how to make rxvt start as fullscreen?

Question

I can't find it within man page.
I am using rxvt-unicode-256color from debian squeeze mirror.
Gnome 3 environment, composite enabled in xorg.conf.

Answer 1

1. Install wmctrl

   $ sudo apt-get install wmctrl
   

2. Create the extension directory

   $ mkdir -p ~/.urxvt/ext/
   

3. Create a plugin for Rxvt

   $ vi ~/.urxvt/ext/fullscreen
   #!perl
   sub on_user_command {
       my ($self, $cmd) = @_;
       if ($cmd eq "fullscreen:switch") {
           my $dummy = `wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -b toggle,fullscreen` ;
       }
   }
   

4. Enable the plugin

   $ vi ~/.Xdefaults
   ...
   " Fullscreen switch
   URxvt.perl-ext-common:  fullscreen
   URxvt.keysym.F11:       perl:fullscreen:switch
   

Now, you can toggle fullscreen with the F11 key.

---

Reference:

• [SOLVED] rxvt-unicode not switching to fullscreen / Arch Linux Forums
• my .Xdefaults

Answer 2

Here is a simple perl plugin that will start urxvt in fullscreen mode (without requiring you to press an additional key):

#!/usr/bin/perl

sub on_start {
  my ($self) = @_;
  # This is hacky, but there doesn't seem to be an event after 
  # window creation
  $self->{timer} = urxvt::timer->new->after(0.1)->cb(sub {
      fullscreen $self
    });
  return;
}

sub fullscreen {
  my ($self) = @_;
  my $wid = $self->parent;
  my $err = `wmctrl -i -r $wid -b add,fullscreen`;
  warn "Error maximizing: $err\n" unless $? == 0;
  $self->{timer}->stop;
  delete $self->{timer};
  return;
}

Unfortunately, it seems that the window isn't visible to wmctrl when on_start is called, so I had to use a timer to delay the call to wmctrl until the window exists.

Answer 3

to go straight to fullscreen at login i put this at the end of my ~/.bashrc:

[[ $TERM == *"rxvt"* ]] && wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -b add,fullscreen

as per Chu-Siang Lai's answer you need to make sure that wmctrl is installed.

Answer 4

This is how I solved

running window settings after invoking urxvt.

Shell: zsh
Windowmanager: wmctrl

.zsrch

function urxvtmaxed () {
    # &! is a zsh-specific shortcut to both background and disown the process
    urxvt -e zsh -c "RUN='wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -b add,maximized_vert,maximized_horz' zsh" &!
}

function urxvtfull () {
    # &! is a zsh-specific shortcut to both background and disown the process
    urxvt -e zsh -c "RUN='wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -b add,fullscreen' zsh" &!
}

### ======================================================
### Run Commands After zsh invoked

eval "$RUN"

# Example
# RUN='my_prog opt1 opt2' zsh

### Run Commands After zsh invoked END
### ======================================================

Now in zsh you can run urxvtmaxed or urxvtfull to launch urxvt and then resizing the window.

Note: wmctrl doesn't work properly in a Wayland session as controlling windows is against Wayland's security policy.

If $WINDOWID is available

urxvt -e zsh -c "RUN='wmctrl -i -r \$WINDOWID -b add,fullscreen' zsh" &!

Answer 5

You can't, as far as I know. But, I found a workaround:

Use

wmctrl -l

to find out what your rxvt window is named. Probably, its "rxvt", so

wmctrl -r rxvt -b toggle,fullscreen

will maximize that window.

You'll have to put this (the second command) in a script, that is read after your window manager (e.g., openbox, metacity) is loaded. Possibly, in your .xinitrc file.