"A new Blackbox for Windows generation..."

Overview

bbLean is the lean version of Blackbox for Windows. It tries to keep balance between features and complexity, to give you some efficient means within a compact shell.

bbLean is based stylistically on the Blackbox window manager for the X Window System by Brad Hughes.

Quick Start

First:

Extract the zip-package to a folder on your computer, such as c:\bbLean.
Click on blackbox.exe to start.
Right-click on the desktop background to show the main menu.

Later:

Checkout the universe of plugins available for Blackbox for Windows.
You may want to set bbLean as default shell. See -> Install as Shell.

User Interface

The Blackbox for Windows shell consists of the following elements:

Desktop - the background of the screen
Toolbar - the undispensible representative of all members of the blackbox family
Menus - configurables, predefined ones and folder listings.
Keyboard - Hotkeys for various action, implememted in the bbKeys plugin.
Many others, available as plugins.

Desktop

Mouse event	Effect
right-click	show main menu
mid-click / right-click with shift	show workspaces menu
left-click	hide menus / bring pinned menus on top

These and other desktop mouse-clicks are configurable in extensions.rc.

Drop Image	Display mode
no modifier	centered
with shift held down	stretched
with control held down	tiled

Toolbar

Mouse event	Effect
right-click	show options menu
right-click on label	show workspaces menu
right-click on clock	show main menu
double-click on clock	date & time control
ctrl + left-drag	drag toolbar temporarily
ctrl + double-left-click	reset position

The toolbar may be turned on or off from Configuration->Misc. Please note that what you see in the default installation is not the toolbar but bbLeanBar. See readme.txt and bbLeanBar.rc in the plugins/bbLeanBar folder.

bbLeanBar

on taskentry
left-click	activate task
gesture to the left/right	move window to previous/next workspace
shift-left-click	zoom task into current workspace
right-click	minimize task / show window system menu (depending on the setting in Configuration->Tasks->System menu)
shift-right-click	close task
middle-click	move task to next workspace
shift-middle-click	move task to previous workspace
alt-left-click	change task display mode (text, icon, text+icon)
alt-right-click	toggle 'current only' mode

on workspace label
left/right-click	switch to next/previous workspace
left-double-click	open clock properties
<other>	take over the configuration for desktop-clicks in extension.rc

on tray icon
ctrl-right	show icons menu
alt-right	toggle all hidden icons
shift-right	toggle one icon
<other>	forwarded to the icons' application>

on current-only button
left click	toggle display tasks for all/current workspace
right click	toggle display all trayicons

on the entire bar
ctrl-right	bbleanbar options menu
ctrl-left-drag	move the bar
ctrl-left-double-click	reset the bar to its previous location

Menus

Mouse event	Effect
right-click on desktop background	open main menu
left-click on desktop background	close menus / bring menus on top
right-click on titlebar	close this menu
left-click the titlebar and drag	move / pin menu
double-left-click the titlebar	toggle on top property
left-click on folder	bring back pinned submenu
double-left-click on folder	explore folder (*)
left-drag of file-item	drag item elsewhere
right-click on file-item	open context menu for file or folder
shift+right-click on folder titlebar	open folder's context menu
alt-double-left on file/folder	show properties
mouse wheel / drag scroll-button	scroll long menus

(*) This command is configurable in extensions.rc, for instance:

blackbox.options.openFolderCommand: explorer.exe /e,"%1"

Keyboard navigation	Effect
up/down/left/right arrows	navigate
page-up/down home/end	navigate
crtl+up/down	scroll menu
alt+up/down/left/right arrows	move menu
letters A-Z,0-9,...	shortcut (underscored or first letter)
enter, spacebar	activate item
alt-enter	show properties (file/folder)
app-key	show context menu
tab	cycle through pinned menus
F5	update folder
ctrl+n,e,t,s	sort folder by name, extension, time, size
insert	pin menu / toggle onTop mode
del, escape	close menu

Notes:

See the included bbkeys.rc for examples, how to invoke the menu from the keyboard. The LWIN and RWIN key shortcuts work only if bbLean is installed as default shell.

Hold down control for faster progress with the -number+ items.

Keyboard

Shortcut hotkeys for various actions like changing workspaces or switching windows are done with the BBKeys plugin. Edit 'bbkeys.rc' to change or add key bindings.

Default bbkeys.rc bindings:

Menu
LWin	ShowMenu -key root
RWin	ShowMenu -key
Win + Ctrl + M	ShowMenu
Win + Shift + M	ShowWorkspaceMenu

Workspaces
Win + Num1..6	Workspace1..6
Win + Left	PrevWorkspace
Win + Right	NextWorkspace
Win + Ctrl + Left	PrevWindow
Win + Ctrl + Right	NextWindow
Win + Ctrl + Up	PrevWindowAllWorkspaces
Win + Ctrl + Down	NextWindowAllWorkspaces
Win + Up	MoveWindowLeft
Win + Down	MoveWindowRight
Win + G	GatherWindows

Windows
Win + X	MaximizeWindow
Win + V	MaximizeVertical
Win + H	MaximizeHorizontal
Win + N	MinimizeWindow
Win + Y	RestoreWindow
Win + D	MinimizeAll
Win + End	ShadeWindow
Win + PageUp	RaiseWindow
Win + PageDown	LowerWindow
Win + Insert	StickWindow
Win + Delete	CloseWindow

Blackbox
Win + M	EditMenu
Win + P	EditPlugins
Win + S	EditStyle
Win + Ctrl + S	AboutStyle
Win + Ctrl + P	TogglePlugins
Win + T	ToggleTray
Win + Ctrl + R	Reconfigure
Win + Alt + R	Restart
Win + Q	Quit

System
Win + F10	Logoff
Win + F11	Reboot
Win + F12	Shutdown
Win + Ctrl + F12	Hibernate
Win + Alt + F12	Suspend
Win + Spacebar	LockWorkstation
Win + R	Run

Extern commands
Win + E	Exec explorer.exe /e,c:\ (explorer window)
Win + Pause	Exec control.exe sysdm.cpl (system properties)
Win + Home	Exec docs\bblean.htm (bbLean documentation)

Plugins

To load a plugin

Either use bbLean's configuration menu or add it manually to plugins.rc and restart bbLean.

Clicking the right mouse button on a plugin with the control key held down will usually show its configuration menu.

Dragging with the left mouse button with the control key held down will usually allow you to move the plugin over the screen.

To load a plugin into BBSlit, you need to:

have BBSlit itself loaded (of course)
load the plugin
check the plugin in bbLean's "Configuration->Plugins->In Slit" menu.
check "Use Slit" or "Docked to Slit" in the plugin's own configuration menu.

Some basic plugins

Plugin	Author	Note
BBAnalogExMod	ysuke	Analogue clock, with alarm etc.
BBCalendar	Theo	Calendar that lets you set events on days.
BBEdgeFlip	BladeStaylor	Switches workspace when mouse touches screen edge
BBIcons	Tres`ni	Icons to start programs, sitting on desktop or in the slit. Get docs from the pack here, but use latest version from here.
bbIconBox	grischka	Icons in boxes.
BBInterface	psyci	Buttons, sliders, icons and more...
BBMail	qwilk	Checks your email accounts.
bbNote	grischka	Little stylized editor to edit your rc-files and other things.
BBPager	NC-17	Virtual workspace display and control.
BBSoundFx	qwilk	Plays sound snippets on various events.
BBTaskSwitch	kana	BB-stylized Alt-Tab SwitchWindow.
BBXEyes	Procic Konstantin	Eyes following your cursor around the screen
SystembarEx	BladeStaylor	Very configurable advanced taskbar. Available here. Use the latest built (07-14) from here.
bbFoomp	freeborn	Front-end for foobar2k (must be loaded into slit).

There are many other plugins available. See -> Links.

Note: If you get an error loading a plugin it might require extra runtime libraries (msvcr71/msvcp71.dll, msvcr80/msvcp80.dll, gdiplus.dll, ...). Kana's plugins require bbcmd.dll from his website.

You can put these into the system32 directory or into the same directory as blackbox.exe.