ICEWM-KEYS(5)         Standards, Environments and Macros         ICEWM-KEYS(5)


   NAME
        icewm-keys - icewm keys configuration file

   SYNOPSIS
        $ICEWM_PRIVCFG/keys
        $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm/keys
        $HOME/.icewm/keys
        /etc/icewm/keys
        /usr/share/icewm/keys

   DESCRIPTION
       The "keys" file defines global keybindings to launch applications.  A
       keybinding has three parts: the word key, a double-quoted string with
       an X11 key combination and a program with its arguments.  These are
       separated by one or more spaces. Empty lines are allowed.  Comment
       lines start with a hash.

       For example, the following defines a hotkey to restart icewm:

           key "Ctrl+Shift+r"      icesh restart

       See the output of "xmodmap -pk" for a list of the many keystroke names
       you can use in icewm key definitions. Since IceWM version 3.4.0,
       bindings can not only be defined by their keystroke name, but also by
       their key label. In addition, the shifted key is now definable as well.
       For example, the key with + and = can be bound in either of the
       following four ways, which are identical:

           key "Ctrl+Shift+equal"  xterm
           key "Ctrl+Shift+="      xterm
           key "Ctrl+plus"         xterm
           key "Ctrl++"            xterm

       To bind the mouse, use "Pointer_Button1" for button 1, and so on.  This
       only works when the mouse is over the root window.  See below for
       examples.

       The command "icesh keys" instructs icewm to reload this file.

   FORMAT
       The syntax of the keys file is as follows:

           key "key_combination" program options

       Where,

       key The word key begins the definition of a keybinding.

       key_combination
           A combination of modifiers and a key, like "Ctrl+Alt+Delete".
           Valid modifiers are Alt, AltGr, Ctrl, Hyper, Meta, Shift, Super.
           Each modifier must be followed by a single plus-sign.  The key is
           either a keystroke name or a key label.  Instead of a key, mouse
           pointer buttons can be specified by "Pointer_Button1" and up, like
           "Shift+Pointer_Button3".

       program options
           program is the name of the executable or its path.  It may start
           with a tilde or an environment variable, which will be expanded.
           The options are passed as arguments to the program.

       switchkey
           Is an alternative to key. In this case the program must print on
           standard output the definition of a dynamic icewm-menu(1).  This
           menu will presented as a popup menu.

   EXAMPLES
       Following is the example keys file that ships with icewm(1):

           # This is an example for IceWM's hotkey definition file.
           #
           # A list of all valid keyboard symbols can be found in
           # /usr/include/X11/keysymdef.h, XF86keysym.h, ...
           # Omit the XK_ prefixs and replace XF86XK_ prefixes by XF86.
           # Valid modifiers are Alt, AltGr, Ctrl, Shift, Meta, Super, Hyper.
           #
           key "Alt+Ctrl+t" xterm
           key "Alt+Ctrl+b" xdg-open about:blank
           key "Alt+Ctrl+s" xdg-open https://www.google.com

           key "Super+KP_Subtract" amixer sset PCM 5%-
           key "Super+KP_Add" amixer sset PCM 5%+

           # "Multimedia key" bindings for XFree86. Gather the
           # keycodes of your advanced function keys by watching the
           # output of the xev command whilst pressing those keys
           # and map those symbols using xmodmap.

           key "XF86AudioLowerVolume" amixer sset PCM 5%-
           key "XF86AudioRaiseVolume" amixer sset PCM 5%+
           key "XF86AudioMute" amixer sset PCM 0%
           key "XF86HomePage" xdg-open about:blank
           key "XF86Search" xdg-open https://www.google.com
           key "XF86Eject" eject

           # display and select monitor setup configurations
           switchkey "Super+p" icewm-menu-xrandr

       Following shows how to add mouse button bindings on the root window to
       change the current workspace rolling the mouse wheel on the desktop:

           key "Pointer_Button4"   icesh goto prev
           key "Pointer_Button5"   icesh goto next

       These are key bindings for single window tile operations to replace the
       KeyWinArrange key bindings from the preferences file:

           key "Ctrl+Alt+KP_Home"  icesh -f sizeto 49% 49% top left
           key "Ctrl+Alt+KP_Up"    icesh -f sizeto 100% 49% top left
           key "Ctrl+Alt+KP_Prior" icesh -f sizeto 49% 49% top right
           key "Ctrl+Alt+KP_Right" icesh -f sizeto 49% 100% top right
           key "Ctrl+Alt+KP_Next"  icesh -f sizeto 49% 49% bottom right
           key "Ctrl+Alt+KP_Down"  icesh -f sizeto 100% 49% bottom left
           key "Ctrl+Alt+KP_End"   icesh -f sizeto 49% 49% bottom left
           key "Ctrl+Alt+KP_Left"  icesh -f sizeto 49% 100% top left
           key "Ctrl+Alt+KP_Begin" icesh -f sizeto 49% 49% center

   FILES
       Locations for the keys file are as follows:

        $ICEWM_PRIVCFG/keys
        $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm/keys
        $HOME/.icewm/keys
        /etc/icewm/keys
        /usr/share/icewm/keys

       The locations are searched in the order listed; the first file found is
       read and the remainder ignored.

   SEE ALSO
       icewm(1).

   AUTHOR
       Brian Bidulock <mailto:bidulock@openss7.org>.

   LICENSE
       IceWM is licensed under the GNU Library General Public License.  See
       the COPYING file in the distribution.

icewm 3.6.0                       2024-06-16                     ICEWM-KEYS(5)