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JWM Kit

A set of software designed to simplify usage of JWM (Joe's Window Manager)

JWM Kit is Free Open Source Software.
See License.

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UPDATES

Sept 23, 2022

Wiki now has a page for JWM resources. This page provides links to online resources with JWM / JWMKit related resources such as Themes or button sets.

Aug 27, 2022 Notice concerning the recent release.

I failed to update the release version/date in the man pages prior to release.
This has no ill effect on the software, but be aware that the version/date in the manpages will be 20220329 instead of the proper 20220826. I advise using the package manager to check your installed version.

Aug 26, 2022 New Stable Release

This release includes the bugfix for issue #8.
New packages and build scripts are avaliable here

Aug 25, 2022

Bugfix for issue #8. Poorly made freedesktop entries that lack the opening [Desktop Entry] should no longer affect JWMKit.

Appologies for taking so long to address this issue, but it could not be helped.

This is an important update for affected users. So a new stable release is appropriate. Hopefuly I can find time to manage that before the weekend. Including new packages for Arch, Hyperbola, Debian, and Puppy.

March 29, 2022 New Stable Release (late entry)

• Bug fixes & improvements
• Enhancements for antiX user

February 27, 2022
Since last release

• Fix for Include executables not loading on start up if the resolution is change by a JWM StartupCommand.
• antiX specific improvements for jwmkit_easymenu and jwmkit_settings
• JWM Kit Desktops
• • Support changing zzzFM desktop's wallpaper
• • Improve XML output

More Themes. 61 themes added.

• 60 of the themes are from the puppy community. Thanks to all the creative people involved.
  I have made changes to many of these to improve formating, syntax, and compatiblity with JWM Kit and newer version of JWM.
• JWMKit-DarkGreen-V2 is an updated version of the orginal JWMKit-Dark-Green theme.

Link	Description
wiki theme page	Information and preview images.
All Themes zip archive	Download all themes (updated)
All Newly Added zip archive	Download the newly added themes

February 14, 2022 New Stable Release

JWM Kit Wallpaper replaced with the new JWM Kit Desktops

Most notable new features

• Specific different background for each Virtual Desktops
• configure the number of desktops
• configure additional window behaviors
• configure the button order for the window title bar
• NOTE : The new button order feature requires JWM 2.4 or greater

Important Release Info
Any Reference to the old JWM Kit Wallpaper in your menu's and trays should be replaces with the new JWM Kit Desktop. If you are using the menus provided with JWM Kit's default config this will include the menus : menu-jwmkit, and menu-right

February 13, 2022

NOTICE : The JWM Kit Desktops' button order option requires JWM 2.4 or higher. This option is ignored when using older version of JWM.

February 12, 2022 - Second Entry

Updated wiki
JWM Kit Desktops wiki page

February 12, 2022

Introducing JWM Kit Desktops
Purpose  : Configure Desktops and windows preferences.
Replaces : JWM Kit Wallpaper

JWM Kit Desktops Features

Desktop background (image or color)

• Set the default background
• Set a different background for each desktop (virtual desktop)
• The default background will be used when a desktop’s background is not defined
• Apply all option : sets all desktop to the same background
  This option set only the default and clears the rest
• Remove any specific background
  Includes the default and/or any specific desktop’s backgrounds
• Option to remove all backgrounds
• Additional info on removing backgrounds.
• • Removing a background means the value is not defined.
• • If a specific desktop is removed it will use the default background, but If the default is also not defined it will use the background of the last selected desktop.
• • If all backgrounds are removed the background last uses will stay until the user logs off. When the user logs back in the display manager's background will be used.

Preferences. Configure the following

• Number of Virtual desktops in the vertical and horizontal direction
• Double click behavior
• Windows behaviors : Focus, Move, Resize, Snapping
• Configure the order of the buttons in the title bar of the windows

February 03 2022

New Stable Release 20220203
Fixes a few issues with yesterday's release.

• Fix incompatiblity with older version of python. Tested on 3.5
• Corrupt themes files no longer prevent JWM Kit Appearances from starting

February 02 2022

• New Stable Release 20220202
• Create and edit Themes with JWM Kit Appearance
  More info on the JWM Kit Appearance Wiki page

January 21 2022

In General

• Code clean up
• Improved comments
• Remove developer notes (comments, TODO, etc) that were no longer needed
• Convert use of some class/functions to equivalent ones that have proven to be more optimal
• Update man pages and other documentation
• Resumed work on the previous suspended JWM Kit Designer. A tool for creating and editing JWM Themes

Repair & Restore

• Automatically create the JWM Kit Settings file on startup if it is missing
• Automatically open the repair_settings dialog when creating the settings file
• BugFix : installing a restore point could fail when converting the default config location

January 18 2022

• Built in viewer for text files and archive contents
• Dialog to configure externals tools for JWM Kit's use
  Example : text editor, archiver and file manager
• The features improve the out of box experience and should be well worth the slight addition of code size.

January 17 2022 - Second Entry

JWM Kit Repair & Restore improvements

• Resolve compatibility issues when installing a restore point created for different versions of JWM.
• Restore points can be shared between machines using different versions of JWM
• Updated WIki to include info on new JWM Kit Keys.

January 17 2022

Some INFO and clarification

• JWM 2.4 supported but NOT required by JWM Kit.
  JWM Kit still supports older version of JWM as well as the new version 2.4. You can use either.
• As some have speculated a forth release is coming soon. If you are packaging JWM Kit for redistributing you can save yourself some time by wait for the new upcomming release.

January 16 2022

Complete re-write of JWM Kit Keys

• 40% less code
• Lighter on resources
• Major interface improvements
• Easier to use
• Support for key, keycode, and mouse bindings

January 13 2022
New Stable Release 20220113

January 12 2022

Better late than never so "Happy 2022. I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas."

• JWM Kit now support both HOME/.jwmrc and HOME/.config/jwm/jwmrc
  This is in support of the new JWM 2.4.
• If both files are on your system and JWM is version 2.4 or above, JWM Kit will used the new .config/jwm/jwmrc over the old one. This is to be consistent with the behavior observed when testing JWM 2.4
• Reduction of total code size.

October 24 2021

Many people have asked about JWM themes and buttons sets to use with JWM and JWM KIt. I have add a collection to sourceforge. The collection includes official JWM Kit themes and button sets as well as many themes and button sets from the Puppy Linux community.

You can preview and download individual themes or button set from either the JWM Kit wiki or sourceforge. An option is provided to download all themes or all buttons sets as a .zip archive.

• JWM Kit Wiki - Look in the "Support Files" section
• JWM Kit's sourceforge - Look in the "themes" and " theme_button_sets" directories
• Download All Themes : all_themes.zip
• Download All Button Sets : all_buttons.zip

October 05 2021

• Expanded Pop Volume's sndio support
• Provide a enhanced mixer for sndio
• sndio users can now control the level of each stream providing individual volume control for media player, web browser, etc.
• sndio users with alsa-utils installed have the ability to control both the alsa and sindo master.

October 2 2021

• JWM Kit Icons now shows a preview icon when selecting a search result.

October 01 2021 - Second Entry

• New option for JWM Kit Logout : doas with no password
• The JWM Kit Forum is open. Join the discussion!
  Discussion in other public forums will continue, but this forum will provide more freedom for discussion of JWM Kit

October 01 2021

• JWM Kit Pop Volume now support sndio
• • sndioctl must be present
• • No configuration or parameters required to select sndio
• • Sndio is used when ALSA's amixer is not available.
• Improvements for ALSA support
• Optional Dependencies
• • alsa-utils, sndio

September 29 2021

• JWM Kit now has a Wiki. The wiki provides basic information on JWM Kit's various tools with plenty of pictures.

September 24 2021

• Initial Stable Release is finally stable No more changes.
• Again moved release tag to latest commit. Sorry but it was necessary
• Fixed Debian's changelog and packaging scripts in BUILD
• Moved release tag to latest commit to include the above fixes in the initial stable release

September 23 2021

• Finally!, A stable release : Initial Stable Release
• New packages and build scripts will be available on sourceforge soon.

September 8 2021

• Add permission button to jwmkit_first_run which provides the ablity to configure how JWM Kit request permission.
• Added the configuration file ~/.config/jwmkit/setting_su to record's the users preferences on how permission is requested.
• Added a built in graphical password prompt to be used with sudo

September 8 2021

• install packages for various distos moved to Sourceforge
• A cleanup/restructuring of this Git (codeberg) is underway. Sorry if this breaks any hyperlinks, bookmarks, scripts, etc
• Preview images moved to sourceforge and google drive to reduce the tarball size of tagged releases
• Appologies to vitforlinux as my recent changes will break the links in your article. Thanks for the review.

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Dependencies *

Required

• python3
• python3-gi
• gir1.2-gtk-3.0

optional (for pop up volume control / notification)

• alsa-utils
• sndio **

*This list of dependencies uses Debian based packages name.
Equivalent package may have a different name on non-Debian based distributions.
** The SNDIO package provided in the Debian repository is way out of date. Use of this feature on Debian systems will most likly require compiling SNDIO from source.

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DOWNLOADS

Download	Description
DEB	packages for Debian, Devuan, Ubuntu, etc
Arch	Packages for Arch, Manjaro, etc
Puppy	Packages for FOSSA & SLACKO Puppy Linux
Build Script	make your own package
JWM Kit Linux	Evaluate JWM Kit in a live boot enviroment

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Some of JWM Kit's Features

• No part of this software is designed to runs in the background. It only runs when the user starts it, and properly quits when "closed", or for notifications will close when timed out in a few seconds.
• Features are implemented using JWM's existing abilities.
• A settings manager as seen in popular desktops
• Set the desktop background as an image, solid color or gradient.
• configure icon paths
• Preview and Switch JWM Themes
• Preview and Switch JWM button sets (window buttons like: close, max, min, etc)
• Create a new button set by replacing the colors on an existing set (SVG)
• Configure the appearance and behavior of JWM trays, and menus.
• Add & Remove JWM trays, and menus
• Add & Remove items to trays, and menus
• Configure commands (scripts, apps, etc) to run when JWM starts, restarts and/or shutdown
• Save current Screen configuration for startup (resolution/frame rate/monitor position/etc)
• Configure key board shortcuts for custom controls, and/or quick access
• add a simple popup calendar to the tray to the clock (or icon/key shortcut)
• add a battery monitor to a tray icon or keyboard shortcuts
• add volume notification and control to an tray icon or keyboard shortcuts
• Specify options for a group of programs by name or class
• Create a restore point of the JWM configuration
• Restore the JWM configuration to an earlier time/date
• Receive feedback useful for finding and repairing the JWM Configuration

As they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Previews are avalible at the following locations:

• Google Drive
• Sourceforge
• The Wiki also contains a good number of pictures

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Summary of JWM Kit's tools

You can Read more about these tools in the wiki

Tool	Purpose
First Run	Assistance after the initial install of JWM Kit
Appearance	Preview and set JWM Theme, and/or button set
Menus	Configure the appearance and behavior of JWM menus
Trays	Configure the appearance and behavior of JWM trays
Repair & Restore	Tools to repair the JWM configuration
Settings	A settings manager as seen in popular desktops
Freedesktop	Freedesktop entries (Similar to Menulibe)
Easy Menu	Generate an Application Menu from freedesktop files
Calendar	pop up calendar for tray
Groups	Specify options for a group of programs by their name and/or class
Icon	Tell JWM where to find icons
Keys	Configure mouse and keyboard shortcuts
Logout	Simple Dialog with Logout, reboot, and shutdown options
Pop Volume	Assign volume control and notification to a tray icon or key shortcuts
Startups	Configure commands (scripts, apps, etc) to run when JWM starts, restarts and/or shutdown
Desktops	Set desktop backgrounds & configure window/desktop behavior
Time	Set the System's time, date, and time zone
Battery Menu	Generate a JWM Menu that provides battery info

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Behavior that may or may not be obvious

• Entries in JWM Kit Startups tool must have at least one option selected. Options are Startup, Restart, Shutdown. Items without an option selected will not be saved.
• Reminder of the obvious: Although you may see your changes with in an Application, Changes are not written to disk until you press the save button.
• Comments are not preserved in the XML files. While its not been well tested, JWM Kit seems to have no problem processing XML files with comments.
• JWM Kit uses the $HOME variable to represent the users home directory. This allowing a config files to be used by another user.

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Validation check

JWM Kit does check the config files for proper form and syntax. Sometimes it may check a file for it's intended purpose. While these checks are helpful, they are limited. JWM Kit maybe unable to use a file If it was improperly edit either manually or by another program.