xmonad-contrib-0.9.1: Third party extensions for xmonad

Portabilityportable
Stabilityunstable
Maintainerandrea.rossato@unibz.it

XMonad.Doc.Extending

Contents

Description

This module documents the xmonad-contrib library and how to use it to extend the capabilities of xmonad.

Reading this document should not require a deep knowledge of Haskell; the examples are intended to be useful and understandable for those users who do not know Haskell and don't want to have to learn it just to configure xmonad. You should be able to get by just fine by ignoring anything you don't understand and using the provided examples as templates. However, relevant Haskell features are discussed when appropriate, so this document will hopefully be useful for more advanced Haskell users as well.

Those wishing to be totally hardcore and develop their own xmonad extensions (it's easier than it sounds, we promise!) should read the documentation in XMonad.Doc.Developing.

More configuration examples may be found on the Haskell wiki:

http://haskell.org/haskellwiki/Xmonad/Config_archive

Synopsis

The xmonad-contrib library

The xmonad-contrib (xmc) library is a set of extension modules contributed by xmonad hackers and users, which provide additional xmonad features. Examples include various layout modes (tabbed, spiral, three-column...), prompts, program launchers, the ability to manipulate windows and workspaces in various ways, alternate navigation modes, and much more. There are also "meta-modules" which make it easier to write new modules and extensions.

This is a concise yet complete overview of the xmonad-contrib modules. For more information about any particular module, just click on its name to view its Haddock documentation; each module should come with extensive documentation. If you find a module that could be better documented, or has incorrect documentation, please report it as a bug (http://code.google.com/p/xmonad/issues/list)!

Actions

In the XMonad.Actions namespace you can find modules exporting various functions that are usually intended to be bound to key combinations or mouse actions, in order to provide functionality beyond the standard keybindings provided by xmonad.

See XMonad.Doc.Extending for instructions on how to edit your key bindings.

Configurations

In the XMonad.Config namespace you can find modules exporting the configurations used by some of the xmonad and xmonad-contrib developers. You can look at them for examples while creating your own configuration; you can also simply import them and use them as your own configuration, possibly with some modifications.

Hooks

In the XMonad.Hooks namespace you can find modules exporting hooks. Hooks are actions that xmonad performs when certain events occur. The two most important hooks are:

  • XMonad.Core.manageHook: this hook is called when a new window xmonad must take care of is created. This is a very powerful hook, since it lets us examine the new window's properties and act accordingly. For instance, we can configure xmonad to put windows belonging to a given application in the float layer, not to manage dock applications, or open them in a given workspace. See XMonad.Doc.Extending for more information on customizing XMonad.Core.manageHook.
  • XMonad.Core.logHook: this hook is called when the stack of windows managed by xmonad has been changed, by calling the XMonad.Operations.windows function. For instance XMonad.Hooks.DynamicLog will produce a string (whose format can be configured) to be printed to the standard output. This can be used to display some information about the xmonad state in a status bar. See XMonad.Doc.Extending for more information.
  • XMonad.Core.handleEventHook: this hook is called on all events handled by xmonad, thus it is extremely powerful. See Graphics.X11.Xlib.Extras and xmonad source and development documentation for more details.

Here is a list of the modules found in XMonad.Hooks:

  • XMonad.Hooks.DynamicHooks: One-shot and permanent ManageHooks that can be updated at runtime.
  • XMonad.Hooks.DynamicLog: for use with XMonad.Core.logHook; send information about xmonad's state to standard output, suitable for putting in a status bar of some sort. See XMonad.Doc.Extending.
  • XMonad.Hooks.EwmhDesktops: Makes xmonad use the EWMH hints to tell panel applications about its workspaces and the windows therein. It also allows the user to interact with xmonad by clicking on panels and window lists.
  • XMonad.Hooks.FadeInactive: Makes XMonad set the _NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY atom for inactive windows, which causes those windows to become slightly translucent if something like xcompmgr is running
  • XMonad.Hooks.FloatNext: Hook and keybindings for automatically sending the next spawned window(s) to the floating layer.
  • XMonad.Hooks.InsertPosition: Configure where new windows should be added and which window should be focused.
  • XMonad.Hooks.ManageDocks: This module provides tools to automatically manage dock type programs, such as gnome-panel, kicker, dzen, and xmobar.
  • XMonad.Hooks.ManageHelpers: provide helper functions to be used in manageHook.
  • XMonad.Hooks.Place: Automatic placement of floating windows.
  • XMonad.Hooks.RestoreMinimized: Lets you restore minimized windows (see XMonad.Layout.Minimize) by selecting them on a taskbar (listens for _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW and WM_CHANGE_STATE).
  • XMonad.Hooks.Script: Provides a simple interface for running a ~/.xmonad/hooks script with the name of a hook.
  • XMonad.Hooks.ServerMode: Allows sending commands to a running xmonad process.
  • XMonad.Hooks.SetCursor: Set a default mouse cursor on startup.
  • XMonad.Hooks.SetWMName: Sets the WM name to a given string, so that it could be detected using _NET_SUPPORTING_WM_CHECK protocol. May be useful for making Java GUI programs work.
  • XMonad.Hooks.UrgencyHook: UrgencyHook lets you configure an action to occur when a window demands your attention. (In traditional WMs, this takes the form of "flashing" on your "taskbar." Blech.)
  • XMonad.Hooks.WorkspaceByPos: Useful in a dual-head setup: Looks at the requested geometry of new windows and moves them to the workspace of the non-focused screen if necessary.
  • XMonad.Hooks.XPropManage: A ManageHook matching on XProperties.

Layouts

In the XMonad.Layout namespace you can find modules exporting contributed tiling algorithms, such as a tabbed layout, a circle, a spiral, three columns, and so on.

You will also find modules which provide facilities for combining different layouts, such as XMonad.Layout.Combo, XMonad.Layout.ComboP, XMonad.Layout.LayoutBuilder, XMonad.Layout.SubLayouts, or XMonad.Layout.LayoutCombinators.

Layouts can be also modified with layout modifiers. A general interface for writing layout modifiers is implemented in XMonad.Layout.LayoutModifier.

For more information on using those modules for customizing your XMonad.Core.layoutHook see XMonad.Doc.Extending.

  • XMonad.Layout.Accordion: LayoutClass that puts non-focused windows in ribbons at the top and bottom of the screen.
  • XMonad.Layout.AutoMaster: Provides layout modifier AutoMaster. It separates screen in two parts - master and slave. Size of slave area automatically changes depending on number of slave windows.
  • XMonad.Layout.BorderResize: This layout modifier will allow to resize windows by dragging their borders with the mouse. However, it only works in layouts or modified layouts that react to the SetGeometry message. XMonad.Layout.WindowArranger can be used to create such a setup. BorderResize is probably most useful in floating layouts.
  • XMonad.Layout.BoringWindows: BoringWindows is an extension to allow windows to be marked boring
  • XMonad.Layout.CenteredMaster: Two layout modifiers. centerMaster places master window at center, on top of all other windows, which are managed by base layout. topRightMaster is similar, but places master window in top right corner instead of center.
  • XMonad.Layout.Circle: Circle is an elliptical, overlapping layout.
  • XMonad.Layout.Column: Provides Column layout that places all windows in one column. Windows heights are calculated from equation: H1H2 = H2H3 = ... = q, where q is given. With Shrink/Expand messages you can change the q value.
  • XMonad.Layout.Combo: A layout that combines multiple layouts.
  • XMonad.Layout.ComboP: A layout that combines multiple layouts and allows to specify where to put new windows.
  • XMonad.Layout.Cross: A Cross Layout with the main window in the center.
  • XMonad.Layout.Decoration: A layout modifier and a class for easily creating decorated layouts.
  • XMonad.Layout.DecorationMadness: A collection of decorated layouts: some of them may be nice, some usable, others just funny.
  • XMonad.Layout.Dishes: Dishes is a layout that stacks extra windows underneath the master windows.
  • XMonad.Layout.DragPane: Layouts that splits the screen either horizontally or vertically and shows two windows. The first window is always the master window, and the other is either the currently focused window or the second window in layout order. See also XMonad.Layout.MouseResizableTall
  • XMonad.Layout.DwmStyle: A layout modifier for decorating windows in a dwm like style.
  • XMonad.Layout.FixedColumn: A layout much like Tall, but using a multiple of a window's minimum resize amount instead of a percentage of screen to decide where to split. This is useful when you usually leave a text editor or terminal in the master pane and like it to be 80 columns wide.
  • XMonad.Layout.Gaps: Create manually-sized gaps along edges of the screen which will not be used for tiling, along with support for toggling gaps on and off. You probably want XMonad.Hooks.ManageDocks.
  • XMonad.Layout.Grid: A simple layout that attempts to put all windows in a square grid.
  • XMonad.Layout.GridVariants: Two layouts: one is a variant of the Grid layout that allows the desired aspect ratio of windows to be specified. The other is like Tall but places a grid with fixed number of rows and columns in the master area and uses an aspect-ratio-specified layout for the slaves.
  • XMonad.Layout.HintedGrid: A not so simple layout that attempts to put all windows in a square grid while obeying their size hints.
  • XMonad.Layout.HintedTile: A gapless tiled layout that attempts to obey window size hints, rather than simply ignoring them.
  • XMonad.Layout.IM: Layout modfier suitable for workspace with multi-windowed instant messenger (like Psi or Tkabber).
  • XMonad.Layout.IndependentScreens: Utility functions for simulating independent sets of workspaces on each screen (like dwm's workspace model), using internal tags to distinguish workspaces associated with each screen.
  • XMonad.Layout.LayoutBuilder: A layout combinator that sends a specified number of windows to one rectangle and the rest to another.
  • XMonad.Layout.LayoutCombinators: The XMonad.Layout.LayoutCombinators module provides combinators for easily combining multiple layouts into one composite layout, as well as a way to jump directly to any particular layout (say, with a keybinding) without having to cycle through other layouts to get to it.
  • XMonad.Layout.LayoutHints: Make layouts respect size hints.
  • XMonad.Layout.LayoutModifier: A module for writing easy layout modifiers, which do not define a layout in and of themselves, but modify the behavior of or add new functionality to other layouts. If you ever find yourself writing a layout which takes another layout as a parameter, chances are you should be writing a LayoutModifier instead!

In case it is not clear, this module is not intended to help you configure xmonad, it is to help you write other extension modules. So get hacking!

Prompts

In the XMonad.Prompt name space you can find modules providing graphical prompts for getting user input and using it to perform various actions.

The XMonad.Prompt provides a library for easily writing new prompt modules.

These are the available prompts:

  • XMonad.Prompt.AppLauncher: A module for launch applicationes that receive parameters in the command line. The launcher call a prompt to get the parameters.
  • XMonad.Prompt.AppendFile: A prompt for appending a single line of text to a file. Useful for keeping a file of notes, things to remember for later, and so on--- using a keybinding, you can write things down just about as quickly as you think of them, so it doesn't have to interrupt whatever else you're doing. Who knows, it might be useful for other purposes as well!
  • XMonad.Prompt.DirExec: A directory file executables prompt for XMonad. This might be useful if you don't want to have scripts in your PATH environment variable (same executable names, different behavior) - otherwise you might want to use XMonad.Prompt.Shell instead - but you want to have easy access to these executables through the xmonad's prompt.
  • XMonad.Prompt.Directory: A directory prompt for XMonad
  • XMonad.Prompt.Email: A prompt for sending quick, one-line emails, via the standard GNU 'mail' utility (which must be in your $PATH). This module is intended mostly as an example of using XMonad.Prompt.Input to build an action requiring user input.
  • XMonad.Prompt.Input: A generic framework for prompting the user for input and passing it along to some other action.
  • XMonad.Prompt.Layout: A layout-selection prompt for XMonad
  • XMonad.Prompt.Man: A manual page prompt for XMonad window manager. TODO * narrow completions by section number, if the one is specified (like /etc/bash_completion does)
  • XMonad.Prompt.RunOrRaise: A prompt for XMonad which will run a program, open a file, or raise an already running program, depending on context.
  • XMonad.Prompt.Shell: A shell prompt for XMonad
  • XMonad.Prompt.Ssh: A ssh prompt for XMonad
  • XMonad.Prompt.Theme: A prompt for changing the theme of the current workspace
  • XMonad.Prompt.Window: xprompt operations to bring windows to you, and bring you to windows.
  • XMonad.Prompt.Workspace: A workspace prompt for XMonad
  • XMonad.Prompt.XMonad: A prompt for running XMonad commands

Usually a prompt is called by some key binding. See XMonad.Doc.Extending, which includes examples of adding some prompts.

Utilities

In the XMonad.Util namespace you can find modules exporting various utility functions that are used by the other modules of the xmonad-contrib library.

There are also utilities for helping in configuring xmonad or using external utilities.

A non complete list with a brief description:

Extending xmonad

Since the xmonad.hs file is just another Haskell module, you may import and use any Haskell code or libraries you wish, such as extensions from the xmonad-contrib library, or other code you write yourself.

Editing key bindings

Editing key bindings means changing the XMonad.Core.XConfig.keys field of the XMonad.Core.XConfig record used by xmonad. For example, you could write: 

    import XMonad

    main = xmonad $ defaultConfig { keys = myKeys }

and provide an appropriate definition of myKeys, such as: 

 myKeys conf@(XConfig {XMonad.modMask = modm}) =
             [ ((modm, xK_F12), xmonadPrompt defaultXPConfig)
             , ((modm, xK_F3 ), shellPrompt  defaultXPConfig)
             ]

This particular definition also requires importing XMonad.Prompt, XMonad.Prompt.Shell, and XMonad.Prompt.XMonad: 

 import XMonadPrompt
 import ...  -- and so on

For a list of the names of particular keys (such as xK_F12, and so on), see http://hackage.haskell.org/packages/archive/X11/latest/doc/html/Graphics-X11-Types.html

Usually, rather than completely redefining the key bindings, as we did above, we want to simply add some new bindings and/or remove existing ones.

Adding key bindings

Adding key bindings can be done in different ways. See the end of this section for the easiest ways. The type signature of XMonad.Core.XConfig.keys is: 

    keys :: XConfig Layout -> M.Map (ButtonMask,KeySym) (X ())

In order to add new key bindings, you need to first create an appropriate Data.Map.Map from a list of key bindings using Data.Map.fromList. This Data.Map.Map of new key bindings then needs to be joined to a Data.Map.Map of existing bindings using Data.Map.union.

Since we are going to need some of the functions of the Data.Map module, before starting we must first import this modules: 

    import qualified Data.Map as M

For instance, if you have defined some additional key bindings like these: 

    myKeys conf@(XConfig {XMonad.modMask = modm}) =
             [ ((modm, xK_F12), xmonadPrompt defaultXPConfig)
             , ((modm, xK_F3 ), shellPrompt  defaultXPConfig)
             ]

then you can create a new key bindings map by joining the default one with yours: 

    newKeys x  = M.union (keys defaultConfig x) (M.fromList (myKeys x))

Finally, you can use newKeys in the XMonad.Core.XConfig.keys field of the configuration: 

    main = xmonad $ defaultConfig { keys = newKeys }

All together, your ~/.xmonad/xmonad.hs would now look like this: 

    module Main (main) where

    import XMonad

    import qualified Data.Map as M
    import Graphics.X11.Xlib
    import XMonad.Prompt
    import XMonad.Prompt.Shell
    import XMonad.Prompt.XMonad

    main :: IO ()
    main = xmonad $ defaultConfig { keys = newKeys }

    newKeys x = M.union (keys defaultConfig x) (M.fromList (myKeys x))

    myKeys conf@(XConfig {XMonad.modMask = modm}) =
             [ ((modm, xK_F12), xmonadPrompt defaultXPConfig)
             , ((modm, xK_F3 ), shellPrompt  defaultXPConfig)
             ]

There are much simpler ways to accomplish this, however, if you are willing to use an extension module to help you configure your keys. For instance, XMonad.Util.EZConfig and XMonad.Util.CustomKeys both provide useful functions for editing your key bindings; XMonad.Util.EZConfig even lets you use emacs-style keybinding descriptions like "M-C-F12".

Removing key bindings

Removing key bindings requires modifying the Data.Map.Map which stores the key bindings. This can be done with Data.Map.difference or with Data.Map.delete.

For example, suppose you want to get rid of mod-q and mod-shift-q (you just want to leave xmonad running forever). To do this you need to define newKeys as a Data.Map.difference between the default map and the map of the key bindings you want to remove. Like so: 

    newKeys x = M.difference (keys defaultConfig x) (M.fromList $ keysToRemove x)

    keysToRemove :: XConfig Layout ->    [((KeyMask, KeySym),X ())]
    keysToRemove x =
             [ ((modm              , xK_q ), return ())
             , ((modm .|. shiftMask, xK_q ), return ())
             ]

As you can see, it doesn't matter what actions we associate with the keys listed in keysToRemove, so we just use return () (the "null" action).

It is also possible to simply define a list of keys we want to unbind and then use Data.Map.delete to remove them. In that case we would write something like: 

    newKeys x = foldr M.delete (keys defaultConfig x) (keysToRemove x)

    keysToRemove :: XConfig Layout -> [(KeyMask, KeySym)]
    keysToRemove x =
             [ (modm              , xK_q )
             , (modm .|. shiftMask, xK_q )
             ]

Another even simpler possibility is the use of some of the utilities provided by the xmonad-contrib library. Look, for instance, at XMonad.Util.EZConfig.removeKeys.

Adding and removing key bindings

Adding and removing key bindings requires simply combining the steps for removing and adding. Here is an example from XMonad.Config.Arossato: 

    defKeys    = keys defaultConfig
    delKeys x  = foldr M.delete           (defKeys x) (toRemove x)
    newKeys x  = foldr (uncurry M.insert) (delKeys x) (toAdd    x)
    -- remove some of the default key bindings
    toRemove XConfig{modMask = modm} =
        [ (modm              , xK_j     )
        , (modm              , xK_k     )
        , (modm              , xK_p     )
        , (modm .|. shiftMask, xK_p     )
        , (modm .|. shiftMask, xK_q     )
        , (modm              , xK_q     )
        ] ++
        -- I want modm .|. shiftMask 1-9 to be free!
        [(shiftMask .|. modm, k) | k <- [xK_1 .. xK_9]]
    -- These are my personal key bindings
    toAdd XConfig{modMask = modm} =
        [ ((modm              , xK_F12   ), xmonadPrompt defaultXPConfig )
        , ((modm              , xK_F3    ), shellPrompt  defaultXPConfig )
        ] ++
        -- Use modm .|. shiftMask .|. controlMask 1-9 instead
        [( (m .|. modm, k), windows $ f i)
         | (i, k) <- zip (workspaces x) [xK_1 .. xK_9]
        ,  (f, m) <- [(W.greedyView, 0), (W.shift, shiftMask .|. controlMask)]
        ]

You can achieve the same result using the XMonad.Util.CustomKeys module; take a look at the XMonad.Util.CustomKeys.customKeys function in particular.

NOTE: modm is defined as the modMask you defined (or left as the default) in your config.

Editing mouse bindings

Most of the previous discussion of key bindings applies to mouse bindings as well. For example, you could configure button4 to close the window you click on like so: 

    import qualified Data.Map as M

    myMouse x  = [ (0, button4), (\w -> focus w >> kill) ]

    newMouse x = M.union (mouseBindings defaultConfig x) (M.fromList (myMouse x))

    main = xmonad $ defaultConfig { ..., mouseBindings = newMouse, ... }

Overriding or deleting mouse bindings works similarly. You can also configure mouse bindings much more easily using the XMonad.Util.EZConfig.additionalMouseBindings and XMonad.Util.EZConfig.removeMouseBindings functions from the XMonad.Util.EZConfig module.

Editing the layout hook

When you start an application that opens a new window, when you change the focused window, or move it to another workspace, or change that workspace's layout, xmonad will use the XMonad.Core.layoutHook for reordering the visible windows on the visible workspace(s).

Since different layouts may be attached to different workspaces, and you can change them, xmonad needs to know which one to use. In this sense the layoutHook may be thought as the list of layouts that xmonad will use for laying out windows on the screen(s).

The problem is that the layout subsystem is implemented with an advanced feature of the Haskell programming language: type classes. This allows us to very easily write new layouts, combine or modify existing layouts, create layouts with internal state, etc. See XMonad.Doc.Extending for more information. This means that we cannot simply have a list of layouts as we used to have before the 0.5 release: a list requires every member to belong to the same type!

Instead the combination of layouts to be used by xmonad is created with a specific layout combinator: XMonad.Layout.|||.

Suppose we want a list with the XMonad.Layout.Full, XMonad.Layout.Tabbed.tabbed and XMonad.Layout.Accordion.Accordion layouts. First we import, in our ~/.xmonad/xmonad.hs, all the needed modules: 

    import XMonad

    import XMonad.Layout.Tabbed
    import XMonad.Layout.Accordion

Then we create the combination of layouts we need: 

    mylayoutHook = Full ||| tabbed shrinkText defaultTConf ||| Accordion

Now, all we need to do is change the XMonad.Core.layoutHook field of the XMonad.Core.XConfig record, like so: 

    main = xmonad $ defaultConfig { layoutHook = mylayoutHook }

Thanks to the new combinator, we can apply a layout modifier to a whole combination of layouts, instead of applying it to each one. For example, suppose we want to use the XMonad.Layout.NoBorders.noBorders layout modifier, from the XMonad.Layout.NoBorders module (which must be imported): 

    mylayoutHook = noBorders (Full ||| tabbed shrinkText defaultTConf ||| Accordion)

If we want only the tabbed layout without borders, then we may write: 

    mylayoutHook = Full ||| noBorders (tabbed shrinkText defaultTConf) ||| Accordion

Our ~/.xmonad/xmonad.hs will now look like this: 

    import XMonad

    import XMonad.Layout.Tabbed
    import XMonad.Layout.Accordion
    import XMonad.Layout.NoBorders

    mylayoutHook = Full ||| noBorders (tabbed shrinkText defaultTConf) ||| Accordion

    main = xmonad $ defaultConfig { layoutHook = mylayoutHook }

That's it!

Editing the manage hook

The XMonad.Core.manageHook is a very powerful tool for customizing the behavior of xmonad with regard to new windows. Whenever a new window is created, xmonad calls the XMonad.Core.manageHook, which can thus be used to perform certain actions on the new window, such as placing it in a specific workspace, ignoring it, or placing it in the float layer.

The default XMonad.Core.manageHook causes xmonad to float MPlayer and Gimp, and to ignore gnome-panel, desktop_window, kicker, and kdesktop.

The XMonad.ManageHook module provides some simple combinators that can be used to alter the XMonad.Core.manageHook by replacing or adding to the default actions.

Let's start by analyzing the default XMonad.Config.manageHook, defined in XMonad.Config: 

    manageHook :: ManageHook
    manageHook = composeAll
                    [ className =? "MPlayer"        --> doFloat
                    , className =? "Gimp"           --> doFloat
                    , resource  =? "desktop_window" --> doIgnore
                    , resource  =? "kdesktop"       --> doIgnore ]

XMonad.ManageHook.composeAll can be used to compose a list of different XMonad.Config.ManageHooks. In this example we have a list of XMonad.Config.ManageHooks formed by the following commands: the Mplayer's and the Gimp's windows, whose XMonad.ManageHook.className are, respectively "Mplayer" and "Gimp", are to be placed in the float layer with the XMonad.ManageHook.doFloat function; the windows whose resource names are respectively "desktop_window" and kdesktop" are to be ignored with the XMonad.ManageHook.doIgnore function.

This is another example of XMonad.Config.manageHook, taken from XMonad.Config.Arossato: 

    myManageHook  = composeAll [ resource =? "realplay.bin" --> doFloat
                               , resource =? "win"          --> doF (W.shift "doc") -- xpdf
                               , resource =? "firefox-bin"  --> doF (W.shift "web")
                               ]
    newManageHook = myManageHook <+> manageHook defaultConfig

Again we use XMonad.ManageHook.composeAll to compose a list of different XMonad.Config.ManageHooks. The first one will put RealPlayer on the float layer, the second one will put the xpdf windows in the workspace named "doc", with XMonad.ManageHook.doF and XMonad.StackSet.shift functions, and the third one will put all firefox windows on the workspace called web. Then we use the XMonad.ManageHook.<+> combinator to compose myManageHook with the default XMonad.Config.manageHook to form newManageHook.

Each XMonad.Config.ManageHook has the form: 

    property =? match --> action

Where property can be:

  • XMonad.ManageHook.title: the window's title
  • XMonad.ManageHook.resource: the resource name
  • XMonad.ManageHook.className: the resource class name.
  • XMonad.ManageHook.stringProperty somestring: the contents of the property somestring.

(You can retrieve the needed information using the X utility named xprop; for example, to find the resource class name, you can type 

 xprop | grep WM_CLASS

at a prompt, then click on the window whose resource class you want to know.)

match is the string that will match the property value (for instance the one you retrieved with xprop).

An action can be:

  • XMonad.ManageHook.doFloat: to place the window in the float layer;
  • XMonad.ManageHook.doIgnore: to ignore the window;
  • XMonad.ManageHook.doF: to execute a function with the window as argument.

For example, suppose we want to add a XMonad.Config.manageHook to float RealPlayer, which usually has a XMonad.ManageHook.resource name of "realplay.bin".

First we need to import XMonad.ManageHook: 

    import XMonad.ManageHook

Then we create our own XMonad.Config.manageHook: 

    myManageHook = resource =? "realplay.bin" --> doFloat

We can now use the XMonad.ManageHook.<+> combinator to add our XMonad.Config.manageHook to the default one: 

    newManageHook = myManageHook <+> manageHook defaultConfig

(Of course, if we wanted to completely replace the default XMonad.Config.manageHook, this step would not be necessary.) Now, all we need to do is change the XMonad.Core.manageHook field of the XMonad.Core.XConfig record, like so: 

    main = xmonad defaultConfig { ..., manageHook = newManageHook, ... }

And we are done.

Obviously, we may wish to add more then one XMonad.Config.manageHook. In this case we can use a list of hooks, compose them all with XMonad.ManageHook.composeAll, and add the composed to the default one.

For instance, if we want RealPlayer to float and thunderbird always opened in the workspace named mail, we can do so like this: 

    myManageHook = composeAll [ resource =? "realplay.bin"    --> doFloat
                              , resource =? "thunderbird-bin" --> doF (W.shift "mail")
                              ]

Remember to import the module that defines the XMonad.StackSet.shift function, XMonad.StackSet, like this: 

    import qualified XMonad.StackSet as W

And then we can add myManageHook to the default one to create newManageHook as we did in the previous example.

One more thing to note about this system is that if a window matches multiple rules in a XMonad.Config.manageHook, all of the corresponding actions will be run (in the order in which they are defined). This is a change from versions before 0.5, when only the first rule that matched was run.

Finally, for additional rules and actions you can use in your manageHook, check out the contrib module XMonad.Hooks.ManageHelpers.

The log hook and external status bars

When the stack of the windows managed by xmonad changes for any reason, xmonad will call XMonad.Core.logHook, which can be used to output some information about the internal state of xmonad, such as the layout that is presently in use, the workspace we are in, the focused window's title, and so on.

Extracting information about the internal xmonad state can be somewhat difficult if you are not familiar with the source code. Therefore, it's usually easiest to use a module that has been designed specifically for logging some of the most interesting information about the internal state of xmonad: XMonad.Hooks.DynamicLog. This module can be used with an external status bar to print the produced logs in a convenient way; the most commonly used status bars are dzen and xmobar.

By default the XMonad.Core.logHook doesn't produce anything. To enable it you need first to import XMonad.Hooks.DynamicLog: 

    import XMonad.Hooks.DynamicLog

Then you just need to update the XMonad.Core.logHook field of the XMonad.Core.XConfig record with one of the provided functions. For example: 

    main = xmonad defaultConfig { logHook = dynamicLog }

More interesting configurations are also possible; see the XMonad.Hooks.DynamicLog module for more possibilities.

You may now enjoy your extended xmonad experience.

Have fun!