i3 FAQ - Individual question feed

Executing applications (exec)

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 10:50:21 +0000

Hi, i3 docs states: > What good is a window manager if you > can’t actually start any applications? > The exec command starts an application > by passing the command you specify to > a shell. This implies that you can use > globbing (wildcards) and programs will > be searched in your $PATH. Couple of questions: * which shell is used (I assume user's default shell) * can I use everything that is available in full shell (like variables, pipes, multiple commands separated with ; and other things) * its the i3 process that spawns them right? Because for some reason this is not working for me: bindsym Control+Mod1+l exec i3-msg workspace 1; i3lock -c 111111 -d and only the first command is executed.

Comment by lzap for

Hi, i3 docs states:

What good is a window manager if you can’t actually start any applications? The exec command starts an application by passing the command you specify to a shell. This implies that you can use globbing (wildcards) and programs will be searched in your $PATH.

Couple of questions:

which shell is used (I assume user's default shell)
can I use everything that is available in full shell (like variables, pipes, multiple commands separated with ; and other things)
its the i3 process that spawns them right?

Because for some reason this is not working for me:

 bindsym Control+Mod1+l exec i3-msg workspace 1; i3lock -c 111111 -d

and only the first command is executed.

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 10:52:01 +0000

I found that && instead ; works but I am interested in limitations. Thanks!

Comment by MeanEYE for

Hi, i3 docs states:

What good is a window manager if you can’t actually start any applications? The exec command starts an application by passing the command you specify to a shell. This implies that you can use globbing (wildcards) and programs will be searched in your $PATH.

Couple of questions:

which shell is used (I assume user's default shell)
can I use everything that is available in full shell (like variables, pipes, multiple commands separated with ; and other things)
its the i3 process that spawns them right?

Because for some reason this is not working for me:

 bindsym Control+Mod1+l exec i3-msg workspace 1; i3lock -c 111111 -d

and only the first command is executed.

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:35:24 +0000

When you are using semicolon `;` all commands will be executed regardless of their exit code. When you are using `&&` and one of the commands fail, remaining ones won't be executed.

Answer by Michael for

Hi, i3 docs states:

What good is a window manager if you can’t actually start any applications? The exec command starts an application by passing the command you specify to a shell. This implies that you can use globbing (wildcards) and programs will be searched in your $PATH.

Couple of questions:

which shell is used (I assume user's default shell)
can I use everything that is available in full shell (like variables, pipes, multiple commands separated with ; and other things)
its the i3 process that spawns them right?

Because for some reason this is not working for me:

 bindsym Control+Mod1+l exec i3-msg workspace 1; i3lock -c 111111 -d

and only the first command is executed.

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 10:59:36 +0000

1. `$SHELL` is used (if set), otherwise `/bin/sh`. See http://code.stapelberg.de/git/i3/tree/src/startup.c?h=next#n136 2. Yes. i3 calls `$SHELL -c ` 3. Yes. The reason your bindsym doesn’t work is because `;` is the separator for i3 commands. Use `exec "i3-msg workspace 1; i3lock -c 111111 -d` (with double quotes) instead: midna ~ $ i3 'exec "echo foo > /tmp/bar; echo bar > /tmp/baz"' 2012-08-28 12:56:15 - Additional arguments passed. Sending them as a command to i3. [{"success":true}] midna ~ $ cat /tmp/bar /tmp/baz foo bar

Comment by lzap for

$SHELL is used (if set), otherwise /bin/sh. See http://code.stapelberg.de/git/i3/tree...
Yes. i3 calls $SHELL -c <your command>
Yes.

The reason your bindsym doesn’t work is because ; is the separator for i3 commands. Use exec "i3-msg workspace 1; i3lock -c 111111 -d (with double quotes) instead:

midna ~ $ i3 'exec "echo foo > /tmp/bar; echo bar > /tmp/baz"'
2012-08-28 12:56:15 - Additional arguments passed. Sending them as a command to i3.
[{"success":true}]
midna ~ $ cat /tmp/bar /tmp/baz                               
foo
bar

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 13:31:56 +0000

Thank you for nice explanation and big patience with me. But it seems other folks in our team are interested in i3 too ;-)

Comment by Julien Jehannet for

$SHELL is used (if set), otherwise /bin/sh. See http://code.stapelberg.de/git/i3/tree...
Yes. i3 calls $SHELL -c <your command>
Yes.

The reason your bindsym doesn’t work is because ; is the separator for i3 commands. Use exec "i3-msg workspace 1; i3lock -c 111111 -d (with double quotes) instead:

midna ~ $ i3 'exec "echo foo > /tmp/bar; echo bar > /tmp/baz"'
2012-08-28 12:56:15 - Additional arguments passed. Sending them as a command to i3.
[{"success":true}]
midna ~ $ cat /tmp/bar /tmp/baz                               
foo
bar

Thu, 13 Mar 2014 16:59:58 +0000

Is it still the case? The code comment in http://code.stapelberg.de/git/i3/tree/src/startup.c?h=next#n136 is quite misleading because _PATH_BSHELL seems to be used everywhere.