Mag, the GUI Multiplexer

Mag is the default multiplexer for graphics hardware.

It is not, and does not attempt to be, a fully-fledged window manager.

Command Line Options

As Mag's only command line option it supports loading additional plugins via the application's command line. Plugins must be either a Lua file or a shared library. Shared libraries must be named libmag-$LIBNAME.so.

Mag Sessions

Mag provides two types of sessions which a client can create via the Factory interface.

1. Mag client session

   A client with a mag client session gets access to the whole screen. The client has to allocate and manage it's own buffers and has to position them on the screen on its own. Mag provides the factory to create client sessions via the capability named mag.

2. Client framebuffer session

   For a client framebuffer session mag allocates a view of the requested size and displays it at the requested coordinates on the screen. Mag provides the factory to create framebuffer sessions via the capability named svc.

The options described below are options the client provides to the L4::Factory::create() call. These options influence the appearance and behaviour of the newly created session.

Session Factory Options

As a simple nitpicker clone Mag supports the so-called Xray mode. This mode displays all session labels and draws a colored frame around them. The session that currently has the input focus is highlighted. The Xray mode is actived via the special keys Scroll or NEXTSONG.

Mag allows to define a text label and a color for all client session types. The label and the color are displayed when Mag enters the Xray mode.

• Label Option: label

  l=LABEL, label=LABEL Set the session's text label to LABEL. The label is restricted to a length of 256 characters.

• Color Option: col

  col=COLOR Set the session's color which is used in Xray mode to tint the session's screen area and the border drawn around it. The argument can be either one of the following letters or a hexdecimal representation of the RGB values.

  • r, R Red color
  • g, G Green color
  • b, B Blue color
  • w, W White color
  • y, Y Yellow color
  • v, V Magenta color

Example

-- set label to "Linux" and use a light blue color
fb = mag_client:create(L4.Proto.Goos, "l=Linux", "col=98d9ff");

Mag Client Session Options

These options only apply to Mag client sessions.

• Default Background Option: default-background

  dfl-bg, default-background Marks this session as the default background.

Mag Client Framebuffer Session Options

These options only apply to Mag client framebuffer sessions.

• Geometry Option: geometry

  g=GEOMETRY, geometry=GEOMETRY Set the session's geometry and position on the screen. GEOMETRY is provided in an X11-style format, e.g. g=WIDTHxHEIGHT+X_OFFSET+Y_OFFSET.

• Focus Option: focus

  focus Set the focus to this session.

• Collapsed Option: shaded

  shaded The window is collapsed and only the title bar is visible. The window can be expanded by clicking into the title bar with the middle mouse button. Collapsing and expanding works also independently of this option.

• Fixed Option: fixed fixed The window cannot be moved on the screen.

• Barheight Option: barheight

  barheight=X Set the height of the title bar in pixels.

Example

-- create a window of 640x480 pixels at position (100,100) on the screen.
fb = mag_fb:create(L4.Proto.Goos, "g=640x480+100+100");