How to mix command criteria [class="XyZ"] and exec?

[a-pav]

I'm trying to do this

bindsym ctrl+shift+f [class="firefox-aurora"] exec --no-startup-id "xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+shift+f Down"

and it doesn't work. While doing this

bindsym ctrl+shift+f [class="firefox-aurora"] border normal

works.

Since in the related documentation also there's no example including exec, I'm wondering if that's generally im/possible?

[orestisfl]

Yes, exec commands do not consider command criteria, I am not sure what would that mean, what does it mean to execute a command "for" a window?

In your case, if I understand the intention correctly, try:

bindsym --release ctrl+shift+f [class="firefox-aurora"] focus, exec --no-startup-id "xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+shift+f Down"

[a-pav]

what does it mean to execute a command "for" a window?

It's the basic for defining contextual keybindings. Contextual keybindings act only within their context (that is, when their associated window is focused, for example.) Otherwise, triggering them is no-op. This should make it possible to define the exact same keybinding for different contexts. Think of what pressing alt+f does in firefox, and what it does in a file manager; They are the same keybinding, but do different things. Yet, from i3 point-of-view, this is currently considered duplicate definition: ERROR: Duplicate keybinding in config file. (To my surprise, using i3 way of command criteria, the [class="XyZ"], doesn't help this case.)

This is certainly not a new way of thinking about keybindings. For example:

• VSCode uses the "when": clause in their keybindings definition.
• AutoHotKey, a Windows scripting language, used to have #IfWin<criteria> clases, (now #HotIf.)

[orestisfl]

Right, the i3-specific way to do that is:

bindsym $mod+g [con_id=__focused__ class="firefox"] exec notify-send "this is a browser", [con_id=__focused__ class="Gnome-terminal"] exec notify-send "this is a terminal"

This will execute only the first command on firefox and only the second on gnome terminal.

[a-pav]

Then [command-criteria] and exec do in fact work together, or at least with something like con_id=__focused__ they do.
That's basically what I wanted to do. Thanks for the help.

Although, making things work with xdotool (rather than notify-send) seem to remain a challenge.

[orestisfl]

Then [command-criteria] and exec do in fact work togethe

Yes, I was mistaken before, but after finding #3903 again, I remembered it's supposed to work.

For xdotool, try bindsym --release.

[a-pav]

BTW, I forgot to mention, when I trigger the keybinding snippet you provided in your answer on an empty workspace, both command are executed! Obviously no window is focused in an empty workspace, so con_id=__focused__ shouldn't match any window at all. Maybe I should report this on #3903? I'm using i3 version 4.20.1 (2021-11-03)

For xdotool, try bindsym --release

Yeah, that, or the many tricks in the book of xdotool.

Since I'm bumping this up again, please let me ask another question. Is there an i3-specific way to check for the existence of a specific window, with the criteria like class, name, etc. ? I already have some idea how to do that with xdotool search or xprope -name I guess, or even i3-save-tree

[a-pav]

BTW, I forgot to mention, when I trigger the keybinding snippet you provided in your answer on an empty workspace, both command are executed! Obviously no window is focused in an empty workspace, so con_id=__focused__ shouldn't match any window at all. Maybe I should report this on #3903? I'm using i3 version 4.20.1 (2021-11-03)

I just realized in addition to the issue I previously pointed out, when you set a keybinding like this, it becomes unavailable everywhere else, i.e. even the windows which support that keybinding natively, become unable to capture it.

For example, by default, pressing alt+m opens the _Media menu in VLC, So if I set a keybinding like this:

bindsym $alt+m [con_id=__focused__ class="firefox-aurora"] exec notify-send "this is a browser", [con_id=__focused__ class="Gnome-terminal"] exec notify-send "this is a terminal"

pressing $alt+m no longer does its default job on VLC, and this is an undesired behavior.