i3 FAQ - Individual question feed

Dynamically change workspace name with ease

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 07:13:54 +0000

I want to change workspace names dynamically(rename workspaces without touching config files), and I have a script to do so(see [this blog post](http://userbound.com/blog/Naming-Workspaces-in-i3/)). ~~can execute this script through dmenu\_run with a name as an argument to change the current workspace name, but I woulud rather not type in the name of the script.~~ (Dmenu, not dmenu_run allows for graphical input conversion to stdout.) Is there anyway I can 'inject' text (the script name and a space) into dmenu\_run and have it open waiting for input, or is there a better way to dynamically change workspace names?

Answer by Azrathud for
I want to change workspace names dynamically(rename workspaces without touching config files), and I have a script to do so(see this blog post). can execute this script through dmenu_run with a name as an argument to change the current workspace name, but I woulud rather not type in the name of the script. (Dmenu, not dmenu_run allows for graphical input conversion to stdout.)

Is there anyway I can 'inject' text (the script name and a space) into dmenu_run and have it open waiting for input, or is there a better way to dynamically change workspace names?

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 04:48:54 +0000

Okay, so I have created a solution. First download [workspace.rb](http://azrathud.com/data/workspace.rb)(taken from the blog, [Userbound](http://userbound.com/blog/Naming-Workspaces-in-i3/)). You will need ruby to run this script. ---------- ####workspace.rb #!/usr/bin/ruby require 'json' JSON.parse(%x[i3-msg -t get_workspaces]).each do |workspace| if (workspace['focused']) then number = workspace['name'].split(/:/)[0] newName = "#{number}: #{ARGV[0].chomp}" %x[i3-msg 'rename workspace "#{workspace['name']}" to "#{newName}"'] %x[i3-msg 'bindsym Mod4+#{number} workspace "#{newName}"'] end end All it does is read from i3 and send messages to i3, so it can rename a workspace. Then, download my [script](http://azrathud.com/data/rename.sh). ------- ####rename.sh #!/bin/bash # Rename current workspace # deafult name and imput name=$(echo -e "workspace" | dmenu) ruby $HOME/scripts/wm-scripts/i3scripts/workspace.rb "$name" It gets input gained from dmenu(with a default of 'workspace'), and then supplies that input into the ruby script. Make sure you change the line **... $HOME/scripts/wm-scripts/i3scripts/workspace.rb ...** to point to wherever you have saved workspace.rb Now, go into your .i3 config and bind the script to a key in i3, and then reload your config(there is a shortcut for this reload by in the default config). ------- ####.i3/config #rename workspace bindsym Mod4+Shift+v exec /home/azrathud/scripts/wm-scripts/i3scripts/rename.sh There you have dynamic workspace naming. Note: see joepd's post about possible i3 workspace binding issues. This behavior was weird. Apparently when I named my workspaces `number 1`, etc. I could rename them using `i3-msg bindkey ...`, but then other functions of i3 stopped working. Sorry for the confusion. Apparently shortcuts cannot be rebinded at runtime.

Comment by Azrathud for

~~Okay, so I have created a solution.~~

First download workspace.rb(taken from the blog, Userbound). You will need ruby to run this script.

workspace.rb

#!/usr/bin/ruby require 'json' JSON.parse(%x[i3-msg -t get_workspaces]).each do |workspace| if (workspace['focused']) then number = workspace['name'].split(/:/)[0] newName = "#{number}: #{ARGV[0].chomp}" %x[i3-msg 'rename workspace "#{workspace['name']}" to "#{newName}"'] %x[i3-msg 'bindsym Mod4+#{number} workspace "#{newName}"'] end end

All it does is read from i3 and send messages to i3, so it can rename a workspace.

Then, download my script.

rename.sh

#!/bin/bash # Rename current workspace # deafult name and imput name=$(echo -e "workspace" | dmenu) ruby $HOME/scripts/wm-scripts/i3scripts/workspace.rb "$name"

It gets input gained from dmenu(with a default of 'workspace'), and then supplies that input into the ruby script.

Make sure you change the line ... $HOME/scripts/wm-scripts/i3scripts/workspace.rb ... to point to wherever you have saved workspace.rb

Now, go into your .i3 config and bind the script to a key in i3, and then reload your config(there is a shortcut for this reload by in the default config).

.i3/config

#rename workspace bindsym Mod4+Shift+v exec /home/azrathud/scripts/wm-scripts/i3scripts/rename.sh

There you have dynamic workspace naming.

~~Note: see joepd's post about possible i3 workspace binding issues.~~

This behavior was weird. Apparently when I named my workspaces number 1, etc. I could rename them using i3-msg bindkey ..., but then other functions of i3 stopped working. Sorry for the confusion. Apparently shortcuts cannot be rebinded at runtime.

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 21:53:26 +0000

See above. I tried to find a workaround, but to no avail.

Comment by Michael for

~~Okay, so I have created a solution.~~

~~Note: see joepd's post about possible i3 workspace binding issues.~~

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 10:49:08 +0000

The `i3-msg bindsym …` does not actually work.

Answer by majkinetor for
I want to change workspace names dynamically(rename workspaces without touching config files), and I have a script to do so(see this blog post). can execute this script through dmenu_run with a name as an argument to change the current workspace name, but I woulud rather not type in the name of the script. (Dmenu, not dmenu_run allows for graphical input conversion to stdout.)

Is there anyway I can 'inject' text (the script name and a space) into dmenu_run and have it open waiting for input, or is there a better way to dynamically change workspace names?

Sat, 14 Jun 2014 23:59:17 +0000

Here is how I did in bash num=`i3-msg -t get_workspaces | grep -o "{[^{]*\"focused\":true" | awk -F '[:,]' '{print $2}'` cmd="rename workspace to \"$num: %s\"" i3-input -F "$cmd" -P title=`i3-msg -t get_workspaces | grep -o "{[^{]*\"name\":[^{]*\"focused\":true" | awk -F'"' '{print $6}'` sed -i "s/set \$w$num.*/set \$w$num workspace $title/" ~/.i3/config i3-msg reload

Answer by joepd for
I want to change workspace names dynamically(rename workspaces without touching config files), and I have a script to do so(see this blog post). can execute this script through dmenu_run with a name as an argument to change the current workspace name, but I woulud rather not type in the name of the script. (Dmenu, not dmenu_run allows for graphical input conversion to stdout.)

Is there anyway I can 'inject' text (the script name and a space) into dmenu_run and have it open waiting for input, or is there a better way to dynamically change workspace names?

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 08:34:23 +0000

I am not sure if I understand your question correctly, but aren't you confusing dmenu with dmenu_run? If so, running less $(which dmenu_run) will clear out any confusion. As for your question, this probably is what you are looking for: #!/bin/sh result=$(cat FileWithNewlineSeparatedItems | dmenu) yourscript "${result}"

Comment by Azrathud for

I am not sure if I understand your question correctly, but aren't you confusing dmenu with dmenu_run? If so, running

less $(which dmenu_run)

will clear out any confusion.

As for your question, this probably is what you are looking for:

#!/bin/sh
result=$(cat FileWithNewlineSeparatedItems | dmenu)
yourscript "${result}"

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 04:27:45 +0000

I was confusing dmenu_run with dmenu. So here's what I have so far: ./i3/config ... bindsym Mod4+Shift+n exec /home/azrathud/.i3/rename.sh ... rename.sh #!/bin/bash # Rename current workspace # deafult name and imput name=$(echo -e "workspace" | dmenu) ruby $HOME/.i3/workspace.rb "$name" workspace.rb #!/usr/bin/ruby require 'json' JSON.parse(%x[i3-msg -t get_workspaces]).each do |workspace| if (workspace['focused']) then number = workspace['name'].split(/:/)[0] newName = "#{number}: #{ARGV[0].chomp}" %x[i3-msg 'rename workspace "#{workspace['name']}" to "#{newName}"'] %x[i3-msg 'bindsym Mod4+#{number} workspace "#{newName}"'] end end My problem now is that when I do modify the workspace name, I cannot use the Mod+{0-9} shortcuts to go back to it, only by clicking.

Comment by Azrathud for

I am not sure if I understand your question correctly, but aren't you confusing dmenu with dmenu_run? If so, running

less $(which dmenu_run)

will clear out any confusion.

As for your question, this probably is what you are looking for:

#!/bin/sh
result=$(cat FileWithNewlineSeparatedItems | dmenu)
yourscript "${result}"

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 04:07:31 +0000

That did it. Thank you for all the help. My config was like: ... # switch to workspace bindsym Mod4+1 workspace 1 ... and so I changed it to ... # switch to workspace bindsym Mod4+1 workspace number 1 ... I'm going to post the final solution.

Comment by joepd for

I am not sure if I understand your question correctly, but aren't you confusing dmenu with dmenu_run? If so, running

less $(which dmenu_run)

will clear out any confusion.

As for your question, this probably is what you are looking for:

#!/bin/sh
result=$(cat FileWithNewlineSeparatedItems | dmenu)
yourscript "${result}"

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 12:12:04 +0000

I suspect you have your bindsyms setup wrong, ie referring to the workspace name in stead of the workspace number. This works for me: i3-msg 'rename workspace "7: mail" to "7: email"' i3-msg 'workspace number 7'