Introduction

Rofi is an X11 pop-up window switcher, run dialog, script launcher and more. It focuses on being fast to use and causing minimal distraction. This Help file describes it as installed in MX-Fluxbox 2.2 and later to function as the run app instead of the native fbrun.

Usage

The app can be launched in various ways:

• Press F2 (mode: run)
• Click Menu > Run (mode: run)
• Click Menu > All apps (mode: drun)
• In terminal: rofi -show run

As set up in MX-Fluxbox, the bottom row (set up by the line in the config file: sidebar-mode: true;) shows the available modes (“modi”) that can be used. Switching mode is accomplished with a mouse click or Ctrl+Tab on the keyboard.

• drun
  • applications menu with names and icons in desktop files
  • icons enabled in config file (show/hide, icon set)
  • creates Favorites list by sorting frequently used programs on top
  • can not launch apps requiring root access (–> drun)
• calc
  • the powerful qalc runs in the background
  • standard operators: +, -, *, /, ^, sqrt, etc. (e.g., “22^2 * pi” for area of circle)
  • conversions (e.g., “64km to miles”)
  • currency (e.g., “100 dollars to euros”). The updating of currency information within rofi-calc is currently broken so that currency conversion fails. As a workaround, install qalculate and enter a currency conversion formula such as the one above. That will trigger a successful update of currency information and then rofi-calc will function correctly.
• window
  • displays open windows for rapid switching
• run
  • shows all installed files
  • preserves history
  • displays command, not name (e.g., “calc” brings up “localc” not “LibreOffice Calc”)

One of the available modi is not enabled by default in MX-Fluxbox but can be added to the config file if desired.

• ssh
  • run ssh via ~/.ssh/config

Custom modi can be added using the internal ´script´ mode. Each mode has two parameters “name” and “script.” This is begin used in the default config, for instance, where the calc function is invoked with calc:qalc.

Configuration

Default: ~/.config/rofi/config.rasi

configuration {

	modi: "drun,calc:qalc,window,run";
	width: 25;
	show-icons: true;
	icon-theme: "papirus";
	lines: 10;
	fake-transparency: true;
	sidebar-mode: true;
	
}

@import "/usr/share/rofi/themes/glue_pro_blue.rasi"

Resources for config file: ~/.config/rofi/xresources

Many themes are available for rofi. To see and select them, open a terminal and enter: rofi-theme-selector

Setup

1. Edit rofi’s configuration to use MX-FB’s defaults
Open the terminal and type or paste:

 mkdir ~/.config/rofi
 	touch ~/.config/rofi/config.rasi
 	featherpad ~/.config/rofi/config.rasi

In the leafpad window, delete any content and paste this:

configuration {

	modi: "drun,calc:qalc,window,run";
	width: 25;
	show-icons: true;
	icon-theme: "papirus";
	lines: 10;
	fake-transparency: true;
	sidebar-mode: true;
	
}

Save the file.

2. Run rofi
Open the terminal and type or paste:

 rofi -show drun

3. Change menu’s “Run” to use rofi
Click Menu > Settings > Configure > Menu. Search for this line:

 	[exec] (Run  F2) {fbrun -nearmouse}

Replace it with this line:

   [exec] (Run  F2) {rofi -show drun}

Save the file

4. Replace F2 key binding to run “rofi” insted of “fbrun”
Click Menu > Settings > Configure > Keys. Search for this line:

Search for this line:

 none F2 :Exec fbrun

Replace it with this line:

   none F2 :Exec  rofi -show drun

Save the file, then click Menu > Leave > Refresh.

Links

• man page: rofi
• man page: rofi-theme
• GitHub rofi
• GitHub rofi-calc
• Wizardsoftheweb blog posts

v. 20200825