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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
/usr/local/etc/icewm/keys
/usr/local/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
/usr/local/etc/icewm/keys
/usr/local/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 3.7.3 2025-03-30 ICEWM-KEYS(5)
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