Philip Kendall - Configuring Exceed

Note: this page is somewhat out of date, especially now that Thor has closed down. However, some of the information on it may be useful, so I'll leave it up. It was originally written in early 1998.

This is a quick guide to configuring Exceed, basically for Cambridge undergraduate physicists using Thor as their server; however, some of this may be applicable even if you don't fit into that category.

By the time you've done your Part II Computing Project, you're probably quite fed up with the pretty horrible interface offered by Exceed. However, it is possible to make it look a lot nicer without too much work, and as people keep asking me how to do it, I decided I'd write this page to help out. The basic steps are:

Start Exceed in the normal way, and then use your favourite editor to edit the file `.xsession' (this file exists in your home directory; remember that the `ls' utility doesn't list any files beginning with `.' unless you give it the `-a' option). Remove the lines which say
```
# Start up some basic clients:
xclock -geometry -0+0 &
xbiff -file ${HOME}/inbox -geometry -160+0 &
```
and change the line (usually the last line) which says
```
twm || xterm -name "session" -ls
```
to
```
fvwm || xterm -name "session" -ls
```
Quit Exceed.
Run Xconfig (from the same place as you started Exceed). Select the `Window Mode' icon, and then change `Window Mode' (left hand side of the dialog box) from `Multiple' to `Single'.
Run Exceed again. To get rid of the big `FVWM' logo, just click on it; the thing in the bottom-right hand corner is `GoodStuff', and contains some buttons which don't do much at the moment, and in its bottom-right hand corner, `FvwmPager', which allows you to swap between multiple desktops by clicking on it.
Making this look even nicer requires configuring fvwm itself. To do this, copy the file `/opt/X11R6.3/lib/X11/fvwm/system.fvwmrc' to `.fvwmrc' your home directory, make it writeable (`chmod u+w .fvwmrc') and edit it. Some things you might like to change: (the `#' character is a comment character and causes the rest of the line to be ignored).
- You can change the colours by using the colour commands detailed at the top of the file; I think this should be fairly self-explanatory. A list of predefined colours is in the file `/opt/X11R6.3/lib/X11/rgb.txt', or you can use the `#rrggbb' hexadecimal notation. To change the background colour you'll need to change the `xsetroot' commands; see below.
- Removing the comment from the `AutoRaise 750' line will make the window you're using automatically come to the top and cover other windows. (After 750 milliseconds. You can probably work out how to change this to other values!)
- Removing the comment from the `ClickToFocus' line will mean that you have to click in windows to make them active (like in Windows 3.x/9x/NT)
- Removing the comment from the `RandomPlacement' line will mean that you don't have to think about where to place new windows; they'll just appear on top of old ones if they can't fit anywhere else on the screen.
- Replacing the lines
```
Module   "I"	 FvwmBanner
Exec	 "I"	 xpmroot /opt/X11R6.3/include/X11/pixmaps/fvwm.xpm &
```
  with
```
Exec     "I"     xsetroot -solid "#266294"
```
  will prevent the `fvwm' background and logo from appearing.
- Any other programs (eg GoodStuff) are configured via lines starting `*[ProgramName]'.

Hopefully, this will get you up and running; if you have any futher suggestions for useful additions to this page (or you don't understand something), please mail me.