Frames and Windows Frames and Windows Window Configuration

15.1: Frame Configuration

VM has a set of variables that let you specify when VM creates frames and what attributes the new frames will have.

If vm-frame-per-folder is set non-nil, when you visit a folder, VM will create a new frame and display that folder in the new frame. When you quit the folder, VM will delete the frame.

If vm-frame-per-summary is set non-nil, the vm-summarize command will create a new frame in which to display a folder's summary buffer. This works best if a full-screen window configuration has been assigned to the vm-summarize command. When you quit the folder or kill the summary, VM will delete the frame.

Setting vm-frame-per-composition non-nil causes VM to create a new frame for the composition buffer when you run any of VM's message composition commands. E.g. vm-reply-include-text, vm-mail, vm-forward-message. When you finish editing the composition and send it, or when you kill the composition buffer, the frame will be deleted.

The variable vm-frame-per-edit, if non-nil, tells VM to create a new frame when the vm-edit-message command is run. When you finish editing the message, or abort the edit, the frame will be deleted.

If vm-frame-per-help is set non-nil, VM will create a new frame to display any help buffer produced by the vm-help command.

If vm-frame-per-completion is set non-nil, VM will crate a new frame on mouse initiated completing reads. A mouse initiated completing read occurs when you invoke a VM command using the mouse, either with a menu or a toolbar button. That command must then prompt you for information, and there must be a limited set of valid responses. If these conditions are met and vm-frame-per-completion's value is non-nil, VM will create a new frame containing a list of responses that you can select with the mouse.

When VM is deciding whether to create a new frame, it checks other existing frames to see if a buffer that it wants to display in a frame is already being displayed somewhere. If so, then VM will not create a new frame. If you don't want VM to search other frames, set the variable vm-search-other-frames non-nil. VM will still search the currently selected frame and will not create a new frame if the buffer that it wants to display is visible there.

The variable vm-frame-parameter-alist allows you to specify the frame parameters for newly created frames.

The value of vm-frame-parameter-alist should be of this form

((SYMBOL PARAMLIST) (SYMBOL2 PARAMLIST2) ...)

SYMBOL must be one of ``completion'', ``composition'', ``edit'', ``folder'', ``primary-folder'' or ``summary''. It specifies the type of frame that the following PARAMLIST applies to.

Frames and Windows

Frames and Windows

Window Configuration