Wmconfig Faq

Wmconfig uses a very simple configuration layout. Wmconfig tries to find the files in the "/etc/X11/wmconfig" (depending on your configuration) directory or in "$HOME/.wmconfig".
Here is an example for the emacs editor:

emacs name "Emacs"
emacs exec "emacs"
emacs icon "emacs.xpm"
emacs mini-icon "mini-emacs.xpm"
emacs group "Editors"
emacs description "The Emacs text editor"
emacs mimetype "text/html;text/english;text/readme"

The first entry describes the displayed name. The second entry shows the command that will be executed later. The description line is used for KDE and other window managers for the comments. The mimetype line describes supported mimetypes for the application. This entry is used by KDE for defining applications that can be used to open files. You may use options or anything else which runs in an Xterm :-). If you want to execute console based apps, remember to add the "terminal" line. Wmconfig uses XTerm to launch applications, but you may overwrite this behaviour with the "--terminal" option at run- or compile time. Wmconfig only checks for the existence of the terminal line. It does not parse the value.

mc name "Mc"
mc exec "mc"
mc icon "filemanager.xpm"
mc mini-icon "filemanager.xpm"
mc group "Utilties"
mc terminal "Yep"

It is possible to add more than one entry in a single file:

vi name "Vi"
vi icon "vi.xpm"
vi mini-icon "mini-vi.xpm"
vi group "Editors"
vi exec "vi"
vi mimetype "text/html;text/english"
vi terminal "Sure"

gvim name "Gvim"
gvim name(de) "Vim Editor"
gvim icon "gvim.xpm"
gvim mini-icon "mini-gvim.xpm"
gvim exec "gvim"
gvim group "Editors"
gvim mimetype "text/html;text/english"

This will create two menu entries (Vi and Gvim) in the Editors menu. The second name option will only be parsed if the "LANG" environment variable is set to "de". This allows you to create different menus, depending on the used language. Output support for more than one language (KDE / KDE2) will be added soon.
The Menus and Submenus will be created automatically.

Wmconfig can output 3 types of different entries. A general quit menu entry, a restart command and the command to restart another Windowmanager.
You may switch between these 3 commands with the restart line. The "quit" command creates an Exit entry, the "restart" command a Restart entry and if the restart entry differs from restart, a Restart entries for other Windowmanagers will be created.
Here is a sample for the Quit Function:

quit name "Quit"
quit exec "/bin/sh"
quit group ""
quit restart "quit"
quit description "Quit your X Session"

This Sample will create a Quit Entry in your Root Menu. The "exec" is needed and filled with anything that exists on all systems. This is required if you run Wmconfig with the "--check-existence" option. The important line is the "restart" line, which sends Wmconfig the signal to output a "quit" line.
Here is another sample for the Restart Function:

restart name "Restart"
restart exec "/bin/sh"
restart group ""
restart restart "restart"
restart description "Restart the current Window Manager"

This time, the restart line contains the "restart" signal. Wmconfig will output a Restart menu entry.
The last command will create an Restart entry for the Wmx Windowmanager.

wmx name "Wmx"
wmx exec "wmx"
wmx group "Other Wm"
wmx restart "wmx"
wmx description "Start the Wmx Window Manager"

This time, the restart line contains the "wmx" command and Wmconfig will output the specified Restart entry.

Please see the Configuration Guide for more information.

Check your window manager configuration for the correct icon search path. If this won't help, append the full path to the specified icon in the Wmconfig configuration files.
Also, check if your window manager supports the specified icon type. Maybe - Png support is not available, but you want to use Png icons.
Recompile the window manager with support for the image type or use other icons - Xpm icons are supported by the most window managers with icons.

Some systems (like RedHat Linux) are using "inofficial" (compiler) versions. This systems are not fully supported by Wmconfig.
Sometimes, restarting the compile run helps on these systems. But, it's better to use only stable and official versions.

Try to compile Wmconfig and - if it works - please report it to me. Since Wmconfig only requires GNU Gettext and a compiler of course :-), it should work with other systems.
The most Linux and BSD systems should work without any problems.

Some window managers like Flwm have an own script which reads Wmconfig files and generates the menu. This script also works with Wm2.
Support for other window managers will be added soon.