0 purchases
i3configger 0.9.1.post1
i3configger
Disclaimer: this is a tool aimed at users who already know how the configuration of i3 works (as described in the excellent docs). i3configger is an independent add-on, not directly affiliated with the project and in no way necessary to use i3 productively.
NOTE using i3configger will replace your existing config files (config and optional status bar configs), but it will move them to <original-name>.bak if no backup exists yet, so that you can easily revert the damage if you want to go back to your old files.
Why?
I wanted to be able to switch between different color themes and do things like hide the i3bar with a keyboard shortcut. i3configger makes this and other dynamic changes possible without changing i3wm itself.
Main characteristics
same config language as i3 with these differences:
possibility to spread config over several files
possibility to assign variables to variables
variables in i3status configs are also resolved (set them anywhere in the sources)
additional configuration of i3configger itself and persistence of changes to the i3 configuration is achieved by sprinkling a bit of json on top of the config files.
command line driven - activities can be bound to keyboard shortcuts directly or as part of a binding mode
How?
In the end i3wm needs a config file it can cope with and it needs to reload or restart, when something changes.
This is realized by adding a build step that can be triggered by calling i3configger directly or by running it as a [daemonized] watcher process that automatically rebuilds and reloads when source files change or messages are sent.
What can I do with it?
Switch between arbitrary "schemes"
You can switch sub configurations (e.g. different color schemes) that conform with a simple naming convention (config.d/<key>.<value1>.conf, config.d/<key>.<value2>.conf, etc.) by invoking e.g. i3configger select-next <key> or i3configger select <key> <value2>.
To get an idea what can be done, have a look at the examples and read the docs.
Override any variable
You can change any variable you have defined in the configuration by invoking i3configger set <variable name> <new value>. These changes are persisted not in the config itself but in an additional file.
See i3configger docs for a detailed explanation of the concept and other possible commands.
Usage example
Here is a snippet from an i3 config that uses a mode to alter itself by sending messages to i3configger:
set $i3cBin ~/.virtualenvs/i3/bin/i3configger
bindsym $win+w mode "i3configger"
mode "i3configger" {
bindsym Right exec "$i3cBin select-next colors --i3-refresh-msg restart"
bindsym Left exec "$i3cBin select-previous colors --i3-refresh-msg restart"
bindsym Up exec "$i3cBin shadow bars:targets:laptop:mode dock"
bindsym Down exec "$i3cBin shadow bars:targets:laptop:mode hide"
bindsym Return mode "default"
bindsym Escape mode "default"
}
Explanation of the messages used:
select[...] integrates different config partials and can therefore make broad changes. In this case for example there are different colors.<value>.conf partials that activate different color schemes
shadow adds an overlay that in this case changes the mode of the laptop bar between hide and dock
Installation
$ pip install i3configger
See docs For more details and different ways of installation.
Some inspiration from the i3 project
... that I would also like to heed for this project:
Never break configuration files or existing workflows. Breaking changes require a major version bump (v4 → v5).
Keep mental complexity low: once you know i3’s key features, other features should be easy to understand.
Only add features which benefit many people, instead of going to great lengths to support rarely used workflows.
Only documented behavior is supported. Clear documentation is a requirement for contributions.
CHANGELOG
0.9.1.post1 (Never too late to botch up the changelog) - 2018-12-28
Fixed
broken changelog
0.9.1 (Never too late to make stupid mistakes) - 2018-12-28
Fixed
crash when executing command due to forgotten explicit self
0.9.0 (A new beginning) - 2018-12-19
Added
where it makes sense, defaults for command line settings can be changed in i3configger.json (command line overrides settings in config)
make status command configurable (for refresh)
off-switch for ipc configuration (for easier testing)
functional tests for main cli functionality
Changed
keep Python version in sync with Arch system Python: test with Python 3.7
breaking changes in i3configger.json - check examples to see what is different. Easiest way to upgrade is to move your old config to the side, run i3configger to generate a new default config and add your settings from the old config back in.
terminology: i3status -> i3bar
terminology: value -> select
internal modernization and refactoring
Fixed
wrong use of reversed in select-next/previous
Removed
option for different config has no real use and unnecessarily complicates things
0.8.0 (Naming things is hard) - 2017-06-20
Changed
Name for i3bar key is fixed to i3bar - no need to be configurable
Fixed
don't crash if no i3bar config file was yet generated
terminology i3status -> i3bar
0.7.7 (It's just getting better and better) - 2017-06-16
Added
resolve variables with as many levels of indirections as you want
if resolving fails proper feedback about the failing path is given
better error handling/notification, when config is broken
tests for resolving contexts
Fixed
watch process does not crash anymore but gives proper feedback
don't crash if switching without a default in .messages.json
0.7.6 (The devil is in the detail) - 2017-06-11
Changed
do not add partial into config if it purely contains set statements
strip empty lines from beginning and end of partials
0.7.5 (Time to make an -git AUR?) - 2017-06-11
Changed
make checks more forgiving if no i3 is installed - for testing a complete run after a PKGBUILD
0.7.4 (Packaging is fun and good for testing) - 2017-06-11
Changed
improve ipc handling - fix setting methods too late
0.7.3 (Do the right thing) - 2017-06-11
Fixed
use actual partials path for initialization instead of assuming that parent of config path == partials path
0.7.2 (Need for speed) - 2017-06-11
Changed
shave off a few hundred precious milliseconds startup time, by moving the very expensive version fetching into a function that is only called, when the version is really needed.
help the user, when they use a non existing command
remove unwanted side effects from message
when config.d already exists, but no i3configger.json exists yet, it is automatically created now
better examples/tests
0.7.1 (The great packaging adventure begins) - 2017-06-10
Changed
(internal) vendor in a different inotify library that makes it easier to package for Archlinux
0.7.0 (Better safe than sorry) - 2017-06-10
Changed
always create a backup of the users files if it does not exist already. Do not clobber it on subsequent builds to make sure you can always go back to your old files if needed, even if they have no external backups or SCM in place.
0.6.0 (Command & Conquer) - 2017-06-10
Fixed
wrong ordering of context merges (set was not working in all cases)
Added
new command: shadow - shadow arbitrary entries in i3configger.json
new command: merge - merge a .json file into .messages.json
new command: prune - opposite of merge: remove all keys from a given .json file in .messages.json
Changed
renamed file containing frozen messages from .state.json to .messages.json
0.5.3 (KISS) - 2017-06-09
Changed
de-rocket-science release process
change description of tool
0.5.2 (Releasing correctly is hard) - 2017-06-09
Fixed
wrong CHANGELOG :)
0.5.1 (Maybe I should test more) - 2017-06-09
Fixed
#4 repair watch and daemon mode
0.5.0 (Half way there) - 2017-06-08
Added
proper documentation at http://oliver.bestwalter.de/i3configger/
copy user or default config into config.d on initialization
Removed
end of line comments are not supported anymore (too much bug potential - would need some form of parsing already to make it work -> not worth the fuzz)
Changed
comments are not stripped from the build anymore
notification is off by default: cli arg changed from --no-notify- to --notify
Fixed
checking the config with i3 -C did not work because -c (small c) was not passed and the passed path to the new config was silently ignored and the active config was checked instead
0.4.4 (I am not alone) - 2017-06-05
Fixed
#2 - fails if not using i3status. Fixed by making the refresh call ignore any errors - not nice, just a quick fix.
0.4.3 - (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) - 2017-06-04
Added
examples that are used as test cases
Fixed
some small fixes regarding selection
0.4.2 (The answer) - 2017-06-03
Basic implementation
build main config and one or several i3status configs from the same sources
variables are handled slightly more intelligently than i3 does it (variables assigned to other variables are resolved)
end of line comments are possible (removed at build time)
variables in i3status configs are also resolved (set anywhere in the sources)
reload or restart i3 when a change has been done (using i3-msg)
notify when new config has been created and activated (using notify-send)
simple way to render partials based on key value pairs in file name
simple way to change the configuration by sending messages
build config as one shot script or watch for changes
send messages to watching i3configger process
if i3 -C fails with the newly rendered config, the old config will be kept, no harm done
Note: format based on: Keep a Changelog project adheres to Semantic Versioning.
For personal and professional use. You cannot resell or redistribute these repositories in their original state.
There are no reviews.