Fluxbox Config - Menu

   
   
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Table of Content

This is a five-parts article. There are few sections here.

Where to Discuss?

Preface

Goal: Simple Example of Custom Fluxbox Menu Configuration

Table of Content

1: Config: Menu

Syntax

The syntax is:

[exec] (Label) {command} < optional path to .xpm icon >

Default

This is the default fluxbox menu in openSUSE. You can find it in ~/.fluxbox/menu file.

# Version 0.2   07.12.2004 - hvogel@hennevogel.de

[begin] (Fluxbox Menu)
    [exec] (xterm) {xterm}
    [include] (~/.fluxbox/menu.xdg)
        [submenu] (Fluxbox Configuration) {}
                [config] (Config)
                [workspaces] (Workspace)
                [submenu] (System-Styles) {Choose a style...}
                        [stylesdir] (/usr/share/fluxbox/styles)
                [end]
                [submenu] (User-Styles) {Choose a style...}
                        [stylesdir] (~/.fluxbox/styles)
                [end]
        [end]
    [exec] (Run Command) {fbrun}
    [exec] (Lock Screen) {xlock}
    [restart] (Restart) {}
    [exit] (Logout)
[end]

fluxbox Feature: Default Vanilla Menu

Source

We will learn to customize later.

Window Menu

There are other menu, used for window context, ~/.fluxbox/windowmenu file. The window menu is actually customizable.

fluxbox Feature: Window Menu

Other Distribution

This is the default fluxbox menu in Fedora. You can find it in ~/.fluxbox/menu file.

[begin] (Fluxbox-1.3.7)
[encoding] {UTF-8}
      [exec] (xterm) {xterm}
      [exec] (firefox) {}
[submenu] (Fluxbox menu)
      [config] (Configure)
[submenu] (System Styles) {Choose a style...}
      [stylesdir] (/usr/share/fluxbox/styles)
[end]
[submenu] (User Styles) {Choose a style...}
      [stylesdir] (~/.fluxbox/styles)
[end]
      [workspaces] (Workspace List)
      [commanddialog] (Fluxbox Command)
      [reconfig] (Reload config)
      [restart] (Restart)
      [exec] (About) {(fluxbox -v; fluxbox -info | sed 1d) | xmessage -file - -center}
      [separator]
      [exit] (Exit)
[end]
[endencoding]
[end]

Include

This is what I found in my Debian, as an example.

[begin] (fluxbox)
[include] (/etc/X11/fluxbox/fluxbox-menu)
[end]

On other distribution, I prefer creating XDG menu.

2: XDG Menu

We can create xdg menu for fluxbox using this command:

$ xdg_menu --format fluxbox  --root-menu /etc/xdg/menus/applications.menu > ~/.fluxbox/menu.xdg

Depend on your setup, the result of ~/.fluxbox/menu.xdg would looks similar like this one:

[submenu] (SUSE Menu)
 [submenu] (Development)
  [submenu] (Debugger)
      [exec] (Qt 5 D-Bus Viewer) {/usr/bin/qdbusviewer-qt5}
  [end] # (Debugger)
  ...
 [end] # (Development)
 ...
[end] # (SUSE Menu)

Now you can see the openSUSE’s XDG menu.

fluxbox Feature: openSUSE XDG Menu

Source

3: Custom Menu

I would rather create my own menu ~/.fluxbox/menu.favorites, based on my favorites application.

It is either the minimalist version.

[submenu] (Favorites)
    [exec] (URxvt) {urxvt}
    [exec] (XFCE4 Terminal) {xfce4-terminal}
    [separator]
    [exec] (Geany) {geany}
    [exec] (Thunar ) {thunar}
    [exec] (Firefox) {firefox}
    [exec] (Thunderbird) {thunderbird}
    [separator]
    [exec] (Inkscape) {inkscape}
    [exec] (GIMP) {gimp}
    [exec] (Clementine) {clementine}
    [exec] (scrot -d 5) {scrot -d 5}
[end] # (Favorites)

Or a more structured one:

[submenu] (Favorites)
    [submenu] (Terminal) {}
        [exec] (URxvt) {urxvt}
        [exec] (XFCE4 Terminal) {xfce4-terminal}
    [end]
    [submenu] (File Manager) {}
        [exec] (Thunar ) {thunar}
        [exec] (PCMan FM) {pcmanfm-qt}
    [end]
    [submenu] (Internet) {}
        [exec] (Firefox) {firefox}
        [exec] (Chromium) {chromium}
        [exec] (Midori) {midori}
        [exec] (Thunderbird) {thunderbird}
        [exec] (Transmission) {transmission-qt}
    [end]
    [submenu] (Graphics and Media) {}
        [exec] (Inkscape) {inkscape}
        [exec] (GIMP) {gimp}
        [separator]
        [exec] (VLC) {vlc}
        [exec] (Clementine) {clementine}
    [end]
    [exec] (Libreoffice) {libreoffice}
    [exec] (Geany) {geany}
    [exec] (scrot -d 5) {scrot -d 5}
[end] # (Favorites)

fluxbox Feature: Custom Favorites Menu

And the main menu ~/.fluxbox/menu would be:

[begin] (Fluxbox Menu)
    [include] (~/.fluxbox/menu.xdg)
    [include] (~/.fluxbox/menu.favorites)
    [separator]
    [submenu] (Fluxbox Configuration) {}
            [config] (Config)
            [workspaces] (Workspace)
            [submenu] (System-Styles) {Choose a style...}
                    [stylesdir] (/usr/share/fluxbox/styles)
            [end]
            [submenu] (User-Styles) {Choose a style...}
                    [stylesdir] (~/.fluxbox/styles)
            [end]
    [end]
    [submenu] (Window Manager) {}
            [exec] (Run Command) {fbrun}
            [exec] (Lock Screen) {xlock}
            # [reconfig] (Reload config)
            [exec] (Shutdown) {/usr/bin/sudo /sbin/shutdown -h now} <>
            [restart] (Restart) {}
    [end]
    [exit] (Logout)
[end]

Source

4: Generated Menu

There are also built in tools to generate menu, based on application installed on your system.

$ fluxbox-generate_menu

What’s Next

We are done with configuration. Consider having fun with theme by continue reading [ Theme: Inkscape Part ]