Workspace with wrong name generated on screen

asked 2014-06-02 23:20:08 +0000

Man from Mars
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I have two monitors connected, each with its set of workspaces. When the last workspace on one monitor is moved to the other one, i3 creates a workspace on the "emptied" monitor (to avoid, as expected, having a monitor with no workspaces) Its name does not comply with settings in my config, where I have named workspaces (1: Foo, 2: Bar, etc.) but is just the right number without any name (say, "1" instead of "1: Foo"). I don't if such a behaviour should be seen as a bug, an unexpected outcome or just "the way it is".

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answered 2014-06-05 16:27:26 +0000

ANOKNUSA
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The workspace-to-output assignments in the configuration tell i3 which monitors workspaces should appear on when they are created, not which workspaces should be created and when. Unlike som other tiling window managers, workspaces in i3 don't exist until they're explicitly created. You're basically expecting the window manager to assume that the next workspace on the assigned list is the one you'll actually want in every case in which the current workspace is removed, which is a pretty rigid assumption.

Suppose the hypothetical behavior you described were actually how i3 behaved. If the next workspace in your assigned list for the empty monitor is "04: Games," then that would be the next workspace to appear. But is "04: Games" really the next one you want? In other words, regardless of how and when the workspaces were created the outcome would be the same---you move the current workspace to a different monitor, another workspace pops up to fill its place, and most of the time you have to hit a key combination to switch to the workspace you actually want. Having specific workspaces simply appear as if they were queued up would require writing more code and using system resources for no real benefit.

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I don't care which (1: Foo, 4: Game or whatever else) new workspace is created on a monitor left "empty" by a "move to output" operation, as long as its name complies with the config (that is how I assume i3 should behave). Instead, i3 seems to resort to default values (1,2,3,...).

Man from Mars ( 2014-06-05 22:18:10 +0000 )edit

All the config tells i3 is that when workspace X is created, put it on monitor Y. i3 does not make assumptions about what you want and when you want it. Given its development philosophy, I presume that's by design. What's your reason for wanting this? What advantage does it offer?

ANOKNUSA ( 2014-06-06 00:37:43 +0000 )edit

No "advantage": my only point is that I'd expect i3 to always create wksp names acc. to the config. In the described conditions this isn't happening. Otherwise everything works fine. My question is: is it just the way it's meant to be or kind of a "bug"? Probably it's the first one.

Man from Mars ( 2014-06-06 09:04:19 +0000 )edit

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Workspace with wrong name generated on screen

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