i3 FAQ - Individual question feed

i3 FAQ - Individual question feedhttps://faq.i3wm.org/questions/Frequently asked questions and answers about the i3 window managerenCopyright i3, 2012Tue, 15 Dec 2015 23:42:54 +0000Reverse perl matches in 'criteria' in i3 confighttps://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/Hello, I switched to i3 recently (from pekwm), to see if I could persuade myself to start to use tiling WM. So far, so good, I find i3 very configurable and maleable. If not directly, then by simple scripting and a bit of hacking. However, one thing is bothering me ... let me explain: I regularly use VirtualBox; very often I want to close certain window inside particular virtual machine, and instinctively press the i3 'kill' keyboard shortcut $mod+Shift+q. Of course, it closes entire virtual machine ... which makes me cry and mad :) What I need is to disable 'kill' action on windows with [instance="VirtualBox"]. I tried: bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="(?!VirtualBox)"] kill However, it doesn't do what I need ... instead, to my horror, it closes all other windows! Is there a simple solution to this, or I must resort to the IPC (this would be overkill for such a simple operation, wouldn't it)? Unfortunately, programming in C/C++ is over my head, but if there is a chance, I would vouch for adding such config option: 'do something to focused widow, unless window satisfies such-and-such criteria". (Note: my question is connected to this one [How do I use an exclude regex in i3 config] here in this FAQ, so I'm not the only one in a need for such thing.) Thanks a lot for all your answers.Sun, 13 Dec 2015 22:24:09 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/Answer by Airblader for Hello, I switched to i3 recently (from pekwm), to see if I could persuade myself to start to use tiling WM. So far, so good, I find i3 very configurable and maleable. If not directly, then by simple scripting and a bit of hacking. However, one thing is bothering me ... let me explain: I regularly use VirtualBox; very often I want to close certain window inside particular virtual machine, and instinctively press the i3 'kill' keyboard shortcut $mod+Shift+q. Of course, it closes entire virtual machine ... which makes me cry and mad :) What I need is to disable 'kill' action on windows with [instance="VirtualBox"]. I tried: <pre><code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="(?!VirtualBox)"] kill </code></pre> However, it doesn't do what I need ... instead, to my horror, it closes all other windows! Is there a simple solution to this, or I must resort to the IPC (this would be overkill for such a simple operation, wouldn't it)? Unfortunately, programming in C/C++ is over my head, but if there is a chance, I would vouch for adding such config option: 'do something to focused widow, unless window satisfies such-and-such criteria". (Note: my question is connected to this one [How do I use an exclude regex in i3 config] here in this FAQ, so I'm not the only one in a need for such thing.) Thanks a lot for all your answers. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?answer=7663#post-id-7663What you need to do is extend the match to match on the focused window AND on the negation. ## i3 4.11 and older bindsym $mod+Shift+q exec --no-startup-id i3-msg [id="$(xdotool getactivewindow)" instance="^(?!VirtualBox).*$"] kill This requires xdotool to be installed, of course. ## i3 4.12 and newer Starting with i3 4.12 and newer, you can ditch this little workaround and instead do this: bindsym $mod+Shift+q [con_id="__focused__" instance="^(?!VirtualBox).*$"] kill At the time of writing this answer, 4.12 is not yet released, so building the development branch from source is required for the time being.Mon, 14 Dec 2015 01:06:03 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?answer=7663#post-id-7663Comment by basletic for What you need to do is extend the match to match on the focused window AND on the negation. <h2>i3 4.11 and older</h2> <pre><code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q exec --no-startup-id i3-msg [id="$(xdotool getactivewindow)" instance="^(?!VirtualBox).*$"] kill </code></pre> This requires xdotool to be installed, of course. <h2>i3 4.12 and newer</h2> Starting with i3 4.12 and newer, you can ditch this little workaround and instead do this: <pre><code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [con_id="__focused__" instance="^(?!VirtualBox).*$"] kill </code></pre> At the time of writing this answer, 4.12 is not yet released, so building the development branch from source is required for the time being. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7681#comment-7681@Adaephon Yes, thanks. Actually, I managed to find this myself, and went this route.Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:07:15 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7681#comment-7681Comment by Adaephon for What you need to do is extend the match to match on the focused window AND on the negation. <h2>i3 4.11 and older</h2> <pre><code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q exec --no-startup-id i3-msg [id="$(xdotool getactivewindow)" instance="^(?!VirtualBox).*$"] kill </code></pre> This requires xdotool to be installed, of course. <h2>i3 4.12 and newer</h2> Starting with i3 4.12 and newer, you can ditch this little workaround and instead do this: <pre><code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [con_id="__focused__" instance="^(?!VirtualBox).*$"] kill </code></pre> At the time of writing this answer, 4.12 is not yet released, so building the development branch from source is required for the time being. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7680#comment-7680@basletic Instead of compiling yourself, you may want to have a look at http://i3wm.org/docs/repositories.html for instructions on how to get the latest developer version of i3 as ready-made package.Tue, 15 Dec 2015 08:19:34 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7680#comment-7680Comment by basletic for What you need to do is extend the match to match on the focused window AND on the negation. <h2>i3 4.11 and older</h2> <pre><code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q exec --no-startup-id i3-msg [id="$(xdotool getactivewindow)" instance="^(?!VirtualBox).*$"] kill </code></pre> This requires xdotool to be installed, of course. <h2>i3 4.12 and newer</h2> Starting with i3 4.12 and newer, you can ditch this little workaround and instead do this: <pre><code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [con_id="__focused__" instance="^(?!VirtualBox).*$"] kill </code></pre> At the time of writing this answer, 4.12 is not yet released, so building the development branch from source is required for the time being. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7673#comment-7673Thanks Airblader and Adaephon a lot for information and possible solutions. So far I'm novice in i3, but probably I should have looked at dev branch. I'm on debian unstable, but I will not wait for offical package; instead I will try to compile 4.12 by myself. I will report here if it doesn't work.Mon, 14 Dec 2015 23:18:09 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7673#comment-7673Comment by Airblader for What you need to do is extend the match to match on the focused window AND on the negation. <h2>i3 4.11 and older</h2> <pre><code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q exec --no-startup-id i3-msg [id="$(xdotool getactivewindow)" instance="^(?!VirtualBox).*$"] kill </code></pre> This requires xdotool to be installed, of course. <h2>i3 4.12 and newer</h2> Starting with i3 4.12 and newer, you can ditch this little workaround and instead do this: <pre><code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [con_id="__focused__" instance="^(?!VirtualBox).*$"] kill </code></pre> At the time of writing this answer, 4.12 is not yet released, so building the development branch from source is required for the time being. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7672#comment-7672We did actually document it correctly, my mistake was using the currently released userguide for reference. My vacation is getting to me. Thanks for the hint!Mon, 14 Dec 2015 23:07:40 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7672#comment-7672Comment by Airblader for What you need to do is extend the match to match on the focused window AND on the negation. <h2>i3 4.11 and older</h2> <pre><code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q exec --no-startup-id i3-msg [id="$(xdotool getactivewindow)" instance="^(?!VirtualBox).*$"] kill </code></pre> This requires xdotool to be installed, of course. <h2>i3 4.12 and newer</h2> Starting with i3 4.12 and newer, you can ditch this little workaround and instead do this: <pre><code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [con_id="__focused__" instance="^(?!VirtualBox).*$"] kill </code></pre> At the time of writing this answer, 4.12 is not yet released, so building the development branch from source is required for the time being. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7671#comment-7671@Adaephon Dangit, I did consider that but we seem to have forgotten to document that con_id allows this special value. The other (documented) ones were simply insufficient. I'll fix this in the documentation and update my answer.Mon, 14 Dec 2015 23:02:28 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7671#comment-7671Comment by Adaephon for What you need to do is extend the match to match on the focused window AND on the negation. <h2>i3 4.11 and older</h2> <pre><code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q exec --no-startup-id i3-msg [id="$(xdotool getactivewindow)" instance="^(?!VirtualBox).*$"] kill </code></pre> This requires xdotool to be installed, of course. <h2>i3 4.12 and newer</h2> Starting with i3 4.12 and newer, you can ditch this little workaround and instead do this: <pre><code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [con_id="__focused__" instance="^(?!VirtualBox).*$"] kill </code></pre> At the time of writing this answer, 4.12 is not yet released, so building the development branch from source is required for the time being. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7670#comment-7670Thanks to your work on issue #2014 (https://github.com/i3/i3/issues/2014) the workaround with `i3msg` and `xdotool` should not be needed any longer starting with the next release (current release is 4.11). Then `bindsym _ [con_id=__focused__ instance='(?!VirtualBox)'] kill` should be sufficient.Mon, 14 Dec 2015 22:03:01 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7670#comment-7670Answer by basletic for Hello, I switched to i3 recently (from pekwm), to see if I could persuade myself to start to use tiling WM. So far, so good, I find i3 very configurable and maleable. If not directly, then by simple scripting and a bit of hacking. However, one thing is bothering me ... let me explain: I regularly use VirtualBox; very often I want to close certain window inside particular virtual machine, and instinctively press the i3 'kill' keyboard shortcut $mod+Shift+q. Of course, it closes entire virtual machine ... which makes me cry and mad :) What I need is to disable 'kill' action on windows with [instance="VirtualBox"]. I tried: <pre><code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="(?!VirtualBox)"] kill </code></pre> However, it doesn't do what I need ... instead, to my horror, it closes all other windows! Is there a simple solution to this, or I must resort to the IPC (this would be overkill for such a simple operation, wouldn't it)? Unfortunately, programming in C/C++ is over my head, but if there is a chance, I would vouch for adding such config option: 'do something to focused widow, unless window satisfies such-and-such criteria". (Note: my question is connected to this one [How do I use an exclude regex in i3 config] here in this FAQ, so I'm not the only one in a need for such thing.) Thanks a lot for all your answers. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?answer=7682#post-id-7682OK, it doesn't work as expected. Or I'm doing something wrong. Let me describe what I have found out in more details (I will play with 'galculator' instead of 'VirtualBox', and simplify regex to 'match' the string instaed of 'reverse match'). 1) with the config `bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator"] kill` I get expected behaviour. I can kill only the `galculator` app. I cannot kill other clients (for example: `terminal`). And `galculator` is killed irrespective of currently focused window. 2) with the config `bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" con_id="__focused__"] kill` I can kill any currently *focused* client. This is not really expected. It looks like, contrary to what I expect, the 'instance' and 'con_id' are logically OR-ed, instead of AND-ed. And I know that the 'instance' and 'class' are logically AND-ed: `bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" class="randomstringfgfgfg"] kill` wouldn't kill galculator nor anything other. I hope what I write above makes sense ... Is it intended behaviour? Do I have to do something more? Like mark window or something? EDIT: I forgot to specify that I now use i3 repository, with i3 version: `$ i3 -v` `i3 version 4.11-134-g04be42f (2015-12-04, branch "next") © 2009 Michael Stapelberg and contributors` EDIT1: I'm a bit confused with the fact that I cannot add yet another answer (about xdotool way), so here it is, below: As for the 'xdotool' way ... it also doesn't work. Either I'm doing something wrong, or certain features of i3 don't work as expected. (Admittedly, what I need might be a corner case ...) To simplify things, let's go back to simple 'galculator', and let's try to do it without 'xdotool'. 1) this `bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283"] kill` where '31457283' is 'galculator' window id (as obtained by 'xwininfo -int') works as expected: it kills (only) 'galculator', no matter what window has focus. 2) however, this `bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283" instance="(?!galculator)"] kill` doesn't work as expected - it, again, kills (only) 'galculator' window, no matter what window has focus. As if the 'id' criteria cause any other criteria to be ignored, similar to 'con_id' case. Is it possible? Therefore, the solution for original problem using 'xdotool' doesn't seem to work, either. Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:34:06 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?answer=7682#post-id-7682Comment by Airblader for OK, it doesn't work as expected. Or I'm doing something wrong. Let me describe what I have found out in more details (I will play with 'galculator' instead of 'VirtualBox', and simplify regex to 'match' the string instaed of 'reverse match'). 1) with the config <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator"] kill</code> I get expected behaviour. I can kill only the <code>galculator</code> app. I cannot kill other clients (for example: <code>terminal</code>). And <code>galculator</code> is killed irrespective of currently focused window. 2) with the config <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" con_id="__focused__"] kill</code> I can kill any currently focused client. This is not really expected. It looks like, contrary to what I expect, the 'instance' and 'con_id' are logically OR-ed, instead of AND-ed. And I know that the 'instance' and 'class' are logically AND-ed: <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" class="randomstringfgfgfg"] kill</code> wouldn't kill galculator nor anything other. I hope what I write above makes sense ... Is it intended behaviour? Do I have to do something more? Like mark window or something? EDIT: I forgot to specify that I now use i3 repository, with i3 version: <code>$ i3 -v</code> <code>i3 version 4.11-134-g04be42f (2015-12-04, branch "next") © 2009 Michael Stapelberg and contributors</code> EDIT1: I'm a bit confused with the fact that I cannot add yet another answer (about xdotool way), so here it is, below: As for the 'xdotool' way ... it also doesn't work. Either I'm doing something wrong, or certain features of i3 don't work as expected. (Admittedly, what I need might be a corner case ...) To simplify things, let's go back to simple 'galculator', and let's try to do it without 'xdotool'. 1) this <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283"] kill</code> where '31457283' is 'galculator' window id (as obtained by 'xwininfo -int') works as expected: it kills (only) 'galculator', no matter what window has focus. 2) however, this <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283" instance="(?!galculator)"] kill</code> doesn't work as expected - it, again, kills (only) 'galculator' window, no matter what window has focus. As if the 'id' criteria cause any other criteria to be ignored, similar to 'con_id' case. Is it possible? Therefore, the solution for original problem using 'xdotool' doesn't seem to work, either. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7704#comment-7704I'm fairly sure it worked that way for me, but I'll just remove them to be sure. :)Tue, 15 Dec 2015 23:42:54 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7704#comment-7704Comment by basletic for OK, it doesn't work as expected. Or I'm doing something wrong. Let me describe what I have found out in more details (I will play with 'galculator' instead of 'VirtualBox', and simplify regex to 'match' the string instaed of 'reverse match'). 1) with the config <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator"] kill</code> I get expected behaviour. I can kill only the <code>galculator</code> app. I cannot kill other clients (for example: <code>terminal</code>). And <code>galculator</code> is killed irrespective of currently focused window. 2) with the config <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" con_id="__focused__"] kill</code> I can kill any currently focused client. This is not really expected. It looks like, contrary to what I expect, the 'instance' and 'con_id' are logically OR-ed, instead of AND-ed. And I know that the 'instance' and 'class' are logically AND-ed: <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" class="randomstringfgfgfg"] kill</code> wouldn't kill galculator nor anything other. I hope what I write above makes sense ... Is it intended behaviour? Do I have to do something more? Like mark window or something? EDIT: I forgot to specify that I now use i3 repository, with i3 version: <code>$ i3 -v</code> <code>i3 version 4.11-134-g04be42f (2015-12-04, branch "next") © 2009 Michael Stapelberg and contributors</code> EDIT1: I'm a bit confused with the fact that I cannot add yet another answer (about xdotool way), so here it is, below: As for the 'xdotool' way ... it also doesn't work. Either I'm doing something wrong, or certain features of i3 don't work as expected. (Admittedly, what I need might be a corner case ...) To simplify things, let's go back to simple 'galculator', and let's try to do it without 'xdotool'. 1) this <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283"] kill</code> where '31457283' is 'galculator' window id (as obtained by 'xwininfo -int') works as expected: it kills (only) 'galculator', no matter what window has focus. 2) however, this <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283" instance="(?!galculator)"] kill</code> doesn't work as expected - it, again, kills (only) 'galculator' window, no matter what window has focus. As if the 'id' criteria cause any other criteria to be ignored, similar to 'con_id' case. Is it possible? Therefore, the solution for original problem using 'xdotool' doesn't seem to work, either. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7700#comment-7700@Airblader Excellent, eagerly waiting for 4.12. However: please remove single quotes from the xdotool-based solution. For me it doesn't work (i.e. it kills ALL windows except 'galculator'). It should be precisely as I put it in the comment above. (Not sure why, must be some bash qutiong effect.)Tue, 15 Dec 2015 20:49:52 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7700#comment-7700Comment by Airblader for OK, it doesn't work as expected. Or I'm doing something wrong. Let me describe what I have found out in more details (I will play with 'galculator' instead of 'VirtualBox', and simplify regex to 'match' the string instaed of 'reverse match'). 1) with the config <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator"] kill</code> I get expected behaviour. I can kill only the <code>galculator</code> app. I cannot kill other clients (for example: <code>terminal</code>). And <code>galculator</code> is killed irrespective of currently focused window. 2) with the config <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" con_id="__focused__"] kill</code> I can kill any currently focused client. This is not really expected. It looks like, contrary to what I expect, the 'instance' and 'con_id' are logically OR-ed, instead of AND-ed. And I know that the 'instance' and 'class' are logically AND-ed: <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" class="randomstringfgfgfg"] kill</code> wouldn't kill galculator nor anything other. I hope what I write above makes sense ... Is it intended behaviour? Do I have to do something more? Like mark window or something? EDIT: I forgot to specify that I now use i3 repository, with i3 version: <code>$ i3 -v</code> <code>i3 version 4.11-134-g04be42f (2015-12-04, branch "next") © 2009 Michael Stapelberg and contributors</code> EDIT1: I'm a bit confused with the fact that I cannot add yet another answer (about xdotool way), so here it is, below: As for the 'xdotool' way ... it also doesn't work. Either I'm doing something wrong, or certain features of i3 don't work as expected. (Admittedly, what I need might be a corner case ...) To simplify things, let's go back to simple 'galculator', and let's try to do it without 'xdotool'. 1) this <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283"] kill</code> where '31457283' is 'galculator' window id (as obtained by 'xwininfo -int') works as expected: it kills (only) 'galculator', no matter what window has focus. 2) however, this <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283" instance="(?!galculator)"] kill</code> doesn't work as expected - it, again, kills (only) 'galculator' window, no matter what window has focus. As if the 'id' criteria cause any other criteria to be ignored, similar to 'con_id' case. Is it possible? Therefore, the solution for original problem using 'xdotool' doesn't seem to work, either. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7699#comment-7699@basletic Awesome. Yeah, I've also fixed the quoting now. :) Removing the xdotool workaround will be possible in 4.12 then (or in the dev branch), as soon as it's merged.Tue, 15 Dec 2015 20:06:23 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7699#comment-7699Comment by basletic for OK, it doesn't work as expected. Or I'm doing something wrong. Let me describe what I have found out in more details (I will play with 'galculator' instead of 'VirtualBox', and simplify regex to 'match' the string instaed of 'reverse match'). 1) with the config <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator"] kill</code> I get expected behaviour. I can kill only the <code>galculator</code> app. I cannot kill other clients (for example: <code>terminal</code>). And <code>galculator</code> is killed irrespective of currently focused window. 2) with the config <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" con_id="__focused__"] kill</code> I can kill any currently focused client. This is not really expected. It looks like, contrary to what I expect, the 'instance' and 'con_id' are logically OR-ed, instead of AND-ed. And I know that the 'instance' and 'class' are logically AND-ed: <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" class="randomstringfgfgfg"] kill</code> wouldn't kill galculator nor anything other. I hope what I write above makes sense ... Is it intended behaviour? Do I have to do something more? Like mark window or something? EDIT: I forgot to specify that I now use i3 repository, with i3 version: <code>$ i3 -v</code> <code>i3 version 4.11-134-g04be42f (2015-12-04, branch "next") © 2009 Michael Stapelberg and contributors</code> EDIT1: I'm a bit confused with the fact that I cannot add yet another answer (about xdotool way), so here it is, below: As for the 'xdotool' way ... it also doesn't work. Either I'm doing something wrong, or certain features of i3 don't work as expected. (Admittedly, what I need might be a corner case ...) To simplify things, let's go back to simple 'galculator', and let's try to do it without 'xdotool'. 1) this <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283"] kill</code> where '31457283' is 'galculator' window id (as obtained by 'xwininfo -int') works as expected: it kills (only) 'galculator', no matter what window has focus. 2) however, this <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283" instance="(?!galculator)"] kill</code> doesn't work as expected - it, again, kills (only) 'galculator' window, no matter what window has focus. As if the 'id' criteria cause any other criteria to be ignored, similar to 'con_id' case. Is it possible? Therefore, the solution for original problem using 'xdotool' doesn't seem to work, either. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7698#comment-7698@Airblader Thanks a lot. This now works as required: bindsym $mod+Shift+q exec --no-startup-id i3-msg [id="$(xdotool getactivewindow)" instance="^(?!galculator).*$"] kill (but only with this particular quoting; your inital quoting doesn't work!). I apologize for my nonfamiliarity with PCRE.Tue, 15 Dec 2015 20:03:11 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7698#comment-7698Comment by Airblader for OK, it doesn't work as expected. Or I'm doing something wrong. Let me describe what I have found out in more details (I will play with 'galculator' instead of 'VirtualBox', and simplify regex to 'match' the string instaed of 'reverse match'). 1) with the config <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator"] kill</code> I get expected behaviour. I can kill only the <code>galculator</code> app. I cannot kill other clients (for example: <code>terminal</code>). And <code>galculator</code> is killed irrespective of currently focused window. 2) with the config <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" con_id="__focused__"] kill</code> I can kill any currently focused client. This is not really expected. It looks like, contrary to what I expect, the 'instance' and 'con_id' are logically OR-ed, instead of AND-ed. And I know that the 'instance' and 'class' are logically AND-ed: <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" class="randomstringfgfgfg"] kill</code> wouldn't kill galculator nor anything other. I hope what I write above makes sense ... Is it intended behaviour? Do I have to do something more? Like mark window or something? EDIT: I forgot to specify that I now use i3 repository, with i3 version: <code>$ i3 -v</code> <code>i3 version 4.11-134-g04be42f (2015-12-04, branch "next") © 2009 Michael Stapelberg and contributors</code> EDIT1: I'm a bit confused with the fact that I cannot add yet another answer (about xdotool way), so here it is, below: As for the 'xdotool' way ... it also doesn't work. Either I'm doing something wrong, or certain features of i3 don't work as expected. (Admittedly, what I need might be a corner case ...) To simplify things, let's go back to simple 'galculator', and let's try to do it without 'xdotool'. 1) this <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283"] kill</code> where '31457283' is 'galculator' window id (as obtained by 'xwininfo -int') works as expected: it kills (only) 'galculator', no matter what window has focus. 2) however, this <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283" instance="(?!galculator)"] kill</code> doesn't work as expected - it, again, kills (only) 'galculator' window, no matter what window has focus. As if the 'id' criteria cause any other criteria to be ignored, similar to 'con_id' case. Is it possible? Therefore, the solution for original problem using 'xdotool' doesn't seem to work, either. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7696#comment-7696@basletic Sorry for the confusion. Using id+instance does work, but the negative lookahead must look slightly different. I've updated my answer accordingly. Please try it the way it's described there, i.e., bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id=31457283 instance="^(?!galculator).*$"] killTue, 15 Dec 2015 19:47:36 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7696#comment-7696Comment by Airblader for OK, it doesn't work as expected. Or I'm doing something wrong. Let me describe what I have found out in more details (I will play with 'galculator' instead of 'VirtualBox', and simplify regex to 'match' the string instaed of 'reverse match'). 1) with the config <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator"] kill</code> I get expected behaviour. I can kill only the <code>galculator</code> app. I cannot kill other clients (for example: <code>terminal</code>). And <code>galculator</code> is killed irrespective of currently focused window. 2) with the config <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" con_id="__focused__"] kill</code> I can kill any currently focused client. This is not really expected. It looks like, contrary to what I expect, the 'instance' and 'con_id' are logically OR-ed, instead of AND-ed. And I know that the 'instance' and 'class' are logically AND-ed: <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" class="randomstringfgfgfg"] kill</code> wouldn't kill galculator nor anything other. I hope what I write above makes sense ... Is it intended behaviour? Do I have to do something more? Like mark window or something? EDIT: I forgot to specify that I now use i3 repository, with i3 version: <code>$ i3 -v</code> <code>i3 version 4.11-134-g04be42f (2015-12-04, branch "next") © 2009 Michael Stapelberg and contributors</code> EDIT1: I'm a bit confused with the fact that I cannot add yet another answer (about xdotool way), so here it is, below: As for the 'xdotool' way ... it also doesn't work. Either I'm doing something wrong, or certain features of i3 don't work as expected. (Admittedly, what I need might be a corner case ...) To simplify things, let's go back to simple 'galculator', and let's try to do it without 'xdotool'. 1) this <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283"] kill</code> where '31457283' is 'galculator' window id (as obtained by 'xwininfo -int') works as expected: it kills (only) 'galculator', no matter what window has focus. 2) however, this <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283" instance="(?!galculator)"] kill</code> doesn't work as expected - it, again, kills (only) 'galculator' window, no matter what window has focus. As if the 'id' criteria cause any other criteria to be ignored, similar to 'con_id' case. Is it possible? Therefore, the solution for original problem using 'xdotool' doesn't seem to work, either. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7686#comment-7686https://github.com/i3/i3/issues/2111Tue, 15 Dec 2015 12:16:35 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7686#comment-7686Comment by Airblader for OK, it doesn't work as expected. Or I'm doing something wrong. Let me describe what I have found out in more details (I will play with 'galculator' instead of 'VirtualBox', and simplify regex to 'match' the string instaed of 'reverse match'). 1) with the config <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator"] kill</code> I get expected behaviour. I can kill only the <code>galculator</code> app. I cannot kill other clients (for example: <code>terminal</code>). And <code>galculator</code> is killed irrespective of currently focused window. 2) with the config <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" con_id="__focused__"] kill</code> I can kill any currently focused client. This is not really expected. It looks like, contrary to what I expect, the 'instance' and 'con_id' are logically OR-ed, instead of AND-ed. And I know that the 'instance' and 'class' are logically AND-ed: <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" class="randomstringfgfgfg"] kill</code> wouldn't kill galculator nor anything other. I hope what I write above makes sense ... Is it intended behaviour? Do I have to do something more? Like mark window or something? EDIT: I forgot to specify that I now use i3 repository, with i3 version: <code>$ i3 -v</code> <code>i3 version 4.11-134-g04be42f (2015-12-04, branch "next") © 2009 Michael Stapelberg and contributors</code> EDIT1: I'm a bit confused with the fact that I cannot add yet another answer (about xdotool way), so here it is, below: As for the 'xdotool' way ... it also doesn't work. Either I'm doing something wrong, or certain features of i3 don't work as expected. (Admittedly, what I need might be a corner case ...) To simplify things, let's go back to simple 'galculator', and let's try to do it without 'xdotool'. 1) this <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283"] kill</code> where '31457283' is 'galculator' window id (as obtained by 'xwininfo -int') works as expected: it kills (only) 'galculator', no matter what window has focus. 2) however, this <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283" instance="(?!galculator)"] kill</code> doesn't work as expected - it, again, kills (only) 'galculator' window, no matter what window has focus. As if the 'id' criteria cause any other criteria to be ignored, similar to 'con_id' case. Is it possible? Therefore, the solution for original problem using 'xdotool' doesn't seem to work, either. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7685#comment-7685Yeah, you're right. con_id and mark are criteria that cause any other criteria to be ignored. I think you need to use the xdotool solution I mentioned. Let us know whether that works. Meanwhile I'll open a bug.Tue, 15 Dec 2015 11:37:12 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7685#comment-7685Comment by Airblader for OK, it doesn't work as expected. Or I'm doing something wrong. Let me describe what I have found out in more details (I will play with 'galculator' instead of 'VirtualBox', and simplify regex to 'match' the string instaed of 'reverse match'). 1) with the config <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator"] kill</code> I get expected behaviour. I can kill only the <code>galculator</code> app. I cannot kill other clients (for example: <code>terminal</code>). And <code>galculator</code> is killed irrespective of currently focused window. 2) with the config <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" con_id="__focused__"] kill</code> I can kill any currently focused client. This is not really expected. It looks like, contrary to what I expect, the 'instance' and 'con_id' are logically OR-ed, instead of AND-ed. And I know that the 'instance' and 'class' are logically AND-ed: <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [instance="galculator" class="randomstringfgfgfg"] kill</code> wouldn't kill galculator nor anything other. I hope what I write above makes sense ... Is it intended behaviour? Do I have to do something more? Like mark window or something? EDIT: I forgot to specify that I now use i3 repository, with i3 version: <code>$ i3 -v</code> <code>i3 version 4.11-134-g04be42f (2015-12-04, branch "next") © 2009 Michael Stapelberg and contributors</code> EDIT1: I'm a bit confused with the fact that I cannot add yet another answer (about xdotool way), so here it is, below: As for the 'xdotool' way ... it also doesn't work. Either I'm doing something wrong, or certain features of i3 don't work as expected. (Admittedly, what I need might be a corner case ...) To simplify things, let's go back to simple 'galculator', and let's try to do it without 'xdotool'. 1) this <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283"] kill</code> where '31457283' is 'galculator' window id (as obtained by 'xwininfo -int') works as expected: it kills (only) 'galculator', no matter what window has focus. 2) however, this <code>bindsym $mod+Shift+q [id="31457283" instance="(?!galculator)"] kill</code> doesn't work as expected - it, again, kills (only) 'galculator' window, no matter what window has focus. As if the 'id' criteria cause any other criteria to be ignored, similar to 'con_id' case. Is it possible? Therefore, the solution for original problem using 'xdotool' doesn't seem to work, either. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7683#comment-7683That does sound odd. I'm going to check it out later.Tue, 15 Dec 2015 11:21:18 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/7662/reverse-perl-matches-in-criteria-in-i3-config/?comment=7683#comment-7683