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authorslotThe <soliditsallgood@mailbox.org>2020-12-09 19:03:07 +0100
committerjao <jao@gnu.org>2020-12-14 15:54:38 +0000
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Split out contributing and quick-start part from readme
The contributing.org file also contains information on how to write a new monitor for xmobar. The quick-start guide got reworked a bit to inline similar parts.
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+Xmobar can either be configured using the configuration language, or
+used as a Haskell library (similar to xmonad) and compiled with your
+specific configuration. For an example of the latter, you can have a
+loot at [[./examples/xmobar.hs][examples/xmobar.hs]] or, for a more complicated example, peruse
+[[https://gitlab.com/jaor/xmobar-config/][the author's configuration]].
+
+There is also an example of a config using the configuration language
+available [[http://github.com/jaor/xmobar/raw/master/examples/xmobar.config][here]].
+
+* Configuration Options
+
+Here are all the global configuration options that you can set within
+the =Config= block in your configuration.
+
+- =font= Name of the font to be used. Use the =xft:= prefix for XFT
+ fonts.
+
+- =additionalFonts= Haskell-style list of fonts to be used with the
+ =fn=-template. Use the =xft:= prefix for XFT fonts. See also
+ =textOffsets= below. For example:
+
+ #+begin_src haskell
+ additionalFonts = [iconFont, altIconFont]
+ #+end_src
+
+- =bgColor= Background color.
+
+- =fgColor= Default font color.
+
+- =alpha= The transparency. 0 is transparent, 255 is opaque.
+
+- =position= Top, TopP, TopW, TopSize, Bottom, BottomP, BottomW,
+ BottomSize or Static (with x, y, width and height).
+
+ TopP and BottomP take 2 arguments: left padding and right padding.
+
+ TopW and BottomW take 2 arguments: an alignment parameter (L for left,
+ C for centered, R for Right) and an integer for the percentage width
+ xmobar window will have in respect to the screen width.
+
+ TopSize and BottomSize take 3 arguments: an alignment parameter, an
+ integer for the percentage width, and an integer for the minimum pixel
+ height that the xmobar window will have.
+
+ For example:
+
+ #+begin_src haskell
+ position = BottomW C 75
+ #+end_src
+
+ to place xmobar at the bottom, centered with the 75% of the screen
+ width. Or
+
+ #+begin_src haskell
+ position = BottomP 120 0
+ #+end_src
+
+ to place xmobar at the bottom, with 120 pixel indent of the left. Or
+
+ #+begin_src haskell
+ position = Static { xpos = 0 , ypos = 0, width = 1024, height = 15 }
+ #+end_src
+
+ or
+
+ #+begin_src haskell
+ position = Top
+ #+end_src
+
+- =textOffset= The vertical offset, in pixels, for the text baseline. If
+ negative or not given, xmobar will try to center text vertically.
+
+- =textOffsets= A list of vertical offsets, in pixels, for the text
+ baseline, to be used with the each of the fonts in =additionalFonts=
+ (if any). If negative or not given, xmobar will try to center text
+ vertically for that font.
+
+- =iconOffset= The vertical offset, in pixels, for icons bottom line. If
+ negative or not given, xmobar will try to center icons vertically.
+
+- =lowerOnStart= When True the window is sent the bottom of the window
+ stack initially.
+
+- =hideOnStart= When set to True the window is initially not mapped,
+ i.e. hidden. It then can be toggled manually (for example using the
+ dbus interface) or automatically (by a plugin) to make it reappear.
+
+- =allDesktops= When set to True (the default), xmobar will tell the
+ window manager explicitly to be shown in all desktops, by setting
+ =_NET_WM_DESKTOP= to 0xffffffff.
+
+- =overrideRedirect= If you're running xmobar in a tiling window
+ manager, you might need to set this option to =False= so that it
+ behaves as a docked application. Defaults to =True=.
+
+- =pickBroadest= When multiple displays are available, xmobar will
+ choose by default the first one to place itself. With this flag set to
+ =True= (the default is =False=) it will choose the broadest one
+ instead.
+
+- =persistent= When True the window status is fixed i.e. hiding or
+ revealing is not possible. This option can be toggled at runtime.
+ Defaults to False.
+
+- =border= TopB, TopBM, BottomB, BottomBM, FullB, FullBM or NoBorder
+ (default).
+
+ TopB, BottomB, FullB take no arguments, and request drawing a border
+ at the top, bottom or around xmobar's window, respectively.
+
+ TopBM, BottomBM, FullBM take an integer argument, which is the margin,
+ in pixels, between the border of the window and the drawn border.
+
+- =borderColor= Border color.
+
+- =borderWidth= Border width in pixels.
+
+- =iconRoot= Root folder where icons are stored. For =<icon=path/>= if
+ path start with =/=, =./= or =../= it is interpreted as it is.
+ Otherwise it will have
+
+ #+begin_src haskell
+ iconRoot ++ "/"
+ #+end_src
+
+ prepended to it. Default is =.=.
+
+- =commands= For setting the options of the programs to run (optional).
+
+- =sepChar= The character to be used for indicating commands in the
+ output template (default '%').
+
+- =alignSep= a 2 character string for aligning text in the output
+ template. The text before the first character will be align to left,
+ the text in between the 2 characters will be centered, and the text
+ after the second character will be align to the right.
+
+- =template= The output template.
+
+- =wmClass= The value for the window's X11 WM_CLASS property. Defaults
+ to "xmobar".
+
+- =wmName= The value for the window's X11 WM_NAME property. Defaults to
+ "xmobar".
+
+** The Output =template=
+
+The output template is how xmobar will end up printing all of your
+configured commands. It must contain at least one command. Xmobar will
+parse the template and search for the command to be executed in the
+=commands= configuration option. First an =alias= will be searched (some
+plugins, such as =Weather= or =Network=, have default aliases, see the
+[[./plugins.org][plugin documentation]]). After that, the command name will be tried. If a
+command is found, the arguments specified in the =commands= list will be
+used.
+
+If no command is found in the =commands= list, xmobar will ask the
+operating system to execute a program with the name found in the
+template. If the execution is not successful an error will be reported.
+
+The syntax for the output template is as follows:
+
+- =%command%= will execute command and print the output. The output may
+ contain markups to change the characters' color.
+
+- =<fc=#FF0000>string</fc>= will print =string= with =#FF0000= color
+ (red). =<fc=#FF0000,#000000>string</fc>= will print =string= in red
+ with a black background (=#000000=). Background absolute offsets can
+ be specified for XFT fonts. =<fc=#FF0000,#000000:0>string</fc>= will
+ have a background matching the bar's height.
+
+- =<box>string</box>= will print string surrounded by a box in the
+ foreground color. The =box= tag accepts several optional arguments to
+ tailor its looks:
+
+ - =type=: =Top=, =Bottom=, =VBoth= (a single line above or below
+ string, or both), =Left=, =Right=, =HBoth= (single vertical lines),
+ =Full= (a rectangle, the default).
+ - =color=: the color of the box lines.
+ - =width=: the width of the box lines.
+ - =offset=: an alignment char (L, C or R) followed by the amount of
+ pixels to offset the box lines; the alignment denotes the position
+ of the resulting line, with L/R meaning top/bottom for the vertical
+ lines, and left/right for horizontal ones.
+ - =mt=, =mb=, =ml=, =mr= specify margins to be added at the top,
+ bottom, left and right lines.
+
+ For example, a box underlining its text with a red line of width 2:
+
+ #+begin_src shell
+ <box type=Bottom width=2 color=red>string</box>
+ #+end_src
+
+ and if you wanted an underline and an overline with a margin of 2
+ pixels either side:
+
+ #+begin_src shell
+ <box type=VBoth mt=2 mb=2>string</box>
+ #+end_src
+
+- =<fn=1>string</fn>= will print =string= with the first font from
+ =additionalFonts=. The index =0= corresponds to the standard font.
+
+- =<icon=/path/to/icon.xbm/>= will insert the given bitmap. XPM image
+ format is also supported when compiled with the =with_xpm= flag.
+
+- =<action=`command` button=12345>= will execute given command when
+ clicked with specified buttons. If not specified, button is equal to 1
+ (left mouse button). Using old syntax (without backticks surrounding
+ =command=) will result in =button= attribute being ignored.
+
+- =<raw=len:str/>= allows the encapsulation of arbitrary text =str=
+ (which must be =len= =Char=s long, where =len= is encoded as a decimal
+ sequence). Careful use of this and =UnsafeStdinReader=, for example,
+ permits window managers to feed xmobar strings with =<action>= tags
+ mixed with un-trusted content (e.g. window titles). For example, if
+ xmobar is invoked as
+
+ #+begin_src shell
+ xmobar -c "[Run UnsafeStdinReader]" -t "%UnsafeStdinReader%"
+ #+end_src
+
+ and receives on standard input the line
+
+ #+begin_src shell
+ <action=`echo test` button=1><raw=41:<action=`echo mooo` button=1>foo</action>/></action>`
+ #+end_src
+
+ then it will display the text
+ =<action=`echo mooo` button=1>foo</action>=, which, when clicked, will
+ cause =test= to be echoed.
+
+*** Bitmap Icons
+
+It's possible to insert in the global templates icon directives of the
+form:
+
+#+begin_src shell
+ <icon=/path/to/bitmap.xbm/>
+#+end_src
+
+which will produce the expected result. Accepted image formats are XBM
+and XPM (when =with_xpm= flag is enabled). If path does not start with
+=/=, =./=, =../= it will have
+
+#+begin_src haskell
+ iconRoot ++ "/"
+#+end_src
+
+prepended to it.
+
+*** Action Directives
+
+It's also possible to use action directives of the form:
+
+#+begin_src shell
+ <action=`command` button=12345>
+#+end_src
+
+which will be executed when clicked on with specified mouse buttons.
+This tag can be nested, allowing different commands to be run depending
+on button clicked.
+
+** The =commands= Configuration Option
+
+The =commands= configuration option is a list of commands information
+and arguments to be used by xmobar when parsing the output template.
+Each member of the list consists in a command prefixed by the =Run=
+keyword. Each command has arguments to control the way xmobar is going
+to execute it.
+
+The option consists in a list of commands separated by a comma and
+enclosed by square parenthesis.
+
+Example:
+
+#+begin_src haskell
+ [Run Memory ["-t","Mem: <usedratio>%"] 10, Run Swap [] 10]
+#+end_src
+
+to run the Memory monitor plugin with the specified template, and the
+swap monitor plugin, with default options, every second. And here's an
+example of a template for the commands above using an icon:
+
+#+begin_src haskell
+ template = "<icon=/home/jao/.xmobar/mem.xbm/><memory> <swap>"
+#+end_src
+
+This example will run "xclock" command when date is clicked:
+
+#+begin_src haskell
+ template = "<action=`xclock`>%date%</action>"
+#+end_src
+
+The only internal available command is =Com= (see below Executing
+External Commands). All other commands are provided by plugins. xmobar
+comes with some plugins, providing a set of system monitors, a standard
+input reader, an Unix named pipe reader, a configurable date plugin, and
+much more: we list all available plugins below.
+
+Other commands can be created as plugins with the Plugin infrastructure.
+See below.
+** Running xmobar with =i3status=
+
+xmobar can be used to display information generated by [[http://i3wm.org/i3status/][i3status]], a small
+program that gathers system information and outputs it in formats
+suitable for being displayed by the dzen2 status bar, wmii's status bar
+or xmobar's =StdinReader=. See [[http://i3wm.org/i3status/manpage.html#_using_i3status_with_xmobar][i3status manual]] for further details.
+
+** Dynamically sizing xmobar
+
+See [[https://github.com/jaor/xmobar/issues/239#issuecomment-233206552][this idea]] by Jonas Camillus Jeppensen for a way of adapting
+dynamically xmobar's size and run it alongside a system tray widget such
+as trayer or stalonetray (although the idea is not limited to trays,
+really). For your convenience, there is a version of Jonas' script in
+[[./examples/padding-icon.sh][examples/padding-icon.sh]].
+
+* Command Line Options
+
+xmobar can be either configured with a configuration file or with
+command line options. In the second case, the command line options will
+overwrite the corresponding options set in the configuration file.
+
+Example:
+
+#+begin_src shell
+ xmobar -B white -a right -F blue -t '%LIPB%' -c '[Run Weather "LIPB" [] 36000]'
+#+end_src
+
+This is the list of command line options (the output of =xmobar --help=):
+
+#+begin_src shell
+ Usage: xmobar [OPTION...] [FILE]
+ Options:
+ -h, -? --help This help
+ -v --verbose Emit verbose debugging messages
+ -r --recompile Force recompilation
+ -V --version Show version information
+ -f font name --font=font name Font name
+ -N font name --add-font=font name Add to the list of additional fonts
+ -w class --wmclass=class X11 WM_CLASS property
+ -n name --wmname=name X11 WM_NAME property
+ -B bg color --bgcolor=bg color The background color. Default black
+ -F fg color --fgcolor=fg color The foreground color. Default grey
+ -i path --iconroot=path Root directory for icon pattern paths. Default '.'
+ -A alpha --alpha=alpha Transparency: 0 is transparent, 255 is opaque. Default: 255
+ -o --top Place xmobar at the top of the screen
+ -b --bottom Place xmobar at the bottom of the screen
+ -d --dock Don't override redirect from WM and function as a dock
+ -a alignsep --alignsep=alignsep Separators for left, center and right text
+ alignment. Default: '}{'
+ -s char --sepchar=char Character used to separate commands in
+ the output template. Default '%'
+ -t template --template=template Output template
+ -c commands --commands=commands List of commands to be executed
+ -C command --add-command=command Add to the list of commands to be executed
+ -x screen --screen=screen On which X screen number to start
+ -p position --position=position Specify position of xmobar. Same syntax as in config file
+
+ Mail bug reports and suggestions to <mail@jao.io>
+#+end_src