https://faq.i3wm.org/questions/Frequently asked questions and answers about the i3 window managerenCopyright i3, 2012Sun, 19 Apr 2015 03:36:06 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/5402/i3-input-starting-programs/Hey, at the moment I have a mode which allows me to start my favourite Programs with just hitting one key. It looks like this: > mode "startPrograms" { > bindsym t exec telegram > bindsym e exec thunderbird } > bindsym $modeOne+g mode "startPrograms" Now because I added more and more programs. I would like to see a prompt showing me the shortcuts for the programs, when entering the "startPrograms" mode. How could I do this? I tried something with this: > name=`i3-input -P 'Programs:'` But I don't know how to do a prompt with more than one line. Or should I really read the input and work with it? Can anyone help me? This would be great! Thu, 29 Jan 2015 20:32:00 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/5402/i3-input-starting-programs/https://faq.i3wm.org/question/5402/i3-input-starting-programs/?answer=5404#post-id-5404Basically, rename your mode from StartPrograms to the help text that you want to display. Here is what I have for my "system" mode. bindsym $mod+y mode "$system_menu" set $system_menu (l)oad i3 config (L)ock (r)estart i3 (R)eboot (s)uspend (S)hutdown mode "$system_menu" { bindsym l reload, $return bindsym Shift+l exec i3exit lock, $return bindsym r restart, $return bindsym Shift+r exec i3exit reboot, $return bindsym s exec i3exit suspend, $return bindsym Shift+s exec i3exit shutdown, $return bindsym space $return bindsym Return $return bindsym Escape $return } I don't need to capture input at all as the "name" of the mode is the help text.Thu, 29 Jan 2015 20:51:19 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/5402/i3-input-starting-programs/?answer=5404#post-id-5404https://faq.i3wm.org/question/5402/i3-input-starting-programs/?comment=5407#comment-5407it is not too long for displaying them. It is just too long for displaying them where the mode Name is displayed.Thu, 29 Jan 2015 21:33:10 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/5402/i3-input-starting-programs/?comment=5407#comment-5407https://faq.i3wm.org/question/5402/i3-input-starting-programs/?comment=5406#comment-5406How were you planning to display the shortcuts if just displaying the shortcuts is too long?Thu, 29 Jan 2015 20:55:50 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/5402/i3-input-starting-programs/?comment=5406#comment-5406https://faq.i3wm.org/question/5402/i3-input-starting-programs/?comment=5405#comment-5405Sadly this would get too long in my case, thank you anyway.Thu, 29 Jan 2015 20:54:15 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/5402/i3-input-starting-programs/?comment=5405#comment-5405https://faq.i3wm.org/question/5402/i3-input-starting-programs/?answer=5826#post-id-5826If you don't insist on i3-input, you can use dmenu. A sample script in bash that uses it would be: #!/bin/bash list="thunderbird\n" list+="firefox\n" list+="digikam\n" list+="gimp\n" command=`echo -e "$list" | dmenu` $command Now you can start typing a name of the command and it's going to narrow the set of options. If you want the options to be listed vertically (as opposed to horizontally), use `dmenu -l 10` instead of `dmenu`, where the number after `-l` specifies the maximum number of options to be displayed at any particular time. In this example, I use names of actual commands, but you can use dmenu to select from a set of arbitrary strings and then based on what is selected, you could run arbitrary commands (using for instance the `case` statement in bash). Sun, 19 Apr 2015 03:36:06 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/5402/i3-input-starting-programs/?answer=5826#post-id-5826https://faq.i3wm.org/question/5402/i3-input-starting-programs/?answer=5825#post-id-5825I am solving this issue is the following way: - Favourite programs associated with workspace. - Mode connecting workspace and keys. - Help text file, cut-and-paste of bind-keys definition, in case I forget. Result: For example, pressing **Numeric-Pad-8+t+Return** goes to the "network" workspace and opens Telegram. In case I forget, I can press **Numeric-Pad-8+h+See-the-key-I-have-to-press+Return** using key 8 on the numeric pad set $8 KP_Up And this is the "network" workspace: set $W8 "8: Network" **Shift+numeric_pad_8** goes to **workspace 8** and enters the **network mode** bindsym Shift+$8 workspace $W8; mode "Network" When entering the mode "Network", I have these keybindings: # Network {{{ mode "Network" { bindsym h exec xmessage -nearmouse -file ~/.config/i3/help_Network.txt bindsym i exec urxvtc -e irssi bindsym r exec urxvtc -e rtorrent bindsym t exec /usr/local/bin/Telegram/Telegram bindsym w exec wicd-gtk -n # back to normal: Enter or Escape bindsym Return mode "default" bindsym Escape mode "default" } # }}} And this is the text file, cut-and-paste of the key-bindings: key w wicd t Telegram i rssi r rtorrent h help Also: - connman - wpa_gui Sat, 18 Apr 2015 23:08:30 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/5402/i3-input-starting-programs/?answer=5825#post-id-5825