
TRAYOPTION symbols.
getTrayOption
Print the IceWM tray option for the specified window.
setNormalGravity GRAVITY
Set the window gravity field in the WM_NORMAL_HINTS property for the specified window to GRAVITY.
See below for GRAVITY symbols.
getNormalGravity
Print the window gravity from the WM_NORMAL_HINTS property for the specified window.
setWindowGravity GRAVITY
Set the window gravity for the specified window to GRAVITY. See below for GRAVITY symbols.
getWindowGravity
Print the window gravity for the specified window.
setBitGravity GRAVITY
Set the bit gravity> for the specified window to GRAVITY. See below for GRAVITY symbols.
getBitGravity
Print the bit gravity for the specified window.
motif [funcs FUNCTIONS | decor DECORATIONS | remove]
Query, set or modify the "_MOTIF_WM_HINTS" property for the specified window. Without arguments
motif will show the current value, but only if the window has such a property. The property can be
removed or reset with the remove argument. With funcs and decor individual fields of this property
can be enabled or disabled. If FUNCTIONS or DECORATIONS starts with a minus or plus sign then the
existing value is modified, otherwise it is set to the new value. Note that if "All" is set, other
set fields are disabled and cleared fields are enabled.
borderless
Hide the frame borders and title.
bordered
Show the frame borders and title.
denormal
Remove the WM_NORMAL_HINTS property, if it exists. This lifts font-size restrictions on resizing,
especially for terminals.
prop PROPERTY
Print the value of property PROPERTY, if it is present.
properties
Print all properties and their values.
frame
Print the identifier of the window frame.
click window-x window-y button
Send a button press and release event at position (window-x, window-y). A negative position is
relative to the bottom right corner. The mouse pointer is warped to the position before sending the
events. The button number should be between 1 and 5 inclusive.
monitors top bottom left right
This sets the monitors to use for fullscreen. Top, bottom, left, and right are indices of the icesh
xinerama command.
spy Observe the selected windows and report any changes. This includes focus, visibility, position, size
and all window properties. To monitor all of the protocol request messages that client applications
may send to icewm, also spy on the root window.
MANAGER ACTIONS
The following actions control the IceWM window manager and therefore do not require a window select or
filter option:
listWorkspaces
List the names of all workspaces.
current
Show the number and name of the current workspace.
goto WORKSPACE
Change the current workspace to WORKSPACE. Specify "next" for the subsequent workspace or "prev" for
the preceding workspace.
workspaces [COUNT]
Print the number of workspaces if COUNT is not given, otherwise set the number of workspaces to
COUNT.
setWorkspaceName INDEX NAME
Change the name of the workspace INDEX to NAME, where INDEX is a workspace number starting from zero.
setWorkspaceNames NAME [NAME]*
Change the workspace names to the list of NAMEs.
addWorkspace NAME
Create a new workspace with name NAME.
desktop [SHOWING]
If SHOWING is 1 then set "showing the desktop" mode. If SHOWING is 0 then turn off "showing the
desktop". Print the current mode if SHOWING is not given.
randr
Summarize the RandR configuration.
xinerama
Summarize the Xinerama configuration.
check
Print information about the current window manager, like name, version, class, locale, command, host
name and pid.
clients
List all managed client windows, their titles and geometries.
shown
List all mapped client windows for the current desktop, their titles and geometries.
windows
List all toplevel windows, their titles and geometries.
systray
List applications which are managed by the IceWM system tray.
xembed
List application windows which are embedded using the XEMBED protocol. This is another way to
discover system tray applications.
logout
Let icewm execute the "LogoutCommand".
reboot
Let icewm execute the "RebootCommand".
shutdown
Let icewm execute the "ShutdownCommand".
cancel
Let icewm cancel the logout/reboot/shutdown.
about
Let icewm show the about window.
windowlist
Let icewm show the window list window.
restart
Let icewm restart itself.
suspend
Let icewm execute the "SuspendCommand".
winoptions
Let icewm reload the "winoptions".
keys
Let icewm reload the "keys" file.
guievents
Monitor the ICEWM_GUI_EVENT property and report all changes.
delay [time]
Stop execution for time or 0.1 seconds.
runonce program [arguments...]
This action is meant to be used together with the -class option. Only if no window is matched by
WM_CLASS then program [arguments...] is executed.
sync
Synchronize with the IceWM window manager. That is, wait for icewm to process all previous actions.
symbols
List all named symbols.
CONDITIONALS
Icesh supports "if-then-else" expressions. The full syntax is:
if selection
then
actions
elif selection
then
actions
else
actions
end
Where "selection" is a sequence of selection and filtering options, which evaluates to true when it is
non-empty. That is, if one or more windows fulfilled the condition. If it is empty, then its "actions"
clause is ignored and the subsequent "elif" or "else" clause is tried or taken. Each clause is optional.
Whenever a selection condition evaluates to false, the window selection that existed before the "if"
clause is immediately restored. This also happens after an "end" clause.
EXPRESSIONS
Some of the window actions require one or two EXPRESSION arguments.
EXPRESSION ::= SYMBOL | EXPRESSION { "+" | "|" } SYMBOL
Each SYMBOL may be from one of the following applicable domains:
Window layer
Named symbols of the domain Window layer (numeric range: 0-15):
Desktop (0)
Below (2)
Normal (4)
OnTop (6)
Dock (8)
AboveDock (10)
Menu (12)
These symbols are used with the LAYER argument to the "setLayer" action.
IceWM tray option
Named symbols of the domain IceWM tray option (numeric range: 0-2):
Ignore (0)
Minimized (1)
Exclusive (2)
These symbols are used with the TRAYOPTION argument to the "setTrayOption" action.
Gravity symbols
Named symbols for window and bit gravity (numeric range: 0-10):
ForgetGravity (0)
NorthWestGravity (1)
NorthGravity (2)
NorthEastGravity (3)
WestGravity (4)
CenterGravity (5)
EastGravity (6)
SouthWestGravity (7)
SouthGravity (8)
SouthEastGravity (9)
StaticGravity (10)
Motif functions
All (1)
Resize (2)
Move (4)
Minimize (8)
Maximize (16)
Close (32)
Motif decorations
All (1)
Border (2)
Resize (4)
Title (8)
Menu (16)
Minimize (32)
Maximize (64)
EWMH window state symbols
Named symbols of the domain EWMH state (numeric range: 0-8191):
ABOVE (1)
BELOW (2)
DEMANDS_ATTENTION (4)
FOCUSED (8)
FULLSCREEN (16)
HIDDEN (32)
MAXIMIZED_HORZ (64)
MAXIMIZED_VERT (128)
MODAL (256)
SHADED (512)
SKIP_PAGER (1024)
SKIP_TASKBAR (2048)
STICKY (4096)
EXAMPLES
List all workspace names:
icesh listWorkspaces
Example output:
workspace #0: `main'
workspace #1: `web'
workspace #2: `doc'
workspace #3: `dev'
Close terminal work and activate terminal fun.
icesh -c work.XTerm close -a -c fun.XTerm activate
Print opacity for all xterms.
icesh -c XTerm opacity
Change opacity for all xterms.
icesh -c XTerm opacity 84
Move all windows on workspace "Top" to the current workspace.
icesh -W "Top" setWorkspace "this"
Restore all hidden clients, minimize all clients on the current workspace and activate Firefox.
icesh -N HIDDEN restore -a -W "this" minimize -a -c Firefox activate
Resize the focused window to occupy the right half of the desktop area.
icesh -f sizeto 49% 100% sync top sync right sync raise activate
Toggle the frame border of the focused window.
if icesh -f motif | grep -q 'decor:$'; then \
icesh -f motif decor All; else icesh -f motif decor ""; fi
Here is a different solution using conditionals.
icesh -f if -P _NET_FRAME_EXTENTS=0 then bordered else borderless
Here is a conditional to either toggle the visibility of a roxterm, which has a WM_ROLE value of
"special", or start it with runonce.
icesh sync if -c roxterm.Roxterm -R special then \
if -v then hide \
elif -u then setWorkspace this sync activate end \
else runonce roxterm --role=special
ENVIRONMENT
DISPLAY
The default display.
EXIT STATUS
0 The last action completed successfully.
1 The last action completed unsuccessfully, or no window met the condition.
2 A conditional has invalid syntax.
3 The display could not be opened.
4 The X server reports an error while processing a request.
COMPLIANCE
icesh is largely compliant with the EWMH and ICCCM specifications. Some commands, like manager actions,
are specific to IceWM.
SEE ALSO
icewm(1), wmctrl(1), xdotool(1), xprop(1), xwininfo(1), XParseGeometry(3).
BUGS
Please report bugs at <https://github.com/bbidulock/icewm/issues>.
AUTHOR
Brian Bidulock <mailto:bidulock@openss7.org>.
See --copying for full copyright notice and copying permissions.
LICENSE
IceWM is licensed under the GNU Library General Public License. See the COPYING file in the distribution
or use the --copying flag to display copying permissions.
icewm 2.9.6 2022-02-23 ICESH(1)