Installation Guide

You only need a portable exe file to run Jwno, so there isn't really any "installation". These are just recommended steps to get it up and running, plus some things you should know before using it.

Prerequisites

  • Windows 10/11 (x64)

Downloading

You can download Jwno executable files from Github, or purchase it from itch.io. You get the exact same executable files either way.

Just grab jwno.exe and you are good to go. It can be saved to anywhere in your disks. Jwno.exp and jwno.lib are for developing native modules, we don't need them just yet.

You may optionally check the checksum of jwno.exe. For example, calculate it in Powershell: 

$(CertUtil -hashfile path\to\jwno.exe SHA256)[1]

And then compare it with the value stored in jwno.exe.sha256.

Your First Config File

Jwno needs a config file to work. It's a text file containing some Janet code, which gets evaluated when you launch Jwno. There are multiple ways to specify a config file:

  • By default, Jwno looks for a file named jwno-config.janet in the same directory where jwno.exe resides.
  • You can drag-n-drop a config file from anywhere to jwno.exe.
  • When running Jwno from the command line or a shortcut, pass a path to jwno.exe: jwno.exe path\to\your\config.janet

Here are some examples:

To try out either of them, just download the file, then drag-n-drop it to jwno.exe. I recommend going through the tutorial first, before trying out example-config.janet. You can build your own config based on example-config.janet afterwards.

Check if Jwno Is Alive

Once launched, Jwno will start to tile new windows. Existing windows will get tiled when they get focus. An icon Jwno Logo will be shown in the notification area on the taskbar when Jwno is running. If you're using example-config.janet mentioned above, you can also press Win + Shift + / (the slash key) to show all key bindings defined in Jwno.

The Notification Icon Menu

Right-clicking on the notification area icon Jwno Logo will bring up a menu with several commands:

  • Launch REPL: Opens the REPL window.
  • Update Monitor Layout: Normally Jwno will adjust to monitor layout changes automatically, but you can use this command to do that manually. It will also retile all managed windows.
  • Reset Keyboard Hooks: Sometimes Jwno's keyboard hooks (which are needed for global key bindings to work) may get overridden by other programs, and this command is to fix that.
  • Exit: Tells Jwno to quit.

Automatically Start Jwno When You Log In

A shortcut can be created in the shell:startup directory to achieve this.

  1. Press Win + X then R on your keyboard. The Run dialog should pop up.
  2. Put shell:startup in the Open: input box, and press Enter to confirm.
  3. A File Explorer window will open. In that directory, Create a shortcut which points to jwno.exe.

Problems?

If you encountered any problem, please open an issue here.

About Janet

To fully leverage the power of Jwno, you need to know some Janet. Don't worry, it's a simple programming language. The official documentation is a good starting point, and there's a whole fantastic real book that can also teach you about it. Some Janet gurus hang out on the Janet Zulip server, you can seek help there too.

Next Step

See Also