Look(1x)

📦
version 2.2.12 · 3 versions
, in ubuntu jammy

🌸 Look(1x) — AfterStep X11 window manager 🌸

okay bestie, welcome to Look(1x), the AfterStep look file page 💅 this is where you tell AfterStep how your windows should look, and honestly it's giving main character energy.

✨ NAME ✨

Look — AfterStep look 🎀

💖 CONFIGURATION OPTIONS 💖

  • ButtonAlign — FIXME: add proper description here.

See Also: Look Alignment flags for further details.

  • ButtonBevel — says what bevel gets drawn around iconified windows 🦋

See Also: Look Bevel flags for further details.

  • ButtonIconSpacing — FIXME: add proper description here.
  • ButtonSize width height — sets how big iconified windows are. every single iconified window button is gonna be exactly width pixels wide and height pixels high, no cap. that includes titles drawn at the top, but not the separate title window that SeparateButtonTitle makes. if width or height is less than one, that dimension just doesn't get fixed. the default is ButtonSize 0 0 ✨
  • CursorBack — use it with the CursorFore setting to adjust the color of the mouse cursor 🖱️
  • CursorFore — use it with the CursorBack setting to adjust the color of the mouse cursor 🖱️
  • DefaultFrame "name" — the MyFrame to use as the default for all windows. heads up though: if you want a different framing for any specific window, you have to say so in the database file using the Frame keyword. 💅
  • DefaultStyle "style_name" — tells AfterStep which MyStyle to use when no style has been specifically defined for a given situation. also, sneaky detail: if a style literally named "default" has been defined and DefaultStyle hasn't been, then that "default" style is what gets used as the default. 🎀
  • DeskBack desk# "name" — says what background to use for desk#. "name" can be either an image filename in double-quotes, or the name of a background definition (see MyBackground definition for the details). 🌈
  • DontAnimateBackground — disables the non-blocking root background changing of full-screen backgrounds, which lowkey looks like a slow animation. this one is recommended for fast machines 🔥
  • DontDrawBackground — if you specify this, the background image won't be displayed. use it with xearth or xfishtank.
  • DrawMenuBorders 0|1|2 — sets the look of the (start)menu 👑
    • 0 draws the menu with no border on either the menu label or menu item portions.
    • 1 draws a border around each menu label and around the menu item.
    • 2 draws a border around the menu label and the entire menu item list.

the border colors are calculated from the BackColor under MyStyle menu_item of the look.name. the "hilight" (top & left) color is one half lighter than the BackColor color, and the "shadow" (bottom & right) is one half darker than the BackColor color. and if the BackColor color is black, the color grey is used instead. 💀

  • FWindowStyle "style_name" — specifies the MyStyle to use for the focused window decorations ⭐
  • IconBox left top right bottom — specifies a region of the screen where iconified windows get placed. up to four icon boxes can be defined. if an IconBox is provided, icons automatically get placed in them whenever possible — otherwise they land in the upper left corner of the screen. every time a window gets iconified, a new place is found for it, unless the icon has been moved manually. available space is searched from left to right, then top to bottom. icons won't be automatically placed on top of other icons, but they may get placed underneath application windows if StubbornIconPlacement hasn't been specified. 😭

if left or right is negative, AfterStep adds the screen width to it. if top or bottom is negative, AfterStep adds the screen height to it. note that -0 is not parsed as the right or bottom pixel on the screen — use -1 instead. 🙈

the IconBox will normally be filled from left to right, then top to bottom. however, if the right edge of the IconBox is closer to the right edge of the screen than the left edge of the IconBox is to the left edge of the screen, then it gets filled from right to left. same deal for top to bottom. for example, "2 2 -1 -1" will result in an IconBox which fills from right to left, then bottom to top. ✨

  • IconsGrowVertically — says the Iconbox(es) should be filled vertically first. 🦋
  • KillBackgroundThreshold size — here size is the maximum number of pixels in the root background image. if the image is bigger than this, it gets unloaded from memory when the desktop is switched and the image is no longer in use. use it on systems with low memory. 💜
  • MArrowPixmap pixmap_name` — specifies a pixmap to use as the submenu indicator in popup menus. 🎀
  • MenuBalloonBorderHilite — FIXME: add proper description here.

See Also: Look Bevel flags for further details.

  • MenuBalloonCloseDelay — FIXME: add proper description here.
  • MenuBalloonDelay — FIXME: add proper description here.
  • MenuBalloonStyle — FIXME: add proper description here.
  • MenuBalloonTextPaddingX — FIXME: add proper description here.
  • MenuBalloonTextPaddingY — FIXME: add proper description here.
  • MenuBalloonXOffset — FIXME: add proper description here.
  • MenuBalloonYOffset — FIXME: add proper description here.
  • MenuBalloons — FIXME: add proper description here.
  • MenuHiTitleStyle "style_name" — AfterStep now lets you specify a MyStyle to be used for the titlebar of the currently highlighted menu. as soon as the menu goes out of focus, its titlebar gets rendered using MenuTitleStyle instead. 👑
  • MenuHiliteCompositionMethod 130-145 — this is a funny feature — try it and see how you like different values :) if you use shades of grey for your item text, you may not see any difference for some of these values. 🌈
  • MenuHiliteStyle "style_name" — specifies the MyStyle to use for highlighted menu items. ⭐
  • MenuItemCompositionMethod 130-145 — this is a funny feature — try it and see how you like different values :) if you use shades of grey for your item text, you may not see any difference for some of these values. 🌈
  • MenuItemStyle "style_name" — specifies the MyStyle to use for menu items. 🎀
  • MenuMiniPixmaps minis — specifies whether mini pixmaps should be included in menus. if minis is 0, mini pixmaps are not included. if minis is 1, mini pixmaps are included. note that mini pixmaps will not be added to menus until the next time menus are updated. also mini pixmaps can cause AS to take much longer to load over a network 😭
  • MenuNoBalloons — FIXME: add proper description here.
  • MenuPinOn pixmap_name — MenuPinOn is deprecated, and AfterStep will reinterpret it: it will create a new TitleButton using the last unused TitleButton context, and it will then assign the PinMenu function to this button. this button will only be shown on titlebars belonging to menu windows. it behaves just like any other TitleButton — for example you can use TitleButtonOrder to specify where it should go. the problem is you may not know what context AfterStep had chosen for it. the better way would be to explicitly define a TitleButton and assign PinMenu to it in your feel. 💀
  • MenuStippleCompositionMethod 130-145 — this is a funny feature — try it and see how you like different values :) if you use shades of grey for your item text, you may not see any difference for some of these values. 🌈
  • MenuStippleStyle "style_name" — specifies the MyStyle to use for stippled menu items. 🎀
  • MenuSubItemStyle "style_name" — AfterStep now includes this new feature: when you select an item from the menu, that item gets marked as recently used, and next time the menu is opened it will show all the recently used items from its SUBMENU. for example you do:
Menu->Applications->rxvt

next time you open the Main menu, it will display rxvt just under the "Applications" item with some offset. it looks much better when these subitems are shown with a different (smaller) font. to achieve that, specify a MyStyle with a smaller font using the MenuSubItemStyle option in your look file. 🦋

this feature could be turned off or altered by using the RecentSubmenuItems option in your feel file: set it to 0 to disable this feature.

  • MenuTitleStyle "style_name" — specifies the MyStyle to use for menu titles. 👑
  • MinipixmapSize x y — changes the default maximum MiniPixmap size (24x24) to a user-specified value.

See Also: MiniPixmap, MenuMiniPixmaps.

  • MyBackground "background_name" — specifies a background definition. please note that only desktops can have different backgrounds — the viewports inside of a desktop are limited to the same background. 💜

See Also: MyBackground definition for further details.

  • MyFrame "frame_name" — specifies a frame definition (window decor in general) and is covered in the MyFrame section of the documentation. please also note that window decor can be defined on a per window basis if needed, in the database. 🎀

See Also: MyFrame definition for further details.

  • MyStyle "style_name" — specifies a MyStyle definition (which covers text and/or gradients and/or background pixmaps), which can later be reused, and is covered in the MyStyle section of the documentation. ⭐

See Also: MyStyle definition for further details.

  • ResizeMoveGeometry geom — specifies the location of the resize/move window. if this option isn't specified, the move/resize window will be centered on the screen. geom may be any one of the following:
          ++: upper-left corner           -+: upper-right corner
          +-: lower-left corner           --: lower-right corner
  • RubberBand — specifies the RubberBand type to use when moving or resizing non-opaque windows. there are 3 styles:
    • 0: the window is represented as a number of rectangles
    • 1: one rectangle the size of the window
    • 2: one crossed-out rectangle the size of the window.
  • SWindowStyle "style_name" — specifies the MyStyle to use for the sticky window decorations. 🌸
  • SeparateButtonTitle 0|1
  • (picking up right where we left off, mid-option, it's fine, we're fine 💖) Specifies where iconified window titles should be drawn. If it's 0, the title gets drawn at the top of the icon. If it's 1, the title gets drawn in a separate window below the icon. Default value? 1. periodt.
  • StartMenuSortMode number — how your start menu entries get sorted, bestie. 1 = alphabetical order, 0 = date. that's the whole vibe. ✨
  • SupportedHints — FIXME: add proper description here. yeah they literally wrote that in the manpage and honestly? iconic. 🙈

See Also: Supported hints list for further details.

  • TitleButton button unclicked_image clicked_image — okay so button is the button location number, 1 to 10, laid out like this: [1] [3] [5] [7] [9] (title) [10] [8] [6] [4] [2]. 🎀

unclicked_image is the bitmap or pixmap used during the static state of that button location.

clicked_image is the bitmap or pixmap used during a clicked state of that button location.

  • TitleButtonBalloonBorderHilite None|[Left,Top,Right,Bottom,Extra,NoOutline — defines the bevel drawn around balloons, and it replaces the BorderWidth setting. no cap. 💅

See Also: Bevel flags for further details.

  • TitleButtonBalloonCloseDelay milliseconds — how long to wait before a TitleButtonBalloon closes itself. the auto-close timer, fr fr.
  • TitleButtonBalloonDelay milliseconds — how long to wait before showing a Balloon after your mouse pointer lands on a TitleButton. the hover delay, so it's not popping off instantly. 🦋
  • TitleButtonBalloonStyle "mystyle_name" — the MyStyle used to draw the balloon. heads up though: balloons can be shaped (BackPixmap 125 and 126). 🌸
  • TitleButtonBalloonTextPaddingX — FIXME: add proper description here. the mystery option, we love her. 💀
  • TitleButtonBalloonTextPaddingY — FIXME: add proper description here. same energy. 🙈
  • TitleButtonBalloonXOffset offset — the horizontal offset (in pixels) used when displaying balloons.
  • TitleButtonBalloonYOffset offset — specifies the horizontal offset (in pixels) used when displaying balloons. (yes it says horizontal again, that's what the page says, I'm just the messenger 🫶)
  • TitleButtonBalloons — turns ON displaying balloons for the buttons in the titlebar. 💖
  • TitleButtonNoBalloons — do NOT show Balloons for TitleButtons. the off switch. ✨
  • TitleButtonOrder context_sequence — decides the layout of the titlebar. default is 13579t08642. yes, that's a t in there. iykyk. 👑
  • TitleButtonSpacing number — how much space (in pixels) goes between each button of the titlebar.
  • TitleButtonSpacingLeft number — how much space (in pixels) goes between the left buttons and the titlebar.
  • TitleButtonSpacingRight number — how much space (in pixels) goes between the titlebar and the right buttons.
  • TitleButtonStyle num — controls how much space sits between the leftmost and rightmost titlebar buttons and the edges of the titlebar. If num is 0, there's a two pixel buffer between the buttons and the edge. If num is 1, there's no space between the buttons and the edge. If num is 2, then the distance between the titlebar edge and the titlebuttons is determined by TitleButtonXOffset and TitleButtonYOffset. three modes, pick your fighter. 🔥
  • TitleButtonXOffset x_offset_val — the distance of the titlebar buttons from the edge of the titlebar.
  • TitleButtonXOffsetLeft x_offset_val — the distance of the left block of titlebar buttons from the side of the titlebar.
  • TitleButtonXOffsetRight x_offset_val — the distance of the right block of titlebar buttons from the side of the titlebar.
  • TitleButtonYOffset y_offset_val — the distance of the titlebar buttons from the top/bottom of the titlebar.
  • TitleButtonYOffsetLeft y_offset_val — the distance of the left block of titlebar buttons from the top/bottom of the titlebar.
  • TitleButtonYOffsetRight y_offset_val — the distance of the right block of titlebar buttons from the top/bottom of the titlebar.
  • TitleTextAlign align — how the titlebar text gets aligned: Left, Right or Center. pick one, bestie. 🎀
  • TitlebarNoPush — says the titlebar should NOT appear to be "pushed in" when you click it with a mouse button. super useful if you want to reduce video strain, or if you're using textured pixmaps that do not look good "pushed in". the aesthetic preservation option, honestly. 💅
  • UWindowStyle — specifies the MyStyle to use for the unfocused window decorations. ✨

and now, some general tea about how look has levelled up, straight from the page:

Frame decoration settings have been greatly enhanced. It's now fashioned after the MyStyle option and is called MyFrame. It allows for several named structures, with inheritance and the ability to assign different structures to different apps using the database. 🌈

As mentioned above, root background settings have been moved into look — hence MyBackground and Desk are back as look options.

MyStyle has a far greater number of BackPixmap types, reflecting new functionality in libAfterImage. 🔥

CompositionMethod setting has been added to different aspects of look.

New options for more flexible placing of titlebar buttons have been added.

Balloons now support both X and Y offset, as well as MyStyle instead of simple back and fore colors. 🎈

okay that's the whole page, we ate and left no crumbs 💖 this was the Look(1x) page from the 3rd Berkeley Distribution, for AfterStep v.2.2.12 — shoutout to them, and to you for actually reading a manpage all the way to the bottom, main character behaviour fr fr. mwah. 🫶✨

📦 where this page comes from