i3 config manipulation tool
Project description
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 (configs 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?
I3 already has a very nice and simple configuration system. i3configger makes it a bit more malleable and making dynamic changes possible that would otherwise make it necessary to change the configuration by hand.
How?
Main characteristics
command line oriented
uses same configuration language as i3 with the added possibility to spread it over several files and assign variables to variables
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.
Usage example
Here’s a snippet from a 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
Concept
You can switch between alternative 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>.
You can change any variable you have defined in the configuration by invoking i3configger set <variable name> <new value>.
This is realized by adding a build step that can be triggered by calling i3configger directly or by running it as a watcher process that automatically rebuilds and reloads when source files change or messages are sent.
To get an idea how this works, have a look at the examples and read the docs.
see i3configger docs for a detailed explanation of the concept and other possible commands.
Installation
$ pip install i3configger
See docs For more details and different ways of installation.
CHANGELOG
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 are 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.
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