rofi-theme man page

The need for a new theme format was motivated by the fact that the way rofi handled widgets has changed. From a very static drawing of lines and text to a nice structured form of packing widgets. This change made it possible to provide a more flexible theme framework. The old theme format and config file are not flexible enough to expose these options in a user-friendly way. Therefor, a new file format has been created, replacing the old one.

The encoding of the file is utf-8. Both unix (\n) and windows (\r\n) newlines format are supported. But unix is preferred.

C and C++ file comments are supported.

• Anything after // and before a newline is considered a comment.
• Everything between /* and */ is a comment.

Comments can be nested and the C comments can be inline.

The following is valid:

// Magic comment.
property: /* comment */ value;

However, this is not:

prop/*comment*/erty: value;

White space and newlines, like comments, are ignored by the parser.

This:

property: name;

Is identical to:

     property             :
name

;

The preferred file extension for the new theme format is rasi. This is an abbreviation for rofi advanced style information.

Each element has a section with defined properties. Global properties can be defined in section * { }. Sub-section names begin with a hash symbol #.

It is advised to define the global properties section on top of the file to make inheritance of properties clearer.

/* Global properties section */
* {
    // list of properties
}

/* Element theme section. */
{element path} {
    // list of properties
}
{elements... } {
    // list of properties
}

If there are multiple sections with the same name, they are merged. Duplicate properties are overwritten and the last parsed entry kept.

A theme can have one or more global properties sections. If there is more than one, they will be merged.

The global properties section denotes the defaults for each element. Each property of this section can be referenced with @{identifier} (See Properties section)

A global properties section is indicated with a * as element path.

A theme can have multiple element theme sections.

The element path can consist of multiple names separated by whitespace or dots. Each element may contain any number of letters, numbers and -´s. The first element in the element path should always start with a #. Multiple elements can be specified by a ,.

This is a valid element name:

element normal.normal {
    background-color: blue;
}
button {
    background-color: blue;
}

And is identical to:

element normal normal, button {
    background-color: blue;
}

Each section inherits the global properties. Properties can be explicitly inherited from their parent with the inherit keyword. In the following example:

window {
 a: 1;
 b: 2;
}
mainbox {
    a: inherit;
    b: 4;
    c: 8;
}

The element mainbox will have the following set of properties (if mainbox is a child of window):

a: 1;
b: 4;
c: 8;

If multiple sections are defined with the same name, they are merged by the parser. If multiple properties with the same name are defined in one section, the last encountered property is used.

The properties in a section consist of:

{identifier}: {value};

Both fields are mandatory for a property.

The identifier names the specified property. Identifiers can consist of any combination of numbers, letters and ´-´. It must not contain any whitespace. The structure of the value defines the type of the property. The current parser does not define or enforce a certain type of a particular identifier. When used, values with the wrong type that cannot be converted are ignored.

The current theme format supports different types:

• a string
• an integer number
• a fractional number
• a boolean value
• a color
• text style
• line style
• a distance
• a padding
• a border
• a position
• a reference
• an orientation
• a list of keywords
• an environment variable
• Inherit

Some of these types are a combination of other types.

• Format: "[:print:]+"

A string is always surrounded by double quotes ("). Between the quotes there can be any printable character.

For example:

font: "Awasome 12";

The string must be valid UTF-8.

• Format: [-+]?[:digit:]+

An integer may contain any number.

For examples:

lines: 12;

• Format: [-+]?[:digit:]+(\.[:digit:]+)?

A real is an integer with an optional fraction.

For example:

real: 3.4;

The following is not valid: .3, 3. or scientific notation: 3.4e-3.

• Format: (true|false)

Boolean value is either true or false. This is case-sensitive.

For example:

dynamic: false;

rofi supports the color formats as specified in the CSS standard (1,2,3 and some of CSS 4)

• Format: #{HEX}{3} (rgb)
• Format: #{HEX}{4} (rgba)
• Format: #{HEX}{6} (rrggbb)
• Format: #{HEX}{8} (rrggbbaa)
• Format: rgb[a]({Integer},{Integer},{Integer}[, {PERCENTAGE}])
• Format: rgb[a]({Integer}%,{Integer}%,{Integer}%[, {PERCENTAGE}])
• Format: hsl[a]( {ANGLE}, {PERCENTAGE}, {PERCENTAGE} [, {PERCENTAGE}])
• Format: hwb[a]( {ANGLE}, {PERCENTAGE}, {PERCENTAGE} [, {PERCENTAGE}])
• Format: cmyk( {PERCENTAGE}, {PERCENTAGE}, {PERCENTAGE}, {PERCENTAGE} [, {PERCENTAGE} ])
• Format: {named-color} [ / {PERCENTAGE} ]

The white-space format proposed in CSS4 is also supported.

The different values are:

• {HEX} is a hexadecimal number (´0-9a-f´ case insensitive).
• {Integer} value can be between 0 and 255 or 0-100 when representing percentage.
• {ANGLE} is the angle on the color wheel, can be in deg, rad, grad or turn. When no unit is specified, degrees is assumed.
• {PERCENTAGE} can be between 0-1.0, or 0%-100%

• {named-color} is one of the following colors:

  AliceBlue, AntiqueWhite, Aqua, Aquamarine, Azure, Beige, Bisque, Black, BlanchedAlmond, Blue, BlueViolet, Brown, BurlyWood, CadetBlue, Chartreuse, Chocolate, Coral, CornflowerBlue, Cornsilk, Crimson, Cyan, DarkBlue, DarkCyan, DarkGoldenRod, DarkGray, DarkGrey, DarkGreen, DarkKhaki, DarkMagenta, DarkOliveGreen, DarkOrange, DarkOrchid, DarkRed, DarkSalmon, DarkSeaGreen, DarkSlateBlue, DarkSlateGray, DarkSlateGrey, DarkTurquoise, DarkViolet, DeepPink, DeepSkyBlue, DimGray, DimGrey, DodgerBlue, FireBrick, FloralWhite, ForestGreen, Fuchsia, Gainsboro, GhostWhite, Gold, GoldenRod, Gray, Grey, Green, GreenYellow, HoneyDew, HotPink, IndianRed, Indigo, Ivory, Khaki, Lavender, LavenderBlush, LawnGreen, LemonChiffon, LightBlue, LightCoral, LightCyan, LightGoldenRodYellow, LightGray, LightGrey, LightGreen, LightPink, LightSalmon, LightSeaGreen, LightSkyBlue, LightSlateGray, LightSlateGrey, LightSteelBlue, LightYellow, Lime, LimeGreen, Linen, Magenta, Maroon, MediumAquaMarine, MediumBlue, MediumOrchid, MediumPurple, MediumSeaGreen, MediumSlateBlue, MediumSpringGreen, MediumTurquoise, MediumVioletRed, MidnightBlue, MintCream, MistyRose, Moccasin, NavajoWhite, Navy, OldLace, Olive, OliveDrab, Orange, OrangeRed, Orchid, PaleGoldenRod, PaleGreen, PaleTurquoise, PaleVioletRed, PapayaWhip, PeachPuff, Peru, Pink, Plum, PowderBlue, Purple, RebeccaPurple, Red, RosyBrown, RoyalBlue, SaddleBrown, Salmon, SandyBrown, SeaGreen, SeaShell, Sienna, Silver, SkyBlue, SlateBlue, SlateGray, SlateGrey, Snow, SpringGreen, SteelBlue, Tan, Teal, Thistle, Tomato, Turquoise, Violet, Wheat, White, WhiteSmoke, Yellow, YellowGreen,transparent

For example:

background-color: #FF0000;
border-color: rgba(0,0,1, 0.5);
text-color: SeaGreen;

or

background-color: transparent;
text-color: Black;

• Format: (bold|italic|underline|strikethrough|none)

Text style indicates how the highlighted text is emphasized. None indicates that no emphasis should be applied.

• bold: make the text thicker then the surrounding text.
• italic: put the highlighted text in script type (slanted).
• underline: put a line under the highlighted text.
• strikethrough: put a line through the highlighted text.
• small caps: emphasise the text using capitalization.

• Format: (dash|solid)

Indicates how a line should be drawn. It currently supports: * dash: a dashed line, where the gap is the same width as the dash * solid: a solid line

• Format: {Integer}px
• Format: {Real}em
• Format: {Real}ch
• Format: {Real}%

A distance can be specified in 3 different units:

• px: Screen pixels.
• em: Relative to text height.
• ch: Relative to width of a single number.
• %: Percentage of the monitor size.

Distances used in the horizontal direction use the monitor width. Distances in the vertical direction use the monitor height. For example:

   padding: 10%;

On a full-HD (1920x1080) monitor, it defines a padding of 192 pixels on the left and right side and 108 pixels on the top and bottom.

• Format: {Integer}
• Format: {Distance}
• Format: {Distance} {Distance}
• Format: {Distance} {Distance} {Distance}
• Format: {Distance} {Distance} {Distance} {Distance}

If no unit is specified, pixels are used.

The different number of fields in the formats are parsed like:

• 1 field: all
• 2 fields: top&bottom left&right
• 3 fields: top, left&right, bottom
• 4 fields: top, right, bottom, left

• Format: {Integer}
• Format: {Distance}
• Format: {Distance} {Distance}
• Format: {Distance} {Distance} {Distance}
• Format: {Distance} {Distance} {Distance} {Distance}
• Format: {Distance} {Line style}
• Format: {Distance} {Line style} {Distance} {Line style}
• Format: {Distance} {Line style} {Distance} {Line style} {Distance} {Line style}
• Format: {Distance} {Line style} {Distance} {Line style} {Distance} {Line style} {Distance} {Line style}

Borders are identical to padding, except that each distance field has a line style property.

Indicate a place on the window/monitor.

• Format: (center|east|north|west|south|north east|north west|south west|south east)

  north west   |    north    |  north east
  -------------|-------------|------------
        west   |   center    |  east
  -------------|-------------|------------
  south west   |    south    |  south east

It is possible to hide widgets:

inputbar { enabled: false; }

• Format: @{PROPERTY Name}

A reference can point to another reference. Currently, the maximum number of redirects is 20. A property always refers to another property. It cannot be used for a subpart of the property. For example, this is not valid:

highlight: bold @pink;

But this is:

* {
    myhigh: bold #FAA;
}

window {
    highlight: @myhigh;
}

• Format: (horizontal|vertical)

Specify the orientation of the widget.

• Format: [ keyword, keyword ]

A list starts with a ´[´ and ends with a ´]´. The entries in the list are comma-separated. The keyword in the list refers to an widget name.

• Format: ${:alnum:}

This will parse the environment variable as the property value. (that then can be any of the above types). The environment variable should be an alphanumeric string without white-space.

* {
    background-color: ${BG};
}

• Format: inherit

Inherits the property from its parent widget.

mainbox {
    border-color: inherit;
}

Element paths exists of two parts, the first part refers to the actual widget by name. Some widgets have an extra state.

For example:

element selected {
}

Here element selected is the name of the widget, selected is the state of the widget.

The difference between dots and spaces is purely cosmetic. These are all the same:

element .selected {

element.selected {
}
element selected {
}

The current widgets available in rofi:

• overlay: the overlay widget.
• box: the horizontal @box packing the widgets
• case-indicator: the case/sort indicator @textbox
• prompt: the prompt @textbox
• entry: the main entry @textbox
• scrollbar: the listview scrollbar
• element: the entries in the listview
• button: the buttons @textbox for each mode
• textbox: the message textbox

Note that these path names match the default theme. Themes that provide a custom layout will have different element paths.

State: State of widget

Optional flag(s) indicating state of the widget, used for theming.

These are appended after the name or class of the widget.

nametotextbox selected.active {
    background-color: #003642;
    text-color: #008ed4;
}

The following properties are currently supported:

The new format allows the layout of the rofi window to be tweaked extensively. For each widget, the themer can specify padding, margin, border, font, and more. It even allows, as an advanced feature, to pack widgets in a custom structure.

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| window {BOX:vertical}                                                              |
| |-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|  |
| | mainbox  {BOX:vertical}                                                       |  |
| | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------| |  |
| | | inputbar {BOX:horizontal}                                                 | |  |
| | | |---------| |-----------------------------------------------------| |---| | |  |
| | | | prompt  | | entry                                               | |ci | | |  |
| | | |---------| |-----------------------------------------------------| |---| | |  |
| | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------| |  |
| |                                                                               |  |
| | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------| |  |
| | | message                                                                   | |  |
| | | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | |  |
| | | | textbox                                                               | | |  |
| | | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | |  |
| | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------| |  |
| |                                                                               |  |
| | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|  |
| | | listview                                                                    |  |
| | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|  |
| |                                                                               |  |
| | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------| |  |
| | |  mode-switcher {BOX:horizontal}                                           | |  |
| | | |---------------|   |---------------|  |--------------| |---------------| | |  |
| | | | Button        |   | Button        |  | Button       | | Button        | | |  |
| | | |---------------|   |---------------|  |--------------| |---------------| | |  |
| | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------| |  |
| |-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|  |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| window {BOX:vertical}                                                             |
| |------------------------------------------------------------------------------|  |
| | error-message {BOX:vertical}                                                 |  |
| | |-------------------------------------------------------------------------|  |  |
| | | textbox                                                                 |  |  |
| | |-------------------------------------------------------------------------|  |  |
| |------------------------------------------------------------------------------|  |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

children: [prompt,entry,overlay,case-indicator];

* {
    background-color:      Black;
    text-color:            White;
    border-color:          White;
    font:            "Times New Roman 12";
}

window {
    anchor:     north;
    location:   north;
    width:      100%;
    padding:    4px;
    children:   [ horibox ];
}

horibox {
    orientation: horizontal;
    children:   [ prompt, entry, listview ];
}

listview {
    layout:     horizontal;
    spacing:    5px;
    lines:      10;
}

entry {
    expand:     false;
    width:      10em;
}

element {
    padding: 0px 2px;
}
element selected {
    background-color: SteelBlue;
}

|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| margin                                                            |
|  |-------------------------------------------------------------|  |
|  | border                                                      |  |
|  | |---------------------------------------------------------| |  |
|  | | padding                                                 | |  |
|  | | |-----------------------------------------------------| | |  |
|  | | | content                                             | | |  |
|  | | |-----------------------------------------------------| | |  |
|  | |---------------------------------------------------------| |  |
|  |-------------------------------------------------------------|  |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|

|---------------------------------------|
|  |--------| s |--------| s |-------|  |
|  | child  | p | child  | p | child |  |
|  |        | a |        | a |       |  |
|  |        | c |        | c |       |  |
|  |        | i |        | i |       |  |
|  |        | n |        | n |       |  |
|  |--------| g |--------| g |-------|  |
|---------------------------------------|

|--------------------------------------------|
|  |-----------|  |--------|  |-----------|  |
|  | dummy     |  | child  |  | dummy     |  |
|  | expand: y |  |        |  | expand: y |  |
|  |           |  |        |  |           |  |
|  |           |  |        |  |           |  |
|  |           |  |        |  |           |  |
|  |-----------|  |--------|  |-----------|  |
|--------------------------------------------|

To get debug information from the parser, run rofi like:

G_MESSAGES_DEBUG=Parser rofi -show run

Syntax errors are shown in a popup and printed out to command line with the above command.

To see the elements queried during running, run:

G_MESSAGES_DEBUG=Theme rofi -show run

To test minor changes, part of the theme can be passed on the command line, for example to set it to full-screen:

rofi -theme-str ´#window { fullscreen:true;}´ -show run

To print the current theme, run:

rofi -dump-theme

Several examples are installed together with rofi. These can be found in {datadir}/rofi/themes/, where {datadir} is the install path of rofi data. When installed using a package manager, this is usually: /usr/share/.

rofi(1)

rofi(1).