Base(7x)

📦
version 2.2.12 · 4 versions
, in ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ NAME ✨

Base — the essential AfterStep configuration options, aka the absolute bare-minimum stuff your AfterStep needs to know about itself 🫶

This page is Base(7x), and it lives under the big umbrella of the AfterStep X11 window manager. So like, if you're setting up AfterStep and you're wondering "where do I tell it which browser to open, or where my fonts live?" — bestie, you're in the right place. 💅

🎀 CONFIGURATION OPTIONS 🎀

Every single one of these goes in your AfterStep config, and every single one of them matters. No skipping, okay? 😤

BrowserCommand number command

Picks which web browser AfterStep uses when you hit it with the ExecBrowser command.

Here's the tea: it runs through the supplied list, checks which ones are actually present on your system, and the first available one gets used. Not me casually having seven browsers and it just picking the first one that exists 😭

The default number/command combos are:

  • 0 — $BROWSER
  • 1 — sensible-browser
  • 2 — x-www-browser
  • 3 — firefox
  • 4 — mozilla-firefox
  • 5 — mozilla
  • 6 — opera

CursorPath path[:path]

Tells AfterStep where to go looking for cursor files. Yes, paths, plural — you can stack them with : between. Point it at the right folder and your cursor shows up, periodt. 🖱️

DeskTopScale number

If you never specified a geometry, AfterStep falls back on a desktop reduction factor to work out how big the pager should be. Everything inside the pager window gets drawn at 1/number of its actual size.

So like, crank number up and the pager gets small and cute. 🌸

DeskTopSize W x H

This one has two modes, and it's giving dual personality ngl:

  • If W or H are less than or equal to 100 — they define the number of rows and columns in the virtual desktop, and each one is sized the same as the screen.
  • Otherwise, W and H define the exact size of the virtual desktop in pixels — but it will be no less than the size of the screen. It's not gonna let you go smaller than your actual screen, and honestly? Respect. 👑

DisableKDEGlobalsTheming

If you set this, AfterStep will stop updating the private kdeglobals file when your colorscheme changes.

Why would you care? Because kdeglobals needs to be updated in order for KDE apps to get their colors set to match whichever colorscheme you picked. So setting this = your KDE apps just vibe in their own lane, unthemed. Your call, bestie. 🎨

DisableSharedMemory

Disables shared memory support in afterstep.

Use this if you're running X remotely, or if you've got issues with shared memory in general. Remote X girlies, this one's for you. 💜

EditorCommand number command

Picks which editor AfterStep uses when you run the ExecEditor command.

Same deal as the browser one: it goes through the supplied list, checks all the possibilities are present on the system, and the first available one wins.

The default number/command combos are:

  • 0 — $EDITOR
  • 1 — nedit
  • 2 — xemacs
  • 3 — gedit
  • 4 — kedit
  • 5 — kate

FontPath path[:path]

Tells AfterStep where to find your font files. 📝

What's supported? Standard X11 fonts, plus Truetype fonts through the FreeType library. So yes, you can have the pretty fonts. Slay.

IconPath path[:path]

Tells AfterStep where to find the bitmaps. Typically this only gets used when XPM, JPEG, or PNG images aren't available — so it's like, the backup plan of icons.

Valid bitmaps here are standard X11 XBM's. That's the whole list. Don't try to sneak anything else in there. 🙈

ModulePath path[:path]

Tells AfterStep where to find the Modules. If your modules are ghosting you, this is the setting that fixes it. 🧩

Path path:path:path

The big one — this sets the search paths for basically everything:

  • icons → IconPath
  • fonts → FontPath
  • pixmaps → PixmapPath
  • cursors → CursorPath
  • scripts → ScriptPath

Multiple entries for any given search path get separated by a colon. It's giving master control panel tbh. 🎛️

PixmapPath path[:path]

Tells AfterStep where to find the pixmaps.

Valid pixmaps are currently: XCF, XPM, PPM/PNM, ICO, GIF, XML Images, JPEG, PNG and TIFF. That's a whole buffet and we love that for us. 🍓

TermCommand number command

Picks the terminal emulator AfterStep uses when you run the ExecInTerm command — and again, the first matching one gets used.

The default number/command combos are:

  • 0 — x-terminal-emulator
  • 1 — aterm
  • 2 — rxvt
  • 3 — eterm
  • 4 — xterm

gtkrc20Path path

Sets the full filename for the gtkrc file that AfterStep generates from gtkrc-20_template whenever the colorscheme changes.

Default is ~/.gtkrc-2.0.

Change it if you want to keep AfterStep from mangling your own gtkrc. But ngl, the more sensible approach is to just edit the template. So like… do that instead. 😌

gtkrcPath path

Same energy, but for the GTK 1.x girlies: sets the full filename for the gtkrc file that AfterStep generates from gtkrc_template on colorscheme changes.

Default is ~/.gtkrc.

Same warning though — change it to prevent mangling of your own gtkrc, but the more sensible approach is to edit the template. Not me warning you twice, but also literally warning you twice. 💀

And that's the whole page, bestie!! You now know every single essential AfterStep config option and you're genuinely unstoppable. 💖

Heads up: this page comes to you from the 3rd Berkeley Distribution, and it's documenting AfterStep v.2.2.12. Its manual name is Base(7x) — remember it, cite it, live it. 👑

okay bye ily, go configure something iconic ✨🎀🦋

📦 where this page comes from