FVWM CookBook

These recipes were written by Thomas Adam to demonstrate some tasks that a lot of people wanted to do in Fvwm. They have since been converted and live on in the wiki.

Here is the list of recipes:

FvwmWiki CookBook Pages

AdaptiveButtons Module
Through the SendToModule command, FvwmButtons can be configured to be more dynamic. You can change the Colorset, Icon, Title, etc. of a Button.

DeskDecor Function
This recipe describes how to configure different Decors or Colorsets for different Pages and/or Desks. This is achieved by using FvwmEvent to trigger a function when the Page/Desk is changed.

StickyDecor Decor
This recipe gives a way to use a different Decor for Sticky windows. This effect can be extended to set the Colorset/Decor of a window based on its state.

AltTab Binding Function
Alt-Tab is a common key binding to switch between windows. In Fvwm there are lots of different variations on how to do this.

ShowDesktop Function
This is the MS-Windows inspired feature that will show the desktop by Iconfiying all the windows on the current Page. Further it shows how to save the State of the windows so only the windows affected can be restored.

IconifyExcept Conditional
This will Iconfiy every window except one.

LimitApplication Function Binding
When running an application this will check to see if it is already running. And if so instead of launching a new application, switch to the one that is currently running.

ShowCalendar Module
A calendar popping up when the clock/date in a dock is clicked is a common feature. This is one way of doing it in Fvwm using a slightly modified FvwmScript-DateTime

TitleShade Function
WindowShade can be done an any direction, but if it is not in the direction of the TitleBar the window will collapse to just its borders. This recipe will rotate the TitleBar to the corresponding side.

SaveState Function
When a Maximized application is closed, this will save its state, and the next time that application is run, the application will be Maximized. This idea can be extended to other window states.

InitialMapCommand Style
Old recipes required using FvwmEvent to preform an action on a new window such as Maximizing it or moving it to the top right corner of the screen. Such complex setups are no longer needed as this and more can be achieved though the InitialMapCommand.