rofi/README.md

# A window switcher, run dialog and dmenu replacement

A popup window switcher roughly based on [superswitcher](http://code.google.com/p/superswitcher/),
requiring only xlib and pango.
This version started off as a clone of simpleswitcher, the version from [Sean
Pringle](http://github.com/seanpringle/simpleswitcher). All credit for this great tool should go to him.
Rofi developed extra features, like a run-dialog, ssh-launcher and can act as a drop-in dmenu
replacement, making it a very versatile tool.

Using Rofi is a lot like dmenu, but extended for an improved work flow.
It main features are:

* Full (configurable) keyboard navigation.
* Type to filter
    - Tokenized: Type any word in any order to filter.
    - Case insensitive
* UTF-8 enabled.
    - UTF-8 aware string collating.
    - intl. keyboard support (`e -> è)
* Pango font rendering.
* RTL language support.
* Window Switcher.
    - I3 support.
    - EWHM compatible WM.
* Run dialog.
* SSH launcher.
* History based ordering last 25 choices are ordered on top based on use. (optional)
* Levenshtein distance ordering of matches. (optional)
* Drop in dmenu replacement.
    - With many added improvements.
* Can be easily extended using scripts.

The 4 Main functions of rofi are:

## Window Switcher

![Window List](https://davedavenport.github.io/rofi/images/rofi/window-list.png)

The window switcher shows the following informations in columns:

1. Desktop number (optional, not shown in I3 mode)
2. Window class.
3. Window title.

If compiled with I3 support, it should autodetect if I3 window manager is running and switch into
I3 compatibility mode. This will disable Desktop numbers and hide the i3-bar, also it sends an IPC
message to I3 to change focus.

## Run dialog

![run dialog](https://davedavenport.github.io/rofi/images/rofi/run-dialog.png)

The run dialog allows the user to quickly search and launch a program.
It offers the following features:

  - Shift-Return to run the selected program in a terminal.
  - Favorites list, frequently used programs are sorted on top.

## SSH launcher

![SSH Launcher](https://davedavenport.github.io/rofi/images/rofi/ssh-dialog.png)

Quickly ssh into remote machines

  - Parses ~/.ssh/config to find hosts.


## dmenu replacement

![DMENU replacement (running teiler)](https://davedavenport.github.io/rofi/images/rofi/dmenu-replacement.png)

Drop in dmenu replacement. (Screenshot shows rofi used by
[teiler](https://github.com/carnager/teiler) ).

**rofi** features several improvements over dmenu to improve usability. There is the option to add
an extra message bar (`-mesg`), pre-entering of text (`-filter`) or selecting entries based on a
pattern (`-select`). Also highlighting (`-u` and `-a`) options and modi to force user to select one
provided option (`-only-match`).

# Usage

If used with `-show [mode]`, rofi will immediately open in the specified [mode]

If used with `-dmenu`, rofi will use data from STDIN to let the user select an option.

If use with neither of those options, rofi will launch in daemon-mode, waiting for a key (configured beforehand) to launch.

## Single-shot

Show a run dialog with some font / color options:

  `rofi -show run -font "snap 10" -fg "#505050" -bg "#000000" -hlfg "#ffb964" -hlbg "#000000" -o 85`

Show a ssh dialog:

  `rofi -show ssh`

## dmenu

If passed the `-dmenu` option, or ran as `dmenu` (ie, /usr/bin/dmenu is symlinked to /usr/bin/rofi),
rofi will use the data passed from STDIN.

```
~/scripts/my_script.sh | rofi -dmenu
echo -e "Option #1\nOption #2\nOption #3" | rofi -dmenu
```

In both cases, rofi will output the user's selection to STDOUT.

## Daemon mode

Let rofi sit in the background, waiting for the user to press `F12` to open the window run dialog:

`rofi -key-run F12`

## Switching Between Modi

Type `Shift-Right` to switch from Window list mode to Run mode and back.


## Keybindings

| Key                         | Action                                                             |
|:----------------------------|:-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|`Ctrl-v, Insert`             | Paste clipboard |
|`Ctrl-Shift-v, Shift-Insert` | Paste primary selection |
|`Ctrl-u`                     | Clear the line |
|`Ctrl-a`                     | Beginning of line |
|`Ctrl-e`                     | End of line |
|`Ctrl-f, Right`              | Forward one character |
|`Alt-f`                      | Forward one word |
|`Ctrl-b, Left`               | Back one character |
|`Alt-b`                      | Back one word |
|`Ctrl-d, Delete`             | Delete character |
|`Ctrl-Alt-d`                 | Delete word |
|`Ctrl-h, Backspace`          | Backspace (delete previous character) |
|`Ctrl-Alt-h`                 | Delete previous word |
|`Ctrl-j,Ctrl-m,Enter`        | Accept entry |
|`Ctrl-n,Down`                | Select next entry |
|`Ctrl-p,Up`                  | Select previous entry |
|`Page Up`                    | Go to the previous page |
|`Page Down`                  | Go to the next page |
|`Ctrl-Page Up`               | Go to the previous column |
|`Ctrl-Page Down`             | Go to the next column |
|`Ctrl-Enter`                 | Use entered text as command (in ssh/run modi) |
|`Shift-Enter`                | Launch the application in a terminal (in run mode) |
|`Shift-Enter`                | Return the selected entry and move to the next item while keeping Rofi open. (in dmenu) |
|`Shift-Right`                | Switch to the next modi. The list can be customized with the -switchers argument. |
|`Shift-Left`                 | Switch to the previous modi. The list can be customized with the -switchers argument. |
|`Ctrl-Tab`                   | Switch to the next modi. The list can be customized with the -switchers argument. |
|`Ctrl-Shift-Tab`             | Switch to the previous modi. The list can be customized with the -switchers argument. |
|`Ctrl-space`                 | Set selected item as input text. |
|`Shift-Del`                  | Delete entry from history. |
|`Ctrl-grave`                 | Toggle case sensitivity. |


# Configuration

There are currently three methods of setting configuration options:

 * Compile time: edit config.c. This method is strongly discouraged.
 * Xresources: A method of storing key values in the Xserver. See
   [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_resources) for more information.
   This is the recommended way of configuring **rofi**.
 * Commandline options: Arguments passed to **rofi**.

The Xresources options and the commandline options are aliased. So to set option X you would set:

`rofi.X: value`

In the Xresources file, and to (override) this via the commandline you would pass the same key
prefixed with a '-':

    rofi -X value

To get a list of available options, formatted as Xresources entries run:

    rofi -dump-Xresources

The configuration system supports the following types:

 * String
 * Integer (signed and unsigned)
 * Char
 * Boolean

The boolean option has a non-default commandline syntax, to enable option X  you do:

	rofi -X

to disable it:

	rofi -no-X

# Installation

Please see the [installation guide](https://davedavenport.github.io/rofi/p08-INSTALL.html) for instruction on how to install *rofi*.