Showwin-Script

Linux script for quick switching active window using hot keys.

Bind some hot keys in your linux desktop environment to this script with window description (e.g. part of window name) and action for case when no suitable window is found. Switch to specified window using hot key.

Prerequisites

Console tools wmctrl and xdotool are required. In Ubuntu they can be installed using apt:

sudo apt-get install wmctrl xdotool

Both scripts showwin and showwinDetach should be in your $PATH dir. Clone repository somewhere and add symlinks to scripts into ~/bin directory.

Usage

Generic usage of script showwin is the following:

showwin "$WINDOW_NAME" "$OPEN_WINDOW_COMMAND"

Script will search for a windows with $WINDOW_NAME in title and make it active. If no appropriate window is found script will run command $OPEN_WINDOW_COMMAND.

Which $WINDOW_NAME to use

List of opened windows can be got using command wmctrl -l -x:

$ wmctrl -l -x
...
0x04400010  0 Navigator.Firefox        masyamandev-UX360CA Options - Mozilla Firefox
0x04400267  0 Navigator.Firefox        masyamandev-UX360CA readme.md code - Google - Mozilla Firefox (Private Browsing)

Parameter $WINDOW_NAME is a grep regex. It's desirable to use expressions which can describe only one window.

Use case 1: switch to a specific program

Let's bind hot key Alt+F to command:

showwin " - Mozilla Firefox$" "firefox"

This will search for a window with title " - Mozilla Firefox[end_of_string]" and switch to it. If no appropriate window is found then script will launch Firefox. This example will switch to private window (or open new one) in Firefox:

showwin " - Mozilla Firefox (Private Browsing)$" "firefox -private-window"

If this script is binded to some other hot key (e.g. Alt+P) then it will be easily to switch to Firefox windows even if Firefox has not been opened yet.

Use case 2: when more than one window is fit to regular expressions

Let's continue previous example with binded hot keys Alt+F and Alt+P. Assuming user is pressing Alt+F. If multiple windows of Firefox is open, then script will not have possibility to define which window is needed to switch to:

$ wmctrl -l -x
...
0x04400010  0 Navigator.Firefox        masyamandev-UX360CA Options - Mozilla Firefox
0x044002b9  0 Navigator.Firefox        masyamandev-UX360CA Ubuntu Start Page - Mozilla Firefox

By default window with smaller window id will be used. This window id is stored and will be used to switch to the same window unless it's closed. It's possible to attach another matching window to the same hot key. To do it hot key command showwinDetach should be called before pressing the hot key. It will unassign window id from a hot key and assign active window. It's recommended to bind script showwinDetach to some hot key, e.g. Alt+Backspace.

Here is an example of usage of setup above:

1. Assuming that no Firefox application is run at the moment.
2. Pressing hot key Alt+F will open new Firefox window.
3. While working with other applications pressing Alt+F will switch to Firefox.
4. If second window of Firefox is open, pressing Alt+F will activate first window of Firefox.
5. To assign another Firefox window to hot key Alt+F you have to activate 2nd window, press Alt+Backspace and then Alt+F.
6. Pressing hot key Alt+F will open 2nd Firefox window.

Use case 3: customizable attaching

It's possible to bind special hot keys which will be assignable to any window. To do this hot key should be bind to script showwin without second $OPEN_WINDOW_COMMAND argument. In this case parameter $WINDOW_NAME will work as hot key identifier. Here is an example of binding customizable hot keys:

Alt+1 -> showwin "CustomKey1"
Alt+2 -> showwin "CustomKey2"
...
Alt+0 -> showwin "CustomKey0"
Alt+Backspace -> showwinDetach

This will make hot keys Alt+1 - Alt+0 fully customizable, any window can be selected and attached to a hot key by pressing a hot key. Further pressing of a hot key will switch to attached window. To attach another window to a hot key is done in three steps:

1. Activate desired window.
2. Activate re-attaching script showwinDetach (Alt+Backspace).
3. Assign a new window by pressing a hot key (Alt+1 - Alt+0).