Editing Dmenu

'''dmenu''' is a keyboard-driven [[menu (computing)|menu]] utility developed as part of the [[dwm]] project. When invoked, usually by a user-configurable [[key combination]], dmenu displays a horizontal menu of its stdin stream at the top edge of the screen. This is usually used to pipe in a list of executable names from the user's [[Path (variable)|$PATH]], but dmenu can be used for any purpose where a menu is required. The user can start typing a program name, and dmenu will narrow the list to show only [[substring]] matches for what the user typed. The user can also use the arrow keys to navigate the menu. When a choice is made, dmenu sends the selected text to [[Standard streams#Standard output (stdout)|stdout]], which is usually piped into a shell to launch the program.

dmenu is similar in function to utilities such as [[Katapult]] or [[GNOME Do]] for linux or [[LaunchBar]] or [[Quicksilver (software)|Quicksilver]] for [[Mac OS X]] in that it allows quick launching of programs from a graphical environment using the keyboard.

It is used with [[tiling window managers]] like [[dwm]]<ref name="alm201001">{{cite web|url=http://www.archlinux.org/static/magazine/2010/ALM-2010-Jan.html#review|title=Software Review: 2009 LnF Awards|coauthors=Arch Linux Magazine Team|date=January 2010|work=Arch Linux Magazine|accessdate=4 March 2010}}</ref> or [[xmonad]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tuxradar.com/content/100-open-source-gems-part-2|title=100 open source gems - part 2|date=21 May 2009|work=[[TuxRadar]]|publisher=[[Future Publishing]]|accessdate=3 March 2010}}</ref>, as well as floating window managers like [[Openbox]],<ref name="alm201001" /> and other software like the [[uzbl]] web browser<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lwn.net/Articles/341245/|title=Uzbl: a browser following the UNIX philosophy|last=Vervloesem|first=Koen|date=15 July 2009|work=[[LWN.net]]|publisher=Eklektix, Inc.|accessdate=3 March 2010}}</ref>.

==See also==
{{portal|Free software|Free Software Portal Logo.svg}}
[[Comparison of application launchers]]

==External links==
* [http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=54086 Vertical dmenu patch]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Unix software]]
[[Category:Unix stubs]]
[[Category:Launcher applications]]
[[Category:Software using the MIT license]]