Dynamic window manager (DWM), as one component of the suckless suite, is a flexible but lightweight window manager for X. This post just summarizes the procedure of installation and customization.
DWM
Download the source codes
git clone --depth=1 https://git.suckless.org/dwmCustomization
Patch
- Addtional features are supported as patches, which can be downloaded from https://dwm.suckless.org/patches. E.g.,
alpha,hide_vacant_tags,pertag,rotatestack. In order to record and maintain the customization with git, patches can be applied by
git apply PATCH.diff
- Addtional features are supported as patches, which can be downloaded from https://dwm.suckless.org/patches. E.g.,
config.def.hUsers can further tweak DWM's appearance and behaviors by editing this file. E.g.,
/* See LICENSE file for copyright and license details. */ #include <X11/XF86keysym.h> /* appearance */ static const unsigned int borderpx = 1; /* border pixel of windows */ static const unsigned int snap = 32; /* snap pixel */ static const int showbar = 1; /* 0 means no bar */ static const int topbar = 1; /* 0 means bottom bar */ static const char *fonts[] = { "Sarasa Mono SC:size=18" }; /* static const char dmenufont[] = "monospace:size=10"; */ static const char col_gray1[] = "#222222"; static const char col_gray2[] = "#444444"; static const char col_gray3[] = "#bbbbbb"; static const char col_gray4[] = "#eeeeee"; static const char col_cyan[] = "#005577"; static const unsigned int baralpha = 0xd0; static const unsigned int borderalpha = OPAQUE; static const char *colors[][3] = { /* fg bg border */ [SchemeNorm] = { col_gray3, col_gray1, col_gray2 }, [SchemeSel] = { col_gray4, col_cyan, col_cyan }, }; static const unsigned int alphas[][3] = { /* fg bg border */ [SchemeNorm] = { OPAQUE, baralpha, borderalpha }, [SchemeSel] = { OPAQUE, baralpha, borderalpha }, }; /* tagging */ static const char *tags[] = { "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9" }; static const Rule rules[] = { /* xprop(1): ,* WM_CLASS(STRING) = instance, class ,* WM_NAME(STRING) = title ,*/ /* class instance title tags mask isfloating monitor */ /* { "Gimp", NULL, NULL, 0, 1, -1 }, */ { "Chromium", NULL, NULL, 0, 0, -1 }, }; /* layout(s) */ static const float mfact = 0.6; /* factor of master area size [0.05..0.95] */ static const int nmaster = 1; /* number of clients in master area */ static const int resizehints = 1; /* 1 means respect size hints in tiled resizals */ static const Layout layouts[] = { /* symbol arrange function */ { "T", tile }, /* first entry is default */ { "F", NULL }, /* no layout function means floating behavior */ { "M", monocle }, }; /* key definitions */ #define MODKEY Mod4Mask #define TAGKEYS(KEY,TAG) \ { MODKEY, KEY, view, {.ui = 1 << TAG} }, \ { MODKEY|ControlMask, KEY, toggleview, {.ui = 1 << TAG} }, \ { MODKEY|ShiftMask, KEY, tag, {.ui = 1 << TAG} }, \ { MODKEY|ControlMask|ShiftMask, KEY, toggletag, {.ui = 1 << TAG} }, /* helper for spawning shell commands in the pre dwm-5.0 fashion */ #define SHCMD(cmd) { .v = (const char*[]){ "/bin/sh", "-c", cmd, NULL } } /* commands */ static char dmenumon[2] = "0"; /* component of dmenucmd, manipulated in spawn() */ static const char *dmenucmd[] = { "/usr/bin/rofi", "-show", "drun", "-show-icons", "-lines", "9", "-width", "100", "-location", "7", "-font", "Sarasa Mono SC 18", NULL }; static const char *termcmd[] = { "/usr/bin/alacritty", "--option", "font.normal.family=Sarasa Mono SC", "font.size=13", NULL }; static const char *volup[] = { "/usr/bin/amixer", "set", "Master", "5%+", "umute", NULL }; static const char *voldown[] = { "/usr/bin/amixer", "set", "Master", "5%-", "umute", NULL }; static const char *voltoggle[] = { "/usr/bin/amixer", "set", "Master", "toggle", NULL }; static const char *brightup[] = { "/usr/bin/xbacklight", "-inc", "5", NULL }; static const char *brightdown[] = { "/usr/bin/xbacklight", "-dec", "5", NULL }; static const char *fullscreenshot[] = { "/usr/bin/scrot", NULL }; static const char *selectscreenshot[] = { "/usr/bin/scrot", "-s", NULL }; static Key keys[] = { /* modifier key function argument */ { MODKEY, XK_d, spawn, {.v = dmenucmd } }, { MODKEY, XK_Return, spawn, {.v = termcmd } }, { MODKEY, XK_b, togglebar, {0} }, { MODKEY|ShiftMask, XK_o, rotatestack, {.i = +1 } }, { MODKEY, XK_o, focusstack, {.i = +1 } }, /* { MODKEY, XK_i, incnmaster, {.i = +1 } }, */ /* { MODKEY, XK_d, incnmaster, {.i = -1 } }, */ { MODKEY, XK_h, setmfact, {.f = -0.05} }, { MODKEY, XK_l, setmfact, {.f = +0.05} }, { MODKEY, XK_z, zoom, {0} }, { MODKEY, XK_Tab, view, {0} }, { MODKEY, XK_q, killclient, {0} }, { MODKEY, XK_t, setlayout, {.v = &layouts[0]} }, /* { MODKEY, XK_f, setlayout, {.v = &layouts[1]} }, */ { MODKEY, XK_m, setlayout, {.v = &layouts[2]} }, { MODKEY, XK_space, setlayout, {0} }, { MODKEY|ShiftMask, XK_space, togglefloating, {0} }, { MODKEY, XK_0, view, {.ui = ~0 } }, /* { MODKEY|ShiftMask, XK_0, tag, {.ui = ~0 } }, { MODKEY, XK_comma, focusmon, {.i = -1 } }, { MODKEY, XK_period, focusmon, {.i = +1 } }, { MODKEY|ShiftMask, XK_comma, tagmon, {.i = -1 } }, { MODKEY|ShiftMask, XK_period, tagmon, {.i = +1 } }, */ TAGKEYS( XK_1, 0) TAGKEYS( XK_2, 1) TAGKEYS( XK_3, 2) TAGKEYS( XK_4, 3) TAGKEYS( XK_5, 4) TAGKEYS( XK_6, 5) TAGKEYS( XK_7, 6) TAGKEYS( XK_8, 7) TAGKEYS( XK_9, 8) { MODKEY|ShiftMask, XK_e, quit, {0} }, { 0, XK_Print, spawn, {.v = fullscreenshot} }, { ShiftMask, XK_Print, spawn, {.v = selectscreenshot} }, { 0, XF86XK_AudioRaiseVolume, spawn, {.v = volup }}, { 0, XF86XK_AudioLowerVolume, spawn, {.v = voldown }}, { 0, XF86XK_AudioMute, spawn, {.v = voltoggle }}, { 0, XF86XK_MonBrightnessUp, spawn, {.v = brightup }}, { 0, XF86XK_MonBrightnessDown, spawn, {.v = brightdown }}, }; /* button definitions */ /* click can be ClkTagBar, ClkLtSymbol, ClkStatusText, ClkWinTitle, ClkClientWin, or ClkRootWin */ static Button buttons[] = { /* click event mask button function argument */ { ClkLtSymbol, 0, Button1, setlayout, {0} }, { ClkLtSymbol, 0, Button3, setlayout, {.v = &layouts[2]} }, { ClkWinTitle, 0, Button2, zoom, {0} }, { ClkStatusText, 0, Button2, spawn, {.v = termcmd } }, { ClkClientWin, MODKEY, Button1, movemouse, {0} }, { ClkClientWin, MODKEY, Button2, togglefloating, {0} }, { ClkClientWin, MODKEY, Button3, resizemouse, {0} }, { ClkTagBar, 0, Button1, view, {0} }, { ClkTagBar, 0, Button3, toggleview, {0} }, { ClkTagBar, MODKEY, Button1, tag, {0} }, { ClkTagBar, MODKEY, Button3, toggletag, {0} }, };
Build and install
- Remove
config.hif it exists. Compile
makeInstall
make installClean the temporary object files.
make clean
Status bar
On the web page, there are many choices for status bar.
dwm-bar
Dwm-bar is a good choice, which consists of a rich number of modules, written by shell scripts. Its codes can be easily obtained
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/joestandring/dwm-bar.gitThe concrete details can be customized by editing dwm_bar.sh, e.g.,
#!/bin/sh
# A modular status bar for dwm
# Joe Standring <git@joestandring.com>
# GNU GPLv3
# Dependencies: xorg-xsetroot
# Import functions with "$include /route/to/module"
# It is recommended that you place functions in the subdirectory ./bar-functions and use: . "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_example.sh"
# Store the directory the script is running from
LOC=$(readlink -f "$0")
DIR=$(dirname "$LOC")
# Change the appearance of the module identifier. if this is set to "unicode", then symbols will be used as identifiers instead of text. E.g. [📪 0] instead of [MAIL 0].
# Requires a font with adequate unicode character support
export IDENTIFIER="unicode"
# Change the charachter(s) used to seperate modules. If two are used, they will be placed at the start and end.
export SEP1=" | "
export SEP2=""
# Import the modules
# . "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_countdown.sh"
# . "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_alarm.sh"
# . "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_transmission.sh"
# . "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_cmus.sh"
# . "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_mpc.sh"
# . "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_spotify.sh"
. "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_resources.sh"
. "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_battery.sh"
. "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_backlight.sh"
. "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_alsa.sh"
# . "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_mail.sh"
# . "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_pulse.sh"
# . "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_weather.sh"
# . "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_vpn.sh"
# . "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_networkmanager.sh"
# . "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_keyboard.sh"
# . "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_ccurse.sh"
. "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_date.sh"
# . "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_connman.sh"
# . "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_loadavg.sh"
# . "$DIR/bar-functions/dwm_currency.sh"
parallelize() {
while true
do
printf "Running parallel processes\n"
dwm_weather &
dwm_networkmanager &
sleep 5
done
}
parallelize &
# Update dwm status bar every second
while true
do
# Append results of each func one by one to the upperbar string
upperbar=""
# upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_connman)"
# upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_countdown)"
# upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_alarm)"
# upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_transmission)"
# upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_cmus)"
# upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_mpc)"
# upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_spotify)"
upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_resources)"
upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_alsa)"
upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_battery)"
upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_backlight)"
# upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_mail)"
# upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_pulse)"
# upperbar="$upperbar${__DWM_BAR_WEATHER__}"
# upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_vpn)"
# upperbar="$upperbar${__DWM_BAR_NETWORKMANAGER__}"
# upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_keyboard)"
# upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_ccurse)"
upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_date)"
# upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_loadavg)"
# upperbar="$upperbar$(dwm_currency)"
# Append results of each func one by one to the lowerbar string
lowerbar=""
xsetroot -name "$upperbar"
# Uncomment the line below to enable the lowerbar
# xsetroot -name "$upperbar;$lowerbar"
sleep 1
doneAutostart
Some programs and scripts, e.g., relating to wallpaper setting, input method, dwm-bar, should be autostarted. For starting dwm with startx, .xinitrc can be customized as follows.
/usr/bin/setxkbmap -option 'caps:ctrl_modifier'
/bin/sh ~/.config/dwm/dwm-bar/dwm_bar.sh &
/usr/bin/nitrogen --restore &
/usr/bin/picom -b
/usr/bin/fcitx -r
exec dwm