
Welcome to Ion!

If you have never used Ion before, it is highly recommended that you study 
the Ion manual page before proceeding further. It is reproduced below, but 
you can also access it later on, for example, by pressing <F1> and then 
<Enter> or, by running 'man ion3' in a terminal. All this supposing that 
you have installed Ion in a standard location so that the system commands
can find the manual page.

If you are too eager to try out Ion and against all recommendation want to
skip reading the manual page, you should at least know that pressing <F2> 
should start a terminal emulator (xterm) and that the main menu can be 
accessed with <F12>.

When you feel ready to write customized configuration files (you're going
to do that in any case), please see the configuration manual available from
the Ion webpage listed at the end of the user manual below. It may, however,
be beneficial to become well acquainted with Ion before delving into this 
so that you have grasped the basic concepts necessary to understand the
binding configuration files.


---- Manual page follows ----





ION(1)                                                     ION(1)


NAME
       Ion - an X11 window manager

SYNOPSIS
       ion3 [options]

DESCRIPTION
       Ion  is  a tiling tabbed window manager designed with keyboard users in
       mind.


OPTIONS
       -display host:display.screen
              X display to manage

       -conffile configfile
              Configuration file to use instead of default

       -searchdir dir
              Directory to search for configuration files and other scripts

       -oneroot
              On X servers with multiple (traditional  non-Xinerama)  screens,
              manage  only  default screen (root window), not all, as given by
              the -display option or in the DISPLAY environment variable.

       -session session_name
              Set session name. This option affects where workspace and  other
              save files are put (~/.ion3/session_name if option set).

       -help  Show help on command line options

       -version
              Show version

       -about Show about text (version, copyright)


BASIC CONCEPTS
       This  section  is  an overview of the types objects that appear on an X
       display managed by Ion and their relationships  in  a  standard  setup.
       This  information  is necessary to understand the operations and avail­
       ability of the different key  bindings  explained  below.  For  a  more
       detailed  explanation, needed for writing custom bindings configuration
       files, see the additional documentation  available  from  the  Ion  Web
       page.

       The  top-level  objects  that  matter  in the case at hand are screens.
       They correspond to physical screens. Screens contain workspaces  (which
       are  a  kind  of  group), and client windows put into full screen mode.
       These objects are multiplexed in the sense that only one  can  be  dis­
       played at a time.

       Workspaces themselves may contain tilings and detached/floating frames.



                                                                1





ION(1)                                                     ION(1)


       Tilings themselves contain frames tiled to fill the screen, and  possi­
       bly  a  statusbar  or  dock.  Akin  to  screens, frames multiplex other
       objects, but in this case mostly client  window  groups.  Most  of  the
       time,  frames  are  the only trace of Ion you see on the screen. Frames
       may have border decorations, and they have a tab for  each  multiplexed
       object.

       Queries  are  boxes  that appear at the bottoms of frames or screens to
       ask you for textual input to execute an  action  that  depends  on  it.
       Most queries support tab-completion.



BINDINGS
       These  are the default key and pointer bindings. (Mod1) depends on your
       system. On PC:s with XFree86 it is probably bound to the left  Alt  key
       (Alt_L).  On  Suns  it  is  usually  bound to the diamond keys (Meta_L,
       Meta_R). Use xmodmap(1x) to find out.

       The string in square brackets after a binding group heading below indi­
       cates  the module that whose configuration file defines these bindings.


   Globally available bindings
       Mod1+1, Mod1+2, Mod1+3, Mod1+4, Mod1+5, Mod1+6, Mod1+7, Mod1+8, Mod1+9,
       Mod1+0
              Switch to n:th object (workspace,  full  screen  client  window)
              within current screen.

       Mod1+comma, Mod1+period
              Switch to next/previous object within current screen.

       Mod1+K K
              Go to first region demanding attention or previously active one.

       Mod1+K T
              Clear all tags.

       Mod1+Shift+1, Mod1+Shift+2
              Go to n:th screen on multihead setup.

       Mod1+Shift+comma, Mod1+Shift+period
              Go to next/previous screen on multihead setup.

       Mod1+F9
              Create a new workspace of chosen default type.

       F12, Button3 press
              Display the main menu.

       Button2 press
              Display the window list menu.





                                                                2





ION(1)                                                     ION(1)


       Mod1+Tab
              Forward-circulate focus.

       Mod1+K Tab
              Backward-circulate focus.

       Mod1+K R
              Raise focused object, if possible.



   Bindings operating on top-level frames and screens and their children
       Mod1+T Toggle tag of current object.

       F1     Query for manual page to be displayed.

       Mod1+F1
              Show the Ion manual page.

       F2     Run a terminal emulator.

       F3     Query for command line to execute.

       Mod1+F3
              Query for Lua code to execute.

       F4     Query for host to connect to with SSH.

       F5     Query for file to edit.

       F6     Query for file to view.

       F9     Query for workspace to go to or create a new one.

       Mod1+G Query for a client window to go to.

       Mod1+M Display context menu.



   Bindings operating on frames and screens and their children
       Mod1+C Close current object.

       Mod1+K D
              Detach (float) or reattach an object to its previous location.



   Bindings operating on all frames (including transient) and their children
       Mod1+K H, Mod1+K V
              Maximize the frame horizontally/vertically.

       Button3 press
              Display context menu.



                                                                3





ION(1)                                                     ION(1)


       Mod1+R Begin move/resize mode.

       Button1 click at tab, Button2 click at tab
              Switch the frame to display the object indicated by the tab.

       Button1 drag at border, Mod1+Button3 drag
              Resize the frame.

       Mod1+Button1 drag
              Move the frame.

       Button1 drag at tab, Button2 drag at tab
              Move objects between frames by dragging and dropping the tab.



   Bindings operating on top-level (non-transient) frames and their children
       Mod1+T Tag current object within the frame.

       Mod1+A Query for a client window to attach.

       Mod1+K 1, Mod1+K 2, Mod1+K 3, Mod1+K 4, Mod1+K 5, Mod1+K 6, Mod1+K  7,
       Mod1+K 8, Mod1+K 9, Mod1+K 0
              Switch to n:th object within the frame.

       Mod1+K N, Mod1+K P
              Switch to next/previous object within the frame.

       Mod1+K comma, Mod1+K period
              Move current object within the frame left/right.

       Mod1+K H, Mod1+K V
              Maximize the frame horizontally/vertically.

       Mod1+K A
              Attach tagged objects to this frame.



   Bindings for floating/detached frames
       Button1 double click at tab
              Toggle shade mode

       Button1 press at tab, Button1 press at border, Mod1+Button1 click
              Raise the frame.

       Mod1+Button3 click
              Lower the frame.

       Button1 drag at tab
              Move the frame.

       Mod1+K B
              Tile frame, if no tiling exists on the workspace



                                                                4





ION(1)                                                     ION(1)


   Bindings for tilings and tiled frames [mod_tiling]
       Mod1+S Split current frame vertically.

       Mod1+P, Mod1+N, Mod1+Tab, Mod1+K Tab
              Go to frame above/below/right/left of current frame.

       Mod1+K S
              Split current frame horizontally.

       Mod1+K X
              Destroy current frame.



   Bindings for client windows
       Mod1+L Nudge the client window. This might  help  with  some  programs'
              resizing problems.

       Mod1+K C
              Kill client owning the client window.

       Mod1+K Q
              Send  next key press to the client window. Some programs may not
              allow this by default.



       Mod1+Return
              Toggle client window group full-screen mode



   Move/resize mode bindings
       Escape Cancel the resize mode.

       Return End the resize mode.

       Left, Right, Up, Down, F, B, P, N
              Grow in specified direction.

       Shift+Left, Shift+Right,  Shift+Up,  Shift+Down,  Shift+F,  Shift+B,
       Shift+P, Shift+N
              Shrink in specified direction.

       Mod1+Left, Mod1+Right, Mod1+Up, Mod1+Down, Mod1+F, Mod1+B, Mod1+P,
       Mod1+N
              Move in specified direction.



   Bindings for message boxes and queries [mod_query]
       Escape, Control+G, Control+C
              Close the query/message box, not executing bound actions.




                                                                5





ION(1)                                                     ION(1)


       Control+U, Control+V, Page_Up, Page_Down
              Scroll the message or completions up/down.



   Bindings for editing in queries [mod_query]
       These  bindings  are  similar to those of the joe(1) text editor.  Cut,
       copy and paste works in a more conventional  manner,  though,  but  the
       keys are equivalent.


       Control+F, Control+B, Right, Left
              Move one character forward/backward.

       Control+E, Control+A, End, Home
              Go to end/beginning.

       Control+X, Control+Z
              Skip one word forward/backward.

       Control+D, Delete
              Delete next character.

       BackSpace, Control+H
              Delete previous character.

       Control+W, Control+O
              Delete one word forward/backward.

       Control+J
              Delete to end of line.

       Control+Y
              Delete the whole line.

       Control+T
              Transpose characters.

       Control+P, Control+N, Up, Down, Control+Up, Control+Down
              Select next/previous (matching) history entry.

       Button2 click, Control+K C
              Paste from the clipboard.

       Control+K B
              Set mark/begin selection.

       Control+K Y
              Cut selection.

       Control+K K
              Copy selection.





                                                                6





ION(1)                                                     ION(1)


       Control+K G
              Clear mark/cancel selection.

       Tab, Shift+Tab, Control+Tab
              Try to complete the entered text or cycle through completions.

       Control+R, Control+S
              Complete from history

       Control+M, Return, KP_Enter
              Close the query and execute bound action.



   Bindings for menus [mod_menu]
       Escape, Control+G, Control+C, Left
              Close the menu.

       Return, KP_Enter, Control+M, Right
              Activate current menu entry.

       Control+N, Control+P, Up, Down
              Select next/previous menu entry.

       BackSpace
              Clear the menu's typeahead find buffer.




FILES AND DIRECTORIES
       /usr/local/share/examples/ion3/cfg_ion.lua
              System default main configuration files

       /usr/local/share/examples/ion3/cfg_*.lua
              Other configuration files.

       /usr/local/share/examples/ion3/look_*.lua
              Colour scheme configuration files

       ~/.ion3/
              User configuration files

       ~/.ion3/cfg_ion.lua
              User default main configuration file (overrides system default)


SEE ALSO
       The Ion home page, http://iki.fi/tuomov/ion/

       The document "Ion: Configuring and extending with Lua" found on the Ion
       home page.

       /usr/local/share/doc/ion3/



                                                                7





ION(1)                                                     ION(1)


       X(7x), pwm3(1), joe(1)


AUTHOR
       Ion was written by Tuomo Valkonen <tuomov at iki.fi>.




















































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