I am trying to generate my own layout files in python (similar to the files
generated by i3-save-tree). I am looking for something that describes the
layout specification [above and beyond the i3-save-tree code, which is a bit
cryptic for a non-perl expert].
I am already able to get the i3 tree in python. Furthermore I already have a
number of operations that I perform on that tree. For example I have an
operation that generates an image (representing the workspace structure) for
each workspace in the tree. I am at a point where I need to generate layout
specs, so that I can subsequently append these to workspaces.
The first couple of specs that I generated are essentially just a dump of the
portion of the portion of the tree that corresponds to the workspace. I know
these need to be tweaked further. For example I have not yet added "swallows",
nor stripped non-necessary elements (like "fullscreen_mode" or "layout").
However I thought that i3 would allow me to load these specs and then I could
begin to trim them and modify them until they looked more like the specs
generated by i3-save-tree. Indeed I hoped that i3 might provide feedback
relative to the elements of the spec that were not right.
The unfortunate thing is that i3 crashes when it attempts to load my specs. So
rather than move from the form that I have incrementally towards the "right
form", I need to jump to the right form more quickly.
A specification for the layout structure would help. Is there anything that
exists above and beyond the perl code, and the samples of generated layouts
that I can create with it?
For example, here is the portion of the tree that corresponds to the workspace
that I am trying to save a spec for: this particular simple workspace is one
window on top of another. Other than the obvious things like adding a proper
swallows element, what are the key things that I need to keep in mind when
transforming portions of the i3 tree into a form that can later be appended?
{"fullscreen_mode": 1, "orientation": "horizontal", "focus": [23160000,
23125184], "urgent": false, "num": 1, "last_split_layout": "splith",
"floating": "auto_off", "border": "normal", "id": 23119648,
"current_border_width": -1, "layout": "splith", "percent": null,
"workspace_layout": "default", "window": null, "nodes": [{"window_properties":
{"instance": "xterm", "class": "XTerm", "title": "ubuntu@example-8930:
~/playground/cwpmash"}, "fullscreen_mode": 0, "orientation": "none", "focus":
[], "urgent": false, "last_split_layout": "splith", "floating": "auto_off",
"border": "normal", "id": 23125184, "current_border_width": -1, "layout":
"splith", "percent": 0.5, "workspace_layout": "default", "window": 25165860,
"nodes": [], "type": "con", "swallows": [], "focused": false,
"scratchpad_state": "none", "rect": {"y": 18, "x": 0, "height": 1013, "width":
840}, "window_rect": {"y": 0, "x": 2, "height": 1009, "width": 834}, "name":
"ubuntu@example-8930: ~/playground/cwpmash", "geometry": {"y": 0, "x": 0,
"height": 316, "width": 484}, "floating_nodes": []}, {"window_properties":
{"instance": "xterm", "class": "XTerm", "title": "ubuntu@example-8930: ~"},
"fullscreen_mode": 0, "orientation": "none", "focus": [], "urgent": false,
"last_split_layout": "splith", "floating": "auto_off", "border": "normal",
"id": 23160000, "current_border_width": -1, "layout": "splith", "percent": 0.5,
"workspace_layout": "default", "window": 27263012, "nodes": [], "type": "con",
"swallows": [], "focused": true, "scratchpad_state": "none", "rect": {"y": 18,
"x": 840, "height": 1013, "width": 840}, "window_rect": {"y": 0, "x": 2,
"height": 1009, "width": 834}, "name": "ubuntu@example-8930: ~", "geometry":
{"y": 0, "x": 0, "height": 316, "width": 484}, "floating_nodes": []}], "type":
"workspace", "swallows": [], "focused": false, "scratchpad_state": "none",
"rect": {"y": 0, "x": 0, "height": 1031, "width": 1680}, "window_rect": {"y":
0, "x": 0, "height": 0, "width": 0}, "name": "1", "geometry": {"y": 0, "x": 0,
"height": 0, "width": 0}, "floating_nodes": []}
The correct form (as generated by i3-save-tree) is:
// vim:ts=4:sw=4:et
{
"border": "normal",
"floating": "auto_off",
"geometry": {
"height": 316,
"width": 484,
"x": 0,
"y": 0
},
"name": "ubuntu@example-8930: ~/playground/cwpmash",
"percent": 0.5,
"swallows": [
{
// "class": "^XTerm$",
// "instance": "^xterm$",
// "title": "^ubuntu\\@example\\-8930\\:\\ \\~\\/playground\\/cwpmash$"
}
],
"type": "con"
}
{
"border": "normal",
"floating": "auto_off",
"geometry": {
"height": 316,
"width": 484,
"x": 0,
"y": 0
},
"name": "ubuntu@example-8930: ~",
"percent": 0.5,
"swallows": [
{
// "class": "^XTerm$",
// "instance": "^xterm$",
// "title": "^ubuntu\\@example\\-8930\\:\\ \\~$"
}
],
"type": "con"
}
http://i3wm.org/docs/layout-saving.html#_saving_the_layout
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