Run or focus in i3

answered 2013-10-28 19:03:06 +0000

GermainZ
66 ●2 ●4

updated 2013-10-28 19:11:45 +0000

I wanted something that's similar to awesome's RoR. That is, matching by class and cycling through matching windows. gustavnikolaj's solution matches by window title, which I didn't want, so I wrote this (the walk_tree function is from his script):

import json
import subprocess
import sys

def get_output(cmd):
    process = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
    out = process.communicate()[0].decode()
    process.stdout.close()
    return out

def get_tree():
    cmd = ["i3-msg", "-t", "get_tree"]
    return json.loads(get_output(cmd))

def get_matching_class():
    cmd = ["xdotool", "search", "--class", sys.argv[1]]
    return get_output(cmd).split('\n')

windows = []
def walk_tree(tree):
    if tree['window']:
        windows.append({'window': str(tree['window']),
                        'focused': tree['focused']})
    if len(tree['nodes']) > 0:
        for node in tree['nodes']:
            walk_tree(node)

def get_matches():
    matches = []
    tree = get_tree()
    check = get_matching_class()
    walk_tree(tree)
    for window in windows:
        for winid in check:
            if window['window'] == winid:
                matches.append(window)
    return matches

def main():
    matches = get_matches()
    # Sort the list by window IDs
    matches = [(match['window'], match) for match in matches]
    matches.sort()
    matches = [match for (key, match) in matches]
    # Iterate over the matches to find the first focused one, then focus the
    # next one.
    for ind, match in enumerate(matches):
        if match['focused'] == True:
            subprocess.call(["i3-msg", "[id=%s] focus" % matches[(ind+1)%len(matches)]['window']])
            return
    # No focused match was found, so focus the first one
    if len(matches) > 0:
            subprocess.call(["i3-msg", "[id=%s] focus" % matches[0]['window']])
            return
    # No matches found, launch program
    subprocess.call(["i3-msg", "exec", "--no-startup-id", sys.argv[2]])

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

Save it in e.g. ~.i3/runorfocus.py. To use it, just call the script (first argument is the class to match, the second argument is the program to launch if no matching window is found):

bindsym $mod+w exec python ~/.i3/runorfocus.py "Firefox" firefox

Note that you need xdotool to use the script.

answered 2013-09-09 21:35:33 +0000

gustavnikolaj
31 ●1 ●5

updated 2014-03-24 22:17:08 +0000

I just completed a long overdue item on my todo-list. A combination of the scripts that @GermainZ and I made. It can match by either name and class - both regex enabled. It's written as in node.js.

See this repository:

https://github.com/gustavnikolaj/i3-r...

You will need to have node installed and run npm install in the directory you've cloned it into. After that, you can either reference it by the full path to bin/i3-run-or-raise or you could add it somewhere on your path. (Remember that you'll have to manually set that path available to the X server, by adding it to .xsession/.xinitrc or where it would be appropriate on your system).

Rewriting the examples that I made in my first answer in this thread:

bindsym F1 exec ~/path/to/i3-run-or-raise -c "Google-chrome" google-chrome
bindsym F2 exec ~/path/to/i3-run-or-raise -n "Sublime Text 2$" sublime-text

Below is my original answer for reference.

I wrote a python script to solve this problem.

I use it in my configuration like this:

bindsym F1 exec python ~/.i3/scripts/next_window.py "Chrome$" google-chrome
bindsym F2 exec python ~/.i3/scripts/next_window.py "Sublime Text 2$" sublime-text

The first parameter is a regex to match the window title. The second parameter is the application to launch if no active window is found.

import json
import re
import subprocess
import sys


I3MSG = '/usr/bin/i3-msg'


windows = []


def parse_args():
    if len(sys.argv) == 3:
        return (sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2])
    else:
        sys.exit('Must provide 2 arguments.')


def get_tree():
    process = subprocess.Popen([I3MSG, "-t", "get_tree"], stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
    tree = str(process.communicate()[0])
    process.stdout.close()
    return json.loads(tree)


def walk_tree(tree):
    if tree['window']:
        windows.append({
            'name': tree['name'],
            'id': str(tree['id']),
            'focused': tree['focused']
        })
    if len(tree['nodes']) > 0:
        for node in tree['nodes']:
            walk_tree(node)


def main():
    pattern, command = parse_args()

    tree = get_tree()
    walk_tree(tree)

    focused = filter(lambda x: x['focused'], windows)
    if len(focused) == 1:
        focused = focused[0]
    else:
        focused = False

    filteredWindows = filter(lambda x: re.search(pattern, x['name']), windows)

    if len(filteredWindows) == 0:
        subprocess.call([I3MSG, 'exec', '--no-startup-id', command])
    else:
        nextWindow = False

        try:
            if not focused:
                raise ValueError

            nextIndex = filteredWindows.index(focused) + 1

            if nextIndex == len(filteredWindows):
                raise ValueError
            else:
                nextWindow = filteredWindows[nextIndex]

        except ValueError:
            nextWindow = filteredWindows[0]

        con_id = nextWindow['id']

        subprocess.call([I3MSG, '[con_id=' + con_id + ']', 'focus'])


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

You can see the code at my github dotfiles repository: https://github.com/gustavnikolaj/dotf...

answered 2013-09-04 18:00:38 +0000

KJ44
106 ●3 ●3 ●10

updated 2013-09-04 18:01:09 +0000

I have a script that I have bound to control-tab. An i3 input dialog (very minimal) appears. I type a short alias for the program I'm interested in. If it is running, focus is changed to make its window visible on its workspace, otherwise it is started.

How the script is invoked

# Launch a program using a string alias.                                                                                                                                                                          
bindsym    Control+Tab exec i3-input -F 'exec i3-wrapper "%s"'

The script:

#!/bin/bash
#
# i3-wrapper associates strings supplied by i3-input with programs.
#
# It is inspired by the configurable keyboard shortcuts for bookmarks
# in web browsers such as Firefox and Google Chrome.
#
# Type a string and the corresponding program is brought into focus;
# if it is already running focus moves to its associate workspace,
# otherwise it is launched in the current workspace.
#
# Take care to match long strings before short strings beginning with
# identical substrings.
#
# The easiest match to use is 'instance' because the instance sring
# usually matches the program name. Using 'title' is complicated by
# the need to enclose the matched substring in quotes but it can be a
# good choice in some cases.
#
# Contains at least one bashism: (link deleted so I can post)
#

focus ()
{
    case $1 in
        (instance)
        W=$(xdotool search --classname "$2" | head -1)
        ;;
        (class)
        W=$(xdotool search --class "$2" | head -1)
        ;;
        (title)
        W=$(xdotool search --name "$2" | head -1)
        ;;
        (*)
        W=''
        ;;
    esac
    if [ -z "$W" ]; then
        # Launch the program. 
        eval ${@:3} &  # bash
    else
        # Focus the window.
        # Used 'sed' to escape any whitepace to suit 'i3-msg'.
        i3-msg "[$1=$(echo $2 | sed s/\\x20/\\\\x20/g)] focus"
    fi
}

start ()
{
    case "$@" in
        (gc)
        focus instance google-chrome google-chrome
        ;;
        (sy)
        focus instance synaptic gksu synaptic
        ;;
        (th)
        focus instance thunar thunar
        ;;
        (dc|py)
        focus title Calculator python-interactive 
        ;;
        (wr)
        focus title 'LibreOffice Writer' libreoffice --writer
        ;;
        (pp)
        focus title 'LibreOffice Impress' libreoffice --impress
        ;;
        (ss)
        focus title 'LibreOffice Calc' libreoffice --calc
        ;;
        (pdf)
        focus instance okular okular
        ;;
        (am)
        focus instance clementine clementine
        ;;
        (vc|vlc)
        focus instance vlc vlc
        ;;
        (*)
        ;;
    esac
}

start "$@"

#
# Done.
#